Film/Noir (aka Tobi Fadalé) is a 19-year-old Londoner with a sound somewhere between The Weeknd and Blood Orange. A very slow, PBR&B feel – with careful, thoughtful verses that could woo BANKS.
Category: London
“Stone Fox” by Hunter as a Horse
“Stone Fox” by Hunter as a Horse is a trip through music history – a mix of Moon Pix era Cat Power vocals with nu-disco synths at the 1:26 mark, fun roller disco style of variety of instruments (metal tin beats?) and percussions, then moves to a dream pop style overture and breathy vocals at the 2:43, finishing off with library cosmic synths at the 3:26 mark that then slows down to a more typical dream pop. Finally finishing off at 5:17 with dark wave synths building on top of the dream pop breathy vocals.
“GIRLS” by Rainer
“GIRLS” is a track by Rainer – a “future pop” project by London’s Rebekah Raa and Casually Here.
Rebekah Raa’s voice is much like that of the pre-emminent PBR&B singers George Maple and BANKS but where the PBR&B musicians focus on heavy bass beats, Rainer focus on the sound in the range of drumsticks on the metal rims of drums, muted bass beats, and cosmic loops, a bit like “Gabriel” by Valentina but with softer, breathy Say Lou Lou vocals.
“Warm Water” by BANKS (Snakehips Remix)
Snakehips’s remix of “Warm Water” by BANKS speeds up the original track’s vocals then translates the PBR&B sound to a nu-disco combo of staccato keyboard chords, bassline, and flashes of cosmic synths – going from Sade to Moon Boots in 4 minutes and 13 seconds.
“Gripp” – George Maple x Kwes x Kilo Kish
Check out George Maple‘s latest song – a collaboration track called “Gripp” with Kwes and Kilo Kish on the record label Parlez Parlez.
“Sleep Alone” by Chapel Club
The machine-like synths that begin “Sleep Alone” by Chapel Club easily blend into the relaxed bassline which in turn is juxtaposed by the abrupt drums, all an auditory metaphor of the lyrics’ themes of forced insomnia. An insomnia worsened by not wanting to sleep alone.
“Shapeshifter” by Elephant
With their track “Shapeshifter,” Elephant brings a 1960s pop sound, reminiscent of Nancy Sinatra singing in her cover of “Bang Bang”.
Elephant’s Facebook shows influences include French hip-hop and 80s disco, but they also have a 1960s French feel – somewhat similar to Serge Gainsbourg’s slow tracks with the Ye-Ye girls and/or a Francoise Hardy track, especially in “Shapeshifter” and in “Spies.”
It also reminds me of Phantogram’s “Nightlife.”
“London EP” by BANKS
Waiting for the new track from George Maple?
BANKS will tell you that “love is a waiting game,” so you should listen to her London EP to get a breathy LA response to Londoners’ soulful Sade-style nu-R&B.
P.S. For people in San Francisco/Oakland/Berkeley – BANKS is opening for The Weeknd tonight at the Greek Theater.
“Your Four Limbs” by (Kurran and) the Wolfnotes
“Your Four Limbs” by the Wolfnotes (formerly known as Kurran and the Wolfnotes) is a haunting yet simple track. An old track in the Wolfnotes’ discography, which now contains sad harmonica-laced songs and blues-inspired Fender Telecaster (or maybe a semi-hollow guitar) notes, “Your Four Limbs” began The Wolfnotes’ theme of heartfelt alt-country tracks of longing.
“OPST” by George Maple
I realized this afternoon that “OPST” sounds like George Maple‘s response to a Dead Times sexual encounter. Maple soulfully sighs, “just make a move and let me melt into your frame. I never want to talk about it. Just wrap me up in your gold sheets.”