thrill is to make it up
XPN’s Artist To Watch for May is an old friend of the Y-Rock world: Santogold aka Santi White. I’ve been a fan of her work for a long time. Back in 2003, Y100 ran a local band contest to pick a group to play the side stage at Lollapalooza. White’s old band Stiffed was one of the finalists, and though they didn’t win, I thought they should have and was really impressed by their ska-influenced hyper-punk rock. I dug their EP Sex Sells and their final release, 2005’s Burned Again. Santi visited the old Y100Rocks.com bunker 3.0 and recorded a really cool little acoustic session at the time, with Philly icon Chuck Treese on makeshift percussion. In fact, here is a treat for you: Stiffed - A Day With Andrew (live at Y100Rocks.com)
Last year, White resurfaced under the name Santogold. First on Mark Ronson’s awesome Version record, covering The Jam’s “Pretty Green.” Then the blogs starting hyping her new solo career, as she collaborated with Spank Rock, another artist with Philly roots. Her long-awaited debut landed in stores this week and it’s damn good. Santi jumps with ease from Strokes-ish guitar anthems (”L.E.S. Artistes”) to dub reggae (”Shove It”) to New Wave melodies (”Lights Out”). “Creator” draws obvious comparisons to M.I.A. (and ended up in a beer ad last month) while “You’ll Find A Way” and “Say Aha” defy classification. Santogold truly lives up to the hype and is one of the most energizing new releases in 2008. And it’s good to see Philly (via Brooklyn) represented nationally with such a unique talent.
Santogold will be a part of the Roots Picnic at Festival Pier in Philadelphia on June 7.