NYC Scene Report – Homeboy Sandman, Bunny X, & Olive Louise

This week’s NYC Scene Report features Homeboy Sandman feeling “Human,” Bunny X “Daydreaming,” and Olive Louise voicing difficult memories with “Moroccan Oranges.”

* Homeboy Sandman continues to be one of the hardest working artists in indie hip-hop. With his rhyme skills, and his schedule – which has recently included a number of tour dates on the West Coast – some might feel he’s superhuman. His latest single, however, is simply titled “Human.”

According to Boy Sand, the inspiration for “Human” was pretty simple, “Little Simz and Inflo made a JAM called ‘Gorilla.’ I loved the beat so much that I had to jack it, and make ‘Human.’”

As with all of his work, Homeboy Sandman’s flow, and thought provoking lyrics are a combination that need to be heard, so click play, and experience some of his superhuman qualities on “Human.”

* Longtime column faves Bunny X love to take listeners to another time, and place with their music. The retrowave artists have an amazing ability to bring the ‘80s to life in the present, and do so in such a way as to make it feel very now, while still embodying everything that was great about the ‘80s synth pop/dance scene.

Their latest single is “Daydreaming,” and it’s the third release from their upcoming album, Love Minus 80, which is due out May 26th via Aztec Records.

In a statement about the song, the band wrote, “‘Daydreaming’ speaks to the often unspoken tension and feelings that can build up between two individuals that find themselves spending a lot of time together, but for one reason or another, are unable to or incapable of being together in any real sense. Hence, the only place that the fantasy can reside is in dreams.”

The combination of Bunny X’s retrowave sound, and fantastic harmonies make their music the stuff of dreams. Click play on “Daydreaming,” and enjoy.

* Singer-songwriter Olive Louise put a heck of a lot of heart into her debut EP titled 275 Kings Point Road.

Named after the place where she grew up – the actual main house of The Great Gatsby estate – the album features stories from Louise’s life, and it’s a life that’s involved more than its fair share of hurdles.

Take, for example, the song “Moroccan Oranges,” which was inspired by her mother’s passing. “The song is about the summer I traveled to Morocco and Paris with my dad and sister after my mom passed away,” she explained in a statement, “It’s about the dissonance I felt looking at my dad trying to hold it together, and make us feel okay, knowing that even though we were seeing stunning views, and trying new foods, and were there together, we felt completely shattered.”

As she sings, “We’ve been broken everywhere,” her very personal story becomes very relatable to anyone. Click play, and put on a brave face with Olive Louise.

For more of the best of NYC’s indie music scene, come back next Wednesday, and check out the archives for previous columns.