Audiophiles - Fake Four

A bit of a different Audiophile post today as it is not about any particular artist, but is actually about a record label I per-chanced upon a week or so ago.

This actually came about through the Choose My Music Facebook page where it was suggested I check out the Connecticut based label Fake Four....I have been obsessed with their output ever since.

Fake Four was founded in May 2008 by brothers David and Ceschi Ramos. The label loves an strives to release full length albums in physical formats, although digital downloads are also available.

The majority of artists I am going to cover here would generally be classed as Hip Hop but that is down to my own laziness as opposed to anything else, the music here crosses so many boundaries it is very hard to pigeon hole.

Onry Ozzborn

Label Link Page: Here

Spotify Link: Here

The Fake Four track I heard was 'The O.O' by Onry Ozzborn (Seattle) and it was the perfect track to get me hooked. The track is perfect old school sample based hip hop with an intelligent lyricist who is clearly not willing to join the mainstream with the usual rap clichés.

The strength of 'The O.O' lead me straight to Spotify to listen to the full length album 'Hold On For Dear Life' which is now on my shopping list and well worth checking out.

Ceschi

Label Link Page: Here

Spotify Link: Here

Next up we have label founder Ceschi, who describes his music as Indie Folk Hip Hop, and who I am to argue with that.
As soon as I mentioned Fake Four I was very quickly informed by a wonderful music lover know as Geoff Owen, to check Ceschi out - and thanks to a free label sampler his track 'Bad Jokes' has been playing on my stereo every since.
The fact that my partner Anna took an interest in this track, despite her general dislike of anything remotely hip hop means that this is clearly an artist I need to investigate more.

Myka 9

Label Page: Here

Spotify Link: Not Available

Next up we have Myka 9 - who has already provided me with a track which will forever remind me of the glorious weather we have been having here this Easter. One thing I always look for in a hip hop artist is an interesting delivery style, and Myka 9 certinly has that. It actually reminds me a little of Busdriver, which is no bad thing at all.
I have been advised that Myka 9 was also part of a collective called Freestyle Fellowship, who have now been added to my 'listen too' list.



There are so many artists I could cover in this post, but I would be here all night.

Through my Fake Four journey I have discovered a brilliant array or artists, many of whom I will no doubt cover in more detail as I get round to purchasing albums.

In the meantime I would really urge you download the free Fake Four label samplers from the Circle into Square website.

Fake Four Album Sampler Vol 1
Fake Four Album Sampler Vol 2

Fake Four has also produced a benefit EP for Japan - please support it here It is only $8.00 (approx £5)

Audiophiles - Egyptian Hip Hop

Following on from my discovery of Pokey LaFarge a few weeks ago I thought I should share with you another band I stumbled across towards the back end of 2010.

Egyptian Hip Hop


Album: Some Reptiles Grew Wings (EP)
Released: 2010
Discovered At: Spotify
Twitter: @egypitianhiphop
MySpace: Egypitian Hip Hop

This four piece from Manchester have no connection with Egypt nor do they play Hip Hop - but the name was enough to intrigue me when it popped up on my Spotify list. Needless to say it wasn'tt quite what I expected.

The band was formed in 2008 and through playing some small shows across Manchester they started to attract attention from the mainstream music press, especially the music maligned (by me) NME, who gave away a demo version of the track Rad Pitt on a free MP3 mixtape.
I must admit my knowledge of the band is limited to the above facts and releases by the band are a little thin of the ground. So far there has been one single and an EP (which appears to be only available digitally). As yet, as far as I can tell, there is no news about an album. The most recent interview I have found suggested they have not even considered signing a record deal as they completed their college studies.

I'm not sure which out of the usual made up genres of indie music this group would come under. They certainly have an 80's electronic sound and the singer's voice at times is not too dissimilar to Robert Smith.

The available 4 track EP has some really great songs, 2 of which would make any Radio One playlist - which will no doubt mean at some stage I will go off them as the inevitable press coo-ing commences. But for now I am enjoying them for what they are - a good band that write some truly catchy songs

Welcome

Oddly my first post on 'Choose My Music' has nothing to do with music at all.

Its just a little welcome.

The plan is every now and then I will put a request on my Twitter account for someone to choose my music (check out the rules section for more info) I will choose what ever has been selected at random and write about it here.

I am not sure what I will write. Maybe it will be a review, perhaps some story about something, perhaps just a general ramble which relates to whatever was chosen.

Whatever it will be, I am sure it will be fun. Hopefully you might discover a new artist or band or at the very least get to see some of the more cringe worthy items currently sitting in my CD racks.

However it pans out I am sure we will have a lot of fun.

Thanks

Dom