DOWNLOAD: Bilal - Free
It's been 10 years since Bilal's First Born Second arrived to grateful fans and tag-happy critics eager to slap the neo-soul stigma on his avante-garde arrangements and old-soul falsetto. After years of label politricks shelved his further-left-leaning follow up, Bilal Oliver is finally feeling the effects of freedom. "Free," a preamble of sorts to the forthcoming Airtight's Revenge, finds him letting his funk-flag fly, not sweating the small stuff (radio, singles, sales) and doing what he set out to do: sing.
DOWNLOAD: Quadron - Slippin'
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(Photo: Greg Ponstingl)
When you think of Denmark, what’s the first thing that comes to your mind? If you said slinky, sex-quenched soul then you'd be absolutely right! Danish duo Quadron–who bear a double-take-worthy resemblance to Lykke Li, Little Dragon, Solange Knowles and Leslie Feist–brew a buttery batch of candle-lit lovelies like "Slippin" without breaking so much as a sweat. Quadron is currently on tour in support of their self-titled debut, in stores now.
EXCLUSIVE NEW DOWNLOAD: Boozoo Bajou - Sign (DJ DSL Mix)
Tomorrow brings Boozoo Bajou’s “Sign” single (from the current album Grains) with this exclusive mix below, and later this year, a full remix collection featuring reworks from Prins Thomas, Idjut Boys, and Quantec will drop. Will they all invoke a candlelit, D’Angelo pumping, red wine drinking, purple satin sheets rustling, babymaking fest? Dunno. But this one sure does. Silky.
Boozoo Bajou - Sign (DJ DSL Mix)
Previously:
Boozoo Bajou - Same Sun (Tontelas Roots Version)
EXCLUSIVE NEW DOWNLOAD: Tanya Morgan - So Damn Down (Keelay and Zaire Version)
Tanya Morgan is like kryptonite for the indier-than-thou set. Go to the closest dive, sidle up to the biggest music nerd there, and slyly mention these Brooklynati Vibe darlings. 10 bucks the dude will stammer his best softshoe, nodding in fake recognition with oh yeah, that Tanya Morgan, she’s the new Santogold, right? That’s when you dock up the remix of “So Damn Down”. Replete with strutty 70’s guitar and sidewalk lyricism, it’s the kind of rework that potentially outshines the original. Von Pea, Donwill and Ilyas have never fully rationalized why they chose a name that conjures more Nora Jones than Cool C, but it doesn’t really matter. You’ve already been crowned hip-hop-king-by-association and dude's gifted you the last Bass Ale in the joint.
Sounds like: Lupe Fiasco, Pharcyde, Mos Def, Talib Kweli
Tanya Morgan - So Damn Down (Keelay and Zaire Version)
DOWNLOAD: The Carps - It's Raining In The Projects, But It's Sunny In Africa
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Though we hadn't heard from the raucous Toronto-based guitar and drum duo The Carps in a while, it's only because they have been churning out new tracks after signing with a new management company. Judging from their new single, "It's Raining In The Projects, But It's Sunny In Africa," they're ready to be heard. As the title not-so-subtly hints, the jam has politically-potent lyrics that are becoming characteristic of The Carps. Meanwhile, the beat cuts into your consciousness with blustering guitar builds, a froth of electronic whistles, and dense, penetrating drum sequences.
Sounds Like: Bloc Party, Shy Child, Death From Above 1979, DIOYY
The Carps - It's Raining In The Projects, But It's Sunny In Africa
Previously:
The Carps - All The Damn Kids (Let's Go To War Remix)
EXCLUSIVE NEW DOWNLOAD - Wallpaper - Evrytme We Do It
True, wallpaper is typically meant to blend in. But if you've been out on the town of recent to Lit or Hiro, you've probably been pummeled with the beats of Bay area musician/dj/music addict Eric Frederic and know he rarely blends in. Eric's also not a fan of vowels either, a facet to which us RCRD LBL folk tend to take a biased liking. So we're bringing out Wallpaper to central stage- with the exclusive track "Evrym We Do It" that's pure party electro-pop- nestled somewhere between scuzzy disco and trans-galactic electronica. It will rotate around in your head for hours just after one listen. Brilliant. Oh- and we also threw in the track "Txt Me Yr Love," which is digitalized R & B blues about a girl, a phone, ringtones and texts.
SOUNDS LIKE: Cut Copy, Digitalism, Sly Stone
Exclusive New Download: Wallpaper- Evrytm_We_Do_It
VIDEO: Chromeo - Momma's Boy
What do you get when you cross A-HA with Hall & Oates? Why, we're so glad someone asked! The new Chromeo video, "Momma's Boy" has some serious "Take on Me" overtones with the whole sketch-like animation theme. The song is pretty cute, even though it borders slightly on the creepy side: watch the video and you'll get what we mean. Love you Mom!
Download: Chromeo - Bonafied Lovin' (Yuksek remix)
FEATURED: New Gnarls Barkley video for "Who's Gonna Save My Soul" at the Downtown RCRD LBL blog
We saw Gnarls Barkley last month and it was totally amazing, and even though we'd seen them blow the roof off of venues before, there was something special about this last time. It could just be that their second album The Odd Couple, is chock full of the same neo soul jams that made their debut so enjoyable--double your pleasure, so to speak. In any case, the Downtown RCRD LBL blog has an MTV.com-powered stream of their new video, "Who's Gonna Sane My Soul" and it's a doozy. Enjoy!
Gnarls Barkley at the Downtown RCRD LBL blog
