All Blog Posts Tagged 'Alternative' (83)

AFROPUNK FEST 2013 is right around the corner! We're bringing you another weekend of food, fun, sun and beautiful people August 24th and August 25th 2013 at Commodore Barry Park in Brooklyn, NY. Mark your calendars and join us in…

New music from Santigold, from the soundtrack of HBO's show 'Girls'. Stream it below, the record will be (officially) available for purchase on January 8.…

Equal parts driving/danceable and spacey/chill, Wishes and Thieves' latest Forest Fire EP is a perfect peace of dreamy indie pop. The band is anchored by a rhythm section that seems determined to steal Bloc Party's crown of superhuman tightness (because obviously art is a competition, right? Oh. Right.) Dreamy synths wash over the songs painting everything with the surreal colors of expired film. Lead singer Jolanda Porter presides over the band, simultaneously cool and…

Having come of age musically in the late 90's, when the marriage of rock and hip-hop was mangled so badly it became criminal to even suggest, I get a serious thrill when I hear someone do it right. And holy crap does Afropunk member Labtekwon get it right! Channeling HR by way of Immortal Technique on the single “Slamdancin” from his forthcoming record Hardcore, Labtekwon makes hip-hop that dares to be rough…

Skunk Anansie may not be the household name in America that they are in the UK, but they probably should be. Their inimitable mix of punk, Britpop, hard rock, and post-punk all topped with lead singer Skin's political and feminist messaging won them a horde of fans in the UK during their initial run from '94 to 2001. After taking most of the last decade off, the quartet came back in 2010 with the acclaimed WanderLustre. Their latest Black Traffic is their 2nd…

Twin Shadow's 2010 debut Forget was rightly hailed as one of the most exciting releases of the year. It's been 2 years and synth-pop lothario George Lewis Jr. is back with his breezy sleazy charm on the new Confess. The record is self-produced, Lewis channeling his inner (well, outer...) New Romantics era Niles Rodgers. The production is…

We've been repping the Skins for a while here, and hopefully by now you know why. This badass quintet of teenagers (siblings Bayli, Reef, and Kaya Mckeithan and not-siblings Daisy Spencer and Russell C) has recorded 2 EPs in the past year and hitting the road and playing shows whenever they have some downtime between school. (When I was 17 the best I got was playing Golden Eye whenever I had some downtime between school...)…

Our love for New York singer/songwriter Tess is no secret. Straddling the world of RnB and rock like the second coming of Tina Turner, Tess has spent the past few months kicking some serious ass. After dropping her debut EP…

The absurdly prolific Chaz Bundick, better known to the world as Toro Y Moi, has somehow found time between Lollapalooza, a collaboration with Tyler the Creator, releasing a series of 7 inches in April, and of course Afropunk Fest 2012 to work on new material. Apparently already at work on Toro Y Moi's next album, Bundick and band debuted a handful of new songs at Lollapalooza last week.…

Body Language's not-so-secret weapon is the dueling lead vocals of Angela Bass and Matt Young. Though boy-girl vocals are kind of the thing these days in the indie pop world (see also: Gotye, Of Monsters and Men, and the XX), it's rare to see them just sound this sexy. Twee, playful, useful from a storytelling perspective, sure, but sexy? This is why we love Body Language.…

Alternative soul singer Lianne La Havas is already blowing up in the UK, where her debut album Is Your Love Big Enough? hit #4 a month ago. Afropunk has featured a few of her videos over the past few months, and now the record is finally available in the US.…

When you listen to as much new stuff as I do, the moments when you hear something truly new and unique are few and far between. The new San Francisco septet The Seshen perform that rare magic trick of doing something fresh without ever sounding like they're trying to. They blend so many sounds and ideas so seamlessly that picking it apart is like analyzing the ingredients in a seven layer cake. Just accept that the combination of parts is way better than eating 4 raw eggs or a…

On the Invisible's new single 'Protection' from their forthcoming 2nd full length Rispah, the London trio pushes their love of ambiance to the front. Treating lead singer Dave Okumu's voice like another texture in their tension stew, the band creates a beautiful mess of a song. Vocal lines swell and fall while synth lines burble up and explode. As if trying to recreate an Aphex Twin beat live, Leo Taylor's jagged off-kilter drums shift and mutate to create a palpable…

Petite Noir is the nom de guerre of Yannick Illunga; singer for the indie-electro-pop band Popskarr. Born in Belgium and now based out of Cape Town, the singer/songwriter/producer just released his debut single 'Till We Ghosts / The Dance.' The track and it's B-side blend African rhythms with chillwave production and indie sensibilities all topped with a creamy strawberry Joy Division frosting of sadness and reverb.…

A free download off Imani Uzuri's album 'The Gypsy Diaries' available June 5th 2012.

"Born of worldly travels and spiritual travails, Uzuri’s rich acoustic songs on 'The Gypsy Diaries' find fresh settings for unifying human experiences: the loss of loved ones, the joy of discovering, the alienation and shifts of moving, meeting, and departing. Riveting live, Uzuri will celebrate her new album on June 1 at Joe’s Pub in New York."…

Sade only tours every 10 years or so, right? And while it's worth the wait, it's always nice to be able to jam to their performances a little more often. Ms. Adu and her bandmates are releasing a Live DVD from their 2011 tour on May 22nd, available 
HERE for pre-order. 122 minutes of goodness. Will you be watching it? - L…

You already come to Afro-punk for music, fashion, news and sports, now you can get the hook up too!

Badoo, the world’s largest social networking site for meeting new people, is expanding to the US and they want New Yorkers in the mix. This is your chance to represent. Register to attend an all day party hosted by Afro-punk with four of the hottest fashion photographers in NYC and get a gift of your very own portrait. The top 24 portraits will be featured on billboards and…

If you know your backpacker/indie hip-hop then you have heard of the rap duo Blackalicious. MC Gift of Gab is the tongue twisting, lyrical gymnast of Blackalicious and he is about to drop a solo disc entitled “Next Logical Progression”. As he gears up for a tour to support his new record, The Gift of Gab (aka Tim Parker) chatted with me about his latest musical offering.



Interview by…

 

"KimberlyNichole is continuing to rock our worlds by adding more cover tunes to her “the Rock Ballerina” EP. Since she first posted her rousing rendition of “Seven Nation Army” by The White Stripes , she's mined the alt-rock catalog and…

Santigold shared the cover art of her upcoming album with The New York Times, and it doesn't disappoint. Photographer Jason Schmidt did a great job shooting Santi as 3 different characters, and visual artist Kehinde Wiley contributed a painting of her as an army officer. The album 'Master of My Make-Believe' is due out May 1st. Check out the art below + making-of video + 2 songs off the album.…