All posts by Anastim Ducray

Black Astronaut – Charles Luck Feat. Tino Red – Lift Off

liftoff

One noticeable pattern in much of Charles Luck and his associates’ work is the positivity and uplifting nature of the content. This isn’t just limited to the lyrics but also is evident in the music itself. The beats, the tonality, the melody and even the choice of sounds lends itself creating a positive atmosphere. “Lift Off” (Featuring Tino Red) is no exception to this. Even the title hints at optimism about the future, or at least a possible future.

Where “Lift Off” succeeds is in allowing hip hop to explore new dreamlike themes while managing to avoid a lot of the tired cliches that have stifled meaningful creativity in the genre. One of the great things about the internet, is that it has made collaboration with far away artists more feasible than ever before. Such collaboration results in interesting collectives and ambitious projects such as “Lift Off.”

The song is smooth and mellow, without trying to be slick or clever. Tino Red delivers his rhymes with a relaxed and methodical musicality. One doesn’t hear the stirrings of any misplaced angst in his voice or get the sense that he has a chip on his shoulder. I’m confident these guys will continue to put out good quality work because they’re talented and appear to be in this for the right reasons.

https://soundcloud.com/blackastronautx/charles-luck-ft-tino-red-lift-off

Daniell Nelson – Tomorrow

Daniell_Nelson__Toworrow_proof

Artist Daniell Nelson has a new track out called “Tomorrow.” It’s hip hop/R&B but with kind of a jazzy, tribal feel to it. The lyrics are reflective and socially aware, illustrating a depth which elevates Nelson’s music above that of most other similar artists. “Tomorrow” is an authentic experience and the song itself is smooth and pleasant to listen to from beginning to end. Daniell wisely chose to focus on substance rather than flash and hype when creating this jam, and it worked.

https://www.facebook.com/therealDaniellNelson/

Armond Jason – I Know

Youtube_Cover

Armond Jason, “a singer, songwriter, recording engineer, and music producer from Midlothian, Virginia” has a new single out called “I Know.” The production quality of the vid is pretty good and incorporates a lot of gold color tones, which makes sense given that it’s the opening song on his debut album, “The Gold Album: Signature.” The song has a delightful, chimey intro. Stylistically, the music is kind of hard to categorize. It has elements of pop, hip hop, R&B and even electro. The backing music is especially good quality, and this seems like it could be a worthy club jam.

For more info:
https://twitter.com/armondjason
https://www.facebook.com/armondjasongranger

Grynd Seazon and Noah Archangel – Grynd Seazon

Grynd_Seazon_1400

Houston based artists Grynd Season and Noah Archangel (Band of the Hawk) bring to you the new song “EZ” featured on the album titled “Grynd Season.” The style is reminiscent of the golden days of early 90’s hip hop, which is laid back and smooth but not frivelous. Unlike a lot of other contemporary hip hop, “EZ” refreshingly takes a straightforward approach to production. The artists don’t utilize unnecessary effects or over-process vocals the way many misguided young hip hop producers. This helps Grynd Season and Noah Archangel achieve an authentic mature sound that stays true to their influences, while incorporating some of their own modern flavor.

https://soundcloud.com/noah-archangel/sets/grind-seazon-warm-up-mixtape
http://www.bandofthehawk.com/
http://facebook.com/noahofhtx

NatStar – Anatymous

anatymous

Natstar is an artist, producer, and songwriter from Charlotte, NC. He’s looking to catapult himself out of the unknown, with his new album, “Anatymous.” The album contains 13 tracks and Natstar utilizes an array of different samples and instruments for the backing, giving the songs some intra-variety. The 2nd song, “Roulette” is probably my favorite jam on the album. The female vocals help to further enhance an otherwise decent track. The other solid song is probably “Dagga,” which has a wonderfully chimey and uplifting backbeat. Natstar also seems the most laid back and authentic on this track.

For more info:
Album: http://www.audiomack.com/album/nveglobal/anatymous
Link to Mobile App:http://officialnatstar.com/anatymous

Han Sino – The Blue Shapes Score

sino

Based in Paris, France, Han Sino has released a new album called, “The Blue Shapes Core.” He describes his style as “groovy instrumental” and “NuJazz.” After listening to his latest release I think that’s a very accurate description of his sound. It is kind of a “psychedelic Jazz.” His songs typically open with some quiet and minimal bass lines, soon introducing other instruments until the music builds into a colorful and dreamlike kaleidoscope of sound. The tracks all have single word titles like “Azure,” “Turquoise,” “Persian,” and so on. According to Han, these are intended to represent “the imaginary soundtrack of erotic and fairy-like variations of the color blue.” The titles help to create a certain ambiance for each song, thus enhacing the listening experience by giving your mind something to visualize with the experience.

PIX_Han_Sino_by_Davy_Dav_ART_by_Han_Sino_sepia__024

The songs frequently change within themselves, with some parts being very different from the next, giving them a bit of unpredictability throughout. This works very well because it makes you want to listen to the entire song see where it could go, but also sometimes takes the song in odd directions. “Azure” has one of the best intros on the album and incorporates a kind of “chime” sound which gives it a uniqueness to an otherwise psychedelic sound. “Indigo” is another song which makes use of the chimes. My favorite track on “The Blue Shapes Score” is probably “Pastel.” The melody of the strings and echo give the song a kind of fantasy world quality. Listening to it, I pictured elves playing in the forest. “Methylene” is another example of this quality. It’s also one of the few tracks that doesn’t begin with a bass intro. Rather it introduces the full dream sequence immediately which makes it stand out from all the others.

Hans has a lot to be proud of with this release. It’s very pleasant and creative. Some of this music would be ideal for a film soundtrack, but otherwise it would be good to listen to on a long drive, or even if you’re trying to relax and want to put on your headphones and escape the sounds of a loud city.

You can find more information about Hans below:
https://hansino.bandcamp.com/
https://twitter.com/hansinomusic
https://www.youtube.com/channel/UCJEJnos97MVSa3jCpBVA8VQ

Ace – Earotic EP

EaraticFront

Hip hop artist Ace Drucci has a slick new EP out called “Earotic.” It’s a lot brighter and more colorful than I was expecting. At times the backing and some of the vocals remind me of a mix of hip hop and early 90s rave music. Earotic has a very “summertime party” feel to it. Ace’s lyrics are often light hearted and deal with good times with friends and his crew. Musically, my favorite track on this EP is probably “Put Your Hands Up” which has excellent production quality and was mixed to perfection.

http://www.acedruccimusic.com/
Earotic on iTunes

Pixelfox – Journey Room

Journey_Room_Artwork

Journey Room is the debut album from “Pixelfox,” an artist based in Los Angeles whose real name is Eddie Ozarie. He describes it is being “inspired by daily experiences, travels, new places, new experiences” and that it contains “uplifting themes.” The word “uplifting” is actually a great way to describe Journey Room. The track “Life,” for example is energetic and brims with a cheerful and bright ambiance. The song starts out light and bouncy and then builds into a more epic and emotive chorus.

A similar pattern emerges with other tracks like “Maybe the Next Time,” which utilizes empty, almost spoken word styled verses to set up lush and vibrant choruses. After listening to a couple of these songs you start to anticipate these full and colorful choruses like a dopamine rush.

pxlfx

Journey Room has a peppy kind of early 90’s pop feel to it. The recording quality is great. I wouldn’t have guessed that it was “fully produced and recorded in his Los Angeles apartment,” though I realize home recording has come a long way in the last 10 years. This is an excellent release, and hopefully this artist will continue to put out more great stuff.

For more info:
http://www.pixelfoxmusic.com/

Makoto Holmberg – Slow Night EP

holmberg

Makoto Holmberg’s appropriately titled EP, “Slow Night,” is exactly the kind of thing I like to get the chance to review here, since its synthwavy nature puts it under the umbrella of genres I actually enjoy. You get the idea right away with “Crouched Clouds,” the opening number. It’s very chill and almost hypnotic. The songs evoke the ambiance of a dark rainy night in a futuristic city. The pacing of the songs is mellow and methodical, with the exception of the “Riccardo Noè 4th Dimension Remix” version of “Dust and Mirrors,” which has a slightly more upbeat and peppy tempo. That’s probably my favorite track on this EP, and I found myself listening to it multiple times. I’d recommend this EP to anyone going for a drive in the middle of the night.

J-Hen – On To The Next

jhen

Dallas hip hop/R&B artist “J-Hen” has a video out for his new single “On to the Next.” The direction and production is very high quality and though J-Hen is from Dallas, the music video has a very Miami kind of aesthetic. The intro itself (musically and visually) has an early 90s  tropical beach movie aesthetic.  The song transitions between romantic and soulful R&B hip hop that marks J-Hen’s style and assertive hip hop (featuring Virginia based rapper Yng Rell.)  “On to the Next” comes across as a solid effort from J-Hen, which I could easily picture packing dance floors in hip hop night clubs, with its infectious back beat.

For more info:
http://www.j-hen.com/