Phrase Collaboration with The Slips

The Slips, David Treahearn and Rob Haggett are a duo who produce electric dance music matched with live drums and old school 8-Bit retro visuals built up a following in no time. The duo have supported the likes of Kasabian, Friendly Fires, Alex Metric and Pnau as well as playing a set at the Glastonbury Festival. Their latest work sees them reunite with their Australian fan base with a variety of tracks featuring the likes of Kimbra, Flight Facilities and Phrase. Check out below Phrases colab which is a big change from his most recent body of work Babylon which saw him return to his musical roots and produce a 60's rock inspired album. 

The Slips - Downtown (feat. Phrase) by theinsound

Illy, Spit Syndicate, Sietta and Phrase Rock Sydney

Well what a weekend it has been for Sydney and Australian Hip Hop. Friday night saw Illy sell out the Factory Theater in Marrickville with local boys Spit Syndicate alongside and supported by Sietta who have recently signed to Elephant Tracks. Saturday night saw Phrase launch his new album Babylon at oxford art factory backed by a live band to mix it up from the typical hip hop he has been know for in the past.

Spit Syndicate as always brought their A-game as they mixed their set up, between their new mix tape, Best Intentions - Part 1 and their previous two albums, Towards the Light and Exile. The show attracted many other Sydney artist to the crowd including Skryptcha, Dutch, Crochet Crooks, Stories For Nothing and Horrorshow duo Solo and Adiddy. During the middle of the set Solo picked up the mic and jumped on a few Spit Syndicate/One Day tracks and then played one of his own, Choose None with the help of Nick Lupi, Jimmy Nice and of course Joyride on the vocals. As always the boys made plenty of time for the fans, chilling at the merch stand taking photos, signing various items and just having a few drinks with 
the fans. 

The night would not have been complete without producer, M-Phazes provided an entertaining hip hop set with a compilation of Australian and international hip hop which included tracks from his own album, Good Gracious. 

Illy headlined the gig and rightly so, with the crowd responding to his enthusiastic stage presence. It is no wonder that Illy is turning heads in the scene and attracting new comers to Australian Hip Hop. The Chase and Same Number Same Hood were highlights of the set but Red Light Green Light was definitely the crowd favorite for the night with Illy bringing up the majority of the One Day Crew, Jimmy Nice, Nick Lupi, Joyride and Solo to help him out.

Saturday night saw Phrase back up from playing at Spring Hip Hop Festival in Queensland earlier that afternoon to officially launch his album to the Sydney scene. As you would be aware Phrase took a completely different approach to this album with no sampling or traditional hip hop beat making processes. Instead taking it back to his musical rock roots. Therefore there there was no questions to be asked when he announced that he would be taking a line up of rock bands on tour with him as support along with a band of his own for backing. 

His set consisted of tracks from his new album, Babylon and his second album, Clockwork. It was great to finally hear the new album live which showcases how phrase continues to evolve as an artist. Tracks like Burn It Down, Clockwork, Sky Light and his encore track Spaceship from his second album Clockwork were all exceptional with the live band backing him and his wife on vocals adding a new sound and appeal to these classics which we already know.

Phrase Babylon Film Clip

Check out Phrase's new film clip for his single Babylon which has just been added to the rotation on the J's. Enjoy

Big Phrase Is Back!

Its been some time since we've seen an album from Phrase but the wait is nearly over! When phrase dropped clockwork in 2009 it seems that he took his music to a new level with tracks like spaceship and Clockwork, but with the release of Babylon tomorrow the stage is set for the bar to be raised higher once again. 

When Phrase set out to produce his latest album, Babylon he wanted to create something that sounded like he was an emcee from the 60’s. Although Phrase listens to, loves and makes hip hip his always been influenced by british music from the 60’s with groups like The Kinks and Small Faces having a great influence on his life. He believes that Babylon is the strongest songwriting and most exciting music that he has produced in his career, a statement that i’m sure that many of us will agree with. 

Phrase speaks about the album mix as the most emotional part of the album. Mainly because with the mix down and making final decisions on how each song will sound its like shutting the door on a chapter of his life. He feels that he has many mixed emotions about the mix, as nerves set in as to weather its perfect but theres also that strong sense of excitement of what is to come.

With Babylon Phrase took a different approach to writing the tracks, compared to the processes used over the past two albums, Talk With Force and Clockwork. Phrase wrote the entire album at home and the album dose not feature any samples with all original music instead. At the end of last year he got married and during the production of the album his wife helped to workshop while sitting at home with the guitar and keys. The approach to the album was that of a more traditional song writing as such instead of just getting beats from a producer and writing over them.

He mixed and recorded the album in Sydney but had all of the lyrics written before heading to Sydney. During the recording process he says that he felt a lot of pressure from the success of his previous albums But felt as thought the past works were very different to this album due to his personal experiences in life. Turning 30 this year and getting married last year he says that he feels as though he has grown up and is in a better place personally than he was when he was recording Clockwork. In saying this he found it hard to find subject topics that he was passionate about enough to write about but he believes that this has only led to better music.

The album features some big names including Jimmy Barnes and Ales Sparticadia. The track Velvet Glove ft Jimmy Barnes is one that Phrase clearly has a love for as he felt so strong about it that even know it was not a single, and rather just another album track he felt the need to get Jimmy Barnes on the hook. He wanted Barnes as he felt that there was no one else in the country that had a strong enough voice for the sound Phrase was after.

The album artwork is by an artist Gus Luni. When he saw the artwork it immediately spoke to him and Phrase believed that it clearly said Babylon to him. The title for the album comes from the idea that over the past few years Phrase has found his feet and now knows what he is on about in life.

The album hits the shelfs tomorrow so head down to your local JB Hi-Fi or any good record store or head to iTunes and grab you self of the album. For the mean time head over to http://babylon.phrasemusic.com/ to stream the album. Big ups to Phrase and all those who worked on the album this ones sure to be a banger!

Arks

Just stumbled upon some of the realist hip hop that I've herd in a long time by a mc by the name of Arks. The track "Don't Cry" is definitely on another level. He instantly connects with his audience throughout his track as we are all reminded about the times that we have gone through similar experiences or people who have been through them. Dibe's track "Help me Levitate" is also along the same lines. "Help me levitate, nar fuck that let's fly" His lyrics inspire you to achieve greatness above and beyond the usual. "Don't Cry" is sure to become a classic when the final mix is released, it reminds me of Phrase's track, "Hold On" which has touched many across the years that have struggled high school and their early adult hood. Arks is defiantly one to keep an eye on.

Big ups man loving your shit.


Don't Cry (SNIPPET) by Arks Emcee

Dibe - Help Me Levitate (Feat. Hugo Race) by Arks Emcee