Soulico at KEXP (photo by Leilah Stehman)
Every Monday thru Friday, we deliver a different song as part of our Song of the Day podcast subscription. This podcast features exclusive KEXP in-studio performances, unreleased songs and and recordings from independent artists that our DJs think you should hear. Each and every Friday we deliver songs by local artists. Today’s selection, featured on the Afternoon Show with Kevin Cole, is “Exotic on the Speaker” by Soulico from their 2009 album Exotic on the Speaker on JDub Records.
Starting with just a random collection of mix tapes, Tel Aviv’s DJ collective known as Soulico have created music that is truly unique and well known among their dance-craving countrymen. You could say they’ve done quite well for themselves in Israel. A mix of old and new styles, the four DJ’s (Sabbo, Rob, Shimmy Sonic, Wildo) use Israeli folk songs fearlessly alongside more traditional Reggae and Disco beats, yet still manage to blend it all seemlessly. You could call it International hip hop. To complete their sound on the new album they also managed to enlist the help of Ghostface Killah (Wu Tang), Del tha Funkee Homosapien, and 19 year old MIA protege Rye Rye (who does a lovely job on our featured Song of the Day). If you’re looking for something to jump around to, look no further.
The band just finished touring in the States but you can still catch up with the band and listen to additional tracks on their MySpace page as well as their entire in-studio performance at KEXP from our Live Performances Archive here. For now, check out this very recent performance of “Queen of Hearts” from the Empty Bottle in Chicago with MC Zulu:
