Voyager Golden

Mary J. Blige has released a new track from her upcoming full-length release 'The London Sessions'. The track was co-written by Sam Smith, Jimmy Napes, and Disclosure, who also produced the track. The beats and synths have the usual Disclosure sound, and the music often threatens to drown out the vocal melody, but overall the mix is good and the vocals are cool and catchy. Well worth a listen.

Superfood will be putting out their debut record 'Don't Say That' soon, and its shaping up to be a pretty exciting release. This track, 'TV', is an early single that the band have been playing for a long time now. Vocalist Dom Ganderton yelps over the racuous guitar line, while the bass and drums form a weird and marvelous pulse. Its so damn 90's, and so damn good.

I've been vaguely following Lizzo since I first heard 'Batches & Cookies' last year, and was aware that she was slowly but surely gaining popularity and critical acclaim for her debut Lizzobangers which came out late 2013, but this performance in the studio at Reading made me sit up and pay more attention to her than before. With just a laptop playing the track and back-up vocals from Sophia Eris, Lizzo shows how brilliant an artist she is. Her lyrics are smart and her flow is great, and her singing is just as impressive as her rapping. The track itslef is brilliant with a deep, pulsing bass line and a synth melody seeemingly influenced by Middle-Eastern scales. I'm going to pay more attention to Lizzo in the future because this was extremely impressive.

This is 'Ja Vidi' by Christopher Goze, a well-loved and highly respected composer of ambient jazz fusion. The track starts with a stripped back sitar solo, before being overtaken and driven by what could be described as an Eastern hip-hop groove. Various instruments take turns soloing, including a brilliant acoustic guitar solo, before a percussion breakdown. The track then takes us back into full chill mode before a slow fade-out. Beauitful chillout music.

Grimes has returned with a brand new track which is totally different from her earlier material. The track, called ‘Go’, was originally written by Grimes (real name Claire Boucher) for Rihanna, but was turned down by the massive pop star, who is on the same label as Grimes. The song has an intense trap synth and bass-line and a sultry vocal, and was produed by Blood Diamonds. As a bonus, it’s a free download from soundcloud.

We stumbled upon this little gem whilst looking at vinyl on Discogs (mainly J-Dilla records). It was originally released in 1973, and it was recorded by The African Brothers - Lincoln 'Sugar' Minott, Winston 'Tony Tuff' Morris, and Berrick 'Bubbles' Howard, three teenage vocalists from Kingston, Jamaica. A haunting flute melody introduces the track, whilst a classic set-up of guitar, bass, and drums carry the chugging track along. The vocals are dominated by harmonic interaction between the three singers, and the lyrics, which urgently call and pray for peace and justice on Earth, are well worth paying attention to. The B-Side (included in the video) is a dub version of the single.

HAUS are a London based indie six-piece who have been steadily and confidently gaining popular support and positive critical attention over the last couple of years since they began. They're young and they're fashionable, but most importantly, they're super talented, and nowhere have they shown this fact more clearly than in recent single 'Ceasefire'. The band recently took to FreeFall Studios in the capital to record a live session of the track, which you can watch by clicking the video link above. The fine guitar work of Sam Kelly and Daniel Hylton is reminiscent of early Foals, while the rhythm section of bassist Ellis Mortimer and drummer Lyle Simpson drive the song forward with a rare tightness. All of this is topped off by the distinctive voices of Jack Bushell and Ashley Mulimba, who sing the verses and chorus respectively whilst also playing synths (Bushell) and guitar (Mulimba). The combined efforts of the band members make 'Ceasfire' a truly beautiful track which gets me very excited for the future of the HAUS boys. Make sure that you look out for upcoming live shows (particularly if you live in or around London) and check out more from the band on their soundcloud - https://soundcloud.com/HAUSHAUS - which also has some tasty free downloads for you to enjoy.

Described by Rob Leedham (Drowned in Sound) as 'a pair of alt-pop Willy Wonkas', Marcus Pepperell and John Hamson, Jr. comrpise Thumpers. Their debut album is out on monday - but you can stream the whole record on soundcloud now. Its an absolute joy to listen to.

My man Tom Whitehead has been finding and sharing some of the most beautiful music out there for a long, long time now, and he recently began compiling some of the most wonderful tracks into this mix exclusively for the pleasure of the Voyager Golden gang - which of course includes everyone! You can check it out on his mixcloud page, go ahead and follow the link once you have prepared yourself for the most chilled out time of your life.

'It might totally flop, and we might be completely ridiculed. But the essence and core of our ideas is to inspire creation and originality and debate, and save the music album from dying' - Tarik 'Cilvaringz' Azzougarh

It is incredibly difficult to run a music blog on your own, as I have found as I have been trying to run Voyager Golden. I have alot of other stuff to manage too, so the blog has sort of been left behind a tad. Here is end (for now) to the music-sharing drought. This is Abayomy Afrobeat Orquestra, and this album should be essential listening, because it is absolutely stunning in every way. Have a listen, and watch out for more DJ mixes online soon (hopefully!), as well as live gigs. Hoping to continue to get the Voyager Golden ethos (of sharing fabulous music) out there through every means at my disposal. Peace x

New song from Branko, featuring vocals from Yadi & a nice bit of extra production from Bert on Beats. A bizarre but wonderful cross between Arabian folk song and club anthem.

Underdog the Dj has released the sixth part of his The Unseen project, in which he cuts/mixes/splices/reworks music by a whole host of artists. The result is a true cosmic creation, an adventure through a broad, and often crazy, range of musical styles and sounds. You can listen to the whole mix here, and the whole tracklisting is below so you can check out exactly what Underdog has pulled into this amazing mix. Tracklist: Sade ~ Lovers Rock (DJ Pump Footwork Mix) Prince Jazzbo – School (1972) Portishead – Roads (YNGN Remix) Dorothy Ashby – Games Yng – Luv Amazin – Reezey TASO – SaxXx 1 INeed(You) SCNTST – Wavez Change Lunice – Steady Flexin Basement Structure Machinedrum – DDD 1, 2 Step (Ciara) Weii- Beenie Man flip Walter Ego – Baby Benz Echoes from Mamori – Olof Moriano Jam City – 500 Years MORENA feat. NAVE The XX – Fiction (Pearson Sound Remix) Rollercoaster – Feral All That Matters (Ru (AREYOU) edit) – Justin Bieber Burial – Come Down To Us (Rival Dealer EP via Hyperdub) You – Aztek RAIN CURRY – Denzel Curry Flip Drunk In Love (Spaz Remix) Theo Parrish – 71st & Exchange Used To Be - Xian-Come Tell me (Aztek Remix) Yumo – Future Nubian Queen Glasser _Shape_ Cid Rim – Draw (Dorian Concept Remix) Xian-Come Tell me (Aztek Remix) Fall Of Misery (Vinyl Only) I’m New Here [Ruckazoid Remix] LITTLE DRAGON- LOVING YOU Birthday Cake – {Aztek Remix} 5 fugees Purple La- Underdog flip Kanye West -Power (Feral Edit) Alt. Ending NY Is Killing Me (InTransit Remix) Tropics_2 oh yes – buju purp flip Zomby – “Witch Hunt” You – Aztek Burial – Come Down To Us (Rival Dealer EP via Hyperdub) Koreless – Sun KING – HEY

Here at Voyager Golden we absolutely love Love - Not in its vomit-inducing and commercialised Valentines day form, but genuine Love - For family, for friends, for a good beer... but also for that special other (if that's your thing). And the feeling of Love has influenced so much music over the years, including this wonderful song, 'Can't Take My Eyes Off Of You' by Frankie Valli & The Four Seasons. And so with this song we wish you all a Happy Frankie Valli-tines Day. x

Incan Abraham have released the first single from their debut full-length. The track is called ‘Concorde’ and will feature on the album Tolerance, which is out in April.