Despite a brutal commute, scorching temperatures, and an adolescent population the size of Disneyland, I had an amazing time at this year’s Day N Night festival in Silverado, CA. Thrown by Santa Ana’s Observatory in the spacious Oak Canyon Park, Day N Night festival’s inaugural line-up was one for the ages; focusing mainly on up and coming hip-hop artists. Even before being dropped in that crowd, you can definitely see the appeal for students. From top to bottom, the inaugural line-up was a who’s who of 2016’s hottest acts from Flume down to 21 Savage. Concert bills like this prove that the need for a major label to shape and distribute your sound is nothing but a mere notion of yesteryear.

The two headliners A$AP Rocky and Flume played Saturday and Sunday, respectively, and each brought their own brand of flash and debonair to the main stage. A$AP Rocky closed out the Saturday mainstage which also featured high-energy performances from up and comers Lil Yachty, Lil Uzi Vert, and Post Malone. Each of these young guns played to massive crowds and brought their own brand of hip-hop for the kids. Though each artist is quite new school, there were a few cues from each set that hearkened back to the golden era with each performer having a real DJ behind them complete with a full entourage on stage with them at all times.

Seasoned veteran and Compton’s own, YG stole the show Saturday performing hits like “Twist My Fingaz,” “Why You Always Hatin’?”, and “Who Do You Love”. He had the crowd hanging onto every lyric, every quip, as the stage lit up bright for his hour long set. After YG, I went to go check out Metro Boomin’s DJ Set. Being the self-proclaimed Future Stan that I am, I’ve been following Metro for a minute. I was not disappointed as Metro spun his self-produced Future tracks back to back to back and even brought out T-Pain as a special guest to perform “Buy U a Drank”. Saturday closed out in the utmost style as A$AP Rocky took to the main stage and kicked his set off with “L$D”. Moments later he brought out A$AP Nast, Ant, and Twelvy to run through all the hits and even do some tracks off their previous mix tapes.

Getting into the festival on Sunday was a grueling journey; but once I got inside, Flume’s DJ Set did not disappoint. Slightly more on the hard side than his live shows Flume dropped banger after hit after banger to the massive crowd who never seemed to mind that the temperatures were over 95 degrees. Curiously, the Australian super-producer’s set started at 5:00pm, a bit early than most expected however he more than made up with it by bringing out Vince Staples for “Smoke & Retribution” and Vic Mensa for “Lose It”. After Flume the Soulection crew ripped the Weedmaps stage. The trio of Andre Power, SoSuperSam, and Esta each played their own brand of electronic blended hip-hop and old school r&b favorites. 21 Savage was easily the biggest surprise of the weekend. His cool and calm demeanor on stage in addition to his neo-gangster rap persona made for a heavy set as he performed tracks like “Savage Mode” and “No Heart”. At one point there was even a girl holding a french bull dog puppy on stage just chilling with the rest of his crew.

At the end of the day, Day N Night’s talent made up for the the difficulties with the logistics. If the Observatory continue to consolidate Hip-Hop’s rising stars, hit-makers, and mix in some electronic acts for good measure, there’s no question we will be returning year upon year. After all we do this for the music right?

Sebastian – H.A.L.

King Krule – Octopus

RL Grime – Aurora

Violent Femmes – Blister in the Sun

CoachellAltDelight brings attention to special artists that will be featured in Indio come April.
Some we love. Some we just discovered. All essential.
Click here for more from this series.
41/48 Days

When they made it into our 2014 Honorable Mention for the rousing Dead, Young Fathers were only getting started. Follow up album White Men are Black Men Too continued to feature their Scot-pop catchiness interlaced among heavy militaristic droning with hopeful background bagpipes staying strong. Interspersed across all of that sonic space are politically charged rap and soulful ballads that highlight a deeply caring and international influence.

Catch them Sunday for what’s been touted as a very energetic live show.

Young Fathers – Low

Young Fathers – Old Rock n’ Roll

Young Fathers – Shame

Young Fathers – No Way

Northern Nights | Lineup | Tickets

Northern Nights Spotlight brings attention to artists that will be featured at

♦ Northern Nights Music Festival 2015 ♦
Some we love. Some we just discovered. All essential.
Click here for more from this series.
▼▼ 1 Day ▼▼

One of the fastest rising lyricists in the future beats/bounce scene, GoldLink has been getting major attention this past year. His 2014 mixtape The God Complex was the definitive marker of his skill with flow and social commentary. He blends the two together into energetic and sporadic rap that is no less than impressive. And with a voice as unique as his, it’s hard not to pay attention.

GoldLink – Dance on Me

GoldLink – Bedtime Story

GoldLink – Creep

Ethereal. That’s the best way I can describe Jamie Smith’s genre-bending debut full-length LP, In Colour (Young Turks). The percussionist from your girlfriend’s favorite band, otherwise known as Jamie XX has given us one of the biggest auditory orgasms so far in 2015. Jamie’s masterful use of filters and reverb gives each song weight and definition, thus creating an album persona where no measure or tone feels wasted. If I were to over simplify, I would label this persona “Gospel Garage” with themes of UK nationalism and cockney sensibility.

One of Jamie’s signature production staples has always been his use of steel drums. He does not disappoint with ‘Obvs’ where the use of progressive melodic steel drum loops coupled with robust vocal samples bring to life visions of being on a tropical island during rainy season. While it may be pouring, the listener is under an umbrella smoking a cigarette and having a moment of tranquility.

‘Hold Tight’ is the less than proverbial B-boy track on the album. An echoing percussion clap over a rapidly ascending synth riff gives this breakbeat record a fast paced vibe that feels like you were stabbed in the ear drums with an adrenaline needle, which is a good thing. The two tracks featuring fellow The XX member Romy, ‘Loud Places’ and ‘Seesaw’ combine the female vocalist’s softer inflective style with Jamie’s canorous dark undertones perfectly. This marriage is especially evident in ‘Loud Places’ where Jamie fuses the gospel samples seamlessly with Romy’s more raspy delivery.

In a welcomed departure from the rest of the album we get ‘I Know There’s Gonna Be Good Times’ featuring Atlanta rapper, Young Thug. This track never tries to be anything more than it is, a contemporary rap record filled with finger snaps, a soulful chorus, and Thugger Thugger’s signature analogous prose. ‘I Know There’s Gonna Be Good Times’ is less a braggadocio track and more a celebration of these two emerging artists young careers.

I would have to say my biggest disappointment on the album was Jamie’s collaboration with XX bandmate Oliver Sim on ‘Stranger In A Room’. It’s not by any means a bad song but more so a disappointment that ends up sounding like an unfinished The XX album cut rather than something wholly Jamie’s. It’s a shame as I believe there was a lot of potential for an Oliver Sim feature if they kept it more with the album’s style as they did with Romy’s features.

In the end, Jamie now has a magnificent piece of art to embody his solo career, which up until now has included mostly remixes and one-off DJ sets. In Colour should be remembered as one of the best debut albums in recent memory and certainly shoots the hype through the roof for the next The XX album. Jamie XX took us to us to church and I have a feeling we will all be attending a lot more than just Christmas and Easter.

Tracklist
1. Gosh
2. Sleep Sound
3. Seesaw ft. Romy
4. Obvs
5. Just Saying
6. Stranger in a Room ft. Oliver Sim
7. Hold Tight
8. Loud Places ft. Romy

9. I Know There’s Gonna Be (Good Times) ft. Young Thug and Popcaan
10. The Rest is Noise
11. Girl

The Neighbourhood | I Love You

You’d think with an amazing album just released and a performance at Coachella under the belt, the Neighbourhood would take a rest. Instead, Jesse and his hoodlums are at it again releasing new tracks that are pure lyrical gold. Sometimes, there is just no stopping the flow of art. To solidify the fact that they are devoted to their cause, the Neighbourhood are releasing songs as additions to shows of “The Love Collection” national tour with Lovelife, The 1975, FourNames, and JMSN.

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Tyler, the Creator’s ‘Goblin’ debuted this past week and peaked at #2 overall on the iTunes charts, a feat for the 19 year old that would have sounded extremely far-fetched a year ago. Since then, however, the hype for himself and the rest of Odd Future has grown in uncontrollable proportions. The album itself has a very similar sound to Tyler’s other work so far — slower, gritty beats and twisted lyrics that mesh extremely well together. The production is solid; Tyler produced every track on the album, and interestingly didn’t make use of any samples. You gotta have a tremendous amount of respect for artists that produce their own songs — in Tyler’s case it works so well because his beats create a mood for the song to go in on.

His shit will always receive mixed responses from listeners because of the message and content. Some will jump on board with the message and further the hype, while others will find reasons to hate it because they feel the hype is unjustified. In order to look closer and digest it, you gotta take it for what it is. He’s just a 19 year old fucking around with his friends and making music. Fans and the industry in general are always quick to make the next big artist someone to be worshipped and aspire to be. Tyler makes it very clear in the album that he’s ‘not a role model,’ and he has issues. He’s the voice of troubled/rebel youth who take different life paths than what’s been created for and expected of them. ‘Radicals’ and ‘Goblin’ both shed some light on this. ‘Sandwitches,’ which features Hodgy Beats, has anthem-like qualities. ‘She’ features Frank Ocean, whose voice on the hook works as a sick complement to Tyler’s. Other standouts include the viral-sensation ‘Yonkers’ and ‘Fish,’ which embodies the type of song people have come to oppose the group for.

No filler on this album, Tyler goes hard on every beat — his flow is definitely not matched by many. One more comment that came up when I was having a discussion with a friend that doesn’t listen to much hip-hop — the style of songs like Sandwitches has a moshing vibe that I think would appeal to fans of dubstep. (You can catch OFWGKTA at HARD Summer this year). Definitely recommend heading to iTunes or the nearest store and grabbing a copy.

+jangbar

Nigga had the fuckin’ nerve to call me immature. The fuck you think I made Odd Future for? Wear fuckin’ suits and make good decisions? Fuck that.

1. Goblin
2. Yonkers
3. Radicals
4. She (ft. Frank Ocean)
5. Transylvania
6. Nightmare
7. Tron Cat
8. Her
9. Sandwitches (ft. Hodgy Beats)
10. Fish
11. Analog (ft. Hodgy Beats)
12. Bitch Suck Dick (ft. Jasper Dolphin & Taco)
13. Window (ft. Domo Genesis, Frank Ocean, Hodgy Beats)
14. AU79
15. Golden
16. Burger (ft. Hodgy Beats)