Week #18: Phill Most Chill / Various Cruelties / Debukas

These weekly posts are usually reserved for relatively new-sprung and unestablished acts looking to build upon their burgeoning success. I'm fairly certain Phill Most Chill is never going to be famous, however. It's a shame, because he's possibly the most underrated hip hop artist of all time. I feel incredibly stupid for only having discovered him last week.

The track which enlightened me was 'Neva Stop Diggin' (above), a superbly funky Paul Nice collaboration driven by an old skool beat, overlayed with some slick wordplay: 'people think I'm a weirdo, I don't care though'. The outcome is too retro for words. I love it. Rather impressively (to me, at least), he's been making lo-jams out of Philadelphia since the late 70s. He is, quite literally, a long lost hero. A new LP entitled 'All Cuts Recorded Raw' in due in June (trailer below). You can also check out his uber-cool blog 'THAT REAL SCHITT' here.

London's Various Cruelties are a completely different proposition altogether — indeed, they only formed a few months ago. Their songs veer from dynamic, Motown-lite boogie woogie ('Cold As You') to downbeat surf-pop ('If It Wasn't For You') to stadium-sized anthems ('Chemicals'). They're certainly all-encompassing.

The tune which really hits the spot is newbie 'Neon Truth'. It's the most overtly RAWKING of the lot, but also the catchiest. Led by Liam O'Donnell's soulful harmonies, suffused with deep instrumentation, the band parade a heck of a lot of promise. It's released as a single on May 23rd via Almanac Recordings.

Finally, I introduce Debukas, the latest solo outing of a Glasgow-based experimentalist whose real name I cannot ascertain. This man may be a deliberately illusive little bugger, but he also conjures up some pretty groundbreaking jams. Blending retrospective sounds akin to influences as varied as Carl Craig and Yello, his music oozes a warmth and depth that's very hard to find elsewhere in contemporary electronica.

His new EP is fantastic. At some junctures it's eerie, at others jazzy, others even hypnotic. 'Set Myself On Fire' is the standout. You can stream the entire EP (released May 30th) below. I also urge you to check out his remix of Wild Beasts' 'Hooting & Howling' — it's sick.