..And the rest will follow

What a week of cold snowy winter we have had. Generally speaking I like to leave my house to do work, protecting my kitchen and bedroom so as not to taint those spaces with stress or procrastination. As I cycle through my favorite study spots I’m able to preserve home base and maintain a refuge. But this week has been so bitterly cold that once making it home, if there is no absolute need to seek the outdoors, my feet slide into slippers and my legs into sweatpants before I have time to properly blow my nose. To my delight, I’ve managed to find equal levels of productivity at my kitchen table as I usually discover at the wooden tables on the first floor of the Grad. With the wind whistling and piercing my windows from outside, I’ve fallen into a routine of lighting candles, cooking up some stir fry while painfully trying to make it through the opened box of Franzia from weeks ago’s party, and steadily completing my work. But the element that has really enabled me to find solace and warmth at home has been the soulful pleasures of Tom Misch.

Mixing jazz, hip-hop, soul and funk, Tom Misch is a music producer from London. He is relatively new and unknown, despite his extraordinary talent. Tom sings, produces beats and plays the guitar and violin, combining all of these skills into his impressive repertoire of tracks. If a friend had not sent his Soundcloud page to me, I doubt I would have come across him in any foreseeable future. He’s so new that there’s no Wikipedia page about him, and none of my favorite blogs have mentioned his name yet. He appears a handful of times on the conglomerate music blog “The Hype Machine,” but mostly through UK blogs. His youth can only be seen as a hopeful characteristic; with such a strong start he surely has a spectacular career ahead of him.

Two of my favorite Tom Misch tracks also feature his sister, Laura Misch, who plays the saxophone. Together, the siblings shine and create Tom’s best kind of music. Laura’s soothing grooves on the saxophone create a wavy, relaxed and pleasant tone. They compliment her brother’s singing voice and even carry the songs. For instance, on “Follow,” Laura’s saxophone melodies actually serve as the dominant force in the track, even though Tom sings throughout the whole thing. His voice is not the most amazing sound around, but on top of Laura’s saxophone vibes it soars and the two blend together seamlessly. But after I’ve shut my laptop and continued on my day, the melody of the saxophone stays with me, not Tom’s words.

<Follow> 

In close competition with “Follow” is another track from the siblings called “Eems to Slide.” Here Tom’s guitar is much more noticeable than before, and masks the influence of Laura’s saxophone. The lyrics of “Eems to Slide” are catchy, unusual and quirky, adding another element to Tom’s sound. It is clear that Tom is first and foremost a producer, but he proves that he can also write and sing on top of his own beats. This track is a little bit bumpier and the flow is purposefully interrupted. It loses the strong jazz sound of “Follow” but gains a more electric and edgy tone that sets the stage for more ear-catching lyrics.

 <Eems to slide>

The final realm of Tom’s music repository is Hip-Hop. The majority of his Soundcloud page consists of wordless beats, which are much more obviously Hip-Hop than jazz. On a few he even samples famous artists, like A Tribe Called Quest on the track “Got It Goin’ On.” He pays tribute to legendary beatsmith J Dilla on the track “Dilla Love,” sampling a few of the master’s beats into his own creation, and also incorporates lyrics from a Mos Def song on another beat.

Tom Misch is doing what few other producers can: creating an authentically musical sound, with real foundations in jazz and soul, while still making marketable Hip-Hop beats. Instead of the loud and abrasive house music that most producers are trying to create, Tom is making true, fundamental music. And he’s just getting started.