Mat Diablo is Go!

I have a pretty solid track record of identifying and presenting musical trends, more or less. It was even the foundation on which I made my living for many years. Im not infallible...I have been very wrong in the past, but I have also been very right.

That said, as I get older- I am less inclined to immediately jump up and proclaim every interesting piece of music to be the next big thing. It's more of a quarterly thing... four or five times a year I find my new favorite song, and I subsequently spend the next few weeks feverishly evangelizing for it.

So far this year i've had 3 new favorite songs.

The first was Empire of the Sun- Walking on a Dream

 

 

 

Then there was Camera Obscura- French Navy

And now... there is Mpho. Her song is called Box N Locks.

Watch video here. (why on earth would you disable embedding with a new artist?)

 

80's aficionados will immediately recognize the sample from Echo Beach by Martha and the Muffins.

Mpho is one Mpho Skeef...from the UK by way of South Africa. Martha and the Muffins gave Mpho full clearance to use the sample, which is not only unusual, but also very smart. The commercial placement and licensing potential of the new version of this song is limitless. I have to imagine that music supervisors worldwide are currently recognizing the potential in this song.

Additionally, its a total summer banger. Does this mean you'll hear it on your local terrestrial radio outlet? Unlikely, at least in the US. Too hard to categorize. Too edgy for pop radio and too pop for "alternative" radio.

So where does the "trendspotting" tag come in? This song is very good, but its not going to start a revolution. I am predicting a renaissance, however. A renaissance of that sweeeeet 80's flange guitar sound. Seriously. I think that flange is going to be the new keyboard in '10.

 

That said- I think that I have found my final new favorite song for Q4 of 2009. Ladies and Gentlemen, Brooklyn-by-way-of-Baltimore band Yeasayer. This is the video for their new single- Ambling Alp. It is also NSFW...you have been warned.

 

 

One of the more memorable live sessions that I have engaged in with an artist...

Xavier Rudd came into the studio on 6.25.09 in anticipation of his show at the House of Blues. He typically plays with a rather elaborate setup, so I was a bit nervous as to what his technical requirements would be.

He showed up with two incredible South African musicians on bass and percussion/vocals, respectively. Turns out they are Tio Moloantoa and Andile Nquebezelo, the late Lucky Dube's rhythm section, so it was a privilege to see them perform in such a scaled-down environment.

He was incredibly gracious, and afterwards I found out that he was grateful that I didn't hype the pro surfer/musician angle too much. The guy just exudes good spirit.

BTW- I didn't know that he was a devoted barefooter.Pretty cool. He played two songs for us:

Messages

Energy Song

Awesome.