What I've Been Listening To, 9/03/20
Ok, third newsletter, think I’m getting the hang of this
Startisha - Naeem
9 tracks, 33 minutes
Released: June 12th, 2020
From: Baltimore, Maryland
Genres: Hip-Hop, Baltimore Club, R&B
Recommended For Fans Of: Blood Orange, Goldlink
Naeem is the reinvention of Baltimore artist Spank Rock, now releasing music under his first name. Sessions for this album started four years ago in Philadelphia, and continued into sessions at Bon Iver’s Minneapolis home studio, where he worked on the artist’s 2019 album i, i. Startisha represents a creative rebirth, and the first album in a new direction for the veteran artist.
Standout Track: Us
4 da 304’s - KenTheMan
10 tracks, 28 minutes
Released: August 28th, 2020
From: Houston, Texas
Genres: Hip-Hop/Rap
Recommended For Fans Of: Megan Thee Stallion, Cardi B, Queen Key
I just got put onto KenTheMan’s music this week, and couldn’t be happier that I was. 4 da 304’s is the debut mixtape from the Houston rapper, but she raps with the confidence of someone much deeper into their career. KenTheMan wastes little time on this just under half an hour project, dropping endless raunchy bars over punchy drums and hard hitting 808s.
Standout Track: Freaky Freestyle
Pink Slip - Stevedreez
5 tracks, 13 minutes
Released: August 21st, 2020
From: Virginia
Genres: R&B, Indie
Recommended For Fans Of: Mk.gee, Inner Wave, Jakob Ogawa
After trickling out a string of saucy singles throughout the year, Stevedreez comes through with a full EP. Constantly pitching vocals up and down, dreez creates beautifully vibrant tracks from top to bottom on this 5 song project Can’t say for sure if he’ll end up becoming the next “it” indie boy, but he sure has the sound and talent (all songs were written and produced solely by Steve) that would warrant it.
Standout Track: Smoking Section
niagara - redveil
10 tracks, 24 minutes
Released: August 24th, 2020
From: P.G. County, Maryland
Genres: Hip-Hop/Rap
Recommended For Fans Of: Joey Bada$$, Mavi, Cordae
niagara is in a bit of a weird spot right now, where there’s a good chance you haven’t hard of it yet, but if you’re in the right corners of the internet (particularly if you haven’t blocked the Shrek Knows Rap twitter yet), you’ve been hearing about this non-stop. This project is 24 minutes of bars over crisp, sample heavy, lo-fi beats that the 16 year old rapper recorded and mixed from his room. If this is the type of project he can make largely on his own with limited resources, the sky is the limit. redveil is clearly on the way up, so you’ll want to tune in if you haven’t already.
Standout Track: Weight
Anna Ohio - Vita and the Woolf
10 tracks, 31 minutes
Released: August 21st, 2020
From: Philadelphia -> Los Angeles
Genres: Indie Pop
Recommended For Fans Of: Florence + the Machine, The Japanese House
Vita and the Woolf describe their sound (and band name) as “Indie Pop inspired by the love relationship between Vita Sackville-West & Virginia Woolf.” If that pitch doesn’t grab you for some reason, give the album a chance anyways. While Anna Ohio is an imaginary character made up by Jen Pague (the visionary behind the music) to create the narrative for these songs, the character is largely based on Pague’s experience in the years since their debut album in 2017, including a move across the country. Pague hopes that the album “helps get people through whatever stuff they’re going through,” and the warmth the songs create often feels like a hand to hold during scary transitional periods. The song linked below details what it’s like when a musician’s LA dream falls short of expectations, even when they weren’t that high to begin with.
Standout Track: Confetti
Tour De Tokyo - Hazy Sour Cherry
11 tracks, 25 minutes
Released: November 22nd, 2019
From: Tokyo, Japan
Genres: Indie Rock
Recommended For Fans Of: early Beatles
While I’ve listened to very few Tokyo artists in my life, I’m glad that Bandcamp’s essential releases list pointed me towards Hazy Sour Cherry last week. You can hear a major influence from 60s English rock, and they cite the Beatles and Rolling Stones as inspiration (there’s even a Japanese cover of the Stones’ The Singer Not The Song included). But they also take pride and influence from the indie scene in Tokyo. All four members also play in various local bands, and they cite other groups from the scene as influences, including their label mates Say Sue Me.
Standout Track: Little Run
Happy Birthday - Sneaks
9 tracks, 27 minutes
Released: August 21st, 2020
From: Washington, D.C.
Genres: Post-Punk, Indie, Hip-Hop
Recommended For Fans Of: LCD Soundsystem, Talking Heads, M.I.A.
DC artist Sneaks is back with a new album, following up the 2019 project Highway Hypnosis. The production is largely handled by TEM, with two songs being produced by Jacknife Lee, a notorious producer whose resume includes everyone from U2 to Taylor Swift. The vocals fluctuate between rapping, singing, and conversational spoken word, all over synths and pulsing bass lines. It comes together to create an album that feels very abstract.
Standout Track: Winter Weather
99 Overall - Since99
14 tracks, 31 minutes
Released: July 24th, 2020
From: Ann Arbor, Michigan
Genres: Hip-Hop/Rap
Recommended For Fans Of: Xanman, 645AR, Flo Milli
You might already be familiar with Since99, after a song he was featured on went viral on twitter, with people commenting on his annunciation, bars, and appearance (summarized below with some select YouTube comments).
Immaculate is not on this project, but 99 Overall comes filled to the brim with verses like that viral one. It’s definitely not for everyone, but I found it entertaining. Your enjoyment of this will go as far as you can stand his voice/flow and constant witty references and punchlines.
Standout Track: Pink Diamonds
A Song
(301)-341-7207 - dreamcastmoe
Dreamcastmoe has a lengthy instagram post detailing the context of this song that I recommend everyone read, but in short, this track is about the death of an aunt he was very close with and the impact that had on his life. The track is titled after his Aunt’s house phone, “one of the last home phone numbers I know by heart.” The instrumental has a nostalgic feel to it, back to a time when we had to memorize and dial home phone numbers to get in touch with people. Give a listen to the touching track that shares a very close resemblance to my old home phone number (like…all but 3 digits are the same).
A Video
Binmouth - Hannah’s Little Sister
I’ve been waiting for Liverpool rock band Hannah’s Little Sister to follow up their incredible debut track 20 for some time now. Seeing as they only had the one track out, I had an open mind about what direction they would go for the next release, but still, ‘Teletubbies parody recycling video’ was not something I could have predicted. Sounds strange on paper, but they’ve created the most confusingly entertaining video I’ve seen all year.
Quick plug, I have a playlist that I update on the 1st of every month with new tracks from the past month that you can subscribe to on Apple Music or Spotify. Lots of fresh songs on there so toss it on shuffle and I guarantee you’ll find something you like.