musomusofm on the radar playlist #9 - Kristian Phillip Valentino, Natstar, Yon Idy, Baywud, Matthew Liam Nicholson, Edison Miller, Nero Simon and the Sunsetters and more....
As January slowly rolls on so does the amount of quality music that appears in my inbox…..
Shows continue to be postponed, wreaking havoc on the live music and general entertainment industry, what can we do to keep in touch with music? How about pouring yourself a drink, sitting back and letting us entertain you with 30 minutes of the finest new music around?
The playlist is below, under that, you’ll see bios from some of the acts appearing on the playlist along with their social media details, if you liked what you heard, head to their sites, drop a few comments, buy some merch but mostly, show them some love!
Enjoy!
ROMAN STYX
Roman Styx is a Russian record producer, songwriter, audio engineer, and author of various music production video tutorials. He is known as a producer/songwriter for Russian pop stars and some international musicians.
Twice, his songs were performed in the Russian national finals of the Eurovision song contest. His YouTube channel, AudioMasterClass, is one of the most popular Russian record production resources since 2008.
Right after school, Roman Styx went to a jazz college and then to the Institute of Modern Art in Moscow. He played in a variety of bands. When he was studying to become a singer, he also took guitar, drums, and piano classes and was interested in making music arrangements. That's when he first acquired a producer's way of thinking. Roman Styx went on to do production and remixes.
The audience highly appreciated his remixes of "Let Me Breathe" by Joss Stone and "You Are My Everything" by Lalah Hathaway. It was mentioned by the Mix Collectors blog.
Roman Styx currently records collaboration tracks with various singers. He also manages OnlineMasterClass.ru, an online music production school with a dedicated YouTube channel. In August 2020, Roman Styx presented a new single "Reason Not To Kiss" featuring Myah Marie. Myah is a professional songwriter and vocalist. She was a background vocalist for Britney Spears, Selena Gomez & Miley Cyrus. She's written songs for major artists, from Britney Spears to Lil Wayne.
Socials
PSYKOBREAK!
This single (Rat King) features vocalist Eliza Costello and producer/songwriter Riley Buffington who met through a guest speaker at Riley's audio engineering school, and have been making music ever since!
This song was inspired by the complicated intricacies of an abusive relationship. A Rat King is a group of mummified rats with their tails tangled together. A few of these have been found in history and are widely believed to be a hoax, but it's believed that they tangle up together and die that way. Human relationships can be quite similar; they can be toxic and unhealthy but very difficult to pull away from.
Unbelievably, this song took four years to make, some may think that all good things take time but it's truly unnecessary to spend that much time on a song, but now it’s done, the pair can breathe a sigh of relief to finally see the fruits of their labour.
Socials
KRISTIAN PHILLIP VALENTINO
Let me tell you a bit more about him, Kristian is a solo acoustic, singer-songwriter born and raised in the Chicago suburbs and now resided in the Blue Ridge Mountains of Asheville, North Carolina. After the passing of his father, ending up homeless and being broken up with all within one month, Kristian began writing songs in the summer of 2010 as a way to start processing all he'd been through and begin the healing process.
His musical palette falls between the lines of indie folk, singer-songwriter and Americana. Fans of Gregory Alan Isakov, Iron and Wine and Jason Isbell will feel comfortable here.
Kristian is currently releasing his first full length record, "For every thing, there is a season" one song at a time. The new album is a concept record based on the 4 seasons Spring, Summer, Fall and Winter. The plot is a love story that starts in Spring and weaves through the other seasons leading to a breakup in the Winter. There are 12 songs, 3 for each season and Kristian is currently releasing 1 song a month for the next year starting in March 2021 and ending in February 2022.
Kristian wrote this album in 7 days, to process a relationship that had ended. Although it ends as a sad story, it's a story that will resonate with many others and hopefully can be a healing balm of hope.
This song, "Wind, Hail, and Snow" is the first winter tune and it is setting the stage for the break up to begin.
Socials
NATSTAR
NatStar is music personified. A musician, producer, songwriter, and performer packaged into one artist.
Describing his sound as a mix of Hip Hop, R&B, Jazz, Soul and Gospel, he’s a triple threat as he sings, raps and produces for a diverse mix of genres.
NatStar has amassed over 1,000,000 streams on Spotify matched by the 2,000,000 views he has accumulated on his youtube channel.
With over 60,000 monthly listeners, NatStar was able to tour over 35 cities last year and was also recently tapped to headline the 2017 Dakar Hip-Hop Music Festival in Senegal, Africa.
His latest track ‘Lock’ is a flowing blend of razor sharp lyrics fused with some of the finest West Coast beats you’ll ever hear.
Socials
YON IDY
Singer-songwriter Yon Idy steps into 2022 by guiding us through a wistful traipse with his 11th January release “In Time.” Idy’s catchy melody belies the deeper meaning of his lyrics, as he leads us through a melancholic yet cathartic journey. Yon opens his heart by singing, “I've looked through love, long enough to see what I find/But I, I find it hard to let go of the you left inside.” By the end of the trip, we have loved deeply, have grieved our losses, and somehow managed to move on as a better human.
“In Time” is a characteristically simple, but elegantly timeless composition from Yon. His voice resonates with the listener, at times causing the heart to flutter almost imperceptibly, while at others piercing it to its very core. “In Time” builds on Yon’s September 2021 release “My Fire,” which has 15,000 streams on Spotify with 92,000 views for his accompany video.
Yon Idy grew up surrounded by music in his hometown of Skopje. He fell in love with and learned from classic artists like The Beatles and Leonard Cohen, later influenced by Muse, with healthy doses of the blues and indie scenes. He plays to live audiences multiple times a week and is looking forward to releasing his first full-length album in 2022.
Socials
BAYWUD
Los Angeles based indie singer-songwriter BAYWUD released a new song on January 12th 2022 titled ‘In The Arms of Silence’.
Of the track, Baywud says, “So many opposing views and so much unnecessary fighting taking place right now. Although we need to unite and support each other more than ever, we seem to be moving further and further away from it. The song is about knowing when it's time to resist the need to be right”.
This is is Baywud's first single of 2022 and his eleventh to date and I understand that he is planning on releasing a brand new track every month throughout 2022.
Keep up to date with Baywud’s musical happening at the following platforms.
Socials
MATTHEW LIAM NICHOLSON
Matthew Liam Nicholson has tapped his creative well, steadily releasing new music since late 2021 with much more in the pipe. The California-based Australian composer recently released a lush instrumental guided meditation album entitled "Nine Movements", an immersive offering replete with central contributions from Los Angeles experimental-jazz seers Miguel Atwood-Ferguson and Carlos Nino, on the esteemed Longform Editions deep listening label.
“The Worm Turns" by contrast rests firmly in the ecstatic indie rock side of Nicholson’s oeuvre, and is the third single from his forthcoming Universal Outsider studio LP. With a new year on the horizon, “The Worm Turns” is a luminescent, rhapsodic anthem for our collective ordeal of global awakening, during these extreme and difficult times.
Themes of endurance, disillusionment, initiation, disclosure, trust - and above all a reminder of the reality of our own Divine nature- are all woven into "The Worm Turns”. A gorgeous easy-going melody unfurls and truly blossoms in the chorus, sweeping us up and leaving us with a word of encouragement in these dark times:
“Keep looking up -
you know the stars above us
are hung in your light,
day and night..”
These themes are translated to the accompanying music video. This video is the other side of the coin for "The Worm Turns". Layered natural landscapes and fractal images swoop and soar with the music, working in tandem with Nicholson's ethereal lyrics. The video is a physical representation of the nuances buried within the track; a look into the meditating and pondering mind of an artist.
Socials
EDISON MILLER
Following on from the success of his debut single which received big love from various national and regional radio stations, South London singer-songwriter Edison Miller released his follow up single ‘Lucid’ on January 14th.
Miller has been in bands since he was 15, thrashing out covers and writing the odd song here and there but started work on a new solo project in 2020 off the back of featuring on a friends record.
Drawing influence from some proper heavyweights including Blossoms, Two Door Cinema Club, The Kooks, Razorlight, John Mayer, Sam Fender & Vulfpeck (to name a few), Miller is keen to use elements of these to shape his style but his sound is very much his own.
Produced by Grammy award winner Cameron Craig (Tom Grennan, Amy Winehouse, Adele), ‘Lucid’ is an expression of individualism, empowerment & being who you are unquestionably. Sticking it to the man. A younger generation being blamed by previous reckless generations & emotionally & economically hit by the failings of an irresponsible government.
Our individuality and our ability to harness our differences makes us unique and powerful. I'm not perfect, you're not perfect and I'm good with that - Edison Miller
Socials
NERO SIMON AND THE SUNSETTERS
On the opening title track of the upcoming debut album Treasure Chest, soft acoustic guitars strum to the beat of conga drums as singer Nero Simon romantically croons the opening lyrics “We said I love you, for the first time, on the Seven Mile Bridge.” And thus begins ‘Treasure Chest’, the story of two lovers entwined on a passionate island journey through the Florida Keys, on a quest to rekindle a love gone by. Island vibes and silky saxophone add Caribbean flavour to this folk-rock ballad that has the feel of an instant folk rock classic.
Nero Simon and the Sunsetters are an eight-piece group based in Atlanta, GA with an island sound that has elements of Rock, Folk, Funk and Americana. Their debut album Treasure Chest is scheduled to be released on March 18, 2022. The first single Starboard (Escape to Cozumel) was released on October 22, 2021 and the second single Treasure Chest has just landed on January 14, 2022.
Socials
SO there you have it folks, another 9 awesome tracks for you to get your ears around. If you liked any of them, please hit them up on the socials and tell them, mention that you heard them on the musomusofm on the radar playlist and they might even buy me a cookie if our paths ever cross!
Please take a moment to spread the word on social media, it’s on Instagram, Facebook and Twitter, just head to musomusouk on either platform and give it a LIKE, SHARE, THUMBS UP or whatever you can!
Until next time…..