... the other Black experience
West African rhythms collide with a reggae feel, mixing analog synths and acoustic guitars on the latest from Ghanaian-born singer-songwriter Kae Sun. Afriyie opens with the transcendent and meditative “Blackstar Rising.” One of the softer tracks on a record filled with ebullient danceable tracks, it's an oddly bold move. But it sets the tone for the rest of the record. Kae Sun makes oddly bold choices left and right on Afriyie and he pulls them off one after…
Added by Sound Check on June 19, 2013 at 12:00pm — No Comments
M.I.A. is premiering 'Bring The Noize' today on DJ Zane Lowe's show (BBC Radio 1, 7pm GMT). The high-energy track is the new single off her upcoming record 'Matangi', to be released later this year. In the meanwhile, check a snippet on her website. - L.
* Update: single now available below: …
Added by Sound Check on June 17, 2013 at 10:30am — 2 Comments
The pop culture landscape is littered with the remains of careers who were very nearly “made” through an appearance on a reality show. It's a difficult situation to be in. One minute you have cameras, a cheering crowd, millions of people who suddenly know your name. Then the cameras shut off one day, and you're known forever as: So-and-So, former contestant on Dancing with Cats and Also Donald Trump is There and A Very Angry British Person Who Yells a Lot Because Why…
Added by Sound Check on June 17, 2013 at 10:00am — No Comments
AFROPUNK Fest alum Toro y Moi is still doing by things. Check his remix of Billie Holiday's "My Man" for the newest installment of 'Verve Remixed: The First Ladies' (due out July 16). The record will also feature remixes by Bassnectar, Azari & III, TOKiMONSTA and more (see artwork below).…
Added by Sound Check on June 14, 2013 at 10:05am — No Comments
We're hearing that Ms. Amel Larrieux has a new song out. Pump up the volume and check out funky number 'Afraid' below while you wait for her new album (coming soon, we hope).
via SoulBounce.…
Added by Sound Check on June 12, 2013 at 10:30am — No Comments
This Wu-Tang Clan 20th Anniversary is getting better and better! Their new single 'Family Reunion' is banging (stream/download the radio rip below). New LP 'A Better Tomorrow' due out in July.
+ grab another free download here.…
Added by Sound Check on June 5, 2013 at 11:03am — 2 Comments
I was laid up in a hospital bed hooked up to a morphine drip the first time I ever heard Death Grips. Though Exmilitary has maintained a regular position on my playlist, it's taken a year and a half for someone to match that feeling of exhilaration, confusion, and total sensory overload. Brooklyn's…
Added by Sound Check on May 31, 2013 at 10:30am — No Comments
About 15 minutes ago I came out to my parents. “So you're bi? Whatever. Bill, do you care? [mumbles something I couldn't hear over the phone] No, your father doesn't care either.” It was actually pretty disappointing how anti-climactic it was. But the general endorphin high of getting something off my chest that I've been putting off for embarrassingly long is making the queercore (they also call themselves “homopop”) of Aye Nako's debut sound especially awesome right now. Or…
Added by Sound Check on May 27, 2013 at 9:30am — No Comments
Oh sheeeeeet! This one is not for the faint of heart: CX KiDTRONiK released 'Let's Go Krazy' featuring Atari Teenage Riot - a new single from his upcoming record 'KRAK ATTACK 2: BALLAD OF ELLI SKIFF' (out May 28). The new album will feature collabs with DOOM, Digable Planet's Ladybug Mecca, Lady Miss Kier (Deee-lite) and many more. Stay tuned for our review coming soon... L. C-D…
Added by Sound Check on May 24, 2013 at 9:30am — No Comments
Straight out of Botswana comes some of the most ferocious death metal you'll hear in 2013. Wrust formed back in 2000 when there were only a small handful of metal bands on the entire continent. Now playing the part of living legend (with singer/guitarist Stux Daemon as the sole remaining original member), Wrust just released their latest full length record Intellectual Metamorphosis.…
Added by Sound Check on May 24, 2013 at 8:30am — 1 Comment
"Extreme Metal/Hardcore" in your face with Alekhine’s Gun, representing Brooklyn and the New York City metal scene (you may have caught them at Trash Bar in Brooklyn?). Alekhine’s Gun are AP member Jessica The Crusher Pimentel (vocals), Jeff Martinez (guitars), Daniel Martinez (bass) and Angel Cotte (drums). Check out their EP 'Meditations in Wrath' below, featuring hard-hitting music and lyrics about…
Added by Sound Check on May 22, 2013 at 10:46am — 6 Comments
In case you've been living under a rock: The White Mandingos are Murs, Darryl Jenifer, Sacha Jenkins SHR. They just revealed a new track from their upcoming punk rock/hip-hop album 'The Ghetto Is Tryna Kill Me' (coming June 11). It's called 'Warn A Brotha'.…
Added by Sound Check on May 22, 2013 at 10:00am — No Comments
Yesterday, May 19th was Malcolm X's birthday. Had he not been gunned down at age 39, Malcolm would have been 88 this weekend. Despite being often mentioned in the same breath as Dr. King, it doesn't seem likely we'll see a nationally recognized Malcolm X Day in the US any time soon. The firebrand Civil Rights leader's legacy is still being dissected even among his admirers, and probably will be for a long time. So in honor of his immeasurable impact on Civil Rights, Black…
Added by Sound Check on May 20, 2013 at 9:00am — 3 Comments
It's maybe weird to call yourself a fan of a band after only hearing one track, but that's how it went with American Fangs. The first time I heard “Le Kick” on the Afropunk Vol 2 comp I was hooked. I hunted for their album. But no luck. Since 2009 they've released a few singles and an EP and a WWE theme song because why the hell not?…
Added by Sound Check on May 15, 2013 at 9:00am — No Comments
Are you in the mood for some "homopop, queercore, punk, non-college rock, bullshit"? Brooklyn-based band Aye Nako got just what you need with their new track 'For The Inverted'. Debut album 'Unleash Yourself' to be released on May 31.…
Added by Sound Check on May 14, 2013 at 12:49pm — 1 Comment
There are some collaborations that seem like they'd make perfect sense on paper, and yet somehow fail to work. (I remember being so excited when I first heard that one of the 90's greatest singers - Chris Cornell - would be teaming up with the 90's greatest rhythm section - Rage Against the Machine - for what turned out to be the 2000's most meh band. No matter how good they may taste separately, nobody wants a peanut butter and goat cheese sandwich.) Then there are other…
Added by Sound Check on May 13, 2013 at 1:15pm — No Comments
The eclectic, eccentric, and prolific Labtekwon has just released 2 new tracks from his upcoming record Evolutionary: The Omar Akbar Album – State of the Art and you definitely owe it to yourself to check it out. Like his previous jams the vocals are less rhymes or lyrics and more stream of conscious beat poetry. There are no hooks. The lyrics only occasionally rhyme or fit any consistent rhythm. And that's sort of why it's glorious.
The first track…
Added by Sound Check on May 8, 2013 at 9:33am — 1 Comment
Bam! Pump up the volume and check out hip-hop artist/Def Poetry Jam alum Narubi Selah's new album 'Architect: Sacred Geometry'. The girl goes IN, speaking her mind about social issues, art and more in an explosive brand of slam.
Check out two hard-hitting cuts from the album below and click HERE to download it and listen to…
Added by Sound Check on May 7, 2013 at 10:30am — 2 Comments
Toronto-based singer Melanie Durrant serves big voice and musical drama with her latest single 'Gone'. She basically tells it like it is to the "other woman": "he only wants you when I'm gone". Stream it below and let us know what you think. - L.…
Added by Sound Check on May 7, 2013 at 9:39am — No Comments
Amongst a frenzy of court appearances, media headlines and blog posts, Lauryn Hill released new music this past Friday. On her Tumblr, she addressed her disliking for having to rush the release of new material, necessary in order to meet a legal…
Added by Sound Check on May 6, 2013 at 9:33am — 9 Comments
© 2013 Created by Matthew.
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