Di Laif spins to win, Sun Smash Palace find a saline solution, Miriam Baghdassarian turns tail and flees, Koriass has the last word — but they’re just the first entries in today’s submissions from Groover, a platform that connects artists with critics like me for a small fee. You can (and should) visit to my Tinnitist Top 150 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, spend some time perusing today’s eclectic playlist, which includes everything from full DJ sets and electronica to retro surf-rock, African-grooved jazz and operatic Rolling Stones covers. Let’s get started:
Di Laif | Live at Château Éphémère
HOME BASE: France.
GENRE: Electronica.
THE EDITED BIO & PRESS RELEASE: “Paris based with Mayan origins, Di Laif is spreding a message of reconnection to the roots through his music. Here’s a live set composed during two weeks of residency at the Château Éphémère, exploring the mechanisms of creation of electronic music while adding organic sounds.”
Sun Smash Palace | Beads Of Saltwater
HOME BASE: Luxembourg.
GENRE: Surf-Rock.
THE EDITED BIO & PRESS RELEASE: “Sun Smash Palace are an international band with members from Germay, Brazil, Canada and South Korea. They started in South Korea but now live in Luxemburg. Beads of Saltwater is an indie-surf song that sounds like summer. Fans of bands like Allah-Lahs or Mac de Marco may enjoy the song. They say: “We just released our first album! We want people to hear our music! Beads of Slatwater is about a beautiful moment that at the same time evokes memories of a great past. This creates a unique feeling of nostalgia within an otherwise perfect moment.”
Miriam Baghdassarian | Run Away
HOME BASE: Canada.
GENRE: Pop.
THE EDITED BIO & PRESS RELEASE: “Miriam Baghdassarian has one of those jaw-dropping voices that floors people when they hear it. When she unleashes that soulful vocal — as she does on her driving rock anthem Run Away — the Richter Scale power that Baghdassarian almost effortlessly emits immediately fills your being with the desire to hear more. Inspired in part by the loss of a close friend due to Armenian political conflict, Baghdassarian says the song and accompanying video is a message of peace and courage. “You have to face your fears,” she explains. “Once you get past life’s difficulties, you realize it’s not the end of the world. “When you stop running and face your problems, there is good and a light shines over you.”
Koriass | Epitaphe (ft. Sarahmée & Souldia)
HOME BASE: Canada.
GENRE: Rap.
THE TRANSLATED & EDITED BIO & PRESS RELEASE: “Koriass released his album Love Suprême in 2016. He won the Félix for Hip-Hop Album of the Year, and accumulated eight nominations, including Artist of the Year at Gamiq. In 2017 he was nominated for Francophone Album of the Year at the Junos and Francophone Artist of the Year at the Indies of Canadian Music Week. Considered one of the leaders of Quebec rap, Koriass returned last year with Génies en Herbe, his latest collaboration with fellow Quebec rapper FouKi.”
Benjamin Balensi | Oye (Sasa Familly Remix)
HOME BASE: France.
GENRE: EDM.
THE TRANSLATED & EDITED BIO & PRESS RELEASE: “Benjamin Balensi started playing the piano at age five. He is a very open-minded composer and piano virtuoso. This sensitive artist is very fond of exploring different musical forms. Discovering Daft Punk in 1996 introduced him to a new lyrical world of electro music. Benjamin is a man of great dedication and passion. He does not want to lock himself into a musical style. Here is the club remix of Balensi’s next hit Oye. It’s a mix between tribal music and festival sounds.”
Paupière | Coeur Monarque
HOME BASE: Canada.
GENRE: Indie-Pop.
THE EDITED BIO & PRESS RELEASE: “Led by Julia Daigle (visual artist) and Pierre-Luc Bégin (Polipe, We Are Wolves), Paupière are a glamorous and flamboyant duo from Montreal with an underground sensuality that creates pop music that is both naïve and profound. In Paupière, there is “skin” (peau) and “stone” (pierre), the organic and the mineral, sensitivity and hardness. There is also the word “pop.” Mixing English synth-pop and French chanson, the “neo-romantic” duo let us hear echoes of Human League, Deux or Depeche Mode in their work. Coeur Monarque (Monarch Heart) is the duo’s irresistible and casual new pop song.”
So Human | Renegade
HOME BASE: United States.
GENRE: Folk-Pop.
THE EDITED BIO & PRESS RELEASE: “Joe Hubert: Vocals, Bass, Composer, Lyrics. Born in the Netherlands, he lived during his childhood in Argentina, Hong-Kong, and France. Studied in Los Angeles in 1995. Played, recorded, and toured with bands in the U.S.A., France, and Spain. Alex Barefeet: Drums, Percussion, Programming, Composer, Writer. Owner and manager of a music academy in Toulouse since 2007. Alex Bart: Guitars, Keyboards, String Arrangements. Programming, Engineer, Mixing, Producer. Nominated at the 2005 Grammy Awards for the Latin Jazz Album of the Year with Ray Barretto’s Time Was, Time Is. Benjamin Moussay: Piano and keyboards. Joined So Human in 2016. Skilled jazz musician and virtuoso piano player, film score composer.”
Cain MacWitish | Ouch
HOME BASE: United States.
GENRE: Electronica.
THE EDITED BIO & PRESS RELEASE: “I approach electronic music from a different perspective and create a sound like no one else. I don’t use loops and I create unique songs. I walk the line between melody and chaos.”
Vanessa Borduas | Ailleurs
HOME BASE: Canada.
GENRE: Pop.
THE EDITED BIO & PRESS RELEASE: “Originally from Canada, Vanessa Borduas has impressive stage experiences. A graduate of the only school for songwriters in the country (National School of Song), Vanessa won two song of the year titles. Ailleurs is the second single from Portraits, an EP and a digital exhibition in songs and visual arts. Each work is inspired by the stories of people in the audience. A human and sensitive project that brings people together.”
Chrisness | A.L.L E.Y.E.S O.N M.E.
HOME BASE: France.
GENRE: Rap.
THE EDITED BIO & PRESS RELEASE: “Chrisness’s music is characterized by its hybrid sound, along with his raw, hardcore raps. Opting for very modern productions which mix bass, guitar, synth and vocoder, Chrisness shows he is a true chameleon. Each text is a message for the listener and comes from his experience. He stands out from the others by the incredible energy that emanates from his songs.”
Georgia Lee Johnson | Open Ocean
HOME BASE: Canada.
GENRE: Indie-Folk.
THE EDITED BIO & PRESS RELEASE: “Indie-folk artist Georgia Lee Johnson sings like an old soul who has already done this undertaking we call life before. She sings with reverence and profound wisdom next to a sound that can only be described as mystic folk, featuring the traditional sounds of Appalachia, Irish, and African music. Open Ocean follows the story of a young man who is clinging to the shadows of the past and falling into a complacency of moving on with his life. Johnson beautifully uses the metaphor of an “open ocean,” to convey the endless possibilities that await the young man. “Open Ocean is an invitation to put down the weight of past, of expectation, and of disappointment, and to step into the invigorating present,” she says. The track is one of nine coming out on the upcoming January Mind album, which will explore the themes of isolation, belonging, reckoning, broken and transformed relationships, and the yearning for a home within oneself and the natural world.”
stph. | Verschueren
HOME BASE: Belgium.
GENRE: Synth-Pop.
THE EDITED BIO & PRESS RELEASE: “stph are an atypical indie-pop duo from Brussels. Their music is made of modern textures and memories of ’80s French pop, reminding you of La Femme or Ariel Pink. Behind their annoyed smiles, Aurore and JS beautify the existential questions that are haunting them. This song uplifted the mood of the regulars of this mythical bar in Brussels, the Verschueren. Some claimed starting dancing on their sofas! Can it make you happy too?”
Chris Novakine | Up And Away
HOME BASE: United States.
GENRE: Rap.
THE EDITED BIO & PRESS RELEASE: “Up And Away by Chris Novakine chronicles determination in all aspects. It also tells a story of finding passion in something you never thought you would. No matter what it takes to get to where you want to be. Find what fuels you and do it. Set goals. Aim for the stars and take off towards them.”
Nedelko | 5 Centimètres Par Seconde + Bienvenue à Néopolis
HOME BASE: France.
GENRE: Rap.
THE EDITED BIO & PRESS RELEASE: “Two live extracts from the album Urizen Pt. 1, released in December 2020, performed for the Groover Obsessions sessions!”
Claudiella | Paint It Black
HOME BASE: United Kingdom.
GENRE: Popera.
THE EDITED BIO & PRESS RELEASE: “Known for fusing operatic vocals with a contemporary flair, emerging artist Claudillea creates boundary breaking music. Her latest release is a cover of The Rolling Stones’ Paint It Black. With passages reminiscent of Kate Bush, this cinematic cover could easily be seen in an intro to a James Bond movie. Claudillea’s powerful and climactic vocals escalate to the end of the song, leaving one in a state of euphoria and awe. Carving out her own musical lane, Claudillea breaks the rules of music, making each song her own and iconic. Claudillea’s vocal timbres acrobat from high to low, very much an ode to her years of vocal study. With jaw-dropping vocals, this song has now been uplifted and modernised, bringing a fresh new sound to the 21st century.”
The Adam Price Group | Mzungu
HOME BASE: United States.
GENRE: Jazz.
THE EDITED BIO & PRESS RELEASE: “Clarinetist and multi-instrumentalist Adam Price is from rural Pennsylvania, and if there is a root to his music, it lies there. But his newest album House Ghosts often feels more like a river cruise down the Amazon than a screened-in porch in the mountains. It’s no surprise, as Price has performed across six continents. With sweeping melodies and haunting clarinet solos, Price evokes the very soul of jazz, never intending to reinvent the genre, but give it new life. Brazilian and African influences, collected on his many travels, fuse seamlessly in his compositions. The underlying headiness, however, was forged in New York, where he lived and performed for years. He says: “Mzungu is a driving acoustic instrumental song with heavy Afro-beat and world influences. My album is firmly in the jazz world, but many of the tracks, this one especially, have heavy world music influences and overtones.”
Ghostgirl | Gone
HOME BASE: Germany.
GENRE: Pop.
THE EDITED BIO & PRESS RELEASE: “My first single Gone is about heartbreak and toxic love. I wanna share it with people to show them they’re not alone with what they’re going through.”
Sunstroke Rain | Go Greta
HOME BASE: Sweden.
GENRE: Synth-Pop.
THE EDITED BIO & PRESS RELEASE: “Singer and composer Sunstroke Rain (an anagram of Karin Turesson) has played with artists such as Ebbot (Soundtrack Of Our Lives), Nina Persson (The Cardigans) and Robyn, but now performs her own compositions backed by Olivia Lyne and Lisa Frisk. The group deliver a sophisticated, meticulous sound with three keyboards, three mics, three-part harmonies and a bottom end filled with swampish Moog bass. The sharp lyrics describe and comment on our ever-changing contemporary society. Says Turesson: “This is a tribute to Greta Thunberg. I have been following Greta from her first protests, sitting outside the parliament in Stockholm. So young, wise and full of purpose. I’m afraid there’s too much deafness of the many witless in powerful positions, pursuing their own interests at the expense of others.”
The Radioactive | 2020
HOME BASE: France.
GENRE: Indie-Pop.
THE EDITED BIO & PRESS RELEASE: “The Radioactive were born in 2011. Singer Oscar’s raging melodies are fused with Neil’s drum power and Arthur’s craziness on the bass. In 2020 the band released their second album Last Generation to rewrite the laws of rock ’n’ roll. Inspired by blues, punk, classical and event swing, The Radioactive wage war against sadness with destructive drums and guitars. Last Generation delivers cathartic anger and celebration. Sometimes the band calms down to let the melancholy enter its own world. Last Generation is the outcome of years of work.”
