Browsing Tag

Indie Funk

Get into the groove with the intimately quirky single from Discount Art, ‘My EBT Got Declined at Erewhon’

Posted on 9 February 2023

The indie project, Discount Art, led by the disarmingly candid artist, Jay Hemphill, is fresh from its deeply compassionate latest release, My EBT Got Declined at Erewhon.

The track may come with a smorgasbord of titular quirk, but once you are enmeshed in the funk in the indie grooves and feeling the weight of the soulful lullaby-ESQUE vocals, any notion of novelty soon falls by the wayside.

The emotionally intimate bass lines bolster the rhythm section while the accordantly timbered synths add dreamy layers around the account of public humiliation stemming from an electronic benefit transfer being declined at the supermarket.

On the surface, it seems a strange lyrical precipice to jump off. When you look at the full picture, you will see what Discount Art set up; a narration of the series of blows delivered by a crippling economic climate and how they strip humanity away from us; you get a snapshot of the detriment of the human psyche at this late stage of capitalism.

The official music video for My EBT Got Declined at Erewhon is available on YouTube.

Review by Amelia Vandergast

Punk rap pioneers Mort City gave a lesson in funk, rhythm and groove in their single, Teacher Teacher

Posted on 15 October 2022

The US punk rap pioneers Mort City brought the riffy funk in their latest single, Teacher Teacher, which will school you in Afrobeat rhythms, Primus-Esque melodies, and Ty Segal-style fuzz.

The cheeky semi-spoken word verses easily gel with the off-kilter progressive guitars that always keep the tonal palate sunny while delving into groove pockets before bringing Tom Morello veracious licks. If there was ever a 21st-century equivalent to Frank Zappa, I’m pretty sure I’ve just experienced it.

The bi-coastal duo ticks every conceivable box in the realms of experimentalism, while keeping the centre of gravity the good vibes that effortlessly exude from Teacher Teacher, which is just one of the singles from their debut album, On The Scene, which dropped across all streaming platforms on October 7th.

Teacher Teacher is now available to stream on Spotify.

Review by Amelia Vandergast

 

The Art Crimes Band painted in metropolitan soul in their latest jazzy synth-driven single, Neon Skyline

Posted on 10 October 2022

The Art Crimes Band have been lauded as Cork’s most promising new band; their latest single, Neon Skyline, affirms just why so much hype has been amassing around their soul-driven indie synthwave sound. If you can envisage Nina Simone’s vocals fused over The Midnight’s soundscapes, you may get a fair way to imagining what the Art Crimes Band have stirringly amalgamated in Neon Skyline.

To the tune of seductively jazzy sax, shimmering synths and ambient funk dripping rhythms, Neon Skyline metropolitanly unravels around the timeless female vocals that could have been recorded at any time in the last century, but they fit right into the juxtaposing classic temporary timbre of this artfully consuming serenade, which calls out into the cruel cold world to make it infinitely more accommodating and less alienating.

Neon Skyline is now available to stream on Spotify.

Review by Amelia Vandergast

Cloverchild brings in the future of Funk with “Down Deep”

Posted on 22 October 2020
https://cloverchild.bandcamp.com/track/down-deep

Chicago-based Indie artist Cloverchild blessed the airwaves with lashings of futuristic Funk with the release of their album Fool’s Paradise which dropped October 2nd.

Hit play and immerse yourself in a high-vibe medley of Disco tones, playful electronica and Rock-inclined rhythmic prowess. The perfect introduction to their charismatically compassionate approach to Indie is “Down Deep”. If you could imagine what it would sound like if you came across John Grant on a good day, you’ll get an idea of the groovy soulful appeal which Down Deep has to offer.

You can check out Down Deep with the rest of Cloverchild’s 2020 album via Bandcamp.

Review by Amelia Vandergast

”Baby You’re Mine” by Andy Moontown could be the smoothest track of 2020

Posted on 18 June 2020

Going to places with you have never heard of before must be an incredible and happy feeling. You are cruising with the love of your life during the summer time. The shades are on, hair is flowing in the wind and you both are holding hands. Smiling times with no worries.

”Baby You’re Mine” by Dallas native Andy Moontown is something special. The beat is so funky I want to groove so bad and get down on that dance floor. This track is all about being happy and speaking about the things you can’t face to face. You do it through the best medium of all. Music.

I’m blown away with this track and it makes me so happy. I feel like summer is taking so long to arrive and this will have to played by the pool when the right time comes. Produced by PilotKid who has created such a gem stone here that I just want to flip this one again and again. Be happy, forget your worries and turn this up.

Soundcloud is the platform to hear this epic track that defies time.

Reviewed by Llewelyn Screen

Two Thirds of Me – Ambiguity: Funk-Infused Indie

Posted on 27 April 2019

“Ambiguity” is the latest mellifluously-mused single from up and coming Indie Pop artist Two Thirds of Me who uses jangly guitar progressions along with narratively immersive lyrics to create emotive soundscapes.

The singer-songwriter keeps an ample amount of Funk behind his otherwise concordant style, however the true depth of his instrumental talent won’t become perceptible until the outro of the track. The progressive single teases the experimentalism from the artist by using sonically wavy textures along with intricately gentle yet effectively mesmeric guitar picking.

Any release from Glasgow-based artist Two Thirds of Me comes highly recommended to any fans of Frightened Rabbit, the Twilight Sad, and We Were Promised Jetpacks. That being said, there’s still plenty of organic allure written into the vibrantly piercing tonality of Ambiguity.

You can check out Ambiguity by Two Thirds of Me for yourselves by heading over to SoundCloud now.

Review by Amelia Vandergast

A&R Factory Present: Magic City Hippies

Posted on 26 April 2016

Tarantino trip-hop meets dusty, rock-and-roll-infused, post-apocalyptic R&B in the Magic City Hippies’ new make-up-sex-inspired jam, ‘HUSH.’ Ethereal guitars glide alongside smoky vocal game-spitting and whistling soul organ, all grounded in the heavy booms, baps, snaps, and bouncing 808s of a Timbaland-style banger. But make no mistake, the rock knob was not twisted gently during the torrent of feedback and buzzsaw guitar riffage that rounds out the tune before it disintegrates into the fattest future-funk you’ve heard all week.

‘HUSH’ is the Hippies’ first release in the wake of their Spotify Viral 50-topping track ’Fanfare’, which has collected over 1.7 million streams since it was released as a part of the Hippie Castle EP back in July 2015. All of this follows up a streak of Hype Machine-ranking tracks from their back catalog under former name Robby Hunter Band in 2013, from which songs have recently resurfaced on network TV shows like The CW’s iZombie and Showtime’s Ray Donovan.

Having just returned from their first regional US tour, the self-proclaimed “indie funk” trio is planning on stepping out of Miami for more pending tour dates while wrapping up their second full-length for release this summer.