| Northtown | ||||
|---|---|---|---|---|
 | ||||
| EP by | ||||
| Released | June 6, 2014 | |||
| Genre | Disco, Indie | |||
| Length | 19:58 | |||
| Label | Godmode | |||
| Producer | Nick Sylvester | |||
| Shamir chronology | ||||
| ||||
Northtown is the first EP by the American singer-songwriter Shamir Bailey, better known by his stage name, Shamir. The EP has elements of R&B, house and dance music. It was produced by Nick Sylvester, the founder of New York's Godmode label, and was released on June 6, 2014. It was rated as one of the best releases by a new artist in 2014.
All tracks are written by Shamir except for track 5, by Lindi Ortega
| No. | Title | Length |
|---|---|---|
| 1. | "If It Wasn't True" | 3:58 |
| 2. | "I Know It's a Good Thing" | 3:57 |
| 3. | "Sometimes a Man" | 3:48 |
| 4. | "I'll Never Be Able to Love" | 3:49 |
| 5. | "Lived and Died Alone" | 4:24 |
| Total length: | 19:58 | |
The Northtown EP was produced by Nick Sylvester, founder of the Godmode label. Shortly after graduating from high school, Shamir emailed a demo tape to Godmode, hoping to find a label to release the demo tape. [1] Sylvester called the music "kind of like an R&B 'Yeezus'". [2] He contacted Shamir the day after hearing the tape and invited Shamir to New York City to make some "real music" as opposed to just releasing the demo tape. [1]
Northtown has received generally positive reviews from music critics.
NME , rated Northtown as "one of 2014's most essential new EP's." [2] In a review of the EP for NME, Rhian Daly wrote, "The disco-worshipping, androgynous teen might hail from Las Vegas but on the strength of these five songs (three funky-house stompers, one stupendous ballad and a heart-rending cover of Lindi Ortega) it's fair to say his spiritual homeland is late-'80s Detroit and his god an ill-behaved hybrid of Grace Jones and Frankie Knuckles... If this is the house that Shamir built, I'm moving in." [3]
In July 2014, Radio.com included Northtown in its "New Music To Know: Best of 2014, So Far" profile, noting that "Shamir combines the honest songwriting of Taylor Swift with the theatrics of Lana Del Rey to make something that sounds far wiser than his 19 years". [4]
Foster Kamer of Pigeons & Planes rated Northtown as "2014's most exciting R&B Dance-Pop debut". [1]
In July 2014, Flavorwire namedNorthtown's opening track one of its "25 Best Songs of 2014 So Far". [5]
"Goodbye Horses" is a song recorded by American singer Q Lazzarus. It was written by Q Lazzarus's bandmate, William Garvey, and released in 1988, with an extended version released three years later. It is a synth-pop, dark wave, new wave, and dance song with lyrics based on "transcendence over those who see the world as only earthly and finite" and androgynous vocals from Q Lazzarus.
Vaudeville Villain is the third studio album by British-American rapper-producer MF Doom, released on September 16, 2003 under the pseudonym of Viktor Vaughn. All of the tracks are produced by Sound-Ink record label members Heat Sensor, King Honey, and Max Bill, with the exception of "Saliva", produced by RJD2.
Tropical Gangsters is the third album by Kid Creole and the Coconuts, released on May 10, 1982. Originally conceived as a solo album by band leader August Darnell and titled Wise Guy, his label ZE Records pressured him to change it to a Kid Creole and the Coconuts record and to make it more commercial sounding in order to relieve the label's financial problems. Despite the tensions this caused within the band and Darnell's complaint that the subsequent record was a "cop-out", the more dance-pop oriented sound helped it reached number 145 on the Billboard 200 album chart, representing the group's commercial breakthrough in their home country. However, to the surprise of Darnell and his record company Tropical Gangsters was a huge success in Australia and New Zealand, Europe, and in particular the UK, where the album peaked at number three in the UK Albums Chart and yielded three top ten singles. Tropical Gangsters made Darnell a worldwide star, and the album remains both his and the ZE label's most successful record by far.
Adam Siegel is an American singer-songwriter, guitarist, bassist, producer, actor and graphic designer from Venice, California, United States. KISS, Black Sabbath, Sweet, Jimmy Page and the Sex Pistols are the musicians he cites as main influences.
Dance To The Radio is a British independent record label, based in Leeds, England.
The Pigeon Detectives are an English indie rock band from Rothwell in Leeds, West Yorkshire, who formed in 2004. The band have released six albums from 2007 to present.
Late of the Pier was an English four-piece dance-punk band from Castle Donington, signed to Parlophone. Their debut album Fantasy Black Channel, produced by Erol Alkan, was released in 2008 by Parlophone.
The Big Pink are an English electronic rock band from London, consisting of multi-instrumentalists Robertson "Robbie" Furze, Akiko Matsuura and Charlie Barker. Initially a duo, they signed to independent record label 4AD in 2009 and won the NME Philip Hall Radar Award for best new act. To date, they have released five singles, with their debut album A Brief History of Love released in September 2009 and its follow-up, Future This released in January 2012.
Lindi Marie Ortega is a Canadian country singer-songwriter from Toronto, Ontario, who had lived in Nashville, Tennessee then moved to Western Canada in 2017. She spent nearly a decade as an independent artist in the Toronto music scene, releasing two albums and an EP in that time. She has been described as "Toronto's best kept secret" and nicknamed "Indie Lindi". Ortega left Last Gang management and records in November 2017. She has since released Til The Goin' Gets Gone EP and her full-length Liberty on her own label Shadowbox Music. Her voice has been described as a blend of Dolly Parton's, Johnny Cash's, and Emmylou Harris'.
OVO Sound is a Canadian independent record label, founded in 2012 by rapper Drake, producer 40, and manager Oliver El-Khatib. Between 2012 and 2022, it operated as a subsidiary of Warner Records.
Shamir Bailey is an American singer and songwriter from Las Vegas, Nevada. His debut extended play (EP), Northtown, was released in June 2014 to positive reviews. In October 2014, he signed to XL Recordings and released the single "On the Regular". His debut LP Ratchet was released on May 19, 2015 in the United States. Since then he has released seven independent studio albums, Hope (2017), Revelations (2017), Resolution (2018), Be the Yee, Here Comes the Haw (2019), Cataclysm (2019), Shamir (2020), and Heterosexuality (2022).
"If It Wasn't True" is a song written and recorded by American singer-songwriter Shamir Bailey, better known by his stage name Shamir, and included as the opening track on his debut extended play (EP) Northtown. Musically, "If It Wasn't True" is an R&B, pop, and dance song. Shamir has called the track "a breakup song, but not a typical one," and Vogue magazine in 2014 dubbed it "Your New Favorite Breakup Song."
"On the Regular" is a song recorded by American musician Shamir. It was released by XL Recordings on October 28, 2014. "On the Regular" is also featured on Shamir's 2015 debut album Ratchet.
American rapper Angel Haze has released one studio album, one internet album, two extended plays (EPs), four mixtapes and nineteen singles. In July 2012, after releasing two prior mixtapes, Haze released a mixtape Reservation online for free. The title is inspired by the act of reserving a table at a restaurant, saying "[...] For me, it's like that with the rap industry. I made my reservation there [...] and now I'm finally arriving". The lead single "New York" peaked at number 58 on the UK Singles Chart, and number 12 on the UK R&B Singles Chart. Shortly after, Haze released a commercial EP compiled of tracks from Reservation, titled New York, followed by a fourth mixtape, Classick. Throughout late 2013, during the run-up to the release of the debut album, Haze released a cover of a popular song every day, for thirty days. Most famous from these freestyles was the adaptation of Macklemore and Ryan Lewis's track "Same Love", which discusses childhood, prejudice, homophobia and sexuality. The series was dubbed 30 Gold.
EP2 is the second extended play by Korean-American electronic musician Kathy Yaeji Lee, known by her stage name as Yaeji. It was released on November 3, 2017 by the label Godmode, and produced by Lee with Godmode founder Nick Sylvester. A trap and house record, it features a cover of the song "Passionfruit" by Canadian rapper Drake. Promoted with three singles and two music videos, one of which Lee directed, EP2 garnered favorable reviews from critics and was ranked the best album of the year by Gorilla vs. Bear. Commercially, the EP hit No. 5 on Billboard's American Dance/Electronic Album Sales chart.
Yaeji is the debut extended play by South Korean-American house music producer Kathy Yaeji Lee, known by her stage name as Yaeji. Written and produced by Lee and Nick Sylvester, the EP is a lo-fi house record with minimal structures and spoken word lyrics in a combination of Korean and English. It was released by the label Godmode on March 31, 2017 and garnered mostly favorable reviews from critics, landing at No. 50 on Pitchfork's list of the "50 Best Albums of 2017".
Guendoline Rome Viray Gomez, better known by his stage name No Rome, is a London-based Filipino musician from San Francisco del Monte. He is best known for his 2021 single "Spinning", which featured Charli XCX and the 1975 and charted at No. 94 on the UK Singles Chart, though also cowrote the 1975's "TooTimeTooTimeTooTime", which charted at No. 26.
Suga is the third extended play by American rapper Megan Thee Stallion. It was released on March 6, 2020, by 1501 Certified Entertainment and 300 Entertainment. It features guest appearances from Kehlani and Gunna. The project's release was preceded by legal troubles between the rapper and the label, following a contract renegotiation attempt, which led to the filing of a temporary restraining order towards the label. Megan had initially intended for it to be her debut studio album, but instead released it as an EP as a result.
Motor Function is an EP by American singer-songwriter and rapper Binki. It was released on August 13, 2021 through Fader Label.
Nick Sylvester is an American record producer, songwriter, multi-instrumentalist, and music executive. He is best known for his writing and production work with Channel Tres and Yaeji, and as the creative co-founder of Godmode Music.
