10’s

Today’s Track: In Love With A Ghost – “We Were Friends”

May 14, 2020 — Leave a comment

I am not In Love With A Ghost, but I am in love with this soft sound. It’s new post time!

  • Pictured: Cover Artwork for “Healing” (Single Release) (in 2017) (Cover design by @Salisart) (via Bandcamp)

Good afternoon to you! Indeed, I’m Jacob Braybrooke and I’m writing about your daily track on the blog because, as always, it’s my day-to-day pleasure to do so! Yesterday, I wrote about Skule Toyama, a little-known Chillwave DJ from Mexico who only has a small following and he’s one of my latest little discoveries on Bandcamp. Another artist from the same genre who I’ve also recently found on Bandcamp is In Love With A Ghost. However, it turns out that In Love With A Ghost has a much larger following and has become a bit of a viral sensation. Nonetheless, their 2016 EP release “Let’s Go” was my first introduction to this artist. “Let’s Go” is classified as a digital album, but it’s only very short, at four tracks with a 12 minute run time. There’s an old-fashioned IDM-style aura of mystery around this French composer, as the artist tends to only give cryptic teases towards the production and meaning behind their music. Their name is unknown, so is their backstory, and most importantly, they never reveal their face! “Flowers” featuring Nori is their most popular track from “Let’s Go”, with over 9.6m views on YouTube – but my favourite track from the album is the low-key and sad keyboard-driven “We Were Friends”. Let’s give it a listen below!

So.. That was “We Were Friends”. I feel that In Love With A Ghost manages, through the spacious synth riffs and the embellishing keyboard sequences, to create vivid, emotive feelings of closure and finality on this short track. In comparison to Skule Toyama’s track yesterday, the pacing is a lot slower and the melodies, although sweet and heavily electronically-produced, are more downtempo and less free-form in their structure, creating a highly stripped back sound, despite achieving the same aims of soothing you down and putting your mind into a state of relaxation. There’s no lyrics at all, but the distorted effects of the looping synths and the glitched-out basslines, enveloped in a pure and intoxicating Piano melody, create a gentle ambient texture that acts as a comforting bed for the beat-driven electronic effects to sit under. This results in an ambient texture that feels vaguely melancholic and reminiscent of a more innocent time. Maybe it makes you think about seeing an old friend for the first in a very long time? To me, it does, bringing an emotion of meeting up with somebody who you feel you might not truly “know” anymore and coming to terms with the nervousness and the fun you used to have, but also the happiness that comes from soon recapturing these memories. In any case, it’s completely up to you what this track is about. I think that’s where the strength of the sound lies. There’s attention to detail in the slow rainfall effects and the crackles of twigs breaking in the background, creating a feeling that is overall somber and contemplative. It feels like it has a super-sleek production behind it, of which I can tell it was a more expensive album to be produced than some of the earlier work, but it doesn’t lose it’s artistic identity or forget the roots of the music in the first place, a criticism that I point towards mainstream acts like Ed Sheeran or Drake, who just make totally generic and VERY commercial pop now. A “ghostly” presence – but a rewarding and excellent one!

  • Pictured: Cover Artwork for “Let’s Go” (Digital EP) (Released via Bandcamp on March 3, 2016) (via Z-Tapes Records)

Thank you very much for reading this post and I hope you enjoyed it! Please stay safe, “Stay Alert” and keep on washing those hands! I am really excited about tomorrow’s post because I’m going to be covering a brand new track that marks the return of one of my top favourite artists in the past couple of years! I still remember when she brought her mum on-stage to celebrate it when she won Best British Album at the NME Awards last night! Watch and learn BRIT Awards, that’s how you treat a real Best British Artist! If you really liked what you just read, why not follow the blog to get notified when each new post is up and like the Facebook page here?: https://www.facebook.com/OneTrackAtATime

Today's Track: KAYTRANADA (feat. Charlotte Day Wilson) – "What You Need"

April 24, 2020 — Leave a comment

This Haitian DJ is hellbent on building “Celestial” grooves! It’s time for your new post!

  • Pictured: Press shot of KAYTRANADA (Louis Kelvin Celestin) backstage at the Sonar Barcelona Festival 2019 (July 2019)

Good morning to you, I’m Jacob Braybrooke and I’m writing to you about your daily track on the blog, as it’s always my day-to-day pleasure to do so, virus or not! Since it’s a pretty barren week for new releases and, given our unfortunate time, they will all probably be for a while, I’m instead going to focus on writing about slightly older music that I discovered earlier on, but I never got around to writing to you about. KAYTRANADA (He spells out all of his name in block capital letters, so I’m going to as well!) is the pseudonym of Louis Kelvin Celestin, an Electronic Dance music producer from Haiti who started out as one half of a duo with Lou Phelps, The Celestians. In 2016, he rose to fame as a solo artist with “99.9%”, a record which explored a psychedelic and experimental rock sound. He followed it up with “Bubba” in December of last year, a more mellow-sounding electronic dance record, which featured collaborations with the likes of Pharrell Williams, Estelle, Tinashe and Kali Uchis, to name a few. Sadly, Forrest Gump’s “Bubba” wasn’t among them. “What You Need” is a single he recorded with Charlotte Day Wilson. Let’s have a listen to it below.

“What You Need” is one of the more mid-tempo, house-ready selections from his second album, “Bubba”, but, at the same time, I think that it avoids a strict categorization. It’s a lot more radio-friendly than some of his other output, but Wilson’s guest spot on vocals and the glittering production work adds an element of soul to deem it alternative enough to not sound generic. Wilson recites: “I never wanted you to see this part of me/I wish you would have told the truth/Oh, than make us settle”, as she reminisces about a past relationship that went awry. The chorus hook goes: “Be in my arms/Slowing my beating heart/’Cause even when it’s wrong you’ll see/That it’s what you need” as a spacious synth twirls around the main chorus lyric. The elements of 00’s disco continue to develop with a slight variation of the first verse: “I never wanted you to see this part of me/Now all I can hope to do/Is tell you still” as a light keyboard riff enters the fray and the slight Funk groove adds a laidback and chilled-out emotion with a breathed quality. The end result is a groovy little number which would make a good warm-up for a longer club night of more hardcore dance tunes. It is a good spot of sun-soaked, roof-down-in-the-car, sultry house vibes.

  • Pictured: Cover Artwork for “BUBBA” (Released on 13th December, 2019) (via R.C.A. Records)

Thank you for reading this post! I’ll be back tomorrow, as per usual, with an in-depth look at a charity single which was produced during quarantine by the frontman of a well-known American alternative rock band who named themselves after a song performed by the Bonzo Dog Doo-Dah band in The Beatles’ 1967 musical film – “Magical Mystery Tour”! 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: Ultraísta – “Tin King”

April 22, 2020 — Leave a comment

There is a ‘tin man’, but you won’t find The Wizard Of Oz here! It’s time for a new post!

  • Pictured: Cover Artwork for Ultraísta’s “Sister” (Released on March 13th, 2020) (via Partisan Records)

I couldn’t resist the pun despite the serious, artistic matter. Good afternoon to you, I’m Jacob Braybrooke and I’m writing to you about your daily track on the blog because it’s my day-to-day pleasure to do so! A discovery that I made a little while ago but I never got around to writing to you about is “Tin King”, a slightly disturbing electro-swing track released from the LP “Sister” by Ultraísta. Ultraísta are somewhat of an alternative house supergroup formed by Grammy-winning Radiohead producer Nigel Godrich, Laura Bettinson, lead vocalist of Femme and Lau.ra fame, along with Joey Waronker, an iconic touring drummer who has worked with the the likes of Beck and R.E.M.! The three musicians have joined together after performing a sporadic range of “jamming sessions” together in London and Los Angeles. They described their collaborative unit as: “an opportunity to do something outside of what we’d normally be doing” and their songwriting process as: “It’s like building a space shuttle out of matchsticks. It takes ages just to finish a wing, and you’re really proud of it, but then you go off and do something else for a while before you come back to tackle the next piece.” “Tin King” is the lead single taken from the “Sister” LP. Let’s hear it below.

The video looks very D-I-Y and independently made on a tight budget, but it feels like a stylistic, mockery-of-the-industry, decision that sounds art-based and well-informed when it’s matched up to the music. Bettinson ebbs in and out of Waronker’s flowing drum beat and a jarring, swirling house element. She sings: “Dialogue and industry/August in the thirties/David Bowie LP’s/I feel abominable, a bomb in a bubble”, a verse which is humorously led with an upbeat disco-pop tempo. Godrich adds a propulsive guitar melody which flows and interweaves through the consistent grooves. Bettinson also sings: “Thirteen hands/A right hand, and in the right hand”, a repetitous hook that gets vocally laid over a syncopated, lo-fi synth line. The drum loops display a more negative tone, as Bettinson sings: “It’s you, the sunshine”, a contrast to the light-hearted warmth of Bettinson’s dream-like vocals, always gliding above the percussive distortion loops and the bright drum machine loops. It has almost indecipherable lyrics on a first listen, but, over time, it becomes more clear and rewarding with a string of repeated listens. The production work is rather cerebral and sophisticated, but the energetic house textures and the melodic vocal chants are enough to craft a danceable beat, without it feeling too “pop”. Basically, this is a club track that’s made it onto the radio! You could dance to it in a club because it’s melodic and erotic, but the melodic strobes are non-violent and there’s a mature complexity to the experimentation beneath it. It’s solid, but I think you may have to take your time to allow the music to unfold each of it’s different layers to you!

  • Pictured: Laura Bettinson (Lead Vocals), Nigel Godrich (Producer/Guitar) and Joey Waronker (Drums) (2020) (via PR)

Thank you for reading this post! As per usual, I’ll be back tomorrow, with an in-depth look at a golden oldie from the Kingston, Jamaica sounds of the late 1960’s from a Jamaican Rocksteady duo who released a cover of “Don’t Look Back” by The Temptations and are still going strong to this day, having toured around the UK, Brazil and Hong Kong last year. 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: Sinead O’ Brien – “Taking On Time”

April 20, 2020 — 1 Comment

An Irish punk songstress who personifies “Poetry In Motion”! It’s time for a new post!

  • Sinead O’Brien: “I don’t think anyone should be afraid to use their words” (2019) (Photo Credit: Zac Mahrouche)

Good morning to you, I’m Jacob Braybrooke and, as always during this time of self-quarantine, I’m still writing about your daily track on the blog! Virus or not, it’s my day-to-day pleasure to write to you about a different piece of music each day! Having been writing limericks and publishing her fictional short stories in the esteemed London Review Of Books, Sinead O’Brien is an Irish poet and songwriter who fuses Nick Cave-esque spoken word delivery with melodic, electronic composition. O’Brien was born in Dublin, Ireland before she moved to London at an early age, taking up her first taught piano lessons at the age of six. O’Brien gets her inspiration from her fascination with being nosy… erm, I mean – people watching! She told So Young Magazine: “I started out by writing observational pieces, noting expressions, environment, the slightest changes in atmosphere and behavior of people. I am completely fascinated by these subtleties.” You and me both, Sinead! She also describes her work as a collaborative process with her touring band. A single that she describes as “genre-less” is “Taking On Time”, a single which she debuted on the “Speedy Wunderground – Year 4” compilation LP last year. Let’s give it a listen below!

The black-and-white visual style of the video provides both a stark contrast and a subtle backdrop to the pure, vibrant and intriguing fusion of spoken word delivery and the experimental post-punk sensibilities of “Taking On Time”. The opening line, “This, that I am”, is taken from a philosophical idea coming from poet Martin Heidegger’s theory of “all the different ways of being”, as O’Brien remains calm and controlled through the rough pacing of the track. O’Brien matches a layered bass guitar riff with a ringing cowbell melody. She recites: “Possessed by ideas/I am no more than a thinker than a prisoner of dreams” and “Forever we’re standing inside frames/To transcend the world of things we see untruly from inside frames” over the top of an echoed vocal processor and a shimmering drum riff. O’Brien adds a symphonic burst of electric guitar chords as she repeats the choral hook: “This, that I am, Taking On Time” over the top of the repetitious guitar lines and the sonic synthesizer palette, topped off by a crashing drum beat. It has all been programmed very fluidly and O’Brien’s thick Irish accent adds a subtle quality of anger to her vocal performance, which is cerebral but also melodic as she interweaves her vocal hooks with the fragmented electronic synth lines and the constantly thumping rock instrumentation. These alternative punk sensibilities merge with the poetic, raw lyric delivery and the electric palette to create a stunning and intriguing sound which conveys the personality of O’Brien and her artistic influences quite easily. It’s in no way pompous, but it’s written with a touch of sophistication. It’s unique and creative!

  • Pictured: Sinead O’Brien in a press shoot to promote “A Thing You Call Joy” (2019) (Photo Credit: Zac Mahrouche)

Thank you very much for reading this post! I hope you enjoyed it! As usual, I’ll be back tomorrow with an in-depth look at a new track from a Japanese film score composer who has his roots set in Cinematic Indie-Folk and used to be the leader of Seattle rock band Grand Hallway! He’s been exploring a synth-based, dancefloor-ready sound on his latest album, which is uncharted waters for his career! 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: Anna Lunoe (feat. Nina Las Vegas) – “One Thirty”

April 15, 2020 — Leave a comment

Two DJ’s who are spacing up a Lunoe Eclipse of their own! It’s time for your new post!

  • Pictured: Anna Lunoe at the first-ever female solo DJ set at EDC in Las Vegas (2016) (Photo Credit: Festival Sherpa)

Good morning, I’m Jacob Braybrooke and I’m writing about your daily track on the blog, as it’s my day-to-day pleasure to do so! Having collaborated with Totally Enormous Extinct Dinosaurs, one of my personal favourites as one of the most underrated British electronic dance artists, and becoming the first woman to headline a solo DJ set for Ministry Of Sound in Australia and on the main stage of the Electric Daisy Carnival in Las Vegas in 2016, Australian EDM Producer Anna Lunoe certainly sounds like a very cool artist to collaborate with or interview, and a great role model for aspiring female EDM musicians. The host of a weekly show on Apple’s Beats 1 Radio, Lunoe has come a long way from hosting at a small independent youth broadcaster to curating three compilations that hit gold certifications in Australia. The latest release in her ongoing success story is “One Thirty”, the follow-up to her “Right Party” EP which she released last year. “One Thirty”, a single featuring Nina Las Vegas, another prolific Australian dance music producer, was released as a joint production between Mad Decent records and NLV Records. The track was released in September 2019 as Lunoe and Vegas’ first collaboration together, despite being close friends for years. This pairs Lunoe’s house style with Vegas’ synth work. Let’s have a listen below.

That’s a gorgeous piece of illustrated artwork (above)! Although I don’t feel the music itself is quite as experimental and interesting, it’s still a nicely diversified and structured electronic dance record which does a reasonably good job of getting you ready to hit the dancefloor. Lunoe crafts a distorted, bass-heavy vocal sample to tie a catchy and energetic pop beat together. She wraps it around an ever-shifting acid bassline mixed by Vegas, who asserts a fast-paced and constantly evolving rhythm. Lunoe also pulls elements of Garage with her breakbeat interludes and syncopated hi-hat snares, topped off with irregular drum patterns. Vegas further diversifies the record with a West African aesthetic which fills the track with tribal chants and a playful synthesized drum melody which serves the quick-witted tempo of the track well. At certain points, I feel the vocal processing – although imaginative – can be a little overused and these devices, for me, take away from the artist a little in music, so I feel a certain commercial restriction may have held it back just a touch. Let’s not forget these are two very commercially successful artists after all. However, it’s still a lively and energetic dance collaboration which is effective, if not innovative. Overall, I feel that Lunoe and Vegas have great chemistry and they’ve used it to create a nice platform to showcase their different abilities together, although the vocals are a little too highly processed for me. However, different types of music are for different times and places, and I know that a live club environment is the intended way to experience the personality and culture behind this track! Solid and groovy, if standard, EDM fare!

  • Pictured: Anna Lunoe chilling while dropping her “Blaze Of Glory” video (2018) (Photo Credit: dancingastronaut.com)

Thank you for reading this post! I’ll be back tomorrow, as per usual, with an in-depth look at the brand new track from a fresh alternative hip-hop, neo-soul artist from South-East London who cites Ms. Lauryn Hill, Ms. Dynamite and Erykah Badu as her musical influences and she appeared in an Adidas advert campaign featuring poster advertisements and remixed music from up-and-coming artists getting spotlighted by the sportswear brand last year! Her latest single has made it to the C-List of BBC Radio 6Music’s daytime playlist! If you really liked what you just read, why not follow the blog to get notified when each new post is up and like the Facebook page here?: https://www.facebook.com/OneTrackAtATime

Today’s Track: Matroda – “Beef Stick”

April 10, 2020 — Leave a comment

He could be mixing songs about beef until the cows come home! Time for a new post!

  • Pictured: Matroda (Matija Rodic) in a press photoshoot for his Spotify profile page (2019) (via PR)

I don’t know how else to start a post for a track like this – so I’ll just start off by wishing you a good afternoon and reminding you that I’m Jacob Braybrooke and it’s my day-to-day pleasure to write to you about a different track on the blog every day! “Beef Stick”, of all titles, is a bulky club track released in 2018 by Croatian DJ and producer Matija Rodic – who is known for releasing music under the alias of Matroda. Rodic was influenced by the likes of Frank Sinatra and The Beatles in his youth and he’s been trained to play the violin, keyboard and drums – but instead of taking a classical music approach, Rodic exploded onto the UK Garage scene in 2015 with his biggest hit, a remix of 2015’s “California” by SNBRN, which he composed with Chris Lake – a single which reached #2 on the Beatport dance charts and polled in as #5 on SiriusFM’s 2015 songs of the year. He’s since gained support from Calvin Harris and Diplo. He’s also worked with world-renowned producer Porter Robinson. Needless to say, “Beef Stick” isn’t meant to be taken seriously – Let’s get into the meat of it below!

Released back in 2018 on the DIM MAK label – “Beef Stick” wastes no time in chopping to the grind (I’m very sorry) of the heavy, pulsating drum-and-bass riffs which are wrapped around a late-night club primed, unforgiving EDM structure. The concurrent drum patterns interweave with the cheeky vocal sample, which goes: “I went down to the store cuz’ I had to get a beef stick/She giggle thought of you’, said you had a pencil d***”, layered above a dark-house, sub-heavy frequency of short drum loops and boisterous tempo shifts. The production work is power-driven and compact, with a sturdy bass line and a reverb-doused vocal hook that’s robust and aggressive in nature. It feels like the electrical technicalities are wrapped around the virtue of the daft vocal sample, making it sound juvenile and crass in it’s delivery. But – if I was a bit tipsy and I was in a club late one night with this playing through the loud speakers of the floor – I’d think there are much worse things that you could be listening to. It’s obvious that Matroda has developed his following in a light-hearted way by offering up heavy, absurd mixes – and that’s a quality of electronic dance music that goes back to the Aphex Twin days of the 90’s, where he would stick his face around each of his album covers to poke fun at the industry, so there’s an element of personality to it. Some music is for a certain place and a certain time, and I do think a loud and obnoxious club setting is the more appropriate setting for this track to be enjoyed. The humour of the track is funny and the vocal sample – as immature as it may sound – is a catchy little refrain that has been stuck in my head for a good few hours now. It’s clearly not a fine art – but it’s a novelty that lasts, if only for a little while. Am I insane?

  • Pictured: Matroda (Matija Rodic) readying his keyboard in his studio (2019) (Photo Credit: dancingastronaut.com)

Don’t forget to catch up with my WWE WrestleMania 36 Weekend Special if you missed out – Friday’s post, “El Santo: The Silver Masked Avenger” by The Nick Atoms, is here: https://onetrackatatime.home.blog/2020/04/03/wwe-wrestlemania-36-weekend-special-the-nick-atoms-el-santo-the-silver-masked-avenger/. Saturday’s post on Bruce Springsteen’s “The Wrestler”, is here: https://onetrackatatime.home.blog/2020/04/04/wwe-wrestlemania-36-weekend-special-bruce-springsteen-the-wrestler/. The weekend’s final post on “The Legend Of Chavo Guerrero” by The Mountain Goats can be perused here: https://onetrackatatime.home.blog/2020/04/05/wwe-wrestlemania-36-weekend-special-the-mountain-goats-the-legend-of-chavo-guerrero/!

  • Pictured: Cover Artwork for “Beef Stick” (Single) (Released 5th October 2018) (via Dim Mak)

Thank you for reading this post – I hope you enjoyed it! It’s almost time for our first Scuzz Sundays post in two long weeks, but first, make sure that you check back with the blog tomorrow for my in-depth review of a recent track by an established Swedish Electronic-Pop group who received a nomination for their fourth album at the 57th Annual Grammy Awards, held in 2015! If you really liked what you just read, why not follow the blog to get notified when each new post is up and like the Facebook page here?: https://www.facebook.com/OneTrackAtATime

Today’s Track: Cartalk – “Wrestling”

April 6, 2020 — Leave a comment

Writing about music – Then, Now and Forever! Let’s kick off the week with a new post!

  • Pictured: Cartalk (Chuck Moore) in a photoshoot for Voyage LA Magazine (2019) (Photo Credit: Tess O’ Connor)

Good afternoon to you, I’m a well-rested Jacob Braybrooke (Seriously, I slept until 10:30am today), and I’m writing to you about today’s track on the blog, as it’s my day-to-day pleasure to introduce you to a different song each day! I’ve just finished the three-day WrestleMania 36 Weekend Special on the blog and Cartalk’s “Wrestling” didn’t quite fit the theme as the track’s only about Wrestling in name and not by nature of the actual sport. “Wrestling” is instead about struggle of emotional conflict, rather than men in stretchy tights grappling with each other. This comes courtesy of Los Angeles-based producer Chuck Moore, who’s been releasing music under her own alias of “Cartalk” since she first picked up a guitar at the age of 11, a revelation that she told Voyage LA Magazine in an interview conducted in November of last year. Noore says that “songwriting helps me pull back and see things from a different perspective”, a self-reflection of the introspective style of lyricism that she uses for her latest single, “Wrestling”, which she released on her own Bandcamp page last October. “Wrestling” was produced by Sarah Tudzin of Illuminati Hotties and recounts a night where Noore refused an invitation to a party to work on her own music and take some time to “look inward” instead. Let’s have a listen to the single down below!

“Wrestling” sees Cartalk struggling to cope with the envious qualities of her friends or co-workers around her as she reflects on their personalities. She wishes that her words were more expressive: “But, she gets her point across so well” and that she could support her own emotional well-being more effectively: “Wake myself up in this mirror for the sake to simply relax/Pull back at the festering thoughts we have when it’s still intact”. In addition to this, Moore looks at the people around her for inspiration, noticing of their maturity in the coming-of-age style bridge: “Can we be like them?/When we were nothing but friends and I felt fine with you?” and Moore promises to approach her future circumstances with more poise in the opening: “Take a minute to figure out, what you want to say to me/Feel your words run in your mouth” as it becomes clear that she’s coaching herself: “I can see you trying to wrestle it out, there’s no heel turn happening”, so, there’s at least one lyrical nod to the “fake” sports spectacle. The vocals are recited under a twangy acoustic guitar riff, with a free-form structure that creates a sweet, sumptuous melody, with a light tone being juxtaposed by a brisk drum beat and a guitar-driven chorus that’s been produced very naturally. Although it doesn’t quite showcase her personality to it’s full potential as it sounds very radio friendly, I don’t find it to be lacking in energy, with a crisp guitar style which evokes Country and Folk-Rock textures. It’s well-written with a clear theme and the ideas of self-reflection are original, but I don’t feel they’re quite as nourished as they could be as I find the tone to be a little too light and it would be nice to see a darker contrast to this. However, it’s good to hear a piece of artistic expression that self-contemplates on a nice in-depth level. Overall, I like it, although I don’t love it. There’s great artistry to be harnessed but it’s not quite there, for me, yet!

Don’t forget to catch up with my WWE WrestleMania 36 Weekend Special if you missed out – Friday’s post, “El Santo: The Silver Masked Avenger” by The Nick Atoms, is here: https://onetrackatatime.home.blog/2020/04/03/wwe-wrestlemania-36-weekend-special-the-nick-atoms-el-santo-the-silver-masked-avenger/. Saturday’s post on Bruce Springsteen’s “The Wrestler”, is here: https://onetrackatatime.home.blog/2020/04/04/wwe-wrestlemania-36-weekend-special-bruce-springsteen-the-wrestler/. The weekend’s final post on “The Legend Of Chavo Guerrero” by The Mountain Goats can be perused here: https://onetrackatatime.home.blog/2020/04/05/wwe-wrestlemania-36-weekend-special-the-mountain-goats-the-legend-of-chavo-guerrero/!

  • Pictured: Cover Artwork for “Wrestling” by Cartalk (Released on 10th October, 2019) (Available via Bandcamp.com)

Thank you for reading this post! Stay safe and I hope you enjoyed it! I’ll be back tomorrow, as always, with an in-depth look at a bright sunshine track from a Norwich-based R&B and Soul musician who has produced with the likes of Kate Tempest and Iggy Pop and used to be the guitarist for British Afrobeat collective KOKOROKO! 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 36 Weekend Special: The Mountain Goats – “The Legend Of Chavo Guerrero”

April 5, 2020 — 8 Comments

There’s just one more day left to go of the biggest Sports Entertainment Extravaganza of the PPV calendar year – but there’s always going to be time for your daily blog post!

  • Pictured: Vinyl Artwork for “Beat The Champ” (Released on April 7th, 2015 via Merge Records) (via Amoeba Music)

One night of WrestleMania 36 down and one more to go! Good afternoon to you, I’m Jacob Braybrooke, coming off the back of my late-nighter to deliver my daily post on the blog, as it’s my day-to-day pleasure to do so! This is the last post in my trilogy of wrestling-themed posts to coincide with WWE’s no-crowd WrestleMania, which is the biggest wrestling PPV of the calendar year, but I feel like I’ve certainly saved one of – if not – the best for last! For me, the best pro wrestling-related track ever recorded is “The Legend Of Chavo Guerrero” by John Danielle’s American indie folk-rock outfit The Mountain Goats. The Mountain Goats are an incredible band formed in Claremont in 1991 who really deserve to be credited more highly than I think they are. It was released on “Beat The Champ”, the group’s fifteenth (!) studio album, in 2015 via the Merge Records label. The entire record is a concept album based around professional wrestling characters and referenced events in the sport’s history, although Danielle ignites it’s spark with a human touch and an instrumental tenuity that makes it about more personal stories than just predominantly about professional wrestling and I think it’s easy for anybody to enjoy the album regardless of their professional wrestling know-how. The track was one of the album’s biggest singles and it received praise from the song’s titular Mexican hero, Chavo Guerrero Sr, as well as his son Chavo Guerrero Jr, who notably wrestled for WWE at one time. Chavo Guerrero Sr. appears as himself in the track’s music video, which you can see in all it’s glory below.

The track was obviously written as a very personal expression of Danielle’s, and the video marks such an occasion with cameo appearances from indie wrestling stalwarts like Impact’s Joey Ryan, Rob Corddry, Ryan Nemeth and Sarah Walker, as to name a few. Danielle demands your attention with his CM Punk tribute, as well as his captivating songwriting talents, as he tells a tale of his childhood hero: “Born down in El Paso/Where the tumble-weeds grow/It’s the middleweight champ of All Mexico”, paired with a quick, sharp acoustic guitar riff and an organic kick drum section. He sings about the fact that he had a difficult family life and that he viewed Guerrero Sr. as a surrogate father figure when his father wasn’t by his side: “He was my hero back when I was a kid/You let me down but Chavo never once did” and, in a neat reprise, sings: “Red Shoes Dougan/Holding his arm high all out of breath/I hated all of Chavo’s enemies/I would pray nightly for their death/Descending like fire, on the people who deserved it most/Outside of Texas and on the West Coast”, before resuming the uplifting qualities of the singular guitar melody. There’s catchy references to Guerrero’s wrestling accolades: “Defender of the downtrodden/King Of The Hill/Tag Team champion with Al Madril” and personal memoirs of watching Guerrero in action: “I’m lying on the floor, I’m bathed in blue light/With the telecast in Spanish/I can understand some”, followed by: “And I need justice in my life/Here it comes”, a line which signifies Guerrero as a symbol of joy for a child who needed the escapism that professional wrestling offered to him. It’s a love letter to a childhood hero, but it’s also a catchy, singalong anthem simply about a child who received a spark in his life, but it just happens to be told through the lens of professional wrestling rather than specifically about it! Danielle has a real gift for his music, and in this – it really shines!

  • Pictured: John Darnielle (Lead Vocals/Acoustic Guitar/Piano), Peter Hughes (Bass Guitar/Backing Vocals), Matt Douglas (Flute/Saxophone/Clarinet/Cowbell/Backing Vocals) and Jon Wurster (Drums/Percussion) (2017) (via Bandcamp)

That’s the end of my WWE WrestleMania 36 Weekend Special! The event is streaming tonight, but a first batch of matches streamed last night as well – and you’ll have access to both nights by signing up to WWE Network! Catch up on “El Santo: The Silver Masked Avenger” by The Nick Atoms here: https://onetrackatatime.home.blog/2020/04/03/wwe-wrestlemania-36-weekend-special-the-nick-atoms-el-santo-the-silver-masked-avenger/! and Bruce Springsteen’s “The Wrestler” here: https://onetrackatatime.home.blog/2020/04/04/wwe-wrestlemania-36-weekend-special-bruce-springsteen-the-wrestler/! If that’s not enough to satisfy your pro-wrestling needs, I’ve also covered Reverend & The Makers’ “The Wrestler” here: https://onetrackatatime.home.blog/2020/03/11/todays-track-reverend-and-the-makers-the-wrestler/ and Bowling For Soup’s new single, “Alexa Bliss”, here: https://onetrackatatime.home.blog/2020/02/12/todays-track-bowling-for-soup-alexa-bliss/

  • Pictured: John Darnielle with his childhood hero, Chavo Guerrero Sr. (Still from “The Legend Of Chavo Guerrero” video)

Thank you for reading this post! I’ll be resuming normal service on the blog tomorrow… Or will I? To give you a clue on what track I’ll be covering, it’s by a Los Angeles-born producer who told Voyage LA that he’s been playing his guitar since the age of 11 and the track in question, his latest release, was produced by Sarah Tudzin of Illuminati Hotties! 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: Brittany Howard – “He Loves Me”

March 30, 2020 — Leave a comment

What better way to kick off a new week than with “The Real Deal”? It’s new post time!

  • Pictured: Cover Artwork for “Jaime” (Released on 20th September, 2019) (via ATO Records)

She truly is “The Real Deal”! I’m talking about four-time Grammy winner Brittany Howard, of course! I’m Jacob Braybrooke, writing about your daily track on the blog, as it’s my day-to-day pleasure to do so! Brittany Howard is an alternative R&B/Soul singer, with Gospel influences, from Athens in Alabama, in the the US! Hence the name of her former band, Alabama Shakes, whom Howard has been producing records with since 2009. She’s also the lead vocalist and songwriter for the aptly-named Thunderbitch! It sounds like a joke name, but Howard is actually a highly credible and gifted talent, hence why I think she’s “The Real Deal!”. With her powerful voice and her artistic writing flair, it’s easy for you to forget that she’s also done the production work behind most of her music. In most recent times, she’s been getting a little bit of mainstream attention, having performed on last New Year’s Eve’s Hootennany with Jools Holland and she also headlined the BBC Radio 6Music Festival in Camden earlier this year, replacing an unwell Michael Kiwanuka, in the Friday night headliner slot. “He Loves Me” is a single taken from her first solo record, “Jaime”, which was released last year by ATO Records. Let’s watch her perform the track below.

“He Loves Me” is a funk-rooted tour de force in contemplative, soulful R&B and personal, faith-based songwriting. Howard emotionally croons about a long-awaited, spiritual re-connection with God after a time where she was brought up away from her family church due to the passing of her older sister putting a damper on her religious values, but she’s found her voice as a result of finding God again. Howard uses a sample from a pastor’s sermon that she found on YouTube, which proclaims: “But we Christians ought not ever intentionally miss church”, a sample-based opening which leads to an upbeat performance from Howard, singing: “He loves me when I do what I want/He loves me, he doesn’t judge me” over a soulful, steady drum melody, which gets layered above an explosive bass guitar riff and a Trumpet chord. Howard sings: “I don’t need to know why/’Cause I know what love means/I don’t need forgivin'”, before repeating her main vocal hook: “He loves me when I’m smoking blunts/He loves me when I’m drinking too much”, as the sample of Rev. Terry K. Anderson’s service exclaims: “Somebodiness does not come from your opinion of God” in the background of the guitar-driven chorus and the knock-out vocal performance from Howard. I’d be intrigued to see what different Christian denominations would make of the lyrical content of the tune, as her blunt portrayal of God’s unconditional love is a thought-provoking theme. I really like the use of varied instrumentation on the track as well, with an eclectic mix of Jazz-based percussion, a late 1960’s rock-and-roll guitar sensibility and the robust, electric sample use within the vocal textures of the track. I think she really is “The Real Deal”!

  • Pictured: Brittany Howard performing her Friday headline set at the BBC Radio 6Music Festival in 2020 (via BBC)

Thank you very much for reading this post! Don’t forget to check back with the blog tomorrow, where I’ll be posting an in-depth review of a single from a collaborative album produced and recorded by a Florida-based musician who started rapping while in his sixth grade at school and released his first mixtape in 2011 – who’s been working with a Connecticut-based songwriter who’s produced records for the likes of Vince Staples, Gucci Mane and Zack Fox, among others! If you really liked what you just read, why not follow the blog to get notified when each new post is up and like the Facebook page here?: https://www.facebook.com/OneTrackAtATime

Today's Track: Loyle Carner – "Ice Water"

March 25, 2020 — Leave a comment

I don’t think he’ll be getting any summer vibes with that title! It’s time for a new post!

  • Pictured: Loyle Carner (Hip-Hop Musician/Songwriter) in a press shoot to promote “Not Waving, But Drowning” (2019)

Good morning! I’m Jacob Braybrooke, writing about your daily track on the blog to accompany you during this dark period of isolation and distancing, as it’s still my day-to-day pleasure to do so! I’ve been meaning to write about how much I love Loyle Carner for quite a while now and since it’s a quiet week for new releases, I thought I’d introduce you to him with a post about “Ice Water”, one of the tracks on his second album, “Not Waving, But Drowning”, which was released in April last year. Carner is a hip-hop musician from South London, one of many alternative soul-inspired artists coming from the recent boom period of that genre in the area, who has been nominated for two BRIT Awards. He’s got much more of a reflective, calm and mellow style when compared to many of his contemporaries – such as Stormzy, Dave, J-Hus and Aitch – in the British grime scene, being described as “sensitive and eloquent” by NME’s Tom Howard and The Guardian categorized his style as “confessional hip-hop”. Oh, and he loves his Mum too! Let’s watch him perform “Ice Water” on COLORS below.

Not released as a single and placed on his latest record as the third cut on the track listing, “Ice Water” gives Carner a platform to express his relief of finding a romantic partner who he can trust with his vulnerabilities! Carner questions his new-found glory over a radiant, groove-ridden backing beat, an unashamed sensibility of classic hip-hop that reminds me of De La Soul and A Tribe Called Quest. Carner raps: “It took the third time before I finally caught her name/I held it with the clarity of autumn rain” and “I’m with somebody else, I’ll probably let it fall to flame/But with her, it’s like we share the same sort of brain”, a very down-to-earth sentiment about falling in love, although he later begins to ponder a self-assured fear of heartbreak when the track conveys a darker texture, aided by slowed-down synths and a more chilling style of vocal delivery : “One false move and we’re history, call me Mr. Moyer/Maybe you’re genuine, maybe I should let you in/Maybe I should focus on myself and get to shed this skin, or maybe not”, a refrain that he mixes with a soulful progression of instrumental verses as he delves deeper into the story of his date, and later his relationship with his partner, itself. “Ice Water” is one of my favourite tracks from his latest LP because it feels quite diverse in it’s different samples and it’s musical influences, but the narrative framework gets backed up by an internally emotional conflict that feels very easy to resonate with and I’m especially a fan of the backing melody, which almost sounds dance-able due to the broken aesthetic of the composition, such as the start-and-stop funk nature of the samples and the interweaving Gospel-inflected backing vocals. Above all, I like him! Carner has a very likeable personality and I feel as though his self-aware, anecdotal delivery helps me to feel reassured and comforted, getting me invested in his life as the clock ticks along. If you watch him perform in the video above, he’s smiling while he performs his craft and he grins when he misses a cue towards the end of the video, but the raw expression gives it a burst of colour. Weirdly, he’s signed to a major record label, Virgin Records – who seem to be giving him enough creative freedom to flourish in his work, so that’s a good thing to hear. Overall, I absolutely love how everything that he does comes from the heart and although his mellow, laidback style of hip-hop is more low-key than most of his British hip-hop peers, I think that’s also his greatest strength.

  • Pictured: Track listing on CD for “Not Waving, But Drowning” (Released in April 2019) (via Virgin/EMI Records)

Thank you for reading this post! Stay inside – but don’t forget to check up on me and the blog tomorrow, where I’ll be looking at another hip-hop track, but from 2001, from an American songwriter and model who is also a well-liked actress, having played the role of the second wife of James Brown in a 2015 biopic film, “Get On Up”, as well as being featured in a prominent role in “The No. 1 Ladies Detective Agency”, based on Alexander McCall’s novels of the sane name, a BBC/HBO co-produced TV series! 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/