Khyal Distortion awaken your senses, Moodssupply groove on forever, Yul & Baz are sweet on Sugar Man, Syen seeks medical attention and more in today’s submissions from Groover, a platform that connects artists with critics like me for a small fee. You can (and should) subscribe to my Tinnitist Groover Top 100 playlist HERE, or you can listen to it via the widget at the lower right of every page on this site. If you want to be in an upcoming playlist, click the link just below the widget or go HERE. For some reason, there are two tracks titled Lullaby today. Apparently I need a nap.
Khyal Distortion | Awakening
HOME BASE: France.
GENRE: Instrumental.
THE BIO & PRESS RELEASE: “Khyal Distortion, literally the distortion of the imagination, is a duo of instrumental musicians. Iconoclasts, the pair like to have fun combining Indian music with a modern world / electro style. It was born from the meeting between percussionist and French musicians Baptiste Barbotin & Christophe Deroit at the Dilruba in 2016. The Dilruba is an Indian instrument 200 years old. Khyal (or khayal) is the most commonly used classical style in northern India. Its name comes from an Arabic word which means “imagination” For the duo, distortion adds an essential element for the awakening of the senses. Discover the first single from the next EP: Awakening.
Moodssupply | Forever
HOME BASE: Netherlands.
GENRE: Dance-Pop.
THE BIO & PRESS RELEASE: “For the love of Soul / Funk / Disco, Moodssupply creates groove music. Moodssupply is a Dutch Studio Experience Extravaganza, using musicians from all over the world to craft songs. Through soul, funk & disco influences, Moodssupply gets constantly inspired. If it has groove, we dig it. My artist name is Mike Chandon, a nickname I got from friends when I lived in Dubai, and I produce all the music, write the lyrics and perform the male vocals on the tracks. The team is completed with a friend from Rotterdam who is a music engineer and he is taking care of the mastering for the last year now. I’ve started to work with female singers to make the music even more diverse. Our new single Forever is a colab with the strongly talented Montéa Albouy from Paris. A soulful journey, mixing funky grooves with an essence of Nu-Disco and Electro. We dare you to listen and sit still with this one. With Montéa delivering stellar vocals in the language of love combined with good-ole English in the chorus, it has truly become a feel-good track crossing borders. The song has been written with our planet in mind, hence the choice of the cover: One World. One Love. Forever.”
Yul & Baz | Sugar Man
HOME BASE: France.
GENRE: Folk-Pop.
THE BIO & PRESS RELEASE: “Ulrich Vantillard a.k.a. Yul is a virtually hyperactive artist with countless collaborations. As composer and sound designer for TV, films, radio fictions and installations, he has also worked in theater productions. His label offers an ambitious range of musical productions for the near future, which begins with his single with Baz. The young singer accompanies himself on the Ukulele on this suave and modern reinterpretation of the classic Sugar Man, a nugget rediscovered less than a decade ago from the legendary Sixto Rodriguez.”
Syen | Allo Docteur
HOME BASE: France.
GENRE: Hip-Hop.
THE TRANSLATED BIO & PRESS RELEASE: “Syen, the rapper from the South of Paris, arrives solo. Many freestyles and three joint projects later, Syen finally embarks on a more personal adventure. The young artist has delivered his first solo album, entitled History Repeats Itself. On the occasion of the release of his project, Syen unveils the very funk clip Allo docteur. A feel good clip in the second degree perfectly dosed on ambitious sounds, which smell good in summer!”
Samuel Félix | Lullaby
HOME BASE: France.
GENRE: Neo-Classical
THE BIO & PRESS RELEASE: “Anglo/French jazz musician Samuel Félix releases his solo debut. The youngest child of a family of artists, his musical upbringing was shaped on the one side by his father (a classical conductor), who taught him about Bach, Beethoven, Chopin and Debussy, and his elder brothers who showed him Bill Evans, Miles Davis and Herbie Hancock. Having toured the world as a session musician for several Grammy-winning musicians, this album marks his departure as a solo artist. All written and recorded over the ‘lockdown’ period on the same family piano that he has played his entire life, these recordings aim to capture the intimate relationship between a musician and their instrument. The album Départ, set for final release in late autumn, sees Samuel collaborate with illustrator Patrick Atkins in a series of nine animated vignettes. Samuel has also made the scores available so that people can play the music at their own piano during this isolated time. “Lullaby is a piece to calm your nerves. To help everyone who’s suffering from anxiety at the moment. If you’re feeling lost, struggling to stay calm or need help sleeping, this is for you. It’s a mini day dream that distracts you from the news for 1 minute 45 seconds.”
Vndale | Shibuya Electric
HOME BASE: France.
GENRE: Hard Rock.
THE BIO & PRESS RELEASE: “We are Vndale from Paris. We’ve just released today our brand new single called Shibuya Electric. We consider our music as Rock with loud guitars but a lot of melodies. We wrote this song last year in Tokyo, Japan and decided to dedicate it to our friends there. The song is about the ending of a toxic relationship and deciding to move on to better things in life.”
Maeva Bluenotes | Fais Pas Comme Si
HOME BASE: France.
GENRE: Jazz-Pop.
THE TRANSLATED BIO & PRESS RELEASE: “A young doctor with a passion for music, I have been composing, writing and interpreting songs for several years. The confinement made me want to share my creations for the first time. I hope this first song will make you want to listen to others.”
Fuzztrack | Time
HOME BASE: France.
GENRE: Electro-Pop.
THE BIO & PRESS RELEASE: “Fuzztrack is the electro musical project founded by Mathieu Lalande in 2019. Our routines, in a loop. And time flies.”
Dylarama | Comme Des Dominos
HOME BASE: Canada.
GENRE: Pop.
THE BIO & PRESS RELEASE: “Dylarama is the indie pop project of Montreal’s Mathias Pageau (DJ, musician and blogger). His previous EP, Certified Cutie, was released in Quebec and France, earning various mentions in magazines. Released a few days ago, Comme Des Dominos (Like Dominos) dominoes” is rhythmic and reveals a catchy pop with clear synthetic sounds. While the cool look of Dylarama’s voice suggests the possibilities dreamed up by the lyrics of the song. They are the ones of a new relationship, of a new day that makes believe that there is no tomorrow. Speaking of the song, Dylarama explains, “A love song “for an author is like an empty suitcase that you can fill with whatever you want, and then lock it. All people see is the suitcase. A paradigm. “
Livingston | Evil Knievel
HOME BASE: Germany.
GENRE: Pop-Rock.
THE BIO & PRESS RELEASE: “Formed in the multi-cultural hub of London, Livingston are Beukes Willemse and guitarist/keyboardist Chris van Niekerk from South Africa, drummer Jan Siekmann from Germany and bassist Phil Magee from the U.K. Their music has been featured in numerous TV shows/series as well as having the featured soundtrack in the international blockbuster movie Chalet Girl featuring Bill Nighy, Felicity Jones, Brooke Shields and Ed Westwick. More recently the band featured in the remake of The Man Who Was Thursday, directed by Balazs Juszt, again having the feature track. After releasing their album Animal in 2014, the band disappeared. The story goes that the band felt that the money in showbiz was not enough to sustain their lavish lifestyles. So they did what any self-respecting group of entrepreneurs would do … turn to a life of crime. As I’m sure you guessed, this did not end well, with their bank robbery spree in the U.S. coming to an abrupt end upon the arrest of all four members. Court cases ensued and later the eventual extradition back to Europe for Beukes, Jan and Phil, and the incarceration of Chris in the US. The new album, “This is a Robbery” is the embodiment of this chapter in Livingston’s life. Is this chapter fictional? Maybe. You’ll have to watch and find out. This is the 4th single called Evil Knievel taken from the new album set to be released this Fall. They do sound pop, rock, hip hop and they don’t really care if they don’t fit in any box: they want to do music for themselves and enjoy good time with their fans. We hope you’ll like the mix in their songs.”
Emy Taliana | Everything I Want
HOME BASE: France.
GENRE: Pop.
THE BIO & PRESS RELEASE: “Singer-songwriter, guitarist and pianist from Paris!”
Silk on Steel | Lullaby
HOME BASE: Netherlands.
GENRE: Pop-Rock.
THE BIO & PRESS RELEASE: “Lullaby is a positive, feel-good indie rock song with dreamy guitars and mellow vocals.”
Alvin Chris | Question de Temps
HOME BASE: France.
GENRE: Hip-Hop.
THE TRANSLATED BIO & PRESS RELEASE: “It is through his nonchalance that Alvin Chris reveals his analysis of the modern world. It highlights the hypocrisy of decency which we all adhere to, the superficiality of the digital age or even fear of the gaze of others. In life, when doubt takes hold of us, we reassure ourselves by saying that it is only a Question de Temps (Question of Time) before the wind turns. In this song, Alvin Chris uses this formula to engage in a promising romantic relationship, but tarnished by the doubts and insecurities of a young artist in the making. Musically, the young rapper and beatmaker ventures for the first time in an Afrobeat universe with Nigerian influences on which vocal melodies are intertwined with a rap writing full of promise. Between hope and melancholy, the artist wanted to make Question de Temps a deep song that you can still sing in the shower.”
Wire Edge | Plans Within Plans
HOME BASE: France.
GENRE: Metal.
THE BIO & PRESS RELEASE: “Formed out of a mutual admiration for the mid-’90 rock sounds, Wire Edge gathered in Paris around a bunch of cold riffs that led, in time, to a full length 10 tracks album. Intricate guitar parts, dark and elegant vocals, deconstructed drum style settle the sound of this debut album out the fourth of july 2020: Workhorse Empire. It unveils all of the hard work invested in the creation of each of the tracks, the attention paid to details and harmony as much as the raw energy only metal can deliver.
Francois Simitchiev | Lament
HOME BASE: France.
GENRE: Neo-Classical.
THE BIO & PRESS RELEASE: “François Simitchiev, a classically trained double bassist, explores the pathways between neoclassical, minimalist, ambient and electronic music. He composes pieces in which he experiments with the sound of the double bass, the fusion of technology and the organic. Between January and May 2020, he self-produced, composed, recorded and released the first 4 pieces of his solo project. His work of neoclassical and minimalist inspiration is brought to life through certain effects (reverb, distortion). However, François Simitchiev crafted his music so it can be played without the use of a looper. His approach is to get the most out of the instrument live, and to strip down his music, allowing great freedom of interpretation and improvisation with each performance.”
Steroman | Like & Subscribe
HOME BASE: France.
GENRE: Electro-Pop.
THE BIO & PRESS RELEASE: “Steroman is a songwriter from Paris. He has been influenced by artists from very different styles, from Funkadelic to Led Zeppelin, from Lenny Kravitz to Remy Shand … resulting in a completely unique universe, you could qualify as Urban-Soul. About the costume: Steroman is not a person, he’s a concept. We all are Steroman, at some point in our lives. We wear this costume at very special times, when the world seems to stop spinning, when we fall in love, when we help this old person crossing the street, but no one seems to care… His songs talk about those hanging moments… Take his hand and your best costume, and let’s discover his universe! Enjoy the ride! Have you ever been so angry on the dancefloor that you want to build a whole spaceship with a deployable finger fuck sign, leave earth, face it, and proudly extend your hate sign toward it’s face, then realise that no one will ever know, and also that this is completely stupid anyway, and eventually that you were wrong on first place, so you come back to the dancefloor? You know the feels right ? You already experienced that, everyone has. Well, this is what this song is about. Enjoy
Kid Apollo | The Last Days Of All That’s Come Before
HOME BASE: Ireland.
GENRE: Indie-Pop.
THE BIO & PRESS RELEASE: “Kid Apollo is a solo artist hailing from Derry, Ireland. He writes, records and produces all his music from a beat-up laptop in a cramped bedroom (still living with the parents, if you were wondering). You may be thinking that this isn’t the optimal time to release music; the way he sees it is when life gives you lemons, you gotta make lemonade. Not the Beyoncé album, of course. Although that did do rather well. In a short amount of time, Kid Apollo’s music has found its way on to various playlists, pages and, although they are reluctant to admit it, several TikToks. So, with your lads holiday being cancelled, your spa weekend indefinitely postponed and your trip to the shops coming with the added risk of catching a terrible disease, it’s only right that there’s some silver lining to the global uncertainty. If you like catchy songs about our nihilistic future, then that silver lining is the Kid Apollo discography.
Z | Tornado
HOME BASE: France.
GENRE: Pop-Rock.
THE TRANSLATED BIO & PRESS RELEASE: “But who is Z? A modern vigilante? An impostor ? A seducer like Arsène Lupine or Robin Hood? An illuminated yellow cardigan? A Swedish footballer? Or just Zorro? Mystery. If he remains in the shadows, his message is very clear to him: Justice must be restored and Z arrives with his mask and his sword: “We are always promised aid, it seems that it comes from above, C ‘ it is me who would make them Z for once, in the back “Everything is said!”
