... the other Black experience
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…
ContinueAdded by Sound Check on February 26, 2013 at 2:30pm — 16 Comments
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.…
Added by Sound Check on December 11, 2012 at 10:00am — No Comments
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…
Added by Sound Check on December 10, 2012 at 10:07am — 4 Comments
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…
Added by Sound Check on November 5, 2012 at 9:05am — 1 Comment
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…
Added by Sound Check on September 19, 2012 at 4:05am — No Comments
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…
Added by Sound Check on August 27, 2012 at 12:50pm — 2 Comments
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...)…
Added by Sound Check on August 24, 2012 at 11:58am — No Comments
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…
Added by Sound Check on August 22, 2012 at 11:30am — No Comments
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.…
Added by Sound Check on August 15, 2012 at 10:32am — No Comments
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.…
Added by Sound Check on August 10, 2012 at 3:22pm — 1 Comment
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.…
Added by Sound Check on August 8, 2012 at 10:28am — 4 Comments
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…
Added by Sound Check on June 11, 2012 at 7:47am — 2 Comments
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…
Added by Sound Check on June 4, 2012 at 8:30am — No Comments
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.…
Added by Sound Check on May 21, 2012 at 10:56am — 1 Comment
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."…
Added by Sound Check on May 16, 2012 at 9:45am — No Comments
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…
Added by Sound Check on March 12, 2012 at 8:31am — 1 Comment
Alternative music in the early ‘90s arguably had the biggest impact on American pop culture since the Baby Boomer generation. It was an exciting time when the Do It Yourself aesthetics of the punk generation 20 years prior helped inspire hungry artists and musicians to express themselves without restraint. Within Generation X were many independent local bands that gained popularity at home, but failed to attain a larger audience. Out of the historically turbulent Berkeley, CA… Continue
Added by Sound Check on June 29, 2011 at 9:00am — No Comments
The rap group Atmosphere has re-written the rule book when it comes to indie hip-hop. They are capable of selling a ton of records, selling out huge shows and even getting on some high profile radio festivals, while still maintaining their underground street cred. While other MC’s keep it real, Slug (aka Sean Daley) keeps it interesting and challenging. On the day after their latest disc dropped (The Family Sign) I had the opportunity to catch up with Slug on a plethora of… Continue
Added by Sound Check on April 18, 2011 at 11:59am — 1 Comment
© 2013 Created by Matthew.
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