Artist of the Day: Populous (Morr Music)

If you come across a Teenager or early Teen who is into HipHop nowadays, it’s almost a surprise if they don’t understand the genre as the ultimate and dodgy mainstream between Bling-Bling and Crunk, but appreciate HipHop’s golden era starting in the late 80s instead, spilling into the BackPacker craze of the 00’s.

With his debut album “Quipo”, Italian producer Populous already showed that he drew his very own conclusions from the jazzed-up beats and positive vibes of the Native-Tongues movement around A Tribe Called Quest and De La Soul. Whereas “Quipo” still displayed a mildly bulky attraction influenced by abstract electronica, “Queue For Love” now has a much more homogeneous atmosphere and a warmth fed by carefully selected samples from Soul-, Jazz- and Soundtrack records from the late 60s and early 70s. Unlike the aesthetics of recent, dominating approaches to HipHop, “Queue For Love” is a triumph of the DIY ethos. After all, Andrea Mangia is just a kid with a computer and an incorruptible taste. “Queue For Love” isn’t pure sampledelia, though.

A lot of the guitars, e-bows and glockenspiels on this album have been recorded in the bath room of Populous’ tiny student apartment. This is where singer Matilde of Italian band Studio Davoli even recorded her gorgeous vocals for “Bunco” and “Clap Like Breeze”, turning the music into an amalgam of Broadcast, The Cocteau Twins and a crazy-in-love DJ Shadow. On “My Winter Vacation” Dose One of cLOUDDEAD fame does what only he can do: Twanging his stream of consciousness into the world with his matchless flow. Furthermore, Jukka and Luca from Italian Indie heroes giardini di miro have helped to realize a few tracks to a huge extent and thus have had their share in making “Queue For Love” as enjoyable as possible. This album is smooth and balanced and HipHop at heart, reaching out to Songwriting, Ambient, Folk and Film scores. All of this is delicately held together by a remarkable concept of “Soul” and obviously: “Love” (Last.fm, 2010).

You can listen to Populous' music at:
http://www.last.fm/music/Populous



Released Albums:
Populous - Quipo
Populous - Queue For Love
Populous - Drawn In Basic

Reference:
(2010). Populous. Last.fm. Retrieved from http://www.last.fm/music/Populous

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Artist of the Day: Fat Jon The Ample Soul Physician

Unorthodox producer/rapper Fat Jon is not only the beat-maker for the underground hip-hop collective Five Deez but a member of the 3582 crew and a solo artist with a string of albums that flirt with electronica, downtempo, and dub sounds. Sometimes credited as Fat Jon the Ample Soul Physician, Jon started out as a rapper in his native Cincinnati. There weren't many beat-makers on the local scene, so Jon learned how to make his own, working with a set of analog equipment that fit perfectly with his old school-loving, throwback style. As time went on, he became more forward-looking, but the analog equipment stuck around, creating a unique style that was both familiar and strange. Around 2000 his two crews began making waves in the underground rap community, and soon artists like Rakim, Talib Kweli, and Black Star were hiring Fat Jon for his dynamic production style.

A year later he struck out on his own with Humanoid Erotica, a laid-back, lounge-ish full-length credited to "Fat Jon as Maurice Galactica." The moody, mellow collection Wave Motion appeared in 2003, and a year later he began working with Stefan Betke, better known as Pole. Now based in Berlin, Fat Jon added his rhymes to Pole's 2003 self-titled release, a hip-hop-flavored album from a project that had been strictly icy cold and dub previously. Even if Pole's loyal fan base saw the jump in genres as heresy, the album introduced Fat Jon to a whole new audience. Now armed with computers and plenty of digital gear to go with his analog, Jon put his production hat back on for 2004's Lightweight Heavy, a breakthrough release that benefited from the attention he received with Pole. The year 2006 was extremely busy, with a new Five Deez album (Kommunicator), an instrumental album (Afterthought), and a collaboration with the indie electronic outfit Styrofoam (The Same Channel) all being released (Jeffries, 2010). 

You can listen to Fat Jon The Ample Soul Physician's music at:
http://www.last.fm/music/Fat+Jon+the+Ample+Soul+Physician

http://www.last.fm/music/Fat+Jon



Released Albums:
Fat Jon The Ample Soul Physician - Humanoid Erotica
Fat Jon The Ample Soul Physician - Hundred Eight Stars
Fat Jon The Ample Soul Physician - Afterthought
Fat Jon The Ample Soul Physician - Lightweight Heavy
Fat Jon The Ample Soul Physician - Wave Motion
Fat Jon The Ample Soul Physician - Stasis Ep
Fat Jon The Ample Soul Physician - Dyslexic Ep
Fat Jon The Ample Soul Physician - The Same Channel with Styrofoam
Fat Jon The Ample Soul Physician - Repaint Tomorrow
Fat Jon The Ample Soul Physician - Departure (Samurai Champloo Soundtrack)
Fat Jon The Ample Soul Physician - Impression (Samurai Champloo Soundtrack)

Reference:
Jeffries, D. (2010). Fat Jon. All Music. Retrieved from
http://www.allmusic.com/cg/amg.dll?p=amg&sql=11:f9fixq90ldae~T1

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