In The Pocket: November 2014

27 November 2014

Playlist: Expansions Radio on Base FM

26 November 2014

Live: Sweetpants and Nyntee

This Friday night at the Golden Dawn...
SWEETPANTS AND NYNTEE
"Playing Other People's Songs"
Check here for more details.

25 November 2014

Playlist: Breakfast on Base FM

24 November 2014

And This... #3: Titeknots + Tru Thoughts 15th Anniversary

And This...
#3
TITEKNOTS
+
TRU THOUGHTS 15th ANNIVERSARY

I'm a big fan of Tru Thoughts. Have been since the early days (don't they all say that?) and am proud to have repped them and their artists hard, both personally and professionally. One of my enduring memories of the label was the warmth, friendliness, free records and delicious food I was supplied with when I was lucky enough to get to Brighton - and even co-host a Breakfast Radio show with Sweetpants, and TM Juke, Natural Self with label-boss Rob Luis, from a flat in some leafy street in the seaside city.

They're celebrating their 15th Anniverary in 2014, and I'm bloody stoked for them. Consistently strong releases and a willingness to press wax at every possible opportunity continues to win me over. Getting Alice Russell back on board was always going to be a winner, too. Talk about enduring memories.

Anyway, I could've picked any one of a number of tunes to highlight the milestone for the label, but I've gone with one from the compilation 2CD you can pick up now. It's a track with a whiff of early-Quantic to it, but it comes courtesy of one of the label's more recent signings, Titeknots. This young UK producer has released a string of bangin' singles, all twisting house music into some bloody interesting - and increasingly danceable - shapes. I like. I reckon you might, too. Listen to the single 'Hummingbirds' here, or in the player below.

Titeknots website.
Tru Thoughts website.

21 November 2014

Playlist: Expansions Radio on Base FM

And This... #2: Chloe Martini

AND THIS...
#2
Chloe Martini

I don't know a lot about Chloe Martini, and the little I do know is gathered from her soundcloud page. So now we're even.

The 21yr old Polish producer has put out a bunch of sideways remixes of folks like Alicia Keys and Gwen Stefani, and they're worth a listen, but it's her own stuff which has really lit a fuse for me. Particularly this moody lil' beast below, 'Temptation'. Yeah, sure it's almost a year old and she has a new EP about to drop, but it's compelling stuff, and has really switched me onto the soulfulness that is sadly not often enough found in bass-heavy music.

How do you say 'that's awesome!' in Polish...?

19 November 2014

Playlist: EXPANSIONS RADIO on Base FM

11 November 2014

And This... #1: Leonard Charles

AND THIS...
#1
Leonard Charles

And This... is a new thang where I'm going to highlight a tune, or an artist, or a label, or something or rather, that has caught my ear during the week. The idea is to update weekly. We'll see how we go with that. The intention's good, anyway.

First up, Leonard Charles, a side project of the multi-limbed Jeremy Toy. Created as an outlet for music made while healing from a cowardly king-hit outside an Auckland bar where he'd just finished performing, Leonard Charles' trip is all loose-limbed, funky-ass, head-nodding goodness, which you absolutely need to wrap your head around. Below is his version of 'The Look Of Love', and it's a stone cold classic.

I've always taken a keen interest in Jeremy's music; be it on his own as Ota, with the Opensouls band and with She's So Rad, or his forays into production, dude is one talented guy. It sucks hard when anyone is involved in an unprovoked assault, but it always seems to sting more when it happens to a real good fella.

Check out Leonard Charles on soundcloud here, or bandcamp here. Also take the time to visit She's So Rad's bandcamp page and website; and From The Crate Records' soundcloud page.