Solange - Under Construction

I’ve been listening to a lot of Solange Knowles lately, and am really looking forward to her new album, which is coming out later this year. A lot of people had been telling me about how good she is, but it wasn’t until I heard this song that I really got hooked on her sound:



With production by D.C. duo Thievery Corporation you can’t really go wrong with this song. The heavy drum line, perfectly placed keyboard riffs and Solange’s sort of ethereal sounding voice makes for an intense, yet gritty and open song. Unfortunately, “Under Construction" won’t be on her new album. You can however expect some more, comparably dope Solange on this blog later in the week.

Enjoy!

Mocky - Birds of a Feather (w/GZA)

I'm late on the game on this one - Mocky has been around for a while now. A native of Canada, Mocky has released four albums under his own name and boasts producer credits for the likes of Jaime Lidell as well as Feist (both of which are featured on his latest album), Nikka Costa, GZA, Alexandro Jodorowsky, Gonzales and peaches, among others. While his music is generally characterized as hip-hop/experimental, "Birds of a Feather" has a light, jazzy vibe. For me, it is one of those beautiful songs you play during a Sunday morning, when its sunny and amazing outside and you are gearing up to enjoy the day (I remind myself this as I stare out the window at snow in the 19 degree NYC weather). On second thought, it really is a great tune for any day, in any weather and for any mood:

I also came across this short remix of the song featuring Wu-Tang's GZA:





From Spinner Magazine:

"A common associate had given GZA a copy of Mocky's recent album 'Saskamodie' but then the proposed project wallowed for a while. "At least three times I thought this just isn't going to ever happen. Then I would hear 'Oh, he loves the track, he's about to do it this weekend.' I would think to myself, 'I wouldn't be surprised if you asked GZA right now who Mocky he is, he'd say no.'

'I just could not imagine it. Then one day, there it was in my inbox, an a capella from GZA for 'Birds of a Feather.'

When I was making this record my dream was that it would get sampled and used in hip-hop tracks," Mocky tells Spinner. "So to have someone like GZA do a verse over a loop from that record, it's like a dream come true."

Bonobo featuring Andreya Triana

Andreya Triana has an excellent new album, Lost Where I Belong, out on Ninja Tune. Released late last summer, the album was produced by Simon Green, aka Bonobo. Although Triana's album is definitely worth picking up, my favorite collaboration between the two is still the following song, off of Bonobo's album Black Sands:



Enjoy!