About a week ago, I was in the mood to hear some Van Hunt, wondering when his next album would be. Then a few days later, an email hits my inbox from his PR informing me of the aforementioned track “June” and a new album what were you hoping for? is on the way. (I only wish I had this kind of hindsight for D’Angelo!). ”June” reminds me of vintage Prince, simple in formation, with a whimsical and mellow flow that’s perfect for summer days. what were you hoping for?, his third studio album, is scheduled to release September 29th. Looking forward to hearing it, as he always has a fun way of giving us real funk, soul, with a hard twist of rock. You can get the free download of “June” below.

“June”

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Nikka Costa is no stranger to the music business, and did not enter mainstream consciousness until the release of her Everybody Got Their Something album back in 2001 — an album that was produced by UK producer Mark Ronson and her husband, Australian producer Justin Stanley. The title track and “Like a Feather” were hits in the US and were featured on soundtracks and ad campaigns. She hasn’t stopped working since then and released can’tneverdidnothin’ in 2005 and Pebble to a Pearl in 2008 to critical acclaim. Now with Pro*Whoa!, her 8th independent release, which is the first of a series of EP’s to expect from the funky soul singer. Pro*Whoa! delves into a more indi pop sound but keeping her signature Nikka Costa vocals in tact. Check out the “Nylons in a Rip,” which is available for free download on Facebook. Pro*Whoa! hit the stores today, and is available on iTunes.

“Nylons in a Rip”

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Check tour dates below to find out when she’ll be in your town!

Tour Dates
June
22- San Francisco, CA- The Independent
23- West Hollywood- The Roxy
24- San Diego, CA- Anthology
25- Hermosa Beach, CA- Saint Rocke

July
13- Philadelphia, PA- World Café Live
14- New York, NY- Highline Ballroom
15- Cambridge, MA- Middle East Upstairs
16- Baltimore, MD- Artscape Festival
17- Vienna, VA- Jammin Java

August
10- Bethlehem, PA- Musikfest Café
12- Portsmouth, VA- Ntelos Pavillion
13- North Myrtle Beach, SC- House of Blues
14- Atlanta, GA- Chastain Park Ampitheatre
18- Minneapolis, MN- Varsity Theater
20- Davenport, IA- River Roots Live
21- Chicago, IL- Lincoln Hall

Let the Love Come is ArinMaya‘s spirit. She bears all vulnerability in this gorgeous collection of acoustic soul, championed together with her musical partner Nick Cassarino. A mixture of originals and a selection of covers which beautifully touch on romantic love, dangerous love, hopeful and/or questionable love. Being an acoustic album further emphases the many levels of love, and it’s a thing ArinMaya is unafraid of, why the album is amply entitled, Let the Love Come. Nick Cassarino‘s skillful use of the guitar gives each song depth of field, touching on soul, jazz, and folk, with their voices complimenting each other in their dance of song—it’s a lovely composition. Let the Love Come is available on Bandcamp and iTunes. Listen to “Purpose of Me,” then get yourself a copy; you deserve it!

Les Nubians recently released their third studio album, Nü Revolution, which is deeply rooted in ancestral sounds of Africa, love, liberation, and expressions of freedom. Muphoric Sounds had the chance to speak to the Parisian Princesses, Hélène and Célia Faussart, during their album’s promotion, where they spoke about who they are as artists and women of a new generation. Check out the interview below. And if you haven’t purchased a copy of Nü Revolution, it is available on iTunes and Amazon.

Les Nubians - Nü Revolution Snippets

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Muphoric Sounds: Who is Les Nubians? What do you stand for?
Les Nubians - Hélène: Les Nubians are two African sisters, with an African and European background who are doing music together, who are interested in the black Diaspora and into projecting ourselves as universal citizens. We are mothers, women who are activists, we are involved with how our world is working and we are trying to do music that looks like us.

Muphoric Sounds: What are the things you’re involved in that aren’t necessarily music related?
Les Nubians - Hélène: We are involved in women empowerment, fighting against AIDS, especially in Africa. We’re involved in the fight against malaria because it is something that is also a plague in Africa. We are involved in sickle cell, another difficult tropical disease and we are fighting against child molestation. We’re pretty involved in things that relate to Africa, and being Ambassadors of a new African generation.

Muphoric Sounds: Your heritage is at the forefront of all you do. Is that what you want to dispel upon your audience? Influence them in some way to the motherland.
Les Nubians - Hélène: The Motherland being our roots, but also with our arms reaching to the sky and the sky being universal and this is what is the passion of what we try to show. Africa is an inspiration for us. We are something else; we grew up exposed to different backgrounds and we created our music to reach the universal. We don’t want our audience to only see Africa Africa Africa. No! They should also be able to look around them, at the corner of their street and see Africa in all.
Les Nubians - Célia: Yes, Africa is the motherland to all. Africa being the motherland to all of us. It’s the first continent. Talking about Africa as the motherland opens to universality and love.

(more…)

Tanya Auclair is one of those quintessential artists, a non-conformist pushing themselves through boundaries to move out of comfort-zones. With the release of her debut EP last July, Thrum, which brought in sounds of the doowop and electronica with raw drum and guitar melodies, it was no surprise that she ended up collaborating with Tomatom the French aka Yult, with The Animal Inside back in February of this year. Now with the release of her second EP, Origami, where the themes take from the Ancient art form of the triptych, which is three-part panels of pictures or carvings placed together — in the instance of Origami — it is the stories about making (Origami), change, (Sverige) and chance (Fluke), basically describing Tanya‘s musical journey. Her use of the ukulele, a microkorg, bass, the mbira, and her voice, give us these uncanny sounds that are refreshing to hear during these times of over production. Check out “Fluke” short video below, which is directed by Eleni Savvidou, then head over to her Bandcamp page to get a free download. First 1000 downloads are free; so act now!

Tanya Auclair – Origami EP Trailer from Tanya Auclair on Vimeo.

When I hear music from Dezaray Dawn, I’m always left wanting more! But EP’s are what they are, a couple of tracks to hold you over till the next project. Since her debut EP, Chameleon, which was featured on Muphoric Sounds back in 2009, Dezaray has spent the better part of 2010 getting her music into the right hands. Now with her second EP, entitled Deep that is produced by Marc Mac of 4Hero, the two combine their styles to give us four tracks that perfectly compliment the sound of Dezaray Dawn.

Giving us a taste of the first track “Sail Away” last month, it’s great to hear the completed EP. My favourite track off the EP is “Rain,” which is very reminiscent of the UK underground nu soul which was born from the likes of 4Hero and Bugz in the Attic. Check out “Rain” below, then head over to Dezaray Dawn‘s Bandcamp page to buy the EP.

“Bronx keeps on taking it!” That was the first thing I thought when I heard the original David Axelrod song. But then, there are so many Axelrod songs like that. Although not as well known as funkadelic and Bob James in the non DJ community, Axelrod is one of the most widely sampled rock, jazz, fusion, musician/composers ever. David Axelrod was born in Los Angeles in 1936 and began his musical career as a studio drummer for TV shows and soundtracks. He started working as a producer for Capital Records in the early 60’s and made some incredible work with artists such as Lou Rawls, Cannonball Adderly, Joe Zawinul, Letta Mbulu, and the Electric Prunes. After helping to create musical landscapes for these artists he earned the respect to release his own album. The song “Holy Thursday” comes from the 1968 LP Songs of Innocence.

Upon hearing the first notes and the first drum snares; I focus. It’s that kind of song. And with the instrumentation of drums, electric guitar, bass, piano, trumpets, vibraphone, and a violin section it takes a lot of focus to weave such beautiful and harmonic elements together in a cohesive format. I still carry it around with me on my phone and listen to it when I need to re-center myself. According to Who Sampled, this track has been sampled by eleven different cats ranging from The Beatnuts, DJ Shadow, Dr. Dre and Thom Yorke to Lil Wayne. I’d wager that even more have sampled it. And there is a reason for that—this song embodies the hip hop spirit and that is the spirit of fusion. Take all the dope stuff, forget the wack and blend them together. Call it psych jazz, psych rock, whatever. What you have here is a cinematic experience complete with suspense, romance, and action! The song has points that call me to contemplate and think, and it forces me to run, leap, and swim. Put on your shades and ride the train or bus with this on full blast.

“Holy Thursday” by David Axelrod”

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Back in March, iSHE and Hezekiah put the word out about their collaborative project entitled iSHE + HEZEKIAH PROJECT, which released yesterday. What initially started off as a EP, evolved into an album after the two started masterly crafting tunes together. With iSHE being from the West Coast, it’s no surprise that the  PROJECT brings in some of that 80s two-step p-funk with haunting harmonies. The album is a mix of smooth soul, that pulls in from the 80s, and also with 70s undertones especially in how iSHE‘s harmonies softly caress the tracks. While listening to the PROJECT, I couldn’t help but want to hear Bilal sing a tune with her, maybe because Hezekiah‘s sound complimented Bilal‘s voice also. This in no way discredits the duet with Range da Messenga, on “Pressure,” where their call and response flow match the song where two people at odds but not to the point of wanting to walk away. The summery feel to “Paradise” reminds me of a mellow and soulful take on Prince‘s “Strolling“ — it’s the kind of tune you’d want as your soundtrack while you drive or while you’re sitting in a park or if you’re fortunate enough to look out at an ocean. The PROJECT is a groove-based album, with songs about relationships and life. Check out the tunes below, then head over to purchase a copy of the iSHE + HEZEKIAH PROJECT!