Abel Tesfaye, the insanely talented artist known as The Weeknd, has just unleashed Echoes of Silence, the final release of his trilogy of free albums.
Following the game-changing House of Balloons and the hectic Thursday, we are introduced to the dark, foreboding Echoes of Silence. This is mystical hangover music that is still undeniably sexy. It has a lot more seratonin-draining introspective jams, which I am definitely not mad at. Quite honestly, this is some of the best drug music to be released this decade. Love him or hate him, The Weeknd is one of the most innovative and enigmatic musicians to emerge in quite a while. Whether at a party, during sex, at an afterparty or on the day-after, The Weeknd's music is always appropriate.
Here is a little glimpse into Echoes of Silence, but I recommend that you download the whole release and listen to it in its entirety. It is pretty much perfect, and Avenge The Virgins approved.
I'm not one for Best Of Year lists, but if I had to endorse one release this year, it would definitely be House of Balloons. It's the album that has gotten the most burn from me, and I'll go as far as to call it a classic. Maybe it's a lifestyle thing, but that thing has been the soundtrack to my life in 2011. Echoes of Silence is a phenomenal release as well, and very much worth your time.
I apologize for the short post, but I'm not in any shape to go into any great detail.
Omari Shakir is an artist out of Toronto who is part of Abel Tesfaye's xo collective. Not quite The Weeknd, but the vibes are similar. Codeine, Courvoisier and chronic runnin' through the veins.
Toronto is boiling hot these days. Following The Weeknd/Abel Tesfaye's meteoric rise to fame, and his XO crew's affiliation with Drake's OVO (October's Very Own) collective, people have been paying a lot of attention to Canada's biggest metropolis. Not only is Drake absolutely killing it lately, but a lot of the r&b and electronic music coming from Toronto is of the highest quality.
I have personally played The Weeknds's debut mixtape House of Balloons more than any other release this year, but I was a bit dissapointed by the muddled follow-up Thursday. Regardless, I'm willing to give his future releases a chance, based on the strength of his debut mixtape.
Two days ago, Tesfaye dropped a new song, his most drugged-out and distorted piece to date, called Initiation.
The release of Initiation introduces us to DROPXLIFE, a mysterious producer from Toronto who is part of the OVOXO umbrella group. For many, this is our first introduction to this new talent. He specializes in chopped-up, dropped-out, bass-heavy jams, which is the perfect complement to The Weeknd's syruppy serenades to debauchery.
I've included the title track of his debut mixtape ALLXLEGENDS, as well as a download link so you can jam it on your ipods and stereos. Between this and Rustie's album (OMFG so good), fans of dope instrumental vibes have been pretty spoiled recently.
DROPXLIFE's debut is pretty sweet, to be quite honest. Mellow, trippy and heavy at the same time, a few songs are reminiscent of a mix of Portishead and a really strong MDMA trip.
Everything's supposed to be back to normal now. We've just had to remove the most insanely random songs from our server, because of our host's demands. There doesn't seem to be much rhyme or reason behind the songs they forced us to remove, as most are available on several other blogs, but if it means we can continue to feed the masses, then so be it, I'll take 'em down.
To celebrate the fact that we won't imminently perish, I've posted a few smooth tunes and one oldie thrown in for good measure.
This is a fantastic edit by local house heroes Prince Club. The original version of The Morning, a somewhat upbeat hangover anthem by The Weeknd, isn't too altered by the Montreal duo (hence the title of edit and not remix), but they make it slighly more groovy and smooth. Whereas most of The Weeknd's songs are pretty much the soundtrack to a drug-fueled hotel suite party, this take on The Morning would definitely fit in an early evening club set. Actually, it'd probably work great in an after-hours set too, as the sun starts to rise. Sexy, emotional and effective. Montreal is kicking ass at music these days, as I'm sure you've noticed.
I found an old CD of mine a little while back, and had to take a trip down memory lane. While this classic tune is very period-specific, its message still resonates. I'm pretty sure that they still have not finished rebuilding the poor, disaffected areas of New Orleans since Hurricane Katrina hit, and it's been 6 years.
Sinjin Hawke, a former Montrealer, has now relocated to Barcelona, but he's still releasing phenomenal material. We've profiled him before, and posted quite a few of his tunes, so you should be familiar with his brand of deep, soulful dance music. Last time I talked to him, he mentioned that his plan was to lock himself in a room and produce as much music as he could for a solid year. The original tune, Fancy, is one of my favorite songs (and I've even posted the original a few months ago), so it was a VERY welcome surprise to stumble across this gem.
I realize that I've posted two The Dream songs in 2 days, but that's because I think he is one of the tightest producers/artists in music. His creativity knows no bounds, and he's made some of the greatest lovemaking music since Prince was in his prime. That's a heavy statement, but I stand by it. Trust me, put on any of his CDs when you're with your missus or man, and you'll see what I mean.
This final tune is incredibly sappy, but I'm totally unabashed about my taste for sweet love songs, as I'm sure you've noticed. I also post gangster rap and dirty house music on the regular, so I figure that posting this stuff once in a while gets a pass, ha. This tune, from the now defunct Québec-based electro-indie trio La Patère Rose, is a recent obsession. The lead singer, Fanny Bloom, is pursuing a solo career, and the two other members are focusing on their main project, the electro-jazz group called Misteur Valaire.
You know, I might have a serious weakness for cute girls who play piano and sing sad romantic pop songs. They are my Achilles heel, I swear to god.
Wow, no 4/20 post? I was working until 8 am, sleeping the rest of the day + working again this evening, and I guess the other guys were too stoned to do it. Our apologies.
To win back your trust, here are some love songs, just in time for the weekend.
There's nothing quite like a Belgian poet cooing in your ear to make you want to sit next to a fireplace with a beautiful woman on a polar bear rug, drinking Veuve Clicquot.
The number of times that I've listened to House of Balloons (and especially this song) is starting to be unhealthy. Toronto's very own The Weeknd make some of the sexiest music you'll hear this year. The audio equivalent of foreplay.
I hope that you've enjoyed the post. Later, lovebirds.
Dark, sensual music is the soundtrack to right here, right now. Those r&b slow jams of yore are mutating into mysterious and sultry Four-AM anthems. The DNA of love songs is changing, and I definitely ain't mad at it.
This is a brand new bootleg recently unleashed upon the world by Montreal producer Sinjin Hakwe. Brandy's music is already really sensual and sweet, but Sinjin Hawke cranks the dial a bit further and warps this one into a carnal two-step banger. I'm definitely looking forward to the rest of 2011. If this, and his recent material is a barometer for what's to come, oooh weeeee.
You know, it may just be that muted horn sample, but this remix evokes images of a piano bar in New York City. As it progresses, it morphs into a more ravey creature, but still retains that classiness, for lack of a better term. This is music that you'd listen to next to the rooftop pool of a fancy hotel, while stoned on MDMA with a fashion model. This is Grown Folk, refined dance music for the casanova in you.
Bynie pretty much nailed it when he described this remix as Sex Sax re-imagined as a softcore porno. Julio Bashmore's amazing take on High Powered Boys' (Surkin + Bobmo, for those not in the know) Udon is lovemaking music for the future. Teki dropped this remix on Saturday, and I definitely caught feelings on the dancefloor. Bashmore's remix is cinematic, sexy and groovy as hell. What more could you possibly want? (Oh, and he's coming to Montreal fairly soon. Keep your eyes peeled.)
Unbelievable. I can already predict that this will be one of the best releases this year, and one of the strongest debuts in a long time. Toronto's mysterious The Weeknd have dropped their absolutely hypnotic 9 track debut album, and it is a sensual tour-de-force. Don't be surprised if you hear about this album a lot this year.
Have a pleasant afternoon, everyone. Once again, we'd like to thank you for choosing Avenge The Virgins as your peddler of hot crack and great vibes. Come visit us again soon.
The songs featured on this blog are for promotional use only. Our goal is to promote the artists we feature, to expose great talent to a wider audience, and not to steal money from their pockets. If you would like a song removed, just get at us in the comments and we'll be more than happy to oblige. If you like the music we feature, then support the artists next time they roll through your city, either by going to a show, or by buying merchandise!
