Laurel Halo is a solo artist of Brooklyn. She composes and performs with a style I have yet to hear before. Laurel Halo’s sound has been fascinating me as of late. A blend of ambient trance, harmonic vocals and new age psychedelia, it’s eclectic, electric aura transcends higher dimensions. Below is Cult of Optimism, a track from the Ambrosia EP.

Cult of Optimism – Laurel Halo

Two EPs have so far been released, ‘The Future Fruit’ and ’Ambrosia’ which can be heard on last.fm. I’ll be sure to feature any future Laurel Halo releases on this blog as they inevitably happen.

Although I couldn’t care less for any of the artists involved in this incident, I thought it worth mentioning for the fact that this will no doubt cause a dent in the career of one of the most popular musicians of this time. Viacom are taking down all of the youtube videos of this incident so I haven’t bothered to include one.

Kanye West entered the VMA stage whilst Taylor Swift was giving her acceptance speech upon winning the award for the best female video. West took the mic from Swift and with the same logic and elegance of speech as saying ‘no offense’ before laying into someone announced,

“Yo Taylor, I’m really happy for you, I’m going to let you finish. But Beyonce had one of the best videos of all time. One of the best videos of all time.”

Swift remained silent and was soon escorted offstage. Beyonce was of course massively embarrassed by West’s outburst and later called Taylor Swift on stage to finish her acceptance speech.

I don’t care that he apologized about it on his blog. The fact is that he ruined a defining moment of a teenager’s life and should have been able to control himself.

Portland’s Hockey are set to release their debut album ‘Mind Chaos’, it’s a consistent record that blends chunky beats, razor-sharp lyrics and a whole lot of soul. For men with such chaotic minds, the band has channelled many influences into this album from Tom Petty to Michael Jackson to LCD Soundsystem.

Mind Chaos is a witty pack of literate songs you can dance all night to, especially single ‘Learn To Loose’ where vocalist Ben Grubin combines a vocal soulfulness and vulnerability with an arch raising eyebrow wit which is irresistible. Embracing an urge to mix the rhythmic sharpness of old school hiphop with the rawness of garage rock and the vitality of modern electro, Hockey have created a colourful, vibrant and infectious record, the band say “Everyone’s making dance music now true, but we started in 2002”.

Released 21^st September 2009.

By Sophie Stratford

“Raw, unpolished, and disarmingly personal, ‘Woe is Me’ the debut release from indie-folk newcomer Peter Squires is a sweet and sincere portrait of a young man recovering from heartbreak.

Recorded in his Brooklyn bedroom, Squires’ songs cathartically express lovelorn despair with refreshing humor and self-awareness.  Like the best work of Morrissey and Magnetic Fields, Peter Squires keeps things playful while he breaks your heart.”

Peter Squires is making his album available for free. Download link here. (clicking starts a .zip download)

Woe Is Me – Peter Squires

Afrobeat, Blues, Folk, Funk, Hip Hop, Reggae and Soul.

Nicholas Kopernicus are an instrumental duo from Brooklyn made up of pianist/producer Jason ‘classicbeatz’ Minnis and guitarist/songwriter Seon Gomez. Their tracks also feature a selection of live instrumentalists such as flautist Brandy Means as heard on ‘Candle Dreams’ (below).
The debut album ‘Audiocentric’ has just been released in shops and soon to be available as a download.

“A modern journey through music of the African Diaspora.”

Candle Dreams – Nicholas Kopernicus

Commentariolus – Nicholas Kopernicus