On September 11th, the xx will release their second studio album Coexist through Young Turks featuring eleven brand new tracks. On lead single “Angels”, which will be the opener to the new album, the Londoners channel their indie contemporaries Beach House for a beautiful and blissful three minutes. Producer Jamie xx has mentioned that the new album would be a bit more dance-oriented and with roots in club music, but “Angels” is missing out on that sound and instead (and perhaps more approriately), the song is dreamy and angelic. Judge for yourself below.
Considering all the drama that’s been surrounding her, Azealia Banks has made it quite clear that she has an attitude and a personality, but when it comes to music, Banks has everything down pat. Her latest track is “Jumanji”, a song that will appear on her next mixtape. Over some steel drum production that seems to draw influence from Jamie xx, Azealia proves yet again that she has the talent to back up her attitude. I mean, it’s kind of hard to hate when she’s killing everything she actually appears on.
Following a critically acclaimed debut album and a fantastic year for their percussionist/beatmaker Jamie Smith (Jamie xx), The xx have finally returned to the studio to work on their second currently untitled album, and have released a demo for “Open Eyes” and a video with it for Christmas. The song, which you can check out on their blog or below, features singer Romy Madley Croft over an atmospheric and hazy backdrop. Although not much information on their sophomore album has been released yet, it should presumably be out mid 2012.
When Drake‘s sophomore record Take Care leaked a few days ago, one of the most talked about tracks was unfortunately not included in that version. That track, “The Ride” actually serves as the album’s closing track and features vocals from Drizzy’s good friend and fellow Toronto native, The Weeknd. Featuring production by Jamie xx, “The Ride” is almost 6 minutes long and features Drake dropping a number of great verses, slow falsettos from Abel, and solid production from Jamie xx. It’s a great combination that not only sounds good on paper, but is also actually even better when it reaches your ears.
Check it out below in all its glory and be sure to purchase Take Care once it is officially released on November 15th.
Producer Jamie xx teamed up with multimedia artist Quayola and his team, Abstract Birds, to create stunning visuals for a brand new track entitled “Progress”. Resembling a sort-of DNA strand, the video was created using two 15-meter HD screens and Partitura software as part of the ‘Structures’ project with Rizlab.
You can watch the video over at Rizlab’s webpage. More videos will be released as the week progresses, including recordings of Jamie xx and Quayola from a September 22nd live performance.
This week’s playlist is a collection of rap remixes of pop/indie songs. Sampling songs like these has become increasingly popular in the last few years and it’s resulted in some pretty creative songs. It’s always pleasant to listen to a track and recognize a familiar song that I already love, especially if the rapper does the sample justice. This week’s mix contains some chill rap and upbeat rap. Samples include “Don’t Stop Believin'” and “Rolling in the Deep”. Listen to the mix below:
There’s no denying that The xx‘s Jamie xx is an extremely talented solo producer. After producing The xx’s self-titled debut, the Mercury Prize Winner went on to remix the late Gil-Scott Heron on We’re New Here and then released a new single entitled “Far Nearer”. A few days ago, Jamie took over the DJ booth and spun a two-hour mix for the BBC Essential Mix series. You can listen to entire mix in full below, courtesy of Young Turks. There are some great songs included from such artists as Orbital, Wiley, James Blake, and ends with Jamie’s own mix of Radiohead‘s “Bloom”.
Full tracklisting for Jamie’s mix is available after the break.
New York-based rapper Hoodie Allen has announced that his forthcoming Leap Year mixtape will be released on July 26th. Like his previous mixtape, Pep Rally, Hoodie will be releasing it online for free download.
Hoodie tends to incorporate many indie samples into his work, including the works of The Black Keys, Beach House, and Gil-Scott Heron & Jamie xx in the past (just to name a few). His new work should be no different, as is shown by the brand new Leap Year trailer below. Excited? You should be.
Hit the break to see Hoodie’s upcoming tour dates.
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