The Return of Pimp Shrimp

Peckham born Archy Marshall is a man of change within his musical releases; something that is not only shown by the number of his alter egos (King Krule, Edgar The Beatmaker, Edgar the Breathtaker, DJ JD Sports and Zoo Kid), but it can also be seen through an eagerness to continue to create dynamic, genre stretching music.  

            (Credit: FEEL SAFE 88 (just say no) artwork)

‘The Return of Pimp Shrimp’ is the new name that Archie will release music as, after posting a status on his Facebook page – “another age another name for the stomps”. The name alone suggests mystery and alongside the new name, the enigma is revealed even more through a new song – ‘FEEL SAFE 88 (just say no)’.

The new track shows a very different path to the hypnotising artistic project and electronic hip hop album  – ‘A NEW PLACE 2 DROWN’ (2015). He instead attempts a more disco based number, providing an almost vintage array of instruments gliding and swaying through the song. Even though there is a change, Archy’s own unique style is still clear throughout; the haziness of the synths and the guitars are placed under his strikingly soulful vocals, whilst maintaining key post-bop jazz influences.

             (Credit: Pari Dukovic / The New Yorker)

Archy evades the media, instead he likes to slowly unravel his creations, for example, he played an intimate surprise gig last week at Peckham’s Montague Arms. So, for the time being, the music to come will be announced only through his own methods, but the mystery raises excitement for a project started so intriguingly.

Listen to the new song here:

https://soundcloud.com/thereturnofpimpshrimp

So Young Magazine

In this modern day, physical outputs of media can be quite rare due to a well known competitor – the internet. But with a turn for new and more modern techniques, there comes a need for older, more comforting methods. So Young certainly does things the traditional way in regard to a physical copy of the magazine, but every other method epitomises creativity.

                   (Credit: So Young Magazine, issue 4)

So Young is a fully illustrated music magazine, supplying a modern journey into the world of both art and music. The physical copies that they supply in record stores around the country (Piccadilly Records, Rough Trade etc), can give the same intimate experience that vinyl does. Music over the last few years has been an industry that has been quickly becoming entirely based on the internet but many fans admire the physical sides of these artistic creations; as can be seen by the recent rise in the purchase of vinyl over the past few years.  

The company’s ethos can be simply understood with a quote in their website bio – “So Young is a gift from us to you under the assumption that you keep going to gigs, buying records and looking at the sleeve artwork as you listen”(Link to website below). They understand the experience of music, not just as a listening one, but as a much wider sensory overload. It’s an admirable way of appreciating music and they continue this by making every issue of their magazine hold that same experience; by making it an artistic piece exploding with uniqueness within the pages.

              (Credit: So Young Magazine, issue 10)

In regard to their choice of music, they mainly target underground guitar music, and this is illustrated by a number of contemporary artists making each copy as original as the last through illustrations and graphic design. Some of the bands that have been involved with the magazine are Fat White Family, YAK, Palma Violets, Parquet Courts and King Gizzard and the Lizard Wizard. So the genres of music are quite clear, So Young are heavily involved with Punk, Post Punk, Surf pop and psychedelic music. They represent an eagerness to supply us with the most relevant prevailing sounds.

Recently, So Young hosted a gig for their third birthday. The night involved artists such as Fever, The Orielles, Happy Meal LTD., Shame and Life. And moving onto bigger things, they are hosting their own festival at The Old Blue Last across 10^th-12^th August. The festival is free and supplies three days of music and an art exhibition. You can catch bands such as Traam, Baby Strange, Dream Wife and many more. Events like this show So Young Magazine have a bright future ahead of them, and with their growth they continue to supply free perks like this to its fans.

                    

                   (Credit: So Young Festival Poster)

You can easily access the So Young Magazine website which offers a blog, a page representing their artists, all the 10 editions of the magazine, plus other merchandise. Be sure to take a look at this and also check them out on Twitter and Instagram to hear about the latest gigs and music news. All the links are below.

Website - http://soyoungmagazine.com/

Twitter - https://twitter.com/SoYoungMagazine

Instagram - @Soyoungmagazine

The Story of Obaa Sima

In 2002, an American ethnomusicology student named Brian Shimkovitz found a mysterious 1994 cassette entitled 'Obaa Sima'. The tape was made by a Ghana musician named Ata Kak. 

Shimokovitz spent three years in Ghana exploring its most colorful and exciting musicians, this research then led to a music blog that he created in 2005, called 'The Hiplife Complex'. The blog explored the genre hiplife which is a combination of hip hop and highlife.  Shimokovitz plunges the reader into the world of the scene through interviews with certain leaders of the genre, such as J – Que. We also get an insight into the roots of the genre whilst Shimokovitz honestly shows the negative press it got as it was shunned by the media due to elements such as its profanity which was supposedly negative for the youth.

          (Credit: The Drone)


His second blog, which was started in 2006, was named 'Awesome Tapes From Africa'. This blog was made in order to share his huge collection of African cassettes that he had acquired from his travels. “This is music you won’t easily find anywhere else” Shimokovitz claims and it is true; 'Awesome Tapes From Africa' supplies a mass range of dazzling and bizarre music shared by a man who holds a vivid passion for this daring music.

From this blog Yaw Atta-Owusu's(Ata Kak) work 'Obaa Sima' was introduced, the original awesome tape. The first song shared was 'Momo Yendodo', a frantic piece of musical brilliance. Ata Kak raps ferociously over ethereal synthesisers whilst an elegant female voice floats in the background. The song hypnotizes the listener with its interesting combination of 80s disco and Grand Master Flash’s hip hop structures, yet he makes it immediately unique with his scat style “Scoobidoobidoobis”. The other six songs join this track with their outlandish sound, which is a favourable perk to the listening experience. Each song turns a corner to come across more eccentric sonic ideas of Ata Kak; hip hop is crossed with house, and these genres are practiced with African sounds surging through the veins of the tracks. This is especially heard through the use of his Southern African language – Twi. 'KwiDaa Nyinaa' would most likely be the single on the album, but the album doesn’t really hold a solid hit, throughout the seven songs the same fluctuation of joy is released with every song, he never lacks energy.

              (Credit: Album Artwork)

In 2011, 'Awesome Tapes From Africa' was turned into a legit record company and Shimokovitz has also played DJ sets under the name too. This creation was a chance for him to work with his favorite musicians, yet Ata Kak remained hidden. Shimokovitz searched Canada, Ghana and America in search of the man and eventually found him. The album then got reissued in 2015 on the label, the quest was completed and the mysterious enigma of the Ghanaian rapper was broken, he could finally spread his music to other cultures and make a deserved profit for his music.

Ata Kak Captivates the listener, the songs may not be spread throughout the modern soundscape, yet so many elements of his music can be relevant and meaningful to modern music. He has been found in certain DJ sets, for example Four Tet has played him before, a joyous example of record digging and bringing obscure sounds into the light of popular listening. 

On the topic of popular listening, and 25 years after his only record was made, Yaw Atta-Owusu is currently on his first ever tour. After his music practically started Awesome Tapes, it is now being spread in the form of live music as he gallantly strides across Europe. He has played at Field Day Festival in London and Sonar Festival in Spain. This man has gone from not being known by anyone to becoming a cult hero, and Shimokovitz’s efforts to release the album and find him need recognition, it is a truly heartwarming tale that shows the magnitude and power of music.

Tour Dates:

https://www.residentadvisor.net/dj/atakak/dates

Listen Here: 

https://open.spotify.com/album/5rWdCCXgUf8Ptz1goEmLKC