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| Press : Reviews | Subscribe to our feed | Wednesday March 10, 2010 |
SoulTracks reviews City Lights Vol. 2: Shibuya
Posted by nicolaymusic on December 9, 2009 at 3:40 PM
Relaxed, contemplative, and cucumber cool in its approach to nouveau -80s electronica, Nicolay's Shibuya demonstrates why the Great Dutch is in demand as an indie soul and hip hop producer, but not necessarily why the multi-instrumentalist is a compelling enough...
Review by L. Michael Gipson
for SoulTracks
Relaxed, contemplative, and cucumber cool in its approach to nouveau -80s electronica, Nicolay's Shibuya demonstrates why the Great Dutch is in demand as an indie soul and hip hop producer, but not necessarily why the multi-instrumentalist is a compelling enough solo talent. Gratefully, the music here is not aggressive or obnoxious enough to be considered commercial synth pop, but nor is it languid or atmospheric enough to fully earn chillout or lounge cred. On his genre-free instrumentals, Nicolay only intermittently creates a soundscape that stands up without a vocal or instrumental solo riding over his electro-soul beats. When it does rise above a hot track for someone else's spotlight, as on elaborate thought pieces like "Meji Shrine" or the compellingly rhythmic "Crossing" and "Shibuya Station," Shibuya delivers the addictive dopamine of Nicolay's previous two City Lights offerings. Flashes of unique composition and arrangement are heard scattered on various bars within songs, as on "Rain in Ueno Park ," but the Shibuya standouts are those that include vocals from his rapidly expanding Foreign Exchange camp. On the musical perfection, "Saturday Night," and on the stunningly kaleidoscopic "Wake Up In Another Life," artists like the feather-voiced Carlitta Durand and an uncredited Phonte bring a frivolity and attractive brightness to nocturnal Nicolay's Neptunes-lite compositions. Rather than bringing undue attention to themselves on these tracks, the singers actually draw you into appreciating Nicolay's quietly cerebral musicianship. Like jazz pianist Billy Strayhorn before him, Nicolay's best work seems to be that done for others to shine, in turn giving this understated artist his most blinding moments.
Continue reading SoulTracks reviews City Lights Vol. 2: Shibuya
All Music Guide reviews City Lights Vol. 2: Shibuya
Posted by nicolaymusic on November 9, 2009 at 8:12 AM
The second volume of Nicolay's City Lights series is a travelogue that, through the eyes of an amazed and slightly dazed visitor, reflects the character of Tokyo's Shibuya ward -- getting lost in its nightlife, basking in its spirituality, and...
Review by Andy Kellman
for All Music Guide
The second volume of Nicolay's City Lights series is a travelogue that, through the eyes of an amazed and slightly dazed visitor, reflects the character of Tokyo's Shibuya ward -- getting lost in its nightlife, basking in its spirituality, and several points in-between. In the wake of the producer's work on the Foreign Exchange's Leave It All Behind, a lack of progression would have been excusable, but Nicolay manages (remarkably enough) to expand his range both stylistically and conceptually. Mostly instrumental, Nicolay plays everything with the exception of a couple piano solos (provided by Zo!), while FE partner Phonte wrote and arranged for the four songs with vocals, all of which feature Carlitta Durand's whispery, sweetly uplifting voice. Faultlessly sequenced, just about every track is a set-up for what follows, and though the whole set is bathed in a unifying luster, the shifts in sound are not insignificant. Ranging beyond Nicolay's past output, Shibuya delves deeper into the boundless energy and complexities of late-'70s jazz fusion, steps into lush deep house, and otherwise moves smoothly on mellow downtempo pieces that are too stimulating to be regarded as mere mood music. What puts it over the top is not necessarily its central track or overall highlight but its two biggest surprises: the crisp, sleek, and discreetly dubby "Saturday Night," a four/four-rooted club track that could be a soundclash with the Force Tracks label circa Hypercity, and the beaming and almost frantic "Wake Up in Another Life," a dead ringer for an imagined West London broken beat interpretation of late-'70s George Duke (like "Yeah, We Going" or "Up from the Sea It Arose"). Nicolay's sense of wonderment shines through all of this, another unassuming gem from one of the most creative and increasingly chameleonic producers around.
Unique74mag reviews City Lights Vol. 2: Shibuya
Posted by nicolaymusic on November 9, 2009 at 7:59 AM
Ambient tones, soulful echoes and electro sounds are few of the many ingredients created in this audio collage. Nicolay clocks in with a sequel to "City Lights v1″ , in which "City Lights v2″ bears a mature and seasoned sound....
Review by A-Ski
for Unique74mag
Ambient tones, soulful echoes and electro sounds are few of the many ingredients created in this audio collage. Nicolay clocks in with a sequel to "City Lights v1″ , in which "City Lights v2″ bears a mature and seasoned sound. The many moods that are captured on this album takes the listener on an audio canvas as a painter searching for a visual climax. "Bullet Train" reigns in a euphoric yet busy atmosphere, while dwelling in a dark and promise future. "Omotesando" has a loose and open feeling while leaning on a heavy Jazz Fusion groove, this is my personal favorite under the "City Lights". "Meiji Shrine" gives a pinch of the Nicolay signature sound found in previous works, while serving as a reminder that the funk is still in control. The "buzz" cut is "Wake Up In Another Life" featuring vocalist Carlitta Durand, this lively piece is another highlight on the album worth checking out. This release sets a fresh and redefinitive approach in additon to exploring new ground, "City Lights v2″ is the sure shot!
The Couch Sessions reviews The Foreign Exchange at Black Cat, Washington DC | October 25, 2009
Posted by nicolaymusic on October 29, 2009 at 6:33 PM
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...
Review by Stone
for The Couch Sessions
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.
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.
Continue reading The Couch Sessions reviews The Foreign Exchange at Black Cat, Washington DC | October 25, 2009
The Anti-Pop Blog reviews The Foreign Exchange at Black Cat, Washington DC | October 25, 2009
Posted by nicolaymusic on October 29, 2009 at 6:23 PM
Very few things have the capacity to keep me waiting in line for an hour on a cold rainy New York City Friday night. Very few. One of those things, apparently, is the opportunity to see The Foreign Exchange perform...
Review by The Anti-Pop
for The Anti-Pop Blog
Very few things have the capacity to keep me waiting in line for an hour on a cold rainy New York City Friday night. Very few. One of those things, apparently, is the opportunity to see The Foreign Exchange perform live. The duo plus special guests and their band performed at BB King's on Friday October 23rd as part of CMJ Week. With tickets purchased way in advance, I was elated to see the team up close and personal. I've evolved into quite The FE fan over the past year - their latest album Leave It All Behind reeled me in with its relatable and well-written song lyrics penned and sang by Phonte, smooth and ear-pleasing beats produced by Nicolay, and soulful crooning from guest singers like Darien Brockington, YahZarah, and Muhsinah. So, I stood in the rain, waiting to be engaged and musically stimulated, along with a long line of other people. Was it worth it?
Hell yes!
Hell yes!
Continue reading The Anti-Pop Blog reviews The Foreign Exchange at Black Cat, Washington DC | October 25, 2009
Textura reviews City Lights Vol. 2: Shibuya
Posted by nicolaymusic on October 28, 2009 at 9:20 AM
Nicolay's Shibuya: City Lights Vol. 2 exudes the kind of effervescent joy one experiences when visiting an exotic new land for the first time. Specifically, its fifteen tracks collectively convey the excitement the typical Westerner might feel when first exposed...
Review by Ron Schepper
for Textura
Nicolay's Shibuya: City Lights Vol. 2 exudes the kind of effervescent joy one experiences when visiting an exotic new land for the first time. Specifically, its fifteen tracks collectively convey the excitement the typical Westerner might feel when first exposed to downtown Tokyo in all its night-time metropolitan glory. The idea for the project came about when Nicolay's first visit to the city in November 2006 proved to be life-changing and invigorating. Returning stateside, he laid down basic tracks for not one but three albums, the previously-issued Time:Line and Leave It All Behind recordings as well as the latest, a sequel to Where City Lights Volume 1. Just as the soulful emphasis of The Foreign Exchange's Leave It All Behind differentiated itself from the hip-hop stylings of Time:Line, so too does Shibuya: City Lights Vol. 2 distance itself from the others by embracing an instrumental style that uses current electronic music and production technologies to produce music with strong roots in '70s jazz fusion. That bridging of musical eras serves as a metaphor for the commingling of ancient and modern traditions that exists within the city as a whole.
Though the album is largely instrumental in make-up, Durham, North Carolina vocalist Carlitta Durand adds her honey-dipped voice to four tracks, with two strategically placed at the beginning and end. Shibuya: City Lights Vol. 2 plays like a travelogue, with Durand acting as tour guide for the lush opener "Lose Your Way" ("We'll take a walk through the city tonight") before a visit to "Shibuya Station" sets us off on a dizzying dash through the city. Electric piano and synthesizers add splashes of saturated colour to the song's broken beat soundtrack, after which we make our way through the equally hectic "Crossing." Subsequent stops include visits to a "Meiji Shrine" and "The Inner Garden" before the "Bullet Train" eventually brings about "Departure" (whose laid-back, quasi-hip-hop swagger could perhaps intimate a return of sorts for Nicolay too).
Though the album is largely instrumental in make-up, Durham, North Carolina vocalist Carlitta Durand adds her honey-dipped voice to four tracks, with two strategically placed at the beginning and end. Shibuya: City Lights Vol. 2 plays like a travelogue, with Durand acting as tour guide for the lush opener "Lose Your Way" ("We'll take a walk through the city tonight") before a visit to "Shibuya Station" sets us off on a dizzying dash through the city. Electric piano and synthesizers add splashes of saturated colour to the song's broken beat soundtrack, after which we make our way through the equally hectic "Crossing." Subsequent stops include visits to a "Meiji Shrine" and "The Inner Garden" before the "Bullet Train" eventually brings about "Departure" (whose laid-back, quasi-hip-hop swagger could perhaps intimate a return of sorts for Nicolay too).
Continue reading Textura reviews City Lights Vol. 2: Shibuya
Music Addikts review The Foreign Exchange at B.B. King's Blues Club, New York | October 23, 2009
Posted by nicolaymusic on October 28, 2009 at 8:21 AM
4daLove They say if you can make in NYC, then you can make it anywhere. Well, Music ADDIKTS made their way to NYC last weekend to get "Connected" with The Foreign Exchange. The excitement about this show had been building...
Review by Music Addikts
for Music Addikts
4daLove
They say if you can make in NYC, then you can make it anywhere. Well, Music ADDIKTS made their way to NYC last weekend to get "Connected" with The Foreign Exchange. The excitement about this show had been building for months. On Friday, October 23rd, with show tickets in hand and flight schedules confirmed, 3 of your Music ADDIKTS - soulHIGH, LoverofSoul and 4daLove hit the Big Apple.Since we were all there, you get to hear all of our opinions about the show, from beginning, middle and end.
And so it begins....
After a quick dinner in the city, we headed to B.B. Kings at 10:45pm with every intention of getting a front-row spot for the 11:30 show. Wrong! The line was off the proverbial chain. Who knew that Foreign Exchange had such a fan base in NYC?? Like true fans we took our place in line and waited and waited.
They say if you can make in NYC, then you can make it anywhere. Well, Music ADDIKTS made their way to NYC last weekend to get "Connected" with The Foreign Exchange. The excitement about this show had been building for months. On Friday, October 23rd, with show tickets in hand and flight schedules confirmed, 3 of your Music ADDIKTS - soulHIGH, LoverofSoul and 4daLove hit the Big Apple.Since we were all there, you get to hear all of our opinions about the show, from beginning, middle and end.
And so it begins....
After a quick dinner in the city, we headed to B.B. Kings at 10:45pm with every intention of getting a front-row spot for the 11:30 show. Wrong! The line was off the proverbial chain. Who knew that Foreign Exchange had such a fan base in NYC?? Like true fans we took our place in line and waited and waited.
Continue reading Music Addikts review The Foreign Exchange at B.B. King's Blues Club, New York | October 23, 2009
True Genius Requires Insanity reviews The Foreign Exchange at Black Cat, Washington DC | October 25, 2009
Posted by nicolaymusic on October 27, 2009 at 6:33 PM
The Foreign Exchange is the Postal Service of soul music: an up-and-coming producer joins a lead vocalist on a side project that is completed in true 21st century fashion, without sitting down in a studio to collaborate. Both projects have...
Review by Marcus Dowling
for True Genius Requires Insanity
The Foreign Exchange is the Postal Service of soul music: an up-and-coming producer joins a lead vocalist on a side project that is completed in true 21st century fashion, without sitting down in a studio to collaborate. Both projects have spawned albums that are modern classics. Both even chose tongue-in-cheek monikers that allude to the manner of their genesis. But while Ben Gibbard and Jimmy Tamborello are on hiatus, the pairing of Phonte and Nicolay is going strong.
Last Sunday, the Foreign Exchange family brought their transcontinental soul sound to a packed house at the Black Cat. Many live performers, especially in support of albums with a host of guests, suffer when they try to recreate the record, sans featured players. The Foreign Exchange is having none of it, bringing vocalists YahZarah, Darien Brockington, and Carlita Durand and backing three-piece Zo! and the Els along for the ride. And not just any ride, but a singular experience: part concert, part musical therapy, part church revival, all designed to make the audience - as the album instructs - leave it all behind.
Last Sunday, the Foreign Exchange family brought their transcontinental soul sound to a packed house at the Black Cat. Many live performers, especially in support of albums with a host of guests, suffer when they try to recreate the record, sans featured players. The Foreign Exchange is having none of it, bringing vocalists YahZarah, Darien Brockington, and Carlita Durand and backing three-piece Zo! and the Els along for the ride. And not just any ride, but a singular experience: part concert, part musical therapy, part church revival, all designed to make the audience - as the album instructs - leave it all behind.
Continue reading True Genius Requires Insanity reviews The Foreign Exchange at Black Cat, Washington DC | October 25, 2009
Pop Matters reviews The Foreign Exchange at B.B. King's Blues Club, New York | October 23, 2009
Posted by nicolaymusic on October 27, 2009 at 5:01 PM
As long as The Foreign Exchange is performing, no one can ever even think about showmanship being dead. The eight-piece band that took the stage of B.B. King's Blues Club & Grille on Friday night moved the crowd in a...
Review by Andrew Martin
for Pop Matters
As long as The Foreign Exchange is performing, no one can ever even think about showmanship being dead. The eight-piece band that took the stage of B.B. King's Blues Club & Grille on Friday night moved the crowd in a way that few acts are capable. And it all started at 1 a.m. As such, you would think a show starting that late would lend itself to a somewhat less-than-energetic audience. But that was simply not the case--this is New York City we're talking about.
The quartet started up that distinct musical intro that kicks off both Foreign Exchange albums, Connected and Leave It All Behind. But the track they would begin playing was actually off producer-mastermind Nicolay's latest, City Lights Vol. 2: Shibuya. And, on cue, out came songstress Carlitta Durand to sing the album's gorgeous opener, "Lose Your Way."
The quartet started up that distinct musical intro that kicks off both Foreign Exchange albums, Connected and Leave It All Behind. But the track they would begin playing was actually off producer-mastermind Nicolay's latest, City Lights Vol. 2: Shibuya. And, on cue, out came songstress Carlitta Durand to sing the album's gorgeous opener, "Lose Your Way."
Continue reading Pop Matters reviews The Foreign Exchange at B.B. King's Blues Club, New York | October 23, 2009
"This is Why I Write for Not Drugs" (on The Foreign Exchange at B.B. King's Blues Club, New York | October 23, 2009)
Posted by nicolaymusic on October 25, 2009 at 11:38 AM
A couple of days ago I went to one of the more entertaining concerts I've ever been to. It wasn't the best performance, it wasn't the best venue, but it was by far the most entertained I'd been at a...
Review by Letham
for Not Drugs
A couple of days ago I went to one of the more entertaining concerts I've ever been to. It wasn't the best performance, it wasn't the best venue, but it was by far the most entertained I'd been at a concert...ever.
A group called the Foreign Exchange performed (if you don't know them, get to know them, they are incredible). They played at B.B. King's Bar and Grill in NYC for almost 2 hours straight. Phonte (one half of the Little Brother duo) held the mic in check and Nicolay (producer from the Netherlands/my favorite producer) led the 4-piece band.
The group itself is comprised of more than just the two. Something like the Mars Volta do, I assume (Cedric and Omar consider themselves the Mars Volta, while the other members are part of the Mars Volta Group), the Foreign Exchange, I guess do as well. They have a drummer, a bassist, another keyboardist (Nicolay plays keys as well), and three more vocalists that finish the actual group.
A group called the Foreign Exchange performed (if you don't know them, get to know them, they are incredible). They played at B.B. King's Bar and Grill in NYC for almost 2 hours straight. Phonte (one half of the Little Brother duo) held the mic in check and Nicolay (producer from the Netherlands/my favorite producer) led the 4-piece band.
The group itself is comprised of more than just the two. Something like the Mars Volta do, I assume (Cedric and Omar consider themselves the Mars Volta, while the other members are part of the Mars Volta Group), the Foreign Exchange, I guess do as well. They have a drummer, a bassist, another keyboardist (Nicolay plays keys as well), and three more vocalists that finish the actual group.
