Norient keeps searching for new sounds and puts together a monthly playlist from Soundcloud. Enjoy or skip through tracks from upcoming and well-known artists from a wide variety of places – urban pop and club music mostly (e.g. footwork and grime - R.I.P DJ Rashad), but some experimental jazz and electronica too. And read what some of the artists wrote to us about their tracks via email.
We asked the musicians and producers of the April playlist the following two questions:
1) What is most important for you in this track (you can select: musically, topic wise, career wise, ….)?
2) How is this track linked to your other work? What can we find out about your work/passion/ideas through this track? This is what some of them answered via email:
Bosaina (Egypt)
Track not available anymore.
1 – Sambel at Mosadaq Sq is just a sample of me being stuck in Cairo traffic. As I note in the beginning of the recording, it's «the dissonant cacophony of Kairo.» I uploaded it on soundcloud whilst sitting in my car, so for me it was about an immediate environment, an unintentional orchestra/call and response between the drivers on the road that I wanted to share with my followers.
2 – I sample my environment and use the sounds I find interesting in most of my tracks of this style (Raw/Organic samples vs. Electronic Instruments). I did it with my EP in New York and I'm continuing these stories in Cairo now that I'm back home. Using these kind of samples gives me a starting point and a base for my story when I write all the other instruments to compose a piece, and to the listener it places my music into a visual context-at least I hope so.
Links: Website, Facebook
Kradadash (Denmark)
1. – For me it was fun to work with a whole new genre, that I didn't know much about before i worked on this track. It's a combination of rasterinha and bass music inspired by bailefunk and was a part of a Rasterinha EP made by Funk na Caixa. I'm thrilled that they asked me to contribute, it's always fun being a part of something new!
2. – My tracks are often a combination of many genres and this track is my interpretation of rasterinha, or what I would like it to sound like. I'm very inspired by bailefunk and the culture around it and I thinks it's fun to work with.
Links: Facebook, Twitter
Samthing Soweto (South Africa)
1. – The most important for me on this song is the silence in between the parts that I sing, I think the silence means more to the song then the parts I sing on it, I hope everyone that listens to it finds their own parts that are important to them – maybe these parts will be new, maybe these parts will mean they have discovered unseen discoveries about this song, or maybe they'll find nothing. thats cool too.
2. – How is it linked to my other work? It is linked to my voice, I sing on all my songs on my own, for now anyway. What can you find out about my work/passion/ideas through this track? Well, to be honest, not much, this song is like a single moment that is captured, drawn from my long and on going life, a feeling leaked from the ocean that is my emotions, it's only that which I have allowed myself to reveal to the listeners in the hopes that they find favour in me and my cause, I feel the need to promote stillness on earth, only some of the time though.
Links: Facebook, Twitter, Bandcamp
Meridian Brothers (Colombia)
1. – This track is a high speed danceable and powerful piece, this is the most important part, the energy, other important part is the mix between peuvian chicha cumbia style and the colombian «cumbion» a fast rhythm, that mix gives the piece its essence. On the topic wise part I have to say that this track has its pair, because it was part of a 45 rpm single the side A is a Jimi Hendrix cover «Purple haze» so the track selected is the complement for the single.
2. – This track is linked most of my music, which points to a combination of styles in my country (Colombia) with other modern influences. This is a path I've been following through the last years. Another aspect of the track linked to my previous work is the search for a danceable intention, some of my recent works are developed within latin dance styles such as salsa, cumbia and dominican merengue, among others.
Links: Facebook, Website, Twitter
Adieu Gary Cooper (Switzerland)
1. – It’s the first song of our first album. Now, rather than trying to show off with a song to dance to to open the album, we decided to go for this kind of weird lullaby. This is probably commercial suicide. Now, it’s not like we were making songs to dance to anyway.
2. – This song is sort of our Smile Era Beach-Boys inspired track. It’s got its sort of Hawaïan mood because of our use of the lap-steel guitar. But sounding weird. So that’s in line with the title of our album which you may translate as «weird blue». It’s called Bleu Bizarre in french. We sing everything in French and that’s weird enough.
Links: Website, Facebook, Bandcamp
Mamba (Argentinia)
Track not available anymore.
1. – The lyrics in this case are based on a personal experience I've had recently, which made me deal for the first time in my life with some dark feelings such as hate, not being heard, or respected or comprehended. So I though it was going to be good, to transform that odd and poisonous feelings in a very strong and vibrating song. Also I think, that unfortunately there are some people who will feel this lyrics express what they being through and take that pain out of them. The reason why I have chosen English language for this and some songs we are producing is because If I would like the world to understand my message, I have to try to do it in an universal one.
The way this song was created was very spontaneously. We were rehearsing for a show that night, and I started mumbling repeatedly the way a «bombo legüero» sounds when you play it «to tak to tak to tak to tak» and by the repetition, Reptilian Commander (Mamba's Producer) though it was going to be really great to use Argentinean Folklore's rhythms fusion with electronic elements, so he did the main base of the chorus, at the same time I was changing the nonsense sounds to «to talk, to talk, to talk, I needed» and after two hours we got the song and lyrics created and finished. It was really incredible!
2. – I am a digital Psychedelic Pop artist who also used to go out on the streets at night to do some graffitis (you can see some of my art works at Facebook) . So the people I used to relate myself with in that old days as well as the places I've being, made me got in touch with Hip Hop Music. Artists such us Alika and I also became a very big fan of Keny Arkana. But in anyway, I think the most important thing that linked my Artwork with Mamba's music sound, more than this specific song, is that I've did some digital artwork for other producers and djs from the Artistical Underground in Buenos Aires. For example I've worked for El Remolon, one of the most important ZZK artists in Argentina who presented his new album Flashback giving me the great chance to be part of the Art team on the videoclip. Also did some cartoon portraits of El Mayonesa, CatNapp and Villa Diamante at PepinkArt Studio, mostly Mcs and Djs. And the last but not least Reptilian Commander. I have always loved his music and the way he gets to be fresh and new in every song, also this future boy is my best friend, so was nice to have the chance to get «Fl Studio» classes with him.
One day I showed him some recordings I've got since 2012 of myself singing each song and he really believed there was a lot of potential that could be worked out and refined with his musical expertise and experimenting to create Global Bass music fusion with Latin rhythms and Spanish lyrics. He also felt very exited to become my producer and work with me as a great artistic and creative team. So instead of letting me ruin the material with my beginner «this will take a long time to learn have no clue» possible rhythms he transformed them into an incredible product, were we have the blessing chance to express what we think a lot of people feel but no one wants to say out loud. Now we are mainly working on Mamba's first EP, also preparing it's artwork, we hope we will be releasing it in Jun or July 2014.
Links: Mamba Facebook, Reptilian Commander Facebook, Pepink Art Facebook
Facial Index (Poland)
1. – This track is, first and foremost, just a rough microphone recording of people in their sleep. It's not «music» or «career» oriented move, it's more of an internal prank and sketchy reporting than anything else.
2. – It's very hard for me to guess what specifically can be transported through this «piece» to its potential listeners. Guess the idea was to freeze the specific moment, two musician friends continuing their performance without being fully aware of it. It has no other meaning than anything what can be read into it. Snoring as an equivalent of automatic writing?
Mike Pride (USA)
1. – I am a drummer, improvisor and composer. My two most recent albums are Birthing Days (for my jazz quartet From Bacteria To Boys) and Drummer's Corpse (two 30 minute compositions about density & rules, featuring 7 of my favorite drummers). Recently, I began writing & recording MOOG quartets, or music for 4 synthesizers. This is 2nd of the 3 I have completed. I would say this music expresses a post-Stockhausen mentality, anti-careerism and also a focus on microtonal melody & harmony.
2. – This piece is linked to my other work in that I have always been infatuated with obtuse structures & new sonic landscapes. I would say this piece expresses a fairly skeptical – if not cynical – view of development.
Links: Website, Facebook, Twitter
Carlos Nunez (Brasil)
1. – Most important in this track is the fusion between two diferent styles (baile funk and trap), showing that both combine well.
2. – This track is my vision of an overall musicality without limits and what I see as the future of music.
Link: Facebook
