DELS – Shapeshift from us (design studio) on Vimeo.

DELS makes hip hop that he describes as “raw and honest”, and which I’d also describe as thoughtful, refreshing, imaginative, well-executed and unexpected. He also conceptualises phenomenal music videos like this one, for his new single ‘ShapeShift’. Produced in collaboration with the sickeningly talented us design studio (the team behind this very website) this pretty much blows every other contemporary UK urban music video out of the water. DELS recently signed to Roots Manuva’s Big Dada label, so expect more high-calibre music and visuals from him in the near future.

Out today, and worth posting on the strength of the artwork alone. Whether you love or hate him, there’s no denying that Giggs is one of the few artists to emerge from the UK urban scene whose music and life story invite closer attention. Whilst a whole host of indistinguishable MCs have adopted an identikit Grime Lite sound, Giggs has retained his unpolished, smiley yet sinister charm, and continues to spit in the deep, drawling flow that so many mocked when ‘Talking The Hardest’ first dropped. It’s his sense of authenticity that makes Giggs interesting, and that means he could appeal to American audiences in a way that no other UK artists have as yet.

For the Giggs stans, check out this interview – another Luke Monaghan production – in which he talks about his son, dealing with the police trying to shut down his shows, and his most recent single ‘Look What The Cat Dragged In’ (”It’s just a bouncy ting, you get me?”)

TINASHE from Luke Monaghan on Vimeo.

…is just lovely.

Props to my homie Luke Monaghan. Very talented yout.

Liking the name. Liking the cover artwork. Liking the fact all twenty-five of these mellow, retrosoul instrumentals are available completely free, right here.

Go forth, download, find a rooftop, blast it out, and pretend you’re in Brooklyn on a sticky summer night (the best kind of night).

Because realising that Swedish band Miike Snow are quite amazing is hardly a revelation – their eponymous debut album was released over a year ago and their poppy, synthy, electro-ey sound* has been championed by music critics left, right and centre.

But. They’re still hardly what you might call mainstream. On the off chance that you’re yet to discover the delights of Miike Snow, here’s one of my favourite tracks off the album and a fun fact: Two of the band’s members co-wrote and produced Britney Spears’ ‘Toxic’. If that’s not a reason to love them then quite frankly I don’t know what is.

Miike Snow – Black & Blue. The lyrics of the hook explain the title of the post.

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*Note to self: must learn more adjectives.

Don’t let me down now, Ricky.