DOWNLOAD: Angel Haze's New Mixtape, "Back to the Woods", is Next Level Amazing

No more waiting. The new Angel Haze project, Back to the Woods, is here.

Get it for free. Until midnight. Right now.

This "accidental masterpiece" is already blowing our minds. Angel Haze is elevating their game to a stratospheric level.

Following a string of increasingly dope releases, from Reservation and Classick to Haze's killer debut studio album, Dirty Gold, in 2013, Back to the Woods arrives at a time of tremendous emotional upheaval in their life, but one that inspired incredible development in haze's personal growth and creative expression.

In an interview with Billboard, Haze talks about what they're hoping listeners will take away from the project:

I listen to this record and I hear an exponential amount of growth. Not just as a person, but as an artist. I don't really know what people will take away from it, because I think interpretation is up to everybody. I just hope in some way, shape or form, they understand that I am who I am. I am just trying to feel my way through life. I'm not trying to take a form. I'm not trying to change any minds. I'm just expressing myself, and if you feel it, you feel it. If you don't, then they motherf—king don't, and that's just it.

Back to the Woods is a bombastic assault that rolls out over 11 tracks of Tk Kayembe-produced firepower. Rugged, raw, badass, and overflowing with strength and purpose—Angel Haze is taking rap out of this world and into the beyond.

Check the Back to the Woods album release party September 14th at Baby's Alright in Brooklyn, New York. The album is  available worldwide on iTunes, Spotify, and other music retailers.

DOWNLOAD: Angel Haze - Back to the Woods

ANGEL HAZE - BACK TO THE WOODS - TRACKLIST

Tracklist for #BACKTOTHEWOODS @AngelHaze pic.twitter.com/UWRwqDx6Dz

— UniversalMusicCanada (@universalmusicC) September 14, 2015

STREAM: Fawn Wood's Stunning New Album Honouring the Female Spirit, Kikawiynaw

Plains Cree/Salish singer Fawn Wood's new album is almost too good for words. 

But, beautiful, powerful, moving, and raw but pulsing with strength are a few we can start with.

Titled Kikāwiynaw meaning "our mother," Wood's latest collection honours the female spirit. Her clear, warm, and expressive voice is an open door—guiding you into her round dance, hand game, and traditional songs. Once inside, you're greeted with layered, ethereal harmonies and occasional gentle instrumentation that gently wrap you in their warmth.

Wood's music invites you to connect with your spirit as she travels through themes of longing, loss, remembrance, family, celebration, and gratitude.

It's an invitation your ears and heart can't refuse.

STREAM: Fawn Wood's new album, Kikāwiynaw, below:

PREMIERE: Stream Wolf Saga's "Auburn Nights" and Dive Into Synthpop Heaven

Wolf Saga's Auburn Nights, is the instant classic synthpop album you need in your life.

If you've been sleeping on Wolf Saga, now's the time to get acquainted.

Storming onto the scene with a slew of killer remixes, covers, and 80s-inspired interpretations of everyone from Foster the People and The Strokes, to Lorde and the Yeah Yeah Yeahs, Wolf Saga is elevating his game with every release.

Toronto-based Johnny Saga is the fast-rising Anishinaabe singer, producer, and multi-instrumentalist behind the project, and he's been rocking a consistently deadly hybrid electronic style that effortlessly blends synth-pop melodic sensibilities with indie rock cred and buttery, analogue elements. Check his recent set of Sessions X videos for a taste.

After dropping dope sets of covers and remixes over the past two years, Wolf Saga released My Time, his debut EP of original music, in 2014. He's been racking up accolades along the way: his epic SoundCloud stream has been clocking record numbers (his collab cover of The Strokes' "You Only Live Once" is currently sitting at +614,000 plays and was one of the HypeMachine Zeitgeist's 50 most-blogged songs of 2014), and his Vine-tastic video for "Our Time" is pushing 500k views on YouTube.

Wolf Saga's blowing up the internet and it's easy to hear why.

The title track from his latest Auburn Nights EP immediately brings to mind not only everyone's favourite whistled hook from the mid-oughts (a song that, yes, is another one he's covered), but also Johnny's own penchant for polished production, lush pop grooves, and immediately infectious electronics.

"All In", featured here in both its original form and a New Division remix, is a perfect pop composition straight out of swirling synthesized worlds of early MGMT, while "Walls" is a head-nodding, breezy blend of catchy guitar lines and Johnny's captivating vocal hooks—that pay special homage to the life of his grandmother and the teachings she passed down to him.

Auburn Nights goes deep on some neon summer, 80s-iridescent vibes—it's a perfect sunny accompaniment to the final wave of summer heat that we can all feel shimmering by. Johnny says the new EP is all about "following your dream, finding real love, and gender equality".

We like where he's headed. And it's going to be big. Time to run with the Wolf.

PREMIERE: Stream Wolf Saga's "Auburn Nights"

Catch Wolf Saga live in Los Angeles on September 14th for the Auburn Nights EP release party.

Mic Jordan's, #DearNativeYouth, is a Passionate Dedication to Uplifting the Community

Mic Jordan's new video, "#DearNativeYouth", speaks to directly to those who need to hear it most—the youngest members of our community.

Equal parts open letter of understanding and story of encouragement, Mic Jordan's new video is simple statement of love and responsibility to the community.

That's what makes it dope.

The up-and-coming Turtle Mountain Anishinaabe hip-hop artist is part of a stellar list of Indigenous musicians and poets contributing to The Last Stand Mixtape, dropping later this fall, and "#DearNativeYouth" is the first glimpse of what we can expect from the mixtape. Encapsulating both the spirit and sentiment of a new generation of Native artists fighting back against all forms of oppression with strength, unity, and conviction, Mic Jordan makes clear that this is bigger than a hashtag movement.

#DearNativeYouth is about affirming the life we share in common, and the dreams that every youth in our community deserves not only to have access to, but to feel confident in achieving.

The Tido Vegas-produced track features a lilting guitar loop paired with Jordan's impassioned flow, and a melodic hooks that hits just the right note of uplift, minus the corny-ness.

Respect to all the Indigenous artists raising it up each other and for a worthy purpose—celebrating Indigenous life, love, and power. That's what the movement is really about.

WATCH: Mic Jordan's "#DearNativeYouth"

PREMIERE: YK The Mayor - "Fall"

Winnipeg rapper YK The Mayor returns with his new single, "Fall".

After dropping the hype single, "In My Dreams", back in June, Winnipeg hip-hop artist YK The Mayor (fka Young Kidd), is back with his latest.

The CTL Records artist keeps things live and direct on "Fall", calling out the haters and doubters who've questioned YK's ability to reclaim his position in the hip-hop limelight after his recent hiatus doing time—and on how, since he's been away, he didn't know what Snapchat was.

Enlisting the talents of Anishinaabe Boogey the Beat on production, the atmospheric, melodic trap beat provides a vibed-out complement to YK's shout outs to his fam and collaborators. After dropping a sneak peak of the track on Instagram this week, leading up to the single's release, Boogey declares "Fall" to be YK the Mayor's "official return"—but, more than that, the track is an ode to their hometown of #WonderfulWinnipeg and a bold declaration that they're aiming "to take back the city that is rightfully theirs".

Get with it.

STREAM: YK The Mayor - "Fall"

PREMIERE: Download Logan Staats' Bluesy New Single, "Pretty Little Liars"

We're pleased to premiere the latest single from Mohawk breakout artist Logan Staats, "Pretty Little Liars".

After wowing us with a handful of stripped down, acoustic, live performances for 6 Arrows Media, singer-songwriter Logan Staats has been on a steady climb into the Indigenous music spotlight.

Following recent performances at the Aboriginal Pavilion and Planet IndigenUS (alongside Buffy Sainte-Marie and Derek Miller no less!) in Toronto, and with an upcoming showcase at Aboriginal Music Week in Winnipeg, the Six Nations singer is just getting warmed up.

With the release of his debut solo album, Goodbye Goldia, a soulful journey into passion, pain, and healing heartbreak, Staats' rugged and raw voice—coupled with his innate sense of compelling melodic lines and phrasing—guides you down into the depths, only to wring your heart out, song by song.

We're pleased to premiere "Pretty Little Liars", the latest single from the album, a bluesy ballad with a hook that gets right in your soul and stays there, working its magic on you.

Catch Logan Staats live in Winnipeg on August 19th as part of the "AMW at Lunch" series for Aboriginal Music Week.

DOWNLOAD: Logan Staats - "Pretty Little Liars"

Goodbye Goldia is available now on iTunes. For more, visit loganstaats.com

Angel Haze Destroys Everyone in the Rap Game on "Babe Ruthless"

Shapeshifter and ever-hype emcee Angel Haze is taking no prisoners on her new track, "Babe Ruthless".

Ruthless is the word here. Raw, rugged, renegade rap monster Angel Haze annihilates all competition on the track—transforming into her Machiavellian alter ego and proceeding to kick some of the illest successions of syllables she's ever released.

If this is any indication of where her forthcoming Back to the Woods mixtape (due September 14th) is headed, the rest of the hip-hop world is right to be protecting their necks.

The Tsalagi MC is out for more than just revenge. She wants it all.

You've been warned.

STREAM: Angel Haze - "Babe Ruthless"

Samantha Crain's New Album, Under Branch & Thorn & Tree, is the One We've Been Waiting For

With her fourth album, Under Branch & Thorn & Tree, Samantha Crain has hit her stride.

Five years ago in the original RPM offices in Vancouver's Chinatown, a few weeks before the site launched, Ostwelve said to the team "do you know of Samantha Crain?" We stopped to watch the video for Santa Fe and all fell fast for her rich, almost husky croon, her sweet, inviting, folk style. We've all been fans ever since.

As a fan, while I've adored her vocal and musical style since that day, I felt as a songwriter she hadn't yet grown into her own - not something unexpected from a young artist. With her newest release, Under Branch & Thorn & Tree, and now with years of touring and performing and living this life, Crain has grown up and into her voice as a writer and recording artist. The result is not only her best album yet, but one of the best albums this year. I'm excited we can finally say so - RPM was lucky to get an advance listen of the record and we've been bursting to share our praise for it.

“I don’t write protest songs in the traditional sense,” Crain told The Guardian recently, “but I’m always listening to the voices of people around me. These stories are told from the perspective of the underdog, the 99% of us that are working people. They might not be literal protest songs, but the lives of the people within these songs speak at the same volume if you listen.”

Indeed, the songs showcase nimble, poetic lyrics that tell stories of bitter circumstances, the downtrodden, and broken hearts, with a knowing intimacy that comes from the pen of an adept listener. These stories are wrapped in folk and country stylings (with an occasional synth keeping the indie cred alive and well) and despite the sombre or sad stories, they are lifted by striking imagery and elegant musicality.

Samantha Crain serenades The Dakota Tavern, Toronto, Ontario

Crain is an artist who is seemingly always on tour. Earlier this year she did a number of dates opening for Buffy Ste. Marie, she has headlined her own countless shows, and played major festivals - she is at home in front of large crowds. It was a rare treat that her current CD release tour included a stop in Toronto at the legendary but small Dakota Tavern where Crain charmed the lucky, grateful few there.

There may not be another chance to be up close for a solo performance - Under Branch & Thorn & Tree has the makings of a turning point. Catch her live show soon and get the album even sooner. If you haven't fallen for her yet, you will now: this is the album and moody, sweet summer soundtrack you've been waiting for.

Stream the Full Album, Under Branch & Thorn & Tree, below:

The album is also available on Spotify:

Walk in the Woods with the New Video from Kickin' Krotch, "Ghost Town"

The all Indigenous East Coast band Kickin' Krotch may get filed under hard rock, but their latest video highlights a track with a bit of softness.

"Ghost Town" is the third single from the band's eponymous debut LP and its slow, stirring, melody perfectly showcases the warmth and depth of lead singer Michael Bernard's voice. Based in Fredericton, New Brunswick, Kickin' Krotch has been getting its name out across the country and they are currently in the running for Best New Artist in this year's newly renamed Indigenous Music Awards.

I might like sad songs most here at RPM, and this reflective song, set here in the video among tall trees, mossy stones, rich colours, and long shadows with only a few breaks of light, is moving my Thursday morning nicely. Its inescapable to join in on the second and third listen to the long "ghoooooost town" refrain and I suggest you sit back, join in, and take in the setting and sound, too:

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=qgdgPJEJ0Eo&feature=youtu.be

Lyrics: 

Swimming at the surface evil lurking reaching for your soul wants to bury it free me from this nightmare neverending get me the hell out of here I just wanna disappear

Every little drop you bring me down drowning in whiskey smothering ghost town

I want to close my eyes forever stop running in the wrong direction I think I lost my way falling of the righteous path crawling through the rubble screaming wrath

Every little drop you bring me down drowning in whiskey smothering ghost town 2x

She don’t wanna die She don’t wanna cry

STREAM: Once A Tree's 'Thousand Lives' EP

Listen to Once A Tree's striking debut EP, Thousand Lives, in full.

We've been on a Once A Tree kick in the past few weeks, since being introduced to their killer new singles "Take Me" and "Howling". Now you can stream the duo's new EP, Thousand Lives, in full, through Spotify.

Thousand Lives lulls, seduces, captures, and holds you enthralled throughout its 6-song cycle of melancholic electronic pop and R&B.

Trust us. Once A Tree is ready to take on the world.

Just wait 'til the soaring final bars of the EP's title track fade out into the ambient, haunted atmosphere...you'll be reaching out for more.

STREAM: Once A Tree - Thousand Lives EP

Once A Tree's Thousand Lives is now available on iTunes 

Aboriginal Hip-Hop Star Briggs Drops Inspiring New Single, "The Children Came Back"

Briggs' new song, "The Children Came Back", inspires a new generation of Indigenous youth to rise up and celebrate their survival.

Raise up your ancestors. Raise up Indigenous heroes.

That's the first thing that hits you when you watch Briggs' epic new video.

The acclaimed Shepparton-based, Yorta Yorta hip-hop artist brings together a heavy list of collaborators and video guest appearances in this respectful homage to the 1990 Archie Roach anthem "Took The Children Away". But where that song mourned Roach's own experience of being taken away, and lamented the dispossession and removal of Indigenous children that have come to be known as the 'Stolen Generation', Briggs responds with an inspired sequel that—twenty-five years later—champions "black excellence" and the accomplishments of Indigenous Nations across 'Australia'.

A literal generation after Roach's anthemic and sorrowful call to account for historical injustice, Briggs swaggers boldly to the fore of an Indigenous peoples' movement unafraid to celebrate their success.

Featuring a who's who of famous contemporary Indigenous musicians and sports stars, including Lionel Rose, Jimmy Little, Adam Goodes, Cathy Freeman and Patty Mills, the song also makes sure to represent indigeneity in the music as well.

As VICE Australia notes, "With Gurrumul and Dewayne Everettsmith adding vocals, the song features traditional instrumentation including clap sticks, a yidaki from North East Arnhem Land, and a haunting chant from the B2M, a group of musicians from the Tiwi Islands.

The video features Briggs, Everettsmith, Archie Roach, Paul Kelly and 3-year old Samara Muir who recently made national headlines with her distressing experience of racism by kids her own age."

But perhaps the highest tribute comes from Archie Roach himself, who has proudly endorsed Briggs' tribute:

"I love Briggs’ song. It's about our Indigenous heroes," says Roach. "Using a part of my song, where it says 'the children came back' is really what the song is about. I feel proud to be a part of what Briggs hopes to achieve and I really love that he used young children to play the heroes because they are our future heroes."

"The Children Came Back" is a new anticolonial anthem of resurgence and return. As Briggs observes, it's equal parts "history lesson, monologue, celebration and education in one song”.

Released July 3rd to coincide with NAIDOC week in Australia, this is the sound of a generation rising.

Watch Briggs - "The Children Came Back (feat. Gurrumul & Dewayne Everettsmith)"

DOWNLOAD: A Tribe Called Red's Killer Remix of Buffy Ste Marie's “Working for the Government”

A Tribe Called Red drops a free single on this most colonial of national holidays.

And that song is none other than a 2015 remix of legendary Cree singer Buffy Sainte Marie's classic "Working for the Government". In A Tribe Called Red's capable hands, the song transforms from an already upbeat anthem into a rockin', four-on-the-floor, dancefloor destroyer.

Mixing politics and partying you say? Ironically celebrating Canada, you say? Sounds like a perfect pairing.

And what could be more CanCon than a collab between the first lady of Indigenous song, and one of the newly dubbed Top 10 Canadian Bands of All Time?

Get the free download right here.

DOWNLOAD: A Tribe Called Red ft. Buffy Sainte-Marie - "Working For The Government 2015 Mix"

ATCR - Summer 2015 Tour Dates

July 4 – Eskasoni, NS – Eskasoni PowWow

July 12 – Toronto, ON – PanAM Park, Echo Beach (free show)

July 17 – Trumansburg, NY – GrassRoots Festival

July 18 – Toronto, ON – Aboriginal Pavillion, Fort York (free show)

July 23 – Peguis First Nation, MB – Peguis Arena

July 24 – Brandon, MB – Brandon Folk Music & Art Festival

July 31 – Montreal, QC – Osheaga Music & Arts Festival

August 1 – Sept-Iles, QC – Innu Nikamu festival

August 7 – Washington, DC – Smithonian Museum (free show)

August 12 – Toronto, ON – Nathan Phillips Square (free show)

August 15 – Sudbury, ON – UP FEST, Durham Playgrounds