10’s

Scuzz Sundays: The Pretty Reckless – ‘Make Me Wanna Die’

March 13, 2022 — Leave a comment
Pictured: Taylor Momsen (Lead Vocals/Rhythm Guitar), Ben Phillips (Lead Guitar/Backing Vocals), Jamie Perkins (Drums/Percussion) and Mark Damon (Bass Guitar/Acoustic Guitar) (2010) (Photo Credit: Music Hub – Fandom)

Good Morning to you! This is Jacob Braybrooke, and it is time for me to offer up another Scuzz Sundays post that you would probably not be prepared ‘to die for’, since it’s always my day-to-day pleasure to write up about a different piece of music every day! One of the most commercially successful female-led bands of the Mascara-dripping 00’s going through the 2010’s was The Pretty Reckless, who are still active regularly today. Led by Taylor Momsen, who was previously known for being a teen TV star in productions like ‘Gossip Girl’ and ‘Spy Kids 2: The Island Of Lost Dreams’ – as well as playing the child role of Cindy Lou Who in the Jim Carrey version of ‘How The Grinch Stole Christmas’ in 2000, the band have topped the US Album charts with albums like ‘Going To Hell’ and ‘Who You Selling For?’ and topped the US Rock Charts with fairly well-known singles like ‘Heaven Knows’ and ‘Messed Up World’. Momsen’s misfits last released ‘Death By Rock and Roll’ last year, which found her getting the chance to collaborate with legendary Rage Against The Machine guitarist Tom Morello for a track. ‘Make Me Wanna Die’ is instantly recognizable if you have seen the edgy comic book movie ‘Kick Ass’, which helped to bring actors like Chloe Grace Moretz and Aaron Taylor-Johnston some of their Hollywood stardom throughout the years since 2010. It was produced by Kato Khandwala, and it was the first track to be written for their debut album, 2010’s ‘Light Me Up’. It reached #16 on the UK Singles Chart, and it was initially described as a tragic love song inspired by Romeo and Juliet by Momsen.

‘Make Me Wanna Die’ is the first track that The Pretty Reckless wrote together as an ensemble, and it was based on a fictional story they created where the rough story of ‘Make Me Wanna Die’ tells the tale of a girl with a supernatural lover – a narrative which the vampire-loving Twi-hards of the 2010’s would have also loved – and her desires to be transformed into ‘one of them’ so they can both stay in love together, according to the Genius website. Starting off with some filter-like Mellotron flutes, Momsen sets the stage for her dark tale of lust and loss with her spoken-sung refrains of “Never was a girl with a wicked mind/But everything looks better when the sun goes down” and “I had everything/Opportunities for eternity/And I could belong to the night” that develop a brief backstory for her character. It’s nothing that feels rich in motive or Oscar-worthy performance, but it gets the job done. The verses represent a mix of angsty Grunge-enhanced Pop and stop-and-start Desert Rock, where the melodramatic lead guitar riffs are separated by short gaps and the jagged Bass guitar riffs complement the ‘Broken’ feel of the single’s emotional qualities. The chorus kicks in, with hooks like “Everything you love/Will burn up in the night” and “Every time I look inside your eyes/You make me wanna die” floating seemlessly above the Pop-Punk production. There’s also a little bridge where some overtly emotional Strings come in and there’s a short assortment of backing vocals that feel a little cheesy – for lack of a better term – but they provide some more variety to the track and ensure that it’s effect doesn’t ware so thin. Overall, ‘Make Me Wanna Die’ is a robust reminder of the days where guilty pleasure monster flicks like ‘Underworld’ and ‘Resident Evil’ were gaining some decent box office takings in the 00’s, as the lyrics complement the angsty yet dark tone of the creature features nicely and the looped percussion adds some little bells and whistles to the production. It feels a little bit overly theatrical at points for me, but it feels like a lot of fun nevertheless. It’s very inoffensive and harmless, although it wasn’t going to earn awards for innovation.

Pictured: Cover Artwork for ‘Light Me Up’ (LP/Album) (Released on August 27th, 2010) (via Interscope Records)

If that collaboration between Momsen and Morello sounds good to you, it is very convenient that it was actually covered on the blog prior to release. Check it out here:

‘And So It Went’ (feat. Tom Morello) – https://onetrackatatime.home.blog/2021/03/06/todays-track-the-pretty-reckless-feat-tom-morello-and-so-it-went/

Pictured: Cover Artwork for ‘Death By Rock and Roll’ (LP) (Released on February 12, 2021) (via Fearless Records)

That brings us to the end of another entry of ‘Scuzz Sundays’ on the blog. Thank you for showing your interest in the site today as your continued support is always highly appreciated – and I’ll be back tomorrow to give you a taste of the latest track from a Manchester-based Art Pop band who have covered tracks by The Prodigy and Disclosure and they have gained support from sources as varied as ITV Granada and The Guardian. They are probably best known for singles like ‘Can’t Stop’ and ‘Nobody Scared’ that have been receiving daytime airplay from the BBC Radio 6 Music playlist.

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Boxing Day 2021 Special: Courtney Barnett – ‘Boxing Day Blues (Revisited)’

December 26, 2021 — Leave a comment
Pictured: Courtney Barnett at Rock The Garden Festival (2019) (Photo via Martin Philbey/Redferns)

Good Morning to you! This is Jacob Braybrooke and, if you weren’t famished by food already yesterday, I’ve got a small pick-me-up for you in the way of this Boxing Day-themed post, seeing that it has always been my day-to-day pleasure to write up about a different piece of music every day! Having recently released her third solo studio album – ‘Things Take Time, Take Time’ – to the world, the Australian indie rock singer-songwriter Courtney Barnett hasn’t been a stranger to this humble site at all with her boisterous mix of lo-fi, but also sometimes more Grunge-influenced, Punk melodies and her witty, deadpan lyricism. The LP which arguably bought her an established name in the industry was 2015’s ‘Sometimes I Sit and Think, And Sometimes I Just Sit’, which won four ARIA Music Awards and gave her further award nominations at the 58th Grammy Awards and 2016’s BRIT Awards respectively, following its release. Not too shabby at all for a debut album release, then. The album’s closer was the melancholic and rambling offering ‘Boxing Day Blues’ and, a few months later that year, she decided to re-imagine her own tune with ‘Boxing Day Blues (Revisitied)’. The track was released as the A-side to a cover version of Boys Next Door’s ‘Shivers’ that was originally issued in 1979. With little left to say, let’s get in the mood with it below.

Garnering such acclaim for your debut release would certainly allow you to work with higher caliber music artists, and the same was true for Courtney Barnett when she recorded ‘Boxing Day Blues (Revisited)’ with Jack White in his Nashville-based studio. The single was also included on a deluxe version of ‘Sometimes I Sit and Think, and Sometimes I Just Sit’ that was released that November, which includes some bonus tracks and demo recordings that were cut from the original track listing of the album. It also featured physical gifts – including a poster of the album’s artwork and four Polaroid photographs taken by Barnett herself. Addressing a romantic interest with questions like “How was your day? Mine was okay” and “What did you do? Spent my whole night dreaming of you”, Barnett lyrically tackles the theme of wishing that you were somewhere else, and doing something else with someone else, than what you did for Christmas day in reality. Suitably, it feels more percussive than the original track with a slightly laidback feel. Her tone is lovesick and stripped back, with lyrics like “Like a Christmas Tree on Boxing Day, thrown away” and “Just like two icebergs in climate change, drifting away” that feel strangely topical. Lyrics like “I’m feeling fine, Except the times that I’m not” feel very characteristic of Courtney too, bolstered by a gently jaunting lead guitar riff and a similarly placid Drum riff. The wistful and low-key melodies of the track settle into a mostly chilled out meditation on the themes of fantasy and reality, as well as the lines between sadness and resentment, with her signature deadpan observations coming across as just a little more defined when compared to the original track from her debut album. Overall, it feels like a solid after-burner of a track that sticks out when all of the many jobs pertaining to Christmas have been done and, as usual for Barnett, she’s the type of musician who you can get to know personally through the fairly small, but profound, aspects of her songwriting.

Pictured: Cover Art for ‘Lotta Sea Lice’ (LP) (with Kurt Vile) (Released in 2017) (via Matador Records)

If you’re feeling bored this Boxing Day, you can also check out some of my previous Courtney Barnett-related posts on the blog. There’s ‘Over Everything’ from her collaborative album ‘Lotta Sea Lice’ with The War On Drugs’ Kurt Vile here: https://onetrackatatime.home.blog/2019/09/26/todays-track-courtney-barnett-kurt-vile-over-everything/. There’s a more recent solo single, ‘Rae Street’, here: https://onetrackatatime.home.blog/2021/08/21/todays-track-courtney-barnett-rae-street/. Finally, you can check out the single ‘Befoe You Gotta Go’ from her latest album here: https://onetrackatatime.home.blog/2021/11/12/new-album-release-fridays-courtney-barnett-before-you-gotta-go/

Pictured: Cover Art for ‘Things Take Time, Take Time’ (LP) (Released on November 12, 2021) (via Mom + Pop Records)

That’s all for now and, basically, that’s Christmas for another year. We’ve made it through until next year. Speaking of the new year, my coverage for the New Year’s season will begin tomorrow as we look at some of the off-the-radar music from 2021 that you may have missed from earlier in the year throughout the week and, sometime in January, my year-end lists will be published. Once I get the chance to actually sit down and write them! Anyways, I’ll whet your appetite tomorrow with a starter from the new dance project of DFA’s Amy Douglas and Hot Chip’s Joe Goddard.

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Countdown To Christmas 2021: Emily Alyn Lind – ‘That Was The Worst Christmas Ever!’

December 16, 2021 — Leave a comment
Pictured: Emily Alyn Lind on the set of HBO’s ‘Gossip Girl’ (2020) (Photo by Jose Perez/Bauer-Griffin/Getty)

Good Morning to you! This is a tired Jacob Braybrooke, but I’m here to ‘Countdown To Christmas’ with you before the Christmas sandwich ranges of the major supermarkets get shelved for another year, since it has always been my day-to-day pleasure to write up about a different piece of music every day! My fairly recent discovery of Emily Alyn Lind was an interesting and unusual one. That’s because the 19-year-old indie folk singer-songwriter is actually a multi-talented creative and, in fact, I didn’t discover her through listening to music initially. I was simply sat on the sofa during a rainy evening watching ‘Doctor Sleep’ with my two parents at home, and she popped on-screen in the role of Snakebite Andi during the movie, which is well worth checking out. I enjoyed her performance very much and I decided to do some casual research into her, and I found out that she’s also an independent musician – as well as a film and TV actress – who has released some Americana-style music that is right up my alley, as I’m a huge fan of Alexandra Savior and Weyes Blood, who she reminds me of musically. She also directs her own music videos and she’s also been talking about releasing her own full-length album since 2020. ‘Spotless Mind’ and ‘Tantra Practice’ are my favourite songs by her, but her first track was a cover version of Sufjan Stevens’ ‘It’s The Worst Christmas Ever!’ that she issued in 2019. As an actress, Lind can be seen in the duology of ‘The Babysitter’ movies on Netflix, as well as the recent reboot of ‘Gossip Girl’ made by HBO. She began her acting career as a child star on ABC’s ‘Rampage’ and CBS ‘Code Black’ television series in the US, but she has also appeared in some productions like Hulu’s ‘Future Man’, Keanu Reeves’ 2019 Sci-Fi vehicle ‘Replicas’ and 2010’s ‘November Christmas’. Speaking to Vice about the niche dynamic of balancing music with her love for acting on camera, she says, “I was just always writing music since I could remember. My dad introduced me to folk music really young – Bob Dylan, Neil Young – and I just thought they were the coolest people in the world. Instead of wanting to be a ballerina, I just wanted to be Neil Young. I just loved the 60’s”, adding, “But I picked up a guitar and I started writing, so it started to become an outlet for me and I never stopped”, in her conversation. I’d very highly recommend her music videos for ‘Spotless Mind’ and ‘Castles’ because the two tracks showcase her unique personality excellently. However, the Sufjan Stevens cover really fits the theme of the moment here on One Track At A Time. Let’s give it a listen below.

Although she’s only an emerging talent in the film world, the roots of the medium are also in her blood, as she’s one of the youngest members of a dynasty of creatives from the film industry. The ‘Haunting In Connecticut’ 2 star has been working since she was four years old, and she is the daughter of the actress Barbara Alyn Woods and the producer John Lind. Her two sisters, Natalia Alyn Lind and Olyvia Alyn Lind, are also actresses. Her charming and reflective cover of ‘That Was The Worst Christmas Ever!’ captures the slight melancholy of the winter season acutely and insightfully, and she told American Songwriter, “I’ve always loved Sufjan’s take on writing holiday music. Not to get all sad boy here, but I think there’s something so nice about the realistic spin he puts on a genre of music that is very one dimensional. It’s a beautiful song, and a stunning melody, and I hope you like it as much as I do”, in late 2019. I feel that Lind’s sincere, stripped down rendition of Sufjan’s track is probably compared most favorably to Phoebe Bridgers and Bob Dylan, while Lind herself has been drawn intensely to Leonard Cohen and Neil Young since her childhood. It starts off with a sweet, soulful vocal sample that provides a swift opening for her lyrics, which feel soothing and graceful. They are gently poetic, with Lind using her natural voice to complement the radiant and mellow sound in a lovely way that makes the song sound more akin to one of her own. Some of her vocals have been layered, and I love that she doesn’t use any auto-tune here, instead relying on her harmonies and contemplative vocal delivery instead of a sense of over-production. The lyrics are about the commercial industry of Christmas if you will, and so the production choice fits the theme well and pays respect to it. I really like the laidback acoustic guitar melodies as they create a measured pace that works cohesively with her soft and clear vocals, walking the tightrope between soft and bright nicely. There’s some moodier and slowed pacing here and there, but the textures remain warm and delicate throughout with a vulnerability in her voice that is attentive. Overall, the track is a real hidden gem as such from Lind, with a lush fusion of gentle Dream Pop and Americana-tinged indie folk that works with her pure, unsullied by any artifice, vocals beautifully. I follow Emily on Instagram, so I can’t wait to hear more about her upcoming music and movie projects in the future. I think that she’s got an absolutely lovely voice and a natural likability, and I feel she’s a decent actress as well since I felt inclined to do some casual research into her after coming across her instead of just simply forgetting it, and I wish all the best to her with her diversity of projects, since I am glad that I came across her. This cover is a perfect vibe for this ruminating season.

Pictured: Emily Alyn Lind in a recent photoshoot wearing Dior for Harper’s Bazaar (2021) (Photo by Lucas Garrido)

That’s all for now! Thank you for reading my latest post and supporting my daily content on the blog, and I’ll be back tomorrow to guide you through another daily track on the blog, as we take a brief breath of respite away from our annual Christmas coverage. The refreshing change of pace will be a funky one, coming from a Nashville-based Psych Rock singer songwriter who began writing poetry at the age of 8. He released his latest EP, ‘What Box?’, this July and he describes himself as a “walking question mark”. The track was supported by BBC Radio 6 Music host Tom Ravenscroft.

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Countdown To Christmas 2021: The Beths – ‘Have Yourself A Merry Little Christmas’

December 14, 2021 — Leave a comment
Pictured: Elizabeth Stokes (Lead Vocals/Rhythm Guitar), Jonathan Pearce (Lead Guitar/Backing Vocals), Benjamin Sinclair (Bass Guitar/Percussion) in a promotional photoshoot for ‘Jump Rope Gazers’ (2020) (Photo via PR)

Good Morning to you! This is Jacob Braybrooke, and it will nearly be time to start arguing over what movies and TV shows to watch over the busy Christmas weekend, given that we’re continuing the festivities with a new installment in our ‘Countdown To Christmas’ feature, since it’s always my day-to-day pleasure to write up about a different piece of music every day! ‘Have Yourself A Merry Little Christmas’ is a very traditional Christmas ballad that is difficult to avoid, meaning that we all hear it every year. Originally sung by Judy Garland in 1944, it has been covered by a wide range of artists including Ella Fitzgerald, Bing Crosby, Sam Smith, Tori Amos, Josh Groban, John Legend, Michael Buble and more. However, I bet you’ve never heard it like this – from the female-led Auckland-based New Zealand indie rock group The Beths. At the time, their cover version came off the back of The Beths’ successful debut album – ‘Future Me Hates Me’ – which was released on Carpark Records in 2018, a record that sold out of all three pressings in its first two months on sale and tallied up over 1.5 million Spotify streams. The band also gained popularity through touring with Death Cab For Cutie throughout the UK and Europe in early 2019 and supporting Bloc Party on their ‘Silent Alarm’ tour in New Zealand the same year. The band’s latest album release was 2020’s ‘Jump Rope Gazers’, which earned strong radio airplay from Triple J, KEXP and BBC Radio 6 Music and additional print support from publications like Noisey, The Age and Beat. Released in 2018, their own version of ‘Have Yourself A Merry Little Christmas’ was also given an official music video directed by The Bub Club and Hamish Parkinson, which finally reveals what happens when their little Pup gets up to while the quartet are away on a tour in December. Let’s give it a spin below.

The Beths’ version of the standard ‘Have Yourself A Merry Little Christmas’ originally appeared on a 7″ vinyl single release which also included the special demo tape of ‘Happy Unhappy’ from their well-liked debut studio LP release ‘Future Me Hates Me’, and the proceeds went to the Girls Rock Camp Foundation. Recorded in three seperate continents on their first proper world headline tour, the holders of the ‘Best New Act of 2018′ title via the US music publication Paste decided to ditch their usual up-tempo and guitar pop-oriented style for something a little bit more smooth and silky in essence. Crooning the well-known lyrics of “Let your heart be light/Next year all our troubles will be out of sight”, lead vocalist Beth Stokes leads us into a jaunty guitar line and a steady drum beat that gradually increases in aggression. She softly sings lyrics like “Here we are as in olden days/Happy golden days of yore” with a radiant tone that feels a little bright, but grounded in the mid-tempo progression of the rhythmic instrumentation. Eventually, we hear Stokes’ serenade peak in sizable proportions when the lyrics are cut off by the drums that crash in, the bass guitar that adds a Grunge influence more akin to The Beths’ usual material in the fray, and a propellant String section that retains the delicacy of the original track’s personality that makes it a popular one for very different artists to each cover. The highlight is the soaring guitar solo that really makes this version of the traditional ballad stand out from the many other versions as it retains the joyous delivery of the original, while also treading outside of the comfort zone of the original instrumentation. There’s also a multi-part vocal harmony in the backbeat where the band recite different parts of the song as The Beach Boys or The Kinks may have done in the 60’s and 70’s. Overall, this is a lovely cover of the old track that adds new energy to the original and matches the visuals of their pet dog penning his letters and decorating the house in good taste.

Pictured: Cover Art for ‘Have Yourself A Merry Little Christmas’ (Released on 30 Nov, 2018) (via Carpark Records)

The Beths have previously appeared on the blog with their track ‘I’m Not Getting Excited’ from 2020’s ‘Jump Rope Gazers’. Feel free to check it out – But don’t get too excited for it – here: https://onetrackatatime.home.blog/2020/08/06/todays-track-the-beths-im-not-getting-excited/

Pictured: Cover Art for ‘Jump Rope Gazers’ (LP) (Released on July 10th, 2020) (via Carpark Records)

That’s all for now! I wish for your day to be as bright and merry as it can be, and I hope to write to you again tomorrow as we continue the ‘Countdown To Christmas’ that must end next weekend. Our next pick is currently Radio X’s ‘Record Of The Week’ and it comes from a Wigan native indie rock band who had a #1 album in the UK in September. They have also been credited with helping to save the local football club.

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Santa’s Scuzz Sundays: LCD Soundsystem – ‘Christmas Will Break Your Heart’

December 12, 2021 — Leave a comment
Pictured: James Murphy (Vocals/Synths), Nancy Whang (Keyboard/Synths) & Pat Mahoney (Drums) (2017) (via PR)

A Happy Ho-Ho-Holidays to you! This is Father Christmas himself, and it’s time for you to peel and chop down some carrot sticks to leave out for my brilliant Blitzen on Christmas Eve night, when you’ve finished reading my latest ‘Scuzz Sundays’ takeover from Jacob, whose day-to-day pleasure is to write up about a different piece of music every day! Don’t get me wrong, I love Christmas and IT IS my job. However, we all go through that patch like ‘Christmas With The Kranks’ where we all feel like simply not doing Christmas for one year because it is the busiest and most expensive time of the year and not just the most wonderful. One of my favourite Christmas songs to ever encapsulate that feeling of seeming down around the holiday season is ‘Christmas Will Break Your Heart’ by the well-established Brooklyn-based Synth Rock icons LCD Soundsystem. This was a standalone digital single that was released by the multi-time Grammy nominated group in 2015 when the rumor mill was circulating around the band’s core line-up reunion before they recorded their critically acclaimed comeback album, ‘American Dream’, for release in 2017. At the time, it marked their first new material in five years. Self-described by frontman and DFA Records co-founder James Murphy as a “depressing Christmas song” at the time of 2015, it was recorded when he found a window of opportunity to reunite with Nancy Whang, Pat Mahoney and Tyler Pope (who agreed to fly in from Berlin (with the determination of my sled and my red-nosed Rudolph) for a few days in New York together during a break between guitarist Al Doyle’s tour dates with Hot Chip. Let’s give it a spin below.

Jacob tells me that ‘Sound Of Silver’ is his favourite LCD Soundsystem album to date. He’s also a huge fan of KEXP, and the listeners of that Washington-based public radio station voted for ‘Sound Of Silver’ to be #23 in their 666 Best Albums Of All Time poll taken in 2019. Murphy had been singing the tune to himself for the past eight years, and the band says that after coming together they “reserved a pressing plant, and our friend Bob Weston was available to master it quickly – so that means, less than 2 weeks after recording it, there is actually a Christmas 7″, which feels like something that could only have happened a very, very long time ago” as December itself is far too late to record a Christmas song in most cases, but I know the feeling as my Little Helper’s head honcho has to rush around at the last minute like a headless turkey every year. A slow ballad along the same lines of 2007’s ‘New York, I Love You, But You’re Bringing Me Down’ from ‘Sound Of Silver’, meaning that Jacob would probably like this track as well, ‘Christmas Will Break Your Heart’ is a reminder of the rarely heard vocal range of the Alternative Rock pioneers, in terms of their songwriting abilities and stylistic versatility in being able to record festive music, dance tunes, rock ballads, pop crooners and most things in-between. Lyrically, the song is an acceptance that the miracles of Christmas often touted in festive movies and TV perfume advertisements aren’t really things that truly exists. Instead, for Murphy and his co-horts, Christmas is a time more akin for loneliness, isolation, unrealistic expectation and expenses that are devoid of joy. Refrains like “Like that laid back rock ‘n’ roll, Your body’s getting old/It’s much too tired to be bold” talk about how Christmas feels less magical as you get older, while later lyrics like “Like the armies of the unrelenting dark/Once the peace falls apart” talk about the cycle of conflict that humans return to when the time has long gone. There’s enough variety in the lyrics to encompass a broad range of topics under the umbrella of Christmas time, and the gloomy gift of 2015 is a reminder that once you’re the parent paying for the meal and the presents that we share at Christmas and once you fail to believe in Santa Claus (Which, for me, frankly, is an absolutely preposterous idea), the tingling secrets of Christmas fade with diminishing returns across time. It is a bold and pessimistic song, but it is honest. There’s nothing quite like hearing Murphy’s lovesick croon in here, which feels like a bitter cross between David Bowie and Biffy Clyro’s vocalist Simon Neil. It is also a song that we can all relate to, and a subversive twist on the happy-go-lucky and “everything’s just the most amazing thing ever” tone of your typical Christmas single. Overall, while this probably isn’t for everyone due to it’s bleak nature, it is different and it wears its heart on its sleeve. The muted Piano is heartfelt and it meshes nicely with the resonant and steady drums that any self-respecting Christmas song has, and this structuring leads to a wonderful sequence of bass lines towards the final stretch. While it’s unlikely that it will ever be considered a staple at primary school choir recitals or on BBC Radio 2’s daytime programming, it is highly relatable, and it goes for a clear tone that succeeds well. A bittersweet bow of beauty.

Pictured: LCD Soundsystem performing two singles on ‘Saturday Night Live’ (2017) (Photo via Will Heath/NBC)

Jacob has posted about LCD Soundsystem in his early days, including ‘Get Innocuos!’ here: https://onetrackatatime.home.blog/2019/08/23/todays-track-lcd-soundsystem-get-innocuous/

Pictured: Cover Art for ‘Sound Of Silver’ (LP) (Released on March 12th, 2007) (via DFA/EMI/Capitol Records)

That’s all for now! Thank you for checking out One Track At A Time today, and Jacob Braybrooke will be in the co-seat again tomorrow to start off another week’s round of daily music posts. I’ve got business to attend to, but he’s told me to tell you that we’ll be catching up on some music that you may have missed earlier in 2021. It comes from an indie folk duo from Bergen, Norway who were the inspiration for Indian duo Parekh & Singh and they topped MTV’s European list of the best music videos of 2004 with ‘I’d Rather Dance With You’. In June, they released their first LP record since 2009.

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Spooky Season Special: John Carpenter (feat. Cody Carpenter & Daniel Davies) – “The Shape Burns” (From 2018’s ‘Halloween’)

October 31, 2021 — Leave a comment
  • Pictured: John Carpenter (2021) (Photo Credit: Marlow Stern/Abaca Press/AP/TheDailyBeast.com)

Halloween greetings to you! This is Jacob Braybrooke, instructing you to park your Broom up and sit for a spell, since its time for the second part of our Spooktacular specials where we compare the classic and contemporary Halloween soundtracks, because it’s always my day-to-day pleasure to write up about a different piece of music every day! Yesterday, we took an in-depth listen to ‘Michael Kills Judith’ from the titular scene of John Carpenter’s seminal 70’s horror flick, ‘Halloween’, and, today, we’re listening to ‘The Shape Burns’ from the recent reboot of the series. The production stages of 2018’s ‘Halloween’ saw the original film’s director and composer, John Carpenter, make his return to the series for the first time since 1982’s ‘Halloween III: Season Of The Witch’ as an executive producer and general creative consultant, and he also composed the soundtrack alongside Cody Carpenter and Daniel Davies. The flick was directed by David Gordon Green (Pineapple Express, Manglehorn) and it also saw Jamie Lee Curtis return to the franchise for more to reprise her role as Laurie Strode from the original film. Ignoring the narrative continuity of previous films from the series, which saw diminishing returns in later installments, the plot of 2018’s ‘Halloween’ is set 40 years after the story of the original Thriller film and it follows a post-traumatic Laurie Strode who prepares to face Michael Myers in a final showdown on Halloween Night. ‘Halloween’ (2018) was an enormous commercial success when it broke box office records for the Slasher genre previously held by 1996’s ‘Scream’ and it has gone on to become the current highest grossing Slasher film in unadjusted dollars, racking up over $255.6m in cinema ticket sales against a fairly small production budget of $10m. ‘The Shape Burns’ occurs during a pivotal moment in the film where Strode traps her old rival – Michael Myers – in the basement and sets him alight for the final time, presumably, since Myers also stars in ‘Halloween Kills’, the sequel that is now showing in cinemas. In the US, the new sequel is also streaming on some tiers of the Peacock streaming service for 30 days after its theatrical release. Another sequel after that – ‘Halloween Ends’ – will follow in 2022. Grab a slice of Barmbrack and hear The Shape burn below.

“We wanted to honor the original Halloween soundtrack in terms of the sounds we used”, Davies has explained in a press release for the reboot’s OST, adding, “Being limited by the length of time in scoring the sequence, we focused on the director’s tempo, timing, and vision. He would tell us what he had in mind, how long the cue should be, what emotion he wanted, and we would take it from there. It’s only the three of us, there is no elaborate system. We wrote, performed, and orchestrated everything”, to his notes for the OST’s release, with the aim of paying homage to the major ‘Halloween’ score that Carpenter composed and recorded in 1978. As with yesterday, I’ve attached a clip of the scene where ‘The Shape Burns’ is used below and a piece of the audio with a plain text background in this post – just for your preference of reference! At first instance, ‘The Shape Burns’ feels surprisingly very similar to the ‘Michael Kills Judith’ stinger from the original film that we explored yesterday and that is because Carpenter and company bring back the tingling Synth melody that goes back and forth throughout the original soundtrack. Once again, things feel minimalist and the production design is not very elaborate, instead relying on rather simplistic melodies to convey emotions of bittersweet melancholy and taking the final stand that Laurie Strode and the other characters perform in the movie since the chords feel urgent. There’s less of an emphasis on tension, however, and more of an Orchestral style that suggests something has been paid off, mixing some feelings of triumph and relief in the contemporary score. It revisits the chilling Synths of the original score and the non beat-driven nature of the old soundtrack with the clear nods to Halloween’s late-70’s past, but there’s a higher tempo and some more varied Electronic keys sequences that inspires a ‘send-off’ or ‘battle’ theme, connoting a higher sense of action and pace in the recent film than the vintage one. The score taps into a slightly higher gear and it introduces some lower pitched Synths that feel more grand and cinematic than what came before, but the production methods still feel rather low-key and not too overly produced because the formula is kept simple. Overall, ‘The Shape Burns’ promises a thrilling and exciting sequence that hurtles the unsettling Strings at a neck breaking speed, while keeping the same Synth patterns and Lo-Fi production of the original score in tact. This move, in turn, adds new bells and whistles to the score in comparison to the original flick but it also manages to make it feel rather old and reminiscent of the original flick due to the clear similarities which point directly towards the late-70’s. How very Ghoulish.

If you are not currently up to speed on the first part of our Spooky series that began yesterday, check out these thoughts on ‘Michael Kills Judith’ from the original ‘Halloween’ score. Try not to get caught up in Michael Myers’ killing spree while you do it here: https://onetrackatatime.home.blog/2021/10/30/spooky-season-special-john-carpenter-michael-kills-judith-from-1978s-halloween/

  • Pictured: Cover Art for ‘Halloween’ (OST) (Released in 1979) (via Columbia Records/Varese Sarabrande)

That’s everything for now – and all for this year’s All Hallow’s Eve too. There’s no tricks tomorrow though, and just treats, as we jumpstart the beginning of the new month with new music from a new artist. It comes from a 17-year-old singer songwriter who is releasing her ‘Artificial’ EP next Friday. She makes indie alt-pop songs with a hint of psychedelia and jazz – and she has received daytime airplay from BBC Radio 6 Music.

  • Pictured: Actor Nick Castle with Michael Myers’ iconic Halloween mask (2018) (Photo by Ryan Green)

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Today’s Track: Nia Archives – “Headz Gone West”

May 3, 2021 — Leave a comment

Headz, Shoulderz, Kneez and Toez…Kneez and Toez. On that note, it’s new post time!

  • Pictured: Nia Archives in a promotional shoot for The Pit, London (2020) (Article by Ben Tibbits)

Good Morning to you! My name is Jacob Braybrooke, and it’s time for me to get typing up for your daily track on the blog, as always, since it’s my day-to-day pleasure to write up about a different piece of music every day! ‘Headz Gone West’ is a short-and-sweet single that’s been sneaking it’s way onto my radio show and streaming library over the last week or so. It comes from the London-based (by way of Manchester and Leeds) singer-songwriter and visual graphic designer Nia Archives, who mixes Erykah Badu-inspired Neo-Soul and light Hip-Hop with more DIY-spirited Jungle and Drum & Bass production. There’s also some love for House music and UK Garage included in the pot too. Archives has just released her debut EP, of the same name as her latest track, via HIJINXX – which is also the name of the youth street art project that she also manages. Nia has remixed Lauren Faith, and collaborated with Zeitgeist, and so the stock is rising for this young lady, who claims to work primarily from her bedroom using old and second-hand kit to express herself through her material. Tune in below.

“Making the EP was super fun!”, Nia told Clash Music, elaborating, “I had a little DIY set up in my room, and I would sit up all night making loads of quick beats for fun… some of them I would end up proper vibesing to and kept working on them”, finishing up with, “Overall, the project is massively inspired by my love for breakbeats, jungle and D’n’B – and ‘Headz Gone West’ is the second track I wrote for it straight after ‘Sober Feels'” as she guided us along the process of putting together her first solo release. Her Jamaican heritage seems to have played a role in the intoxicating blend of lo-fi synths and Dub underlayers, paired up with lyrics that talk about independence, difficult relationships with familial figures and alcoholic addiction. The chorus of “My head has gone west, ain’t never getting nowhere, I watch the sunrise and then the sunset, I wanna get high so I can forget” balances a storm within the beauty, while a slightly more subdued verse gives space for lines like “I can’t sleep at night, I have so much on my mind” to address the elephant in the room willingly, despite the tone of the beats feeling danceable, and the subject matter of the lyrics feeling relatable. What I like about what Nia does here is the blending of traits from different genres that feel soulful, yet unwind in an experimental way that holds a personal quality for her. The explorations of late 80’s liquid rave music culture and German Soundsystem Reggae all fit under a similar umbrella and so the pieces all fit together neatly. The cohesion is really nice, yet there’s a feeling of “Summer anthem” to the mildly euphoric style. The lyrics have a darker mood if you read between the lines of the skittering, IDM-like breakbeats, however, and there’s simply a decent deal of interesting fusions to maintain your attention here. There’s a little over-reliance on repetition, but the duration is cut short and sweet, as to not overstay it’s welcome too much. Overall, it’s early days for her, but these results seem solid and very promising.

  • Pictured: Cover Artwork for “Headz Gone West” (EP) (Released on April 29, 2021) (via HIJINXX)

That’s all for today – but don’t forget to bring your Headz back over to the blog tomorrow for another review of recent, new music, this time coming from the Hip-Hop side of the pond, as we bring our focus to another emerging artist who was born in Boston, raised in Kenya, and now lives in New York City after graduating from the Berklee College of Music. If you really liked what you just read, why not follow the blog to get notified when every new daily post is up and why not like the Facebook page here?: https://www.facebook.com/OneTrackAtATime/

Today’s Track: Fimber Bravo – “Hiyah Man”

April 20, 2021 — Leave a comment

The African experimenter proving he’s not to be just a flash in the Pan. New post time!

  • Pictured: Cover Art for “Lunar Tredd” (Released on March 19th, 2021) (via Moshi Moshi Records)

Good Morning to you – I’m Jacob Braybrooke, and I’m going to try to lift your spirits with another daily entry on the blog, since it’s always my day-to-day pleasure to write up about a different piece of music every day! Currently based in South London, Fimber Bravo is a Trinidad-born composer and producer with his origins set as a Steel Plan player and founder of the Twentieth Century Steel Band. Bravo’s been around since the 70’s, and his music has been sampled in plenty of modern Hip-Hop records, such as tracks from Doug E. Fresh, Soul II Soul, and even Jennifer Lopez, of all people. He has also built a following around his unique collaborations with Western artists, such as the likes of Blur, Morcheeba and also Hot Chip. Hearing ‘Hiyah Man’ being supported on the A-list rotation of BBC Radio 6 Music was my first introduction to his work, and the track is the latest single from his new album, ‘Lunar Tredd’, which is only just over a month old now, and is the follow-up LP to his critically-acclaimed 2013 release, ‘Con-Fusion’ (Do you see what he did there?), releasing on Moshi Moshi Records. You may not have heard anything like it before. Let’s take a listen to it below.

Bravo has been establishing himself as a collaborative creator in the gaps since the years between his solo LP releases and his desire to produce another solo recording came about from the inspiration of the Black Lives Matter protests. When releasing ‘Hiyah Man’, he wrote: “Songs come to you in different ways, Hiyah Man was like a voice from my ancestors guiding me and giving me the power for a deeper celebration of the Pan with percussive rhythms that inspired us all to improvise a live first take in one go”, in his press release, concluding “We all felt so high on it” while referring to his free-spirited practices. Although I can’t claim to know everything regarding the instruments and deeper production of the track, I still think that ‘Hiyah Man’ caught my attention because there is a clear influence of dance music. The opening vocal of “A long time ago” is kept short and sweet, but the low-pitched delivery gives it an edge. It gets accentuated by upbeat, melodic Steel Pan beats which build slowly to the introduction of higher drum signatures and new layers of instrumentation. He continues to build a psychedelic dance beat and a festival setting, as elements of Afrobeat and Prog-Jazz make the cut. A slightly distorted synth beat quietly weaves it’s way through the percussion, and the eclectic bass line comes to the forefront towards the end with more electronic synth beats that have an acidic quality. The tone of the track and it’s mood feels more joyful and celebratory than it’s opening, with lyrical hooks about connecting with your ancestors and modernizing your family’s traditions remaining at the centerpiece of the singing sections. Overall, it’s over six minutes of very colourful and funk-influenced chord progression, with a nicely balanced mix of both African and electronic instrumentation. Although it’s not a track that I’ve repeatedly listened to over time and time again, there’s nothing about it that I can really fault. Despite being quite a newcomer to this style of music, I find it to make me feel refuelled and uplifted. An excellently crafted means of escape.

  • Pictured: Cover Artwork for “Con-Fusion” (LP) (Released in January, 2013) (via Moshi Moshi Records)

That’s all for now – But feel free to join me again tomorrow for a new entry in our weekly “Way Back Wednesdays” blog feature, where we revisit the sounds of the past that have influenced the present, or a look at an absurd rarity that shall not be left as forgotten. The former is the case this week, as we recover a beloved single from the Gold-certified debut album of an East Coast Hip-Hop pioneer who serves time as the associate publisher of Mass Appeal magazine and the co-founder of Mass Appeal Records. If you really liked what you just read, why not follow the blog to get notified when every new daily post is up and why not like the Facebook page here?: https://www.facebook.com/OneTrackAtATime/

Today’s Track: Lucy Dacus – “Thumbs”

April 12, 2021 — 1 Comment

Anyone up for a game of Heads Down, Thumbs Up? I didn’t think so. New post time!

  • Pictured: Lucy Dacus in 2016 (Photo by Shelley Hiam/TheAustinChronicle.com)

Good Afternoon to you – My name is Jacob Braybrooke, and it’s now time for me, yet again, to get typing up here for your daily track on the blog, as per usual, because it’s always my day-to-day pleasure to write up about a different piece of music every day! Well, I survived the two-night binge watch and if there’s any other sleepyheads out there on this Monday, I’ve got a chilled out and stripped back track to share with you, although it’s none the less more haunting and intimate for that. ‘Thumbs’ is the latest that we’ve heard from the Virginia-born indie folk singer-songwriter Lucy Dacus, who was a founding member of the Boygenius trio with Phoebe Bridgers and Julien Baker, but she has released two of her own solo albums. ‘Thumbs’ is a track which has been a fan-favourite ever since she started performing it in 2018, and she’s finally released a studio edit of the piece via her Twitter account – along with a teaser for a new solo LP, which she’s been hyping up to her fans by randomly gifting a selection of 100 VHS tapes of this track to them. In Willy Wonka fashion, you could say that it’s the golden ticket of American indie rock music in 2021. She says the track was written about an experience that her friend at college went through in a meeting with their estranged father, and it follows 2018’s well-received ‘Historian’ album. Let’s check it out below.

The downplayed instrumentals and the subdued sound may take you by surprise, but each line of the recent single seems to be deeply responsible for bringing out a visceral emotional reaction for Dacus, who tells us that she wrote it in roughly 15 minutes during a car ride to a restaurant, saying: “Like most songs I write, I wasn’t expecting it. It made me feel weird, almost sick” in her new press release for the promotional tune. When you listen to the synth undertones below the ethereal lyrics, the story of a strange family reunion comes through very clearly as the sparse backing beats and the somber, not sullied vocals are very much left, right, front and center of the mix. Lyrics like “You hung up the phone, And I asked you what was wrong, your Dad has come to town” and “So we meet him at the bar, you were holding my hand hard” set up the angry moods of the scene. Instrumentally, flickering keyboard sounds and subtle minimalism make up the melody. Although it seems our narrator wants to form a closer bond with the father figure, there’s always something weird and “off” about the encounter, a sense of an awkward past getting the better of the situation. Lyrics like “He ordered Rum and Coke, I can’t have either anymore” and “Do you get the checks I send you on my birthday?” sell this internalized struggle as much, with the raw melancholy of “I would kill him, quick and easy” particularly raising eyebrows. It’s not all doom and gloom though, with lyrics like “I love your eyes, and he has them, but you have his” and “When we leave, You feel him watching, So we walk a mile in the wrong direction” talking about biology and blood bonds. “I don’t know how you keep smiling” also comments on the act of fake happiness and “putting on a smile”, while the finale of “You two are connected by a pure coincidence” and “You don’t owe him s**t even if he said you did” closing the door on this reconnecting. The narrative becomes real through the devastating details, and the impressively written track went well beyond my expectations. Dacus’ has a gift in this anecdotal style of storytelling, where the small specifies are more important in conveying the story than a clear-cut pop structure. A rough listen – but beautiful stuff.

  • Pictured: Cover Art for “Thumbs” (Single) (Released on March 9th, 2021) (via Matador Records)

That’s all for today – After two weekends of festive-themed posts based on Easter and WrestleMania 37, it’s time to go back to the comfort of our usual routine this week. I’ve got some more material for you tomorrow, that comes courtesy of a modern icon in contemporary Classical music. This German composer and record producer is based in Berlin, and he is known for uniquely combining classical and electronic music, with an elaborate set up kit that includes a Rhodes Piano, an upright Piano, a Grand Piano, a Roland Juno-60, drum machines and a Moog Taurus synthesizer, working closely with Olafur Arnalds over the years. If you really liked what you just read, why not follow the blog to get notified when every new daily post is up and why not like the Facebook page here?: https://www.facebook.com/OneTrackAtATime/

WWE WrestleMania 37 Weekend Special: 21 Savage, Offset & Metro Boomin – “Ric Flair Drip”

April 11, 2021 — Leave a comment

To be The Man – You’ve got to beat The Man. On that note, it’s time for a special post!

  • Pictured: Alternate Cover Art for “Without Warning” (Released on October 31, 2017) (via Epic Records)

Well… You could say that last night’s events certainly put a whole new meaning into WWE’s ‘Thunderdome’. Once it got going half an hour later than scheduled though, I had a great night. A fantastic main event, a solid opener that picked up the pace and got things moving again pretty well, the sight of seeing my guy Cesaro getting the big win that I thought and hoped he would in an instant classic, two matches that turned out to be better than expected, and only one of the matches fell outright flat, and so that’s pretty good going, all things considered for a pro wrestling show just shy of four hours long. Sunday’s two-day spread of specifically themed posts continues with a look back at a more contemporary track than my offering yesterday with a track themed around the 16-time world champion Ric Flair. Released in 2018 on their ‘Without Warning’ Halloween mixtape, 21 Savage, Offset & Metro Boomin, a trio of US rappers and producers known from other projects like Migos, popularized the term of ‘Drip’ through their Nature Boy tribute. It’s a slang expression for excessive fashion and pompous wealth, and the track has, since it’s release, become the second most-streamed song on the RapCaviar Spotify playlist. It’s also the highest charting single for Offset and Metro Boomin, as leading artists, on the US Billboard Hot 100 chart, peaking to the heights of #13 after the music video went viral. Let’s check it out below.

It was simply emotional to see fans in an actual venue for the first time in over a year, even if the first sights of ponchos and heavy rainfall was one that you simply couldn’t make up. Anyways, part two resumes tonight with the promising line-up of Roman Reigns vs. Edge vs. Daniel Bryan in a Triple Threat main event for the WWE Universal Championship, Asuka vs. Rhea Ripley for the WWE Raw Women’s Championship and Kevin Owens vs. Sami Zayn with a celebrity appearance from the YouTube megastar Logan Paul, to name just a few. Let’s hope the weather holds up. Back to the task at hand, ‘Ric Flair Drip’ is a track which I didn’t recognize by it’s name, but once I hit play on the music video, I instantly knew it. This track was played very heavily on the soundtrack of WWE 2K19, along with a small selection of other tracks. With it’s very recognizably programmed Trap Beats and it’s tense tapestry of moods, it didn’t take me long to gather my thoughts. Lyrically, it plays out as you’d expect, with slang-filled sequences like “Fifty-Seven ninety, Split the coupe on my wrist” and “My car five-hundred and I don’t put no miles on it” that are delivered with a boastful and flauntering attitude, as they glide aggressively over the top of a melodramatic backing beat. There’s some heated String sections and copious amounts of heavy Bassline that dovetail the Grime-inflicted production. There isn’t much of a chorus here, but lyrics that declare 21 Savage as the “Top of the food chain” and flaunter his commercial success as a music artist like “Multi-million dollar, I’m a fool with the hits” that rhyme with preceding lines paint a very clear picture of what they’re getting at here. Icy Keyboard melodies and low-pitched Drum beats make up the darker variations of mood, we get a fun cameo from Ric Flair in the track and the video itself, and that’s your lot. Some of these hooks are decently catchy, and the mood works well even if it doesn’t progress very much. Overall, it feels all a little stereotypical for my liking, with a basic lyrical theme that we’ve seen a hundred times before about money and power, and it doesn’t seem to be pushing many boundaries. The heavy auto-tune effects get rather tiresome and the classic gangster rap picture isn’t doing anything very interesting for them. While it’s not great, it’s pedestrian and it has a brief couple of fun moments. Overall, though, I don’t think it’s really the case of it not really being my thing, I think it’s just pretty bad on the whole. While not inherently offensive, it simply lacks much variation, the songwriting is average, and it gets on my nerves a little bit. So, that leaves me with just one thing left to say – WOOOOOOOOO!

  • Pictured: Ric Flair with the WWF Championship in Albany, New York (1992) (Photo via WWE.com)

That concludes our WrestleMania-centric weekend of blog posts here on the blog, and Scuzz Sundays will make it’s huge return from a two-week hiatus at this point in seven days time. But first, if you missed out on my post yesterday, it’s time to hit the ‘Big Time’ with Peter Gabriel here: https://onetrackatatime.home.blog/2021/04/10/wwe-wrestlemania-37-weekend-special-peter-gabriel-big-time/

  • Pictured: Cover Artwork for “So” (Album/LP) (Released on 19th May, 1986) (via Charisma Records)

That’s all for today – I’ll be back to business as usual tomorrow once I’ve recovered from what’s shaping up to be another late one! That’s what you get for being a WWE fan in the UK though, right? You won’t want to miss out though as we sample the new tune from the final member of the Boygenius trio – which also included the recent breakout stars Phoebe Bridgers and Julien Baker. If you really liked what you just read, why not follow the blog to get notified when every new daily post is up and why not like the Facebook page here?: https://www.facebook.com/OneTrackAtATime/