Artist profile — Sunclef

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To get him to shut up and stop bothering his brother, Sunclef’s parents enrolled him in music lessons. So, at three-years of age, he began playing the cello. This would ignite a musical journey that has taken up way more time than he ever expected. As Sunclef got older he developed a taste for Jazz. He picked up the electric and upright bass. Then through Jazz he discovered Hip-Hop and other electronic genres. He saved his money and purchased his first sampler in 2001 and dove into the world of production.

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Artist profile — allie

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As a singer/songwriter, allie strives to create beauty and harmony by experimenting with sounds, words, and emotions. But don’t try to define it.

Over the past five years, allie has worked extremely hard to shape a unique sound that reflects the diversity of her Jamaican-Chinese-Irish-Scottish-Italian background. She has managed to combine elements of Spoken Word, Jazz, Blues and R&B—paying tribute to her influences Etta James, Billie Holiday and Otis Redding—with Electronic, sample-based instrumentals—putting herself in the same indescribable category as Little Dragon, another one of her favourites.

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Andycapp & Pooyan - Higher Heights Promo Mix

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I respect these two men because they are gentlemen. They’re cool, calm, funny and eloquent. Both Pooyan and Andycapp (Bang The Party!) are living, breathing encyclopedias when it comes to music and other things (I’m sure). They’ve also been very supportive of this thing I’m trying to do with Istolethesoul Records. So, when they come together to make a mix or throw a party they always get their propers.

Something’s going down on 18 May 2013… Stay tuned.

Evil Needle - Qualia

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This one by Evil Needle just dropped on 30 Apr 2013 and I gave it a thorough rinse at the office yesterday on my shitty EarPods, but there was no denying how good it sounded. Dark and spacey at times, Qualia is mostly a collection of soulful, sexy production that rests heavily on the low end… Imagine your mattress laid on top of a box-spring made of Funktion-One bass bins floating in space.

Check out track 12, “Good Times”, featuring Toronto’s own Octavio N. Santos on trumpet.

Artist profile—Splxsh

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Splxsh is a composer, bassist and self-taught multi-instrumentalist with a strong background in Jazz. But, he is a lover and student of all musical styles, especially those centred around the power of rhythm and the presence of soul. Although unbound by stylistic limitations and open to all musical approaches, his sound revolves heavily around merging his Jazz influences and undying love of soulful harmony with his strong affinity for heavy rhythms and body-moving bass.

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Quasimoto “Planned Attack”

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Producer Madlib hasn’t always impressed me, but I’ve always respected his visionary approach to music. He’s never been afraid of expression. Whether he was banging out backpack anthems with Lootpack, High Jazz with Yesterday’s New Quintet, collaborating with outcast MF DOOM and genius J Dilla, exploring the sounds of West London as DJ Rels, or rapping as the plush Quasimoto, he was always one to check for.

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