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.

New Tigallo Video, New Tigallo Video, New Tigallo Video –It’s so nice I had to say it more than twice.  Check out the official video for “Dance In The Reign”  from his Charity Starts at Home album. Directed by Kenneth Price

Click here to view the embedded video.

Carlitta Durand – Forrest-Gump

Download: Carlitta Durand – Nostalgic Nights

Carlitta Durand is one of those artists that make her job look effortless. She is pure natural talent. In the past she has collaborated with The Foreign Exchange, ZO! and 9^th Wonder, lacing covers and hooks with her vocal abilities. Her latest release Nostalgic Nights… is not at all what I expected from this melodic mystery lady.

The musical elements are there, melody, harmony, rhythm etcetera, but I can’t help but wonder if Carlitta is completely engaged. There is a melancholy quality to Nostalgic Nights and it most certainly keeps with the theme of nostalgia but has me yearning for a Carlitta and Phonte duet.

The tracks are not as full and warm, which is how I am normally use to hearing Durand but I am trying to give it a chance. Brooklyn producer Jay Sentine samples Roy Ayers’ “Searching” on the track “iCarli”. He also produced “Occupied” with Madame Sabrosa and “23^rd Floor” which are the tracks that hold my attention the most. (Also check out the bandcamp track  of the cover “All I Want is You” with Madame Sabrosa, which I really like!)

The track “Forrest Gump” produced by Abjo from San Diego, also piqued my interest but was done in 1 minute and 23 seconds and left me longing for more. “Sweet July” has a great mellow jazz feel to it and could possibly go on repeat. I am not really fond of all the arrangements  on some of the tracks. I believe Carlitta could quite possibly be creating an esoteric collection of tunes that will be loved only by a few.

All in all the CD is not bad just unexpected.

Notable tracks…

“Sweet July”

“Forrest Gump”

“23rd Floor”

3 out of 5

The Foreign Exchange took CMJ by storm, promoting their newest album, Authenticity. Their day started with a performance at Best Buy Union Square, and ended with a showcase gig at BB Kings’ Blues Club in Time’s Square which also included Zo! and fellow NCer Joe Scudda. Authenticity is in stores now.

The Foreign Exchange – Maybe She’ll Dream Of Me

The Foreign Exchange is hands down one of the best new R&B groups this decade. Yeah I said it. The combination of Little Brother’s Phonte and Dutch (now North Carolina) producer Nicolay have already dropped two classic albums, and their latest album, Authenticity, dropping October 12th, is set to continue the trend.

They dropped their first single from the album this week. The laid Back “Maybe She’ll Dream Of Me,” is a great preview to the feel of the new album. I’m looking forward to 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.

Hosted by Phonte. DJ Sets by Nicolay and DJ Destroyer. FREE with an RSVP.

Download: Zo! Just Visiting Too

Zo! – Perfect Angel Feat Yahzarah

If you were at any of The Foreign Exchange’s live shows, you would recognize Silver Spring Maryland’s ZO! manning the keys on their breakout performance. We all know that Zo has been on his grind for a while, working with such acts as Kev Brown and Phonte (with that 80s project.)

But now it’s Zo’s time to shine. His mixtape, Just Visiting Too is downright amazing and reads like a who’s who of upcoming talent. From the first track, “Perfect Angel” with another DMV native Yahzarah to the last, the D Brock collabo, The Highways of My Life. The other track that will constantly be on repeat. As a producer Zo has crafted light and low key melodies, filled with light touches of piano, and fortunately does not overpower the talent on the mic. It’s a fitting introduction to this future producer and we will most certainly be hearing more from him in the future. (via SoulCulture UK)

Photos from The Foreign Exchange’s NYC show at BB Kings
by Joann Gomez, Music Looks Like This. Follow her on Twitter @MLLT.

The Foreign Exchange, the North Carolina based duo of Little Brother’s Phonte and Dutch producer Nicolay is steeped in legend. Meeting online via the hip-hop site Okayplayer, they exchanged beats and rhymes over the Internet, creating a friendship and leading to the group we now know today. Over the years, The Foreign Exchange has grown and matured, flipping its sound from its roots of hip-hop to the laid back almost Radiohead-like soul of their latest project Leave It All Behind, which received Album of the Year Honors from The Couch Sessions in 2008.

Earlier this week, The Foreign Exchange graced DC for the second time this year, spreading their magic on yet another capacity crowd at Black Cat.

Rapper Big Pooh started off the night to a somewhat lukewarm reception, running through a 30 minute set, dropping selections from his extensive (and slept on) body of work, Pooh did his best to entertain the crowd until the headliner, but people didn’t seem to feel Pooh until he dropped the classic “Whatever You Say.” The lack of crowd response is sad, because he’s one of the more underrated MC’s of of the past 10 years.

After Pooh’s set it was time for the main event. The Foreign Exchange graced the stage looking as dapper as ever. Let’s face it The Foreign Exchange dresses better than you do, complete with matching suits and fedoras, with the woman of the moment, Yazarah fronting a shimmery dress and honestly, killing the game. The first thing you notice about Foreign Exchange is that the live band is stacked with talent. Singers Darren Brockington, Carlita Durand and DC Native Yazarah are so good that they make me want to slap the creator of AutoTune for even thinking of inventing pitch correction software. Another DC native Zo! mans the keys while Nicolay lays back in the cut, quietly  enjoying his producer status.

As The Foreign Exchange dressed in their Sunday best, the show ended up being a Sunday night revival. Phonte, who is one of the best frontmen of this decade, commanded the stage with a classic and commanding (and sometimes long-winded) swagger. With a set that blended the more upbeat songs from the first album, Connected, with the more downtempo tracks from their second, Phonte kept the crowd hype and entertained, dropping wisdom and relationship knowledge at times, and leading the band into jazz renditions of “Snap Yo Fingers,” and “Stanky Leg,” and their crowd pleasing cover of “My Prerogative.”

When it was time for the band to get down to business, they did. D Brock kills it on his track “Take Off The Blues,” while Yaz shines on her song “Sincere.” Even downtempo tracks like “House of Cards” had an extra dose of energy in the live set.

For those who dismiss The Foreign Exchange as just another “backpacker neo-soul group” be warned. They put on a show that will rival any touring act you will see this year. Hands down. The excitement of the show that went down on Sunday cannot be expressed in written words. You must experience them for yourself.

The Foreign Exchange – ”I Wanna Know” from The Foreign Exchange on Vimeo.

The latest single off of the excellent Leave It All Behind, which I voted the top album of 2008.  I love the fact that Phonte withheld the video as ransom for more Twitter followers. Brilliant!

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.