Sometimes a slightly drunken phone message makes the perfect intro to a fun and funky jam. Johnny Utah proves this in spades on Skytop Garden, released through Nice Guys Records. This is a jam, trust me. Have a listen below and I doubt you’ll disagree.
If you want purchasing or other platform streaming options, click here.
-KJ
Perfect for some Sunday relaxation, Effortless featured a beauty piece from Soft Eyez who brings a jazzy piano vibe and tosses a laid back beat down to round it all out. The warbles and echoes in the piano track keep you guessing a little as to what’s coming next. This is a short little jam that will make you want to repeat a few times through. You can also grab a free mp3 so you can loop it to your heart’s content.
-KJ
I came across Anfa Rose back in December, with his track I'm Good, which is also a heater if you haven't heard it yet. Following up his last single In and Out and his last longer release She Been Waiting II is Come Clean. I would say clean beats and heartfelt bars characterize most of Anfa Rose's body of work, and this is no exception.
Shoutout to Palétte music's Youtube channel for uploading this:
-KJ
To be fair, I have to give it to Spotify's discover feature, it manages to dig up cool stuff that I've missed on a pretty consistent basis. This beauty from Harrison Brome is one such suggested track. 9 to 5 starts with a really mellow lead up with amazing vocal chops on display, and even without any drums, the vocals give you a feel good vibe. Then the beat drops in to spice up the groove.
Really nice chill afternoon summer jam, stream below!
-KJ
With the Labour Day weekend here in Canada, we might as well call this one the Mellow Mid-Week post, but nonetheless we've got something chill and fresh for you today. Lanzo and Yclept Insan have dropped this little number entitled bloom. on Natural Selection just this morning. If you're into visuals as well, the Youtube video is here.
bloom. is a quick 2 minute hip hop jam, but when you have something this good, 2 minutes in heaven is better than one minute in heaven... there are some really interesting sounds in this one, with Lanzo and Yclept Insan obviously experimenting (successfully) with some ambient and off the wall sampling. It's all brought together with the simple hip hop break and the synth providing a the melodic portions to the track.
I haven't found anything in terms of release just yet, but enjoy the stream below.
- KJ
Another post for Mellow Monday. Though this one may not be necessarily mellow, it's definitely deep, brooding and emotional. Nuage's EP "Neida" was recently released by Project Mooncircle, a label and creative collective based in Germany that focuses on experimental electronic music.
Spring Ghosts is one of the tracks from the release that is a little more experimental in its use of percussion and beats, where some of the other tracks on the EP lean more toward a house style. Nuage also uses some really interesting and haunting vocal loops on this production that enhance the feel of the track throughout.
If you like how this one sounds, you can stream the entire EP on Project Mooncircle's Bandcamp page, where you can also purchase the digital or limited edition vinyl release. I also included one of the other tracks (Erased) from this release on my last mix for Underground Sound Canada, so watch for that upload as well.
- KJ
We posted the first track published by the new collective Soda Island last week (Xander Lewis' Honeydew in case you missed it), and they have come back with their second offering from a producer we've been watching for a little while - Spire. Girls is the most recently published track from the collective, keeping consistent to the high quality bar that was set with the first release.
Girls is an interestingly laid back but bouncy track with pitched vocals and interesting synth work. This one is hard to describe and classify, but it's pretty forward thinking stuff. Make sure you check it out yourself and grab the free download. Also check out Spire's previous work on his Soundcloud page, as there is a lot of cool stuff there. You may also want to keep an eye on Soda Island, if these releases are any indication, there is much more good stuff to come.
- KJ
If you're looking for something with a bit more fresh summer hip hop flavour, look no further than the upcoming release on uknowy music from Slim The Chemist - Backyard Vibes. Uknowy put up a teaser mix on their Soundcloud along with the full premiere of KissTheSky that is embedded below.
KissTheSky is really the embodiment of backyard vibes in musical form - chilled out and laid back. Grab the full release when it's released, either as a digital download or on cassette if you are into physical releases, especially of the limited edition variety. Keep an eye on uknowy's Bandcamp store for this release, or shop their back catalogue at the same location.
In the meantime, sit back and chill out to these backyard vibes.
- KJ
If you've been looking for something different, something that is both unsettling and weirdly melodically satisfying at the same time, look no further. Alexander Lewis has produced a remix of Weird Inside's Just Ask that has those exact qualities. The closest artists I could compare this to would be a combination of Kastle and 123mrk. The percussion, melodic work and intricate drops in this are spectacular. From the happy, muted opening keys, to the continuously panning outro, this remix is a trip the whole way through.
If this is something that you can vibe to, grab the whole remix compilation for free right here, hosted on Weird Inside's Bandcamp page.
- KJ
What style would this be classified as? Electro Pop? Future Beats? Chilled Bass Music? Whatever style you try to pigeonhole this one into, it's hard to deny the fact that it's super enjoyable on so many levels.
The intro threw me off a bit I have to say, it sounds kind of like a lo-fi digitally distorted synth, and I was already wondering where this was going to go. Enter Joni Fatora on vocals at 0:32, and the track went from what I thought was going to be just a happy, different sounding instrumental, into full blown sugar pop territory - and I say that in all the best ways. If this one had me hooked when the vocal dropped, I was long gone when the drop came, still under a minute into the track.
Check out Louis The Child's Soundcloud, and hit the shopping cart in the player below to get to the free downloads page, where there are a bunch more remixes for free as well.
If you want to hear the original from Soy Sauce, I also have to give it a full plug, if only for the awesome way that they released it. Broken Record is available both as a free download, and as a paid track through iTunes. However, if you purchase it through iTunes with Soy Sauce's Lunch Money EP, all proceeds from the EP are going toward setting up school lunch projects in some of the world's poorest communities through the project Everybody Eats. It's hard to concentrate fully at school on an empty stomach, and many kids who have this issue are also faced with other difficult issues that affect their ability to be successful in school. If you decide to purchase through iTunes, you are helping to feed a child and enable them to succeed in school by lowering at least one of their barriers. Check out the original below and watch for the iTunes release sometime in February to help out with the cause.
- KJ
Regina Saskatchewan based blog, dedicated to high quality music, served as fresh as possible.
Our inbox is always open for submissions of new content, promos, or ideas for areas of expansion. If you want us to see or hear something, have an idea that you think we should pursue, or just want to get involved, drop us a line. We'd love to hear from you.
Kris Jones
freshdrops.ca@gmail.com
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