DOWNLOADS OF THE WEEK: The Weeknd, Worship, Danny Brown

The Weeknd - Thursday

After the massively positive critical response to the previous release, House of Balloons, this next installment from the Toronto-based R&B crooner was expected to be hotter than eating raw chili while standing on a black sand beach in the height of summer.

You know you’re pretty much in high demand when Drake backs you non-stop, you trend world wide on twitter and your latest album is being downloaded so much your website crashes on release day.

Despite the slight shift in production, all the elements that make The Weeknd so good are here. Powerful electronic beats smack you upside the head, airy synths, deep bass lines and, of course, the best R&B vocals that there has ever been (and I’m willing to stand by this comment). 

Age really should not be a factor in quality music, but it is worthy of comment that the guy behind The Weeknd, Abel Tesfaye, is only 21. His detail to production and maturity in his melodious delivery is way beyond his years. However, his lyrical content of women, drugs and late night shenanigans is perfectly in line with his age. He has a way of providing a social commentary on drug culture and nightlife that romanticizes it and really pulls you into listening to his self-prophesied self-destruction.

I was really trying to listen to this next mixtape/album without comparing it too much to House of Balloons, but I guess it was inevitable. If you compare it to Thursday then maybe you could be justified in saying it has not quite hit the same mark, but if you compare it to ANYTHING else in the R&B world there is nothing as fresh and different and captivating. The drawbacks to Thursday is that it is less focussed on the vocals, which I really think let’s it down to a certain degree. In general, the tracks are busier with more complicated riffs filling space that was previously left sparse for vocals in House of Balloons. There are still big chunks of space scattered throughout Thursday where the vocals are crazy and powerful.

If you don’t download this (and the previous album) then you really are getting left behind. This guy is the future. This hazy kind of R&B can get inside your head like nothing else and The Weeknd is guaranteed to get bigger and bigger.

The third mixtape/album, called Echoes of Silence is expected to drop by the end of the year.

Thursday Track List:
Lonely Star
Life of the Party
Thursday
The Zone (Feat. Drake)
The Birds Part 1
The Bird Part 2
Gone
Rolling Stone
Heaven or Las Vegas

DOWNLOAD HERE

Worship - Collateral

This band really is up-and-coming. They are becoming more and more “up” each day in the UK. Worship recently popped the single 'Collateral' online as a free download and are converting the ignorant into believers one click at a time. The track immediately slams you with electronic beats and takes you into slow synth builds. Thom Yorke-esque vocals kick in and lead you into a mash of textures with plenty of melody and thoughtful production keeping things interesting for the full 3 minutes 30 seconds. It is a big fat tasty slice of the musical pie they are to serve up as an album later this year.

I caught up with Jordan from the band to see how they managed to play Glastonbury festival so early in their career, how they managed to develop such an atmospheric sound and how consistent radio play on BBC radio 1 can change things

Being a new band, people all the way over in NZ will most likely not know that much about you…yet. How many people in the band and what roles do you each have?
We're a 4-piece. Tim is the singer and plays keys live, I (Jordan) play bass guitar and keys/samples, James plays Guitar and Tom plays drums.

How has releasing a free track contributed to your success thus far?
This is actually the third time we've given away material for free, originally our first demo 'In Our Blood' was available as part of a compilation and on a few blogs so that helped to get the ball rolling. Then we gave away 'Collateral' and 'The Midnight Sun' around the time we released our first video. We recently put Collateral up as a free download again due to it being Radio One (BBC Radio 1) play-listed. I imagine if we'd charged for the tracks then it would have hindered our progress a bit but it's hard to say for sure.

From listening to the few tracks you have available there seems to be attention to detail with your production. Does this translate perfectly live?
We spend quite a lot of time working on the productions making sure we're totally happy with them. I'm from a studio background and the others all have a lot of experience working in the studio so we're comfortable with producing ourselves. I think we're a good live band, we've played a lot of festivals this year and we're touring the UK in September so I hope so!

How did you manage to originate in 2010 and then a year later be playing at Glastonbury? What is the story to reaching that point?
We actually first performed at the end of 2009 but we weren't really the same band we are today, we had a different drummer and different songs. I think we were still figuring out exactly what we wanted to do and we didn't really get there until summer 2010 when we wrote a batch of songs, some of which we still play now. I think Glastonbury actually came about from BBC Berkshire DJ Linda Serck putting us forward. She's been a big supporter of the band from early on.

What musical influences have you brought together to produce Worship?
Our influences are quite varied, but shared influences of the bands are Radiohead & Mew. Tim tends to dig out a lot of new music that I've never heard of, which is good for us. There's always something new to listen to when we're traveling. I generally listen to a lot of electronic music - Four Tet, Bibio, Aphex Twin etc. We recently made a Spotify playlist of some music we're enjoying - have a listen here.

Your demo’s are self-produced. Will the same be true when you release an album? How important is creative control in producing your music?
We haven't actually recorded an album to date, although we probably have about 4 albums worth of material that we've written in the last few years. I think we'd like to work with a producer on our album as it is very hard to maintain perspective when working on that kind of project. Creative control is obviously important and I think whoever we work with will have to be happy to effectively co-produce with us as we've been so involved in all of our previous recordings.

'Collateral' has been playing on radio 1 in the UK. What has the reaction been so far?
The reaction has been great actually, much better than we anticipated. Collateral is probably our least 'radio-friendly' song and we were surprised when we heard it was being play-listed. It's been an exciting week for us, we've also announced our first UK tour in September supporting Dry The River so we're all looking forward to that.

How would you describe the general sound of Worship?
Someone said this but I'm not sure who... ‘Worship make brilliantly moody, haunting music. Soaring vocals and tense, synth laden atmospherics give the band a genuine mystique and set them out as one of the most promising prospects to have come along in a good while.’

What are the goals for the band and how do you plan to achieve them?
In the immediate future we're releasing our first single 'House Of Glass' in late October and will probably be doing some live dates around that release. Hopefully next year we'll be at a few more festivals and I'd hope to have an album released by the end of the year. I don't think any of us have thought any further ahead than that!

Take a listen to the single 'Collateral' and see for yourself if you think these guys have a promising future. My money is on them carving out a permanent place in the UK scene and invading other parts of the world in no time at all - so makes sense to get to know them now.

DOWNLOAD HERE
 

Danny Brown - XXX

Hip-hop seems to be full of fakers and wanna-be’s just copying what is trendy and successful at the moment. I mean, you just have to listen to Kanye and Lupe Fiasco sounding more and more like Lil Wayne to see this effect. But, it is clear as soon as the first verse is forced out of Danny Brown’s mouth that he has a style we have never heard before.

On first listen to this album it seems like the spitting's of a maniac. And it is. And that’s why I like it. He flows with a sort of high-pitched squawk-rap that sits over raw beats that mirrors the roughness of the lyrics. Honesty in music always grabs me, and Danny Brown rips through each rap verse with precision and commentary on whatever the hell he is thinking about without any self-editing. He has been picked as becoming the second biggest rapper out of Detroit (second to Eminem of course).  The difference is his lyrical content makes Eminem look like a Buddhist monk. He is missing that part of the brain that goes “now, should you really say that out loud?”. You want an example? Well, how about reference to the Pope giving oral sex, Ghandi going on a shooting rampage and the Virgin Mary snorting coke and much much more.

There is more to Danny Brown than just violent, aggressive verses as he shows towards the end of the album when he slows it down and his style evolves into more of a laid back drawl with commentary on the social state of Detroit.

People try to argue image is not all that important, but to some it certainly is. Danny had the opportunity to sign to G-Unit records but they would not take him on because he wore his jeans too tight. I guess if you want to be real gangster you got to have room for an AK-47 down your pants (or at least some Vitamin water and a Magic Stick condom). Despite this slight pitfall he is making moves in the hip-hop scene and his unique image is grabbing attention all over the show.

This album will make you work hard to appreciate it and provides an in-sight into the mind of a potential lunatic, as well as some beat production that is truly unique. Give the link below a click-a-roo and see if you agree with the hype.

DOWNLOAD HERE

By Oli Holmes