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We get festive to start, then roll forward with our final regular Under The Radar of the calendar year, with new tunes just out this week hand picked with loving care by Prince Paolo.
"The Drop with Danno" on GFN 광주영어방송 98.7FM in Gwangju & 93.7FM in Yeosu, Korea. An eclectic radio curation of all things musical spanning the spectrum every week. Broadcasting 8-10pm KST nightly.
UTR 12.07.2021
PART 1 SONGS
Kurtis Blow – Christmas Rappin’
LEISURE – Be With You
TOPAZ – Scream
Purple Heart Parade – Starwheel
Ceramic Animal – Sweet Unknown
Quelle Rox – nuestra historia
PART 1 FACTS
Kurtis Blow – Christmas Rappin’
- On this date in 1979, this was the first rap tune released by a major label. Mercury Records and Kurtis Blow go on to sell 400,000 copies during the holiday season that year, and the tune provides the template for “The Breaks,” which goes on to become the first gold record in hip-hop history.
- Also of note, The Damyang Drop’s XXXMas Holidaze playlist for 2021 is officially out TODAY, and we get extra weird and naughty on this one this year, so do check!
LEISURE – Be With You
- The NZ-based band is out with their 3rd career LP in Sunsetter, and this one seems to be getting all the buzz over the weekend.
- As far as albums this year go, this one has to be pretty highly ranked on the feel good factor. Seriously, just throw it on, don’t worry about any company presently with you, they’ll love it. Great, super groovy LP.
TOPAZ – Scream
- The Red Desert EP dropped today, Prince Paolo! For those that have not checked it out, we had a great world premiere of two tracks off the EP last Friday, and TOPAZ t/n Zach Johnson from Chicago threw on a great playlist of inspirations and recent favorites for our show on Friday, which has gotten great reactions from the listeners.
- The Red Desert EP, go stream it NOW.
Purple Heart Parade – Starwheel
- Some ultra wall of sound shoegaze right here.
- Now, this is a much older track but it absolutely blew me away when David Dean Burkhardt featured it over the weekend, and I just couldn’t resist.
- The band are a quintet out of Manchester in the UK, and this appeared on their album Desolation Angel.
Ceramic Animal – Sweet Unknown
- This is the title track to an upcoming album from the band that is set for release on March 4 on Dan Auerbach’s label Easy Eye Sound.
- The band is another quintet, this time hailing from tiny Doylestown, PA. They say that the album they created in Auerbach’s Nashville studio is a cross between Tame Impala, Todd Rundgren, and T. Rex. That should be interesting indeed.
Quelle Rox – nuestra hisoria
- This is the ultra cosmic, mega-dreamy bedroom pop project based in Brooklyn that we both just love to bits.
- The artist true name Rocky is a Puerto Rican-Mexican singer who graduated from NYU, and this is part of the coffee & a cig EP, which just dropped on Friday.
PART 2 SONGS
Midnight Pool Party – TRUTH
Thrillhouse - How Long Can You Wait For Me_
Anaad Wilder - I Don't Want Our Love To Become Routine
NEIL FRANCES featuring GRAE - finding rhythm
Sawyer Dust - demon (violet)
Allan Low - Too Close
PART 2 FACTS
Midnight Pool Party – TRUTH
- We started off part 2 of the show with some feel-good disco vibes courtesy of Midnight Pool Party.
- Midnight Pool Party is a duo based in Sydney, Australia and they make super-catchy electronic dance music.
- “Truth” is their latest and final single release of the year. It’s a bouncy tune, but the lyrics are kind of sad because they are about unrequited love.
- The story does have a happy ending as the lonely character realizes that it’s a waste of time waiting for the other person to love them back and that it’s better to just move on with life.
Thrillhouse - How Long Can You Wait For Me_
- Thrillhouse is back on the show with another great offering. This track comes off of their very recently released EP, “Wedding Disco”.
- Thrillhouse is a band from Brighton and I’ve become more and more of a fan with every new release. They just make cool music and all their songs seem to have a bit of humor thrown in there.
- Definitely check out their “Wedding Disco” EP, it’s really well done and overall, just fun to listen to.
Anaad Wilder - I Don't Want Our Love To Become Routine
- Anaad Wilder is an artist based in New York. If his name sounds familiar it is probably because he was a member of the band Yeasayer. “I Don’t Want Our Love to Become Routine” is his latest cut and it is taken from his forthcoming debut solo album.
- The album is entitled, “I Don’t Know My Words” and it will drop early next year via Last Gang.
- He wrote and recorded every track on the album from his apartment and impressively played every instrument on the album. He said that he first started working with other musicians but then decided to do it all himself because it was his first solo album. Very ambitious of him and I’m eager to hear the rest of the album for sure.
NEIL FRANCES featuring GRAE - finding rhythm
- Neil Frances is a duo from LA. The duo is comprised of Jordan Feller and Marc Gilfry, and their latest cut features the vocals of Toronto-based rising star Grae.
- This track is taken from their forthcoming debut album. The album will be called ‘There is No Neil Frances” and it is schedule for release January 28th.
- The duo says that the song is about the ups and downs of life and how you just have to take whatever comes in stride. Interestingly, Grae explained that they wrote this song via Zoom, which I think is pretty cool.
Sawyer Dust - demon (violet)
- Sawyer Dust is a very cool indie artist based in Virgina. I’m very much in love with his newest offering, “Demon (Violet)”. It is distorted and woozy, there are a lot of twists and turns, and the vocals and lyrics are cryptically interesting. I like it a lot.
- I read a little bit about his process and I thought it was really cool. He says that he just writes songs while he is recording. He views the studio as an instrument in itself which is probably why his music has a sort of pieced together, improvised sound to it. Definitely check out the rest of his catalogue, it is very cool stuff.
Allan Low - Too Close
- Allan Low is a producer and multi-instrumentalist based in London. “Too Close” is his newest track, and third single release overall if you are keeping score.
- I like this slow burner a lot. Allan says that this track is sort of an ode to old school hip hop. You can definitely hear touches of Questlove and J Dilla there in the beat and I think the funkiness is reminiscent of D’Angelo.
- Allan is currently working on an EP, which he says should be ready to drop in the coming months so stay tuned for that.
PART 3 SONGS
Atom Eyes - Roll The Dice
Sipper - Losers
The Moving Stills - Truthfully
Hockeysmith – You're Happening
NEEDSHES - One Day
Liz Metta - Fragile & Strong
PART 3 FACTS
Atom Eyes - Roll The Dice
- We started off part 3 with some jazzy, neo-soul flavors courtesy of Atom Eyes. Atom Eyes is a quintet from Scotland, and “Roll the Dice” is the very latest.
- This is our first taste of their forthcoming debut album. The album is scheduled for release this coming spring.
- If this is the kind of stuff that we are going to get, I am very interested in hearing what else they have in store for us leading up to the release of their album.
Sipper – Losers
- I’m so glad to have Sipper back on the playlist. Sipper is a band from New York City, and we’ve played them on the show a couple of times already. The last time we played Sipper was a few months ago and the song was called “I Won”. That track is still one of my favorites of this year.
- Anyway, Sipper continues to impress with their latest cut, “Losers”. It’s another great offering and the band says that this song is about Under the Radar Tuesday Nights with Danno and Prince Paolo.
- Thanks for the shout out Sipper...I guess.
The Moving Stills – Truthfully
- The Moving Stills is a four-piece band from Australia and their new track “Truthfully” comes to us via Sureshaker Music.
- This song is about that moment when two people officially decide to be a couple. Dating can get pretty hectic, you know a lot of flirting and games but there is this point in the relationship where the two people have to decide, “are you in or are you out?”.
- It’s kind of a scary moment, because you are really putting yourself out there, and the other person can totally just reject you, but I guess it’s best to be honest and true when it comes to matters of the heart eh Danno?
Hockeysmith – You're Happening
- Hockeysmith is the alias of Cornwall, UK- based artist Annabel Hockeysmith. “You’re Happening” is her very latest and it comes via her own personal label, Eel.
- She describes this track as “a boozy smoochy number” and I think that description is right on the mark.
- I got to give it up to Lxury, who is the producer on this tune. Really well-done stuff and I like how the style is a little rough around the edges, you know nothing too polished-sounding. The style really gives the song a lot of texture.
NEEDSHES - One Day
- Needshes is a rock band founded and fronted by singer, songwriter, multi-instrumentalist, and producer Otabek Salamov, who originally hails from Tashkent, the capital of Uzbekistan.
- About the song, the band says that it is an ode to living in the present. They say that although it is great to dream and make goals for the future, sometimes, all the dreaming and wishing about the future can actually distract you from the opportunities that are right in front of us every day.
- To accompany the song, the band has also released a very psychedelically animated music video. Definitely go and check that video out, it is pretty cool.
Liz Metta - Fragile & Strong
- Liz Metta is the project of Austrian singer-songwriter Maria Thorton. “Fragile & Strong” is a song that plays with the concept of opposites and you can hear that in the lyrics as well as the instrumentation.
- I’m always a little partial to songs that have this sort of contrast between light and dark, soft and heavy elements.
- Liz Metta is currently working on a new EP. No details as of yet so stay tuned for updates on that.
PART 4 SONGS
Yung Bae feat Cosmos Midnight - Straight Up Relaxin
llampaca x Doran Danoff - Dont Give Up
Karma Fields & Reva DeVito - Timebomb
Piwa - No Fun
Mom Tudie - Fear Leads Us On
Ramir - Opia
PART 4 FACTS
Yung Bae feat Cosmos Midnight - Straight Up Relaxin
- Yung Bae is the moniker of Dallas Cotton, a future funk producer and artist from Portland but who is now based in LA. He’s kind of a big deal I guess, and might be the most commercially popular artist on tonight’s playlist.
- The track features the powerhouse production duo from Australia, Cosmos Midnight.
- This song came out this past Friday, and I’ve been bumping it all weekend while I was doing some straight up relaxing.
llampaca - Dont Give Up
- This track might be my pick of the week. It’s just so funky and soulful, and it’s got a retro vibe that gives the track a sort of timeless sound to it.
- I’m also totally down with the positive message of the song as well. It’s simple, don’t give up, don’t give in.
- Ilampaca is a new collaborative duo consisting of Doran Danoff and Tyler Wenzel. This track is their debut single and it comes via Teenage Illusions Records. I absolutely can’t wait to hear more from this new duo, this track is so good.
Karma Fields & Reva DeVito – Timebomb
- Karma Fields is an electronic audio/visual artist of unknown origin. They have released two highly acclaimed albums already and a third is promised sometime next year.
- Karma Fields is mysterious by design. The concept is that Karma Fields is actually just AI making music. Pretty cool stuff.
- Reva Devito is the vocalist on this track. She is a songstress from Portland and she’s done songs with some pretty big names. Her catalogue is pretty diverse so take some time to enjoy exploring her other tracks for sure.
Piwa - No Fun
- Piwa is an artist who was born in Zimbabwe, but who is now based in Plano, Texas. But before Texas, she lived in Brooklyn for 8 years.
- She auditioned for The Voice when she was 17, didn’t make the national level but she didn’t let that deter her.
- She pursued a degree in music from Columbia College Chicago. Now she is 20 and has a few singles under her belt. She’s got a really unique sound and I think it is because she’s lived in so many places. Definitely check out her catalogue, lots of different influences in her stuff and it’s all really good.
Mom Tudie - Fear Leads Us On
- This track could also be my pick of the week. Mom Tudie is an artist for London and I have to applaud him for this one. The production on this track is top notch. It’s like R&B, jazz, and neo-soul but the way this track is composed just sounds so incredibly fresh.
- Nectar Woode provides those silky vocals on the track. Mom Tudie says that he found Nectar via IG and he also added London pianist Erikkson Kaner in the process and I think what they’ve created is really something special. Really great track in my humble opinon.
Ramir – Opia
- Ramir is an artist based in Port Arthur, Texas and I am really feeling this song a lot. There is just something emotional and raw about it.
- I think the lyrics are about kind of getting lost in life, contemplating your relationships, and finding out about yourself and where you stand in the process.
- The song just totally resonated with me on a personal level, and musically, I really appreciate tracks like this... straightforward in structure but very rich in content and emotion. I thought it was a great track to close the show with.