The new Shlohmo EP, Vacation , carries a deceptive title. This is not the sound of an artist taking a break, nor is does it conjure images of beaches, and sunshine, and relaxation. On his newest effort, Shlohmo is making music that sounds almost busy. On Shlohmo's 2011 full length Bad Vibes , we were met with an expansive collection of soft, slow beats, mixed with natural, acoustic tones, and very delicate, quiet samples; the sounds of birdsong, faint string plucking and organic clicks and claps were laid over the soothing, pulsing rhythms. Vacation is, in places, in stark contrast to ...

Hailing from North London which has already brought you artists such as Chipmunk, Wretch 32, Skepta, and Scorcher to name but a few. EN3 brings you the Rapper Kenn Chyna’s first solo release, having previously been a member of grime collective ‘Twisted Souls’, who had some underground success...

The next Playlist in our ongoing series features A Loss For Words, Koji, and Brian Marquis. All three bands are about to head out on a special acoustic tour together, so we thought it’d be great to match them together. Check out the Playlists and listen to the songs while reading everyone’s thoughts! (Click on image to listen in Spotify) Sunny Day Real Estate - Pillars There is nothing to say about this song other than you just have to put your headphones on and close your eyes and listen. This is the intro to my mixtape. Enjoy. Smashing ...

We're not sure if " If You Ever Leave " is going to be a confirmed track for Loick Essien 's upcoming album entitled " Identity " but 2012 is certainly a year for UK artists; Emeli Sande, Delilah, Maverick Sabre and many more will be releasing albums in the upcoming months. The track samples "Kiss From A Rose" by Seal and was produced by H-Money who is responsible for hits with Chipmunk, Chris Brown, Mary J Blige are just a few to mention. Keep a look out for UK talents this new year, It's going to be huge! TheNext2Shine: Exclusive RNB ...

“THE SOUNDS YOU REMEMBER AFTER YOU EXIT THE CLUB ON YOUR WAY HOME.” This mix from Hood By Air‘s Shayne Oliver really grabbed my attention right away with the chipmunk Rozay. Oliver effortlessly transplants some of our favorites like Jim Jones & Meek Mill from the concrete to the operating room, in a woozy chopped [...]

Happy New Year to all Rapture & Verse followers, volume six looking to make some predictions as to who’ll blow up across the coming months and hoping to avoid miserable failure as the R&V; crack team of Mystic Megs shine their collective crystal balls. All while tidying up all the ins and outs of hip-hop like festive wrapping paper being crumpled bin-wards. What was that about the old guard thumbing their nose at the retirement home throughout last year? Now we have Naughty by Nature throwing themselves a 20th anniversary party. ‘Anthem Inc’ includes all of their feelgood flavas from way back – ‘OPP’, ‘Hip Hop Hooray’ etc, which you’ll inevitably head to first - while the remainder from Treach, Kay Gee and Vin Rock does a solid (i ...

The saying “Good things come in threes” seems to be literally applied to trailblazing SAS who has recently found themselves teaming up with chart heavy weight Chipmunk and Cire (Formally known as Eric B) to produce their new anthem ‘Ready’. The north London based stars created ‘Ready’ with producer...

One of the tracks that wasn't previously leaked off yesterday's "Happy Birthday" EP from Tinie Tempah.

The Chipmunks : I Want to Hold Your Hand [ purchase ] The Beatles : I Want to Hold Your Hand [ purchase ] My introduction to “grown up” music was served up by Alvin and the Chipmunks. Capitalizing on the success of a seasonal novelty record, “The Chipmunk Song (The Christmas Song)”, Ross Bagdasarian (a musician and actor who can be seen playing the cool jazz guy in Hitchcock’s classic “Rear Window”), working under the nom de plume “David Seville,” recorded a series of Chipmunks albums in the 1960s. By the time I was six years old, my record collection included two Chipmunk albums ...

A look back at the year in Reggae and Dancehall... IN THE NEWS Mavado had a real good year- incl getting his US visa back and signing to a hip hop label (DJ Khaled's 'We The Best Music Group’). Vybz Kartel's reported jail shootout while in custody on murder charges caused twitter frenzy... just goes to show what a headline act he is even in jail, no?!? Talking of jail and the threat of it, "Free Buju" was the phrase on the lips of us all this year he was sentenced to ten years. The campaign for his ...

I'm ready to shit on a whole lot of niggaz in 2012....S.A.S. whattup!!! You already know big fan....Euro Gang.....www.streetsallsalute.blogspot.com. Previously.... (Video) S.A.S (Eurogang)... [[ This is a content summary only. Visit my website for full links, other content, and more! ]]

Hip-hop in 2011...hmm. Where former tough guy emcees or rappers of promise were found mostly chatting over Euro-house and eulogising about morning-after apocalypses should anyone not dance the right way (Foreign Beggars can be pardoned for their exploits with a third rate dressing up box), it’s hard to describe the year as anything other than ‘meh’ with a capital M. Forget exciting internet-driven times, again it was up to ears to go digging and discovering away from the dreck and dross. In the UK, you could argue that hip-hop had one of its brightest years for some time ...

Here's an eye-catching claim : N-Dubz' Fazer is set to work with Phil Collins. "Everyone will be expecting I'm going to work with Tinie Tempah, Tinchy Stryder and Chipmunk, but I want to do something musically credible that opens me up to different markets. "I'm going to work with Phil Collins." To be frank, we'd not really expect Tinie, Tinchy or Chipmunk to be rushing to work with Fazer - why would you trade down like that? But the Collins claim is fascinating. Given that Phil Collins has retired from music . So, has Fazer managed to tempt Collins ...

This is the sort of track you're going to instantly hate, with Hannah Louise Clark's vocals being squeezed into chipmunk territory, but when you the 1:06 mark everything just dissolves into a sexy mess spread across your carpets. Sort of disgusting, sort of joyous. Well done Fixers. Well done.

Title: Forgiveness Label: Ministry Of Sound Release: 11th December We are back in the number-in-name confusion again. After the whole Blink 182 debacle, was it one eight two, one eighty two or one hundred and eighty two? Now British man-of-the-moment Wretch 32 has sparked yet more confusion, is it three two or thirty two? What does it mean? Does it even matter?   The twenty-six year old has been involved in music since growing up on a North London estate, using the art as way out, forming crews who’s members have gone on to bigger and better things. Wretch, real ...