It’s cold this week and if you can’t tell, we’re not happy about it! To shake off those blues, we’re getting lost in some clips that emanate those good old summer vibes. Put your bikinis and budgee smugglers on in preparation and get clicking below!

Hockey Dad – Jump the Gun

Sit back and take a tour of the beach side suburb of Windang as the latest clip from Hockey Dad treats us to a behind the scenes look into the town that the foursome call home. A little patch of coastline on the Southern tip of the Wollongong peninsula, its suddenly very apparent where the lads lazy, sun drenched vibes originate. Inspired by surf classic Endless Summer II, drummer Billy Fleming says he started to pen lyrics when he heard the line: “on any day of the year, it’s summer somewhere in the world.” Radiating all that warmth, Jump The Gun is a scorcher, with plenty more to come from album Boronia, out August 12th.

https://youtu.be/mtNK4EI2XN8

Mac Miller– Dang! Feat Anderson Paak

The pairing of Mac Miller and Anderson Paak is about as smooth and splendid as you could imagine. The video for single Dang! off the upcoming album The Divine Feminine laments the struggles of holding on to that special girl, with Miller following his love interest across the city while .Paak forlornly watches as his counterpart packs her bags. But it’s not all doom and heartbreak, there is dancing that would make Pharrell Williams smile with the force of a thousand Happy videos and a hint at a happy ending after all. I think we’ll be seeing a whole lot more of this one.

https://youtu.be/LR3GQfryp9M

Spookyland – Discipline

I’m not even sure if this is cheating, but it was hard not to include the official lyric video released by Spookyland this week for track Discipline, because the track itself is just so captivating. If affected lyrics and anthemic builds are your thing, then your going to be all over this. Think Gang Of Youths and DMA’s and you’re on the right track. Once you’re done memorising the lyrics with the video on repeat, you can grab their debut Beauty Already Beautiful here or check them out at their upcoming shows.

https://youtu.be/OlMmeWNj0G8

NAO – Girlfriend

Soaring and ethereal, the voice of London’s NAO is like being wrapped in a cocoon made up of the night sky. Single Girlfriend has been doing the rounds and making waves and the video to accompany is appropriately divine. The spacious, soulful funk of the track overlays visuals of feminine diversity and those little moments of domestic bliss that can twang even the most cynical heartstrings. NAO is a stand out new kid on the block of 2016 and you’d be doing yourself a favour to hear more from her 18 track mega debut For All We Know here.

https://youtu.be/sisOw0Y822U

Hanni El Khatib – Mondo and His Makeup

Shot in a Mexican restaurant that looks like a strip club with a mariachi player and some sequined dancers, how could we not watch this one through? It’s the kind of place you just wish you could stumble in after a few sneaky tequila shots before slithering into a booth for some solid people watching. The rocking track comes from El Khatib’s THIRD collection of tracks this year, but don’t fear, he’s got both the quality and the quantity boxes ticked. I’ll be spinning this to start off my weekend, thank you very much.

https://youtu.be/TGUFw4yo_YI

Phia – Open/Closed

A song for everyone who needs to check that the stove is off and the door is locked three times each before leaving the house, Open/Closed an anthem for the perpetually uncertain. The sweetness and fragility of Phia’s vocal sentiment is touching and when coupled with an African beat it’s infectious as hell. The singer/songwriter wears her heart on her sleeve as she swirls across a central Australian landscape with clouds spinning overhead. Stay tuned for news of her debut album!

https://youtu.be/nJE5zJm6xHw

Photo credit: Daniel Radburn 

Last week, Mac Miller unveiled the details for his forthcoming album, The Divine Feminine. During an interview with Zane Lowe on Beats 1 Radio, Miller announced his next album will drop in the Fall (Spring for us down under).

But that wasn’t all Miller gave us, he also premiered the first taste of the record in single Dang which features the outstanding crooner Anderson .Paak.

The Divine Feminine is Miller’s forth studio album and the follow-up to last year’s GO:OD AM. It is set to feature Kendrick Lamar, Cee-Lo, Robert Glasper and others. “It was actually a concept that was told to me about just the energy of the world being a female energy, the energy of the planet,” Miller said about the album’s title “And just kind of like how that mirrors the soul of a woman, and you know, like Mother Earth and falling in love with the universe.”

“It’s an album that’s all about the journey that is love,” he told Lowe. Dang definitely fits that bill, it sees Miller nimbly rapping about the different levels of attraction and confusion in relationships, over a smooth and funky beat, while .Paak does what .Paak does and spins a soulful hook. Check out the song below:

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=HbDOdFRLV0U

It is good to see the Miller has bounced back from his health concerns that saw him cancel multiple tours.

The Divine Feminine will be released on September 16th via Warner Music.

Image: YouTube

In case you missed it, last week T.I’s concert at Irving Plaza, New York, was tragically cut short after a then-unknown gunman opened fire backstage, killing one person and injuring three – with rapper Troy Ave since being arrested for the crime. Today, Joey Badass announced via his Twitter that his show taking place at Irving Plaza this Thursday night had been cancelled. In a now deleted tweet, the rapper initially blamed the NYPD. While this would not have come as a surprise to many, considering NYPD Commissioner William Bratton’s comments about rappers as “basically thugs” the day after the shooting, more details have since followed.

joey-badass-tweet-nypd-2016-billboard-650

While initially many believed the cancellation to be as a result of an ongoing investigation at the venue, it soon came to light that a show was happening the night before – Train’s tribute to Led Zeppelin II. While many news outlets jumped at the opportunity to have a dig at anyone trying to stereotype and target hip-hop, which is honestly understandable in the wake of Bratton’s ridiculous statements. However, the venue has now cleared up any confusion.

Speaking to Rolling Stone, a venue spokesperson said, “In light of last week’s tragic event, we are acting with an overabundance of caution and coordinating a going forward strategy with the New York Police Department that may also include a curfew. Because these discussions with New York Police Department are ongoing, we will be postponing a few of our upcoming shows.” 

These shows included Mac Miller and Vince Staples at Irving on Friday and Saturday respectively, and a Guns N’ Roses cover band and Canadian rock duo Black Pistol Fire at Gramercy (Live Nation’s other venue), also Friday and Saturday respectively. So, it seems that there isn’t any real stereotyping going on here. Though we don’t know the extent of these “discussions”, we’ll have to wait and see what further comments are made about hip hop by the NYPD to be sure.

Image: Craveonline

Game of Thrones fans, batten down the hatches – Winter, finally, has come. Or to our US counterparts, summer is almost here, and in all honesty this has absolutely nothing to do with Game of Thrones. Instead, for this first day of our new season, this is the ‘Rap Wrap’. Not unlike Cling Wrap, this shit will stick. I can’t speak on whether any of the following will be of any considerable use in keeping your sandwiches from becoming stale, but you can be certain that all of the following will help your day from becoming stale. Day, or sandwich? You decide.

Smoke DZA, Beloved (Prod. Mac Miller)

The first to fall in to our winter’s lap comes from Harlem’s Smoke DZA, by way of his latest mixtape George Kush Da Button: Don’t Pass Trump The Blunt released to Soundcloud today. The track is produced by Mac Miller, who would appear to have stepped out from behind his Larry Fisherman moniker for now. A smooth offering, perfectly complementing both DZA’s subdued ‘weed’ rap flow, and Miller’s penchant for the psychedelic, Beloved is a laid-back offering, perfect for allowing the day to peacefully pass by and in to gentle oblivion. Or to light up a blunt to, it’s dealer’s choice, I should imagine.

[soundcloud url=”https://api.soundcloud.com/tracks/266847003″ params=”color=ff5500&auto_play=false&hide_related=false&show_comments=true&show_user=true&show_reposts=false” width=”100%” height=’166′ iframe=”true” /]

Bishop Nehru – Love What You Do

Bishop Nehru is a name which might still be unfamiliar to many – which is criminal considering how extraordinarily talented the nineteen year old New Yorker truly is. Still riding the high from his collaborative project with the esteemed MF Doom, NehruvianDoom, Bishop Nehru offers a chilled throwback to hip-hop’s Golden Era with Love What You Do. From the scratches to Nehru’s confident flow, the offering is further in the vein of the track preceding it, with a calm, laid-back presentation to see the day away.

[soundcloud url=”https://api.soundcloud.com/tracks/266727211″ params=”color=ff5500&auto_play=false&hide_related=false&show_comments=true&show_user=true&show_reposts=false” width=”100%” height=’166′ iframe=”true” /]

Hopsin, Die This Way ft. Matt Black & Joey Tee

Having apparently done away with all connections to former label Funk Volume, of which he was a co-founder, Hopsin has hit his stride with new label Undercover Prodigy – as evidenced by latest release Die This Way featuring Matt Black and Joey Tee. For an artist who has perpetually been extraordinarily hit or miss, Hopsin has let loose one of his strongest tracks in recent memory, comparable to his storied Ill Mind of Hopsin series.

[youtube https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=Be8nu4w-NS0]

Young Thug, Gangster Shit

Only two months removed from his brilliant Slime Season 3 release, Young Thug has let latest single Gangster Shit hit the web. Not one to remain quiet for long, Gangster Shit is another in a long line of tremendous releases by the trap phenomenon – whose popularity, to this day, continues to climb at a frenzied pace. Having collaborated in previous months with such artists as Chance the Rapper and Lil Uzi Vert, it is surprisingly comforting to hear Thugger returning to solid solo cuts, proving himself a competent and infectiously listenable solo artist. One would stop short of saying they hope to hear a full-length project from Thugger soon, with such a project almost guaranteed considering Young Thug’s admirably consistent output of projects. Nonetheless, if Gangster Shit is anything to go by as far as expectations for the next project go, keep your eyes peeled and your ears ready. Sliiiiiime.

[youtube https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=e7g5JADcrSo]

So tell us how you heard it, what’s the best track of the new season to beat the cold? Or compliment the heat? Or keep the sandwiches fresh? Or… what else did I say?

You can find James Schofield on Twitter and Instagram.

It’s video roundup time! Once again, Howl And Echoes are coming in hot with the freshest, most eyeball stimulating music videos to be dropped by the artists you love and some of the artists you don’t know you love yet, of this week. We do all the dirty work and herd them all into one convenient web-based location for you to enjoy every Friday so that you don’t have to. Have yourself a good old gander at the latest offerings from:

Bleached – Keep On Keepin’ On

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=pmgBdqsOwLo

All girl all kickass punk rock trio Bleached have given a release date for their new LP Welcome The Worms, now due for landing on April the 1st of this year. They’ve also given us the first taste of that upcoming record this week, releasing a brand new single and accompanying video for Keep On Keepin’ On.

It’s a song that, like the rest of that record, for which the writing and recording was fuelled by some incredibly personal troubles lived through by two of the sisters in the band (Jennifer and Jessie Calvin). The end result is some emotional yet relentless punk rock that might as well have been born on the Sunset Strip in the latter half of the 80s. It’s a very welcome throwback though when it’s done this well.

The video, directed by Lana Kim, pays a subtle tribute to the girls’ home of Los Angeles, warm and sunny shots of the suburbs mingled with a lot of super cool slow motion running. The wait for more isn’t as long as it seems, Welcome The Worms is out April 1st via Inertia.

Tiggs Da Author – Run (ft. Lady Leshurr)

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=GZ18K4Kg14k

If you’re looking for a summer track bursting at the britches with positive energy then look no further than London-via-Tanzania MC Tiggs Da Author and his latest offering Run. The song is already well-known having been debuted on the institutional Later With Jools last year as well as for its inclusion on the ’16 edition of perennial five star video game franchise FIFA.

Drawing heavily from the East African jazz he grew up listening to, Tiggs Da Author creates a beautifully simple yet indelibly infectious sound on Run, his smoky flow contrasting nicely with the spitfire rhymes of guest MC Lady Leshurr.

The video is a simple lyric one set to a loop of Tiggs dancing in the late afternoon sunshine, but if you can have this in your ears and your face doesn’t crack a big old shit-eating grin then you may have problems.

Tindersticks – Were We Once Lovers?

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=x1DDgKWc2HY

When we last heard from Nottingham rockers Tindersticks it was catching the video for their last single for their upcoming album The Waiting Room. It’s an ambitious project as both an album and a collaborative film project with each track being given its own short film accompaniment.

Now only a fortnight away and dropping on January 22, Tindersticks have released the single and film for new track Were We Once Lovers? Borne from the desire of frontman Stuart Staples to craft a song centred around a slap bass. It’s done to near perfection hear, the slap bass giving the song a beautiful rhythm that juxtaposes with the minimalistic piano and backbeat and the cavernous vocals of Staples to create a dusky and haunting song that burns slow and crashes wonderfully into an urgent chorus.

The accompanying video was directed by Pierre Vinour and is a time lapse shot of a car driving through the night before ending up in the ocean, a series of shots that complements the song beautifully.

The Waiting Room is out January 22nd via Inertia.

Tom Thum and EMRSN – Hit The Road Jack

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=xztWzyDogok

Here’s something a bit different we’re throwing in just because it’s so fantastic. World-renowned beatboxer Tom Thum, in a collaboration with EMSRN (of vocal duties with Future Soul) have joined forces for a truly unique take on a Ray Charles classic.

I’m not usually a huge fan of beatboxing but this is out of this world good. From the beat to the scratches to the brass, Tom Thum creates it all with his mind-bending (probably part-cyborg) vocal cords and lays it all under the soulful vocals from EMRSN, which stack up admirably against the song’s original owner.

They’ve opted for laidback and cool with the delivery, which suits it perfectly. It’s a truly futuristic and joyous interpretation of a soul classic by two amazingly talented young men. The video is a simple one, just the two artists laying it down on the microphones in stark black and white, but it’s probably a good thing the visuals are this basic, your mind should be blown enough by what you’re hearing.

Inspired And The Sleep – Die Slow

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=m2qRaEO7Uok

San Diego dream pop band Inspired And The Sleep have enlisted the help of an Australian director, one Robert Crispe, for their new video that looks like a whole bunch of the most painstakingly hard work imaginable. It accompanies their new single Die Slow, a track from their most recent EP Eyelid Kid.

Featuring pan pipes, a mellowed out rhythm section and some equally laidback vocals from frontman Max Greenhalgh, Die Slow is an altogether pleasant and endorphin-heavy psychedelic pop number.

There’s so much going on in the stop-motion trip of an accompanying video that I won’t even begin to describe it. All you need to know before you sit back and chill to it is that it took over a year to make, is comprised of over 3700 individual frames and is more colourful than the mosh pit at a Phish show. Enjoy.

Bark – Home (ft. Talibah Safiya)

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=nC0HLD3gzfw

Coming to you from the Big Apple are production duo Bark, comprised of Alessio and Alexey. Only in their relative infancy as an act, having kicked off back in 2014, the duo are set to release their very first EP in January of this year. Eponymously titled, each of the seven tracks on the EP will find Bark linking up with a wide variety of singer-songwriters to help bring their sound to life.

Their debut single from that EP is Home and features a vocal alley-oop from Brooklynite Talibah Safiya. The result is effortlessly cool, a minimalistic backbeat working together with some pulsing synths, a jarring yet simultaneously gorgeous combination of sounds layered over it at different points, all of it anchored by some heartache-inducing vocals from Safiya. The production is beyond slick, touching so many of your aural buttons all at once.

The video is conceptually spellbinding, depicting a struggle of sorts between a young girl and the car she’s roped to, going from a tug of war to a head on collision at the clip’s big finish.

Expect big things to come from a debut as rock solid as this. Bark the EP is out this month.

City And Colour – Lover Come Back Here/Wasted Love (Live on Jimmy Kimmel)

Something else a little different and not technically a music video but it’s my roundup and I do it basically Bam Margera (whatever the fuck I want). To that end, blown away as I was by City And Colour (the acoustic superhero whose alter ego is Dallas Green) making his network television debut in the US, I decided to give him some love this week and to give you a look at just how spinetingling his performance was.

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=JlG2xeuBOJ4

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=p5jWSa_f2Fo

Both are cuts from his latest LP If I Should Go Before You, a record that went straight to number one in Green’s native Canada and one that has been making waves around the world as yet another breathtaking album from the singer-songwriter. These songs are perhaps even more soulful and electrifying as they are on record, and for that, City And Colour cops a spot here this week.

Mac Miller – Weekend (ft. Miguel)

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=N29-54dhVHg

Having spent the last quarter of 2015 watching his third album GO:OD AM crash charts and capture hearts, Pittsburgh wonder kid Mac Miller isn’t about to barrel out of the wave of hype and popularity that resulted from that record. Full of clever collaborations with others sporting stars on the rise (Ab-Soul and Lil B to name a few), Miller’s best collaboration might have been saved for one of the finest RnB voices to really arrive in 2015 with Miguel.

The duo absolutely crush it on Miller’s brand new single, the jazzy, poppy, soulful Weekend. It’s a nifty cut, with Miller’s sharp-witted and thoroughly contagious slacker flow combining with Miguel’s cool as a cucumber soul vocals to create a song just perfect for its titular subject.

The music video that goes with it starts out as just your standard hip-hop joint, a night on the town shared by Mac and Miguel, who drop rhymes out the car window with the best of them, only to head down a slightly nightmarish route and finding themselves walking among a gaggle of really weird shadow people with pixelated faces. It all ends well though, leaving us hoping these two link up a bit more often in the future!

For some reason, rappers seem to really have an infatuation with pop legend Billy Joel. A few months ago, Action Bronson stated that Joel was the best lyricist of all time, so much so that he contacted him personally for permission to sample Zanzibar on Brand New Car off his 2015 album Mr Wonderful. Joel has also been sampled on tracks by Snoop, Drake, Nas and Lil Wayne.

Now, GO:OD AM rapper Mac Miller has added to this strange Venn Diagram with a cover of Joel’s 1977 ballad Vienna. Pitch-shifted and down tempo, it’s an unusual take on the classic track, published under his moniker “Larry Fisherman”.

Considering the sombre tone, it’s clear that Miller is feeling rather reflective these days. With lyrics like, “You’d better cool it off before you burn it out, you’ve got so much to do, and only so many hours in a day”, it’s a sentimental reminder to himself more than anything else – and it’s not just the holiday season.

As we recently reported, Miller has unfortunately had to cancel his upcoming Australian tour, citing exhaustion after a busy year. It’s the first time he’s had to cancel anything in five years. “I found out I was human,” he tweeted. “Fuck. I thought I was a super hero…I’m not giving up on that theory.”

 

Sad news, folks. Mac Miller has cancelled his upcoming Australian tour only days before he was supposed to touch down to perform at festivals across the New Years period.

Miller cites exhaustion as the reason – and considering the year he’s had, including months of touring and a huge album release, we have no reason to suspect otherwise.

The artist, who released his album GO:OD AM back in September, took to Twitter to announce the news and apologise to his fans.

Miller was set to perform at Origin NYE in Perth, as well as headline slots in Sydney, Melbourne and Brisbane.

https://twitter.com/MacMiller/status/679097338435141632

https://twitter.com/MacMiller/status/679097724399153152

https://twitter.com/MacMiller/status/679097875884867584

https://twitter.com/MacMiller/status/679098066717265921

https://twitter.com/MacMiller/status/679098326671822849

Origin NYE also released a statement via their Facebook page, stating, “Look it sucks, but we’re not going to let it stop us from having an amazing NYE. We’ve tried to do everything in our power to help the artist honour his commitments however there is nothing we can do. We thank you for your understanding.”

This would have marked Miller’s first visit to Australia since early 2014, where he performed at the final ever Big Day Out, and supported Snoop Dogg throughout his national headline tour.

We’d like to wish Mac all the best for a speedy recovery, and fingers crossed it won’t be long before we can welcome him back to Australia!

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=RDCoM1x7U38

 

 

Mac Miller continues to show that 100 Grand is about to be chump change, with his major-label debut GO:OD AM debuting at number 4 on the Billboard Top 200, and now this weekend’s killer freestyle.

Pittsburgh’s finest is currently gearing up for his North American tour. During his promotional run, Miller stopped by Big Boy’s morning show on 92.3 REAL in Los Angeles and showcased his crazy freestyle skills. Rapping over Biggie’s DJ Premier-produced Ten Crack Commandments, he compares himself through the list of religious figures to “a young Moses” then jumps into an undeniably dope flow: “Who’s hot? I moonwalk the jungle gym/ do not try to stop ‘cause you not gon’ fuck with him/ I’m rumblin’ with countrymen, do it for the USA/ First get the money, then the fame, then you get paid, Ali Bumba Ye.”

Big Boy gives Mac a few seconds’ break, chanting “don’t stop,” before thrusting him into Yeezy’s College Dropout track “Get Em High. Mac handles it with ease, claiming “Bitch I want it all, I will not give you not a cent here/ this is not pretend I’m tryin’ to pay some pricey rent here.”

Mac is then given another quick water break before the next session over Timbaland’s Put You On from The Game’s Documentary. The whole freestyle session lasts nearly three minutes – check it out below.

[youtube http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=-DV23h-tyZ4]

Still not convinced of Mac Miller’s skills? Check out the Chase N. Cashe-produced Speed Racer, a new track that was left off GO:OD AM.

[youtube http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=U3l3BussHco]

It’s almost here. Finally, Mac Miller has reemerged from his self imposed hiatus, and is set to grace us with new music.

Following up from the Faces mixtape, GO:OD AM will serve as Mac’s reentry into the plethora of hip hop heavyweights that have thrown their hat in the ring for 2015. The 17 track album is set for a September 18 release, with fans licking their lips from some of Pittsburgh’s finest rap.

2014 did bring some big news for Mac, namely the partnering of his REMember label with Warner Bros Records for all future releases, a monumental move for an artist who had really only shot into the public eye in 2011 with the release of Blue Slide Park.

We’ve already discussed some of the singles from Mac Miller’s upcoming release, and so far we are loving what we are hearing. While the overall sound appears to be a far cry from the melancholy and moody tone of Faces, a tongue in cheek Mac Miller is fine by us; he’s still bringing the same unique flow and persona to his music, and this album is sure to not disappoint.

GO:OD AM is available September 18 via Warner Bros Records.

In the meantime, enjoy the over the top and borderline insane visuals of 100 Grandkids:

[youtube http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=RDCoM1x7U38]

 

Mac Miller and I have an interesting relationship. At the first job I ever had straight out of high school, my nickname was “Mac”. Apparently I bare a slight resemblance to the Pittsburgh rapper, and it’s definitely not the first time I’ve heard it. Perhaps that’s why I always feel some sense of pride and happiness whenever Mac is back in the mainstream and killing it.

Mac has been on a hiatus of sorts, coming to grips with some drug issues in recent times, but it would appear that he has put that behind him, reinvented his sound and finally released some new tracks to the world.

[youtube http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=b8ICyikQn7Q]

Following up the first single 100 Grandkids, from the upcoming album GO:OD AM, Break the Law continues to showcase the direction that Mac is headed with his music. The flow and beat is absolutely on point here, and this album is surely shaping up to be a summer soundtrack.

Juicy J makes a brief appearance on the song, and doesn’t really add anything of substance, although it is definitely nice to see Mac teaming up with some of the old school of hip-hop, adding to his own versatility as a rapper.

The general consensus was that Mac would continue to delve into depressing subject matter through his music, a la Earl Sweatshirt, particularly after the Faces mixtape (which just so happened to include some Earl produced tracks). After hearing the first two tracks, the album seems to be heading towards more of a humorous direction, but coupled with Mac’s flow and solid production, it is great to see him overcoming his demons and enjoying himself within his music once again.

Peep the track on iTunes now. GO:OD AM is scheduled for a September 18 release via Warner Bros Records.