ListenUp
Eloquent rhymes from young Loyle Carner, Erykah Badu’s phone-themed mixtape, dolphin electronica and more in this week’s music
Loyle Carner: Ain’t Nothing Changed
The genuine, poignant way in which Loyle Carner executes his dynamic rhymes—which don’t shy away from being personal and direct (“Of course I’m fucking sad / I miss my fucking dad”)—has completely taken ahold of our hearts. His music video for the saxophone-infused, mellow track “Ain’t Nothing Changed” shows the young UK rapper made up as an elderly man (fun fact: Carner went to school for drama), going about his normal day in the studio to playing video games with his old friend.
Abelard: I’m OK For Now
There are notes of ’80s and ’90s pop and R&B in Melbourne-based Abelard’s “I’m OK For Now” despite its sumptuous electronic make-up. The producer (who previously remixed the Seinfeld theme to the internet’s delight) samples vocals from the ’80s disco jam “Change of Heart” by Change and sprinkles digitalesque artifacts all over. His style—self-described as “glitterwave”—is sweet, a little nostalgic, while being pointedly current. If there were a soundtrack for a retro-future intergalactic love story, this would be just right.
Jarbird: Such Is the House
London group Jarbird have yet to release an album, but their sparse pop song “Such Is The House” makes quite the first impression. Though the single was floating around on Soundcloud a year ago, “Such Is The House” now gets a music video worthy of the track’s eerie, thought-provoking lyrics about self-awareness: “To stand before a mirror and cry… To stand before an awkward look-alike.”
Rustie: First Mythz
Put together by multimedia artist Daniel Swan, the seizure-inducing music video for Rustie’s “First Mythz” races through found VHS-type footage of dolphins galore as well as seaside activities to the soundtrack of face-melting synth work. Seeing as the Glasgow-based producer actually samples the marine mammal’s infectious giggle, this is really a synergetic experience that we recommend *not* watching it full screen. Rustie’s album EVENIFUDONTBELIEVE is out now via Warp.
Erykah Badu: But You Caint Use My Phone
Since releasing her seven-minute take on Hotline Bling and another track “Phone Down,” her R&B highness Erykah Badu has had us waiting impatiently for her mixtape “But You Caint Use My Phone”—for which every song is related to the device that keeps us connected (or not). The Hotline Bling remix is renamed “Cel U Lar Device,” there’s a cover of New Edition’s “Mr Telephone Man” and former partner André 3000 guests on the last track “Hello.” This creative exercise of a mixtape is available today, though only on iTunes/Apple Music at the moment, and will make its way to other streaming platforms on 4 Dec 2015. Follow Badu’s advice on Twitter and listen to the whole thing in its proper order.
ListenUp is a Cool Hunting series published every Sunday that rounds up the music we tweeted throughout the week, also found in Listen. Hear the year so far via Cool Hunting Spotify.
