Droid Daughter - Mira

Here it is folks, my blog’s first ever exclusive preview. And geeh, I just realized that I don’t even know where the album name “Mira” comes from! I just started to get these feel-good memories of the time when my Spanish flat mates loved the Finnish name Mira, because it was easy for them to pronounce and means “look” in Spanish. They usually associated it with the word “ass”.

But the name is not the only thing, which makes me feel good. I’ve hailed Warminster- based producer Droid Daughter aka Connor Lepre as a true wonder kid of pure electronic music. And with his third full-length, it’s pretty evident that my words are not just words. Even if I say so myself.

Although I get these positive feelings while listening to Mira, Lepre himself sees a darker side to it.

Mira is an interesting thing because if you asked me what it's about right after I finished it in May, I'd have no real answer for you. Looking back, it's really funny for me. It's an album full of regret about how I was spending my life the 5 months prior to that, but in this weird way where I was trying to cover up my regret. Like when you're sad and don't want anyone to know, you just put up a wall of happy and often times it can be easy to see through. I think people will have no problem seeing through the happier sides of Mira. It's the "too good to be true" happy feeling, but that's just how I interpret it.

Lepre considers the album to be a step out of his comfort zone, which resulted in what I would like to say a huge ass prolific beat making.  Out of the 15 tracks the collaborations are definitely the highlights- they bring Lepre’s sick beats into a whole different level, when different types of talent complement each other.

The song “Purple Beat” features rapper/songwriter Reefa Ali, who seriously has some mad skills. Rarely, you hear such clever rhymes.  “I sent him the beat, he wrote to it, and I recorded it”, Lepre explains the simplicity on his collaboration with Ali.

Another collaboration was with fellow producer Kali Ma aka Cody Miller. On the album you can hear a remix on the song Afrodesia done by Miller, but I guess you can say that the true respect is paid by Lepre taking influences from him.

On songs like Mira and I'm So Amber, I really tried channeling my inner Kali Ma, I hope he doesn't mind. But I felt it would be appropriate for him to remix one of the songs because of the influence on the album. I gave him the stems for Afrodesia and came back to me a few days later with a mind melting, almost Nine Inch Nails-esque remix that I love. When I play Afrodesia live, I play the first 2/3 of his remix, and then into my version. He does a similar thing for a song I remixed for him.

Musically, the most mind-blowing gem of the album is You + Time. The reason for that is the most utterly astonishing voice of Lepre’s friend Kate Kushin. You can’t really understand what Kushin is singing about, but it’s like the case of "Milk and Cereal"- it’s not about the content, it’s about the way it’s done.  “I played with her breathe noises and kept about half the song and repeated it. It filled the song up a bit and I think it added a bit of style.”

Connor, this line is for you:

You + Time is the most stylistic thing you’ve done so far.

In general, one of my favorite moments is when the base drops. And without forgetting a bit of humor, this Droid Daughter track which is included in live sets made me go "Bitch, drop the base!" the first time I heard it.

I’ve said it a dozen times before that the most important thing for an album is to work as an entity. And as a person, who doesn’t concentrate too much on visual stuff, am very proud to say that it’s the first time for an album art work to be the icing on the cake. Honestly, I don’t think I’ve seen anything as amazing as Mira’s cover. The closer I look the more I drool.

Okey, I think we’re better off ending this with Lepre’s own words, before things get out of hand. But damn it feels great to give out recognition in a review for something which basically is mainly not about it. #TrySomethingNewEveryDay.

Artistically, I ended up creating these little worlds in my head that each song was from. Kristina Abuladze did an amazing job capturing how the album felt with the album art she made for me. I have synesthesia, which is a neurological condition where one sense, in this case hearing, will stimulate another sense, and often times for me it's sight. To me, songs have corresponding colors and textures. I don't necessarily "see" colors and textures when I listen to music, but I associate songs and sounds with color and texture. When I listen to the songs on the album, I find a strain of color(s) on Kristina's album art that I associate with that song so it's like the whole album is visualized for me on the album art which is a cool thing.

Mira is available for download on its release date, July 24^th 2013 via everywhere, just check his Facebook for more info. Thanks to Connor for granting my blog the rights for this exclusive preview.

Covering your ass: Franco and the Dreadnought Special

Last year with the artist I work with, we launched a cover competition to create some hype for his first video, Last Man Standing. We got only one entry, which was ace though. A year from that we decided to launch a similar competition again- the fan base had tripled and many collaborations with other musicians were done during the past time. So, I was expecting quite a few covers and remixes this time.

We didn't get as many submissions as we would have wanted, but once again the quality was just amazing. Three covers and a remix, which are completely different from each other, yet fantastic. Great vocals, rhythm ... They're so good that I think I've listened to them more than the original versions!

The winner will be chosen by the public tomorrow evening, so you still got time to go vote for your favorite by just simply liking/commenting on the entry you love most right here. One lucky voter will receive Franco's new EP, and the cover winner on the other hand not only the EP with their name on the art work, but also a brand new Franco shirt and maybe a home gig. There's nothing better than to see him play the acoustic guitar in an intimate setting.

Here are the entries with the original versions.

Where I'm Calling From



Entry # 1 Emily Rose Hutchinson



Entry # 2 Josh Ruding



Love Sweet Home
- I remember when they were recording this at The Animal Farm studio and me and my friend were asked to  do the stomp/clap for the background. It was just a simple stomp/clap, but it was funny to see how we were trying to keep up with the rhythm. So staying in rhythm  for the girl who did the cover is not the hardest thing! It also reminds me of summer camps when we kids did the cup thing.



Entry # 3 Izzy Kennedy



Last Man Standing



Entry # 4 Connor Lepre aka Droid Daughter

Friday Feature: Droid Daughter

Hailing from Warminster, Pennsylvania, 18-year-old Connor Lepre has spent the last 12 months expressing himself through his electronic project- Droid Daughter. I'd say the year has been awfully busy for him having released, wait I'm not sure if I even counted correctly, but at least 3 EPs of his own and two full-lengths. In addition there are just loads of remixes, split EPs and all sorts of collaborations with other great local artists that Lepre has done.

Lately I've been listening to a lot of jazz, hip hop and synch electro. For me Droid Daughter represents electronic music in its purest format. No tricks or gimmicks, just raw passion and talent mixed with a hint of groove. I can notice that Lepre takes his musical path seriously with a great sense of DIY attitude and professionalism. So, I won't be surprised when we see him hitting it big in the years to come.