Arts and Entertainment

WHCL to bring Suicideyear and Salva to campus for fall concert

By Brian Burns ’17

The Friday night concert draught so far this year will end Friday October 3 at 9:30 p.m. in the Events Barn with a double-bill of artists Salva and Suicideyear.  The artists hail from different areas of the country, and have both carved specific niches in the music community.  

Suicideyear is a project of 19-year-old James Prudhomme.   He honed his reputation as a producer for artists such as Yung Lean, before making his own mixtape Japan in 2013.  His official debut with Software Recording was 2014’s Remembrance, released last Tuesday.

Suicideyear’s Baton Rouge roots showed through in Prudhomme’s music.   His work incorporates elements of “trap music,” an offshoot of Southern hip-hop marked by a use of synthesizers and electric drums.  His first video actually shows him driving through his hometown.

Suicideyear’s music conveys raw emotion despite little lyrical content.  In their review of Rembrance, Pitchfork called Suicideyear’s music “haunted by mortality, with synth drones that sometimes sound like organs bringing to mind the darkly meditative contemplation of a wake.”

Will Ryabaltowski ’17 said, “Suicideyear brings a relaxed vibe with chilled-out beats.  There’s a dreamy quality to the music that makes it so easy to get lost in and dance to.”

“I want to be the Daniel Johnston of southern rap,” Prudhomme said in an interview with Impose Magazine, voicing his aspirations to be compared to the artist/songwriter behind the classic 80s album Hi, How Are You.

Whereas Suicideyear is  a new presence in the music world, Salva gained widespread attention in 2012 for his radio remix of Kanye West’s “Mercy,” the No. 1 most popular track on Soundcloud in June of that year.  He had previously released an album in 2011 called Complex Housing. Resident Advisor Ltd., an online electronic music magazine, called the album “energized with a pure love for music that lends it a rambunctious and endearing spirit.”  Since this release, he has worked with artists such as Problem, Kurupt and SchoolBoy Q.  He was also featured on BBC Radio 1’s “In New DJs We Trust.”

Unlike Suicideyear, whose music has a distinctly Southern voice, Salva has been based on the West Coast for years.  He too started young in his profession, first DJing in clubs at age 18.

Both Suicideyear and Salva are clearly part of a new  generation of musical talent.  Each has a Soundcloud account on which they regularly churn out remixes and productions.  They will perform next Friday night.

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