N°124 WRETCH 32 - DON'T GO

Wretch32 (pronounce as Wretch Three Two and not Thirty Two) worked on a song with Da Weasel and that’s exactly why I’ve used him in my music link. He’s born and raised in London where he joined two different Grime crews, Combination Chain Gang and The Movement. As a solo artist he got picked up after a live performance at the 2007 MP3 Music Awards. After this he was given the chance to create a first full album named Wretchrospective; released in 2008. Back in these days he also created a few mixtapes with grime, urban and hiphop sounds making his name in this particular part of the music business. 

Early 2011 he released a debut single ‘Traktor’ which would later that year appear on his second album Black And White. The single would debut in the charts at number 5 and his album got picked up by a bigger audience. More singles were released such as ‘Unorthodox’ carrying a sample of Stone Roses hit ‘Fools Gold’. At the end of the year a third single saw the light and brought him another success in the UK.

He now started touring with a UK Arena tour bringing his sound to the world and in his latest touring performances he brought a brand new song to his fans with the title ‘Blur’. It is supposed to be the first single of his newest album foreseen for 2013. This single also features on the latest FIFA13 soundtrack as one of the themes.

N°123 DALEY - GAME OVER

Back in the eighties PacMan was my favourite video game. Unfortunately I encountered many Game Overs before reaching the ultimate level and finish it off. So far concerning the link. I wanted to link it into the Slovenian boys band Game Over but I could find any information on them so I left it with that and sought another solution with a song called Game Over. I’ve chosen the performance by Daley since his career started quite remarkably.

He’s an artist who writes his own songs but he didn’t know exactly how to make them public. That’s why he uploaded one of his tracks to the BBC recording studios. After listening to the track he was invited to do a live session for BBC Introducing and from that moment on he got broadcasted in the UK on national radio creating a little hype.

His voice matched perfectly with the Gorillaz theme and together with Damon Albarn he wrote ‘Doncamatic’. Gorillaz also asked him to lend his voice for that single which appeared on the Gorillaz album Plastic Beach. A strange begin of his career maybe but in 2011 Daley produced an online EP called Those Who Wait which got downloaded a lot in the UK. From this EP, Game Over is the first real single release, followed by other songs such as ‘Smoking Gun’ and ‘Spent’. That same period Wretch 32 release the album Black and White on which Daley appears as a guest artist on the single ‘Long way Home’.

I don’t know if he’s a one hit wonder or anything but I’m glad I almost worked myself out of trouble with my music link.

N°122 DA WEASEL - DIALECTOS DA TERNURA

I’ll make it easy for me and stay in Portugal as the link and I’ll also stick a bit with the genre. Da Weasel was formed by MC Pacman and MC Virgul in 1993. The band seized to exist only recently in 2010 without any explanation. Too bad you might say since Da Weasel had a very good live act with a complete band on stage.

It all started in 1993 when they released a first EP named ‘More than 30 Motherfuckers’. An Ep which set the tone for the rest of their career. Although releasing this EP in English, the first full album carried a Portuguese title and all tracks were also in Portuguese. If I say that they sought their inspiration with Cypress Hill and Public Enemy you can imagine the tone of the full album.

Only in 1997 Virgul joined Da Weasel to replace Yen Sung who went full time solo as a DJ. Virgul added ska and reggae to the band’s sound. This sound influenced the EP 3^° Capitulo in a certain way and Da Weasel changed styles a bit.

After recording their fourth studio album (which has a very difficult title to write down) they were asked to do the warm up for the Red Hot Chili Peppers on their Portuguese stop on their Californication tour. After this memorable moment for the band a few more left and joined Da Weasel only to leave MC Pacman and Virgul as a security. In 2004 they even changed producers and the following album was a great commercial success. Re-Definitions made platinum in Portugal and the band again decided to go on tour through Europe and Brazil in 2005.

They managed to release one more album and again it reached platinum within days. Amor, Escarnio e Maldizir would be their last album ever since they’d split up two years after. Maybe because Pacman and Virgul didn’t want to cooperate with each other no more, maybe because of other reasons. We’ll probably never know.

N°121 BURAKA SOM SISTEMA - HANGOVER

It was actually quite hard to link the Balthazar song or band so I types in Balthazar in google and came up with an American beer brand. And what does beer sometimes give you? A hangover off course so here we go with Hangover from Buraka Som Sistema.

BSS is a Portuguese dance project performing a style called progressive kuduro. Kuduro is actually an Angolan dance and music style, born out of mixing different traditional African carnival music. Since Angola used to be a Portuguese colony its logic the music also reach the European mainland.

The formation of Buraka Som Sistema was founded in 2006 by a few DJ’s and rappers. I’ll name their nicknames: Li’l John, Conductor and DJ Riot. The only one performing under his own name is Kalaf Angelo. Conductor is an African hip hop producer and met the others as the band Cool Train Crew while touring in Portugal. They were all looking to create a kuduro collective and this is how their collaboration started out.

Their first two singles led to a first full album in 2007 named From Buraka To The World. Buraca is actually a parish in the city of Amadora, north of Lissabon. That same year after touring BSS found help with a few excellent performers such as M.I.A. for the single ‘Sound Of Buraka’ and Pongolove for the single ‘Kalemba’. Both songs can be found on their second album Black Diamond.

Until 2010 they performed at different European festivals mostly situated in the class of world music festivals but in 2011 their break through with a bigger audience happens with the release of their third, yet most successful album Komba. Their hit single ‘Hangover’ reached high in the charts in most European countries.

I did choose the Hangover single since It’s their biggest hit in the whole of Europe. So grab some alcohol, bottom’s up, and get ready for a little party with this Portuguese sound system (som sistema)?

N°120 BALTHAZAR - FIFTEEN FLOORS

With an Ep, two early releases, one full album and a second on the way the Belgian rok band Balthazar has been quite busy the past few years. It all started in 2004.

When the band Lost And Found with Maarten Devoldere, Jinte Deprez and Patricia Vanneste wins the competition of Kunstbende (art gang) it was clear there was a lot of talent and chemistry available in the western part of Belgium. They renamed the band to Balthazar and in 2006 they are award with the audience price of that year’s Humo Rockrally. Time for them to create and release a first EP carrying the nme of the band. Early the following year they decide to switch drummer and bass and from that moment on the current formation of the band is complete. Apart from the earlier mentioned foudners there’s also Simon Casier and Christophe Claeys. New settings and they are invited to a few Belgian festivals where they give it their best. The first ever single ‘This Is A Flirt’ was already recorded and released with the complete band as it currently exists. In 2008 they’d release another single named Bathroom Lovin’ Situations’. More live invitations followed on the biggest Belgian festivals and Balthazar also made their way into the charts.

Yet they found the time right to record a first complete studio album. Awaiting the release of the album in 2010 Maarten and his gang decided to release the first track in December 2009. ‘Fifteen Floors’ got picked up on  the radio a bit and was a great way to promote the first album. Fifteen floors also knocked its way into my music link. When thinking about three doors down I immediately thought of an apartment building and a fifteen floor building seems big enough to fit the picture in my head.

Balthazar received a lot of applause from their fans at the early stage of the band and wanted to give back some by naming the first full album ‘Applause’. And more of that they got from critics all over the land. The album received well and scored the Album Of The Year award in the 2010 Belgian Music Industry Awards. Correct if you listen to songs as ‘The Boatman’ and ‘Hunger At The Door’. For this they were asked to do the warm up for dEus’ European tour.

Check the clip out I’d say and if you like it you just might buy their second album soon. Expectation date: October 15^th, 2012.