I’ve shared a lot of Cruel Youth’s music before, including the original of Mr Watson and Diamond Days, but Take A Day Trip have absolutely added so much value to Mr Watson, with a more Lynch-esque darker take which is really transformative to Teddy’s vocals too.

My girl and voice of silk Alo Lee just premiered her track Greener produced by her collaborator of two years Deverano who has really created his finest work with this one. Keep up on Alo Lee for more coming very soon.

https://soundcloud.com/alolee/greener

Next up, the drug forlorn love-child of Elliott Smith and Yeezus, NEO 10Y has delivered JANIS – produced by hii.de – a mind-fuck journey into futurist world. Read more about the journey and the replication of a narcotics high created with hii.de over on NEO 10Y’s Medium blog. Learn more about NEO 10Y on MTV.

On a similar wave in terms of youthful namesakes, Kinder also delivered Light this month, which is a more upbeat number compared to the last three tracks, but Leo Wyatt’s almost jazz and sunlight infused vocal puts it in good stead for the Summer.

The post Sonic Tendencies for August appeared first on KIMU.

For those of you who follow me on Snapchat, this list will be of little/no surprise to you. So here goes. The top three are in order and the remaining seven are all even with a couple of super fucking honourable mentions at the bottom.

1. Lana Del Rey – High By The Beach

From the moment this leaked in HQ to this day, the track has resonated with me, for a number of reasons (cc Teddy Sinclair, Illyse Singer, Willy Moon and a beach in New York about two weeks before the track came out). But also, the video and the message behind it – the strength of lyrical message making somewhat of a change from Ultraviolence, the past reference to “lights, camera, accion”, the rebellion, honesty and openness opening us up to a new era from Lana – something almost more tech-experimentative which fits with where she is at culturally right now. Oh and if I was doing an album list then Honeymoon would be at the top along with Grimes’ Art Angels.

2. Future – Thought It Was A Drought

Angel Haze introduced me to this track from Future, the week that the album dropped. Again, we were in New York at her apartment and we consistently play it on loop. Sonically, the thickness and depth of the track, again coupled with totally rebellious lyrics nailed if for me. It’s been a staple both through meme value and personally with my friends ever since. Literally cannot wait for the video to drop which is co-directed by A$AP Ferg.

3. Travis Scott – 3500

Current Rihanna controversy aside (this is not a speculation site!), from the entire Rodeo album (and Deluxe) this is 100% my favourite track. No explanation as to why – I mean it is produced by Metro Boomin, Zaytoven, Mike Dean, Million $ Mano and Allen Ritter (Metro and Allen also produced Thought It Was A Drought) so sonically it is completely in line with what I fell in love with this year.

Here’s my Spotify playlist for the full list of ten which also features REALiTI from Grimes (after it had been reworked from the demo), The Hills from The Weeknd, Music To Watch Boys To by Lana Del Rey, King Kunta by Kendrick Lamar, Hands To Myself by Selena Gomez (she had one of the best albums of the year and the first three singles are beyond compare), All Day by Kanye West (duh) and Bitch Better Have My Money by Rihanna.

On an equally interesting note, onto the honourable mentions. It was really hard because I wanted to include two Grimes tracks on the original list but REALiTI trumped this by a traction because I think it has more longevity and slower burnout, but Venus Fly featuring Janelle Monae is where Grimes goes the hardest on Art Angels. What she delivers is pretty fucking unparalleled – harder than any EDM track out there right now and also more beautifully executed than anything I have ever heard on a dance level in the last ten years.

Second honourable mention to my girl Alo Lee – for her entire EP Twice Burned and the full three-track produced by Liam Howe (Adele, FKA, Lana) and Exmoor Emperor, plus all of the SoundCloud content which has been incredibly strong – from covers of The Weeknd, Rihanna and Drake to original content like Blindsight with Lox Chatterbox and Blood with Su Na. Enjoy!

https://soundcloud.com/sunabeats/blood-feat-alo-lee

https://soundcloud.com/alolee/sets/twiceburnedep

https://soundcloud.com/alolee/sets/videos-3track

The post Playlist: Best Hip-Hop and Dark Pop Songs of 2015 appeared first on KIMU.

With that said, today saw the premiere of the track “Videos” – produced by Liam Howe (FKA Twigs, Lana Del Rey, Adele) and Exmoor Emperor. Make sure you check Alo’s SoundCloud for the premieres of Use Me and Inside. Photography by me and Patrick Hope.

Today Antony Hegarty unveiled 4 Degrees – the first single under her new artist name ANOHNI. The record, HOPELESSNESS, is co-produced with Hudson Mohawke (hello!) and Oneohtrix Point Never. Photography by Inez and Vinoodh.

London-based artist and let’s be real, visual genius, WIZE also premiered his new track and video, JAMIE. Self-directed, the video also features the Ada + Nik Cesare biker jacket (insert shooting star emoji).

The post Sonic Tendencies: Alo Lee, ANOHNI and MR WIZE appeared first on KIMU.

Obsessed with the original of The Weeknd’s The Hills, even more obsessed with Alo Lee and SubtomiK’s cover. Keep it coming, keep it coming – and make sure to check out Twice Burned.

The post Alo Lee and SubtomiK – The Hills (The Weeknd Cover) appeared first on KIMU.

It was about five years ago (I am not even sure when exactly) that I started writing my thoughts online. A lot has evolved, from writing about musicians that I respected to creatively developing and actually managing one that is emerging, growing and gaining critical acclaim. Meet dark r&b bombshell Alo Lee – wordsmith, songstress, business woman, bae. Her debut EP Twice Burned is out today, you can listen on SoundCloud and Spotify and buy on iTunes. This has been no small feat – we’ve created some incredible content to sit alongside the release – the artwork below is by the incredibly talented Hanna Hillier with make up by Lauren Reynolds, the introduction video below is by Hamish Stephenson and myself, Nik Thakkar bringing to life Alo’s vision, sound and art in one cohesive short.

Enjoy the music, enjoy the journey and most of all thank you for supporting this.

The post Alo Lee – Twice Burned EP appeared first on KIMU.

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https://soundcloud.com/alolee/electricblue

This week has marked the start of a new era for an artist that I am now co-managing, Alo Lee. Alo is an incredible talent that has been brewing for quite some time, but in silence – a mere three months ago Alo put some tracks up on SoundCloud and a ripple effect through the platform and social media has resulted in some rather epic and well deserved recognition with vocal comparisons to Aaliyah with the sensibilities of Frank Ocean. Names and comparisons aside, Alo is a new breed of artist – challenging and breaking the mould – something that we are working on together creatively and sonically.

Above are two tracks from her debut EP Twice Burned – Snake (which premiered on Line of Best Fit – with a must read interview by Paul Bridgewater) and Electric Blue (which premiered on Earmilk) – the full EP is released globally on 5th May, so stay tuned to Alo’s social channels for updates.

The post Two Tracks From Alo Lee – Snake and Electric Blue appeared first on KIMU.

London-based alt/dark r’n’b artist Alo Lee just released a tribute to one of her greatest vocal influences, Aaliyah. Enjoy the Rock The Boat / Your Love Is A One In A Million re-work performed by Alo, with additional lyrics interspersed. The track was produced by Aywy & Ekali.

The post Rock Your Love – Aaliyah x Alo Lee appeared first on KIMU.

There are massive things set to come from Alo Lee. Here’s a taste of what to expect, with Blindsight featuring Lox Chatterbox and production by Yugana.

The post Alo Lee – Blindsight featuring Lox Chatterbox appeared first on KIMU.

Independent UK-based artist Alo Lee puts an acoustic and adventurous spin on Childish Gambino’s Sober. It’s excellent.

The post Alo Lee – Sober (Childish Gambino Cover) appeared first on KIMU.