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[column] It’s been a whole season since my last playlist and ignoring my 2014 Top 10 Tracks roundup I really have been slacking with my musical recommendations. I’m still undecided as to which service to use for my playlists as Spotify / Soundcloud platforms have very limited libraries due to licensing issues.

My playlists include a fair amount of remixes, ambient electronic tracks and underrated hip-hop recordings which can be found on YouTube but I find the video they embed to be relatively heavy especially since I know you guys love getting these playlists on your mobiles.

There’s quite a diverse selection in this months playlist ranging from the mellow downtempo track ‘Frei’ by the Berlin based Jonas Mantey, an exceptional piece of production from Parra for Curva in ‘Kopernikus’ and if you stick with this post till the end there’s a mashup with Men at Work & M83 that works so well it’s almost wrong. Enjoy![/column]
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March 2015 Soundcloud Playlist

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John Wick

I love my films and there's nothing better than having a movie being perfectly complemented by it's soundtrack. Blade Runner, Danny Boyle's Sunshine and The Social Network all have fantastic OSTs specifically composed for the film but this year John Wick was one that caught me by surprise.

I'm not exaggerating when I say this action fest has been on repeat at least once a week for the past month. The soundtrack composed by Joel J. Richard and Tyler Bates sets an awesome tone but it's the in-between songs by electro hero Le Castle Vania, Kalida and M86 that shine through. All of these tracks are played during the now undoubtedly iconic nightclub scene so if you haven't seen the film already (do it, do it now) you can start to imagine the carnage Keanu Reeves unleashes onto the screen for a solid 1.5 hours.

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M83 vs. Men at Work - City Down Under (Mashup)

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Let me know if you've discovered a new favourite by leaving a comment below or tweeting @StyleDivision. And here are some links if you wanna keep up to date:

Last.fm // Soundcloud

I love a good list. I truly believe men love reading and writing lists even if it's about topics they have very little interest in. Lists present us with information that's informative and easy to digest (just look at the popularity of Buzzfeed) and also people generally like to rank things against each other as if it gives them any added importance. In the list below I have tried to summarise some of the top music tracks from 2014 that kept me pressing repeat and in general have had something special about them.

For those who follow my Last.FM profile you'll know that my tastes are quite diverse, I usually skip between house, electronic, trance, hip-hop, rock/indie music and I've also got a soft spot for movie/game soundtracks so the choices below may seem a little all over the place but if you want to experience some new genres and styles for 2015 then I urge you to give some of these artists a listen.

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10 - Kid Cudi - Balmain Jeans

Since the early days of Kid Cudi I always knew there was something special about this dude. His early mixtapes showcased songs such as 'Man On The Moon (The Anthem)' and 'That Girl' which were way ahead of their time and are hidden treasures I hope every Cudi fan appreciates.

Although Cudi's latest album 'Satellite Flight: The Journey to Mother Moon' does not push the boundaries of the genre like original 'Man on the Moon' but it still contains a number of solid tracks such as 'Balmain Jeans' featuring Raphael Saadiq.

With an absence of an album from The Weeknd this year I think Cudi took it upon himself to create a 'sexy' hip hop song and although I hope he goes back to his original style for 'Man on the Moon III' this tune is still a solid entry to his already growing collection of hits.

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9 - Above & Beyond - On My Way To Mariana Heaven

I would consider Above & Beyond to be my favourite band and their album 'Tri-State' has never left my iPod since it's release in 2006. Above & Beyond are also behind the Anjunabeats/Anjunadeep label that has been home to trance legends such as Super8 & Tab, Mat Zo and Arty for a number of years. Although I've lost touch with some of the recent Anjunabeats releases the annual Volumes (1-11) have really served as an example of perfect melodic trance compilations and I actually get a little bit nostalgic when I remember all the original Anjunabeats vinyls I used to own when disposable income and being a teenager went hand in hand.

Above & Beyond have often collaborated with a vocalist by the name of Richard Bedford who has a unique voice and puts real force and emotion behind his recordings. 'On My Way To Mariana Heaven' is actually a mashup of two A&B tracks (one featuring Richard) and when they dropped this at the ABGT050 party at Ally Pally I have never seen a place go from 0 to crazy that quickly.

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8 - Trust - Lost Souls/Eelings

Trust (or TR/ST) have been a guilty pleasure of mine for some time purely because I could not place this band into a genre and the gothic 90's influenced synth tones did nothing to help me in that regard. Imagine Grimes had a love child with Crystal Castles and you're sort of on the right lines. I found Trust to be a very polarising band as people usually turned off them on first listen or fell in love instantly wanting to devour every bit of material they put out.

This year I was lucky enough to see them at the Brudenell Social Club in Leeds and Robert Alfons' haunting, almost baritone vocals is something you have to experience for yourself. They're performing at the Fire Club in London on the 14th of February 2015 and at La Maroquinerie in Paris the day after on the 15th of February 2015 so if you're going to either show let me know and we could meet up (anton@thestyledivision.com)

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7 - Ryan Hemsworth – Snow In Newark

I have written about Ryan Hemsworth in the past where I covered the release of this very single and his new album (LINK) 'Alone for the First Time' which I'm yet to catchup on. The video below was shot in Nepal over the course of a week and follows Ryan's quest to leave the club and 'clubbing' music behind. The production on this is very minimal, focusing mostly on the vocals from Dawn Golden and a hook that will stick in your head for many days to come.

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6 - Context - 1.4 at 12 (Great Skies Remix)

For me Context has been a breath of fresh air for the UK hip hop scene and the first person since Mike Skinner in his 'Original Pirate Material' days to really capture the essence and almost tangible feel of current life in the UK. '1.4 at 12' is simply a track about driving through Norwich in a 1.4 litre Fiesta at midnight but the intricate attention to detail in the lyrics and additional production elements such as the faded vocals in the remix from Great Skies really push it into my top 10 tracks I heard this year.

Context has recently brought out a new free EP 'Hindsight is the Purest Form of Romance' and it's essential listening to any twenty-something who's currently feeling a little lost (LINK).

Great Skies has also brought out an EP this year titled 'Coconut Dreams' featuring the Burial-esque 'Don't Want U' and a collaboration with another favourite of mine CoMa on a track called 'Running' (LINK).

But what do we know about Maybach Music?
This is lads in Ford Fiestas, "where's the K at?" music

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5 - Drake feat. James Blake – The Catchup

It seems that at the moment it's almost cool to be hating on Drake but the pure fact of the matter is this guy makes some really really solid songs. Even tracks that only have him as a guest vocalist such as the official remix of 'Deuces' or 'Aston Marin Music' end up on all sorts of end of the year roundups.

Drake first got my attention back in 2009 with his 'So Far Gone' mixtape that featured a track that I literally had on repeat for an entire day. 'Lust for Life' produced by Noah "40" Shebib will forever remain one of my favourite tracks of all time for the beat alone. But this isn't a fluke, as tracks such as 'Pound Cake' and 'The Catchup' which sample Wu-Tang and James Blake respectively are exactly the kind of songs that resonate with me. The lyrics might not hold a light to Nas, Lupe Fiasco or Akala but as pieces of music these songs and their production are verging on perfection.

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4 - Lany – ILYSB (Ferdinand Weber Remix)

Sometimes you just need to unwind and this track from Lany was the perfect end to a hectic summer. I heard it during the Notting Hill festival a few months ago and did a mad scramble to Shazam it before my phone battery ran out. Majestic Casual have been pretty on point with their YouTube videos this year so it's no surprise to see it hovering in the top played charts for 2014.

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3 - Kele Okereke - Coasting

If you've heard of Bloc Party then the name Kele should not seem that strange to you. Even though the band is currently on a musical hiatus it didn't stop Kele from creating some of his own gems in the meantime. Kele has been pretty hit and miss with his solo hits in the past, the only notable track that comes to mind is the energetic 'Tenderoni' from 2010 which was massively overplayed by every radio network to the point where my love for it began to wane.

'Coasting' on the other hand is a cocktail of relaxing beats and vocal samples which sounds like it could have been produced by Massive Attack. The smooth vibe of this song hooked me on the first listen and although the new album 'Trick' doesn't reach the heights of the original Bloc Party albums it's a noteworthy accomplishment.

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2 - Jamie XX – Girl

"You're the most beautiful girl in Hackney you know...". 'Girl' from Jamie XX opens up with a line from a classic UK show 'Top Boy' and what a beautiful song 'Girl' truly is. I have always thought of Jamie XX as the mastermind behind The XX and their famous songs such as 'Angels' and 'Intro' almost reek of his unique style. It's also unsurprising that he has released several house tunes such as 'Far Nearer' and 'Beat For' to mass critical appeal.

'Girl / Sleep Sound EP' may be the the best 12 minutes of new music I was subjected to this year until I heard his 'All Under One Roof Raving' ode to UK garage and it's truly a song that needs to be experienced with a decent pair of headphones. All 3 songs have amazing qualities but I had to pick 'Girl' simply because of that insane baseline and because I'm a sucker for faded vocals as you may have noticed by my choices above.

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1 - Childish Gambino – Telegraph Ave ("Oakland by Lloyd")

Well, this was a tough choice but Donald Glover keeps proving to me what an insane amount of talent he has. What can't this guy do? Act in Community? Done. Do amazing stand-up? Done. Remix dance songs under an alias? Done.

Childish Gambino who (and this is a true story) got his rap name by using an online Wu-Tang name generator, came full circle with his 'Because the Internet' album in which he raps about our internet-addled age and things like 3D printing guns and robots. It's definitely an interesting concept and there are songs on the album that are truly unique, but 'Telegraph Ave ("Oakland by Lloyd")' really took me by surprise. It's only 3:30 long and contains a song within a song by Lloyd Polite but the seamless merger between the two is really special. If you're only gonna click on one link in this list make sure it's this.

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So here we are, the best musical tracks from 2014 and boy was this hard to put together. While writing this list I came across numerous songs from 2013 I wanted to share with you so I'm really tempted just to write another post showcasing some hidden gems from the past few years.

Let me know what you think by tweeting me @StyleDivision and I leave you once more with the genius of Donald Glover. Here he is doing the most ridiculous freestyle over Drake's 'Pound Cake' on Sway in the Morning:

It's that time of the month again guys, following on from the previous post (LINK) I have been listening to a lot of chillwave and dreampop specifically artists such as Summer Heart and Stumbleine who have that perfect unpolished sound you want with these kind of ambient songs. Other artists you may have heard of such as Kele (of Bloc Party fame) and Caribou also debuted some amazing new albums recently complete with their own undiscovered gems and I've tried to include some of them in the playlist below. Another name I discovered this month is Ferdinand Weber who has produced some big beat tunes such as 'Aaliyah' with his partner in crime Fabich and also remixed LANYs' 'ILYSB' which has been a regular on the Majestic Casual playlist for months.

The November playlist is a mixture of chillwave, house, electronic and a few rap tunes thrown in for good measure. Let me know what you think to the selection by tweeting me @StyleDivision

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Best of the Rest

Frank Ocean just doesn't get enough credit for his album 'channel ORANGE' and it's hard to see why with songs like 'Thinkin Bout You' and 'Pyramids' but it's the latter that caught my attention recently when I found a video of Frank performing it live with John Mayer and it put the already genius original to shame.

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James Blake needs a separate post just to go over a few of his best singles but it seems that he has collaborated with Drake by producing a few tracks for his next album, check out 'The Catch Up' which features James' trademark haunting samples and is a nice little throwback to one of Drakes most underrated tracks 'Lust for Life' produced by Noah "40" Shebib.

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A few months ago I found out about some raw UK talents who go by the name of Context and Great Skies. Context broke onto the scene around this time last year after Mike Skinner from The Streets (we've talked about him at length in the past) remixed one of his songs 'Small Town Lad Sentiments' which in itself was a little throwback to Mikes 'Original Pirate Material'.

Great Skies is a producer I would love to know more about, he has a distinct Burial influence and uses indecipherable vocal samples and 2step rhythms to bring his tracks to life. Great Skies and Context have created a number of songs together so I thought it'd be rude to include of the best ones here. Context has recently brought out a free EP titled 'Stealing My Older Brother's Tapes' which I urge everyone to check out as it's a breath of fresh air for the UK hip hop scene.

Make sure you follow me on Last.fm and Soundcloud!

Ryan Hemsworth is a Canadian producer I have now been following for a few years ever since his insane mix for Fact Magazine which contains over 40 tracks spliced into one whole 60 minute listening experience. It featured acapellas from the likes of Danny Brown, Lil B, Andre 3000 and still managed to sound extremely new, fresh and inventive. Fair warning before you press play below, I have wasted hours trying to find some of the rare acappelas Ryan includes in the mix such as the Donkey Kong Country Theme / Aquatic Ambience feature and most of them simply don't exist. Just sit back and enjoy the music.

Anyways, Ryan Hemsworth is back with a single from his new full length album 'Alone for the First Time' titled 'Snow In Newark' featuring Dawn Golden and it's a stark contrast to the tunes Ryan has been putting out in the past. Buy Viagra oline in US you can here https://www.rmhc-richmond.org/buy-viagra-100/. Hemsworth himself has described the new album as “a reaction to all the party music out there now” and features seven new tracks with guest appearances from the likes of Alex G, Lontalius, Kotomi & DOSS, the GTW and Little Cloud.

The video for 'Snow in Newark' has just been released although you can only watch it on Ryan Hemsworth's website (LINK) and again it follows his quest to leave the club behind. It was shot in Nepal over the course of a week and you have to say it suits the vibe of the song perfectly. That single is coming out as a limited edition 7″ on October 28 with a B-side, ‘Body Pillow’, featuring Maryland ambient/R&B explorer Ricky Eat Acid.

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The album 'Alone for the First Time' will be released on November the 4th on Last Gang and his own Secret Songs imprint. If you enjoyed this little writeup you can find me obsessing over new music on Last.FM and Soundcloud.

Hi guys, I had some spare time this evening so I threw together another music playlist for you all featuring the likes of EDX, Odesza and Mike Skinner. Because of the nature of the tracks most of them aren't on Spotify so I created a little Soundcloud playlist to help you get through them. As you may have noticed my music taste isn't really defined but over the coming weeks I will be sharing some of my favourite electronic, trance, hip hop and ambient producers so keep your eyes peeled.

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As is always the way some of the rare tracks could only be found on YouTube but promise me the Bon Iver and Electric Youth remixes are something else. Enjoy!

Bon Iver - Calgary (Phantom Shilla Remix)

Astronomyy - Things I'd Do For U

Bob Moses - Winter's Song

Electric Youth - Runaway (Maths Time Joy Remix)

Ghostpoet - Us Against Whatever Ever

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Desperados & Mike Skinner present: Next Level at Bussey Building

Two weeks ago I was lucky enough to be invited to Mike Skinners new club night called Tonga! (I wrote a little post about it HERE) and staying true to his word Mike is certainly trying to bring the old school rave scene back to London. On Saturday at the Bussey Building Mike Skinner was once again spinning his stuff. The Next Level Party which was sponsored by Desperados also featured an incredibly diverse host of other artists including Stanton Warriors, Preditah, Oxide & Neutrino and Mumdance and showcased the importance Desperados are placing on challenging the ordinary and bringing new party experiences to London.

Following on from my previous music post (Audio Inspiration 01) I decided to put another little list together. Fair warning, today I will mostly focus on electronic music, so here are some of the songs that have kept me pressing repeat in the last few days.

ZHU - Faded

A bit of low tempo electronic music for you today guys. A super talented producer by the name of ZHU is simply going to explode this year following the release of his superb Nightday EP. 'Faded' is one of those tracks that sticks in your head throughout the day and I just had to share it with everyone.

Lana Del Rey - West Coast (ZHU Remix)

Talking of ZHU I was so fascinated by this artist I decided to see what else he had up his sleeve. Now there isn't a shortage of Lana Del Rey remixes out there (Penguin Prison remix of Blue Velvet comes to mind) but this is something different, ZHU has a knack of adding original sounds to his productions and although the song feels like one huge breakdown you can see it working in a middle of a huge festival set.

Jamie XX - All Under One Roof Raving

Is there anything this man can't do? You may know Jamie from his award winning work with The XX as well as the remix album 'We're New Here' with Gil Scott-Heron in which he incorporated dubstep and UK garage styles to create some truly unique sounds (seriously give it a listen). He previously released several incredible electronic tunes called 'Beat For' and 'Far Nearer' and the intricate details Jamie puts into his productions made them instant faves.

His latest release is a track that pays homage to the 1990s UK rave scene with tons of samples such as snippets of "Fiorucci Made Me Hardcore", along with a little dig at the rave scene and it's gradual decline in recent years.

Jamie XX - Girl

You're the most beautiful girl in Hackney y'know?

Deorro - Five Hours

I recently started jogging on a regular basis and one of the hardest things I've found about it is keeping the same level of energy and enthusiasm throughout your run. Songs can have a great impact on my energy levels so having the right jogging playlist is key. This song by Deorro always comes on when I'm about to hit the wall and I can't help but push myself that extra km. Plus it's funky as hell, give it a listen.