When I had more free time, I posted each day and it never grew weary. New post time!

A warm welcome to you – music lover – if you are new to One Track At A Time, where we broaden our horizons by streaming songs of all styles and sizes. I am Jacob Braybrooke and it was previously my pleasure to write up about a different piece of music every day, but adult responsibilities are now in the way. Fear not, as I still have a small slab of leisure to post something special. Today, I am going to tell you about an excellent new release by a North Carolina-based electronic producer who goes by the name of Machinedrum. This is one of many monikers used by Travis Stewart, who fell in love with IDM and Glitch Hop sounds in the 2000’s. Syndrome and TStewart are two of his other aliases. He is also 1/2 of Sepalcure, 1/2 of JETS and 1/2 of Dream Continuum alongside Om Unit. His list of production credits and guest features are second to none – having worked with (*deep breath*) Flohio, Tkay Maidza, Freddie Gibbs, Sub Focus, Dawn Richard, Mykki Blanco and more. ‘3FOR82’ is his new LP out on Ninja Tune (The home of acts like Bicep, Yaeji and Park Hye Jin). Themed around childhood, Stewart made a unique request to his collaborators by asking them to write their segments as if they were writing to their younger selves. Some of his beats on the 12-track drum ‘n’ bass adventure were even lifted from some of his oldest teenager experiments, resulting in a low-quality fizz that artfully acknowledges the insecurities and inexperience that comes with being younger. One of the most ballsy experiments is the Hip Hop-oriented track ‘Weary’. Let’s give that record a spin below.

Stewart’s follow-up LP to 2020’s critically acclaimed album ‘A View Of U’ was crafted during a pilgrimage to Joshua Tree (a national park in California) and it finds him tapping into his network to recruit eclectic artists like Tinashe, Duckwrth, Topaz Jones, Deem Spencer and Aja Monet into his ranks as guest vocalists on the record. He explains, “I’ve been to Joshua Tree many times and I’ve always felt a great sense of clarity every time I visit“, in a press statement, adding, “and I knew that I should, at some point in my life, go out there to work on something creatively” to further establish the central theme of reconnecting with adolescence and harnessing nostalgia into your adult brand on the album. ‘Weary‘, which features rapper Mick Jenkins and Jamaican-born producer Jesse Boykins III as collaborators, is the perfect example of using childhood influences to kick a boost to a present product because it sounds so reminiscent of melodic and sample-driven 90’s Hip Hop records by artists such as The Jungle Brothers and Missy Elliot while maintaining a soft, futuristic Glitch element. A chopped drum beat kicks us off, reminiscent of a heavy Bhangra beat, before an arrangement containing a stretched vocal sample and a propulsive bass riff elevates the tension to another level. Fast and politically charged lyrics encouraging healing for people of disadvantaged, crime-ridden backgrounds are relentlessly recited at this stage, before a more soulful assortment of tender strings add a more hopeful element in the next verse. The chorus is more akin to a Thundercat or Blood Orange track due to the soulful vocal delivery by Boykins, but the momentum of the Hip Hop backing beat is still prominent due to the pace at which the framework of the melodic bass and the sharp drum rhythms are exposed. The sequencing by Machinedrum is, perhaps, the star of the show in this jam because the chopped element of the drums and samples add a specific seethe to proceedings. The slightly wonky rhythms veer noticeably into Hyper-Pop and Trap territory due to their irregular shaping, but the contorting production style keeps the foot on the gas for the connective tissue of Hip-Hop and Neo-Soul combined with electronic sounds. It all feels consistent enough, overall, without feeling too breezy as to dilute the aggressive edge of its impact. To conclude, ‘Weary‘ is a deeper cut on the album that you might read less coverage pushing as opposed to singles like ‘Rise’, but its a tough textbook example of twisting various elements of your production to meet your own needs while keeping your sound identifiable. A master of bending influences to his will, Machinedrum thrives in bringing the 90’s through the doors to modern clubs and encouraging you to make the past count by bridging the self-doubt of those times into a more motivated future.

That’s all for today! I want to say an enormous thank you for spending your time and attention with me. I will be back in a few days time with another new post regarding a Lo-Fi and Instrumental Rock singer-songwriter from an artist based in Brooklyn who has been releasing various projects throughout 2024 to celebrate his 20th anniversary of his music career since 2004. He was the founder of the Bad Channels Records label.

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