Alternative R&B: Marian Hill

I don't know exactly why, but when YouTube suggested Down by Marian Hill to me I figured it would probably be a cliché ballad. The start of the song seemed to confirm this since I only heard a piano and a female vocalist. It sounded nice but not really remarkable. I kept listening however and it's a good thing I did, because when the beat dropped, at 56 seconds into the song, my opinion changed completely. If you're a regular visitor of my blogs you've probably noticed that I'm a fan of hip-hop and trap beats as well as electronic parts. Down manages to combine these elements with cut up vocals, reminiscent of C2C (see my earlier blog) while at the same time maintaining a relaxed feel. I fell in love with the song.

Marian Hill, consisting of producer Jeremy Lloyd and vocalist Samantha Gongol, is a relatively new group that started out in 2013. My two favourite songs of their debut EP 'Play' are Loveit and especially One Time. I like the jazzy feel that both songs have due to use of a saxophone.

In 2015 the group released a second EP with several new songs, but it wasn't until 2016 that they released their debut album 'Act One'. The album contains a nice range of songs, from the relaxing I Know Why, to the urban Mistaken and the swinging I Want You. This last song reminds me a bit of the electro swing produced by ProleteR.

Currently their latest released song, the earlier mentioned Down, has almost 21 million views on YouTube so it's safe to say the group is blowing up. I can't wait to hear more of their saxy songs.

Other favourites: Got It, Lips and Wasted

Check out more videos on Marian Hill's Official YouTube Channel

Electronica: C2C

Sometimes finding a new artist is just a lucky coincidence. This was the case when I discovered the song Aracades by the group C2C, which just happened to be the first video to be displayed when I opened video website Vimeo a couple of years ago.
C2C is a group formed by the four french DJs: Atom, pFeL, 20Syl and Greem, all proficient in the art of turntablism. As the name implies the art involves the use of turntables, though not in the usual way of 'just playing music'. In turntablism the DJ makes use of scratching, crossfading and looping to transform the turntable into a music instrument of its own. The resulting songs are however not as chaotic as you might think.

Take for instance the slightly Daft Punk sounding DownThe Road. In this song the harmonica part is heavily affected by the scratching, but in my opinion this only enhances the part, making it more exciting to listen to, while still sounding smooth.

So far C2C has only released one album called Tetra, from which almost all songs are equally impressive, including: Delta, F·U·Y·A, Happy and The Beat. 
The guys mainly focus on live performances, which is great of course for fans who want to see them perform, but less so for the fans (like me) who are eagerly awaiting new songs.

Check out C2C's Official YouTube Channel for more songs and remixes.