Blacksmif, aka Yemi is a young producer hailing from London. His recent release on Synchronicity was crafted with finesse and affection without resorting to well known tropes or obtuse programming. Here’s what he had to say for himself a few months ago on the current state of his scene, reaching out to wider audiences and war.

On the Blake explosion…

When I first heard about James Blake, I was like. You know what, there’s no reason for me to make music any more. Someone like this exists and that’s the same way I feel about Kahn (Punch Drunk records).

On establishing himself…

I never really thought of doing music really, was just at university DJing a bit until it spiralled out of control into something tangible over the last few years. When I eventually finished uni in 2009 I kept going at the production side. Throwing Snow, a guy who makes bass 2-steppy house, that whole mesh of genres got a hold of my tunes and I thought, actually these aren’t half bad. Since then I’ve just been seeing how far I can go with it… and enjoying it as well. And you know I really enjoy it, rather than the guitar stuff I used to do in Leeds. Sort of Damien Rice, Jack Johnson which is a major change from what I’m making now. I used to be big into drum and bass a few years ago, that was what I was initially working on.

On the “Bass” scene…

Dubstep has obviously changed from what we knew it as, with those deep subs and sparse percussive rhythms. There is a mass of software available for anyone to start to make tunes and at the same time people are listening to this stuff more on soundcloud rather than that sort of underground community of people going to those FWDs and Subdubs. All of those big sub frequencies that we were addicted to; we don’t get so much because producers are targeting listeners on their crappy laptop speakers. There putting more harsh mids and highs in there, and I guess that’s where the whole “brostep” (air quotations) thing sparked off. Possibly to the detriment of the “purist” (more air quotations) as they like to call themselves, which I think is a bit stupid. I mean you don’t need to call yourself a fucking purist or some other weird accolade to be righteous above everyone else!

You know the other thing is you get all these people making crazy different kinds of music, I mean I hate the titles “post-dubstep” but with all those things combined and all the new genres emerging you can just get a bit lost. And I suppose if you can’t even define what it is yourself that you’re making, because it is still in its foetal stage that scene of genres,  you can get lost so its tit for tat so there’s a lot of wicked stuff coming out but there’s a lot of people out there that just make the same crap.

And I’m saying that as an addict to soundcloud, constantly on it, there’s so much stuff that I think, it is a crying shame that Joe Bloggs from Carlisle has 15 sick tunes but no one else seems to hear. There’s a lot of stuff that I’ve found that I hope will make it into the wider public.

On influences from university in Leeds…

Leeds was big for its house parties, my mates were living there and I was booking the DJs and David Kennedy (Pearson Sound) came round and asked if he could jump on, and there were just so many people who wanted to dj I had to be like “I’m sorry mate we’ve got enough people”, and now look at him!

There’s a lot of stuff in the scene, which I just don’t really follow because it seems to be falling into that same trap that a lot of genres fall into where everyone latches onto one sound and do it. There’s a lot of stuff that doesn’t do that but it might be a reflection on how good it is or how the industry works I don’t know. I heard that there were some people clamping down in the broken beat scene at one point too, just saying that it would never amount to nothing. I don’t know, it must just be how industry or markets work. Who knows, I failed economics anyway.

On war…

Hmmm, I was going to say my favourite war was that of underground music against the mainstream but that’s a bollocks answer! I’d have to say the War on Terror as it’s made me see how much a fucked up country the US is and the UK to a certain extent in how we run things. That and well, I don’t know any other wars.

Blacksmif’s latest single will be released on May 21st. It is rather good if we do say so ourselves.

The opener of DARKSIDE’s wonderful EP got a video this week that looks like what your weird friends think they’re doing when they go out to the desert. It follows three apocalyptic monks on a quest to find things that shine in a way that works well with Nicolas Jaar’s eerily propellant and open “A1″ – watch the video below.

Yeasayer put out a new song from what is the presumed follow-up to 2010′s Odd Blood this week. “Henrietta” starts out with those familiar vocals in reggae adornment (Ras Trent!) before it shape-shifts into the ethereal refrain “Oh, Henrietta/ We can live on forever” that ends on the smoother, more meditative side of their psych-pop tendencies. Check it out below.

The Walkmen released a non-album track as the b-side to first single “Heaven” this week, and it’s gorgeous. Leithauser’s vocals move at a leisurely pace through inherited memories towards that damn build in the final minute that renders the last arc of the song completely afloat. The album is out May 29 on Fat Possum.

There is something about a Tallest Man On Earth morning. His first release from his upcoming There’s No Leaving Now is a welcome return, like seeing an old friend after a particularly neglectful time to ground you back in place.

Kristian Matsson captures the idea of constant movement like a sprawling green field that’s growing and blowing, that no matter how indulgent you’re feeling with how singular your life is, you have to always remember that everything around you is still moving just the same. It’s this sort of big-picture wisdom that grounds much of his wandering songwriting (“When the leaving is hard but you go now/ And you feel what you drag across the floor“) that knows the bittersweet feeling of moving on when it’s time to go, especially when there are still some reasons to stay.

I have trouble always staying on the lyrics, which are suggestive and intimate, without getting lost in the melody’s pockets that reflect and bounce. But his songs are not so much about hanging onto every word as just paying attention to mood before lines like “sometimes noise in just your mind” dart through. There’s a palpable sense of feeling to his songs, of smell and touch, and it’s the way they just sit there with you as long as you want that becomes a real comfort. His vocal wail with a bit of old-fashioned innocence and a whine that’s become distinct from his oft-compared Dylan influence contrasts in stride with his bright, flowing melodies that go on forever in either direction.

If you’re sensitive to weather, be careful with this one – it might give you spring fever. There’s No Leaving Now is out June 12, which is subjectively shaping up to be The Best Month Ever.

For most females (and some males) of a certain age, the Disney Princess represents a deeply ingrained notion of ideal femininity. As little girls, we spent countless hours recreating her scenarios in our imaginations: swimming in sexy little shell bras and mutely wooing a foxy prince, escaping the confines of our enormous Arabian palace to mingle amongst violent hand-chopping common folk — only to be saved by a charming, fez-sporting street rat; taming ferocious and hairy (but ultimately gentle) man-beasts…the Everywoman list goes on. Like it or not, we internalized these stories as scripts for our own lives, and at least partially constructed our ideas of future relationships based on Disney’s fantastical depictions of love.

So what’s a girl to do when the reality of romance falls short of the sparkling, magical affairs she was primed to expect? Set that disillusionment to some scuzzy synth beats, obviously. British duo Bluebell does just that in “Cinderella,” a bright, catchy single whose lyrics simultaneously mock and mourn the loss of the fairytale ideal all over a sweeping, highly-danceable pop arrangement.

The song opens with vocalist Annabel Jones questioning the discrepancies between high expectations and the truth of her situation: “Is this love what I understand it to be,” Jones croons meekly over producer Charlie Westropp’s repetitive, jarring piano chords. The beat drops soon after and escalates with ominous electronic timbres into the admission that “this is no Walt Disney/ I’m no Cinderella, I’m just a girl.” The song features a perfect blend of pretty and ugly, soft and hard—marrying the delusional sweetness of fantasy with a grittier reality, but not so gritty that you can’t get down to it.

Though Jones insists she’s “just a girl,” if the rest of Bluebell’s tracks are as fun as this one, she just might be in
the running for a happily ever after. Look for the release June 11 alongside “Normal Heights” on Killing Moon.

New Four Tet tends to come along when I really need it.  When it’s a week where I need to lock into a groove, zone out from distractions, and enter into a state of pure focus.  Hebden’s newest release (off his Text Records) allows me to do just that.

The A-Side, “Jupiters” begins with starry synth reflections before hitting home with the groove.  There’s a quiet after the electronic meandering, before the track finds it’s path, allowing one a last chance to cut ties with the outside world.  The track peaks as the beat, vocals, and synth lines come together jetting to a world only Four Tet is capable of finding.

The B-Side “Ocoras” is a gray motion blur of percussion dabbled with hints of metallic synth and industrial detail.  If there was ever a track that allowed for full concentration…this is it.

Check out both below:

Ever find yourself working late in a pizza parlor and have the strange urge to sever your finger on a pie sliced like a pentagram? While not a common urge, few of the deviant concepts in Father John Misty’s video peripherary are. Grant James’ dismal noir take at shotgun violence and brutal sacrifice finds former Fleet Foxes drummer Josh Tillman at the top of his strange game.

Thanks Sub Pop. Keep the gems coming.

There comes a point in May (and I think it’s Cinco de Mayo) when we begin to hear summer’s call, the time of year most closely associated with youthful indiscretion. It’s strangely nostalgic and you have to just let it wash over you like a seasonal stage change. Maybe it’s California, but our best memories, it seems, are always floating around bathed in a kind of airy summer light.

Josh Legg of NightWaves is based in Los Angeles so I can only assume he’s named after “the best bar ever” and all-around great place to start off said misbehavior. Check out the open field track “Fifteen” featuring Australian vocalist Chela that lets you wander a bit in the past just as it feels like you’re in the middle of taking some big steps forward.