Issue v0.11 – Music, provided by 22tracks

The Internet’s best music: 5 Handpicked tracks by the curators of 22Tracks

Pop
Mikky Ekko – Pull Me Down

Slowly but surely, major labels are starting to give more and more freedom to up and coming artists to choose their producers themselves. This is something that’s natural for a small independent label and it’s a good thing major labels are starting to acknowledge it too, with releases by the likes of Jessie Ware and Charli XCX, creating forward-thinking pop music. An artists that awaits a similar successful future, as say Jessie Ware, is Mikky Ekko. An American singer who had a nomadic childhood being the son of a traveling priest. His most recent output, the single Pull Me Down, is a collaboration with Clams Casino, a producer that is basically known for his forward-thinking-ness heard on rap records from A$AP Rocky and Lil B. Pairing Casino’s muddy melancholic sounds up with Mikky’s magic voice is a match made in heaven.

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=Ss5KYwAWdLc

Funk
Menahan Street Band – Lights Out

Some might see funk, soul and jazz as genres from the past, but those people would be wrong. All those genres are as alive as can be, with young musicians making innovative music that builds the bridge between modern genres like hip-hop, funk and soul. One of the most interesting funk and soul acts right now is the Menahan Street Band, consisting of members from Sharon Jones and The Dap Kings, El Michels Affair and the Budos Band, whose music has been sampled by artists like Jay Z and Kid Cudi. Lights Out is a flavourful and beautiful horn-heavy tune that could easily fit in one of Bond’s scenes drinking gin, or a Dutch beer for that matter.

Rock
Emeralds – Just To Feel Anything

What does it sound like when you combine post-rock guitar dreaminess, fast arpeggios, 80’s nostalgia and drum machines? Like this. Just To Feel Anything is the single for Emerald’s most recent album which goes by the same title. At a first listen it might seem like the typical music for a car commercial, but at the second listen, and all those afterwards, you can hear the undeniable quality of what the trio has created.

Dance
Destiny’s Child – Say My Name (Cyril Hahn remix)

As we’re approaching the end of the year and Christmas shopping has started in the USA, we’re also approaching the time of end-of-year-round-ups on all music sites. A name that most certainly is going to pop up on the lists of 2012’s best remixers is Cyril Hahn. He rose to fame with this remix of Destiny’s Child classic Say My Name and became a much requested remixer. We’re sure you’ll see Cyril Hahn’s name popping up on 22tracks more often, as each remix gets better.

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=1VMykMSSJg8

Reggae
Ziggi Recado – Liberation

During rainy days like those in Amsterdam, Brussels, London and Paris, we definitely need something to cheer us up. One of the things that can turn any rainy day into a brighter day is good reggae music. Ziggi Recado is a Dutch reggae artist that has been putting his permanent mark on the music industry over the last few years, playing the biggest reggae festivals in Europe and being the first European to be signed to reggae powerhouse VP Records. His song Liberation off his most recent EP Liberation 2.0 is blasting on repeat in the 22tracks HQ.