Christmas Day Special: Angela Morley – “Snow Ride”

December 25, 2020 — Leave a comment

So – this is Christmas Day. Wishing you a Merry Christmas and a very Happy New Year.

Pictured: Cover Art for “The Film and TV Music Of Angela Morley” (Released in 2004) (via Vocalion)

Great Tidings I hope to bring – my name is Jacob Braybrooke, and it’s time for me to get writing up on the blog all about this year’s especially Festive track – because it’s always my day-to-day pleasure to write to you about a different piece of music every day! That includes Christmas Day – otherwise you wouldn’t be reading these words right now – would you? I really wanted to do something unique and special for this year’s Christmas Day post, and so we’re going to turn to some classical music to bring some light into a Christmas that’s unusual for us. An idea that may or may not have been suggested by my own mother – I’ll leave that one for you to get worked out. In any case, Angela Morley’s “Snow Ride” is a recording which began life as a Classical music composition for film directors and television producers to use for their suitable backgrounds of an icy winter’s journey, before it was originally lost in 1964 due to the Chappell fire. Although it’s sadly unclear when this composition was first recorded, originally, the track was later digitally restored from it’s original recording by the code of Morley’s webpages. It seems to be cleverly reconstructed – and the fascinating thing about Morley is that she was the first openly Transgender person to be nominated for an Academy Award, back in 1976. Morley has also scored works like ‘Watership Down’, ‘The Little Prince’ and ‘The Slipper and The Rose’. Sadly, we lost Morley in 2009, at the age of 84, due to some complications from a heart attack. Her memory lives on from hits with the likes of Dame Shirley Bassey, Robert Farnon and Scott Walker – and my research into her career tells me that she would have been a familiar household name with the BBC in the 50’s. Let’s check out “Snow Ride” below.

The work of “Snow Ride”, by the English – and later Arizona-based classical music composer – was included on Naxos’ compilation album of seasonal classical music entitled “Another Night Before Christmas”, and you can also catch it on the John Wilson Orchestra’s album comprised of reworkings of Angela Morley’s work entitled “The Film & Television Music Of Angela Morley”, which was released in 2009 – as a celebration of her life – via the Vocalion record label. Obviously, there are no singing vocals at all to be analysed here – but the orchestral String sections and the wide-eyed crescendo of Cello melodies mixed with sweeping Horn patterns manage to evoke a very nostalgic and cheerful range of emotions – The childhood excitement of waking up to a tree full of presents and the delightfully frozen, Arctic environments of a Scandinavian winter springs to mind for me. The instrumentation is catchy and melodic, with a jovial sense of percussion blending with a comforting and Traditional range of Brass instrumentation. The pacing is actually quite stop-and-start and push-and-pull – if you read between the lines here – as a sparse Woodwind melody creeps into the frame at the mid-way mark – only to be teased instead – and pushed aside by the main repetition of the theme of the Violin arrangements. It leads to polished Sleigh bell melodies and even an Xylophone beat supplying layers to the theatrical, swooping chorus of climactic, grand String melodies. Most of these instruments convey an exotic expression – but they never really enter the soundscape thereafter. Although the melodies are quickly paced, the laidback moods of each of these phases, if you will, within the track imply to me that there is no particular hurry to the winter’s journey taking place in the narrative framework – but the aim seems to be a fun, exciting time in the cold air. A warm mix of familiarity and powerful layers is the key and although it’s not something that I’d usually go out of my way to seek out – I enjoyed it – as the traditional sounds give me a warm feeling of pure winter joy inside.

Pictured: Angela Morley at an American Society Of Music Arrangers & Composers talk (1999) (Yost.com)

Thank you for taking the time out of your Christmas Day to read my special post. Join me again for Boxing Day tomorrow – as we clear up our trilogy of unique and different seasonal posts with another large stylistic change. Instead of Hip-Hop or Classical music – We’re looking at a fun novelty track from one of the internet’s original favourites. Some of his most famous works have spooked or parodied the likes of Madonna, Michael Jackson, The Rolling Stones, Lady GaGa, Nirvana, Red Hot Chilli Peppers, The Backstreet Boys, Coolio, and many more. 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: Daniel Avery – “Lone Swordsman”

November 12, 2020 — 1 Comment

I wish that it was but a flesh wound for the 90’s Black Knight! It’s time for a new post!

Pictured: Daniel Avery in an interview photoshoot for Crack Magazine (in 2020) (Photo by Tom Andrews)

Hands up if you got my little reference to Monty Python up there! Good Morning, I’m Jacob Braybrooke and it is time for me to write your daily post, because it’s always my day-to-day pleasure to write up about a different piece of music every day! “Lone Swordsman” is a different type of charity single – a tribute to the legendary 90’s DJ Andy Weatherhall, who we owe a lot of our music to. He sadly passed away at the age of 56 in February due to a Pulmonary Embolism. This comes from Daniel Avery, a London-based Electronic Ambient Dance musician. The track’s title is taken from one of Weatherhall’s numerous side projects – ‘Two Lone Swordsmen’ – a name which Weatherhall and Keith Tenniswood co-produced a series of albums and EP’s under. The track is the digital B-side to Avery’s “Dusting For Smoke” single, which has been taken from his latest album, “Love + Light”, that Avery put out earlier in the year via Mute Records. Proceeds from “Lone Swordsman” via Bandcamp will be donated to Amnesty International in memory of Andy Weatherhall, so please make sure that you seek it out there. Let’s sample the track with the Greg Hodgson-directed video below.

An improvisational piece, Avery posted on his social media: “I was in my studio the morning I heard about Andrew Weatherhall’s passing. The track ‘Lone Swordsman” is what formed that day”, adding, “Andrew was a hero, a friend and someone who regularly reminded us all how it should be done”, and he was close to Weatherhall personally, having performed some back-to-back live DJ sets together in the past. With no lyrics at all to speak of, the solemn and peaceful beats of “Lone Swordsman” are enough to create a fitting little tribute to Andy Weatherhall with a euphoric sense of innocence and purity that has no need for vocals to add an extra punch to the digital melodicism. It starts off with a percussive, stabbing drum pattern that almost replicates the sound of a Ping-Pong ball to me, creating a theme of childhood and soft nostalgia with the ambient soundscape. A musing sequence of gentle synths creep in, a Celestial sound that adds an element of Space-Pop and old-school 90’s rave tracks with it’s deeply electronic sound. The tempo slightly raises throughout the track as we gently build up to an ambient washing of vivid, colourful Synths and more deeply textured, percussive drum loops. There is a slick bassline that runs throughout, one which doesn’t feel too modern or contemporary, but instead feels analogue-driven and with a contemplative tone that fits the subject matter of the track nicely, and continues to evoke a nostalgic and light-hearted emotion with it’s light sonic steps. The recurring set of synths keep lurking in and out – as if to just slowly massage your ears to the beat of the more percussive layers in the repeating drum beat of the track. Rather than evoking a Dancehall-oriented club sound, it reminds me of the work that legendary DJ and personal favourite Aphex Twin explored on “Xtal” specifically and the general sound of “Selected Ambient Works 85-92” by using the simplicity of the drum sounds to Avery’s advantage. This is not really a heavy dance beat and feels more of an emotive ambient ilk, so you’re not going to find the next big dancefloor-filling club record if you’re looking to find that from this, but it feels perfectly suited for it’s purpose instead and it’s laid out very impressively, with merticulously planned synths which properly reward you with repeated listens to it. Rest in peace, old friend.

Pictured: Cover Art for "Dusting For Smoke" (EP) (Released on September 1, 2020) (via Phantasy Sound) — Pictured: Cover Art for “Dusting For Smoke” (EP) (Released on September 1, 2020) (via Phantasy Sound)

Thank you for reading my new post! As always, please feel free to join me again tomorrow – where will be skewing towards Post-Punk instead. We will be taking an in-depth listen back to cult classic track from 1989, an example of work taken from the early discography of a cult favourite 90’s Post-Punk band who were formed in 1986 by Ian MacKaye in Washington, DC. The band earned critical acclaim and crossover success across the world before starting their indefinite hiatus in 2003. 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: Boards Of Canada – “An Eagle In Your Mind” (1998)

November 3, 2020 — 1 Comment

David Attenborough would be all over this bird of nature! It’s time for a new blog post!

Pictured: Marcus Eoin and Marcus Sandison in a vintage press shot (unknown date) (via Warp Records)

Good Morning to you! My name is Jacob Braybrooke, and it’s time for me to repay my promise of typing up about your daily track on the blog today, as it’s always my day-to-day pleasure to write up about a different piece of music every day! An interesting classic IDM record that I’ve been listening to over the last few weeks is “Music Has The Right To Children”, an ambient record from 1998 which was self-produced by Boards Of Canada, a Scottish electronic music duo, on the Warp Records label. The piece of material went down as a landmark in electronic music work, and it has appeared on many best-ever lists from music publications like Pitchfork and Mojo. While the bulk of electronic music sprawls from Industrial and futuristic technology from urban environments – the intriguing case of Boards Of Canada is that the duo grew up in a very small urban community in Scotland, where they have since remained very reclusive from their fanbase, hardly ever taking part in any press interviews or live performances. For “Music Has The Right To Children”, the brothers of Marcus Eoin and Mike Sandison decided to create experimental sounds from outdated analogue software and samples taken from 1970’s public broadcasting children’s programmes to invoke themes of early childhood, nostalgia and nature. The duo have shrouded themselves in secrecy, and started making music by sending Casettes of their work to their friends and family. Let’s see a fan-made video for “An Eagle In Your Mind” below.

Fan-made videos have played a significant factor in keeping the Boards Of Canada’s fanbase active over the years, with long gaps of years between the subsequent album releases, and the band managed to pull off an elaborate “Easter Egg Hunt” in the highly-anticipated marketing push towards 2013’s “Tomorrow’s Harvest”, but that’s another story for another day. “An Eagle In Your Mind” is the third cut on the track listing for “Music Has The Right To Children”, and it perfectly sums up the basic key elements of the album, for my two cents. As you’ve probably noticed, it’s not really a track that is very accessible from a dancing point-of-view – despite being labelled as an “IDM” release. Instead, we’re given some meditative textures and peculiar sounds that feel rooted in degraded synthesizer hardware and 1970’s-inspired Hip-Hop break-beats. The track begins with a slowly fading synth line that soon washes over the top of a scratching, downtempo turntable beat sample. The sound, although entirely instrumental, manages to feel very rich and fresh because it sounds emotionally mature and hallucinatory, to a degree. Ideas of early childhood memory and adolescent behaviour peek their head in at a midway mark, when the tempo of the Syncopated backing beat increases and a very abrupt vocal sample of “I Love You” cuts into the picture, and it signals for a whistled backing vocal sample and an emerging synth line that comes into full force later on, with a harsh ambience that seems very dense. There may not be very much going on here, melodically – but the lo-fi beats have been layered in a hugely calculated and meticulous manner. The ideas of early childhood memory develops very smoothly, as a result, with cut-off samples and resonating synth work managing to evoke emotions which are ever so slightly strange and peculiar – and – for me – this is what manages to make the record stand out as a truly fascinating and unique project. It feels as if you’re a child, sitting at the TV, watching old advertisements fly by, or like you’re riding a bike with your friends around the countryside as your mind wanders to an imaginative, fantastical place. In a nutshell, it plays out like an adult’s reflection of their nostalgia – as you’re left with fragments of memories at this stage of your life and it’s hard to filter what is real and what is fantasy as a child anyways – and the record is bizarrely accurate in doing so. An album that would take time and perseverance to connect with you, but – depending on your upbringing as I was a strange child myself – it will slowly reward you with a payment of nostalgic, intricate sounds which are unrivalled. Go and listen!

Pictured: Cover Art for "Music Has The Right To Children" (LP) (Released in 1998) (via Warp Records) — Pictured: Cover Art for “Music Has The Right To Children” (LP) (Released in 1998) (via Warp Records)

Thank you for reading my new post! Please feel free to join me tomorrow – where we’ll be making a change of pace with an in-depth look at the latest album from one of the most legendary African-American Hip-Hop groups of all-time, who were inducted into the Rock and Roll Fame in 2013, and critic Stephen Thomas Erlewine named them as “The most influential and radical band of their time” for AllMusic in 2017. 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: Jane In Palma – “One By One (Original Mix)”

October 8, 2020 — Leave a comment

This is basically Cuckoo from the titular BBC sitcom in music form. It’s new post time!

Pictured: Jane In Palma (a.k.a. Julian Smith) in the music video for “Safety Net” (2020) (via Vimeo.com)

Good Morning to you! My name is Jacob Braybrooke and it’s my duty to get writing up about your spotlighted daily track on the blog, because it’s still always my day-to-day pleasure to write up about a different piece of music every day! With such a name as quirky as “Jane In Palma” (a parody of the popular Australian Psychedelic Rock artist Tame Impala), you’d be forgiven for thinking this is just a “p**s take” of that culture. No, this is an incredibly experimental project. “Jane In Palma” is the latest moniker of the California-native percussionist and composer Julian Smith, who has released his material under several different aliases, with Dan Froth being his most notable, and he’s previously been associated with WNCL Recordings, Phonica White and UNO! NYC (between the years of 2010 – 2016) under that pseudonym. “Saftey Net” is the second album of his “Jane In Palma” alias, and it’s the follow-up to 2016’s debut “Primitive Thoughts”, and it was released over the summer, on July 8, via Snake Free Roofing. He has gained support from BBC Radio 1, Rinse FM, NTS Radio and Ibiza Global Radio, of all places. For me, I heard of the artist through one of John Ravenscroft’s recent turns on 6Music Recommends, of which Smith was the featured ‘Spotlight Artist’ of the particular programme. In any case, Smith has been claiming for himself to be “based somewhere between the Balearics and the Basque country”, although I am not too sure if this is a part of the act or not, but I’ve given Smith the benefit of the doubt on that. A purely Instrumental track, let’s give ourselves a gander to “One By One” below.

For his first album of the “Jane In Palma” title, Smith’s “Primitive Thoughts” LP from 2016 saw him interpret the surroundings of two locations – empty caves on the isle of Mallorica – which he used as his recording locations. On his Bandcamp page, Smith explains how “Safety Net” is all about exploring the themes of offline living, and ignoring the presence of the media around us, and the record electronically touches upon elements of Garage-Rock, Post-Punk and Surf-Rock from a sonic standpoint. Although “One By One” is not very representative at all of the core sound of the record overall, personally, it is my favourite track on the record because of it’s simplicity. The rest of the record is an interesting mix of idiosyncratic 80’s hip-hop instrumentals and underground production methods, where “the facts don’t matter if the source is crooked”, according to Smith himself, but the sound that makes up the original mix of “One By One” is a more formulaic and gentle process. It mixes up an audibly soft funk rhythm of a plucky bass guitar riff with a delightfully upbeat Conga drum beat that catches on a melodious, repetitive groove that continually sits on the top of a slightly stuttered time signature. A few push-and-pulls of the pacing can be heard now and again, but it mainly stays at a punchy mid-tempo feel, with a springy interlude towards the end. There’s evidently nothing at all to talk about lyrically here because it’s an entirely instrumental effort, but the tones are cheerful and free-form, allowing the patterns of the repeated guitar-and-drum pattern to catch the attention of your ears. The sound pallete is not too busy, but there’s enough going on to make it feel relaxed and humble, if unashamedly formulaic, to keep you occupied and simply in a nice mood. Overall, it allows Smith to nurture his creativity mind-set, and explore sequenced sets of productions with the use of the experimental recording processes, without even the need to think about the commercial justifications to do so. A “pet project” down to a tee, I find the simplicity of “One By One” to be very appealing, with music which seems basic but groovy. Definitely worth keeping your tabs on this artist.

Pictured: Cover Art for “Safety Net” (Album/LP) (Released on July 8th, 2020) (via Snake Free Roofing)

Thank you very much for reading the new post! Don’t forget that I’ll be back again tomorrow, for an in-depth look at another experimental enigma, who is more accustomed to the underground Hip-Hop Fusion realm. It comes off the back of an impressive debut album released two years ago, and the new record features guest collaborative work from Iggy Pop, Jimi Goodwin (of Doves) and Jason Williamson (of The Sleaford Mobs). 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: Skullcrusher – “Day Of Show”

September 28, 2020 — Leave a comment

Campfire Dream-Folk wonder, or skull-crushing blow to the heart? It’s new post time!

Pictured: Helen Ballentine in a photoshoot for a Buzzbands.LA feature (2020) (Photo by Kevin Bronson)

Good Morning to you! My name is Jacob Braybrooke and, as usual, I’m here to write up about your daily track on the blog, because it’s always my day-to-day pleasure to get typing up about a different piece of music every day! Kicking off this week’s batch of new music posts, we have one of the latest signings to the Secretly Canadian indie label. Skullcrusher is the Dream-Folk and Shoegaze-influenced new project from the Los-Angeles based producer and singer-songwriter, Helen Ballentine. I’m not too sure if it’s just me, but when I see her alias of “Skullcrusher” written down on paper (Or my laptop screen, more accurately), I’d expect to hear the harsh and abrasive sounds of a heavy Black Metal band from Finland or Norway. But, with Ballentine instead, you get almost nothing but the pure vulnerability of her voice and a minimalist, relaxed spell of instrumentation and production. Helen Ballentine was born and raised in upstate New York, before she graduated from Hackley School in 2013, and she later graduated from The University of Southen California with a degree in Graphic Design, in 2017. Having learned to play the Piano at an early age, she decided to quit her full-time job working at a gallery to pursue music as a viable career option. You can catch “Day Of Show” on her self-titled EP, which Ballentine released in July. Let’s take a listen below.

Ballentine describes the Lo-Fi sound of her self-titled Skullcrusher EP as like “being alone in your room, lying on the floor with a book and the window open, but also for letting someone in to lie with you”, via a press release to The Guardian on her debut single, “Places/Plans”, as an evocative memory of a safe haven within your mind-set. On “Day Of Show”, she matches a very intimate and carefully layered style of production with a romantic, laidback acoustic guitar strum and a ghostly, hazy synth line that subtly adds a quite heartbreaking, vulnerable emotion to her vocal qualities. The chorus is not very punchy or explosive, as Ballentine instead croons: “I’ve been trying to figure out what to wear/For a day I’ll spend alone in my room/Leaning in, I’ll cut the back of my hair” to a whispered and low-tone vocal delivery. The instrumentation sweeps into the light pause of a simple, if personal, minute. A faint synth section eerily swells in the background of the silky outro, and the hushed Piano melodies pull together a contemplative ambience that fits the quiet tone of her crystalline vocal performance and the soft, inobtrusive spells of acoustic instrumentation. It may come across as a little dull at first, as there’s not much going on in the way of melodicism here. However, I feel that it works pretty nicely overall, and I feel this effect is down to the subtle sound of the different instrumental sections that are meshed together. It has a very relaxed sound, and it just requires a little bit of co-operation for you to get the most out of it. This isn’t really the type of music that I would usually choose to listen to, but it sounds really well-suited for light meditation. The music is quiet, but it would provide good mindfulness for when you need a break.

Pictured: Cover Artwork for “Skullcrusher” (EP) (Released on July 24th, 2020) (via Secretly Canadian)

Thank you very much for reading this post! Tomorrow, we’ll be picking up the pace a little bit with a more uptempo new single from another emerging female musician. She is a singer-songwriter and producer from Bristol who is one of the latest signings for the popular Heavenly Recordings indie label, who is set to release her debut album in November. She’s been touring with Cass McCombs and she has forthcoming rescheduled dates on tour with B.C. Camplight. 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: Andy C & Shimon – “Body Rock” (2001)

September 24, 2020 — Leave a comment

Right. That is it. It’s time for us to quit the ‘Clowning’ around! It’s time for a new post!

Pictured: Andy Clarke performing with MC TONN PIPER at Rampage Festival (2019) (via YouTube.com)

Good Morning to you! My name is Jacob Braybrooke and I am writing up about your daily track on the blog, as always, because it is routinely my day-to-day pleasure to write up about a different piece of music every day! 2001, in September to be exact, saw the release of a polarizing little club track of the title “Body Rock”, which was a collaboration between Andy Clarke, the co-founder of RAM Records, and his RAM Records signee Shimon. Clarke, best known as Andy C, is a Wasall-based English DJ and electronic producer who was a pioneering staple of the Drum-and-Bass genre of EDM music. He was a part of the RAM three, a circle of artists who raised prestige for the Drum-and-Bass genre through this specialist record label, which also includes Shimon and co-founder Ant Miles. Most popularly, the likes of Chase & Status, Sub Focus and Wilkinson have found chart success through releases on the RAM Records label. “Body Rock” reached #28 on the UK Singles Chart, and it was divisive because of it’s unusual sound, which we’ll get to in a bit. For now, let’s have a listen to it below.

Just in case you hadn’t realized, “Body Rock” divided most of Andy C’s more hardcore fanbase because of the “Clown-ish” sequencing effects used as the sampled hooks, which combines with a swinging pendulum rhythm to form an oddly patterned loop of synthesized melodies. As a matter of fact, some listeners even went so far as to give it a derogatory term of “Clown-Step” as a phrase to describe similar tracks that arrived soon after “Body Rock”, as it was obviously a huge commercial success, so other producers who were just looking for hits were started to follow the sound as a commercial trend. One fun theory that has circulated around the internet is that Andy C and Sub Focus used a sample of Rocky Horror’s “Timewarp” to fit the tune when mixing the track live to form the beat, but it’s unclear whether there is any evidence to prove this to be the truth. In whichever case, “Body Rock” starts off with a swinging triplet rhythm that precedes a few strange vocal parts. It gets more off-kilter and bizzare when the Snare Drum kicks in, and hits on the recurring Synth loops. This is followed up by the introduction of a really Staccato-heavyweight bassline that calls upon Acid Techno and Alternative Jungle influences to create a fluid, fluctuating synth beat which feels acidic and meandering in it’s continous, skittering nature. A brief interlude of odd, slowed ambient wind samples follows up on the main bassline drop, before an eclectic Kick Drum beat and Hi-Hat snare drops make the proceedings a little more percussive and progressive in it’s textures. Overall, it’s certainly rather unusual for an experimentally layered Drum-and-Bass track such as this to reach the mainstream – with single CD/Vinyl sales of 38,000 copies in shops (Yes… Physical Shops!) to boot. However, I believe the most important point to take away from this is that whether different groups of music lovers loved it or not… It gained a strong reaction. For me personally, although I can see where most angles of the nitpicks of criticism were coming from, I think that it’s innovative and a lot of fun. It was something very different at the time, and it still retains a unique ring to it today.

Pictured: Cover Artwork for “Body Rock” (Single) (Released on 3rd September, 2001) (via RAM Records)

Thank you very much for reading my daily blog post! I’ll be back tomorrow with a switch of gears, as we move from Experimental Drum-and-Bass to a more Alternative form of Post-Punk and Industrial-Rock. Tomorrow’s track comes from a Japanese 4-piece Math-Rock and Noise-Rock group formed in London, England who have performed collaboratively with Savages, Damo Suzuki and Faust. They are currently signed to Stolen Recordings and they are licensed to Sony Music Associated Records. If you really liked what you just read, why not follow the blog to get notified when every new daily post is up and why not like the Facebook page here?: https://www.facebook.com/OneTrackAtATime/

Today’s Track: Darkstar – “Blurred”

August 26, 2020 — Leave a comment

Darth Vader would be thrilled.. Oh wait, that is the Death Star! It’s time for a new post!

Pictured: Cover Artwork for “Civic Jams” (Released on June 19th, 2020) (via Warp Records)

Good Morning, I am Jacob Braybrooke and I’m typing up about your daily track on the blog as, like always, it’s my day-to-day pleasure to write about a different piece of music every day! Darkstar is the English Electronic duo of James Young and Aiden Whalley, who began making music together in London during the late-2000’s. Although they have, thankfully, never troubled the mainstream in any real form, they’ve remained to be a hit with hardcore music fans and maintained a solid critical reception in their years of activity. Currently signed to one of the world’s most groundbreaking labels, Warp Records, Darkstar released their fourth studio LP, “Civic Jams”, in June of this year. The duo draw their influential sound from UK Grime, Ambient House, IDM, Acid Techno, Alternative Blues and Progressive Synthpop, and are probably best known for their 2009 single, “Aidy’s Girl Is A Computer”, a track which was used in a TV advertising campaign for Colette, an accessory retailer. The closing track of their new record is “Blurred”, an Ambient track which was released as a single last week, alongside a self-produced video. It pays tribute to the British music venues that have been forced to shut their doors due to COVID-19, via a Google Earth satellite feed. This is also a plea to appeal for the government to acknowledge the circling online petitions that have been asking for them to help out with funding the survival of Grassroots venues. It’s a sad and hard-hitting, but intriguing, music video, and it’s the reason why I wanted to share the track with you today. Check it out below.

Darkstar’s James Young said, on the video, “I think I’ve been going to nightclubs since I was 16, buying records from 15 and tape packs from 14 all housed and cultivated in places either in this video or not too far.”, later adding: “It’s a stark reminder at how hard it can be to keep these places going particularly now – so massive props to the people involved in working to keep that dream alive. It can’t be ignored to see just how many of these places fell. It’s hard not to correlate that to the political landscape and how the value of independent music is weighed up by these people even before a pandemic.”, as images of closed venues matches their themes of memory together with the melancholic Synth textures and emotive Choir effects of “Blurred”, the track. The instrumentation is minimalist and gentle, as a smooth underlayer of tranquil, opaque Vocal loops shapes up to an edifying flicker of Drum Machine blips and sensitive, delicate ambience. It feels timely for the uncertain atmosphere that has been created by Covid-19 and it crafts a mellow semblance of a dream-like, almost Shoegaze-inspired atmosphere. The production never quite seems to position itself into a particular genre though, and the tone remains downtempo and psychedelic, while flickers of light created by the push-and-pull Synth structure and the slightly distorting, yet woozy and peaceful, Choir-esque vocal loops signal a glimmer of hope. Overall, the track is very quiet and will likely have several different emotional effects on it’s listeners, but I think it’s impressive, and the music video adds a level of context that makes the instrumental quality feel richer, making it seem just that little sweeter.

Pictured: James Young (Producer/Engineer/Drums) and Aiden Whalley (Keyboard/Synths) (2020) (Photo via PR)

Thank you very much for reading this post! As usual, I’ll be back tomorrow, for an in-depth look at an emerging electronic dance music producer based in Yorkshire who is becoming a prominent figure in the UK’s Electronic Jazz club scene, and she has previously played for the London Symphony Orchestra, as well as performing live DJ sets on Giles Peterson’s Worldwide FM. 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: Aphex Twin – “#3”

August 18, 2020 — Leave a comment

Happy Birthday, Richard – I hope your card came! It’s time for a special Birthday post!

Pictured: Cover Artwork for “Selected Ambient Works (Volume II)” (Released on 7th March, 1994) (via Warp Records)

Only the die-hards will get the reference above… Good Morning and a Happy 48th Birthday to Richard D. James, I’m Jacob Braybrooke and I’m typing another daily post on the blog, because it’s my day-to-day pleasure to write about a different piece of music every day! As mentioned beforehand, August 18th marks the commemorative birthday of one of the best people to have ever lived, Richard D. James, mostly known as Aphex Twin, who is 49 years old today. If you’ve been following my blog and my other projects for a long while, you’ll be aware of my totally unprofessional Fanboy obsession for the guy. He is, without much doubt, my favourite male solo musician of all-time. Therefore, I have planned to look back at one of his most popular projects, “Selected Ambient Works Volume II”, to mark the occasion. Released in 1994, this was his second full-length album, which James claims to have literally made in his sleep… heavily inspired by melodies that he’s heard while he was Lucid Dreaming at night. He likens it to “Standing in a power station on acid”, and it enjoyed a relatively quiet release period based on my research (Since I wasn’t born then… So don’t quote me on it), before it gained a large cult following and it became one of the most critically-acclaimed albums of the 1990’s, appearing on all-time best lists from Rolling Stone, Pitchfork and Spin. There’s no lyrics whatsoever, and the sound sees James harkening back to the Easy Listening classics from Brian Eno, during the 1970’s, for inspiration. The main factor of significance related to this album comes from a service which allowed fans to mail each other and discuss the obscure sounds and deep, layered soundscapes of the record. In a time where social media simply did not exist, it was basically the first album ever to basically get talked about, thus becoming a social event. None of the track listings have official names either, and one fan – Greg Eden, has once popularized names of the track which get used by fellow fans and journalists based on a murky set of images that can be found in the album’s liner notes of each physical copy. “#3” is one of James’ most beloved tracks by fans and the press, and it is more commonly referred to as “Rhubarb”. Let’s have a listen below.

If you’re only recognizably familiar with “Windowlicker” and/or “Come To Daddy”, this would likely catch you off-guard and take you by suprise quite a lot! “#3” is not very beat-driven at all, instead offering to you a moment of serene beauty and timeless fascination, demanding your full attention as you stand still for a few moments and simply interact with the sound. It deeply moves many of James’ most dedicated fans, with a light tension which captures a feeling between distressing and comforting. “#3” consists of a static synth line that feels soft and consonant, with a peaceful tone and a very subtle rumble of Bass which gently alters the course of the key changes throughout the track. It shines in allowing you, as the listener, to associate the track with whatever nostalgic images or contemplative emotions that your mind can conjure up. To me, it reminds me of a well-kept lake of water, as a tide moves briskly, but slowly, outwards as the ripples of the wave form a small tide. This is due to the percussion-free electronica forming up a meditative sentiment, and the breezy Organ pipe melodies adding a semblence of a sun-soaked vibe to it. The album was a slow-burning word of mouth triumph in it’s success, and it manages to feel wholly original and highly different to James’ other works. Once you have interacted with the record by giving James your co-operation, it slowly unfolds and it becomes a record, with “#3” in particular, that replaces it’s initial uncompromising feel with a charm that gets slowly discovered. It requires the surrender of your brain cells to work it properly, but it’s well worth the effort because this is music that has a transcendent beauty of it’s genuine own. One of the most interesting selections from one of the all-time greatest!

Pictured: Richard D. James (aka Aphex Twin) at an undisclosed gig in his early days (1992) (via electronicbeats.net)

If you’re pining to hear some more Aphex material, you’ve come to a decent place! You can read up my thoughts on “Vordhosbn”, from 2001’s “Drukqs”, here: https://onetrackatatime.home.blog/2019/09/24/todays-track-aphex-twin-vordhosbn/, and you can also check out my festive write-up for ““XMAS EVET_10 (Thanaton3 Mix)” here: https://onetrackatatime.home.blog/2019/12/24/christmas-eve-special-aphex-twin-xmas-evet_10-thanaton3-mix/. Or, if you’re a first-time listener or you want to get more familiar with Richard’s beautiful music, you can check out my very own podcast here, which offers a guide of “5 Tracks To Get You Into Aphex Twin”. Once more, my heart goes out to Richard on his special Lornaderek day!

Pictured: Richard D. James on a poster for a live performance at Hallum University, Sheffield, England (1993)

Thank you very much for reading my new post! It will be back to business as usual tomorrow, with an in-depth listen to a pretty recent track which I sadly didn’t quite get the time to cover nearer to the time of it’s release. This next cut comes from an Essex-based singer-songwriter who started writing her own music when she was around 7, before re-entering the scene at the age of 9… and she’s now currently signed to Asylums’ indie label, Cool Thing Records. If you really liked what you just read, why not follow the blog to get notified when every new daily post is up and why not like the Facebook page here?: https://www.facebook.com/OneTrackAtATime/

Today’s Track: Delvon Lamarr Organ Trio – “Inner City Blues”

August 14, 2020 — Leave a comment

What do you call a Wizard who Potters around the house a lot? Harry! New post time!

Pictured: Cover Artwork for “Inner City Blues” (Single/EP) (Released on May 22nd, 2020) (via Colemine Records)

That has nothing to do with today’s track, by the way, I just wanted to make you roll your eyes! Anyhow, I’m Jacob Braybrooke and I’m writing up your daily post on the blog since, as you’re aware of, it’s my day-to-day pleasure to write about a different piece of music every day! Also known as DLO3, Delvon Lamarr Organ Trio are a Jazz Fusion group based in Washington in the US, who formed in 2015, under a different original line-up. Their band name refers to how Delvon Lamarr, who is obviously at the helm of the trio, switched to playing the Organ at the age of 22 after playing the Drums and the Trumpet since an early age. Lamarr now works with Jimmy James (Guitar) and Dan Weiss (on Drums) to make up the trio. Commercially, they are probably best known for their debut album, “Close But No Cigar”, which reached the #1 spot of the US Contemporary Jazz Albums Chart when it was released in 2015. “Inner City Blues” marks a new era for the Colemine Records label, who have launched the “Brighter Days Ahead” initiative as a response to the COVID-era difficulties being faced by independent labels. As a result, they have been releasing a new single, from their artists, weekly on their Bandcamp page to coincide with Bandcamp’s waiving fees on the day, meaning that 100% of revenue from sales goes directly to the artists. This is a cover of Marvin Gaye’s 1971 track “Inner City Blues (Make Me Wanna Holler)” from his landmark LP, “What’s Going On”. Let’s give it a spin!

An upbeat, instrumental version of a vintage 70’s classic track, which can be a hit-or-miss prospect in the odd few cases, Delvon Lamarr Organ Trio put a new spin and a different perspective on Gaye’s original composition with a hefty splash of cool, involving Acid-Rock guitar lines and a Dub-based Funk style which reminds me of Khruangbin, amongst a casual and contemporary Jazz format that seems akin to GoGo Penguin. Driven by an airy Organ harmony, as per usual from the Seattle-born trio, the Jazz trio infuse elements of Soul and Swing that recreates the authenticity of a 1970’s New Orleans sound. Its embellished with short Brass sections and joyous, childlike keyboard chords to replace Gaye’s original lyricism of the bleak economic situation of the 70s and his informed lack of support from the government during the recession with deep bass guitar lines and increasingly layered Classical instrumentals to create a hopeful and optimistic mood with a vintage 70’s Jazz Fusion feel. Jimmy James turns the Funk up a notch on his guitar part, with consistently grooving, light-hearted guitar patterns. Meanwhile, Dan Weiss creates warm Drum beats that feel momentous, increasing the pace from Gaye’s recording, before it comes together with a mellow finish. Frankly, they all play perfectly well individually, but they all sync-up together very cohesively, and that springs the record to life. A head-nodder of a cover.

Pictured: Delvon Lamarr (Keyboard), Jimmy James (Guitar) and Dan Weiss (Drums) (2020) (via Promogogo.com)

Thank you very much for reading my daily blog post! Don’t forget that your weekly edition of Scuzz Sundays is coming up very soon, but in the meantime, please make sure that you visit the blog again tomorrow for an in-depth look at the brand new solo project from the frontman of one of the world’s most internationally popular Alternative Rock music groups, Sigur Ros. 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: Totally Enormous Extinct Dinosaurs – “Los Angeles”

August 5, 2020 — 1 Comment

A here-and-now project which is anything BUT prehistoric. It’s time for your new post!

Pictured: Cover Artwork for “I Can Hear The Birds” (EP) (Released on May 27th, 2020) (via Self-Released)

Good Morning! I’m Jacob Braybrooke and I’m writing up your daily post on the blog, just like always, because it’s still my day-to-day pleasure to write up about a different piece of music every day! With a slightly amusing real name of Orlando Higginbottom, his pseudonym of Totally Enormous Extinct Dinosaurs takes things up to a further extreme, a name he chose to inject some colour into the British club scene. He has only ever released one album, “Trouble”, a dance record that reached #34 on the UK Albums Chart in 2012. However, Higginbottom has become one of my favourite artists for his seamless abilities in shifting between vibrant dance tones and atmospheric, distinctively British bleakness at ease. “I Can Hear The Birds” is a five-track EP that marks a bold departure from the Club-oriented sounds of his previous material, a project that he self-produced and self-released during the lockdown period. The EP was created by real-life snippets of bird sounds sent to him by a group of his friends living in Australia, Canary Islands, Los Angeles, and London. He posted on social media: “Working on my existing musical projects was proving difficult and so this pattern of receiving bird recordings from friends and sending them back as songs emerged as a welcome practice.” Let’s listen to the second track “Los Angeles” below!

Birdsong is often seen as a meditative and relaxing genre of music, so it’s a nice change of pace to hear something quite different from an EDM producer who would usually probably prefer to DJ in exotic clubs across the globe. Higginbottom loops a light synth pad melody with a soft, twinkling Piano section to create a mellow intro, as the gentle Keyboard riff gradually increases the tempo of the track, and a reverberated rumble of Bass quickly proceeds a contemplative, deeply textured synth line. This isn’t entirely electronic, with the glimmering piano score remaining audible, forming a repeated fragment of a hopeful, but somewhat downbeat, quality. The field recordings of bird sounds also help in bringing the ambient textures to life. I wouldn’t say that it’s minimalist, due to the fragmented effects in various play, but it’s raw and mellow, while the Synthesizer loop adds more involvement. What really impresses me about this track is that it has a very enigmatic presence. The Synth textures feel downbeat and contemplative, but they are melodic enough to offer a reassuring feeling of warmth, hope and comfort. There is also a light evocation of Sci-Fi, due to the evocative nature of the electronic instrumentation, it makes me think of Ready Player One or Blade Runner. The textures also feel personal and affecting, and another interpretation of the vibe could be reminiscing over a failing relationship, and giving a fresh start to a former romantic partner. In any case, the main point is how the track feels very pure and natural, as a bustling Los Angeles night scene can also be pictured in my mind, with many different interpretations to relax your mind to. In short, this is unmissable! He is a very underrated artist, and I am a massive fan of him.

Pictured: Totally Enormous Extinct Dinosaurs (Orlando Higginbottom) in a photoshoot (2020) (Photo by Pia Riverola)

Thank you very much for reading this post! I’ll be back tomorrow, as usual, with an in-depth listen to a recent single taken off a brand new album from a New Zealand-based Indie Punk band who met each other while studying at The University Of Auckland, starting out by performing Jazz and Swing as each of the band members performed under various monikers throughout the tenure. They are still well-known for their use of vocal harmonies. 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