Jack Chown is a producer and composer based in London who has recently worked behind the scenes for artists such as Benjamin Francis Leftwich, Tycho Jones and BIIANCO.
He’s now given birth to his own project: Kiskadee.
Taken from his upcoming ‘UP__DOWN EP‘, debut single ‘DOWN’ is a mesmerizing instrumental piece full of trippy vibes and gorgeous layers of sounds. Fans of Jamie XX and Bonobo shouldn’t miss it !
“The project began in early 2020 when I was gearing up for a creative trip to Iceland to collect sounds / visuals for this project. Covid hit and I was forced to rethink, instead reaching out to friends + musicians on social media; asking for them to send in voice-notes that reflected their experiences of lockdown and isolation.
I started flipping these sounds into beats and posted them onto instagram as I went. The instant feedback and back-and-forth from a growing community of fans/collaborators started to shape the sound of the project. After a while I set about cutting, combining and extending these posts into four tracks ready for release: the ‘UP__DOWN EP'” – He explains.
ALBRT is the project of Italian songwriter and producer Alberto Pagnin, born from his urgent desire to express himself by combining electronic pop music with minimal ambient and piano compositions.
His brand-new single, titled ‘With You‘, is a nocturnal electro banger full of dreamy vocals, smooth synths and massive dose of Jamie XX vibes.
Speaking about it, he explains: “I painted a melancholic harmony with the bass; but I wanted something more, something magical and nostalgic. I wanted to create an ethereal modern piece, something that makes you feel like you’re floating on a cloud. So I added harp arpeggio, dreamy vibes, reverb-soaked textures and my beloved piano on top of that. The result is ‘With You’, possibly the most romantic songs I’ve ever written”
James Blake releases the atmospheric ‘Are You Even Real?’, in partnership with Apple’s Behind The Mac campaign. Another contender to the evergrowing back catalogue of comforting masterpieces from the British producer and multi-instrumentalist.
We all know a Daniel, or perhaps we even are one – the one that gets “lost in the sauce, stoned, lost in some existential fear or lost his way in some VR game”, yet has so much to prove. Declan McKenna gives us a delicious taste of his forthcoming album, ‘Zeros’.
Sounds like: HUNNY, Sea Girls, Peach Pit, The Night Café, Chaz Cardigan, The Beatles, Circa Waves, The Magic Gang, Vistas, Love Fame Tragedy
Refreshing alt-pop artist Connie Constance bares all and dives into “an ocean of narcotics” in new single ‘James’, summing up how we all want to feel and act right now – to get a bit squiffy and then crawl back to bed.
Sounding particularly Glass Animals, and more instrumentally upbeat than previous releases, duo Tom Higham and Ben Fletcher – aka Aquilo – return after a two-year hiatus with the ‘Sober’ EP, featuring ‘Moving On’.
Singer and producer MAX RAD takes a positive stance with new single ‘It’ll All Be Fine’. Comparing the track to an out-of-body experience, he advises to look at the bigger picture, and stop internalising. Wise words.
Sounds like: Tash Sultana, Foals, Chet Faker, Honne, Ben Khan
Kllo shares ‘Insomnia’, another delightful taste of their upcoming sophomore album.
Heavily influenced during their separate times in North America, it reflects a sense of jet-lagged joy and displacement, the moment where your truth and imagination blur into one.
Sounds like: The xx, Jamie xx, Jessie Ware, Kudu Blue, Disclosure, Jorja Smith, Tei Shi, Skinshape, Tirzah, ABRA, Kelela
UK producer Mazoulew takes inspiration from various genres such as trip-hop, Motown, acid jazz and drum&bass.
His new single ‘Retrospective’ leans to the more ambient electronica instrumental with a focus on leaving the city and heading to the great unknown. To coincide with its release, he has put together an eclectic mix of songs for an Indietronica playlist.
You’ll be surprised at what songs he’s chosen!
Fugees – The Mask
The score was actually the first record I ever bought, I paid £1.5 in a charity shop for the cassette that I played so much it wore out completely. Definitely a defining album for me personally.
DJ Shadow – Building Steam With A Grain Of
I mean, Shadow kinda set the pace for the rest of us back in the day, what he did with the Endtroducing record was just beyond anything else at the time.
Massive Attack – Dissolved Girl
This album sounds as good today as it did 22 years ago when they dropped it, there is nothing else to say, it’s just a masterpiece and it truly opened my eyes and ears to new ideas.
RJD2 – Smoke & Mirrors
Like Shadow, RJD2 just shows you how it should be done, his approach to sampling and composition is second to none. His music has consistently stayed at the forefront of my life since I was introduced to him in the early 2000’s.
Eskmo – Cloudlight
I remember the first time I heard this track it was so fresh and inspiring to me. Most artists nowadays fall into traps within genres, Eskmo punch a hole in this for me and delivered a sound that I never really thought about before.
Gonzales – Overnight
I had to include this record as I think we can sometimes get a bit lost with the production and technology available to us, we can now manipulate and modulate anything into anything. Personally I think it’s important not to lose the fundamental of great composition and harmony.
Amon Tobin – Lost and Found
Amon is another producer that changed my life and my music tastes forever. His ability to reimagine sounds, manipulate source material, taking things that were never designed to go together and make them sound like they had always been that way is simply inspired.
Brushy One String – Grays in My Blues
I included Brushy for much the same reasons that I included Gonzales. When I heard this record a few things struck me, the fact that it is recorded on the side of the road and that brushy only has one string on a beat-up guitar. There is nothing fancy, no tricks or anything to hide behind, it’s just emotion and art in a very pure form.
Foreign Beggars – One Take
It’s with a heavy heart that yesterday I learned my friend Ebow Graham (Metropolis) passed away. The Foreign Beggars made a huge impact on my life and my music. I played ‘Asylum Speakers’ over and over while I was studying, then when I moved to London and actually became friends with these guys I felt incredibly honoured and lucky to have them in my life.
Louis Armstrong – What a Wonderful World
It’s a strange time to be alive in 2020, every day you can turn on the news and for one reason or another there is reason to get a little stressed out with things, to say the least. I think we all need to remember, between all the headlines and noise, there really is some amazing stuff happening in the world still and we should all take a minute sometimes to stop and appreciate it.
Sounds like: Bicep, Kidnap, Model Man, Lane 8, Jamie xx
Thank goodness Kllo is ‘Still Here’. We were getting worried that they hadn’t released any music for quite some time, especially when we heard there was a near breakup on the cards!
Using this time to reset and come back stronger, their upcoming album ‘Maybe We Could’ is ten tracks pairing the rhythms of dance music to emotive chords and melodies; revealing two artists at their strongest yet most vulnerable, operating as their truest selves, honest with each other and their craft.
‘Still Here’ is an experimental pop with lush sweet piano chords and ’90s rave-style drums. The accompanying, directed by MattSav and shot in Perth, was shot entirely on 16mm film.
Director Matt Sav says,
“I wanted the video to be a poetic depiction of two people staying in a relationship beyond its logical end. I explored the interplay between love, obsession, imagined futures, lived pasts and the insanity that can be found in between. In our relationships, especially without good definitions around what love really means to us, we find the edges of freedom and responsibility blurring.”
Pre-order’Maybe We Could’ here. It’s out on 17 July.
Sounds like: The xx, Jamie xx, Jessie Ware, Kudu Blue, Disclosure, Jorja Smith, Tei Shi, Skinshape
After a quiet 12 months, Kllo shares ‘Back To You’.
A new chapter for the band, the song follows on from its predecessors’ minimalistic approach with subtle, bittersweet twists along the way.
Speaking about the track, Kllo explains,
“‘Back To You’ draws influences from the early 2000s. We had an old school approach when it came to the recording process by incorporating cassettes for the ad-libs and an old sampler for the main riff,” says (Chloe) Kaul. ‘We’d spent some time in LA recently, and being there reminded us of the ‘American sound’ that we both grew up with. ‘Back To You’ is a good insight into what’s to come in our next body of work.'”
LIVE
Saturday 26 October – Moscow, Russia
Monday 28 October – Dublin, Ireland
Tuesday 29 October – Bristol, United Kingdom (last tickets)
Wednesday 30 October – London, United Kingdom (sold out)
Thursday 31 October – Berlin, Germany (last tickets)
Sunday 3 November – Utrecht, Netherlands (last tickets)
Saturday 9 November – Brooklyn, NY, USA
Monday 11 November – San Diego, CA, USA
Friday 15 November – San Francisco, CA, USA (last tickets)
Saturday 16 November – Los Angeles, CA, USA (last tickets)
Tuesday 19 November – Melbourne, Australia
Saturday 30 November – Sydney, Australia (last tickets)
Sounds like: The xx, Jamie xx, Jessie Ware, Kudu Blue, Disclosure, Jorja Smith, Tei Shi
Elecro-pop duo The Bliss (aka pop songstress TYSM (Chelsea Davenport) and hip-hop/electronic producer/guitarist Felix Snow) shares new track, ‘Shiny Days’.
Described by Felix as the “dining room table anthem,” ‘Shiny Days’ is a true charmer that encapsulates a summertime love.
We are huge fans of quirky Icelandic electro-pop provacateur Máni Orrason‘s new single ‘Numb’. In fact, we are slightly obsessed with all of the visuals for his last few releases, portraying a broken yet endearing persona of desperation and a need for love.
The visuals for ‘Numb’ flashback to straying and emotional neglect, “I had this desperate need to be seen and to be comforted. I guess i was really lonely at the time”, Máni recalls.
The EP ‘BABY ANGEL’ is out now via Humming Records.
It’s time to end this week’s gems on a funky number from cross Atlantic trio, TriOrca.
Comprised of multi-instrumentalists and writers, who between them have an ecclectic array of work connections – including Jessie J, Sam Henshaw, Empire of the Sun – their modern, yet nostalgic music fuses neo-soul, hip hop and 70’s psychedelica.
