A Non-Music related Introduction: A Story from my life: Went on a date there about a month ago near my house with a serial Tweeter (Tweetist), a fairly respected BBC TV show writer. I motormouthed my way through the date, the usual (to be expected) behaviour from myself. I filled every moment of silence with a quip about something or an observation about something else, jeez I was a little nervous actually. Definitely over did it on the chat-o-meter.
We parted ways and it’s fair to say that in the weeks following on from the date I was given the cold shoulder when trying to arrange a second date: no blue ticks and almost a week passing between each of their replies, my hopes weren’t high. Damn it, I thought – but hey, at least they haven’t Tweeted about me. That thought circled sharply and quickly took over for a couple of seconds. Engulfed in the moment and left wondering by their radio silence, I decided to type their name into the Twitter searchbar. It didn’t take much finger scrolling before, boom, there it was – June 1st, 2pm – a bloody Tweet about our date last month, probably not intended in the most flattering of tones either (something about me not having the NHS app & a red flag) lol
Is this the modern world? Are all dates going to be like this in 2021? Am I actually a red flag?
I think I’ll stick to what I’m comfortable doing and that’s listening to and writing about music. People Tweet about this blog on Twitter but it’s more than likely a positive thing when that happens. In the last month I’ve learnt a valuable lesson: Avoid those serial Tweeters (Tweetists). A rare breed of strange those ones are. Here are five glorious songs for you to digest this evening. Rant and ramble time has ended. (Disclaimer: the tweet wasn’t actually as bad as I made out, just found the whole experience quite entertaining and worth a scribble – lovely weather out there eh)
Biig Piig / Remedy
Ah yes, Biig Piig released a new EP there last week and it’s absolute gold. The six-track collection titled The Sky is Bleeding has been on shuffle for a week (no joke). It’s a slow, wavy and melancholic selection of emotive tracks that shine far brighter than any of the stand-alone singles that have been released in recent times. Her sound has been experimented on quite a bit since Sony got involved a few years ago, flickering between Indie Electronic (Oh, No) and Drum and Bass styled songs like Switch. It all sounded a little forced, perhaps the label heads were looking for that BIIG radio hit. It hasn’t quite worked in my book. Biig Piig’s fans originated and were blown away by her earlier laidback and languid LoFi HipHop tracks and EP’s (Big Fan of the Sesh vol 1 – especially) – she built her reputation on this sound, quit the D&B please y’all, that’s not what we came for.
The latest EP is totally Biig Piig back to her best again. It’s honest, well produced and just the right style of chill that her droves of fans will understand and fall in love with again. The Sky is Bleeding is a damn great EP, each song hits the mark. 1000% recommended – produced by the guy who co-wrote Black Dog by Arlo Parks – Gianluca Buccellati.
Biig Piig is going to be a HUGE star!!! (not the first time this has been typed on Sniffer).
Lavender / Constantly
London based duo Lavender have hit the ground running in the short time they’ve been active. Each of their three singles to date have been fairly brilliant. I’ve shared the first two (peppermint & home:so long) so it’d be pretty rude if I failed to share the third. Constantly is yet another example of these lads’ utter wizardry when it comes to producing catchy, unique and captivating beats. Last year I ran out of puff whilst in the process of organising an interview with the lads. I let the interview slip away due to a writing project taking over my entire existence back then. Things are easier now and hopefully I can rearrange that interview if they’ll have me. Lavender only have three tracks but are surely a top five find since establishing this blog in 2019. This single features some great vocals from CHRISSY.
M. Byrd / Mountain
Moving on from an interview I had to bail on in 2020 to an interview I have scheduled in the diary for Monday morning next week. M. Byrd is an incredibly talented songwriter from Hamburg, Germany who has entered the music scene with two absolute Indie beauty’s Mountain and Morning Sun. Can’t quite estimate how many times I’ve listened to both. Really looking forward to chatting to this fella on Monday and learning more. This track, Mountain, transports me to that distinctive and blissful headspace only The War on Drugs previously had the power to take me to. Outstanding.
Rick Feds / When You Go
Next up, we’ve got a highly impressive single from Rick Feds, a finger-drumming performer who operates in the upper sphere of that particular discipline. His new single, When You Go, featuring the vocals of Una Daniela fell on my lap during the week and I’ve been enjoying it’s stop/start melodies all week. The sun was beaming down on me this afternoon whilst travelling back out from London. This track accompanied me on the short train trip outwards. I put it on repeat a couple of times. The production is non-intrusive and toned down (to a degree) which allows for Una’s vocals to flourish. A high grade dose of downtempo electronic from one of the UK’s best audiovisual/live artists. Rick has got game – he’s opened mega gigs for the likes of Jungle and James Arthur.
Ladyhawke / Mixed Emotions
It’s not often I get a submission from someone of the stature of Kiwi songstress Ladyhawke. Years ago, she was one of the acts all the blogs were raving about, her music was played in indie bars and she had a dedicated cult following. Fast forward to 2021 and Ladyhawke still has the cult following and thankfully for them, she returns after a long hiatus. Pip Brown is the brains of the operation and she’s had quite a difficult few years recently; overcoming postnatal depression and skin cancer. She’s been writing material for her upcoming album Time Flies (released date October 8) since 2019. Mixed Emotions is the second single from the forthcoming record and by god, it’s a good one. Co-written by Nick Littemore (Band member in Empire of the Sun). Good to have you back Pip.
About ‘The Sound Sniffer’
The Sound Sniffer is a music blog that’s still only a baby – Founded in early 2019 by Kevin Coakley, a music writer and ghostwriter. ‘The Sound Sniffer’ also runs gigs and showcases in London since Oct 2019. The showcases are picked from artists found in the blog’s submission inbox.
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