Whyd’s blog covering new music, the people who make it happen, and the eccentric lives of the creators of your social record collection for the streaming era. Never stop jammingOFFICIAL BLOGTumblr (3.0; @whyd)http://blog.whyd.com/Track of the Weekend #126: Woodkid ft. Lykke Li - “Never Let You Down”<p><img src="http://static.tumblr.com/ps7kkkn/x5Qnl5k0k/1524786_10151916012164849_1586708607_n.png"/></p>The end of another week and another weekend is almost upon us in the waning weeks of winter. The buds are on the trees here in Paris, and the tulips are ready to burst. Just like the cycles of seasons, music is cyclical too. We knew it would only be a matter of time before the velvet-voiced provocateur <a href="https://twitter.com/Woodkid">Woodkid</a> would be back on the world scene. He’s already had one <a href="http://blog.whyd.com/post/63073317015/track-of-the-weekend-57-woodkid-i-love-you">track of the weekend</a>, and now he claims #2 alongside indie favorite <a href="https://twitter.com/LykkeLi">Lykke Li</a> with “<a href="http://whyd.com/c/54fde054eaaf62f818f3735d">Never Let You Down</a>.” The tone is bleak, sad, like something has been lost. And yet despite this dark environment hope still exists. <p>“<i>Do you remember all the sounds, when I found you by the lake? And how the water seemed to call your name?</i>” <br/></p><p>Thanks to the unassailable <a href="http://whyd.com/u/5006c8057e91c862b2a7c384">Radar Bazaar</a> for nailing this one! </p><iframe src="https://www.youtube.com/embed/l4N_W85YgSQ" width="560" height="315" frameborder="0"></iframe>http://blog.whyd.com/post/113509663880http://blog.whyd.com/post/113509663880Fri, 13 Mar 2015 14:27:10 +0100musictrack of the weekendradar bazaarwoodkidlykke linever let you downpariswhydhot musicpopular trackA Taste Of What’s To Come<figure><img src="https://31.media.tumblr.com/9235caa471a6826be8d3b8b09158f22d/tumblr_inline_nl3p2cgp461qf8f43.jpg"/></figure>http://blog.whyd.com/post/113425083810http://blog.whyd.com/post/113425083810Thu, 12 Mar 2015 14:21:02 +0100updatewhydnew producttechnologymusicEP Review: Kagu<figure><img src="http://static.tumblr.com/ps7kkkn/bKonl1mrn/10422096_866257150073077_3879831906342717764_n.jpg" alt="image"/></figure><p>A few weeks ago we featured a <a href="http://blog.whyd.com/post/112134028385/ep-review-edyth-bare-i">talented producer</a> from Sudan, and now, our focus on emerging music turns to the land of red sand and open spaces, known for barrier reefs and unending beaches. Australia&#8217;s Sean Heathcliff has become the musical entity <a href="https://www.facebook.com/KaguMusic?ref=hl">Kagu</a>, releasing his first eponymous EP this week out on <a href="https://www.facebook.com/hummingrecords">Humming Records</a>. </p><p><b>Released</b>: March 10, 2015</p><p><b>Genres:</b> singer-songwriter</p><p><b>Tracks:</b> 4</p><p><b>Who would like this EP?</b></p><p>Fans of Bon Iver&#8217;s vocals, people who like Beck&#8217;s guitar arrangements.</p><p><b>Our thoughts:</b></p><p>Singer-songwriters are a nickel a dozen these days. As a songwriter, It&#8217;s easy to fall into a trap that people will be carried by your lyrics alone. Yet poetry does not command the influence it once did (unless it&#8217;s clever hip hop). To be successful, this style of music needs to become more, it needs to be delicate and luscious at the same time. It has to feel full, with a combination of seductive vocals and layers of complexity, the more surprising the better. Kagu does exactly this: managing to walk the tightrope between annoying angst and overproduced orchestras. The result is an honest, delightful, and highly pleasing EP that signifies a powerful career to come. Just one listen to &#8220;<a href="https://soundcloud.com/kagu_music/shadow-of-the-wind">Shadow of the Wind</a>" and you&#8217;ll understand why. </p><p><b><a href="http://open.spotify.com/album/0m8DpaOz7pMxNNeWDodLZ7">Listen to Kagu&#8217;s EP here</a></b></p>http://blog.whyd.com/post/113332645395http://blog.whyd.com/post/113332645395Wed, 11 Mar 2015 11:36:21 +0100musicep reviewkaguliberation musicbon iverbecksinger songwriterwhydemerging musicSurf Sound Pop, a New EP and The Hope of La Voyage: Interview with Amarillo<figure><img src="https://31.media.tumblr.com/bb11e8ac43ef4f9d9334568b5a6a74b1/tumblr_inline_nl077f2m6I1qf8f43.png" alt="image"/></figure><p><i>March is a hot month for new music in Paris, with exciting acts understanding the mechanisms of launching new projects with the hopes of conquering their future fan bases around the world. It&#8217;s precisely this spirit, hope carbonated into a long neck bottle to be opened on a hot, dry day, that we encounter at <a href="https://www.facebook.com/pages/La-F%C3%A9e-Verte/165366666812201">Le Fée Verte</a>, one of the most friendly Parisian bars nestled along the raucous Rue de la Roquette. </i></p><p><i>If this hopeful spirit has a color, it would be yellow: the color of the sun, the color of energy. In Spanish, it&#8217;s &#8220;Amarillo.&#8221; In Paris, it&#8217;s the band, releasing their first EP today entitled &#8220;<a href="http://open.spotify.com/album/2cFZoZEOttfRUKluLisnJY">Tomorrow We&#8217;ll Be Long Gone</a>.&#8221; We&#8217;re joined by Noé, Amarillo&#8217;s sombrero y corazon, and Dylan, the lead guitarist for the 5-member group. Over coffees and Perrier, the mic clicks on. </i></p><p><i>The following is translated from French. <b>Bold</b> is Tony Hymes for <a href="http://www.whyd.com">Whyd</a>. </i></p><p><b>How many are you guys in Amarillo?</b></p><p><b>Noé</b>: We&#8217;re 5 musicians for the stage. Dylan is the lead guitarist while I do the rhythm guitar and the singing.  </p><p><b>Who is responsible for the creation of music?</b></p><p><b>Noé</b>: At the beginning I wrote everything in my room alone. Since I play a lot of instruments, not all very well, I recorded the songs and from there the tracks were able to grow. That gave me the desire to put the music on the stage, to call on friends that I&#8217;ve known for a long time. </p><p><b>Had you already played music together with the other member of Amarillo?</b></p><p><b>Noé</b>: It&#8217;s been about a year that we&#8217;ve been playing together on the stage. </p><p><b>So you guys already have a vibe of what it&#8217;s like to work together? Your respective strengths and weaknesses?</b></p><p><b>Dylan</b>: Before Amarillo we&#8217;ve already had other projects together. Like <a href="https://www.facebook.com/Caandides">Caandides</a>. </p><p><b>Noé</b>: Yeah we know each other so the ideas come faster, we get mad at each other faster, and of course the problems are resolved faster. </p><p><b>It&#8217;s just like a family!</b></p><p><b>Noé</b>: Yeah!</p><iframe src="https://w.soundcloud.com/player/?url=https%3A//api.soundcloud.com/tracks/186942319&amp;auto_play=false&amp;hide_related=false&amp;show_comments=true&amp;show_user=true&amp;show_reposts=false&amp;visual=true" width="100%" height="450" frameborder="no"></iframe><p><b>Your music has been described as psychedelic surf pop. I imagine you don&#8217;t do a lot of surfing in Paris. Does this mentality come from a particular geography? The idea of the coast?</b></p><p><b>Noé</b>: I don&#8217;t know if surf music for French people is tied to actual surfing, it&#8217;s more of a sound. Or at least it&#8217;s become a sound, a guitar sound, very Tarantino-esque. And for me that&#8217;s sort of surf music. And it&#8217;s an influence. </p><p><b>Is that the center of your music? Or is your music more of a mix of a lot of different styles and that&#8217;s just what people tend to take from it?</b></p><p><b>Noé</b>: When I write songs I never ask myself what the music is supposed to sound like. I like a lot of different music. I&#8217;ve played a lot of classical music and blues. I&#8217;m really a fan of pop music in general too, and so when other people listen to my music, they tell me other bands that they think it sounds like and so I say &#8220;cool!&#8221; It&#8217;s a good way to discover new music too! </p><p>And then afterwards when we are 5, everyone brings their own personal touches. That&#8217;s also part of the idea, for example, Dylan works his sound with the effects pedals, so I trust him a lot with the sonic texture, the timber of the music, things that I normally wouldn&#8217;t have thought of. </p><p><b>You mention blues, pop, are there other big styles for you on the level of your influences?</b> </p><p><b>Noé</b>: On a songwriting level I&#8217;m very into Americana, Neil Young, or Leonard Cohen. Pop songs, those are my biggest influences. Tom Waits too. </p><p><b>Tom Waits, Leonard Cohen are influences that often go together!</b></p><p><b>Noé</b>: Oh merde!</p><p><b>No! It&#8217;s a good thing, because Leonard Cohen is a giant, he&#8217;s still producing music today! Either people tell me Leonard Cohen/Jeff Buckley, or Leonard Cohen/Tom Waits, and that gives me the immediate idea of the direction. That&#8217;s a public marker so people can understand. </b></p><p><b>And Dylan, as a guitarist, do you have major influences?</b></p><p><b>Dylan</b>: I&#8217;ve never really been able to identify direct references between my personal style and the music that I listen to. But there are guitarists that I love for their textures. </p><figure><img src="https://31.media.tumblr.com/cd5d2f896c10ad6c49fc9e2edd3b853e/tumblr_inline_nl0786Mp8N1qf8f43.jpg" alt="image"/></figure><p><b>The name, Amarillo. Texas?</b></p><p><b>Noé</b>: Also. </p><p><b>Did you choose the name before or after you started making the music?</b> </p><p><b>Noé</b>: Well, I have Chilean origins through my mother. I speak Spanish at home, so it was all about the color. Afterwards I searched and I found out that it was a city in Texas, which doesn&#8217;t have a very easy history. That gives me more things to talk about but&#8230;</p><p><b>It&#8217;s more about the color.</b> </p><p><b>Noé</b>: Yeah, I like how the word sounds, there are a lot of vowels, and yellow for me is also hope, sunshine. </p><p><b>For this EP, there are 4 tracks. Do the tracks tell a story together, or did you just pick four really strong tracks to lead with?</b></p><p><b>Noé</b>: The idea that I proposed to Antoine from our label <a href="https://soundcloud.com/microqlima">Microqlima</a>, was to have 4 strong tracks, and we chose the tracks together. Then afterwords we realized that with the track titles and the themes, that they could in fact be a story. Songs like &#8220;Tomorrow&#8221; and &#8220;Long Gone.&#8221; In the end it has a sense, adding to the feeling to voyage, the promise of the future, what&#8217;s going to happen soon. </p><p><b>Do you share this feeling of voyage Dylan?</b></p><p><b>Dylan</b>: In fact very early on we got this idea from Noé, when he told us about the tracks and how he explained them to us. Also on a graphic level too. So as a good student I entered into his idea of voyage, and I feel like we approached the songs with respect to the idea of travel. </p><p><b>You can easily get that idea of voyage, but also on a temporal level.</b> </p><p><b>Noé</b>: It&#8217;s even more that. The idea of traveling is not always about the destination, but the voyage, and everything that is going to happen on the voyage. That&#8217;s really what we tried to develop with the themes, the graphics, the idea of &#8220;what we are going to do.&#8221; It&#8217;s not important where we are or what we&#8217;ve done. It&#8217;s hopeful, rejoining the theme of &#8220;amarillo.&#8221;</p><p><b>Who would you be proud to be classified with, in terms of similar styles of music?</b></p><p><b>Dylan</b>: I love Sufjan Stevens, personally. </p><p><b>He definitely aligns with your style, his focus on geography, voyage.</b> </p><p><b>Noé</b>: I would add Mac Demarco too. I like how he write songs, very simple but great.</p><p><i>You can go see <a href="https://www.facebook.com/thisisamarillo">Amarillo</a> perform around Paris over the next few weeks, and make sure that you attend their <a href="https://www.facebook.com/events/728541897261149/">official launch party</a> slated to coincide with the start of Spring, on March 21st at <a href="https://www.facebook.com/leperchoir.restaurant">Le Perchoir</a>.</i> </p>http://blog.whyd.com/post/113260539615http://blog.whyd.com/post/113260539615Tue, 10 Mar 2015 17:03:41 +0100interviewamarillopsychedelicsurfpoptomorrow we'll be long gonesanta monicabreachestomorrowle perchoirmicroqlimaparisemerging artistEP launchmac demarcoleonard cohensufjan stevensSpeaking With Your Hands, a Serendipidous Flower, and the New Album "Digital Pourpre" - Interview with Turnsteak<figure><img src="http://static.tumblr.com/ps7kkkn/ZeGnky7n8/10847303_897244143639515_2851423073904019504_o.jpg" alt="image"/></figure><p><b>How did you start making music together?</b></p><p>Our first meeting was at a concert where we were playing with our own, different rap groups, each of us on the turntables. We started to exchange tips, scratch phases, our little ticks, and that was it! </p><p>At the beginning we would mess around and often our challenge was to choose a second-hand disc randomly, then we had to create a plan in 5 minutes. We laughed a lot! Then we passed through numerous different phases and musical aesthetics before arriving where we are today. </p><p>We also bought some materials, a loopstation, pads, and a few synths to evolve our music along the direction of our projects. </p><p><b>Who do you count among your influences?</b> </p><p>Being first of all DJs, we have the habit of listening to a lot of different, varied musical styles. There are tons of cult albums that have changed our way of seeing things. In terms of electronic we can cite Modeselektor, Edit (GitchMob), Rustie, Lorn, Eprom, Slugabed, Salva, Ta-Ku, Machinedrum, Flying Lotus, Flako, Kaytranada, and also some of the artists from Soulection&#8230;</p><p><b>Where does the name of your group come from?</b> </p><p><a href="https://soundcloud.com/turnsteak">Turnsteak</a> originally comes from &#8220;Turntable Speakers.&#8221; At the beginning it was 100% turn tables, the turntablism. The concept of &#8220;speaking with our hands&#8221; represented what we were doing at the time. </p><p>Then the name was shortened to Turnspeak, and it&#8217;s been changed from there, but I won&#8217;t say anything else :) </p><iframe src="https://www.youtube.com/embed/asWt7-A-kWY" width="560" height="315" frameborder="0"></iframe><p><b>What is the genesis of your LP &#8220;Digital Pourpre&#8221; which comes out tomorrow? Does it tell a story or is each track independent from the others?</b></p><p>Having the habit of always working on short projects, even the concept of an album was already a lot of pressure. The idea wasn&#8217;t to do a series of tracks without coherence. We wanted to go farther. So we imposed certain directions, constraints, and limits on ourselves, to not fly off in every single direction. </p><p>At this level, our friend Olivier Vasseur who mixed the album, did a great job of artistic direction and he gave us a lot of advice around the conception of the album. We worked the sound and the textures with him and added an organic dimension to the tracks. That let us bring in other sensations, images, and have the listener dive deeper into the heart of our music. </p><p>The balance between the light synths and the deep bass let us bring energy and power. The voices are also key elements on the album. They bring a color and different environment to each track, like on &#8220;High Line&#8221; for example where the voices come from a Vietnamese comic theater! </p><p>Finally, getting back to your question about the genesis of the LP, the first brick was the title. For the anecdote, we were at a rest stop off the highway during a tour and we stumbled upon a description of a flower that was growing in a corner, the &#8220;digital pourpre.&#8221; We were looking at it saying to ourselves that would be an awesome name for an album. All of the universe connected to this flower immediately spoke to us: its history in relationship with white magic, its medicinal side and its pathological and cardiovascular benefits (which we immediately connected with the rhythm, dance) the connection to digital, to fingers, to scratch&#8230; a name that&#8217;s full of mystery and subtleties. It&#8217;s exactly what we wanted to bring with the first long format. That&#8217;s to say make an album that&#8217;s rich and subtle, without falling into easiness, and with the idea of a voyage.</p><p>Urielle, the artistic director at <a href="https://www.facebook.com/withusrecords">With Us Records</a> agreed with us and oriented it the best possible way while staying within the scope of the project. We had also worked on a moodboard together that let us see everything more clearly, the progression of the tracks and the history of the album. </p><p><b>Where can your fans come to see you live?</b></p><p>A little bit all over France! Find us on <a href="https://www.facebook.com/TurnsteakFan">Facebook</a>, <a href="https://twitter.com/Turnsteak">Twitter</a>, <a href="https://instagram.com/turnsteak">Instagram</a>, or B<a href="http://www.bandsintown.com/Turnsteak">andsintown</a> to find our latest concert dates. </p><p>You can even send us a little private message and we can invite you if there are places left! </p>http://blog.whyd.com/post/113165057730http://blog.whyd.com/post/113165057730Mon, 09 Mar 2015 15:14:59 +0100interviewturnsteakdigital pourprewith us recordselectronicturntablismscratchturntablehigh linewhydTrack of the Weekend #125: Action Bronson - "Actin Crazy"<figure><img src="http://static.tumblr.com/ps7kkkn/hKnnks5uo/10982416_10153155114547125_3764707396160917479_n.jpg" alt="image"/></figure><p>The sun is out in full force in Paris for what promises to be a weekend where the shivers are warmed away. Plus the Whyd team expanded this week with the addition of <a href="http://blog.whyd.com/post/112608358250/say-hello-to-laurent">Laurent</a> and the promise of 2015 is starting to feel stronger. Reflecting this, there is an extra jump in the rhythms of the music trending across <a href="http://www.whyd.com">Whyd</a>, like this week&#8217;s track of the weekend from the ex-gourment chef born in Queens, New York: <a href="https://www.facebook.com/ActionBronsonMusic">Action Bronson</a>. His latest single off his forthcoming album <i>Mr. Wonderful</i> is &#8220;<a href="http://whyd.com/c/54f11475eaaf62f818ebb0d1">Acting Crazy</a>,&#8221; an extremely quotable hip hop anthem that reflects how large his out-sized personality has become to take advantage of the huge potential of (presumably) his hip hop career. Because, after all the swagging and bragging, he&#8217;s still his &#8220;mama&#8217;s little baby.&#8221;   </p><p>"Opportunity be knockin&#8217;" </p><p>Thanks to <a href="http://whyd.com/u/50b2941b7e91c862b2a8e09d">LR</a> for getting it to us! </p><iframe src="https://w.soundcloud.com/player/?url=https%3A//api.soundcloud.com/tracks/184964202&amp;auto_play=false&amp;hide_related=false&amp;show_comments=true&amp;show_user=true&amp;show_reposts=false&amp;visual=true" width="100%" height="450" frameborder="no"></iframe>http://blog.whyd.com/post/112862214825http://blog.whyd.com/post/112862214825Fri, 06 Mar 2015 08:52:39 +0100musictrack of the weekendaction bronsonactin crazyqueenship hopmr wonderfulhotpopular musicRoots Rock Reggae: Playlist of Reference<figure><img src="http://static.tumblr.com/ps7kkkn/kPMnkp306/playlistrootsrockreggae.png"/></figure><p><i>Our latest edition in our Playlist of Reference series goes tropical, down to the heart of the Caribbean and a world of dreadlocked rastas. A most recognisable music subgenre, this <a href="http://whyd.com/u/5045ef117e91c862b2a804f3/playlist/11">Roots Rock Reggae playlist</a> is curated by <a href="http://whyd.com/u/5045ef117e91c862b2a804f3">Aline</a>, one of our most passionate music lovers who has been with us since the beginning. Let&#8217;s get the story behind the curation:  </i></p><p><b>When did you start listening to RRR? </b></p><p>Probably like a lot of people, I started to listen to reggae when I was a teenager. Thanks to Bob Marley and the Wailers, Jimmy Cliff, Alpha Blondy, etc&#8230; Reggae music became popular all over the world, and during the 90&#8217;s you could find a lot of compilations.  Unfortunately it was far from being relevant to what Reggae music is: all the symbols, culture and history that is intrinsically tied to this music.</p><p><b>Did you ever have a moment when you felt like RRR started speaking to you? </b></p><p>I started to go to Parisian sound systems where I found people passionate about reggae music, I used to go to &#8220;La poterne des peupliers,&#8221; &#8220;l&#8217;espace Massena,&#8221;  &#8221;La boule noire,&#8221;and it was fantastic. I had the chance to see lot of good &#8220;sound systems&#8221; and &#8220;selectas&#8221;, MC&#8217;s, sometimes coming from Jamaica or UK. I&#8217;ve been to a loooooot of gigs also. I was interested to know more about this music and its history: the musical influences (Calypso, Mento, Rock Steady ..), the famous reggae producers (Coxsone, Lee Scratch Perry etc..) history and politics in Jamaica where Bob Marley played some role with the revolutionary attitude and &#8220;propaganda&#8221; in his music, Rastafarism, Africa and the 400 years of slavery&#8230; There are so many things to know about Reggae music. When you get interested in all this, Reggae music becomes really meaningful. </p><p><b>What are some example situations when you would listen to this playlist yourself? </b></p><p>I love to listen reggae when I&#8217;m at home, relaxing, or with my friends &#8230; or sometimes when I work.</p><p><b>If you had to choose just one track from this playlist, which one would be your favorite? </b></p><p>It&#8217;s difficult to choose&#8230;. I would say &#8220;Cool Breeze&#8221; by Big Youth. I saw him live 2 weeks ago with U-ROY. It was Huge&#160;!! Every time I go for a show, I&#8217;m always waiting to hear if the singer still has the same voice, because most of them are more than 70 years old now (the best reggae songs were recorded approximatively between 1965 and 1975, according to me!) </p><p>Most of the time I am not disappointed!</p><p><b>Thanks Aline! </b></p><iframe src="http://whyd.com/u/5045ef117e91c862b2a804f3/playlist/11?format=embedV2&amp;embedW=480" width="480px" height="454px" frameborder="0"></iframe>http://blog.whyd.com/post/112699764225http://blog.whyd.com/post/112699764225Wed, 04 Mar 2015 16:58:35 +0100Say Hello To Laurent<figure><img src="http://static.tumblr.com/ps7kkkn/Gsxnkn7f9/img_1765.jpg" alt="image"/></figure><p>The situation is getting more exciting every day here at Whyd, as we power onwards towards the realization of our vision. In order to reach this harmonious vision, we need some extra help. Please give a big hello to Laurent, or new techno-lumberjack who is going to play a key role in our top-secret development. </p><p><a href="http://whyd.com/u/53ab1ae866491c17b2ae5900">Laurent</a> comes from the town of Muret, near Toulouse in south-west France. He is a lover of beards and music. He loves beards and music so much that he actually produces electronic music under the name <a href="https://soundcloud.com/les-petits-barbus">Les Petits Barbus</a>. He is a perfect match for the Whyd team. </p><iframe src="https://w.soundcloud.com/player/?url=https%3A//api.soundcloud.com/tracks/187351319&amp;auto_play=false&amp;hide_related=false&amp;show_comments=true&amp;show_user=true&amp;show_reposts=false&amp;visual=true" width="100%" height="450" frameborder="no"></iframe><p>In addition to his music passion, he loves nature, mountains, and the mechanic side of do-it-yourself projects like fixing bikes. He also spent six months in Australia on a surfing road trip making him officially a hipster, and now officially a Whyd team hipster. </p><p>Welcome, and never stop jamming Laurent! </p>http://blog.whyd.com/post/112608358250http://blog.whyd.com/post/112608358250Tue, 03 Mar 2015 16:40:01 +0100updatewhyd teamlaurentnew team memberannouncementtop secretbeardsbeerles petits barbusremixaustraliamerutEmerging Metal From Italy: Interview with BBHells Records<figure><img src="https://31.media.tumblr.com/2552fa873ff03b5ccf02c4416cef9c57/tumblr_inline_nklak3Qk0V1qf8f43.png" alt="image"/></figure><p><b>Hello BBHells! Can you introduce yourselves? Where are you from and how did you start your net label?</b></p><p>Hi, <a href="https://www.facebook.com/bbhellsRecords">BBHells Records</a> was born in Perugia (Umbria,Italy) in January 2014. Our label consists of four components: Max Braccianti (Director), Gabriele Bico (Collaborating Sound Engineer), Gianluca Benedetti (Consultant) and Roberta Melana (Public Relations).</p><p>We deal not only in making contracts with our bands but we do real training. We decided to take this road because of our passion for metal music.</p><p><b>What kind of artists do you represent and how did you start working with them?</b></p><p>We represent emerging rock bands. We listen to their material and decide how to work together.</p><iframe src="https://www.youtube.com/embed/cRRF6ELGPTg" width="420" height="315" frameborder="0"></iframe><p><b>Which types of music lovers should listen to their music?</b></p><p>Generally fans of rock metal, and we like to work with electronic music too.</p><p><b>What are your plans for 2015?</b></p><p>For 2015 we have many new collaborations and events to be organized. We hope to always be busy with work, and we have the target of being able to help bands work in the world.</p><p>Follows us on our <a href="http://www.bbhells.com/">website</a> for news! Stay rock \m/<br/></p>http://blog.whyd.com/post/112514796840http://blog.whyd.com/post/112514796840Mon, 02 Mar 2015 15:57:46 +0100interviewbbhellsnetlabelmetalrockelectronicrepresentationemerging bandsitalyperugiamax bracciantigabriele bicogianluca benedettiroberta melanaTrack of the Weekend #124: Florence & The Machine - "What Kind Of Man" (Nicolas Jaar Remix)<figure><img src="http://static.tumblr.com/ps7kkkn/d0Mnkfde1/1497982_10153979007635612_741532985_o.jpg" alt="image"/></figure><p>Ah, what good the sun can do! After hiding behind rain clouds all week, dampening our moods in the wake of the official departure of our beloved Dr. Joly, the sun is a-blazing on this Friday. And it&#8217;s pizza day. Fuck yeah. </p><p>Around the corner is March, and that means spring will soon be in the air. But before we enjoy the budding flowers and warmer breezes, winter is not over. It&#8217;s not done yet, which is exactly what can be said about the most popular track on <a href="http://www.whyd.com">Whyd</a> this week, <a href="https://twitter.com/nicolas___jaar">Nicolas Jaar</a>'s epic remix of <a href="https://twitter.com/flo_tweet">Florence &amp; The Machine</a>'s &#8220;<a href="http://whyd.com/c/54ef48afeaaf62f818ea6ce3">What Kind Of Man</a>.&#8221; For more than 12 minutes the song bounces from Florence&#8217;s voice to deep house echoes to the classic mix of odd percussion sounds that has come to characterize Mr. Jaar&#8217;s prolific career. It&#8217;s a veritable banger of a track from someone so used to exploring the quieter parts of our musical mind. </p><p>Thanks to <a href="http://whyd.com/maxime.mothiron">Maxime M</a> for getting it to us first! </p><iframe src="https://w.soundcloud.com/player/?url=https%3A//api.soundcloud.com/tracks/193182275&amp;auto_play=false&amp;hide_related=false&amp;show_comments=true&amp;show_user=true&amp;show_reposts=false&amp;visual=true" width="100%" height="450" frameborder="no"></iframe>http://blog.whyd.com/post/112213701285http://blog.whyd.com/post/112213701285Fri, 27 Feb 2015 11:05:31 +0100musictrack of the weekendmaxime mnicolar jaarflorence and the machinewhat kind of manepicpopular musichot tracksEP Review: Edyth - "BARE I"<figure><img src="http://static.tumblr.com/ps7kkkn/zKNnkduc8/10258491_1525429451051773_4468491817770131254_o.jpg"/></figure><p>As the global music revolution powers forward participants are popping up in the most unlikely places. It&#8217;s not everyday that we hear about artists from Sudan, but today is one of those days, a chance to relish in the unusual, from the talented artist <a href="https://www.facebook.com/edythmusic">Edyth</a>, who just released his first EP, &#8220;<a href="https://soundcloud.com/fakemusicrec/sets/edyth-bare-1">BARE I</a>,&#8221; out now on <a href="https://www.facebook.com/fakemusic">FAKE MUSIC</a>.   </p><p><b>Released</b>: February 24, 2015</p><p><b>Genres:</b> Trip hop, UK House</p><p><b>Tracks:</b> 5</p><p><b>Who would like this EP?</b> </p><p>Fans of Bonobo&#8217;s organic beats, and people who like Nightmares on Wax&#8217;s samples. </p><p><b>Our thoughts:</b> </p><p>It&#8217;s hard to construct an atmosphere with an EP, which are usually too short to implant a lasting sense of provenance. Edyth, through a smart use of intratrack layering, has achieved a sense of unity. His samples could&#8217;ve come straight out of an abandoned hangar in London&#8217;s Far East End. The first track, &#8220;Crystxls,&#8221; which feels the most complete out of the five tracks on the album, is something that could be played at get togethers around the world. We hope it will! </p><p><b><a href="https://soundcloud.com/fakemusicrec/sets/edyth-bare-1">Listen to &#8220;Bare&#8221; by Edyth</a></b></p>http://blog.whyd.com/post/112134028385http://blog.whyd.com/post/112134028385Thu, 26 Feb 2015 15:17:57 +0100musicep reviewedythsudantrip hopuk housefake musiccrystxlsbonobonightmare on waxPlaylist of Reference: Blues<figure><img src="http://static.tumblr.com/ps7kkkn/5gankbxn2/playlistblues.jpg" alt="image"/></figure><p><i>Our Playlist of Reference series has seen a wide range of music, and today we&#8217;re excited to add to that by tackling one of the oldest genres of music: <a href="http://whyd.com/u/50cb50b27e91c862b2a94b5c/playlist/0">Blues</a>. Before Electro Swing, before Rock n Roll, before Jazz, there was the Blues, the picked and strummed guitars, the sadness, the beauty of a raspy voice. The simplicity of the sound. Today&#8217;s playlist is curated by <a href="http://whyd.com/u/50cb50b27e91c862b2a94b5c">Milenko</a>, and as usual, let&#8217;s get the story behind this amazing playlist. </i></p><p><b>When did you start listening to Blues? </b></p><p><b> </b>Since an early age, I was listening to Jazz artists like Duke Ellington, Ray Brown, Count Basie, Herb Ellis, Oscar Peterson, Miles Davis, etc. As my father was a Jazz listener, I think my ears were trained to this genre from the beginning. During adolescence I switched to more Blues Rock artists like Led Zeppelin, Jimi Hendrix, Eric Clapton, The Doors, AC/DC, etc. Then the teenage rebel years, with some Blues-inspired Heavy Rock.  </p><p>Today, while I still listen to Jazz and Blues Rock, I found myself having a preference for Slow and Traditional Blues with people like B.B. King, Eric Clapton, Muddy Waters, John Lee Hooker, Robert Johnson, John Mayer, Eric Clapton, Joe Bonamassa, ZZ Top, Stevie Ray Vaughan, etc. (There are too many to list!)<b><br/><br/>Did you ever have a moment when you felt like Blues started speaking to you? </b></p><p> Every time, that’s the main effect of Blues. When you listen to a Blues song, it’s not about the technique (Blues scales are quite simple), it’s all about the phrasing, it’s about the way the artist is telling a story with his instrument. Each Blues track is about storytelling. That’s probably why you have so many standard tunes interpreted by so many players, and they are all unique masterpieces. For example, take a song like “Born Under a Bad Sign”, do a simple search on Whyd, and listen to the different version of Albert king, Jimi Hendrix, Stevie Ray Vaughan, Cream, Warren Haynes, etc.  They all tell the same story with variations in the phrasing, that’s how the Blues speaks to you. <b><br/><br/>What are some example situations when you would listen to this playlist yourself? </b></p><p><b> </b>I listen to this playlist at work essentially. In fact, the main goal of this playlist is to act as a central repository for all the Blues songs I discover while watching movies, listening to concerts, radio etc. When I find something interesting, I just want to share it with other people hoping they will enjoy it as much as I do. </p><p><b>If you had to choose just one track from this playlist, which one would be your favorite?</b>  </p><p><a href="http://whyd.com/c/514b88da386b8051150032f6">B.B. King - Blues Boys Tune (From B.B. King - Live at Montreux 1</a>993) And because, like in Blues, you don’t have to follow the rules as long as it works and sounds great … My second “just one” would be: <a href="http://whyd.com/c/5342b5601ff9b5ef5f01c1fb">Eric Clapton and Steve Winwood - Voodoo Chile</a><br/></p><p><b>Thanks Milenko! </b></p><p><iframe width="480px" height="454px" frameborder="0" src="http://whyd.com/u/50cb50b27e91c862b2a94b5c/playlist/0?format=embedV2&amp;embedW=480"></iframe></p>http://blog.whyd.com/post/112042351010http://blog.whyd.com/post/112042351010Wed, 25 Feb 2015 14:33:26 +0100musicplaylist of referencebluesb b kingeric claptonsteve winwoodvoodoo chilecreamstevie ray vaughanmilenkobrusselsbelgiumThank You For Everything Adrien<figure><img src="http://static.tumblr.com/ps7kkkn/66Knka22r/img_1745.jpg" alt="image"/></figure><p>Being in a start up is like being in a family. In our case a band of brothers united by the common desire to make the internet work for us, fusing it with music in a way that no one had done before. There is adversity, there is achievement, and there are emotions, emotions that we all share together. Just like in a family, losing a family member means sadness. The sadness of knowing that they won&#8217;t be there when you arrive in the morning, adding events to their multiple Gmail calendars. The sadness of having one fewer mouth on pizza day. The sadness of knowing that they won&#8217;t be back. </p><p><i>Oui mon p&#8217;tit gars, c&#8217;est comme ça</i></p><iframe src="https://www.youtube.com/embed/Wn_iz8z2AGw" width="420" height="315" frameborder="0"></iframe><p>Today marks the official departure of one of the strands of the DNA of Whyd. The <a href="http://www.adrienjoly.com">developer</a> responsible for coding and building nearly everything we enjoy today. The <a href="http://manisnotabird.bandcamp.com/album/restlessness-ep">rocker</a> responsible for some epic jamming. The friend responsible for endless laughter, mouth trumpeting, and <a href="http://lesjoiesducode.fr/">GIF</a>s. The man responsible for the care taken towards each of his teammates and every visitor that came through <a href="http://www.whyd.com">Whyd</a>. <a href="http://whyd.com/u/4d94501d1f78ac091dbc9b4d">Dr. Adrien Joly</a> is leaving us for the next chapter in his life and career. </p><p><i>Oui mon p&#8217;tit gars, c&#8217;est comme ça</i></p><p>Adrien was here from the very beginning, coding remotely in cafés and in Whyd&#8217;s first incubator. He ventured with Gilles, Jie, and Loick to San Francisco to alternate sleeping in a one bedroom apartment in Chinatown for three months while the young team soaked in the charged atmosphere of California&#8217;s legendary tech mecca. </p><p>He expertly directed the team through a few pivots before the mission became music, and it was here that Adrien truly excelled. He had already hacked together multiple music apps, like his location-based Foursquare app &#8220;Hear I Am&#8221; that he built with Loick, and &#8220;GigFM,&#8221; for creating playlists from upcoming concerts. Whyd was a natural extension of his passions. One that kept him working with us for over four years. </p><p><i>Oui mon p&#8217;tit gars, c&#8217;est comme ça</i></p><p>As the team expanded both in terms of numbers and in terms of geography, Adrien led the development and release of our <a href="https://itunes.apple.com/us/app/whyd-music-playlist-discovery/id874380201?mt=8">5-star iOS app</a>. He tutored interns. He kept an impossible number of moving parts aligned to ensure that music lovers could listen on Whyd. And, perhaps most importantly, he tempered the team&#8217;s expectations to protect the functioning of Whyd - to keep it from becoming too complicated, from becoming too heavy to stay afloat. There could have been no replacement for that potent combination of ability, intelligence, and demeanor. Something that is so perfectly summed up in his classic phrase, said with acceptance that some things are not to be changed, but with the hope that there will be another, better option: &#8220;<i>Oui mon p&#8217;tit gars, c&#8217;est comme ça.&#8221;</i></p><p>Adrien is moving to the next challenges that he will face, as he navigates his career helping dreams become reality through technology. We have absolutely no doubt that he will be successful in every problem and opportunity he comes across. We believe that few people on this planet have his methodical ability to break apart obstacles into manageable pieces, then take out each of those pieces with precision. And we will be jealous of each and every person that gets to work with him. </p><p><i>Oui mon p&#8217;tit gars, c&#8217;est comme ça</i></p><p>Never stop jamming, man. </p>http://blog.whyd.com/post/111950307265http://blog.whyd.com/post/111950307265Tue, 24 Feb 2015 14:16:00 +0100adrien jolyWhyd Presents: Austrian Singer-Songwriter James Hersey<figure><img src="http://static.tumblr.com/ps7kkkn/vqYnk7ybq/10993487_1053480571332262_2985312334173264628_n.jpg"/></figure><p><i>All photos courtesy <a href="https://www.facebook.com/jamesherseymusic">James Hersey&#8217;s Facebook Page</a></i></p><p><b>Hello James! How did your classical upbringing influence the music you make today?</b></p><p>Hi! I really didn’t like being forced to play by notation, but maybe some elements of discipline and focus filtered through from those times.</p><p><b>Walk us through the beginning of your songwriting. Where did your first inspirations come from?</b></p><p>In the beginning I covered a lot of stuff and copied everybody’s style, teaching myself to write songs on the side. Now I work a lot on my own stuff and look for cool covers to learn on the side.</p><figure><img src="http://static.tumblr.com/ps7kkkn/JMHnk7yc8/10818258_1047666758580310_1012873694552024849_o.jpg"/></figure><p><b>Tell us about your upcoming, debut album &#8220;Clarity.&#8221; How long have you been working on it and who else played an instrumental role in making it a reality?</b></p><p>I worked towards “Clarity” for about one and a half years, though a couple of the songs are older than that. I guess the album wouldn’t exist at all without my manager Gonzalo at Manta Ray, my engineer Thomas at <a href="http://www.puresoundrecordings.com/">Puresound Recordings</a>, and the entire team at <a href="http://www.lichtdicht-records.de/">Lichtdicht Records</a>.</p><figure class="tmblr-embed" data-provider="youtube" data-orig-width="540" data-orig-height="304"><iframe width="500" height="281" id="youtube_iframe" src="https://www.youtube.com/embed/Fb-_Tp9NWLs?feature=oembed&amp;enablejsapi=1&amp;origin=https://safe.txmblr.com&amp;wmode=opaque" frameborder="0" allowfullscreen=""></iframe></figure><p><b>Who should listen to your new album? Fans of which other artists?</b></p><p>People with open ears and open minds! I think that fans of Coldplay, Foster The People, Phoenix, John Mayer, and The Police will dig it.</p><figure><img src="http://static.tumblr.com/ps7kkkn/jcxnk7ycq/screen_shot_2015-02-23_at_10.55.17.png"/></figure><p><b>Where will you be playing live this year?</b></p><p>Germany, Austria, France, Canada, and the US!<br/></p>http://blog.whyd.com/post/111850370445http://blog.whyd.com/post/111850370445Mon, 23 Feb 2015 11:02:29 +0100interviewwhyd presentsjames herseynew artistlichtdicht recordsaustriasongwritersingerclaritynew albumTrack of the Weekend #123: Sufjan Stevens - "No Shade In The Shadow Of The Cross"<figure><img src="http://static.tumblr.com/ps7kkkn/REJnk2fjc/tumblr_nishx443ja1rgw0ado1_500.jpg"/></figure><p>We&#8217;ve been busy hooking some new things up this week here at the <a href="http://www.whyd.com">Whyd</a> studio. There are lots of screwdrivers laying among bits of wire. Something truly awesome is coming, and we can&#8217;t wait to tell you about it&#8230;</p><p>But it is also the cat days of winter, where the cold is damp and the rain gets stuck in the air, giving up its quest for the ground. For those of us who are riding out the end of the winter, a melody has resonated. The delicate voice of Michigan&#8217;s own <a href="http://asthmatickitty.com/artists/sufjan-stevens/">Sufjan Stevens</a> delivers a heartbroken message across his signature strums and hums. &#8220;<a href="http://whyd.com/c/54e1f3720b38e24824955a24">No Shade In The Shadow Of The Cross</a>" is his grief pure, a window into the place where the love for his lost mother is hiding in a corner, knee-deep in tears. He lays is bare and clear:   </p><p>&#8221;<i>Fuck me I&#8217;m falling apart</i>" </p><p>Thanks to <a href="http://whyd.com/u/51e41ffb7e91c862b2af2a12">dominique lutier</a> for grabbing this for us! </p><iframe src="https://www.youtube.com/embed/qx1s_3CF07k" width="560" height="315" frameborder="0"></iframe>http://blog.whyd.com/post/111552927695http://blog.whyd.com/post/111552927695Fri, 20 Feb 2015 11:23:54 +0100musicsufjan stevensno shade in the shadow of the crossdominique lutiertrack of the weekendpopular musichot trackswhydcommunityPresenting the Eclectic Sounds of ZEN@<figure><img src="http://static.tumblr.com/ps7kkkn/dUXnk0t2a/10366137_1528754864041202_6021267352046822023_n.jpg" alt="image"/></figure><p><i>A brand new artist, one who used Whyd as a tool to help start her career, presents herself after releasing her very <a href="https://soundcloud.com/zenaspace">first EP</a>, say hello to <a href="https://www.facebook.com/zenanow">ZEN@</a>. </i></p><p><b>Introduce yourself!</b> </p><p>I grew up in Shanghai, and went to the States for high school and college. I love wandering around, outdoors, tech and the cosmos. The most interesting thing to me at the moment is &#8220;time.&#8221; I like to think it as an object and pretending that some things in the scale of time are fixed. <br/></p><p><b>When did you start writing songs? Can you walk us through your songwriting process?</b></p><p>I started last fall when I was in Shanghai and traveling around Europe. I just write whenever I got an idea, and I picked four to make this album. They were all written in different ways. Both &#8220;<a href="https://soundcloud.com/zenaspace/soundcloud">SoundCloud</a>" and "<a href="https://soundcloud.com/zenaspace/one-of-a-million">One Of A Million</a>" had the chorus first, then I finished the whole songs weeks after. "<a href="https://soundcloud.com/zenaspace/kairos">Kairos</a>" was written over an instrumental track that the producer Bravin, gave me. When I first heard this track, I had the melody of the song right away, so I just asked the producer if I can write a song over it. "<a href="https://soundcloud.com/zenaspace/treasure-island">Treasure Island</a>" was fast. I wrote both the lyrics and melody in one morning. It&#8217;s not really or only about Pirates, but it&#8217;s based on an Oscar-winning documentary film.</p><p>I actually used <a href="http://www.whyd.com">Whyd</a> to communicate ideas and inspirations with my producers. The playlist is the best feature for that!</p><p><b>Which artists have the strongest influence on your music? </b></p><p>Really a lot. I listen to a variety of very international music, from all over the world.</p><p>The strongest influence would be Sia. And even everything evolving around her music is so artistic.</p><p><b>Each of the 4 songs of your EP sound very different, what are some of the common themes that link them together?</b></p><p>Yes, they are! I wanted this album to have songs of very different styles initially, so it ended up like that. I worked with producers from three different countries to make them all sound different. I have many international friends and I love traveling. I guess it&#8217;s important for me to make music that has very diverse elements and feels like traveling. These four songs are still not enough to be diverse. It&#8217;s an experiment. It could be good or bad. A lot of the artists have their very distinctive music style, but I never want to have a specific style. I like changing, as long as the biggest goal is the true emotion with a good melody and lyrics.</p><p>One common theme is that they are all adventurous or about adventures.</p><iframe src="https://w.soundcloud.com/player/?url=https%3A//api.soundcloud.com/tracks/187046785&amp;auto_play=false&amp;hide_related=false&amp;show_comments=true&amp;show_user=true&amp;show_reposts=false&amp;visual=true" width="100%" height="450" frameborder="no"></iframe><p><b>Tell us about your song &#8220;SoundCloud.&#8221; What&#8217;s it about exactly? </b></p><p>It&#8217;s about graduation from college. I met many cool people in college. They have crazy hair, crazy outfit, crazy attitude, crazy dreams, and crazy cool everything. But when it&#8217;s their fourth year, everything changes. They cut their hair, start to wear black suits, delete all their social network accounts and hide in dorms to prepare for the next job interviews, mostly in finance or consulting. They said they want to work in those industries for two or three years. And afterwards, they would do whatever they are really passionate about. This is just blowing my mind.</p><p>Then I read two really good essays by Marina Keegan that talk about such phenomenon and graduation from college - &#8220;Even Artichokes Have Doubts&#8221; and &#8220;The Opposite Of Loneliness&#8221;. There are some references in &#8220;SoundCloud&#8221; from her essays. She was going to be a writer for The New Yorker, but died in a car accident just five days after her graduation from Yale in 2012. It&#8217;s really sad. She&#8217;s so talented and so inspirational.</p><p><b>What are your plans to develop and promote yourself in 2015?</b></p><p>I don&#8217;t know if I will have time to promote haha</p><p>The priority is to write more good music.</p><p>I definitely hope more people will hear my music. I am also designing and building some stuff. It is primarily about music, but it will also be some other things about creativity. I will probably share some of my crazy inventions there, too. I have more songs to be released very soon.</p><p><b>Thanks <a href="http://zenaspace.com/">ZEN@</a>! </b> <br/></p>http://blog.whyd.com/post/111465481350http://blog.whyd.com/post/111465481350Thu, 19 Feb 2015 14:20:00 +0100interviewnew artistzenamarina keegansongwritingmusic productionwhydDetroit 2000s Hip Hop: Playlist of Reference<figure><img src="http://static.tumblr.com/ps7kkkn/Wn9njz6xn/playlistjazzz.jpg" alt="image"/></figure><p><i>We have the pleasure of continuing our awesome series featuring the stories behind some of the best playlists representing genres and subgenres of music on <a href="http://www.whyd.com">Whyd</a>. Today, something that hits close to home for our Community Manager. Literally. </i></p><p><i>Detroit is known around the world for the automobile industry. But there is something that Detroit has been producing this whole time as well, an equally international export: music. From the funky days of Motown, to the garage punk epoch, through the rise of electronic and most recently - the advent of Hip Hop, Detroit is in a constant state of creative evolution. Capturing an era that many can point to as its revival, The Backpackerz have put together their latest &#8220;Heavy Rotation&#8221; playlist around Hip Hop from the 2000s, &#8220;<a href="http://whyd.com/u/53726f8971eaec19b57170bd/playlist/67">Detroit Hustles Harder</a>.&#8221; </i> </p><p><b>Can you introduce yourselves? What is the idea behind <a href="http://thebackpackerz.com/">The BackPackerz</a> and when did you get started? </b></p><p>We are Antoine and Hugo, the two co-founders of <a href="http://whyd.com/u/53726f8971eaec19b57170bd">The BackPackerz</a>. We met at Toulouse Business School around 2012 and quickly discovered our common passion for Hip-Hop. Longtime rap addicts, we decided to create The BackPackerz while studying in Barcelona in 2013. In fact, we couldn’t find the type of content about Hip-Hop we’d like to read among the existing websites, especially in French, so we decided to create it ourselves! </p><p><a href="https://www.facebook.com/TheBackPackerzOfficial">The BackPackerz</a> is a web-magazine dedicated to celebrating and educating its readers to Hip-Hop culture. Through in-depth analysis on cultural landmarks, interviews and reviews, the 12 members of our team are creating the freshest online resource for anybody interested in Hip-Hop culture. We also curate the best Hip-Hop events (concerts, festivals, exhibits) in France because HIP-HOP LIVES!</p><p><b>Where does your passion of Hip Hop come from?</b></p><p><b>Antoine</b>: I was introduced to rap music very early, around my second year of middle school, by a friend’s brother who had me listening to NTM, IAM and the whole Hostile posse. At the beginning, I was on French rap mostly because I liked the rebel attitude that came along with it. Then I started to dig into the American rap from the 90s after I got struck by Cut Killer’s mixtape &#8220;Party Jam - 1989&#160;1996, The Golden Age.&#8221; I was in high school when I first heard Nas’s &#8220;Illmatic,&#8221; A Tribe Called Quest’s &#8220;Midnight Marauders&#8221; and Wu-Tang Clan - &#8220;Enter the 36 Chambers&#8221; which are still my all-time favorite albums. At that time, I was spending hours translating lyrics and searching Urban Dictionary (a time before Rap Genius) to get a better understanding of what those cats were saying.</p><p>Later with Olivier Cachin’s books and films like &#8220;Wild Style,&#8221; I discovered Hip-Hop was not only a music genre but also a fascinating culture with other elements like graffiti and dance and tremendous impacts on our modern society. Since then, I kept reading and gathering artifacts (records, films and books) of this sublime culture. A few years ago, I realized this archiving work had to be shared so I decided to launch The BackPackerz with Hugo.</p><p><b>Hugo</b>: My passion for Hip-Hop came later than Antoine’s. In High School, I began to listen to mainstream stuff such as 50 Cent or Eminem and I immediately fell in love with this music because it combined rhythms that made my head bang hard and dope lyrics spit with amazing technicality. Soon I would dig into the history of this genre and couldn’t stop, because every day I would discovered how deep and wide this culture was. At first, I was really into the producers (Preemo, Dilla, Pete Rock, Q-Tip…) and how they chopped samples etc..They were my entry door to real Hip-Hop, more than the MCs. </p><p><b>Tell us about the concept of your Heavy Rotation playlists?</b></p><p>The concept of the Heavy Rotation playlists is to bring to our readers 10 dope tracks every Monday, in order to soften the pain of this particularly hated day of the week. Most of the time you will find a selection of 10 hottest rap songs of the last couple of weeks but sometimes we build playlists around a specific subject: a genre (e.g <a href="http://whyd.com/u/53726f8971eaec19b57170bd/playlist/56">beatmaking edition</a>) a specific technique (e.g <a href="http://whyd.com/u/53726f8971eaec19b57170bd/playlist/39">brass edition</a>) or for a special occasion like this “Detroit Hustles Harder” edition for J Dilla month. There is no rule, it just depends on our mood! Now our readers are really looking forward for them to come out, because you know “Fuck it’s Monday&#8230;but at least I’m gonna hear dope music!”</p><p><b>What&#8217;s special about this Post 2000 Detroit Hip Hop playlist? </b></p><p>Originally, the idea of the post 2000 Detroit rap playlist came up while we were preparing our interview with Detroit superstars Phat Kat, Elzhi and Guilty Simpson (that we will drop in a couple of weeks). As we were deep-digging into our hard drives, we were amazed to see how prolific and brilliant the Detroit scene was in the 2K decade. From Slum Village, to Elzhi, Black Milk or the great Apollo Brown; it seems that Detroit has never stop shining since we changed millennium. </p><p>On top of that, releasing a fine selection of the dopest tracks from Detroit rappers was exactly what The BackPackerz is meant for: curate history to educate and entertain. The purpose of this playlist - along our <a href="http://thebackpackerz.com/dossier-detroit-state-of-mind/">article Detroit State Of Mind</a> - is for our readers and followers to discover / remember the greatness of this scene over the past 20 years.</p><p>Curating the playlist, we realized this excellence would not have been the same without a man: James Dewitt Yancey a.k.a J Dilla or Jay Dee, one of the greatest producer of all time. If you look at the playlist, you’ll find Jay Dee’s legacy in almost every single track: as a producer, an influencer or in the lyrics. We decided to release this special Heavy Rotation in February since it is known among his fans as “J Dilla month” (as he was born and died during the month of February).</p><iframe src="http://whyd.com/u/53726f8971eaec19b57170bd/playlist/67?format=embedV2&amp;embedW=480" width="480px" height="454px" frameborder="0"></iframe>http://blog.whyd.com/post/111382075685http://blog.whyd.com/post/111382075685Wed, 18 Feb 2015 17:26:00 +0100musicplaylist of referencedetroithip hopdetroit hustles harderj dillathe backpackerzrapThe Art of the Rework - The Avener Answers Your Questions [LONG FORM INTERVIEW]<figure><img src="http://static.tumblr.com/ps7kkkn/80cnjva40/10997372_1592143764334101_28025481450924219_n.jpg" alt="image"/></figure><p><i>A heavily bearded technical team sets up instruments on a packed stage while multicolored lights reflect brightly from the walls of the popular French TV Show &#8220;<a href="http://www.france5.fr/emissions/c-a-vous">C A Vous</a>.&#8221; The kitchen of the hidden studio in the 11ème has elegant-looking appliances. Everything gleans in stark contrast to the rainy grey courtyard outside. </i></p><p><i>The hubbub is all for their latest episode, featuring a true <a href="http://www.whyd.com">Whyd</a> favorite: <a href="https://www.facebook.com/theavenermusic">The Avener</a>, whose track &#8220;<a href="http://whyd.com/c/54c0ca5c10a26a86570ad101">Fade Out Lines</a>" has been sitting in the top 10 of the Hot Tracks for months on end. It&#8217;s in a small office stocked with Mars bars to the side of the studio that we finally meet Tristan from Nice, the French artist who has just released his album "<a href="https://itunes.apple.com/fr/album/the-wanderings-of-the-avener/id947857235">The Wanderings of The Avener</a>,&#8221; and who is about to perform for the French public at large for the very first time. </i></p><p><i>If he was nervous, it was transmuted into warm friendliness. He sits down, cigarette in hand, ready to answer the Whyd community&#8217;s questions. We have 10 minutes. The mic clicks on. </i></p><p><i>This interview is translated from French. Tony Hymes for Whyd in <b>bold</b>. All photos, (except the selfie!) courtesy <a href="https://www.facebook.com/theavenermusic">The Avener&#8217;s Facebook page</a>.  </i> </p><p><b>In your new album there are a lot of reworks. W<b>hen you create a remix</b> do you try to break something down, or do you try to build something on top of what exists?</b> </p><p><b>Tristan:</b> That depends on the song that I use to do my rework. Sometimes I have to do a lot more, to change a lot of the arrangements, and sometimes just adding a bit of salt and pepper is all it takes to season the plate! So it depends, for example sometimes I&#8217;ll use a dozen or so tracks, and there are other times where I will use more than 50 tracks! </p><figure><img src="http://static.tumblr.com/ps7kkkn/7Tpnjva4p/screen_shot_2015-02-16_at_14.37.23.png" alt="image"/></figure><p><b>Let&#8217;s use your new remix of Rodriguez as an example.</b> </p><p><b>Tristan:</b> Rodriguez&#8217;s (&#8220;Hate Street Dialogue&#8221;) was a song that was rather easy to create because the heart was already there. All I wanted to do was amplify the rock aspect and make it more appropriate for the club. For that one I used about a dozen tracks to modify it. </p><p><b>How do you choose the songs that you remix?</b></p><p><b>Tristan:</b> It&#8217;s really just music I like from my years as a DJ. With my DJ background I&#8217;ve played a lot of music, from funk to soul to house, and there are tracks that I can&#8217;t really play sometimes, because if I did it would empty the dance floor! So I tried to modify the tracks that I wanted to play, but wasn&#8217;t able to, and that&#8217;s how this album was born. </p><p><b>You have a classic music formation, notably the piano, but it&#8217;s not something that we take from your latest album. So does that serve something for you?</b></p><p><b>Tristan:</b> Classical music helps me with music in general, with the notes, understanding, and writing sheet music. For this album it helped from a technical standpoint, and didn&#8217;t really serve as a source of inspiration. Having a classical background is a big advantage to make music, but orchestrally speaking it&#8217;s difficult to bring that into this type of music. </p><p><b>What do the artists that you remixed think of your remixes? Phoebe Killdeer (&#8220;Fade Out Lines&#8221;) for example?</b> </p><p><b>Tristan:</b> She was the first test. Phoebe Killdeer loved the track, but at the beginning she didn&#8217;t want to have her name attached to it, because it wasn&#8217;t in her overall artistic direction. She was, however, really happy with it. For the other artists, some of whom were collaborators, like Rodriguez, they love it, so it&#8217;s a huge joy for me. </p><p><b>Who are your influences? Who do you look up to?</b> </p><p><b>Tristan:</b> My music comes from different places. I listen to a lot of music, I&#8217;m very eclectic, at home or when I&#8217;m DJing. There are a lot of artists that influence me. It&#8217;s true that I spent 10 years in classical music so I have a lasting adoration for Beethoven, and Bach, they are THE composers, and no one from today will arrive at their level, they have so much unique musicality. They are still my favorites to this day. </p><figure><img src="http://static.tumblr.com/ps7kkkn/Pbqnjva59/img_1726.jpg" alt="image"/></figure><p><b>Are there artists that you don&#8217;t like? Maybe not artists, that might burn some bridges, but are there styles of music that you don&#8217;t like?</b> </p><p><b>Tristan: </b>There are some genres that I appreciate a little bit less. But I am still a student of music, so when there is a style that I don&#8217;t like, I try to figure out what the artist was trying to do. I never say &#8220;that doesn&#8217;t sound good.&#8221; There are always good songs in every style of music, you just have to find them. </p><p><b>You&#8217;re labelled as being deep house, but on the new album there is a lot more. Are there other styles that you are moving closer towards? A bit of folk maybe? </b></p><p><b>Tristan:</b> Yes! This album is sort of a voyage between different epochs and different styles. And finally I can re-vindicate my eclecticism because it&#8217;s not easy for an artist to be so diverse with their music to say &#8220;I make all music.&#8221; It&#8217;s complicated to say that. This album is about sharing, it&#8217;s surrounded by my influences, so it&#8217;s a journey among lot of different points.</p><p><b>Would you classify your music as being French?</b> </p><p><b>Tristan:</b> I would like that! I definitely like the &#8220;French Touch&#8221; period, which had a big influence on me. But now do I bring anything new to this &#8220;French Touch&#8221; compared to other artists? I hope to have that energy. </p><p>Now I have fans that come from all over the world, not just in France, like Germany, Switzerland, Australia, South Korea, there are lots of people that loved the first single, and that makes me happy! <br/></p><p><b>When you are aren&#8217;t making music, what do you do for fun?</b></p><p><b>Tristan:</b> When I don&#8217;t make music I play music! :) </p><p>I have a second passion, aviation, so I&#8217;m in the process of getting my private pilot&#8217;s license. </p><p><b>Awesome! At least you&#8217;ll have a great soundtrack to fly to!</b> </p><p><b>Tristan:</b> Voilà! </p>http://blog.whyd.com/post/111175103150http://blog.whyd.com/post/111175103150Mon, 16 Feb 2015 14:42:00 +0100interviewthe avenerfade out linesrodriguezremixfrench touchtristannicefrancec a vousstudiodeep housefolkTrack of the Weekend #122: Kendrick Lamar - "The Blacker The Berry"<figure><img src="http://static.tumblr.com/ps7kkkn/VLznjpg2m/1556365_10152290789958092_885501008_o.jpg" alt="image"/></figure><p>We&#8217;re only at the middle of February, on the historically superstitious day of Friday the 13th, and already one of the year&#8217;s biggest releases has reverberated around the globe propelling the single to the top of the Hot Tracks here in Paris. <a href="https://www.facebook.com/kendricklamar">Kendrick Lamar</a> just scooped up a GRAMMY for best rap performance for &#8220;i&#8221; (for which he also claimed the much more prestigious Whyd <a href="http://blog.whyd.com/post/98454424480/track-of-the-weekend-103-kendrick-lamar-i">Track of the Weekend</a>), and his newest effort &#8220;<a href="http://whyd.com/c/54d960350b38e248248df523">The Blacker The Berry</a>" encapsulates the perilous state of race, spitting his signature verses with anger across reggae calls all summed up with the proud statement: "<i>The blacker the berry, the sweeter the juice.</i>" </p><p>A big thanks to <a href="http://whyd.com/u/5394e84c66491c17b2ad5f2e">Encee x Kalab&#8217;s</a> for getting it to Whyd first! </p><iframe src="https://www.youtube.com/embed/6AhXSoKa8xw" width="560" height="315" frameborder="0"></iframe>http://blog.whyd.com/post/110887316510http://blog.whyd.com/post/110887316510Fri, 13 Feb 2015 11:05:00 +0100musictrack of the weekendkendrick lamarthe blacker the berryenceekalabwhydrapnew releasehot musicMusic Creation, Heartbreak + Intercontinental Collaboration: DYLLAN Interview<figure><img src="http://static.tumblr.com/ps7kkkn/pGXnjnuft/dyllan_press_photo_2.jpg" alt="image"/></figure><p><b>Hello <a href="https://www.facebook.com/dylanicholsmusic">DYLLAN</a>! How&#8217;s it going? Can you take us through a quick recap of your musical life? You&#8217;ve been at this since you were quite young! </b></p><p>Hello! It&#8217;s going well, thank you! Yes, I&#8217;ve been writing songs since I was twelve and started playing shows in my hometown (Los Angeles) at fifteen. In high school I recorded my first EP and I recorded my second, &#8220;Anything But Scared,&#8221; my first year of college. </p><p>I studied music there but I also studied film and literature. I lived in Paris for a year where I studied le cinéma français and le dessin. I played some shows there and connected with some great musicians. After college I moved to Brooklyn where I&#8217;m now living, producing music out of my apartment. </p><figure><img src="http://static.tumblr.com/ps7kkkn/Lk6njnui5/dyllan_press_photo_1.jpg" alt="image"/></figure><p><b>Why did you start writing music? Were you inspired by themes in your life? Or were you inspired by other musicians?</b> </p><p>My first influence (and constant idol) is Joni Mitchell. And Jeff Buckley. There is so much depth to their work - their lyrics are poetry. I had always wanted to sing but I was too shy, so I picked up a guitar first. Eventually I sang along, and then started writing my own stuff. To this day I am constantly writing songs, and yes, they are usually about heartbreak. </p><p>Songwriting is therapeutic for me. It&#8217;s a necessity. I am not a diligent worker, though, so going out and seeing shows is what inspires me to sit down and write. Or to go out and play!</p><iframe src="https://www.youtube.com/embed/O7_oUQgDeg8" width="560" height="315" frameborder="0"></iframe><p><b>How did you start working with <a href="https://www.facebook.com/thylacine.w">THYLACINE</a>? How did you end up coming to Paris in the first place? </b></p><p>As I said, I moved to Paris for my junior year abroad in college. Ironically, it wasn&#8217;t until after I had left that I discovered THYLACINE&#8217;s music and decided to contact him. I thought he might be interested in working with me and he was. This was how we did our first collaboration, &#8220;<a href="http://whyd.com/c/54a63d17766dc2c66d4a4dec">Distance</a>.&#8221; I had written a song called &#8220;<a href="https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=iQUhERgr61M">NYLAPARIS</a>" and sent it to him. He took my vocals and composed original music around it. I think the result was quite beautiful and unique. </p><p>Our second collaboration, &#8220;<a href="http://whyd.com/c/54dca7040b38e2482491921c">Closing</a>" was yet another virtual collaboration but with the opposite arrangement - he sent me an instrumental track he had produced and I wrote, recorded and arranged the vocals at home in Brooklyn. I&#8217;m also very pleased with the result and amazed that he and I have still never met in person! I look forward to him making a trip to New York soon so we can fix that. </p><figure><img src="http://static.tumblr.com/ps7kkkn/uZKnjnuj4/dyllan_press_photo_3.jpg" alt="image"/></figure><p><b>What can we look forward to from you in 2015?</b></p><p>I have quite a few projects to release this year! Notably, the single and music video for my new song &#8220;Moments Like These&#8221; will release in March. We funded the whole thing through Indiegogo so I am really excited to share it. Following that, I&#8217;ll release my next new single &#8220;Try&#8221; in April. <a href="http://www.dyllanmusic.com">Stay tuned</a> and thanks so much! </p>http://blog.whyd.com/post/110807486655http://blog.whyd.com/post/110807486655Thu, 12 Feb 2015 14:24:00 +0100interviewdyllandylan nicholsclosingthylacinemoments like thesetrydistanceLAbrooklynpariscollaborationsongwritingheartbreakmusic creation