FRESH NEW KICKS: Sharpness- Jamie Woon

By now it seems relatively safe to dub Apple Music’s Beats 1 radio a comprehensive success. Artists are premiering exclusive content over the airwaves at a rate that probably has Jay Z crying into a handkerchief worth more than your entire wardrobe. OVO, FKA twigs and Pharrell are just a sample of musicians choosing to drop new tunes on their own shows without so much as a hint of a pre-order option on iTunes. And thankfully, that has led us to this happy occurence: Jamie Woon, the original sonic mould for thousands of Soundcloud electronic R&B artists, has returned to rescue us from the musical doldrums with a brand new track that Pharrell cheekily decided to air on his Beats 1 slot, without Woon’s prior knowledge. Then Disclosure followed suit by showcasing it on Radio 1 and now the song has finally made it online for you to listen at your leisure.

FRESH NEW KICKS: 1000 EP- Ben Khan

Every individual likes to imagine they are unknowable, but Ben Khan pulls off the conceit more convincingly than most. Since first materializing on the music scene in 2013, he’s proved as slippery as an eel to attempts to pin him down and it’s clear he likes it that way. A recent V Magazine interview proved less than enlightening; so far, the best insight into the mercurial workings of Khan’s mind seems to have come from Red Bull: he’s fascinated by Salvador Dali, they report, and one of his influences is the indomitable Pat Benatar. 

FRESH NEW KICKS: Bang That- Disclosure

Once an artist reaches a certain level of fame and general recognition, any output of theirs that surfaces on the World Wide Web is going to be News. Crackly Kanye West demos, Rihanna Dubsmash exclusives (‘What’s a dubsmash?’- your mum), a fake-but-actually-real-and-maybe-stolen-maybe-not Jai Paul album- they’re all making the headlines. Today I realized that unassuming Surrey boys Disclosure have officially become stars, when the release of their brand new track Bang That was leaped upon by all and sundry, like your porky cousins hitting the buffet at your Nan’s 80th. So- what’s the verdict?

Urm… well.. it’s not bad. Put it this way: Bang That is a sonic warm up DJ. Pigs & Planes claimed this track was ‘built to make people dance in the club’ (what did they think Settle was designed to do?!) and we’re sure it will have been soundtracking the throwing of some serious shapes already- Disclosure have said they’d been sneaking Bang That into their DJ sets for a while now. But it lacks singularity: what separates Bang That from the myriad of other pretty-good-to-middling club tunes out there already? Disclosure might be ready to move away from the pop-house that made their name, but they’ve got to figure out a way to make their new material unequivocally theirs. At this point cartoon faces just aren’t enough.

FRESH NEW KICKS: 1000- Ben Khan

Really, we should have been prepared for new Ben Khan– after all, the natural heir to Jai Paul announced a May tour only 2 months ago. And yet, even with prior knowledge, it would be difficult to envisage the pure excellence of what the young beatmaker has delivered. 1000 is a jaunty, bubbling slice of the sweetest electronic R&B around; sure there’s the requisite coke-and-fucking references, but at its heart this track is a joyful confession of infatuation. ‘I don’t need much/Just a touch/You’re just a crush’ Ben croons over pulsing, euphoric production, all lasers and vocoder effects that demand an immediate replay. And then another. Oh and five more for good measure. Yep, Ben Khan is back with a vengeance.

Follow @Ben__Khan on Twitter now.

Detective Miguel unmasks Jai Paul

https://instagram.com/p/vXNrCJC10Z

Velvet-voiced R&B star, Miguel has done what hundreds of internet fans couldn’t, and finally unmasked the original elusive chanteuse, Jai Paul.  While visiting London, Miguel instagrammed a snap featuring Jai and his equally musical brother, A.K. Paul, sending starved fans into overload. Both siblings have considerable buzz surrounding their output with A.K’s recent sublime track So Good (featuring vocals from London based singer Nao) attracting copious amounts of praise from critics.

The last official release from Jai himself was in 2012, although XL producer Rodaidh McDonald confirmed in a Dazed interview that he was working on an album earlier this year. Could Miguel be a part of this project?

Miguel performs at Ministry of Sound, London on Wednesday 19th November. Tickets are available here.