Chelsea Jade - Night Swimmer
Close to perfect. This song has been around awhile and I was wondering when it would get an official release. It was this track and that other ethereal stunner "Under" that first got me hooked on Chelsea Jade Metcalf's dream-pop. She has just made the transition from her "Watercolours" moniker to "Chelsea Jade". Both work for me, but I think there is maybe more to it, with Chelsea relaunching her identity more strongly. And wow! What a way to do it. This video's haunting ice block metaphor intersecting such sensuous writing brings a lump to the throat. This isn't just a dream-pop video. This is a full-on work of art. Alexander Gandar (director) has demonstrated talent before, but this collaboration with artist Zainab Hikmet (art direction/sculpture) and Chelsea Jade is a masterpiece. Chelsea's aesthetic acuity and visual performance binds it all together. Best video of the year. Hands down. Go buy the track at the link below. It is the first single off her new EP "Beacons" due out imminently. Can't wait.
http://iamchelseajade.bandcamp.com/
Chelsea Jade - Night Swimmer
Suren Unka - Flee ft. Dahnu Graham
One of my favourite tracks off Suren Unka's "El Chupacabra" album released earlier this year, "Flee" featuring Dahnu Graham comes to us via one of the best videos of the year. The video was made by Markus Hofko, a German artist, designer and musician of some note who now lives in New Zealand. The blurb on the press release says the "video hinges on an extreme contrast between states of mental absence and sensation, as performed by actor and stuntman Howard Cyster. His character shifts from a lethargic state into an absurd dream-space of wild-west proportions, a 'hyper roller coaster ride, at least for a couple of minutes". There is some spectacular imagery for sure. Suren, who is also drummer for the Beach Pigs, (and an event photographer!) comes from a talented family, his mother Vasanti Unka having won the NZ Post Children's Book Award for her "Boring Book". The "El Chupacabra" album, which I own, isn't immediate, but rewards repeated listens. You can buy it at the link below. Go to the link!
http://surenunka.bandcamp.com/album/el-chupacabra
Suren Unka - Flee ft. Dahnu Graham (Official Music Video)
Streets of Laredo - Slow Train
These guys have been at it in NYC for over two years now. Hard graft and little glamour, apart from their increasingly well-patronised live shows. But a record deal with Dine Alone records and a USA tour coupled with a proper album release...and this band looks like it might just do it. The "Slow Train" video is a great vehicle to show off one of those songs that has always sounded like it had radio potential. A great live song, it made it into recordings with its live edge intact. In fact, the production on the recent releases is a marvel of restraint, not over-done, but allowing an almost perfect transition of an organic rattle, bang and hum to the digital medium. And now they are getting their sound re-heated by a vinyl release of "Volume I & II", the album due out from October 7th. The "Slow Train" video was done on the smell of an old oily rag by Melburnian Oli Sansom. Loving those 70s vibes. Oli's website is linked below. For more information, go to the Streets of Laredo link below. Go and fall in love with this band like I have.
http://www.streets-of-laredo.com/discography/volume-i-and-ii/
www.olisansom.com
Streets of Laredo - Slow Train (Official Video)
Mzwetwo - Horror
Previously known as Loui The Zu, an identity that has now been almost completely stripped from the web, Zimbabwean New Zealander Mzwetwo, has cast off his earlier incarnation, and reinvented himself. Better written, better produced and with great visuals (he is clearly an aesthete), "Horror" is an in-between release ahead of his "Gallantino 2" EP due soon. The song was a collaboration with Taste Nasa who also played guitar on the track. Video direction was by Mzwetwo in collaboration with SZA Hands Digital who also did the filming, editing and animation. Art direction and fashion is by Mzwetwo. You can download the song at the link below. There are a number of other links where you can get to know this talented emerging artist. He probably won't like this, but I have included a link to a previous NZMusic4U post on the superb single he did using Lydia Cole's "Feels Like" as a base. Go have a look at it all. If The Wyld can get a bite at break-out in the USA (exciting news by the day from them), I am pretty sure Mzwetwo can follow. Success expected.
Download: https://www.sendspace.com/file/v8ea0z
Tumblr: http://mzwetwo.tumblr.com
Facebook: https://www.facebook.com/mzwetwomusic
Louis the Zu "In The Winter": http://nzmusic4u.blogspot.co.nz/2013/05/for-some-time-i-have-thought-loui-zu.html
MZWETWO - HORROR