Omar Apollo – Ashamed
Indiana singer/songwriter Omar Apollo has shared a new single called “Ashamed.” Watch the new music video for the track below. It’s Apollo’s second song of 2019, following last month’s “Trouble.” In 2018, he dropped his debut Stereo EP.
Omar Apollo is heading out on a North American tour in March. He’ll play shows with Dreamer Boy, ROLE MODEL, Ambar Lucid, and Mk.gee. See his upcoming tour schedule here. Tickets are available here.
Read Pitchfork’s Rising feature “Get to Know Omar Apollo and His First-Generation Love Songs.”
Read the rest of this article at Pitchfork
Helado Negro – Running
Roberto Carlos Lange’s music as Helado Negro thrives on meeting listeners halfway wherever they may be in life. “Running,” the latest from Lange’s forthcoming sixth album, This Is How You Smile, fits snugly within that calm and comforting mold. Written as a piece of poetry to abate Lange’s feelings of anxiety, the song is a bounding, warmly lit ode that revels in hazy recursiveness and open-ended ideas, like a dream rendered in piano, rolling drums, and Lange’s reposeful croon.
“Running” takes on a circular shape, levitating on its refrains and instrumental cues. But Lange’s verses here are spiked with an illusory, personal sense of nostalgia: “I feel you/In my mind/All the time,” he sings placidly, before admitting, “’Cause I see you/In my hands/Every day/You got me running…” The song abides by Lange’s mission of crafting music that not only addresses intimacy frankly in lyrics but also sounds intimate, especially in its pop-minded yet free-floating structure and cooed melodies. Limned with vibraphone and gently plucked guitar, “Running” is a balmy, nourishing listen, inviting everyone to join step with its easy gait toward a better tomorrow.
Read the rest of this article at Pitchfork
Sleaford Mods – Firewall
It’s the most wonderful time of the year – LuckyMe have launched their Advent calendar.
The label’s annual tradition of rewarding fans with free music pays off if you’ve been well behaved or a little sod, and it always delivers some intriguing new tracks.
From today – December 13th – to The Big Day itself, LuckyMe will share bundles of new music, featuring remixes, unheard tracks, and a whole bunch more.
Opening with new tracks from Baauer, Lunice, and Littlebabyangel, it’s a broad-ranging trio of new tracks, featuring three very distinct artists.
Read the rest of this article at The Guardian
BBY Laana – Skitz
Hailing from San Francisco, an up-and-coming artist by the name of Bby Laana is on our pages today with her brand new music video for a song entitled “Skitz.” Confrontational in its energy and sure to make listeners hit the mean mug, this offering seems to go hard by nature, not by force. Laana’s looming presence on the mic pushes against a hard-nosed instrumental, and the accompanying visuals illustrate this straight-forward, threatening energy with scenes of Laana proudly exhibiting the character that she possesses both on the mic and off. Needless to say, this San Francisco native certainly knows how to entertain, and “Skitz” is the perfect introduction to her music that will be sure to make you a fan.
Read the rest of this article at Lyrical Lemonade
Carmen – Schlaraffenland (Kapote Rework)
Today’s premiere comes to you from the illustrious German label Toy Tonics. Presented by label bosses Mathias Munk Modica and Kapote, Teutonik Disaster showcases the crazy funky side of Germany’s underground disco and new wave from the late 70’s and early 80’s, as they are reworked into dance floor stompers. Most of these bands didn’t reach a bigger audience. Their records never got pressed to more than 300 – 500 copies as they were a number of years ahead of the huge commercial explosion of German pop in 1984: The NDW aka “Neue Deutsche Welle”, with Nena’s humongous hit 99 Red Balloons. The bands featured on the compilation released their music before the NDW hype and later broke up. Plenty of these early bands are best forgotten but if you dig deeper you’ll find the gems, bursting with style and attitude. And that’s just what Toy Tonics heads Mathias Munk Modica & Kapote did. They hit gold.
Read the rest of this article at Bolting Bits
