2016/09 on Da Hip Hop Place

Downie - "Unavailable" Single

Fri, 30 Sep 2016 00:00:00 +0000

Downie - “Unavailable” Single

FACEBOOK: https://www.facebook.com/pages/Downie/121552454596379

Downie has been singing in front of audiences since she was a very small girl. She began her formal vocal training as a young teenager performing classical , pop and jazz music. Whether in a recording studio or live, Downie is a seasoned vocalist with a wide range, able to execute all genre’s of music with emontial depth and creativity.

Downie revieved rave reviews in Japan where for four years she performed to sell out crowds in the clubs and hotels. She also performed with on the Dennis Bono show Live In Las Vegas with Grammy winning singer, Crystal Gayle. Her latest single is called “Unavailable.” If you’ve ever been in the position Downie is singing about, you can pick right up on this single and enjoy it time and again. If you haven’t that’s okay because you don’t have to in order to like it. This isn’t the type of thing you turn off when it’s playing. There is really nothing bad you can say about it. It might be a little too short but it’s undeniably good. It will sit at the top of my playlist for weeks, I can already say that. If you like pop, country, jazz and Americana, then this is right up your alley. It will do the business and then some. But if the feather light sound that you hear doesn’t turn your ears on, I can only wonder what will. Put it altogether and to each their own, but I was glad to hear Downie like a new wind through the trees. More was the first thing that sprung to mind when I heard “Unbelievable,” so it’s only an entry level review concerning the artist. But as for the song I’m on board the train.

Stevie Pre Greatest Hits

Fri, 23 Sep 2016 00:00:00 +0000

Stevie Pre Greatest Hits

URL: https://steviepre.com/

These past few years over in the UK and across Europe the music scene has seen this humongous surge of djing. With bands producing some the wickedest sounds falling under labels such as Dark ambient, Drone music, Breakbeat, Acid breaks, Baltimore club, Berlin School, Dubtronica, Ethnic electronica, French house, Funky house, Dubstep, Brostep, Chillstep, Acousmatic music, Musique concrète, Tribal house to only name a few, there seems to be an endless market of creativity to choose from. Djing has opened doors to many who never felt like they quite belonged in the structure of the triangle: lead, bass, drum in their raw forms. And now that this genre of wide open ability has filtered its way across the globe and is spinning the 21st Century of globalization to unify the masses music has certainly set her course of change. The age of electronics in multiple forms is here and it is here to stay. Integrated or on its own, this is the new millennium’s birth.

Jokatech – Standing Still Symphony

Wed, 21 Sep 2016 00:00:00 +0000

Jokatech – Standing Still Symphony

URL: https://jokatech.webs.com/

The latest two songs from indie hip hop songwriter and New York City native Jokatech are further entries in a successful artistic career. While Jokatech may not enjoy the same marquee notoriety experienced by more commercial performers, there’s little question after listening to his music that this is a songwriter and performer of rare distinction. His lyrical constructions are full of fire, intelligence, sarcastic humor, and the preening self-confidence while he shows the phrasing of a three decade or more veteran when delivering his songs. He is, essentially, an one man band responsible for the lyrics, melodies, and backing track and the responsibilities do not seem to have negatively affected his creativity. Instead, he sounds positively inspired. This is an artist unafraid of entertaining his listeners, but moreover, he’s unafraid to plumb into the depths of his life and return to the surface with something that might resonate or otherwise enlighten you.

The Retakes – Trash (EP)

Wed, 14 Sep 2016 00:00:00 +0000

The Retakes – Trash (EP)

FACEBOOK: https://www.facebook.com/TheRetakes

Imagine if you will. A time. A place. A moment. A transcending space where The Pixies and Lou Reed along with Nico had a cataclysmic orgy and in the final spent climatic escapade a dying star that ejected itself from that climax soared across the milk way. It was along its projection that it spawned before its light extinguished. In that sanctimonious point in time a genesis of rebirth screamed in pain and a band called, The Retakes, oozed and crawled up from the primordial slime to deliver a second take.

Thomas Charlie Pedersen - Second Hand War

Tue, 13 Sep 2016 00:00:00 +0000

Thomas Charlie Pedersen - Second Hand War

FACEBOOK: https://www.facebook.com/thomas.c.pedersen

Thomas Charlie Pedersen, on his first solo album Second Hand War, cannot be accused of attempting to remake the wheel. Instead, he relies on traditional folk music forms and a solid approach in the singer/songwriter vein to convey his deeply reflective, witheringly honest, and unflinching lyrical narratives. Much of his lyrical point of view is first person, but don’t let that suggest this is solely some exercise in self-pity or self-punishment. Pedersen writes just as convincingly about other characters in his song as he does about himself or his fictional narrators. The music is lean, cut down to the bone, and the stripped back setting allows a chance for Pedersen’s voice and words to shine as never before. The result is a fourteen song collection where no two songs sound exactly alike and everything beats with a massive, all-encompassing heart. Second Hand War is real music made by real people for real people.

Kim Vogels - Native

Tue, 06 Sep 2016 00:00:00 +0000

Kim Vogels - Native

URL: https://www.kimvogels.com/

Being brought up surrounded by so many different cultures, Kim Vogels was drawn to the power and energy of the original sound of those worlds i.e. Flamenco, Klezmer, Celtic, early Persian, Gypsy, Native American, Folk & Blues etc. Even though these musical styles are all quite different from each other, they hold a similarity in their powerful connection to their culture. “Native” is the EP which also includes a promo video for the track “Call Of The Wild.”

Porcelain People – Streetlights

Tue, 06 Sep 2016 00:00:00 +0000

Porcelain People – Streetlights

FACEBOOK: https://www.facebook.com/PorcelainPeopleMusic/

First releases, in any genre, are seldom this good. Porcelain People are a duo compromised of Josh Thornhill and Fred Kalil. They hail from southern Louisiana and are serving up a particular brand of electro pop quite a bit unlike anything offered by their peers. Thornhill’s profoundly melodic and flexible voice matches up well with Kalil’s expansive and varied electronic textures. Piano, synthesizer, and keyboards are recorded with equal clarity and blended in quite an impressive way. No one component takes precedence in the mix and, instead, the duo have mixed the individual parts into a seamless and forceful whole. There are many highpoints scattered among the album’s thirteen songs, but there’s also no filler dragging things down. These are fully realized songs with imagination and technique working together in concert to produce the desired results.

Angie and the Deserters - Blood Like Wine

Fri, 02 Sep 2016 00:00:00 +0000

Angie and the Deserters - Blood Like Wine

URL: https://www.angieandthedeserters.com/

This is rough and ready music for passionate people. Angie and the Deserters won’t let you set on the fence – they win listeners over with a rare combination of intelligence, torrid emotion, and outright musical virtuosity. The songwriting on their latest release, Blood Like Wine, is smart without ever flying over the head of its intended audience, but it also does an excellent job of capturing the intensity of the lives lived out in vocalist Angie Bruyere’s lyrical content. The band is obviously top shelf in every way, but much like the lyrical content, their obviously extensive skill set never gets in the way of their central mandate – communicating and moving their audiences in some small, but significant, way. Bruyere’s vocals are key to this and the production does an excellent job without ever losing the important musical adventure going on around her. It’s an EP and, naturally, a relatively brief collection, but it accomplishes much in a condensed amount of space.

Bob Lien - Color of Sky

Fri, 02 Sep 2016 00:00:00 +0000

Bob Lien - Color of Sky

URL: https://www.boblien.com/

Color of Sky is very much in the Americana tradition, but it reaches ambitiously beyond that for a synthesis of dreamy folk music coupled with vibrant string arrangements. The collision of styles creates truly imaginative musical fireworks but there isn’t a single component in any track keyed to overwhelm listeners. This tastefulness extending over the course of Color of Sky’s ten songs never wavers and is part and parcel of high level artistry reaching far beyond the purview of typical recordings in the folk song idiom. The production job courtesy of Cyrus Rhodes does a remarkable job of bringing all of these parts into seamless interplay with each other – nothing sounds disjointed or out of place and, instead, there is a consistency of sound and approach that complements the material and Lien’s bell-clear vocals.

Cody Webb - Self-Titled

Fri, 02 Sep 2016 00:00:00 +0000

Cody Webb - Self-Titled

URL: https://codywebbcountry.com/music/

There’s a major push behind one of Nashville’s latest bright talents, Cody Webb, and every bit of the hype is deserved. His self-titled six song debut EP is a vibrant and style-spanning collection with instrumental prowess to spare and an inspired attitude that cuts across genre with confidence and skill. Webb’s country leanings are peppered a great deal by rock and pop influences, but melody remains the critical element driving these songs. His capacity for invention is considerable and his instincts for weaving melody through his instrumental attack and presenting accessible, uncluttered musical landscapes. This is thoughtful music that, in turns, brings a smile to the face. Webb’s vocal tenor is that of a steady friend, someone listeners can count on to deliver the goods time after time. His growing experience as a live performer informs these songs with a practical aesthetic resisting even the faintest hint of self indulgence.

Jupiter in Velvet - The One in the Many

Fri, 02 Sep 2016 00:00:00 +0000

Jupiter in Velvet - The One in the Many

URL: https://jupiterinvelvet.com/

Iconoclasts stand out. In our world of cookie cutter pop stars with the shelf life of vegetable, the performer/songwriter who writes vibrant material referencing influences while still blazing its own path is increasingly a rarity. American born and UK based Jupiter in Velvet culls from a handful of influences to fashion a distinctive and varied musical attack with an unwavering melodic base. His guitar pyrotechnics seem inexhaustible – they spark, crackle, soar, and growl, but they never fail to find room to sing. His vocals are, likewise, always on the money. Jupiter in Velvet isn’t any sort of Pavarotti, but his voice has remarkable elasticity and inhabits each of the album’s ten songs with tremendous verve and personality. The production highlights each song’s individual strengths in thrilling ways and has undeniable warmth.