Yesterday's Pupil

My oh my! Great travesty! Tragedy and tyrrany! How could I have left one of my favourite South African artists of 2012 off my Best Of list? Perhaps because his album was released in such an unorthodox manner that it slipped my mind that it was actully an album. Nevertheless, I come to blog about the great man known on stage as Yesterday's Pupil!

Yesterday's Pupil a.k.a Peach van Pletzen from Pretoria, was one of my most exciting discoveries last year. He is a one-man musical machine, producer of awesome electronic pop music and overall talented musician. He is also the production-third of Afrikaans alternative rap group Bittereinder and has worked with SA rapper Tumi Molekane of Tumi & The Volume and more. His solo project however is the real gold, and Peach produces the beats, plays the instrumentation and provides vocals on all the tracks, which range from gritty electro-bangers to funky electro pop numbers to alternative rock influenced tunes. Really nice stuff in my opinion. And a great live act too!

Last year he released his second album, in four parts, releasing 2 tracks every 2 months, for free! What a champion! The way he sees it, people are going to get it one way or another, so why not give it to the people, visionary I say... Each track release had a different artwork based on a pupil (clever eh?) done by kickass local designer Louis Minnaar. Yesterday's Pupil is definitely one of my favourite guys on the SA music scene at the moment and I anticipate big things and great music from him in the future.

Head to his website to download his latest album, for free! Thanks YP!
http://www.yesterdayspupil.com/

The Beast feat. Tumi Molekane by yesterday's pupil

Shayne

French Toast

Super rad French record label Kitsune has just released the third edition to their compilation series Kitsune Parisien - a showcase of all the up and coming talents on the label and compiled by the label owner himself. Hear all the great new and exciting sounds from the French capital and elsewhere on this compilation, from electronic beats to French indie vibes. I have always been a big fan of the French electronic and house scene, they have their own unique flavour (much like French toast) thanks in part to the legacy of French superstars such as Daft Punk, Justice, Phoenix and others.

The compilation packs some very decent tracks, all from artists relatively unknown outside of France, so it's a great way to peep the scene. Laidback electro-pop, funky electronica, Phoenix-like indie rock and more French quisine to satisfy the ears. My personal favourite track of the bunch is Wolf by Pyramid, a funky French electro track with some tasty synths and drum machine work.

Below is a minimix of the compilation for you to preview and peruse the sounds on the album:
Kitsuné Parisien III MiniMix By Jerry Bouthier by Kitsune Maison

You can download the album or the mix through the links in the player above, or find it somewhere for free on the web with a bit of searching. As a bonus here is a link to a great French website that posts new French electronica each week, or as they call it 'French Touch music'.

http://www.frenchtouchmusic.com/

Shayne