Welcome to the new music review! This is where we compile some of the best new music from around the world for your enjoyment, take a read and hear it all on 2SER.

SERvin’ Up! – w/c April 2, 2018

Big White – Street Talk
Awon & Phoniks – The Actual Proof
The Maghreban – 01DEAS
In Tall Buildings – Akinetic
Holy Wave – Adult Fear
The Shacks – Haze
Queen of Jeans – Dig Yourself
Henry Green – Shift

In hip-hop circles, he’s better known as Dr. Zygote but London based producer Ayman Rostom returns with a new moniker – The Maghreban. Both in reference to The Maghreb, the region of North Africa bordering the Mediterranean Sea, and a charged phrase that people used to call a North African man who frequented the pub in Surrey where Rostom grew up in. The son of Egyptian immigrants, Rostom identified with that otherness and we hear this on his debut album 01DEAS. Drawing from Afrobeats, Rostom is a sample-delic master and mixes tumbling marimba melodies, ethio-jazz guitars, 808’s, house groove saxophones, off-kilter rhythms and more.

It’s hard to pin down exactly what The Shacks sound like on their debut album Haze, but there’s definitely a nostalgic feel to it. This New York trio boasts a widescreen influences and across the record there are accents of 60’s Brit-pop, doo wop and early American r’n’b. Although there’s a soft-whispered tone in singer Shannon Wise’s voice, there’s also a type of command in her delivery. Add in undulating guitar licks, funk-driven bass lines and a sprinkle of angelic sounding horns, and we’re hooked! There’s an undeniable soul touchpoint here, with founding member Max Shrager working with soul imprints Big Crown and Daptone as a producer/writer and playing alongside Naomi Shelton, Charles Bradley and Sharon Jones.

Awon & Phoniks is a hip-hop duo out of Virginia and Maine. On their new album, The Actual Proof, there’s a big influence from 90’s East coast boom bap, but with a backbone of classic soul sampling. There are moments where reggae and funk sneak in, but Awon’s laid-back and crystalline flow glides over these tracks and weaves it all together.

Plus new singles from Air Waves feat. Kevin Morby, Westerman, Hiss Golden Messenger, King Tuff feat. Jenny Lewis, Stephen Malkmus & the Jicks, La Luz and the return of the elusive and underground funk hero, Prophet.

Until next week,
Steph