Nicolay and the Hot At Nights have been leaving a trail of fire and brimstone after burning down venues all across the country. The producer, best known for The Foreign Exchange hit the road with fellow North Carolinians The Hot At Nights for a multi-city tour. The experimental jazz project also reworked his monumental City Lights Vol. 2: Shibuya album, with the new Shibuya Sessions EP. Check it.

The Foreign Exchange came to Philly to shoot YahZarah’s “Why Dontcha Call Me No More”, off of her new album The Ballad of Purple Saint James. Although this is her 1st album on the FE label, she is no rookie on the singing circuit. YahZarah toured and sang back-up for Erykah Badu’s Mama’s Gun, collaborated with Phonte & Nicolay on FE projects and has 3 albums under her belt. The Ballad of Purple Saint James dropped 5/18 and is available on iTunes, Amazon and the FE music store.

Phonte, Nicolay and Aimee all came out to support and take part in YahZarah’s project. Philly’s own, Matt Koza, shot the video on different locations throughout the City. The 80′s vibe of the song was supported by an 80′s look for the video. Both were well executed and the video will be fresh & fly fo sho…here are some flics from the shoot.

Check out the full Flickr Photoset here and view the video (and more shots) below.

Havana - Nitelife

Havana – Shine (Nicolay Remix)

So by some reason or another, I found Havana’s last CD on my hard drive at work and I haven’t been able to put it down since. Her album L.I.F.E. got some simmerng buzz when it dropped in 2005, but unfortunately, like most albums it fell to the wayside. It’s sad, because her single Shine was made for radio, and Nicolay’s remix of the track should have been a club banger. It’s all good though, because in 2009 the SoCal soulstress returns with a new album, titled Entervention, and to build buzz for the project, we have a newly leaked track produced by the One and Only Trackademics. This track is a good sign of things to come for Havana. (via Trackademics)

Foreign Exchange
Leave It All Behind

Netherlands producer Nicolay, and MC, Phonte one half of Little Brother have come together for their second Foreign Exchange effort entitled Leave it All Behind. With Nicolay moving to North Carolina where Phonte is from and still resides, one would think studio sessions as opposed to the Internet and file sharing that occurred while Nicolay was stationed in the Netherlands would be more frequent. Wrong, the combo figured if it worked, why fix it? As well, with our current economic state where gas is $4.00 per/gallon even though they’re in the same state, money is money.

Lyrically we were all privy to Phonte’s singing qualifications on the first FE album in addition to the sample we received on the first LB album the Listening, and in this day in age where Andre3000, Pharrell, and as of recent Kanye West have flirted with expanding their lyricism to carry a melodic tune this is one of the best experiments from the aforementioned group of artists. Phonte delivers real time stories that everyone has or will experience and can relate to, the disturbing reality is since the disappearing acts of D’Angelo and until recently Maxwell there hasn’t been act[s] besides the usual suspects that have written vivid experiences of life and love. You won’t hear Tigallo talking about buying a drink or getting someone is his ride but you will hear stories with a clear, distinct and fresh Nicolay sound that is in the same vein as the debut FE album. Since his solo efforts and producing for other artists Nicolay meshes perfectly with the North Carolinian and they sound as if they’ve done this before.

FE also reintroduces the world to Washington, DC’s own Muhsinah, who was heavily featured on the album, if you don’t know her, she was recently on tour with Common as a background artist and singer and she has her own EP entitled Daybreak and she proves to play the perfect supporting role on tracks like “House of Cards” and “Daykeeper.” Overall, Leave it All Behind is more than an experiment but a work that stretches the possibilities of good music and makes people forget about the purpose of genres.