Kiss My Culture

10 Must Hear Releases

This week’s top 10 releases on Kiss My Culture’s YouTube video playlist puts together a amalgamation of indie, leftfield, drum and bass, dubstep, electro and a house number that is set to be the anthem of the season.

Two months ago, Jamie XX rework of Radiohead’s impending cult classic “Bloom” took the intrawebbies by storm, and now he makes public his second rework in the form of (Jamie XX Rework 3.) Opening with a ghostly and broody vibe, Jamie peaks it up from sunken bass and echoed chimes into funky house territory. Not wanting to lose “Bloom“‘s touch, the breakdown pits Thom Yorke’s moan over moody synths.

I decided to open the playlist with not one but two headlining tracks released over the week. Next up, the irrepressible Florence Welch known as Florence + The Machine released a music video for her latest single “No Light, No Light”, a track taken from her critically acclaimed second studio album Ceremonial.

Keeping to the indie vibe, the next two tracks feature an upcoming act and a rather established one -both coming from the stable of Modular Recordings.

First up is Modular’s latest signing, Norwegian collective Young Dreams, headed by Mattias Telez. Their eponymous track speaks of all that they are: fusing tropicalia and psychedelic rock layered over pop sensibilities, they deliver their unique style through youthful and innocent madness (as seen in the video.) Download “Young Dreams” for free on their Soundcloud. The Rapture follows closely after them with “Sail Away.” Taken off their much-anticipated album, In The Grace of Your Love released in September, the album is their fourth after their last one Pieces of the People We Love released some 5 years ago.

Genre-benders Sepalcure, dubstep most popular act, Skream and drum and bass chart-toppers Chase & Status together with Sub Focus helms the next three slots on the playlist.

Travis Stewart and Praveen Sharma of Sepalcure is emerging nicely of late with their own projects. But the duo’s forthcoming debut album represents a more distinctive tone as they both marry their creative minds in the studio. And taken off that album, “Pencil Pimp” is the perfect showcase of the duo’s warm and subtle musical hues. It’s for a late night shindig, but with muffled basslines, house synths and broken beats, one can only stay as far as the speakers are.

Raising the intensity bar after Sepalcure, Skream’s latest release “Anticipate” takes you into a more upbeat plateau. The track is intentionally placed to prep you for a banger of a track from Chase & Status and Sub Focus with their peak-hour offering in “Flashing Light.”

Not wanting to lose the dancefloor mayhem, Alesso’s “Raise Your Head” drops instantly after “Flashing Light” goes absolutely mental on the last half of the track. Subsequently, we head towards what could be big-room’s biggest club anthem with Norman Doray’s “Breakaway” featuring the sultry vocals of Tawiah. Though just a preview of the track, you can find the full-version in YouTube.

Closing the playlist, English producer Joker drops “On My Mind” featuring the soulful vocals of William Cartwright. The track is taken off his recently released album The Vision and sees collaboration with a host of people including Jessie Ware, Otis Brown and Silas. As much as the album is pitted for mainstream prominence, paved by the likes of Magnetic Man and SBTRKT, Joker’s approach straddles between keeping true to his post-dubstep root and creating it his own.

Video Playlist
Click playlist button on video to view all.

Radiohead “Bloom (Jamie XX Rework 3)”
Florence + The Machine “No Light, No Light”
Young Dreams “Young Dreams”
The Rapture “Sail Away”
Sepalcure “Pencil Pimp”
Skream feat. Sam Frank “Anticipate”
Chase & Status and Sub Focus feat. Takura “Flashing Lights”
Alesso “Raise Your Head”
Norman Doray vs Tawiah “Breakaway”
Joker feat. William Cartwright “On My Mind”