Dance

Today’s Track: Planningtorock – “Beulah Loves Dancing”

February 5, 2020 — 1 Comment

I’ve been Planningtowrite this one for an entire day! It’s time for your new blog post!

  • Pictured: Cover Artwork for “Beulah Loves Dancing” (October 2018) (Available on Bandcamp.com)

Good afternoon to you, Jacob Braybrooke here with your daily track for the blog! Jam Roston, formerly named Janine Roston, is an English electronic dance producer who currently lives in Berlin, Germany. She rose to fame after launching her own label, Rostron Records, where she released “Have It All”, her debut LP in 2006. Later, she went on the “Sound Of Silver” world tour with LCD Soundsystem in 2007 and released a remix of The Knife’s “Marble House” a year prior. “Beulah Loves Dancing” is a little bit old, but it’s still a recent track in her discography. It’s the lead single from her fourth LP, “Powerhouse”, a self-released album from 2018. I caught the track floated around on the BBC Radio stations for a little while in it’s original release and I’ve remembered it for long enough to feature it on the blog. Give the track a listen below.

I think it’s easy to see why it’s a very memorable little dance anthem, as it has a very original sound and the narrative framework is creative. The lyrics of the track pays tribute to the musically energised youth of Jam’s sister. With a down-tempo mood, she croons: “Back in the 80’s me and my sister were given a personal Walkman”, before referring to her sister, who loved her house music and would make her own mixtapes and cassettes. It became an obsession for her, which is beat-matched by a trippy acid synth line which remains steady, but teases a subtle line of breakbeat melodies. The bridge is led by an eccentric dreamscape vocal: “Beulah loves dancing/Has always loved music, yeah”, the story continues, with Roston taking a trip down memory lane, saying: “And I kid you not, the whole house would be shaking” as Beulah would prance about to her club music upstairs. It seems almost akin to a pop song, with a catchy vocal rhyme that hypnotically paces around the percussive techno melodies. The delivery of the vocals is particularly down-tempo, which keeps the fizzing synth notes to a controlled pace. I think the fade-out at the end is particularly nice and I love the unique composition of the track, with the childhood story being an anecdote which the melodic rhythms are built around. However, to a certain extent, I find the arrangement of the track to get a bit tedious and it doesn’t push it’s sound forward it’s techno-oriented soundscape as much as it’s experimentation suggests. Overall, I think it’s a three-star-out-of-five track as it’s use of storytelling is very intriguing and the fluctuating acid snare line is enjoyable, but the instrumentation feels limited to a point where I feel the track tries to do a bit much for it’s own good. I feel opinions may vary on this one, so I’d love to hear yours!

  • Pictured: Jam Roston (Planningtorock) in a photoshoot for her official website (2018)

Thank you for reading this post! Beulah Loves Dancing and so do I, so I’ll be dancing my way back on to the blog tomorrow with an in-depth look at a track from The Specials which is a cover version of an old Jamaican track released back in 1967! The cover version by The Specials reached #10 in the UK Singles Chart! 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: Pet Shop Boys – “Monkey Business”

January 27, 2020 — Leave a comment

We’ve officially entered the “Hotspot” era! Here’s a new post to kick off the new week!

  • Pictured: Cover Artwork for “Hotspot” (2020)

It’s the start of a new week, as well as another new era for Pet Shop Boys at the dawn of a new decade! Good day to you – I’m Jacob Braybrooke, wishing you a happy Monday with a new daily post, as always! “Hotspot” is the new LP record from Neil Tennant & Chris Lowe, also known as British national treasures Pet Shop Boys, which was released last Friday. This is their twelfth overall album and it’s the final part of their Stuart Price-produced trilogy of albums which also included “Electric” in 2013 and “Super” in 2016! They’re still going, but given that January is usually a “dump” spot of bad releases, is it a bad sign of things to come for the 60-year-old duo in their ageing career? It turns out not so, as it’s actually a very decent little album for what it is. The lead single’s called “Monkey Business”, a track which the two performed on last Friday’s episode of BBC 1’s “The One Show”, following an interview to promote the new record. An interesting tidbit was also revealed on an interview with Lauren Laverne on BBC Radio 6Music, where Tennant told the story of a pimped-up gambler in Las Vegas who spoke the main hook of the track. Tennant thought: “Thank you” and he based the lyrics on the odd conversation. Let’s have a look at the video below.

Tennant, in his instantly recognizable speech-based vocal twang, starts: “I’m here on monkey business/just playing around”, over the top of 70’s disco, propulsive violin strings. There’s lyrical nods to an ageing raver or gambler: “Everybody get on board/I’m back in town/and I’m not leaving till’ the last joint has shut down” and “People tell me I’m a legend round these parts/I start the party and I end up breaking hearts”, in the first verse, seems to have a self-aware and pompous attitude about it. The video shows a bunch of mature party-goers and shiny-topped hustlers in a half-filled nightclub. Tennant chants: “Bring me margaritas/champagne and red wine/we’re gonna have a party where we all cross the line”, before a repeat of the infectiously poetic chorus, with an added layer of orchestrated synthpop beats and groove-stepped helpings of catchy refrains and old-school pop sensibilities. Overall, it’s fairly cheesy, but not overly, and it definitely has a very old-fashioned pop sound to it, so I’m not sure if students like me would really “get” it. However, I think that it works well and I really like it. It sounds more like something that you’d dance to at a wedding than at a club, with a certain family-friendly vibe. It’s a good thing though, as the result is a track which plays to it’s maturity as it’s biggest strength. There’s also a subtle, but distinct, British humor in the overall package. It’s a fun track and I was listening to it on repeat numerous times on Saturday. It likely won’t go down as one of their classics, but it’s a good piece of evidence to prove that Pet Shop Boys can still take their sound in interesting directions this late in their career. Also, watch out for Chris throwing shapes with the crowd of dancers in the video. It’s gold! Not bad at all!

  • Pictured: Cover Artwork for the “Monkey Business” single (January 2020)

If you’d like to have a read of my thoughts of one of their previous tracks, “The Pop Kids”, follow the link here: https://onetrackatatime.home.blog/2019/11/04/todays-track-the-pet-shop-boys-the-pop-kids/

  • Pictured: Pet Shop Boys (Neil Tennant and Chris Lowe) in a photoshoot for “Hotspot” (January 2020)

Thank you for reading this post! I’ll be back tomorrow with an in-depth look at a slightly heavier electronic dance track from a Danish disc jockey who specializes in mixing techno, ambient and jungle to a tee! He’s currently signed to the Lobster Fury record label and he also shares his surname with the famous US comedian Jerry Seinfeld! 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: Empire Of The Sun – “High and Low”

January 24, 2020 — Leave a comment

Happy Friday! Here’s a pop track that will branch out to you! It’s time for a new post!

  • Pictured: Luke Steele (Lead Vocals, Lead Guitar) and Nick Littlemore (Bass Guitar, Drum Kits, Programming)

Happy Friday! I’m Jacob Braybrooke, of course, writing about a track to lift your spirits before, like me, you want to collapse in exhaustion at the end of an eventful working week. Today’s track is “High and Low” by Empire Of The Sun, taken from their most up-to-date LP release, “Two Vines”, released in October 2016 after the band saw a resurgence of mainstream popularity due to “Walking On A Dream” being featured in a Toyota Car advert. I didn’t really know the latest album existed, to be honest, as there was only a three year gap between “Ice Of The Dune” in 2013 and “Two Vines” in 2016 – and I can remember my Dad owning their debut, also titled “Walking On A Dream”, back in my Pre-Teen days. However, I revisited “Ice On The Dune” and remembered how I didn’t get the chance to see how “Two Vines” measured up to it. Empire Of The Sun is an Australian pop duo made up of Pnau’s Nick Littlemore and The Sleepy Jackson’s Luke Steele. They aren’t particularly big in the UK and their success has waned on an interesting curve in the US, but the duo are moderately popular in several international territories and European markets. On “Two Vines”, Steele has described the context as a visualisation of a modern city overrun by a forest jungle, with other tracks like “Digital Life” touching on conceptual themes like the social media age. Take a look at the video for “High and Low” below.

“High and Low”, the lead single of “Two Vines”, is an upbeat and celebratory pop anthem, which sounds very familiar to the regular fanbase of Empire Of The Sun and unashamedly takes a lot of influence from 70’s pop bands like Fleetwood Mac and Deep Purple, with a vocal similarity to the Barry Manilow recordings of old. The single begins very quickly, with an urgent delivery of ambient sweeps and a fast-paced, electronic guitar riff. Steele chimes: “Down where the summer and the late nights last forever/There’s a house on the hill and we can’t travel now”, before chanting: “Alice D, you’re on your way up”. I wonder if that’s a not-so hidden reference to LSD? Steele continues singing about the wild child, Alice D, crooning: “Let’s get together, forget all the troubles and just float/I don’t want you to go now/I need to be closer to you now”, before a repeat of the pop-oriented chorus filled with chanting vocal hooks and stadium-sized, large-scale electronic pop notes. A very pop-heavy track, with a fast-paced delivery of sequencing and an obvious drive towards a Eurovision-primed disco sound. Although I think the artwork is absolutely gorgeous and the pulsating sound is engaging to a certain extent, it’s ultimately a track which feels a bit underwhelming and reminiscent of a struggling third album, in my opinion. The vocal hooks are highly repetitous and the writing is straightforward because I’m not really getting the nature-controlled city aesthetic of the album. Unfortunately, I can see why the album was released to little fanfare, as the concept is fairly interesting, but the sound doesn’t lean into it enough, which is a shame due to the flamboyant costumes and the theatrical live sets which the band has. It’s a simple case of the music not sounding quite so interesting, with a flat electronic pop chorus that doesn’t really go anywhere and a lack of experimentation. Overall, I feel the duo have some interesting ideas, so it’s ultimately a shame this vine fails to outgrow it’s unfortunate blandness.

  • Pictured: Cover Artwork for “Two Vines” (October 2016)

Thank you for reading this post! I’ll be back tomorrow, as usual, with a look at a relatively new track from a Seattle-based Hip-Hop musician who has a Senegalese background and he made his debut over a decade ago with “HEAR ME OUT” in 2009! 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: Jon Hopkins (feat. Kelly Lee Owens) – “Luminous Spaces”

January 22, 2020 — Leave a comment

Lighting up the sky with this space-ious electronic maverick! Time for your new post!

  • Pictured: Jon Hopkins in a photoshoot for a Q&A with Red Bull Music (2013) (Photo Credit: Sarah Ginn)

A sci-fi themed EDM anthem that will transport you to an alternate galaxy, “Luminous Spaces” is the new single from Surrey-born DJ Jon Hopkins, also featuring guest vocals from Welsh artist Kelly Lee Owens. Good evening to you, Jacob Braybrooke here! I’ve just arrived back from a university trip to the WB Studio Tour in London, where I saw a lot of the props, costumes and sets designed and used for the Harry Potter films. I’m not a huge fan, to be honest, but I enjoyed it more than I thought I would! I’m a little exhausted, so I’m going to keep it short and sweet today, but it’s easy for me to write to you about Jon Hopkins since he’s one of my heroes. He’s mostly known for just making noises on his laptop, but his improvisational style is impressive and it results in the creation of a cinematic, theatrical sound, which really makes him stand out from the other fellow DJ’s working in the IDM genre. He received his major breakthrough from scoring the 2010 Gareth Edwards film, “Monsters”, before going on to release studio records like “Immunity” in 2013, which was nominated for the Mercury Prize Award that year. He’s recently announced a new “Polarity” tour, stopping off at tour dates in Bath, Dublin, Edinburgh and London, in March. No further details of a new LP have been confirmed. However, I think it’s safe to assume that we’ll be hearing a follow-up to his Grammy-nominated album “Singularity”, released in 2018, fairly soon. Hear the edit of “Luminous Spaces” below.

Once again proving that, in music, there are two sides to every coin – this is a wonderful electronic, Leftfield-inspired, IDM track which begins as a light, trance number and later evolves into a more danceable house anthem, but the track doesn’t lose the soft-spoken charm and the echo-drenched delights created by the first half. Owens opens: “Did you notice? Fill up the spaces…”, above a gently resonating line of synths and a low-tempo bassline, creating a sparkling effect of soundscapes. This gradually builds in it’s pacing and it’s structure, but it never feels slow, as the pop-laden backdrop creates a sense of 90’s nostalgia which pushes the programming of the ambience forwards at a brisk pace. Before long, layers upon layers of different synth melodies are being added to the vocal hook, as Owens renders: “To feel again”, before the track drives a sharp turn, as Hopkins takes over the music machine. He replaces Owens’ soft-spoken vocals with a deafening helping of kick drums and a vibrant, sweeping sequence of methodically formatted snares, as the slow-trance melody is replaced by the embracing of a more thunderous set of sounds. Overall, it’s a wonderful little single which showcases Hopkins’ at the best of his theatrical abilities, but it also adds new elements to his sound courtesy of Owens’ gentle vocals!

  • Pictured: Jon Hopkins in an interview with FACT magazine (Photo Credit: Dan Medhurst) (2015)
  • Pictured: Kelly Lee Owens in an interview with Pitchfork.com (Credit: Jazz Monroe) (2017)

Thank you for reading this post! I’ll be back tomorrow, as usual, with a look at a dubplate reggae track from an underground Birmingham act, of which I’ve covered a track on the blog before, who publish dubplate remixes for all of their featured artists on their Bandcamp.com page! 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: Hinds – “Riding Solo”

January 21, 2020 — Leave a comment

Here’s a track from a band who had to change their name of Deers in 2014! Oh deer…

  • Pictured: Carlotta Cosials (Lead Vocals), Ana García Perrote (Lead Guitar), Ade Martin (Bass Guitar) and Amber Grimbergen (Drums) (Photo Credit: NME) (December 2019)

Seriously, they got caught up in a legal dispute with a Canadian indie band, “The Dears” in 2014! Hello, my deers (fine, I’ll stop it now – it can’t define the quality of the band anyways), Jacob “The Joker” Braybrooke is here again, it seems – with a look at Hinds’ new track “Riding Solo”, released in December 2019 as part of their world tour announcement. It’s their first new material since their second album, “I Don’t Run”, which was released in 2018. Loosely based on the theme of deers, Hinds have cited the likes of The Strokes, Mac DeMarco, The Vaccines and Ty Segall as their main influences of their lo-fi, garage-rock sound. Let’s have a listen of the new track below!

An optimistic take on the perks of feeling isolation and loneliness, “Riding Solo” is an embracing of the quirky, garage-pop sound that we love hearing from the band. It takes a twist on independence, as Carlotta Cosials, the lead vocalist of the Spanish indie outfit, sings: “I’m staring at the celing, I’m on my private jet lag/While everyone is dreaming, I’m dancing through dynamite” over a fashionably upbeat layer of fizzled electronic snares and sliding guitar licks, mixed with a youthful and ska-influenced underlayer of glistening drum beats, which create a flamboyant and celebratory tone. It’s more electronic and pop-adjusted than much of the band’s previous efforts, but their core elements of lo-fi and garage rock remain, as the vocals take a tingling turn towards the common human feelings of moving forwards and the unfriendly touring schedules of the band as musicians. Overall, I feel it’s an overall solid tune which reminds me of Grouplove’s electro-pop sound and may be a little forgettable, but the fans of the band will be pleased by the fact we’re hearing new music from the band with a slight evolution of their sound, while keeping their core sound relatively intact.

  • Pictured: Hinds in a photoshoot for their debut album “Leave Me Alone” (2016) (Photo Credit: slatethedisco.com)

Thank you for reading this post! As usual, I’ll be back tomorrow, with an in-depth look at the new single from a Kingston Upon Thames-born English DJ who received his major breakthrough for composing the score for the 2010 smash-hit film “Monsters”! 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: Mura Masa (feat. Slowthai) – “Deal Wiv It”

January 18, 2020 — Leave a comment

Sometimes in life, we’ve got issues we just have to Deal Wiv! It’s time for a new post!

  • Pictured: Mura Masa performing a live set at SummerStage, NYC in August 2018 (Photo Credit: Open Ears Music)

Jacob Braybrooke here, as usual, with an in-depth look at a hip hop-inspired dance track, to get you ready for grooving on a Saturday club night! “Deal Wiv It” is the new single from Mura Masa, a Guernsey-born EDM producer who started recording dance tracks on YouTube and “other corners of the internet” at the age of 15. The track is the lead single from his new album, “R.Y.C”, his second LP, which was released yesterday by Polydor Records. He is best known for making history as the first artist to be nominated as both a musician and a producer for the same album at the Grammy Awards, as his self-titled debut album, which was released in 2017, was nominated for “Best Dance/Electronic Album” and “Best Recording Package” at the 60th Annual Grammy Awards. The lead single, “Deal Wiv It”, also features British rapper Slowthai, an artist from Northampton who released his debut album “Nothing Great About Britian” to unanimous critical acclaim last year. I like playing The Devil’s Advocate, however, as it wasn’t personally to my tastes. Shall we take a look at the video below?

“Deal Wiv It” is presented as a narrative-told story, with the video featuring Slowthai performing the actions of the narrator of the track. This reminds me of “The Day I Died”, a song by Just Jackl which was a minor hit in 2009. It has an immediate kick drum start, followed by a LOT of f’n and geff’n from Slowthai, establishing the tone of youth in revolt. I wouldn’t have liked to cut the radio edit for this one! Slowthai adds an element of aggression and charisma to the track, which moulds with the punchy rap chorus and the cutting lyrics being rapped over a shaky set of drum snares, introspected by a fast-paced guitar delivery and a youthful, rebellious grime energy. This is bolstered by a fiery, upbeat attitude being delivered by Slowthai: “Life is hard but it’s quite exciting/Spin around, it’s your white light/They say I can’t speak my mind or vent my frustration/Fucking deal wiv it”, with an overall Garage-Rock quality. Overall, I think it’s a track which people will enjoy due to it’s raw style and it’s rough-edged nature, but it doesn’t connect with me, personally. This is because I just don’t like Slowthai and I find his sound to be irritating due to his arrogant delivery and the silly filler noises he makes. But then again, I think he’s like Marmite. Love it or hate it!

  • Pictured: Mura Masa (Alex Crossnan) in a photoshoot for an interview with NME.com (January 2020)

Thank you for reading this post! Tomorrow on the blog, it’s the very special day where I look back at a rock/punk/emo track from the late 90’s to the mid 00’s… Scuzz Sundays! I’ll be revisiting a well-known goth-punk track which I used to play on Guitar Hero 3: Legends Of Rock on the Xbox 360! 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: Róisín Murphy – “Narcissus”

January 9, 2020 — 2 Comments

This is not one for the Narcissists! Good evening, it’s time for your Thursday blog post!

  • Pictured: Cover Artwork for “Narcissus” (Single/Radio Edit) (November 2019)

Jacob Braybrooke here! Another one of my personal favourites taken from the current BBC Radio 6Music A-List, “Narcissus” by Róisín Murphy, is Murphy’s latest collaboration with DJ Parrot of Crooked Man fame. Murphy, an Irish singer-songwriter, is best-known for earning commercial success as part of the Irish electronic trip hop duo Moloko, alongside longtime producer and friend Mark Brydon. Together, the two brought out several pop hits, such as 2000’s “The Time Is Now”, 2003’s “Familiar Feeling” and a 1999 remix of “Sing It Back”, all of which entered the mainstream pop charts around the world. “Narcissus”, currently a non-album single, is her latest work.

I love the strings on that! I feel that “Narcissus” has a rather Eurovision pop twang to it, which means this one was a bit of a “grower” for my personal taste buds. However, the more I hear it, the more I’m getting to like it. Murphy repeats: “being left/being left/being left/being left/being left with me/Narcissus” over the top of swirling, orchestral cello notes and an undeniably energetic disco throwback style. Unashamedly retro, Murphy begins to pant, out of breath, as she continues to repeat the main hook over synths which distort her voice with a powerful psych-pop twist. The whispered vocals prove that Murphy, despite her established status as a performer, really lends herself well to the retro-80’s euro-pop style of genre. The verses, which are slightly less memorable than the chorus, plays on a fairytale dreamlike quality, as Murphy professes her love for happy endings and seems belated by how she thinks she’s met her rightful Prince Charming: “The saddest story ever told/Loving only what you will hold/In your own reflection/When love is here”, as disco itself becomes part of her identity. It is a flawed experience, as the lyrics will become far too tedious for some listeners to enjoy, and I feel that it’s not the sort of song that I’ll be likely to revisit as time goes on as the overall sound is a little bit dated. I admit that it’s a cheese overfest. However, the track is very fun to listen to and it proves that Murphy, as an artist, is still capable of injecting her energy and character, as a pioneer, to the dancefloor! Go on then, let’s get up and have a boogie!

Thank you for reading this post! I’ll be back tomorrow, as usual, with an in-depth look at a new track from an Indie soft-rock band from Brighton, of which I’ve covered a track on the blog before, who will be performing a gig at The University Of Manchester on the 30th, followed by a gig at Saint James Wine Vaults in Bath on the 31st! 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: Hot Chip – “Positive”

January 4, 2020 — Leave a comment

You could say that I may just have a “Hot Chip” on my shoulder! Saturday rave vibes!

  • Pictured: Alexis Taylor (Lead Vocals), Joe Goddard (Synths/Keyboard), Owen Clarke (Lead Guitar), Al Doyle (Bass Guitar, Backing Vocals, Percussion), and Felix Martin (Drum Machine/Programming)

A highly established Alternative Synthpop group on the UK indie circuit for just-about two decades now, as they formed in 2000, Hot Chip have been enthralling audiences on UK indie club dancefloors and club-oriented music festival environments with classic hits like 2007’s “Ready For The Floor” and 2008’s “Over and Over” since their breakthrough second LP record, “The Warning” was released in 2006. In June 2019, the group returned from a 4-year hiatus with “A Bath Full Of Ecstasy”, a commercially successful and well-received LP which housed indie resurgences such as “Hungry Child” and “Melody Of Love”, singles primed to liven up club environments with a technicolor paint of coat on the UK and international dance-rock circuits. A new single, “Positive”, has just been released and it’s been receiving significant airplay on both BBC Radio 6Music and Radio X, as well as being on the FIFA 20 soundtrack. I’m Jacob Braybrooke and today’s track on One Track At A Time is “Positive” by Hot Chip!

“Positive” has an immediate opening of Nu-disco channeling, with large measures of drum machine jolts and razor synth-rock snares. It’s never afraid to show the group’s trademark image of quirky energy and infectious new-wave disco, as Alexis Taylor proceeds to deliver a political and ecological message on the effects of Homelessness, as the track incorporates light hip-hop elements into it’s pop-heavy production. Taylor sings: “You’re washed up and you’re hated / You’ve lied, you’re berated”, before delivering a chorus that plays on the themes of euphoria and childhood: “We get together sometimes/Talk about how we used to get together sometimes/Of love/How we used to laugh together sometimes/Of something positive”, with a Pet Shop Boys-inspired talk-sing style of dialogue. What tune-age! Taylor goes for a vibe where the track is heartbreaking and quiet, with the soulful riffs on loneliness and isolation being disguised by 90’s electronic pop beats and care-free use of drum machine programming. The result is a track that goes for Dancefloor Bliss and more or less succeeds, if it wasn’t for the ideas of homelessness running on a little bit of an empty gas tank near the end of the track. It’s not specifically stepping the band out of their comfort zone, but it’s a solid and engrossing reminder of how the band play to their strengths and wrap up a sound that is compulsively listenable and weirdly poignant, more so than it might appear at first! My opinion is “Positive”…

  • Pictured: Hot Chip performing a live headline set at Mayfield Derby in Mannheim, Germany (2019)

Thank you for reading this post! Make sure that you check back with the blog tomorrow, as it will be time for my first Scuzz Sunday blog post of the New Year! If you really liked what you just read, why not follow the blog to get notified when every new daily post is up and why not like the Facebook page here?: https://www.facebook.com/OneTrackAtATime/

Today’s Track: Massive Attack (feat. Shara Nelson) – “Unfinished Sympathy”

December 2, 2019 — Leave a comment

Robert “3D” Del Naja, Grant “Daddy D” Marshall and formerly “Mush” (Andy Vowles) comprised the original lineup of Massive, a Trip Hop group from Bristol. Later renamed as Massive Attack, the name which stuck, the band have become Massive-ly (sorry!) influential force in the history of British dance and alternative music. “Unfinished Sympathy”, one of the lead singles from their 1991 debut LP, “Blue Lines” was later voted on many end-of-year and best-of-all-time lists, particularly since the track was named as the 63rd best song of all-time by NME in 2014. The single also reached #13 in the UK Singles Chart upon it’s original release. It came accompanied with a music video directed by Baillie Walsh, , which saw Shara Nelson, the guest vocalist, walking through a grimy street in a neighbourhood in Los Angeles, California – oblivious to the events going on around her in the surrounding area. Recently, Massive Attack have been featured in the news, as they have announced a study into the effects of climate change on live tours. As a result, the band, in their press release, have commented on making a pledge to: “map thoroughly the carbon footprint of band tour cycles, and to present options that can be implemented quickly”. In respect of this brave move, I’ve decided to take a look back at “Unfinished Sympathy” and discuss why the track, nearly 30 years on, still manages to hold up in this day and age!

“Unfinished Sympathy” was one of the group’s earliest recordings and it has become a huge cornerstone in the career of an, arguably, underrated group who have gone on to sell over 13 million copies worldwide in their career. Even now, when you revisit the sound of the track, there’s actually a grand variation of different styles here. There are plenty of vocal and percussion samples, there is an acid house influence created by the drum machine programming and even an orchestral influence being created by the string-based arrangement, which was an effort composed by Will Malone. Some of these elements were created digitally, while other elements were composed by natural instruments. The orchestral composition was later sampled for The Verve’s later hit, “Bitter Sweet Symphony”. A fun fact! Back to the task at hand, it also has a soul-ska vibe created by the tribal backing vocals and the bleakness of the tone. Nelson lyricises about the ubiquity of unrequited love, over a slow-paced bassline and a sumptous melody created by the light elements of House and Techno. It’s not really a song that you would get up and dance to, but it was one of the first electronic tracks written with the people who prefer to sit down in mind, as one of the first examples of Deep Listening subgenres. Towards the end of the track, hip-hop disc scratches are present, which leads to the Violin and Cello becoming the main melody of the track, in a direction that is fearless and smart. It allows the impact of the ambient textures to shine through and for the cerebral bass melody to sink into the psyche of the listener. Overall, this is a track which deserves the universal acclaim it received at the time of release. When looking back at the reflection of the track through an audible mirror, it’s a track that will always have an audience and it should be recognised by a generation who are only given the sexually immature dance records being churned out by the system. This is coming from a 21-year-old student…

  • Pictured (original lineup): Robert “3D” Del Naja, Grant “Daddy D” Marshall and Andrew “Mushroom” Vowles

You can read up on more info about Massive Attack’s music study into the environmental impacts of touring here: https://pitchfork.com/news/massive-attack-launch-major-study-of-music-industry-carbon-emissions/

  • Pictured: Cover Artwork for “Blue Lines” (1991) (Physical CD Format)

Thank you for reading this post! I’ll be back tomorrow with an in-depth look at a recent track from a lesser-known British punk band formed in 2010 in Exeter, who have previously been featured twice on KEXP’s Song of The Day podcast! 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/

Todays Track: The Pet Shop Boys – “The Pop Kids”

November 4, 2019 — 1 Comment

I’m going west with a recent-ish track from iconic veterans for your Monday blog post!

Having received the BRIT Award in 2009 for Outstanding Contribution To Music and being named the most successful British dance duo of all-time, according to the Guinness Book Of World Records (I reckon The Chemical Brothers would have something to say about that!), Neil Tennant and Chris Lowe, otherwise known as the ‘Pet Shop Boys”, have been on a tear since the early 1980’s by releasing hits – both mainstream and niche – left, right, front and center. They recently made a surprise guest appearance during The Killers’ headline set at this year’s Glastonbury Festival, as Brandon Flowers’ wanted to pay tribute to the British acts who have inspired him to make music. They’ve been particularly notable in the LGBT Community, with rumors of the two dating having been surfacing throughout their entire career. To be perfectly honest with you, I SHIP IT!!! I’ve never been a massive fan personally, but I admire and respect everything they have done, having brought joy and happiness to masses of people over the years. My Dad’s a massive fan, but I love a bit of “West End Girls” as a wind down on a night out. “Heart” and “What Have I Done To Deserve This?”, featuring Dusty Springfield, are also dance-floor classics. “The Pop Kids” is the leading single from 2016’s “Super”, their thirteenth LP release, released in April 2016.

“The Pop Kids” is a glittering 90’s disco-style floor-filler that feels like a stroll down memory lane for the two legends, making lyrical references to a strong relationship and an unhealthy lifestyle for two partners bouncing in different clubs and attending different club nights, which is always referred to in the past tense, with a simple verbal line of “I Loved You” proving to be one of the most emotional vocal performances provided by Tennant in the discography of the duo. The track also has musical elements of trance and dance-rock, as the vocals take momentary breaks for the Hacienda bassline and the new-wave synth beats, which break apart the overall themes of pop passion and nightlife in a past decade, when the narrators were younger. It proves to be a very effective track and one of my favourite songs to ever be recorded by Tennant & Lowe, although it only managed to reach #128 in the UK Singles Chart (I had no idea it went past 100 either!). “The Pop Kids” is a very 80s-esque track which is irresistibly funky and seems to have a good amount of heft behind it’s writing. It’s a thumping trip down memory lane that maybe should have been given more recognition, although the niche skew is a big part of the charm here.

Thank you very much for reading this post! I’ll be back tomorrow, as usual, with an in-depth look at a British female solo artist who produced the score for the recent series of BBC’s hit political crime series, “Peaky Blinders” and was nominated for this year’s Mercury Prize award for her latest album! 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/