Track of the Weekend #124: Florence & The Machine - “What Kind Of Man” (Nicolas Jaar Remix)

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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’s pizza day. Fuck yeah. 

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’s not done yet, which is exactly what can be said about the most popular track on Whyd this week, Nicolas Jaar's epic remix of Florence & The Machine's “What Kind Of Man.” For more than 12 minutes the song bounces from Florence’s voice to deep house echoes to the classic mix of odd percussion sounds that has come to characterize Mr. Jaar’s prolific career. It’s a veritable banger of a track from someone so used to exploring the quieter parts of our musical mind. 

Thanks to Maxime M for getting it to us first! 

Track of the Weekend #123: Sufjan Stevens - “No Shade In The Shadow Of The Cross”

We’ve been busy hooking some new things up this week here at the Whyd studio. There are lots of screwdrivers laying among bits of wire. Something truly awesome is coming, and we can’t wait to tell you about it…

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’s own Sufjan Stevens delivers a heartbroken message across his signature strums and hums. “No Shade In The Shadow Of The Cross" 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:   

Fuck me I’m falling apart

Thanks to dominique lutier for grabbing this for us! 

Track of the Weekend #122: Kendrick Lamar - “The Blacker The Berry”

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We’re only at the middle of February, on the historically superstitious day of Friday the 13th, and already one of the year’s biggest releases has reverberated around the globe propelling the single to the top of the Hot Tracks here in Paris. Kendrick Lamar just scooped up a GRAMMY for best rap performance for “i” (for which he also claimed the much more prestigious Whyd Track of the Weekend), and his newest effort “The Blacker The Berry" encapsulates the perilous state of race, spitting his signature verses with anger across reggae calls all summed up with the proud statement: "The blacker the berry, the sweeter the juice.

A big thanks to Encee x Kalab’s for getting it to Whyd first! 

The Dreamy Electro Folk of Isaac Delusion [LONG FORM INTERVIEW]

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Rain patters quietly on the windows of La Fée Verte, a cozy café on the normally raucous Rue de la Roquette a few Eiffel Towers from Bastille. It’s late afternoon, some Parisians tap away their last work emails. The beer taps open for a couple of new arrivals. 

In through the door come two new visitors to the café, Loic and Jules, a.k.a. Isaac Delusion. Their friendliness is immediate. I explain to them that we had sourced questions from their fans on Whyd. They are excited to answer, at ease with anecdotes and information, outgoing and happy. 

The following is translated from French. Tony Hymes for Whyd in bold. All photos courtesy Isaac Delusion’s Facebook Page.    

Tell us about the origin of the group, was this originally something that kind of came together, or was it something that you were really trying to make work?

Jules: We have known each other since middle school in Vincennes, and we each made music in our own ways, we decided to do something together. 

And when you say “made music,” you played the violin? 

Jules: No, neither of us has a formal musical training, but Loic played the guitar, composed music, sang. He had a folk group. And I made electronic music, at home on my computer, making little tracks.

So it was really the desire to do something musical, not really something that came from the structure of formal musical training expectation. 

Jules: In fact we never thought about releasing an album, or how we would perform on stage. The music was between us, we saw each other on Sundays, went to the cinema, and afterwards made music together. 

So what was the first moment working together?

Loic: Jules had traveled a lot, and he had just come back from Australia, and I had advanced with my music group, and I started singing, because before then I didn’t sing, I just played the guitar. I started singing in a way that was heavily influenced by the jazz greats like Chet Baker, and Jules told me, “That sounds good! I like when you sing like that, let’s try to do something with it.” At the start it was just for fun. I went to his place, we played around for a few hours, singing “yogurt” and in doing that we succeeded in creating a song! 

What did you think about this first track? Did you think, “shit, we can share this with people?” 

Jules: I still love that first song, it has very few elements, it’s very simple, but it’s something that works. It’s really a chill track. Voice, guitar, a little beat. 

The style of your music is really the music of dreams, like a pillow on a Sunday morning, pleasant. Is that because you love to sleep? Or is it the style that you like the most? Or is it just because you’re really good at producing it? 

Jules: What I like in the music is a mix of grooves, sexy rhythms, and dreaminess, the mix of these emotions is something that I like to create. 

Loic: I think it’s also just the mix that we make, Jules has ideas that develop around the things that are more groovy, hip hop, soul. And I am a bit more indie, electro, listening to a lot of Postal Service. The more we listen to this type of music the more we get towards the groovier side, or listening to Thom Yorke, things where there is rhythm but it’s still floating. 

Yeah, it’s not music that’s really well-defined, crystalline, it’s more nebulous. 

Loic: Yes, that’s it!

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In about a month, you are going to play at the Olympia. You’ve already played at some awesome venues in Paris but the Olympia is still a rather mythical place. How do you feel about that concert? 

Loic: Create magic, that’s the most important.

Jules: We are going to try to deserve it. Do something that aligns with our styles: dreamy, mystique, nebulous. Something that comes out of the water. 

Is there pressure?

Jules: Yes there is a bit of pressure, but we don’t really feel it that way. 

Loic:  There is also the thing that because it’s the Olympia, we have to make sure that we are perfect, we have to come well-dressed, but the best way to succeed at a concert is to not stress, but to think about it as only happiness. For you, and for the people that are going to come and listen to you. If you think about things like “The Beatles played here…” no, you have to be cool. The music is cool, the music is relaxed, we have to be the same. 

Jules: That’s true, and in talking about the big venues, Trianon, etc. They were concerts where there was a pressure, it’s your head on the flyer, it’s a big room, and when we feel that stress we have the impression that it doesn’t go as well. We aren’t in the pleasure of the moment. As soon as there is a bit of stress there are emotions that become parasites, and we can’t let that block us when we plan for the concert at Olympia. 

You have to remain faithful to the music, it’s already made, so stick to it. Share the happiness. 

Loic: Voilà

We have a couple of questions from your fans about your cover of Lou Reed’s “Take A Walk on the Wild Side.” Which was a Whyd track of the weekend. How did you approach this cover? Where did the idea come from?

Loic: It was a track that I always listened to, it’s a monument. It’s true that I just started to pick up my guitar and I found the chords by ear. I started singing along and my girlfriend was behind me and she said “I really like how that sounds, that’s really cool. It’s great how you sing it.” So I thought OK! And I recorded the piece in one take that evening with my son singing along in his baby talk. 

In fact that’s the second question from your fans, because people didn’t recognize your voice. 

Loic: That was because my son, who has started to speak little words, was going “bah, bah, bah” and at the beginning I wanted to remove it. But I shared it with Jules and a few other friends and they said no! Keep it! 

Jules: It’s going to be difficult for the royalty payments…:)

After how well that cover worked out, do you plan on doing more of them? Maybe in the same style?

Loic: You know, with the Lou Reed cover, I thought it was a little presumptuous to take on a huge track like that. So I think the best way to approach a cover is to make it simple. Try to build something that works on top of the song that’s already been created, respecting it. 

Is that the same idea with remixes? Because you remixed La Fille aux Cheveux de Soie by Fránçois and the Atlas Mountains. Or is that something different?

Jules: To make a remix is to do something different, to leave the realm of the song for something different. It’s not the same as a cover. 

And do you continue to make remixes? There are demands now from fans to release new music. Do you feel like you have to release things?

Jules: No, not really. We’re going to release a new single very soon, that’s just a little track so that we continue to write and release music. We still do a few remixes, not a ton, but yes a few. We’ve got a new one coming out soon. You can’t disappear for too long. 

Loic: I think that the evolution of music is a path. It’s starting to become like a free-for-all, as soon as artists have ideas they communicate all the time, they release EPs, albums, there aren’t rules anymore. I think for us we try to stay in the cycle of creativity, always with new ideas but not necessarily thinking about the marketing behind it. 

Jules: And as soon as we do a track we can always find things wrong with it so we have to push it out otherwise it will never be released! 

Loic: I’m a huge fan of Sufjan Stevens, in terms of productivity the guy is incredible, he’s always releasing stuff and I appreciate his generosity. 

Last question. When you’re not making music, what do you do for fun? 

Jules: We love the cinema. 

Loick: Yesterday we went to see Whiplash, it was incredible. 

Track of the Weekend #121: L’Impératrice - “Vanilla Fraise”

The cold is instilled in our bones here in Paris. Our breaths smoke like dragons. Les chauffages are bien allumés. Luckily for us, there is sound, and when that sound is beautiful, with a little boogie, it’s enough to shake the chill from our souls. 

This week that funk is “Vanilla Fraise" (Strawberry Vanilla) by L’Impératice, a light-hearted romp that is reminiscent of the glory days of Rinôçérôse or Air, French electronica at its most delicious. It’s easy to see why it was the most popular track on Whyd this week. 

Thanks to Cédric L. for sharing it with us!  

Track of the Weekend #120: THYLACINE - “Closing” feat. Dyllan

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Heavy wet snowflakes are falling here in Paris, and winter feels real. There is an indoor feeling, something cozy and warm, calling for a musical cocoon to envelop us. A perfect track for that cocoon is this week’s Track of the Weekend. “Closing" by THYLACINE feat. Dyllan is steady like the ocean waves, elevated on the wings of a soft, angelic voice until it drives through the build and attaches itself firmly into your memory.

The emerging French artist THYLACINE (which was the largest marsupial carvinore, also known as a Tazmanian Tiger, but is sadly now extinct) released his EP “Exil” this week, something to definitely get your hands on

Thanks (comme d’hab!) to Le Coup du Lapin for slipping it into our streams this week!

Track of the Weekend #119: Ibeyi - “Ghosts”

There were snowflakes in the air this morning as dawn broke over the city of light. For a moment, it looked like everything was frozen calm. Civilization at peace. But the heartbeat of life pulsed anew. For a city cannot have two identities. 

That double moment is best captured by this week’s Track of the Weekend by the Franco-Cuban twins know as Ibeyi. “Ghosts" is as delicate as a snowflake, and as unique too. The twin voices combine in jerking refrains that pull you in and out of time, not sure who is who, what is what. Their debut album is due out mid-February, so expect a lot more to come from these talented women. 

Thanks to RDCC for getting it to Whyd

Track of the Weekend #118: The Prodigy - “Nasty”

This week’s Track of the Weekend could not be any more different than last week’s. After the calming sounds of Isaac Delusion’s cover of Lou Reed, it’s time to go hardcore, and that means England’s favorite big beat group: The Prodigy. They’ve sold over 25 million records in their long careers, and their new album “The Day Is My Enemy” is due out at the end of March, sure to add heavily to that total. 

Nasty" is like a street brawl between hooligans and the army, or a brick crashing through your living room window. It’ll thump brains at a rave but it also contains a level of melodic cohesion which reinforces why The Prodigy are who they are: it’s pure energy in the form of music. 

Thanks to MoiMateo and Mr. Rien for adding and sharing this across Whyd

Track of the Weekend #117: Isaac Delusion - “Take A Walk On The Wild Side” (Lou Reed Cover)

This week will never be forgetten. As we come to terms the startling and tragic events here in Paris, the violent murders of the editorial team and cartoonists at Charlie Hebdo, as well as the police officers who were killed, we have all become Charlie; stuck in a hazy dream mixed between disbelief, sadness, and of defiance, togetherness, and ultimately, comfort. A comfort knowing that extremism and terrorism will not change who we are, will not change what civilization has come to represent, will never, ever threaten the very ideals that stand larger than any single individual. 

The most popular track this tragic week on Whyd comes from the Paris band Isaac Delusion, who describe themselves as “almost like an accident, a dream scrawled blindly in a bedside journal in the early morning hours, so you won’t forget what happened to you while you were asleep.” It’s a cover of Lou Reed’s classic “Take A Walk On The Wild Side,” and it provides the perfect context for Isaac Delusion’s passion for soft, folk vocals. 

The editorial team at Charlie Hebdo certainly walked on the wild side, in fact it’s the only side they ever knew. And they paid the highest price for their defiance. We dedicate this Track of the Weekend to their souls, the brave police officers who tried to protect them, and their mourning families and friends. 

Track of the Weekend #116: Mark Ronson - “Uptown Funk” feat. Bruno Mars

The first track of the weekend of 2015, and it’s a marker of how we’ve come. When Whyd first began, we feared the day that Bruno Mars - known for his incredibly commercialized mainstream pop songs that included “Grenade,” a low point for the human race; “Marry Me” the song which says very clearly and repeatedly “We’re looking for something dumb to do, hey baby, I think I wanna marry you.” (people actually use this song to propose to their significant others…); followed by “Lighters” which furthered lowered the bar so low that it had no choice but to start coming back up again - would trend on Whyd. For that to happen, it would mean that the mainstream was beginning to adopt Whyd in large numbers. As you can probably imagine by this point, that’s where we are today. Let’s just call this moment bittersweet. 

Mark Ronson has been working with Bruno Mars for a long time, and if you look at his production credits, he’s worked with basically everyone else too. “Uptown Funk" is exactly what you would expect: energetic, some funky dance moves, all taking place above Central Park. The man deserves our respect, and this track will definitely add an extra step to your weekend festivities. 

Thanks to Vietman for getting it to us!