Today’s Track: Röyksopp (feat. Alison Goldfrapp) – ‘Impossible’

March 22, 2022 — Leave a comment

Pictured: Röyksopp (Svein Berge & Torbjørn Brundtland) (DJ’s/Producers) (2022) (Photo via SynthpopFanatic.com)

Good Morning to you! This is Jacob Braybrooke, and it’s time for us to raise our spirits above from the depths of despair with yet another daily track on the blog, because it’s always my day-to-day pleasure to write up about a different piece of music every day! Weaving between Progressive Synthpop, Acid Techno and Dark Ambient across the last two decades, the Norwegian electronic dance duo of Svein Berge and Torbjørn Brundtland have decided to tear up the rule book in retiring the traditional album release format with their upcoming sixth LP release – ‘Profound Mysteries’ – that hits store shelves on April 29th via Dog Triumph Records. To date, the duo – who were formed in Tromsø in 1998 – have been nominated for two Grammy Awards, won seven Spellemannprisen Awards, performed globally on tours, had four consecutive #1 albums in Norway, and collaborated with huge names like Robyn. Therefore, it’s somewhat strange that, aside from a vague familiarity with their name, they have largely slipped my radar in their time. However, I heard ‘Impossible’ on The Current’s Song Of The Day podcast and its deep, dark grooves were enough for me to keep listening on rather than just hitting the skip button like I sometimes do. ‘Impossible’ features the vocal abilities of Alison Goldfrapp, the lead singer of 00’s commercial euro-disco heavyweights Goldfrapp, and Röyksopp are pitching their imminent full-length new release as “an expanded creative universe and a prodigious conceptual project” in their press release. One of these projects is ‘The Conversation’, a recent short film uploaded to their YouTube channel last month that was directed by Danish filmmaker Martin De Thurah. To give you some more context about what they actually mean, the duo say, “As human beings, what we don’t know vastly overshadows what we do know. As teenagers, we would discuss our own fascination with the infinite and the impossible. The most profound mysteries of life”. Check out the lead single below.

It has been a long time since we’ve heard from the duo since their last LP release – 2014’s ‘The Inevitable End’ – launched almost eight years ago. Commenting on the collaboration for ‘Impossible’, guest vocalist Alison Goldfrapp says, “It’s been great working with the wonderful Svein and Torbjørn from Røyksopp. I’ve been a fan of their music for years and it was a fascinating joy creating ‘Impossible’ together. I truly hope everyone enjoys the track as there’s more to come”, in her press notes. Mimicking the visual of a glittery disco ball slowly fading to a liquid ink black in terms of sound, ‘Impossible’ starts off with a smooth set of Synths that recall a clear Disco influence before slowly growing into a barrage of assaulting textures as the bassline becomes more crunchy in style and the percussive Drum melodies contribute to the shimmering delivery. Goldfrapp’s lyrics feel hypnotic and alluring, with vague and enigmatic, in terms of mood, lyrics like “You’re the world ablaze/You’re the space between/Impossible/The perfect dream” and “I can touch the sky/Hear your lion heart/Feel the inside” that reveal little in the way of clear-cut details, but they carry a sensual yet not overtly sexual tone that floats above the more relentless pace of the instrumental parts to give the thumping concoction of downtempo electronica and progressive disco music an ethereal, polished feel. It builds to a neat closing stretch where the same lyrics are repeated amongst a more silk-like texture of electronic beats, where it feels like high-stakes tension has been relieved in favour of more operatic thrills. It sounds far from overly commercial, but it sounds melodic enough to feel like a natural selection for a single rather than purely an album track, and the vocals from Goldfrapp’s vocalist seem musically upbeat in the vein of their more well-known cuts in the mainstream while retaining an experimental, high-pitched finish. The production feels delicate overall, where a diversity of textures and genre ideas have been put together in a meticulous way that makes them feel coherent together when the sum of each part is added in unison. The spaced-out synths grow a little bit tiresome by the track’s end for me, but the pacing feels sublime and the chemistry between the two acts is excellent too, making the disillusioned grooves feel addictive while rewarding and challenging to keep listening to. Overall, although I feel that ‘Impossible’ is more of a “good track” than a “truly special” one due to it’s tendency to grow just a tad tedious by the end, it features an intriguing array of sounds that indicate subtle hints of different dance-related genres that are whipped together in a blender to conjure up a pretty well-textured smoothie. One for a long night ride home.

Pictured: Cover Artwork for ‘Profound Mysteries’ (LP) (Available from April 29th, 2022) (via Dog Triumph Records)

That brings us to the end of a fairly cryptic new post on the blog today, and I’ll be taking a break from my recent recommendations tomorrow as we go retro for ‘Way Back Wednesdays’. Thank you for supporting me today, and please feel free to join me again then for a look back at an early 00’s UK Hip-Hop classic by a British rapper and producer who has produced numerous singles and albums for the Big Dada label since 1994. His track in question was memorable for it’s intentionally similar melody to the ‘Doctor Who’ TV theme track and it reached the top spot of the UK Dance chart.

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Today’s Track: Whatever The Weather – ’17ºC’

March 7, 2022 — Leave a comment

Pictured: Vinyl Copy of ‘Whatever The Weather’ (LP) (Available from April 8th, 2022) (via Ghostly International)

Good Morning to you! This is Jacob Braybrooke, and the time has arrived for me to get typing up for yet another daily track on the blog, whatever the weather, because it has always been my day-to-day pleasure to write up about a different piece of music every day! An experimental club music producer who majored in Commercial Music at The University Of Westminster, Loraine James took Piano lessons at a young age when she was introduced to the allure of 00’s Alternative Rock bands like Death Cab For Cutie, yet she also discovered a love for Acid Techno, Drill ‘N’ Bass and IDM, citing Squarepusher and Telefon Tel Aviv as some of her heroes within the experimental electronic landscape of the 1990’s. I was delighted to hear about Whatever The Weather, James’ newest solo side project, because I’m already an existing fan of her work, much like BBC radio presenter Tom Ravenscroft – who has the fanboy T-shirt to prove it. ‘Reflection’ was released last year, and it found a place in the top three of my year-end list of the Best Albums Of 2021 – with more publications including Mojo, Uncut, Pop Matters, Beats Per Minute, The Quietus and Pitchfork showering the record with praise too because it was a deep and diverse exploration of the brain of a modern queer black woman from Enfield, South London. James has a true affinity for creating strange and hypnotic grooves, which she builds with rapid percussion and hazy filters that really create an in-depth atmosphere with deliberately disorienting production to neatly complement her themes of mental health and peak-pandemic paranoia from ‘Reflection’ in 2021. She released that album on Hyperdub, and she fits right in with the experimental club heavyweights like Burial, Jessy Lanza and Kevin ‘The Bug’ Martin that have established their own legacies through releasing their work on the forward-thinking London-based label. She’s already set to follow it up – in a way – with ‘Whatever The Weather’ in April, by setting up a new moniker and a new album, with the interesting concept of naming her track titles after different temperatures and making tunes that permeate the moods in which they evoke for her. I cannot wait for it! A strobe warning comes with the music video for ’17°c’ below.

‘Whatever The Weather’ will be released on April 8th via Ghostly International, and James has cited the likes of Deftones’ Chino Moreno and American Football’s Mike Kinsella as her inspirations while pitching her voice for the specialist project. She also collaborated with director Michael Reisinger for the video, and she states that she began working on the creative project while she was finishing up ‘Reflection’ last year. She also teases, “There’s a song in there with a melody I made when I was 13 and finally used it in a song”, for the self-titled LP release on Instagram. She also describes ‘Whatever The Weather’ as a more “ambient-minded project” on her Bandcamp page, and this is a direction that I can understand through listening to the lead single. Themes of Electronica and Industrial are noticeable from the glitchy outset, as we start with a simulating set of Synths that have an atmospheric gloom and an underlying warmth to the textures, but James mixes up the tone when the skittering Bass patterns and the cerebral, yet percussive and rapid-fire Drum rhythms, competes with a gently operatic female vocal sample to lead the track with a potent blend of aggressive Synths and textured percussion sounds. Much like the weather, and how the tone and interchangeability of the weather takes place unpredictably at times in a typical day, James’ sonic combination of crackling Bass and electronic Drums also has a feel of synesthesia, of-sorts, to it when she encapsulates the specific temperature of the track’s title. She makes sure that the structure of her track is full of meticulous micro-adjustments and that her Synths have a wide range of flexibility to them to mimic the weather and the effect on nature that it provokes within a landscape. That’s not to say that her patterns are random, but they are irregular and carefully mapped out as to convey the shifting patterns of rain and the subdued warmth of the hot weather that lies beneath the drizzle, and so the tune contains a lot of the technical production standards that I’ve praised James for producing in the past, in one respect. In another, however, the lack of traditionally recorded vocals from James allows for a larger emphasis on her ambient influences and allows the tone and textures of her electronic instrumentation to evoke a certain mood that she specifies instead of telling a more fixed narrative. The same, but also very different, to the work that I’ve loved hearing from James in recent history – Whatever The Weather is shaping up to be a very successful side project that, while falling into a bit of a niche regarding its reach to audiences, feels free-form and reflects the production strengths of James as an artist while tackling a conceptual risk that more mainstream IDM-based artists may never fully consider. The new album is going to be ‘radical’ – if that is a cool thing that the edgy youth would still say at the Littleport Skate Park near me.

Pictured: Loraine James in an official publicity photoshoot for Pitchfork.com (2020) (Photo Credit: Ekua King)

As I mentioned, James is a highly praised alumni on the blog, and you can check out some more posts that are related to her, if you enjoyed ’17°c’, below:

‘Running Like That’ (feat. Eden Samara) – https://onetrackatatime.home.blog/2021/07/01/todays-track-loraine-james-feat-eden-samara-running-like-that/

‘Don’t You See It?’ (feat. Jonnine) – https://onetrackatatime.home.blog/2020/10/07/todays-track-loraine-james-feat-jonnine-dont-you-see-it/

Pictured: Cover Artwork for ‘Reflection’ (LP/Album) (Released on June 4th, 2021) (via Hyperdub)

That brings us to the end of the post for today! Thank you very much for joining me, and I’ll be back to do it all over again tomorrow with an ‘International Women’s Day’ special just in celebration of the titular day. We’ll be listening to a track from one of my favourite female artists with a track title that is very fitting of the day’s theme. She won the BRIT Award for Best New Artist and she has acted in Netflix’s ‘Top Boy’ series.

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Today’s Track: Awkward Corners – ‘Somebody Somewhere Dancing In A Field’

January 27, 2022 — Leave a comment

Pictured: Chris Menist (Awkward Corners) in a PR shot for his Bandcamp profile (2021) (Photo via Shapes of Rhythm)

Good Morning to you! This is Jacob Braybrooke, and it’s time for you to get invested in yet another daily track on the blog, because it’s always been my day-to-day pleasure to write up about a different piece of music every day! If you love the textural warmth of ambient albums like Aphex Twin’s ‘Selected Ambient Works 85-92’ released in 1993, I think you’re going to find something to enjoy with the post-90’s rave feel of ‘Somebody Somewhere Is Dancing In A Field’, an instrumental track with a euphoric feeling of post-festival musings and realistic ‘Hangover Vibes’, so to speak. Awkward Corners is the musical project of the London-based DJ and writer Chris Menist, who formed the project in Islamabad in the late-2010’s, where he was living at the time. Initial recordings were made in conjunction with local music artists in Thailand and Pakistan, and his releases have spanned multiple labels including Boomkat and Real Torque. Menist has also hosted programming on NTS Radio and has played in The Paradise Bangkok Molam International Band as their percussionist, and so he’s got a fascinating little backstory behind him if you search for him on the internet and find out some more details. Nevertheless, his range of music mostly fits in the Ambient, Downtempo, IDM, Devotional, Middle Eastern and Experimental Electronic genres and he’s known for LP’s like July 2021’s ‘Amateur Dramatics’ that you can purchase from his Bandcamp page. The follow-up EP – ‘Somebody Somewhere’ – is out now via the London-based indie label Shapes Of Rhythm. Let’s listen to the centerpiece cut below.

The ‘Somebody Somewhere’ EP marks the second guest appearance of the multi-faceted South London-based DJ and composer Hector Plimmer on the Shapes Of Rhythm label for the opening track ‘No Words’ and the EP is decidedly more upbeat and more focused on the 4/4 style of genres like Microhouse, and so it promises to be a new favourite for the dancefloor when the clubs are finally allowed to open up again, contrasting the more downbeat and introspective tones of Menist’s earlier releases as Awkward Corners. There’s a true, yet definitive sensibility of 90’s Acid Techno to ‘Somebody Somewhere Is Dancing In A Field’, meanwhile, an Ambient piece that echoes the Ambient Works of Aphex Twin during the early 90’s and the ethereal side to Orbital’s glitched trademarks in terms of the influences and the memories that it brings to my ears. It feels danceable and light-hearted, yet it also evokes a very calming mood with its ‘World Music’ percussion that evokes a smooth and silky set of soothing qualities in terms of the emotion being conveyed through the music. The 808 sound structure invokes feelings of early Techno and subtle Chicago House while the trickling Synth lines and the spacious Drum patterns, that feel a little African in their delivery, keep things moving at a mid-tempo pace. It’s mostly down to the Conga syncopations that are spread throughout in which we end up with repetive melodies that simply massage your eardrums at an easy-going feel, while the thumping bass kicks represent a more heavy drum machine workout in terms of the instrumentation. A polite reminder of the intimate side of 90’s heavy-hitters like Aphex Twin, while also building up some hypnotic and textually warm grooves, this is a comforting nudge from the past that somebody, somewhere will be dancing in a field to in the summer, if not now, and it feels like a simple joy to listen to.

Pictured: Vinyl bundle of ‘Amateur Dramatics’ (2021) & ‘Dislocation Songs’ (2020) (Photo via Bandcamp.com)

That brings us to the end of today’s discussion, and thank you for joining me on One Track At A Time for my latest music-related musing for a spare minute of your day. It’s ‘New Album Release Fridays’ tomorrow and we’re sampling the soon-to-be latest LP from a Salinas-born R&B, Soul and Blues singer-songwriter whose debut single – 1998’s ‘Make It Hot’ – was certified Gold. She was also once a protege of Missy Elliott.

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Today’s Track: Nia Archives – ’18 & Over’

January 17, 2022 — Leave a comment

Pictured: Cover Artwork for ’18 & Over’ (Single) (Released on November 25th, 2021) (via HIJINXX)

Good Morning to you! You’re tuned into the text of Jacob Braybrooke, and it’s time for us to dive headfirst into a new week of January with yet another daily track on the blog, given that it’s always my day-to-day pleasure to write up about a different piece of music every day! A 21-year-old musician who was born in Leeds and raised in Manchester, Nia Archives is a London-based singer-songwriter, producer and visual artist who you may remember from the ‘Headz Gone West’ EP that she released last April that we discussed a few times on the blog. Nia Archives is an exciting new artist who fuses a range of Hip-Hop, Neo-Soul, Dubstep, Drum and Bass, Drill and Techno, House and Jungle elements into her melting pot of sounds. She is also the founder of the ‘HIJINX’ label, which is also the name of her visual archive of short DIY-style film documentaries which was a side project that she started before producing any music. Her influences includes names like Burial, J Dilla and Roots Manuva. She has recently released the follow-up track to her ‘Forbidden Feelingz’ single that she released last October with a heavier-than-usual dance recording that she implores us, lyrically, was designed for ’18 and Over’. She digs into her Carribean heritage for her new single that samples one of her favourite classic Reggae cuts – ‘Young Lover’ by Cocoa Tea from 1987. The Taliable-directed music video pays homage to London’s sound-system culture and references ‘Yardie’ films like ‘The Harder They Come’ and ‘Babylon’ from the 60’s and 70’s. She comments, “For the ’18 and Over’ video, I knew that the visuals had to be iconic as the song is an absolute banger. Working with Taliable who was the director and editor was super fun, I feel we creatively gelled really well to create this vibrant piece”, in her press statement. Let’s check it out if you are ’18 and Over’ below.

Nia continues, “The actual video was shot in my warehouse yard, I thought it would be sick to use that space as no one has ever shot a music video there – meaning it is unique to me. We kept things even more local by asking Hackney native Mark Solution if he could set up his wicked ‘Solution Soundsystem’ – it was an honour to feature it in my video”, adding, “There are also some references to the original record that I sampled for viewers to spot”, in her press notes. Starting off with chirping bird sounds that remind me of the sweetness of Aphex Twin’s ‘Syro’ from 2014 in the classic Jungle template, paired up to a steady breakbeat instrumental, Nia develops the soundscape further with a driving bass line and some twinkling Synths as she layers her vocals above the main hook of the focused sample of “Now, this one was designed for 18 and over” with a psychedelic Neo-Soul backing as the breakbeats get continually more fragmented throughout the progress of adding her own lyrics. The glistening synths soon augment into a booming bass beat that feels like a nuanced representation of Dub-rooted texture that she playfully gives a UK drum & bass twist as the ethereal mix warps into a Jungle aesthetic, eventually leaving behind a central emphasis on the early 90’s rave melodies that give us a spellbinding symphony of breakbeats, as the lyrics promise to give us. While the ‘Headz Gone West’ EP leaned into her anxieties on entering a relationship and overthinking her intimate emotions, ’18 & Over’ is a purer exploration of the Post-Garage and Jungle-driven feel that has always existed within her sound. It all feels very exciting and gripping as a result, creating very surprising shifts in production and fusing her early sound with a flipside of some traditional Reggae to pay homage to her Jamaican heritage and the country’s creative output. A heavy and engrossing evolution of her artistry that is unique to her.

Pictured: Cover Artwork for ‘Headz Gone West’ (EP) (Released on April 29th, 2021) (via HIJINXX)

If you also think that Nia Archives is one of the most engaging new artists to follow in 2022, check out my previous post about ‘Headz Gone West’ here: https://onetrackatatime.home.blog/2021/05/03/todays-track-nia-archives-headz-gone-west/

Pictured: Nia Archives in a still from the ‘Headz Gone West’ music video (2021) (Photo by Delphino Productions)

That brings us to a pretty thrilling end to today’s track on the blog. Many blessings for showing your support and I’ll be back tomorrow as we continue to hear some of the most important voices in the industry with the next post that arrives tomorrow. It will come your way by a Harlem-based poet, teacher and founding member of the Spoken Word band The Last Poets, who were widely considered to be the first Hip-Hop group.

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Today’s Track: The Halluci Nation (feat. Chippewa Travellers) – ‘It’s Over’

January 6, 2022 — Leave a comment

Pictured: Tim Hill (Producer/Engineering) and Ehren Thomas (Mixing/Percussion) (2020) (Photo via PR)

Good Morning to you! You are tuned into the text of Jacob Braybrooke, as we ready ourselves for yet another daily track on the blog, since it’s always been my day-to-day pleasure to write up about a different piece of music every day! Music you may have missed from last year headlines the page today, and it comes your way from an Ottawa-based Canadian experimental electronic dance music duo known for blending Ethnotronica, Moombahton, Reggae and the ‘Brostep’ term of post 2000’s Dubstep with elements of First Nations music, particularly known for their vocal chanting and high-speed drumming – and their name is The Halluci Nation. It wasn’t always that way, however, as the band used to be titled A Tribe Called RED, a homage to the legendary Hip-Hop group A Tribe Called Quest. Last year, however, they decided to scrap their old alias in light of “as we move into this next phase of our evolution, we also find it necessary to remember our past”, in their own words. Now a duo comprised of Tim Hill and Ethren Thomas, their name is a phrase borrowed from activist/artist John Trundell to “describe the vast global community of people who remember at their core what it means to be human”, in Trundell’s quote. The group describe their own style of music as a “Stadium Pow-Wow” sound, which is a style of contemporary club music for urban First Nations (A society of Canadian indigenous people who are classified distinctly from the Metis and Inuit groups). My first experience with The Halluci Nation was hearing their stellar third album, ‘We Are The Halluci Nation’, released in 2016. The follow-up, ‘One More Saturday Night’, was self-released last July, which finds the duo collaborating with the likes of Black Bear, The Beat and Northern Voice – some of which they have frequently recorded material with before. The band’s latest album pays tribute to the Electric Pow-Wow gatherings at Ontario’s Babylon nightclub the group ran between 2007 and 2017. Hear more about their change of identity below and skip to 1:05 to hear the new track ‘It’s Over’ below.

“We wanted to pay homage to the Electric Pow Wow and wrap that whole decade of the experience up and close the cycle, and in doing so give direct co-ordinates of where the future was headed. In a nutshell, that’s what this album is about”, says co-founder Ehren “Bear Witness” Thomas in a press release, explaining, “We just wanted to make a party record, as well, one that people could dance to while still having the strong message we are known for”, about the planning and recording behind the record. Going for a more psychedelic take on their older material, Hill and Thomas combine stretched samples of vocal chants performed by Chippewa Travellers with EDM-inflicted Dubstep to explore the memories of the club nights that brought their Canadian community of indigenous people together back in the 2000’s, but the ferocious pace of the brisk Drums also imply a regret concerning the abrupt disbandment of the Babylon nightclub’s scenes. Some fragmented Synth effects are sprinkled throughout the song that evokes the vibrant nostalgia and anti-colonialism surrounding the club nights. Meanwhile, the driving melodies of the instrumentation are there to remind you that it is a positive dance record, as their signature style of moulding Septia-toned vocals from Chippewa Travellers together with visceral drum and bass melodies that set things into motion with a commanding Bassline, while the trickling Trap snares and the some declarative EDM drums that gradually incorporate reverb-drenched Dub and righteous vocal chants into the equation. ‘It’s Over’ suffers from repetition a little, but it does a fantastic job of spreading the message that forms the emotive core of the album that breathes new life into a memory or dream that settler colonialism and its extractive violence have attempted to erase, and ‘It’s Over’ provides a club-heavy but contemplative moment that gives the affirmations and goals of The Halluci Nation a reasonable amount of space to take root, as the band continue to cement themselves as one that needs to exist to serve the social purpose.

Pictured: Cover Artwork for ‘One More Saturday Night’ (Released on July 30th, 2021) (via Self-Released)

I have previously shined a small spotlight on The Halluci Nation before their rebranding, with a detailed post about another track that aims to get more indigenous people represented in the media. Find out more about ‘The OG’ here: https://onetrackatatime.home.blog/2020/01/13/todays-track-a-tribe-called-red-feat-black-bear-the-og/

Pictured: The Halluci Nation performing at the Lost Lake Festival (2017) (Photo Credit: Jeff Kravitz/FilmMagic)

That’s everything I’ve got lined up for you today! I’m still working on my year-end Albums list of 2021 and it is coming soon. In the meantime, thanks for checking out my latest post, and I’ll be back tomorrow to get you re-acquainted with a Grammy-nominated Texas-born Jazz artist and a Houston trio who host the ‘AirKhruang’ radio show on Facebook Live and NTS Radio. They will be releasing a direct sequel to their earlier collaborative EP ‘Texas Sun’ on 18th February through the Dead Oceans label.

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Way Back Wednesdays: Massive Attack – ‘Karmacoma’

January 5, 2022 — Leave a comment

Pictured: Robert “3D” Del Naja, Grant “Daddy D” Marshall & Andrew “Mushroom” Vowles (Date n/a) (Photo via Classical Album Sundays)

Good Morning to you! This is Jacob Braybrooke and, of course, it’s time for the return of ‘Way Back Wednesdays’ on the blog as we remember some seminal (or simply hidden) gems of yore to help me fulfill my goal of writing up about a different piece of music every day! Massive Attack are recognised as one of the most important and influential acts in 90’s British Music history as the original Trip Hop trio of Bristol, and so they are a great choice to kick off our regular throwback fixture again. Having won two Q Awards, two MTV Europe Music Awards, a BRIT Award for Best British Dance Act, as well as placements on greatest-of-all-time lists compiled by NME and Rolling Stone, Massive Attack were also a really successful commercial crossover act having sold their way to over 13 million records worldwide. ‘Karmacoma’ is one of their signature closing tracks during live performances and it was originally issued as the final single off their second LP – ‘Protection’ – that earned critical acclaim in 1994. ‘Protection’ saw the group lean into the Dub and Trance aspects of their pre-established sound, as well as seeing Tricky joining 3D and Grant Marshall on their musical journey by joining their ranks. DJ Mad Professor created a remixed version of the album that was released one year later, and ‘Protection’ was included in the book ‘1001 Albums You Must Hear Before You Die’ in 2011. 3D and Tricky say that most of the lyrics for ‘Karmacoma’ were written while high on a drug trip while backstage at a music festival somewhere in England and the music video saw the debut of British film director Jonathan Glazer – who went on to direct 2013’s ‘Under The Skin’ as well as music videos for Radiohead and Jamiroquai. Let’s remember ‘Karmacoma’ below.

‘Karmacoma’ – known for a wild and experimental music video that probably freaked a few poor children out during the mid-90’s – was so popular that Tricky later recorded his own solo version of the track that he renamed as ‘Overcome’ for his debut solo album ‘Maxinquaye’ that he created in 1995. Full of bizzare cinematic references to ‘The Shining’ and ‘Reservoir Dogs’ among other titles, Massive Attack have also name-checked Patrick Swayze in the lyrics for the enigmatic track and they say it was dedicated to him. I find it difficult to believe that the bass-heavy, middle eastern Drum beat that runs throughout the track was entirely manufactured at the hands of the Bristolian group because it sounds so authentic, and yet, it creates a catchy but cerebral groove that understandably gained some mainstream attention for the band at the time. The lyrics are very discreet and give next to nothing away, but powerful lyrics like “I won’t lie and say this love is best, leave us in emotional peace” and “Your troubles must be seen to see through money” that seemingly form a social commentary comparing the interests of lovers to the authorities of the world in some way or another, to the best of my guesswork. Either way, the instrumentation was quite spellbinding as the thunderous snare sample sounds very realistic and the group keep introducing more elements, such as the alluring Bass melodies and the loping rhythm, that maintain an unpredictable feel to the record although the main loop gets very hypnotic as the duration progresses. The most alluring line of all comes when “I must be crazy/see I’m swazy” as the key cinematic reference comes to light. The lyrics, with hooks like “Karmacoma, Jamaican aroma” and “You’re sure you wanna be with me I’ve nothing to give/Take a walk, take a rest, taste the rest” are almost erratic at times, complementing the psychedelic oscillation of the unique pacing. The dynamic between Tricky and 3D, however, still feels new, as they recite their sequences with a mild Spoken Word feel that delves into a gently Poetic flair while the trippy instrumentals keep the proverbial room spinning. They form the important adhesive to the track that melds the laced looping of the relentlessly spiraling Drums and the adventurous songwriting, for the lack of a better term, together thematically. While reclusive and challenging, ‘Karmacoma’ was an off-kilter anthem that gives you just enough time to get used to the ongoing melodies before another strange, but key, element flips the switch halfway again. A chilling spectacle.

Pictured: Cover Art for ‘Protection’ (LP) (Released on 26th September, 1994) (via Circa/Wild Bunch Records)

That’s all for now! Thank you for spending the beginnings of your new year with me, and I’ll be back again tomorrow for some more unique music from a Canadian Ethnotronica group who blend Instrumental Hip Hop, Reggaeton, post-00’s Dubstep and Moombahton together with elements of First Nations music for their own brand of “Stadium Pow-Wow” sounds. Their earlier name was a nod to A Tribe Called Quest.

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Today’s Track: Hard Feelings – ‘Sister Infinity’

December 27, 2021 — Leave a comment

Pictured: Cover Art for ‘Hard Feelings’ (Self-Titled LP) (Released on November 5, 2021) (via Domino Recordings)

Good Morning to you! This is Jacob Braybrooke and, it’s just about time to go back to normal after Bank Holiday Monday after another daily track on the blog, because it’s always my day-to-day pleasure to write up about a different piece of music every day! For my new year’s week coverage this year, we’re going to be looking at some of the off-the-radar music that you may have missed in a year that was otherwise full of new Adele, ABBA, Ed Sheeran, Sam Fender, The Lathums and Billie Eilish album releases that were all very successful. My year-end list counting down my top 25 favourite albums of the year (Split into a few different parts to keep it more short and sweet than last year) will also be coming up your way as soon as possible. The first of my underappreciated suspects is the new collaborative duo of Joe Goddard and New York-based crooner Amy Douglas, who record music together under the project of HARD Feelings. You may know Goddard as a veteran of Hot Chip fame and as one of the busiest guys in the business, having produced new singles for Ibibio Sound Machine and collaborated with Hayden Thorpe in recent months, and he used to be one half of The 2 Bears alongside Raf Rundell. Meanwhile, Amy Douglas is a prominent name in the New York Post-Disco scene having worked with artists like Treasure Fingers, Horse Meat Disco, Luke Solomon and Juan MacLean. Douglas also wrote the single ‘Something More’ for Roisin Murphy’s latest album – ‘Roisin Machine’ – that was released last autumn. Together, Hard Feelings supported Goddard’s bandmates for their first live show on November 9th. They also released their first full-length album – which was self-titled – on November 7th via Domino Recordings. Described by Goddard and Douglas as “an opera of sad bangers”, the pair say the LP is loosely conceptual and, song by song, it focuses on the unraveling of relationships and their nuanced mystery. On the album’s second single and closing track – ‘Sister Infinity’ – the funky dance duo bring up a Sci-Fi twist to Synth Pop. Let’s give it a spin.

The music video for ‘Sister Infinity’, which features the narrative of Joe Goddard communicating with a quirky AI programme to help him conceive the song itself in a dystopian future, was directed by Tim Wagner and inspired by ‘Weird Science’, and the duo say that it “matches the song itself, a Discotastic pulse racing, HI NRG rollercoaster and HARD FEELINGS at our most futuristic and perhaps insidious version of the mad scientist and his creation scenario” in their press release. Flavours in the mix of ‘Sister Infinity’ include the likes of Kraftwerk, Stereolab, CeCe Peniston, Candi Staton and Kylie Minogue to my ears, and their own cited influences of Chaka Khan and Loose Ends feel particularly present on the retro ballad ‘Sister Infinity’, which brings some propulsive Disco tones and a slightly dark variation of moods to the dancefloor. Douglas murkily sings lyrics like “Write my name up in the sky, Seeing that with my third eye, I know you’re always here with me” and “Break my heart either way/I will bend time, where I want it to go” as she contemplates her own ability to be loved and how that stretches her comfort zone beyond a confident point. Meanwhile, the 70’s-leaning Disco synths provide a nostalgic electro-disco beat that bobs between a heartfelt and a heartbroken emotion, while the powerhouse Pipes and the twinkling Drum Machine loops provide some rhythmic, evocative undertones and some latex-polished production for Douglas’ performance to cohere with. It is a little low budget, but it still manages to feel cinematic and broad with it’s sweeping, euphoric Synth melodies. The sound is a little dated, but it certainly has a slick niche and the early New York Synth-Punk sound that Hard Feelings tap into are relatively unexplored in the modern ages, and so it manages to feel refreshing enough while nodding towards ABBA, Diana Ross and Depeche Mode throughout. The production is also very polished, with seamless segues between the different elements at play, giving ‘Sister Infinity’ an immersive and connected feel with its fusion of many Synth-related sub-genre qualities. Overall, I enjoyed how mature that ‘Sister Infinity’ feels overall, and it’s great that Hard Feelings are gaining some popularity from stations like KEXP and BBC Radio 6 Music as we await new releases in the new year because they feel diverse enough to stand out and they have their USP, for a lack of a better term. A distinctive pair who want to create an experience – as opposed to just music.

Pictured: Amy Douglas (Lead Vocals/Guitar/Keyboard) & Joe Goddard (Synths/Producer) (2021) (Photo via PR)

That’s all for now – so I’ll leave you to simply dance the bank holiday away – or just do whatever else that you choose to do as a past time. I’ll see you tomorrow for more musical action as we highlight another very distinctive Alternative Rock trio from Manchester who have supported Razorlight on tour. Earlier this year, they released a new concept album that was accompanied by a 45 minute animation movie that was created by the punk band’s frontwoman, Jess Allanic, using Blender and After Effects.

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Today’s Track: Flight Facilities (feat. Channel Tres) – ‘Lights Up’

December 22, 2021 — Leave a comment

Pictured: Hugo Gruzman (DJ/Producer) and James Lyell (DJ/Producer) (2021) (Photo via James Gourley/Getty)

Good Morning to you! I am Jacob Braybrooke, of course, and it’s time for me to help you fill up the funky playlist for the disco at your Office Christmas Party at the end of this working week, since it has always been my day-to-day pleasure to write up about a different piece of music every day! Flight Facilities are the Australian Electronic Dance duo of Hugo Gruzman and James Lyell who were formed in Sydney in 2009 and also perform under the name of Hugo & Jimmy. On previous recordings, they have worked with prominent names in the industry including the ‘Princess of Pop’ Kylie Minogue herself – as well as Bishop Nehru, Reggie Watts, Stee Downes and Owl Eyes. Although the seven year gap has not been a complete drought of material for the die-hard Flight Facilities fans out there – it is still testament to the streaming-dominated state of the modern music industry that their second LP record ‘FOREVER’ – released on November 12th via Future Classic – was their first true album release since 2014. It has reached #6 on the Australian Albums chart and it features another array of guest vocalists including Emma Louise, BRUX, BROODS, Jody Felix, Your Smith and DRAMA. In a statement, the AIR Award-winning duo said, “The best way to describe this album is a combination of where we’ve been, where we are and where we’re going. As true as it was from our first release, the foundations and glue for all our work has consistently been ‘collaboration’. While our musical journey has always been an intentional exploration of multiple genres, our hearts and roots lie on the dance floor. We applied that same explorative ethos to this record, taking a concerted dive delve into the previously untouched niches and era’s of dance. It’s been a long time coming, and only the same time will tell if it was worth the wait “, in a press release. The new album will also be supported by the ‘FOREVER’ tour that will commence in Perth during March 2022. The lead single, ‘Lights Up’, features the high in demand Compton producer and vocalist Channel Tres. Buckle your seat belt up and mount into it below.

With his low-pitched and sensual vocal delivery, Channel Tres has been a lyricist that everybody in the dance industry has been itching to include on their tracks. In the last few years, Tres has worked with a gigantic list of electronic dance producers including Disclosure, SG Lewis, Tokimonsta, Polo & Pan, Emotional Oranges and many more – so he has been everywhere as if he is the Jimmy Carr, Rosie Jones or Rob Beckett of dance music. ‘Lights Up’ features noticeable influences of Future Garage and Detroit Techno – and Flight Facilities note, “We’ve always loved the sound of the early Detroit House scene that crossed over with the Paradise Garage era. Combined with our love for Channel’s voice, it seemed like a perfect fit”, in their press release. ‘Lights Up’ almost sounds like a track that was being recorded whilst at a secluded street party with industry friends in Chicago, with Tres opening the scene with “Y’all should’ve called me to work on the album earlier/We could have been making something great” over a muffled vocal delivery following a lengthy fade-in to the track. The rest of the vocals mix an informal delivery with a quickly paced Spoken Word spin on gentle Hip-Hop, with Tres splurting out lyrics like “Trying to catch a Bass, and I’ll slide on you” and “I’m a MC, BYOB, bring your own bottles” that he recites with the silky and mildly sexual low-pitched croon that we’ve heard him use to similar effect on Disclosure and T’Challa King feature spots before. It definitely feels like his trademark and although it does not feel unexpected, it works smoothly here and plays to familiar strengths as usual. It establishes a tone of confidence for the rest of the track, which jolts along at an uptempo but not overly heightened pace. An influence of Detroit Techno – from the likes of Joe Smooth – drips from every note of Hugo and James’ production, with some velvet-smooth Synths that reassure us that this flight is going to be a smooth and relaxed ride. The personality of the track is charismatic enough, however, and one particular highlight of the track for me is towards the end where Tres repeats the refrain of “Got the whole city going up” while Horns continually whirr in the backbeat, giving off an impression that Horns are lighting things up in the background, as this section gives the Synths some added momentum to increase the aggression of the instrumentation slightly and drive the melodies forwards. Meanwhile, the two-step drum beats and the fluctuating Bass patterns blend together with Tres’ accentuated vocals nicely during the main bulk of the track. Overall, this was a strong effort from all involved that does ‘Dance Music’ in a modern enough way, while also respecting some of the relatively forgotten sub-genres of House and Techno from the past, giving it a retro-futurist feel. The track originally dates back to April so, although it fits more of a summer vibe than a cold December one, remember that it is summer in Australia.

Pictured: Cover Artwork for ‘FOREVER’ (LP) (Released on November 12th, 2021) (via Future Classic)

That’s all for now! Thank you for your smooth sailing with me today, and I’ll be back tomorrow to ‘Light Up’ the eve of Christmas Eve with an affectionate lump of seasonal Silton coming from a Rochford-born Jazz singer and BBC Radio 2 presenter who has famously covered Radiohead’s ‘High and Dry’ to mainstream success in the UK charts.

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Today’s Track: Fasme – ‘ICI’

December 7, 2021 — Leave a comment

Pictured: Fasme (aka Tom Ferreira) playing a live DJ set at Gaîté Lyrique, Paris (2020) (Photo by Underscope TV)

Good Morning to you! You are reading the words of Jacob Braybrooke, and it’s time for some big room melancholy that comes courtesy of yet another daily track on the blog, because it’s always my day-to-day pleasure to write up about a different piece of music every day! Said ‘big room melancholy’ is one niche that the Belfast-formed dance duo of Bicep (Matthew McBriar & Andrew Ferguson) have become a pair of unofficial kings of, scoring Best British Group and Best New Artist nominations at last year’s BRIT Awards for their concoction of Italo-inspired Electronica and multi-layered Breakbeat production. However, the duo have set a few new parameters for curatorial duties with the launch of their appropriately titled imprint label, Feel My Bicep. Their first signee is the Paris-born and Nantes-based experimental electronic dance music producer Tom Ferreira, who releases his music under the moniker of Fasme. Having caught the attention of the big-league’s Bicep when he released the ‘Stretched World’ EP last April, Bicep found ‘ICI’ on YouTube and so began playing Ferreira’s music in projects like a Friday Guest Mix for Mary Anne Hobbs on BBC Radio 6 Music and the duo’s own FMB radio podcast on Apple Music. Fasme has recently supported them on tour in October and he performed a live DJ set at Sarcus Festival in France in late September. Ferreira has said that “Fasme” is a nickname that his aunt gave him at her house during the summer one year. He takes his style from the Braindance, IDM and Techno Ambient scenes of the 00’s and he has named acts like RX 101, Binary Digit, James Shinra, David Harleydson and EOD as his influences. ‘ICI’ is taken from the new ‘Home’ EP which he released in late October via Feel My Bicep, of course. Check it out.

Bicep, as the co-managers of the Feel My Imprint indie EDM sub-label, writes that “his melodic sound is created on analog synths, evolving between Acid, Electro and Braindance” on the Bandcamp listing page for Ferreira’s recent ‘Home’ extended play, adding that Ferreira describes himself as “more of a live performer than a studio man” in the product’s description page. A track that reminds me of Aphex Twin’s ‘Druqks’ double album released in the early 00’s of misfit recordings with it’s set of minimalist Classical influences and Tin Man-esque Acid Jazz wiggling production that aims to conjure up some ‘Alien-like’ qualities overall, ‘ICI’ is a mid-tempo Trance serving that wants to provide a great example of why Fasme is a decent fit for Bicep’s Feel My Bicep label. Thankfully, this is a goal that Ferreira seems talented enough to succeed within, and ‘ICI’ has all the building blocks required to be in place to keep the festival crowds grinning, as well as feeling soft and melancholic enough to please those who would rather listen while tucked into their beds with their headphones at a good volume late at night because the chords never feel too overpowering and the distorted electronic Keys sounds never feel too harsh or aggressive for the scene either. It has it’s moments of melodicism with some moody chords that take a dark approach to the layered Lo-Fi production and some big emotive Synth hooks, as well as some mechanical electronic drum kit programming that gives the tone of the track a suitable uplift, but it never quite channels these sounds into an explosive track full of beat-driven sounds and plenty of ‘Bro-Step’ energy. Instead, it feels like a more pensive and contemplative wind-down for the end of a long night. A nebulous mix of acidic Synths, heartbroken Piano chords and neat, warm Bass stabs – ‘ICI’ is more concerned with multi-layered Synth loops and powerfully entrancing moments. Overall, ‘ICI’ is an impressive little recording that pulls off the fairly difficult task of making the Bicep-esque rave-ready despondency sound a tad more positively wistful.

Pictured: Fasme (aka Tom Ferreira) photographed for a wertn.com Q&A feature (2020) (Picture via Leviet.org)

That’s all for now! Thank you for checking out my latest post, and we’ll be counting down to Christmas with another festive-themed post featuring a track that left its mark on the niche in 2005. At the time, the track was written and performed by a Philadelphia-based indie rock band, but the project is now the solo work of multi-instrumentalist and producer Alec Ounsworth. The band appeared in the 2008 film ‘The Great Buck Howard’, and David Bowie was famously seen at some of their shows.

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Today’s Track: Porij – ‘Can’t Stop’

November 30, 2021 — Leave a comment

Pictured: Cover Artwork for ‘Baby Face’ (EP) (Released on September 22nd, 2021) (via Oat Gang Records)

Good Morning to you! My name is Jacob Braybrooke, and it’s time for us to shuffle along to the beat of yet another daily track on the blog, because it’s always my day-to-day pleasure to write up about a different piece of music every day! An Art-Rock 4-piece from Manchester, Porij are a comically named act who formed while studying and staying in halls together at the Royal Northern College Of Music in 2016. Since then, they have supported Cory Wong at Manchester’s 02 Ritz and have received positive reviews from publications like Clash, NME and FADER. The likes of Radio X’s John Kennedy, BBC Radio 1’s Huw Stephens and the BBC Radio 6 Music daytime playlist have also given them airplay. During the summer, they impressed us all on the blog with their peaceful protest anthem ‘Nobody Scared’, which was inspired by a documentary about Jack The Ripper that the boys saw on Netflix, and it was their call out to violence against women. If you are a fan of bands like Alt-J and Everything Everything – or even Glass Animals and Django Django – I think you’re going to really like this Experimental Pop project. The boys were at it again with the release of their new ‘Baby Face’ EP in September, which featured some previously released singles and new original tracks. The lead single – ‘Can’t Stop’ – was written by drummer Tom almost two years ago as an attempt to bring focus to his over-active imagination, and it arrived with a music video and a plethora of UK tour dates. Let’s give it a spin below.

Porij said in a statement, “Can’t Stop is a super intense, pretty relentless dance tune, about uncertainty, changing your mind and being completely consumed by your thoughts – but all while having a pretty sick time” when they released the track, which is built upon some House-like qualities with an occasionally manic Garage beat, which is complemented by some intentionally dodgy Synth patches and processed vocals that sometimes drift into an energetic auto-tuned frenzy. The band also say that it matches a quirky UKG drum and bass influence to some neat synthetic Pop elements, and it becomes clear from the infinitely tinkered fusion of late-90’s dance music facets and late-00’s indie rock motifs that the band have created a fun track that is sure to brighten up your day. The lyrics, with rhythmic sections like “I feel out of control, got me thinking/Spent a night on your own got me thinking” and more spoken word-like bridges including “Hold me in, push the time on/In your room, take my eye off” sound conventional for a modern indie dancefloor anthem, but their mode of delivery is playful and off-kilter, and so the vocals capture the overarching theme of questioning your own surroundings and sanity with a decent amount of weight to them. In terms of the instrumentation, Porij become known for looping strange Synth sounds and bulky, hefty basslines pretty early on in the track. They contrast the dance elements with a good mix of neatly woven production and more unpredictable melodies through the keyboard riffs later on. Some Jamiroquai-esque guitar riffs and a small touch of percussion round the equation off, and we are left off with a psychedelic number that treats us to the daring bounds of Porij’s creativity once again. While I would have liked for more of their serious social commentary to come through more clearly, as with ‘Nobody Scared’ that was a nod to the ‘Reclaim The Night’ movement for street safety, I think ‘Can’t Stop’ is a catchy and infectious single that would make me get up and dance in a night club with no difficulty. Generally, I really like how Porij approach each of their singles at a ‘case-by-case’ basis because it makes their discography feel quite fresh and diversified, and I like how the Manchester-based act are comfortable with the fact that different directions require different tools to others. In conclusion, ‘Can’t Stop’ is a crowd pleasing and danceable single that appeals to both indie dancefloor fans and club attendees alike.

Pictured: ‘Eggy’ (Lead Vocals/Keyboard), ‘Tommy’ (Rhythm Guitar/Occasional Backing Vocals), ‘Jammo’ (Bass Guitar/Percussion) and Tom (Drums/Occasional Backing Vocals) (in 2021) (Photo courtesy of PR/DIYMag.com)

If you’re feeling frightened, here’s a reminder that Porij wants ‘Nobody Scared’ with their previous single ‘Nobody Scared’, which has already been covered on the blog: https://onetrackatatime.home.blog/2021/06/15/todays-track-porij-nobody-scared/

Pictured: Cover Artwork for ‘Nobody Scared’ (Single) (Released on April 21st, 2021) (via Oat Gang Records)

That’s your lot for the day! Thank you for continuing to support my content on the blog each day, and I’ll be back tomorrow to resume our ‘Countdown To Christmas’ for the year because it will be December 1st, after all. It still feels a little early for me, and so we will be going for something that’s a little more winter themed in general than specifically festive. However, it comes from one of my favourite pure songwriters in the industry. He fairly recently completed the unique ‘Correspondence’ side project with Tracey Thorn from Everything But The Girl, and had a Swedish #1 album in 2007.

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