Recently Played – Kid Sister, Shackleton

Time for a little “me too” here. These tracks are all over the internet right now, but that won't stop me from confessing my appreciation.

Chicago's Kid Sister is still a new enough phenomenon that she doesn't have a Wikipedia page, but that won't last long (as attested by the magazine cover on the left). No album date yet, to my knowledge, but every time this girl pops a collar or swings a chain, watch the blog boys go craaaazy. The current ripple effect reminds me a lot of the yesterbuzz surrounding Lady Sov, M.I.A. and, to a lesser extent, Uffie. I'll not hazard quality comparisons, but I will say that Kid Sister's club bangers are probably the hottest I've heard all year (yes, counting “Umbrella”). Listening to her recent “Control,” I can't deny her energy behind the mic, but certainly she has a helluva secret weapon in producer DJ A-Trak. This is about all we're playing at our place these days...

Kid Sister – Control
Kid Sister – Pro Nails
Kid Sister – Southside

And now for something completely different. I know very little about dubstep, but this track by London's Shackleton came to my attention by virtue of a high-profile remix by Ricardo Villalobos, who claims he was left in tears by his first exposure to the original version. Villalobos served up a hot remix, no doubt, but more important, his tip really turned a lot of people (myself included) onto “Blood On My Hands,” a song that really is something quite special. Shackleton are part of the Skull Disco clique, if I understand correctly. I went and bought the whole Skull Disco comp to get this track and properly place it in context (CD here, mp3s here). I haven't warmed up to anything else on the comp quite as much as I have to “Blood,” but I can recommend the tracks “Tin Foil Sky” and “Mystical Warrior.” Sadly, neither of these feature the cryptic but haunting narrative element found in “Blood”'s numbed, apocalyptic vocal layer. Probably I should listen to some more Burial, but even in complete ignorance of this musical niche, I'm pretty comfortable saying that this one's a classic.

Shackleton - Blood On My Hands