Month: April 2018

UK-based Swiss born independent vocalist and songwriter FAY (born Nour Alessandra Fahmy) has an innovative approach to Pop and R&B. She started singing and experimenting with music from a young age quickly becoming clear that this is the path for her. Moving from Switzerland  to Amman in Jordan and finally to London has majorly affected the influence and style of music that she creates. Having been releasing music through Soundcloud for the past few years she has a repertoire of tracks that appeal to both the masses and niche audiences. In 2017 FAY released her first EP  ‘Purple’  collaborating with producers and artists from all around the world with her music falling under the genres we would expect from the likes of Ariana Grande and Selena Gomez to alternative artists like Banks or Lorde, but FAY does so in a way that sets her apart from the rest. The new single ‘Candy Crush’ was produced by Mantra and is out now on FAY Records. ‘Candy Crush’ has received phenomenal support from U.K Club DJ’s and hit the Top 30 of the official U.K Commercial Pop Charts at Music Week. FAY Online: Snapchat: @not.fay Instagram: @not.fay (www.instagram.com/not.fay) Facebook: @itsnotfay (www.facebook.com/itsnotfay) Twitter: […]

At more than 90 minutes, Mahler’s Symphony No. 3 is one of the longest symphonies ever written. In Haitink’s hands it becomes one of the most intense musical experiences imaginable. The natural, unforced sound matches the astonishingly wide dynamic range—particularly in the vast first movement, where peace is threatened by violent and constant brass outbursts, and in the Scherzando, where birdsong abuts marshal fanfares. Mezzo Gerhild Romberger is controlled and poised in the fourth-movement setting of Nietzsche’s “Midnight Song”, while the finale blazes bright in the awesome climaxes. This deservedly won Recording of the Year at the BBC Music Magazine Awards 2018. Get this now from: https://www.apple.com/uk/itunes

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 […]

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, […]

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 […]

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 

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 

Controversial rapper Jahseh Dwayne Onfroy (aka XXXTENTACION) plays fast and loose when it comes to genres, often incorporating elements of punk rock, hip-hop, R&B, and heavy metal. Born in South Florida, Onfroy had something of a troubled upbringing, often getting into violent situations; his mother couldn’t cope with raising him alone, so he was often forced to stay with various other guardians as a result. At an undisclosed age Onfroy was sent to a juvenile detention center on account of armed robbery; it was while there that he met friend and longtime collaborator Ski Mask the Slump God. After his release, both Onfroy and Ski Mask decided to get clean and pursue a career in music, setting up the Florida rap crew Members Only in the process. In 2014 Onfroy uploaded his first track to SoundCloud, “Vice City,” which quickly racked up hundreds of thousands of streams. Later the same year he released two EPs, The Fall and Ice Hotel; the broad array of genres and vocal styles — ranging from whispering and singing to rapping and outright screaming — earned Onfroy a cult following in under a year. In 2015, Onfroy released two collaborative albums, Members Only, Vol. 1 […]

Hertford-reared, Bristol-based singer/songwriter George Ezra possesses a deep, resonant, and emotionally weathered voice that belies his considerable youth. Influenced by similarly precocious troubadours like Bob Dylan and Hank Williams, Ezra was just 19 when he issued his debut single, “Budapest,” a warm, amiable, and soulful slice of classy folk-pop that invoked names like Willy Mason, Ben Howard, Ray LaMontagne, and Tom Odell. That song, along with three others, appeared on his 2013 debut EP, Did You Hear the Rain? Increased touring and an appearance at Glastonbury preceded his second EP, Cassy O’, which arrived in early 2014. “Budapest” was re-released in June of that year, followed a few weeks later by Ezra’s debut LP, Wanted on Voyage. The album entered the U.K. charts at number three and eventually climbed into the top spot by year’s end, earning him four Brit Award nominations and a North American tour supporting Sam Smith in early 2015. During this period he made his American television debut with appearances on Saturday Night Live and The Late Show with Stephen Colbert, increasing his exposure. In April 2017, Ezra announced a “top secret” U.K. tour, during which he would debut new material. It was accompanied by the […]

The Weeknd is the alias of alternative R&B enigma-turned-pop star Abel Tesfaye, whose aching accounts of emotionally and physically toxic indulgences have translated to multi-platinum sales and Grammy recognition. The singer and songwriter made his early-2010s breakthrough with morose ballads that seemed to have no designs on mainstream appeal. Within a few years, however, Tesfaye had scored Top Ten hits with an Ariana Grande duet (“Love Me Harder”), the lead single from a major motion picture (“Earned It”), and a retro-contemporary disco-funk single (“I Can’t Feel My Face”), the last of which was nominated for a Nickelodeon Kids’ Choice Award despite its subject (cocaine). Tesfaye received early support from Drake and scored his first Top Ten R&B/hip-hop placement as the featured artist on the fellow Torontonian’s “Crew Love,” but he swiftly outgrew his status as a Drake affiliate with his own hits and a streak of appearances on high-profile tracks by Wiz Khalifa, Future, Beyoncé, and Lana Del Rey. Tesfaye debuted the Weeknd in late 2010 with three songs uploaded to YouTube. Made with producer Jeremy Rose, they served as a low-key prelude to three mixtapes self-released as free digital downloads the following year. First was with House of Balloons […]

Part of the Atlanta trap wave, Rich the Kid emerged in 2013 with his debut mixtape Been About the Benjamins. Born Dimitri Roger in New York City, he moved to Atlanta as a teenager and got his start performing as “Black Boy the Kid” before changing his moniker. Influenced in equal measure by the two cities that shaped him, he owed much of his style to influences like Nas, Tupac, and Notorious B.I.G., as well as T.I. and Jeezy. After his first mixtape, he joined forces with fellow Atlanteans Migos. Along with the trio, Rich released a multi-year, three-part mixtape called Streets on Lock (a fourth collaboration, Still on Locks, was issued in 2015). His solo follow-up, Feels Good to Be Rich, arrived in 2014. The collection included multiple collaborations with the likes of Young Thug, Kirko Bangz, Soulja Boy, Riff Raff, French Montana, Kodak Black, and Yo Gotti. As his presence grew on the Atlanta scene, he recorded a single with Fetty Wap, the Zaytoven-produced “Keep It 100,” which amassed over two-million streams. In 2016, Rich started his own label, Rich Forever Music, releasing no less than four mixtapes, including a pair of compilations highlighting Rich Forever artists. That […]