Stay Cool

▶ discover: @ivanave | @itsmeneedle

▶ Follow Stay Cool on twitter: twitter.com/staycoolradio

▶ Tracklist: http://bit.ly/staycoolradar001tracklist

Well damn. One of my secret goals for later this year has already come true.

Stay Cool is now a monthly show on Radar Radio, airing on the second Tuesday morning of every month.

The first episode features:

- A new series called Chosen One that highlights an artist past or present that I think you should be listening to. This month’s choice is @castelluzzo.

- An interview with Norwegian rapper Ivan Ave following his incredible new single “Also” produced by @Kaytranada and Kiefer (@kiefdaddy)

- A conversation with Evil Needle where he details his new LP

- The first in my new #SCAPES series where a music lover sends me some tracks from their hometown, country or a place they feel strongly connected to. This month Evil Needle presents France.

+ exclusives from @digital-mozart, @submerse, @con_tour, @morenightmusic, @scottxylo, @chief_beatmaker, @handbook, @foisey and of course Evil Needle.

Thank you to everyone that’s supported me. It’s thanks to you all that I’ve been able to do so much in this short time that I’ve been back in England.

www.radarradio.com

▶ discover: @javeonmusic

▶ peep my other interviews: http://bit.ly/seangraninterviews

You’d be forgiven for thinking Javeon was raised on house music. After getting a start with garage joints and songs with fellow Bristolian Julio Bashmore the budding night club emcee and singer soon found himself rising to the forefront of house’s new generation of vocalists. Following a string of successful releases with some of the genre’s best producers Javeon - pronounced like “raven” but with a J (something he notes across all his social media) - found himself feeling dissatisfied with his then-current position.

At the source of it all was a strong desire to find himself further musically, resulting in a new level of experimentation that has seen the “Father Father” singer take his sound into an alternative R&B direction while remaining as wide-ranging.

“Control”, his newly-released single, channels his tumultuous journey perfectly – it’s ambient, dark and injected with enough genres to make simply calling it “electronic” an all too easy cop-out. Zack the Lad’s blend of gloomy basslines, 2-step patterns and garage form an alt-R&B anthem that would be difficult for any vocalist to conquer, but here Javeon flexes his growth, both musically and sonically, making the title quite apt in a number of ways.

Prior to the single’s release Javeon and I discussed his origins, “Control”, the challenges of being a multi-genre artist, his five-part visual movie for his songs, and more.

▶ discover: @bmore-new-era

▶ listen to my interview with eu-IV at http://bit.ly/eu-ivinterview

Following my interview with eu-IV this is the mix of strictly tracks produced by the Baltimore beatsmith, featuring three brand new, unreleased loosies.

Listen and enjoy,

seangran

Tracklist:

1. eu-IV - COMEin (DEMO)

2. eu-IV - Peace

3. Beya Likhari - Rose Garden

4. eu-IV - tommy

5. eu-IV - 107

6. reauxmarquez - Might Be Gone In The Morning Freestyle

7. eu-IV - uah

8. eu-IV - Prisoner Of Hard Times

9. duzzo dave - FRIENDS

10. eu-IV - don'tletgoo

11. eu-IV - Black Gold

12. drugscinema - god speed

13. eu-IV - Timegoes

14. eu-IV - riser

15. eu-IV - ???

16. Al Rogers Jr. (Baby Al) - shewoke

17. eu-IV - ???

18. eu-IV - breath

19. benjo - the mind

20. eu-IV - ???

21. eu-IV - onlyone

22. STEEZA - Connections Offline(s)

23. eu-IV - Consciousness

24. eu-IV - Outer Sense

25. eu-IV - Efflictim (TRZYMIX)

▶ discover: @bmore-new-era

There’s a magic in eu-IV’s music. Lo-fi hip-hop is a sea of sample loops, radio noise and fuzzy percussion, with a rapidly increasing amount of people diving in.

Hip-hop’s sample based roots have often attracted criticism from outsiders due to its apparent simplicity and unoriginality, something that has continued on to lo-fi hip-hop from the myriad of genres that music now comprises of in this day and age.

What people have failed to realise since hip-hop’s birth up to today is that in a genre that can pull from other sources as much as hip-hop does creativity and originality are paramount. No other genre has the ability to affect listeners regardless of how much time is invested in a track, whether it’s minimal in its elements or complex. Songs in the genre can be made in minutes from a simple four bar loop, an old hip-hop acapella and a basic mix of kicks, hi-hats and snares, or can take hours and days of carefully utilising effects to create varied soundscapes. What unites the best of the beats is their ability to make your head nod as soon as the drums kick in.

eu-IV’s music lies across the spectrum, but every track is replay worthy, and by that I mean multiple times, so it’s no wonder that his success with dropping loosies on SoundCloud means we’re only now getting full-length projects from him. Released this year, Pearl and Close Your Eyes show two sides to the Baltimore producer’s output. One speaks to his ability to release individual songs, somehow flowing with connections left to the listener. The other shows eu-IV’s focus and ability to craft a unique body of work that spans multiple tracks and threads between them. Both as a whole are greater than the sum of their parts, but for different reasons.

I recently spoke to eu-IV about his musical background, recent releases, working with duzzo dave, his live-streamed performance at Complex’s HQ in New York and more.

Look out for my All eu-IV Mix featuring classics and unreleased material from eu-IV later this week.

It's been a minute (or six months to be precise) since I dropped a Stay Cool mix, so I repurposed this unused guestmix I made back in January to be a placeholder while I'm getting set up in London. There's a lot of stuff coming, stay tuned.

Tracklist:

1. PromNite - Running (ft. Sidewalk Kal)

2. DJ Dahi x Tink - Men

3. CJ Fly - Q & A (Prod By ESTA)

4. Eric Bellinger ft K2 - Rihanna (Jeftuz Remix)

5. Abraham Blue - Let's Escape (J-Louis Remix)

6. Future feat. Kelly Rowland - Neva End (Dave Luxe Refix)

7. Elhae - Take Care ft. SPZRKT (Family Remix)

8. JD Reid & It's Nate - Reset

9. Ekany - Flavours (ft. Ayar)

10. Clara La San - Nineteen Twenty (NeguimBeats Remix)

11. Tom Misch - High

12. GoldLink - Dance On Me (GEOTHEORY Remix)

13. Bonzai - Doses (SINGULARIS Remix)

14. Earthgang - Missed Calls (DrewsThatDude Remix)

15. Mick Jenkins - On The Map (Reworked / Cover)Feat. BADBADNOTGOOD

16. Smino - Runnin' (Feat. Jay2AintShit) [Prod. By Monte Booker]

17. montell2099 - flute her

18. GÜMS - MAÏA - Dopamine (GÜMS Remix)

19. Stwo - Often (The Weeknd Flip)

20. 2X2A - bae

The latest Inspired mix focuses on Espa, and features a handful of brilliant artists from the UK and America with certain tracks being hand-picked by the London / New York songstress herself.

Tracklist

1. Espa - Swan Song (feat. Giggs) (JD Reid Remix)

2. Shift K3Y - Gone Missing (Brasstracks Remix)

3. Flatbush ZOMBiES - Red Light, Green Light

4. Kwabs - Walk (feat. Fetty Wap)

5. Clockwork Indigo - Butterfly Effect

6. Kano - GarageSkankFREESTYLE

7. JMSN - Cruel Intentions

8. Espa - Rodney (feat. Erick Arc Elliot)

9. Katy B - Disappear

10. Hugh - Direction (Royce Wood Junior Remix)

11. Espa - 141

12. NAO - Happy

13. Espa - Orbit

14. Sinead Harnett - If You Let Me (feat. GRADES)

15. Chiara Hunter - Hammer

▶ discover: @espamusic

Espa is all over the place. From her constant travels around the globe to her wide-ranging sound, diversity and exploration are in the London singer’s DNA. With music so deeply rooted in her family it’s easy to see why. Collaborations with New York’s Flatbush Zombies and their Beast Coast cohorts as well as Grime kings like Giggs have shown Espa’s flexibility, all the while releasing a string of EPs that pay homage to her jazz background and R&B roots as much as they build upon them.

Back in March Espa and I talked about her latest single “141”, the new direction it represents for her sound and the importance of understanding every side of creative control that an artist can have with their output.

▶ Discover: @takugotbeats

▶ Read our interview: bit.ly/takuinterview

▶ Tracklist: bit.ly/alltakuspecialtracklist

▶ The Stay Cool Collection: bit.ly/thestaycoolcollection

Stay Cool #017 is the complete version of my All Ta-ku Mix as it was originally recorded, featuring 100 songs from the producer, plus Flume's brilliant remix of "Higher". The entire mix loosely flows chronologically, going from Ta-ku's boom-bap origins to his embrace of Trap, Bass, other genres and his own vocals in recent years.

Much love to you and yours,

seangran

Credits: Photo by Anthony Berlangieri, design by myself.

▶ Discover: @takugotbeats

▶ Read my interview with Ta-ku: www.bit.ly/takuinterview

▶ Listen to All Ta-ku Special Part I: http://bit.ly/alltakuspecialpt1

▶ Tracklist: www.bit.ly/alltakuspecialpt2tracklist

As is always the case with my artist interviews, I’ve made another mix inspired by my most recent subject: Ta-ku. Though it was released as a written feature, meaning the recording won’t be uploaded, I’ve put together a mix featuring 100 of my favourite tracks, remixes and features from the Perth producer, plus a remix from fellow Australian, Flume. This marks the third artist-exclusive mix I’ve done following my Freddie Gibbs and Knxwledge specials.

With so many tracks from Ta-ku's long and detailed discography I’ve split the mix into two parts that loosely flow chronologically. Part II continues with the genre-killer's embrace of trap, bass, R&B and his own vocals in recent years, with an appropriate classic from the Dusty series to close things out.

I’ll be dropping the entire mix in the near future for those that would appreciate it. I know I say it all the time, but really, thank you for the support. It’s much appreciated, and has helped me achieve so much with these mixes and interviews during my three years in Japan, so I’m glad that I’m able to end my time here with the biggest interview + mix project I’ve undertaken yet.

Much love to you and yours,

seangran

PS: Got a favourite Ta-ku track or rework that isn’t in this mix? Let me know via the comments below or on Twitter (www.twitter.com/seangran_)

▶ Discover: @takugotbeats

▶ Read my interview with Ta-ku: www.bit.ly/takuinterview

▶ Listen to All Ta-ku Special Part II: http://bit.ly/alltakuspecialpt2

▶ Tracklist: www.bit.ly/alltakuspecialpt1tracklist

As is always the case with my artist interviews, I’ve made another mix inspired by my most recent subject: Ta-ku. Though it was released as a written feature, meaning the recording won’t be uploaded, I’ve put together a mix featuring 100 of my favourite tracks, remixes and features from the Perth producer, plus a remix from fellow Australian, Flume. This marks the third artist-exclusive mix I’ve done following my Freddie Gibbs and Knxwledge specials.

With so many tracks from Ta-ku's long and detailed discography I’ve split the mix into two parts that loosely flow chronologically. Part I focuses on his hip-hop origins and the synth-filled songs that his earlier releases were full of. Look out for Part II in a few days.

I’ll be dropping the entire mix in the near future for those that would appreciate it. I know I say it all the time, but really, thank you for the support. It’s much appreciated, and has helped me achieve so much with these mixes and interviews during my three years in Japan, so I’m glad that I’m able to end my time here with the biggest interview + mix project I’ve undertaken yet.

Much love to you and yours,

seangran

PS: Got a favourite Ta-ku track or rework that isn’t in this mix? Let me know via the comments below or on Twitter (www.twitter.com/seangran_)