Track of the Weekend #107: Hozier - “Take Me To Church”

The highly impactful music video for “Take Me To Church" went viral last year, giving Ireland’s Hozier a boost to the top of the UK and Irish charts, but it wasn’t until his debut studio album was released this month that his name really started to get passed around globally. That makes sense, as the depth and timbre of his voice have the potential to make him a world star, but it’s definitely not the feel good song of the year. Like putting your soul through the wringer, with death imminent by the point of a sharp knife. 

Thanks to Le Coup du Lapin for getting this one to us!  

Track of the Weekend #106: Bonobo - “Flashlight”

It’s finally Friday, and that’s a good thing for most of us who have schlepped through the week like zombies with no appetite for human flesh. Tonight there is a party and awesome concert organized by our buddies at La Machine du Moulin Rouge for all of you Parisians looking to get your groove on. We will also be announcing the finalists for the Jamendo Playlist Contest this afternoon.

One track that sums up this autumnal feeling is “Flashlight,” Bonobo’s latest electronic storytelling that combines his unique beats, sounds, and energy into a sort of vortex of music and ambiental sound. It’s a good track for your Sunday afternoon, and it’s been topping the charts all week on Whyd thanks to the ever-sharing trendsetter Aline. Enjoy your weekend! 

Track of the Weekend #105: Gregory Porter - “Liquid Spirit” (20syl Remix)

There was a clear arc of energy and excitement of the rhythms that are typical of autumn weeks, when Mondays are soul-crushing but Fridays represent all the hope in the world. It’s time to “get down, and take a drink” with the master 20syl, one of Whyd's most popular artists who has perfected the art of creating infectious remixes that can funkitize any song, in a signature style that many have imitated, but no one has come close to replicating.

20syl’s remix of Gregory Porter’s “Liquid Spirit" spent the entire week atop the hot tracks, and you will have no problem understanding why when you put it on repeat this weekend. Big ups to 20syl for this one, and for everything else to come!! 

3 Awesome Jamendo Contest Playlists

The Jamendo Playlist contest is in full swing, and we have been enjoying the music that people have been finding across Jamendo, from independent artists from all over the world. There are artists of all kinds: creative souls who are truly expressing themselves; composers who have put together soundtrack-worthy tracks; experimental beats makers pushing the envelop; crooners; strummers; seducers; rockers. 

If you want to win two tickets to the concert of your choice, here are the rules. 

Now, for your listening enjoyment, here are 3 playlist contest entries that you should listen to right now! 

Rwan - 15 tracks

Pierre Poupardin - 10 tracks

Adrien Joly - 10 tracks

Never stop jamming! 

Track of the Weekend #103: Kendrick Lamar - “i”

Kendrick Lamar has been making music for a while, but it wasn’t until 2012’s “good kid, m.A.A.d city” that he received heaps of critical acclaim and world wide fame. Now, he’s back at it again, and is heading in a much poppier direction with "i" his new single that sounds almost too mainstream for the rapper who specialized in letting his verse take precedence to his melodies. But no one can deny the instantly catchy result, and “i” has rocketed to the top of the Whyd Hot Tracks, being played over 3 million times in less than a week on Soundcloud. Congrats to Cynthia Sirugue for getting her first track of the weekend! 

Visual Sound: Remixing Cult Films and Original Compositions: [Interview] with T. Boon

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1. Digital Music isn’t something new for you. When did you start producing music and what has changed between then and now? 

I started making music in 2000, behind the studio consoles to record DJs and imitate their work (scratch mixes and pass pass sessions). We produced a lot of remix compilations with N˚1 hits and “crazy” bootlegs where we invented battles between improbable artists. 

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Track of the Weekend #102: Son Lux - “Lost It To Trying”

Such an unusual track of the weekend that it’s hard to explain what Son Lux has created in “Lost It To Trying.” It starts like the beginning of a fairy tale, a flittering Disney song where you might expect to see some birds landing on a log and Bambi bounding down the glen, and then it gets real. The heartbreaking harmony captivates while the minimal percussion leaves an empty hollowness in the listener. The sound is almost haunting, which explains how it got to the top of the Hot Tracks this week. Thanks to SoundyC for sharing it with us first! If you’re obsessed with Son Lux, there is good news as he’ll be touring Europe next month, including the Pitchfork festival here in Paris, see the Facebook page for more details. 

Three Amazing Cities: Three Amazing Music Scenes

If you haven’t been following us here at Whyd recently, you might’ve missed the new community-sourced city radios that we’ve been launching across Europe. The idea is to create the World Whyd Soundsystem, to bring the coolest music that people are listening to around the world to everyone else. 

Every city in the world has its own unique musical identity, which is manifested in the music that makes people move there. It’s not necessarily bands that come from a city, or the music that clearly references a certain city, but just the pulse, the real-time vibe of a place with a lot of people, jamming, together. 

The communities in each city are made up of die-hard music lovers, people who manage the programmation at concert venues, music journalists, bloggers, artists, DJs, organizers, promoters, as well as people who just love and share great new music. It’s a democratic, community-sourced radio that changes in real time, can be filtered by genre, and is supplemented by three new playlists every day. How cool is that? 

Share the pages with your friends! 

Paris

Madrid

London

WINNER: Best #Paris #Summer Playlist: Les Disquaires de Paris

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The summer got off to a slow start, with rain and chilly temperatures across the French capitol for much of July and August. But it’s in full swing now, with big sunshine everyday and nice warm afternoon temperatures. It’s the classic Indian Summer, and we’re loving it! 

Over the summer, we asked our curators from the Paris community to propose their summer playlists. There were some excellent ones, which is no surprise considering the quality of the music shared by our curators. And we’re a bit selfish too, since those playlists became the soundtracks to our summertime (thanks guys!). 

It was a tough competition, but we promised our community that we would the best playlist would be selected, and the winner would be invited to the Tony’s loft to eat his famous, homemade sushi. Monsieur Dames, we have a winner! 

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Track of the Weekend #100! “Porto” - Worakls

It’s a big day for us here at Whyd, celebrating our 100th Track of the Weekend! When we started out we knew that this day would come, but what a journey it’s been. 

The Track of the Weekend started out two years ago as basically whatever song we thought got the most love from the 50 or so music lovers who were on Whyd. It was rather subjective. 

But when we added the hot tracks we could easily see which track was lighting up Whyd each week. The Track of the Weekend became scientific, a true community-led music log that captures some incredible songs, from brand new artists to established favorites. Thank you to everyone for sharing, liking, and re-adding tracks, for making this whole jam possible. 

So, what is the 100th track of the weekend? It’s a track that does a flawless job of summarizing the overall vibe of Whyd. A hypnotizing instrumental anthem with a Portuguese guitar and layers of composition that builds to a crescendo of smooth electro, we’re proud to have “Porto" by Worakls as the 100th Track of the Weekend. Thanks to our buddies at Blog des Petites Musicales for making this track trend! 

Never stop jamming!