Iskandar Widjaja takes a bow, InHibit embarks on a quest, Rodeo FM count the psychos, Dix-Iple Deca delivers a tasty slice 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. But first, give these outstanding offerings a shot:
Iskandar Widjaja | Hip Hop Symphony
HOME BASE: Germany.
GENRE: Classical.
THE BIO & PRESS RELEASE: “Hip Hop Symphony combines classical virtuoso violin with phat hip-hop beats — all played at a dazzling tempo. The video features five hip-hop dancers from Indonesia. I dance too — while playing violin.”
InHibit | The Quest
HOME BASE: Belgium.
GENRE: Pop-Rock.
THE BIO & PRESS RELEASE: “Who hides behind this face marred by criss-crossing scars? The 21-year-old Anglo-Belgian InHibit took up music and singing when he was five before developing a keen interest for writing and eventually combining the three forms of expression. This singer-songwriter, nourished by his love of poetry, caught the public’s ear with The Quest, a piece which defies any rough and ready labelling thanks to its combination of a wide-ranging variety of musical styles. We can bet that his first single, produced by Machiavel’s former guitarist and by François Garny, is only the starting point of a promising career.”
Rodeo FM | Too Many Psychos
HOME BASE: Germany.
GENRE: Roots.
THE BIO & PRESS RELEASE: “Too many Psychos is the third single from the upcoming album The Upgrade of Truth by Berlin-based Americana band Rodeo FM. It’s a swampy country-blues pointing its accusing finger at the abusive powers that be. Rodeo FM have been playing their brand of Americana for 15 years. They have been filling dance floors from the South of France to the Russian border and been likened to greats such as Crosby, Stills, Nash and Young, The Band and Tom Petty.”
Dix-Iple Deca | Pizza Hawaïenne (ft. Jamal Jaykob)
HOME BASE: Canada.
GENRE: Hip-Hop.
THE BIO & PRESS RELEASE: “Dix-Iple Deca, whose real name is Gino Oray, navigates different areas of hip-hop culture — he is a Quebec rapper, producer, beatmaker and motivator. He presents his new music video Hawaiian Pizza in collaboration with his son Jamal Jaykob. Known on social media for his preference for Hawaiian pizza and video clips, he managed to sow controversy among followers over his appreciation of this famous dish. Along with his humorous adoration for this pizza, however, the song examines the fear and ignorance surrounding differences and the mixing of cultures. This song claims we should never let a person trying to change our identity for lack of knowledge or education about our tastes and our culture.”
Christophe Menassier | Kings All Die One Day
HOME BASE: France.
GENRE: Orchestral.
THE BIO & PRESS RELEASE: “Christophe Menassier is a composer of French film music. He is based in Marseille in the south of France. The track Kings All Die One Day was released ago on his most-recent album The Unknown Movie.”
Camphor | Oh Desire
HOME BASE: United States.
GENRE: Orch-Pop.
THE BIO & PRESS RELEASE: “Camphor is New York-based film score composer Max Avery Lichtenstein, in collaboration with producer/engineer D. James Goodwin. Oh Desire is about the experience of wanting something that may or may not be good for you.”
Brice Turner | Inferno
HOME BASE: France.
GENRE: Electronica.
THE BIO & PRESS RELEASE: “Inspired by Greek mythology, movies and American rap, Brice Turner mixed all of them to create his on world. A world where the imagination has no limits.”
Nahash | Sangre y Poder
HOME BASE: Canada.
GENRE: Electronica.
THE BIO & PRESS RELEASE: “Nahash started in 2013 in Shanghai by artist and producer Raphaël Valensi as a project to write the soundtrack for the end of the world. Nahash first released metal-inspired electronic music. In 2017, Valensi moved from Shanghai to Montréal, and in 2019 Nahash’s sound took on a new form: A mix of pounding rave drums, harsh noise and warm percussion arranged through the filter of dancehall, bleep and jungle. Sangre Y Poder is a track from his album Flowers of the Revolution. “The album was written while researching and reading about the role that the US played in installing dictators in central and south America. The harsh and industrial sounds I used as a way to talk about what happens when the harsh reality of neo-liberalism takes over a country that could do very well without it. I was reading and watching documentaries about Haiti and Cuba and trying to imagine what those countries would be without any western influence. The ‘’flowers of the revolution’’ are the flowers that never grew, the fields that were burnt down, the plants that were trampled by boots.”
Nedelko | Or What
HOME BASE: France.
GENRE: Rap.
THE TRANSLATED BIO & PRESS RELEASE: “Or What is a hymn to debauchery and embarrassing situations that we laugh about later. Excited and mocking, Nedelko lets off steam on an explosive production of Oster Lapwass.”
The Smallest Creature | Break Me
HOME BASE: Cyprus.
GENRE: Rock.
THE BIO & PRESS RELEASE: “A rock quartet from Larnaca, in sunny Mediterranean Cyprus, The Smallest Creature draw inspiration from an assorted alternative rock palette including Radiohead, Nirvana, QOTSA, Soundgarden, The Verve, Oasis, Blur and early Muse, as well as classics like The Beatles and Black Sabbath. Their first album Million got a lot of love and complimentary cheers. Break Me is from their just-released second album Magic Beans. Though the song builds up to a full rock crescendo, it has overall an almost-pop vein, being some sort of a love song.”
Jujjumusic | Illusion
HOME BASE: France.
GENRE: Afrobeat.
THE BIO & PRESS RELEASE: “Jujju has been active in the field of Afrobeat for about 20 years, starting with the group Fanga. His new project Jujjumusic project is a summary of all the encounters he has had in this long exploration, a way of saying thank you to his fellow travelers. It’s a studio-only album that won’t be played on stage, a fantasy album, like a big jam, a travel trough different worlds with the common roots of mother earth. Illusion mixes the great groove of Tony Allen (Fela Kuti’s former drummer ) with some kind of french Gainsbourg poetry. Innovative!”
Raign | Causing Love
HOME BASE: United States.
GENRE: Pop-Rock.
THE BIO & PRESS RELEASE: “As the harbinger of a new era in Pop romanticism, London-born artist Raign bends boundaries to create darkly-dreamy music that’s near-sublime in its transformative power. Following her 2018 LP Sign, Raign is back with her new single Causing Love, an epic slice of expressive alt-pop. Transporting the listener to a fantastical realm of enduring love, the London-born artist’s herculean goddess-like vocals soar across the track’s glittering soundscape, accompanied by crashing drum patterns and electrifying guitar rhythms. Co-written with multi-platinum German producer David Jürgens and produced with long-time collaborator Robbie Lamond (Ellie Goulding / Lana Del Rey), Causing Love is further proof of Raign’s ability to expertly sculpt her sound and deliver breathtaking results. Raign states; “Causing Love was first penned in Berlin. I had always wanted to go to Germany because my father was born there. Around that time, I realized that my responsibility as an artist was to inspire more love in the world. I was inspired by the gritty yet romantic vibe in Berlin’s über-creative East Side. From that melting pot of exploration and dream-state thoughts, Causing Love was born.”
Jordan Rose | One Of These Days
HOME BASE: United States.
GENRE: Folk-Pop.
THE BIO & PRESS RELEASE: “Thank you in advance for listening to my song.”
https://soundcloud.com/jordanrossant/one-of-these-days-4/s-SSxJLNYZYUb
Giorgio Ardente | Biolesens
HOME BASE: France.
GENRE: Classical.
THE BIO & PRESS RELEASE: “I am a French pianist and composer. Very quickly, I started to compose my own music. I recently decided to share these compositions, starting with Biolesens.”
Folium | Chimère
HOME BASE: France.
GENRE: Folk-Rock.
THE TRANSLATED BIO & PRESS RELEASE: “The first album of the Folium tandem, Neither Goddess Nor Mistress, pays tribute to women, their sensitivity and their quest for the absolute in a fashion still too dominated by violence that does not leave enough room for their poetry. On an electro-rock rhythm, Alexis poses with majesty his warm and serious voice on texts attracted by the light.”
