Isolation – Kali Uchis

Inspired by a range of styles and artists, including classic pop-soul and M.I.A., Kali Uchis (Karly Loaiza) is a left-field pop singer, songwriter, and producer who also designs her own artwork and co-directs her music videos. Born in Colombia, she and her family moved to the U.S. during her childhood. As a teenager growing up in Alexandria, Virginia, just south of Washington, D.C., she learned to play piano and saxophone and got into recording. In 2012, she debuted with the 40-minute mixtape Drunken Babble. Within three years, she had several singles to her credit, including “Know What I Want” and “Lottery,” as well as collaborations with GoldLink (“Divine”) and Major Lazer (“Wave”), among others. Following the independent release of Por Vida — a free digital-download EP with tracks produced by Diplo, Kaytranada, and Tyler, the Creator — Uchis started releasing her material through Virgin EMI. A DJ Dahi-tweaked version of Por Vida’s “Ridin Round,” issued in November 2015 after she relocated to Los Angeles, was the artist’s first single for the major label. “Only Girl,” a relaxed Kaytranada production featuring Vince Staples and the Internet’s Steve Lacy, followed in April 2016. January 2018 saw the release of the single “After […]

Geography – Tom Misch

London-based producer/singer/songwriter Tom Misch blends hip-hop-inspired beats with smoothly soulful vocals and guitar. The son of an artist and a psychiatrist, he grew up in a home that encouraged creativity, and learned to play violin at a young age via the Suzuki method. While he was still a child, his family also discovered Misch could sing when he belted out Patrick Watson’s “Man Like You” one day after school. After listening to rock music for most of his childhood and teens, he discovered hip-hop during his sixth form years thanks to one of his sister’s boyfriends, and was particularly inspired by the work of J Dilla. Misch started making his own beats and took classes in music technology, and began posting tracks online in 2012. Up-and-coming rappers sampled his beats in their own work, and Misch also collaborated with local singer/songwriter Carmody, ultimately releasing the Out to Sea EP with her in 2014. That year, he also issued Beat Tape 1, a collection of instrumental tracks that included “Dilla Love,” an homage to his idol that earned approval from Dilla’s mother, Maureen Yancey. “Memory,” Misch’s debut single on his own Beyond the Groove label, arrived that July. The following year, […]

Golden – Kylie Minogue

On the one hand, in the pop music arena, worldbeaters such as Kylie Minogue are few and far between. Singers and performers of her stature and popularity rarely maintain their power for as long as she has. Her streaks of number one singles in both Australia and the U.K. are nearly insurmountable. And yet, on the other hand, her inability to really crack open the American pop market over the course of her career is a story that is heard all too often from groups hailing from nations as pop powerful as Australia and the U.K. Eventually, with the hugely successful “Can’t Get You Out of My Head,” Kylie would rattle the American pop psyche, reminding the rather insular scene that the bubbly girl who had first made waves with the 1987 cover of “The Loco-Motion” had developed into a stylish, experienced, and able pop performer with a clear agenda — both musically and visually — and the chops to match. To focus on Minogue’s American problem would only be looking at a small fraction of the larger story. Born in Melbourne, Australia on May 28, 1968, Kylie began acting in television dramas at the age of 12. Although the […]

AMERICA – Thirty Seconds to Mars

Thirty Seconds to Mars’ maximalist rock has always been a vehicle for big ideas: Jared Leto and crew explore themes of war and peace, sexuality, freedom, and faith through concept albums and glossy videos. But the widescreen focus of AMERICA may provide the group’s broadest statement yet. In an attempt to survey, as he put it, “the good, bad, and the ugly” about his homeland, Leto even hitchhiked cross-country to promote the record. Guest turns from A$AP Rocky (“One Track Mind”) and Halsey (“Love Is Madness”) both draw parallels between romance and insanity. But Leto seems to have a different form of madness in mind on “Hail to the Victor” as he cries, “Another night, another war/Another ‘What are we fighting for?’/Is everybody out here crazy?” Muzicmirror selections – GET this hot new release from iTunes UK 

Invasion of Privacy – Cardi B

Cardi B’s “Bodak Yellow,” the most chantable song of 2017, introduced the Bronx MC’s lively around-the-way-girl persona to the world. Her debut album, Invasion of Privacy, reveals more of Cardi’s layers, the MC leaning forcefully into her many influences. “I Like It,” featuring Bad Bunny and J Balvin, is a nod to her Afro-Caribbean roots, while “Bickenhead” reimagines Project Pat’s battle-of-the-sexes classic “Chickenhead” as a hustler’s anthem. There are lyrical winks at NYC culture (“Flexing on b*tches as hard as I can/Eating halal, driving a Lam”), but Cardi also hits on universal moments, like going back and forth with a lover (“Ring”) and reckoning with infidelity (“Thru Your Phone”). Muzicmirror selections – GET this hot new release from iTunes UK