Midnight World Pop Scout-8: Various Cruelties, The Weeknd, Orchestre Poly-Rhythmo

Our weekly exploration of pop music of various genres from around the world.

From the UK, our first act is Various Cruelties. I'm loathe to use the much overused "amazing", but to quote Sir Paul, baby I'm amazed. I absolutely love the soulful singing, 60s pop mix of surfy-rootsy guitar and strings.







Various Cruelties Website

Various Cruelties on Facebook

The next act is from Canada, and calls itself The Weeknd. If you follow other music blogs (a bit slutty of you, but I like that in a reader) you've likely read about them this week. Generally, the music is R&B style vocals from Abel Tesfaye and sounds from Doc McKinney and Illangelo. The release is called House of Balloons and the buzz is building.





The Weeknd website

The Weeknd on Facebook


Strut Records just sent out a notice that Orchestre Poly-Rythmo is releasing Cotonou Club, its first album in 20 years. This long running group from Benin West Africa has been playing since the late 60s. The music is a mix of Afrobeat, highlife, funk and soul with a bit of traditional West African music. Here the album track "Pardon":



And here are two older tracks:





Orchestre Poly-Rhythmo on Facebook

And just for fun, and because it is almost Sunday, here is some music with a reference to church from the 2007 album by Jamaican-born former US Marine, Shaggy:



Shaggy Website

Shaggy on Facebook