Good Morning to you! This is Jacob Braybrooke, and the time has come for us to rise to the occasion for yet another daily track on the blog, since it’s always my day-to-day pleasure to write up about a different piece of music every day! You can hear the break-beat’s and minimalist ambient Piano section of Aphex Twin’s discography, Electronica-inspired drums that could be right out of Squarepusher’s playbook, the groove-oriented blueprints of the heavyweights of contemporary classical composers like Phillip Glass, and countless more influences like Trip-Hop and Nu-Jazz in the music of the Manchester-formed Progressive Jazz band GoGo Penguin, who we previously covered in time for their self-titled album release in 2020 with the engaging single ‘F Maj Pixie’. Two years later and the Mercury-Prize nominated modern classical composers are back with ‘Ascent’, a deep 4-minute minimalist ambient piece that takes it’s inspiration from the likes of Brian Eno, Massive Attack and Radiohead. The band are currently signed to the French independent label Blue Note Records and are one of the label’s best-selling artists in selling in excess of 300,00 albums. The new track is also their first to feature the new drummer Jon Scott, who has replaced Rob Turner, a departure which was announced via Bands In Town and the group’s other social media platforms last December. If you live in Cambridgeshire, you can catch GoGo Penguin at The Junction on November 9th. Let’s give their newest single a spin.
Jon Scott’s name was the first to come up when the band was looking for a new drummer as bassist Nick Blacka had played some Jazz gigs with him when they started out in Manchester years ago and they have crossed paths several times since, and so the freshly re-established trio retreated to Peter Gabriel’s ‘Real World’ studios in Wiltshire to work on new material late last year, becoming stronger by the pandemic as a result of being unable to tour. Talking about ‘Ascent’ in a press release found on the Terrorbird website, pianist Chris Illingworth says, “The composition takes it’s inspiration from the duality often found in the big events in our lives, moments that can simultaneously make us feel both loved and isolated, fearful but confident, proud and humbled”, adding, “Ascent expresses the journey through these experiences in life, moving forward into the unknown, but with hope not fear”, in the trio’s statement. All things considered on that front, ‘Ascent’ starts off with a peaceful tone as a stuttering drum opening paves the way for a signature minimal Piano beat to create waves of arpeggiated Piano melodies to form the meditative groove for the main bulk of the well-structured and steadily sequenced track. The Piano pattern is repetitious, but it is well-developed because it is supported by a neatly balanced rhythm section and a backdrop of warmth in textures throughout, with elements of roots-flavored Jazz and electronic dance that introduce a morphing set of fresh melodies into the fray frequently enough. The cohesive and percussive drum patterns convey the reflective tone tidily, while the electronic elements and slight club music motifs make the piece feel more modern and contemporary overall. ‘Ascent’ provides for a peaceful and emotionally varied space for escapism, relaxation and enjoyment while being held together by a robust yet reliable rhythm. It definitely reminds me of Richard D. James’ downtempo Piano work, and, as a huge fan of Aphex, I find this particular influence to be appealing. Despite introducing a fresh member to their ranks and rebuilding chemistry – I felt that ‘Ascent’ picked up right where they left off.
If you love ‘Ascent’ and want to hear more of this band, you can Go Go here for more:
‘F Maj Pixie’ (2020) – https://onetrackatatime.home.blog/2020/06/11/todays-track-gogo-penguin-f-maj-pixie/
That’s all for today! Thank you for checking out my latest post on the blog, I hope that you enjoyed reading it and your support is always highly appreciated! I’ll be back tomorrow as we go retro for ‘Way Back Wednesdays’ on the blog, as we revisit an indie rock favourite from 2006 that KEXP presenter Abbie Gobeli recently reminded me of. The title track of an album with the same name, the dance-rock meets garage revival number has been proclaimed as the unofficial theme track for the popular British 00’s drama ‘Skins’ because it was used a lot on the DVD menu and promotional material for the programme. The associated album reached #1 on the UK Indie chart.
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