Today’s Track: Bien Et Toi – ‘Haiku’

February 5, 2024 — Leave a comment

“Some heat for anyone to play when they get the aux” is all you need. New post time!

Pictured: LA-based electronic producer Gianluca Buccellati aka Bien Et Toi (2023) (Photo by Bellamy Brewster)

Good Afternoon! I’m Jacob Braybrooke and it was previously my day-to-day pleasure to write up about a different piece of music every day before my adulthood got right in the way! If you like music that personifies the statement that you saw in my intro above, more pleasure awaits you when you check out the ‘Voici’ EP by the LA-based producer who said it! The man in question is Gianluca Buccellati, an electronic music producer who has enjoyed the opportunity to collaborate with well-liked artists like Hazel English, Biig Piig, Terry Presume and Declan McKenna. Most notably, he fulfilled production work on Arlo Parks’ blockbuster release ‘Collapsed In Sunbeams’ which won the Mercury Prize, also receiving some album of the year nominations at the BRIT Awards and the Grammy Awards following its release in January 2021. As a solo musician, he started out as a member of White China during a run in New York and he has represented artists as an A&R scout operating from mini studios that he set up in Air BnB’s dotted around the globe. His music is recorded and released under the alias of Bien Et Toi which translates to “Well, and you” from French to English. Therefore, his answer must be very predictable if you were to ask how he’s doing. Bright and aestival are two words which accurately describe the sumptous sounds of his six-track EP ‘Voici’ released last year. I feel particularly cold today and his EP makes for a perfect antidote for dull weather in winter. Therefore, why not sample ‘Haiku’ below?

“This collection of songs was created when I was in a completely care-free state of flow”, the emerging producer tells us about his six-track EP ‘Voici’ in a revealing press statement, finishing off his sentence with, “After my last EP [2022’s ‘London Safari] I wanted to create a body of work that had less features and felt more personal. This EP is for people to let loose to, a soundtrack for pool parties or warmer nights” as he describes the production process of the release. It traverses through the chillout music sounds of 00’s compilation albums that have been lost to the domination of the internet and deviates into downtempo Electronica that cleanses the palette of the listener after a long hard day’s on shift at work, inviting you to build a fantasy in your mind that feels as kind as the “Well, and you” translation of his recording name. ‘Haiku’ is never afraid to showcase Gianluca’s work with many Hip-Hop producers by opening with a basic drum beat set above some auto-tuned vocals that feel obscured as to create a sense of intrigue around the track’s meaning. The textured Synths enter the fray promptly, raising the tempo and wrapping layers around the cryptic vocals while conveying a comforting space that puts a hand on your shoulder. A buzzing sound keeps the pace going even while the synths are retreating, before the winning crescendo rewards your attention once again. While the track never veers into hugely melodic and Pop-oriented territory, it maintains your focus by giving its electronic instrumentation a more human quality. There’s an emotive feel in how the multi-layered Synths control the pace of the track and feel like a cohesive pairing with the mechanical vocals in terms of drawing you in with its sense of invitation. Overall, this is one that fits whatever suit you need it to whether that’s a moment of reflection late at night or a trip to view a midsummer sunrise with the roof of your convertible down.

Pictured: Cover Artwork for the ‘Voici’ EP (Released on August 29th, 2023) (via Temple Records)

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Today’s Track: Totally Enormous Extinct Dinosaurs – ‘Blood In The Snow’

April 5, 2022 — Leave a comment

Pictured: Vinyl copy of ‘When The Lights Go’ (LP) (Available from July 22nd, 2022) (via Nice Age Records)

Good Morning to you! This is Jacob Braybrooke, and the time has come for you to get invested in yet another daily track on the blog, despite any incredulous looks on my face, because it’s always my day-to-day pleasure to write up about a different piece of music every day! 2012 (Although I discovered this soon-to-be specified record a year or two later). Picture the scene. I was a young sprog, sitting on the college bus every morning, beginning to experience alternative music outside of the mainstream for the first couple of times with a hair full of dandruff, finding my place in the world. I was being simply swept away by the vibrant Drum ‘N’ Bass and ethereal Jungle sounds of Orlando Tobias Higginbottom (aka Oxford-born House producer Totally Enormous Extinct Dinosaurs) who injected colour in to the club environments of the 2010’s with his melancholic textures and a sense of longing in his voice, one in few of which I truly connected with at the time, with TEED’s critically acclaimed debut album release of ‘Trouble’. An entire decade later, ‘When The Lights Go’, the follow-up to that “Jacob Classic” of an album, is finally set to arrive on July 22nd. Higginbottom is a classically trained musician who is the son of a former choir conductor from New College, Oxford and he found his own footing through his studies at the Junior Royal Academy Of Music in London, before he became obsessed with electronic music through tapes lent by his siblings. He has since become one of my favourite musicians, and one of Britain’s most underrated exports in my honest opinion, although he is currently based in Los Angeles. To say that this dinosaur has been totally er, extinct between the ten year gap would be totally untrue, however. He has released several EP’s like 2013’s ‘Get Lost VI’, 2020’s ‘I Can Hear The Birds’ and 2021’s ‘The Distance’ to typically amazing results. ‘Heartbreak’, a collaboration with Bonobo, was also nominated for the ‘Best Electronic/Dance Recording’ nod at this year’s Grammy Awards. He has also collaborated with the likes of Anna Lunoe, SG Lewis, Kelsey Lu, Shura, Dillon Francis, Porter Robinson and Amtrac over the years too, as well as touring regularly. There is a great deal of excitement towards the new album, as it represents his most substantial body of material in ten years. Check out the lead single – ‘Blood In The Snow’ – below.

‘When The Lights Go’ will feature seventeen tracks, which were all largely recorded at Higginbottom’s own home in Los Angeles, California. He will also resume touring the US and Europe throughout the spring, including a Brooklyn show at Elsewhere Hall on April 29th alongside Kate Garvey and Heathered Pearls, with solo shows in Miami, Austin, Chicago and more to follow. Talking about the arctic theme of ‘Blood In The Snow’, he says, “The song is about melting glaciers and about wanting a daughter, and where to put love in this tailspin”, in his press assertion. Hitting the ground running with a haunting Double Bass intro accentuated by glistening Keyboard riffs and hazy Synth pads, Higginbottom warmly sings lyrics like “How much longer?, Before the damn begins to break” and “Precious winter, enough will all the growth” that feel downbeat and contemplative, while ominous and slightly reclusive in tone, as he questions his ambitions towards some parenthood and compares the emotions to the cyclical processes of nature. The chorus is gentle but striking, with the colder textures combining to the somber tune of lyrics like “Names for a daughter/Blood in the snow” and “But I want her, More than you know” that feel insular and precise, although the beat-driven pacing is laid out fairly sparsely. The instrumentation blends these arena-level electronics with his human, poignant vocals, where the distorted Synths create some interplay with the melancholic qualities of his vulnerable vocals by building gradually towards a halting crescendo, where his layers of textures simply crunch together. The verses are given space by the progressive Jazz-influenced Drums and the warping Synths that build to a slight alter in pace and mood in the late stages of the track where the different Snare sound comes in and, like his vocals, these changes feel subtle but delicate and merticulously crafted. This feels very different to the more club-driven sound of 2012’s ‘Trouble’ because the assortment of sounds deliver a low-key groove instead of an anthemic ‘danceability’ to them, but the delicate vocals of Higginbottom and the progressive, yet certainly grounded, take on Indietronica is still in there. It is admittedly a slow burn, but it makes for an emotional experience when you hear the different elements come together by the end and it has a similar tone of quintessentially British sadness and almost deliberately ‘flat’ vocals that only Higginbottom could really get away with, while the lyrics promise more maturity and growth from him as a songwriter, and it feels like rarity for him to use his own voice as the producer in this day and age too. ‘Blood In The Snow’ really stands out if you hear it on the radio, and it feels different to the spectrum of genres that he is often associated with, while sounding unmistakably like him in its bold production. Instead of totally extinct, this feels totally brilliant – and I’m stoked to hear the album.

Pictured: Orlando Tobias Higginbottom (aka Totally Enormous Extinct Dinosaurs) (2019) (Photo via EDM.com)

Here’s my TEED-related posts to get you warmed up for this highly anticipated album.

‘Los Angeles’ (2020) – https://onetrackatatime.home.blog/2020/08/05/todays-track-totally-enormous-extinct-dinosaurs-los-angeles/

‘Heartbreak’ (with Bonobo) (2020) – https://onetrackatatime.home.blog/2020/10/06/todays-track-bonobo-totally-enormous-extinct-dinosaurs-heartbreak/

‘The Distance’ (2021) – https://onetrackatatime.home.blog/2021/10/16/todays-track-totally-enormous-extinct-dinosaurs-the-distance/

Pictured: Cover Artwork for ‘The Distance’ (EP) (Released on October 27th, 2021) (via Nice Age Records)

That brings us to the end of yet another daily track on the blog, and thank you for continuing to support the site, as your time and attention is always appreciated very highly. It feels quite unbelievable that we’ve almost come up to another ‘Way Back Wednesdays’ post so swiftly, but that feature continues tomorrow with a post regarding a North Carolina-born Funk, R&B and Soul singer-songwriter who sadly left us in February. She was known for her controversially sexual-oriented performance style and songwriting. She was also the second wife of beloved trumpeter Miles Davis.

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Today’s Track: Maylee Todd – ‘Show Me’

March 10, 2022 — Leave a comment

Pictured: Toronto’s Maylee Todd in a recent photoshoot to promote ‘Maloo’ (2022) (Photo via TheStar.com)

Good Morning to you! This is Jacob Braybrooke, and the time has arrived for me to guide you through yet another exciting daily track on the blog from a very brave and ambitious singer-songwriter, given how it’s always my day-to-day pleasure to write up about a different piece of music every day! ‘Brave’ and ‘Ambitious’ are just two words that describe the Toronto-based Art Pop musician Maylee Todd, who is new to this young writer’s eardrums, who has experimented with instruments as obscure as the Paraguayan Harp and the Tenori-on in her career since she began recording material in the 00’s. Todd has played across numerous festivals including the Crossover Jazz Fest and the Billboard Live Stage, she has performed alongside the likes of Janelle Monae, The Budos Band, Aloe Blacc and Thundercat on stage throughout the years, and she contributed her vocals to Bob Wiseman’s collaborative LP release ‘Giuletta Masina At The Oscars Crying’ in 2012. Todd was also the creator of Virtual Womb, a practical art exhibition where the audience walks through an enlarged CGI image of a Vagina and lies on the floor, awaiting the vibrant projections that float across on the ceiling, in 2017. Maylee Todd’s music seems just as visual and provoking, as a wide assortment of Indie Pop, Prog Jazz, Psych Funk, Bossa Nova and more have been incorporated into the sounds of her musical projects. Her latest full-length album – ‘Maloo’ – was released on March 4th via Stones Throw Records – an eclectic Funk, Jazz and Soul specialist label based in Los Angeles, California that has introduced several amazing artists like MNDSGN, John Carroll Kirby and Kiefer to my streaming libraries throughout the last few years of my work. Let’s give ‘Show Me’ a listen below.

To produce her latest artsy-craftsy LP project, Maylee Todd spent a lot of time researching VR throughout the pandemic, which led to some ideas on utopian, futuristic technology. The result is ‘Maloo’, a fictional character that she has designed in virtual reality that she created while working on the story and setting of a prototype VR video game, as she learned the skills of 3D modelling and body tracking to bring her vision to life. Dubbed as ‘The Age Of Energy’, a virtual space where the character is based, the concept album and the ‘Maloo’ avatar are influenced by intimate, personal origins. As Todd writes, “We participate in the digital landscape and our digital life has real-life implications”, in her press statement. Musically, she wrote and recorded ‘Show Me’ as the introductory single with the Yamaha Tenori-on – a discontinued electronic sequencer that was built by Toshio Iwai, a Japanese interactive media and installation artist. Her single begins with some glitched keyboard chords that convey visuals of futuristic cyberspace and post-modern technology immediately. The bass grooves grow deeper as her downtempo vocals become more hypnotic, and she allures you in to ‘Show Me’ with a noticeably Soulful skew that wouldn’t sound out of place on a Sly & The Family Stone or a Toro Y Moi record in it’s nostalgic, but free-form, nature. Lyrics like “Watch the birds, take their form/Icy hands, blood is warm” complement the peaceful and tranquil vibes, while the minimalist chorus of “Show me, your heart” is deep and intimate in it’s Lo-Fi textures. ‘Maloo’ may be conceptually driven and visually influenced at large, but the single is accessible enough to a fairly mainstream because it feels simple yet not simplistic. I also really admire the work that Todd has put into ‘giving the project her all’ by focusing on how the audio-visual aspects of the piece were written in tandem with her vocals. It reminds me of Bjork and St. Vincent, who are undoubtedly driven artists that have similar characteristics of boldness and communicating an idea through all aspects of the media at their disposal. In conclusion, it seems clear that Maylee Todd has a lot more to ‘Show Me’ – and I look forwards to seeing the rest of it.

Pictured: Vinyl Copy of ‘Maloo’ (LP/Album) (Released on March 4th, 2022) (via Stones Throw Records)

(That brings us to the end of the page for another day! Thank you very much for reading what I had to say about Maylee Todd for a few moments today, and I’ll be back tomorrow to guide you through a sneek peek at one of the weekend’s notable and new album releases. This week’s post involves the debut LP release from an emerging Alternative Rock 4-piece Post-Rock band who have been supported by the daytime playlist of BBC Radio 6 Music and they have been praised by NME. If you’re a fan of hard rock outfits such as Coach Party and Kid Kapichi – you’re going to enjoy it!

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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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Way Back Wednesdays: Patti Labelle – “Music Is My Way Of Life”

October 27, 2021 — Leave a comment

Pictured: Cover Artwork for ‘It’s Alright With Me’ (LP) (Released on March 2, 1979) (via Epic Records)

Good Morning to you! You’re reading the words of Jacob Braybrooke, and it is time for me to get typing up for yet another daily track on the blog, because it is always my day-to-day pleasure to write up about a different piece of music every day! As a diva that is responsible for selling over 50 million records worldwide, an actress who has appeared in productions like ‘Dancing With The Stars’ and ‘American Horror Story: Freak Show’, and an entrepreneur with a star on the Hollywood Walk Of Fame, as well as a lifestyle TV host for ‘Living It Up With Patti LaBelle’ and an inductee of the Apollo Theater Hall Of Fame, the question for Patti LaBelle is more clearly: What hasn’t she done? For her musical career, she started singing at church and later formed a vocal group, Patti LaBelle and The Bluebelles, which later became simply known as The LaBelles, and they scored a US #1 single with ‘Lady Marmalade’. As a solo artist, she set the R&B genre alight once again with ‘It’s Alright With Me’ in 1979, her third full-length LP, which she produced alongside the Grammy Award winning mixer Skip Scarborough, and the album enjoyed a sizable run of mainstream radio and chart success, reaching the #33 position of the US R&B charts. ‘Music Is My Way Of Life’, later to be remixed by electronic music producers like Joey Negro and John Luongo, soon became an ultimate R&B/Disco classic of the late 1970s. Follow her philosophy below.

One of the most interesting facts that I’ve read about the Pensylvania-born singer is that, in 2015, she released her own ‘Patti’s Sweet Potato Pie’ to the US supermarket shelves, and, due to a YouTube video praising the product shortly going viral, literally sold like hot cakes, as if they were, and shifted millions of units where, through the result of a 72-hour period, Walmart reportedly sold one pie every second. An 8-minute dance stomper, 1979’s ‘Music Is My Way Of Life’ came around when Disco was huge and hit a commercial peak, although LaBelle mixed things up a little by working with Scarborough, known for producing his romantic ballads, to create arrangements that were more sleak and intricately designed. ‘Music Is My Way Of Life’ isn’t a slow jam however, and it provides a lot of Disco grooves instead. Lyrics like “When I dance they look at me, That’s the one thing you can’t take from me/That’s the music that I feel in my soul” and “When the daylight comes and I’m leaving the dancefloor/By night time, I’ll be back for more” feel exuberant and triumphant, and it is filled up with feel-good instrumentation to boot. The Jazz elements shine through clearly, and there’s plenty of guitar licks that keep proceedings feeling upbeat and light-hearted. The vocal performance is strong, and LaBelle sings about how music shapes her identity and how dance music brings her together with loved ones with a convincing passion. The track is also filled with a floating Piano line of chords that add to the Jazz sound, and the Horn section creates another soulful groove. Overall, ‘Music Is My Way Of Life’ is a classic due to it’s traditional Jazz and Funk grooves, and it’s open-armed embrace of unity and Disco. If that is her philosophy – then It’s Alright With Me.

Pictured: Patti LaBelle at the BET Honors at Warner Theatre, Washington (2016) (Photo by Paras Griffin)

Thank you for checking out my latest throwback track post on the blog today, and I’ll be back tomorrow for a long-awaited debut appearance on the music blog from an emerging female-led Post Punk band from the Isle Of Wight who will be touring in locations such as Cambridge, Oxford, Guildford and Reading in the winter months. Signed to Chess Club Records – the home of artists like Sinead O’Brien and Phoebe Green – the 4-piece have been praised by UK newspapers like The Observer and The i.

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Today’s Track: Unknown Mortal Orchestra – “That Life”

October 23, 2021 — Leave a comment

Pictured: Ruban Nielson (Lead Vocals/Lead Guitar/Piano/Keyboard), Jacob Portrait (Vocals/Bass Guitar/Synths) and Kody Nielson (Drums) in a photoshoot for NPR’s ‘World Cafe’ series (2014) (via PR)

Good Morning to you! You’re tuned into One Track At A Time and this is the point where I – Jacob Braybrooke – get typing up for yet another daily track on the blog, since it has always been my day-to-day pleasure to write up about a different piece of music every day! ‘That Life’ comes to you from the fairly well-established Prog-Rock band Unknown Mortal Orchestra, who have been a hit with Psych Rock music fans throughout the 2010’s, originally gaining traction from Pitchfork critics for their uncredited debut single in 2010, before they took home the Taite Music Prize in 2012 for their self-titled debut LP that they released a year prior. The trio, who used to be a quintet, are from New Zealand and were formed in Auckland, and are currently based in Portland, Oregon where they continue to craft idiosyncratic rock music. The group have spent their time between the Fat Possum Records and Jagjaguwar labels, and they have embarked on mostly sold out tours across North America, Europe, The UK, Australia and New Zealand across their time. ‘That Life’ captured my attention due to the amusing music video – despite my relative unfamiliarity with the back catalog of the band – which features a very likeable dancing blue puppet that was created by puppeteer and fabricator Laura Manns, who is the creator of the puppets seen on ‘The Muppets’ and ‘Sesame Street’. Directed by Lydia Fine and Tony Blahd, their recent single follows the release of another single, ‘Weekend Run’, that was doing the rounds of the indie radio circuit across the summer. Ruban Nielson’s gang of non-conformists haven’t announced a follow-up album to 2018’s ‘IC-01 Hanoi’ – which received good reviews – just yet, however, logical time gaps and the steady release of some singles dictates that a new album is coming out. Put your feet up and enjoy ‘That Life’ below.

“I saw this painting by Hieronymus Bosch called The Garden Of Earthly Delights and in the painting there was a mixture of crazy stuff going on, representing heaven, earth and hell”, frontman Ruban Nielson explained in a press statement, adding, “When I was writing this song, That Life, I was imaging the same kind of ‘Where’s Waldo’ {Known as Where’s Wally? in most other countries} of contrasting scenes and multiple characters all engaged in that same perverse mixture of luxury, reverie, damnation, in the landscape of America. Somewhere on holiday under a vengeful sun”, and thus Unknown Mortal Orchestra’s latest official music video for ‘That Life’ was born. The sound itself isn’t too heavy or raw, and it feels quite warm and breezy instead, replicating more of a beach theme than a chaotic one. Key refrains like “All day swimming, Under the Palm trees, look how they gracefully sway” and “Some kinda gin drink/Some kinda jewelry/Some kind of fancy machine” are lyrics that muse over the small pleasures of life, the treats that people strive to achieve because they are perceived as wealthy and glamorous, and how expensive items represent grandeur that can be sometimes taken for granted by the upper class of society. The lovable, if greedy, puppet in the video proclaims that he’s always going to be about “That life” to a tuneful and radio-friendly chorus that feels cheerful and accessible. The fancy costumes also include multiple nods to outfits the band have worn on stage during certain points in their career too, and so there’s a decent amount of fan service hidden in the music video as well. The instrumentation goes for a pretty sentimental mix of 70’s Rock ‘N’ Roll that nods to bands like The Who gently, and some more contemporary Soul molded together by soulful hooks and funky guitar licks. Nielson’s vocals are also given some light distortion effects to evoke the classic rock vibe and make proceedings feel a tad psychedelic in tone too. There’s also a subtle nod to traditional Disco music in the steady groove too. Overall, I thought this was good. Probably not great, since I found the chords to sound a little dull and the lyrics rather predictable, but I like the idiosyncratic bridge and the visual inspirations behind the tune, so a lot of work clearly went into the graphical side of things. This is also one of the most memorable music videos that I have seen in quite some time too because it fits the overall vibe of the track very nicely while feeling a little nostalgic and quirky in mood. This is the type of music that I feel the likes of BBC Radio 2 should be playing regularly because it is quite universal to a wide audience without playing things too safely, but it’s easy to listen to. A decent commentary on life and perception of luxury.

Pictured: Unknown Mortal Orchestra in promotional art for ‘Multi-Love’ (2015) (Photo via DIYMag.com)

That’s it for today! Thank you a lot for your time, and I’ll be back tomorrow for ‘Scuzz Sundays’ with a post dedicated to one of the, very sadly, few female icons of the male-dominated 00’s Pop-Punk music scene that Scuzz TV, and Kerrang would have supported. The track comes from a cult favourite Gothic rock duo from Austin, Texas whose memorable frontwoman was featured in Guitar Player Magazine’s Top 20 Most Extraordinary Guitarists list – and whose music was used in MTV’s ‘Road Rules’ series.

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Today’s Track: Maya Jane Coles – “Night Creature”

October 21, 2021 — Leave a comment

Pictured: Maya Jane Coles in the official music video for ‘Run To You’ (2021) (Photo via PR/EDM.com)

Good Morning to you! You are reading the words of Jacob Braybrooke, and it’s time for me to add yet another daily post to my monstrous tally of past uploads, because for the last two years, it has always been my day-to-day pleasure to write up about a different piece of music every day! Today’s track is ‘Night Creature’ – and this aptly titled drum-and-bass tune comes your way from the award-winning Maya Jane Coles, an electronic house music producer and studio engineer who was born in London, and Coles is an icon of the LGBTQ+ music community. Her success is no overnight sensation, however, because Coles has instead spent numerous years playing at festivals and clubs, and she has gained attention from making remixes for the likes of Ella Fitzgerald and Depeche Mode, along with getting sampled by mainstream stars like Nicki Minaj and Katy Perry. Ever since Coles became active in 2006, she has collaborated with names like Tricky, Peaches and Young M.A. on her own original work. Coles has a new album coming out, ‘Night Creature’, which is her first release under her actual name since her ‘Would You Kill (4 Me)’ EP that was issued last year, but she also released her second album under the Nocturnal Sunshine side alias – ‘Full Circle’ – in 2019. She was previously a part of the electronic Dub duo of She Is In Danger with Lena Cullen, and you may also recognize her from her other secondary alias of CAYAM, which she has also released her music under. She confirmed her latest album last month alongside the release of a Triple Single where she shared the mixes ‘Night Creature’, ‘Survival Mode’ and ‘Need’ from her new LP, which sees the light of day on 29th October via her own label, I/AM/ME, and it features guest feature spots from the likes of vocalists Julia Stone, Lie Ning and Claudia Kane, and her frequent collaborator Karin Park, who are all participating on the new 13-track collection of cuts. For Coles, a DJ of Japanese descent, her new record feels like the antidote to our recent collective experiences under Covid-19 restrictions, as the LP will be exploring the allure and energy of the rave experiences which comes to life when the evening gradually turns into night and the light becomes dark. Check out the title track below.

This is spooky season after all, and after performing recent DJ sets at Fabric and Leeds’ Mint Festival late last month, Coles has been building up a sense of terror and dread for next week’s perfectly timed release, explaining about the new LP in a press release, “When it comes to my music-making, I’ve pretty much always been a creature of the night. My creativity tends to work at its best during those peaceful hours when my surroundings are at a standstill and I feel completely in my own world”, before contrasting and comparing with, “Then on the flip side, in the club, the night can shift into the most energetic and ecstatic moments in time” in her press statement. ‘Night Creature’ – the title track of the record – feels like a fitting musical transfer of these ideas, starting off with a mix of twinkling and otherworldly Horn melodies, before the Bass kicks in and the tranquil Synth melodies continue to run through some rougher melodies and a paced increase in aggression. There’s a little distortion to the bassline, which begins with a relatively slow-burning energy before the tempos frequently become more erratic and irregular in their nature. Shimmering patterns in the later portions of the track contrast the more extra-terrestrial themes naturally, as the Techno-inspired drops of Bass rumbles and kick Drum melodies become more versatile and display contrasting moods to the other aspects of the single. It feels like an eclectic dance track that would really benefit from the high energy of the crowds within the European festival circuit, and there’s a rather ominous atmosphere that undercurrents the whole package. Although there’s not a great deal left to say about the track, it certainly feels groovy and danceable in an unconventional way as the Halloween theme fits the harder melodies and the cerebral production, and it is nice how the track never veers into an over-the-top ‘Bro-Step’ style of production, sticking to her roots in club-oriented Techno and rumbling Hyperdub-like, UK-synonymous Dubstep flavours instead. A monster-mash of good ideas, both visually and musically.

Pictured: Maya Jane Coles performing a DJ set at Parklife Festival (2015) (Photo by Derek Bremner)

That’s all for today! Thank you for checking out my latest post, and I’ll be back with more posts to celebrate ‘Spooky Season’ next weekend. In the meantime, though, ‘New Album Release Fridays’ is another matter for me to deal with, so feel free to revisit the site tomorrow as we talk about the new LP from a Florida-based musician of Ecuadorian descent whose previous album got a rave review from Pitchfork. He was the recipient of 2019’s Grants To Artists award in music from the Foundation For Contemporary Arts, and he appeared on a tune from Ela Minus’ debut album last year.

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Today’s Track: Caribou – “You Can Do It”

October 11, 2021 — Leave a comment

Pictured: Dan Snaith (aka Caribou) at a mural to accompany the ‘Suddenly’ press kit (2020) (via PR)

Good Morning to you! My name is Jacob Braybrooke, and the time has come for me to fulfill my everyday challenge of delivering another daily track on the blog, because it is always my day-to-day pleasure to write about a different piece of new music every day! As a PhD degree holder in Mathematics from Imperial College London and as the son and brother of a pair of Mathematicians in his family, the 43-year-old Canadian-born Experimental Electronic Dance music producer Dan Snaith (Primarily known for his main alias of Caribou) has always been known for his very complex patterns and layered Synth work in his compositions across notable releases like 2010’s ‘Sun’ and 2001’s ‘Breaking My Heart’, which landed a spot on Pitchfork’s list of ‘The 50 Best IDM Albums Of All-Time’ in 2017. His latest LP – 2020’s ‘Suddenly’ – earned similar praise from different publications and my humble little blog that your eyes are focusing on right now, earning a spot on my list of the ‘Top 25 Best Albums Of 2020’ late last year. The associated tour for the record, however, was originally set to take place in 2020 before the Covid-19 pandemic reared it’s ugly head into our lives. Snaith’s world tour was postponed again for 2021, before it was later to be indefinitely shelved. Now, the meticulous craftsman has announced that he will indeed be hitting the road in the UK this month and the US in early 2022, and ‘You Can Do It’ is a new single that avid Caribou fans will be hearing across headline festival sets and solo arena shows from Snaith over the course of the next year, as a bonus treat to coincide with the cheerful announcement that was made by Snaith a handful of weeks ago. Snaith has also released music as Manitoba and Daphni, and he has been working with Shynola’s Richard Kenworthy for the official music video that sees adorable pooches catching some frisbees to the beat of Snaith’s mastery. Be reminded that ‘You Can Do It’ below.

Dan Snaith gave a shout out to Migle / Kennel UPE in the description for the music video for ‘You Can Do It’ on YouTube, and the beloved IDM producer made his return to touring with a performance at London’s All Points East festival in late August and he premiered the new track during his set at Green Man Festival over the weekend prior. You can catch Snaith playing some shows in Liverpool, Nottingham, Manchester and a few more locations in the UK later this month, and he’ll be hitting sites in Glasgow, Bristol and Brighton in January 2022, before touring in the US, Canada and Europe across the new year. ‘You Can Do It’ will likely not suprise you if you are familiar with Snaith’s work already, but this is still classic Caribou at his finest. The sparkling lyric of ‘You Can Do It’ is layered over and over again to a brain-dancing degree, before a slowed down ‘Do It’ sequence takes a decent precedence over the repetition, with the continuous vocals becoming more garbled and warped as the literal distillation of the hook continues along. The warm and 90’s-leaning instrumentation makes up for the lack of variety in the songwriting for the diverse array of moods that it creates alone, however, and the rippling sentiments of the echoed vocals are spread across the coherent duration of the tune with a signature heartfelt sensibility and gets packed into the euphoric sound of a festival-ready dance hit. The energetic delivery of the Synth arrangements whip up a tone that feels celebratory and jubilant, while the sound strikes a fairly similar style to 2020’s ‘Suddenly’ where the tempo changes feel drastic, but they feel light-hearted and boundless in flow. Overall, while the sugar-colored theme lacks a little inspiration, the production is faultless and the warmly lit mood sounds appealing to a diverse group of audiences. He is ace – is our Dan Snaith.

Pictured: Dan Snaith in a PR photoshoot for a ‘Stereogum’ Q&A interview (2014) (Photo via PR)

Dan Snaith is a familiar face to us on the blog, and so his music has been covered a few times on the site before. His ‘Suddenly’ single landed a place on Pitchfork’s list of ‘The 30 Best Electronic Music Releases Of 2020’, and made an appearance on the blog here: https://onetrackatatime.home.blog/2020/02/28/todays-track-caribou-never-come-back/. You can also read my thoughts on ‘You & I’ here: https://onetrackatatime.home.blog/2019/12/09/todays-track-caribou-you-i/, and check out his initial comeback track ‘Home’ here: https://onetrackatatime.home.blog/2019/10/28/todays-track-caribou-home/

Pictured: Cover Artwork for ‘Suddenly’ (LP) (Released on February 28th, 2020) (via Merge Records)

That brings us to the bottom of the page for another day! Thank you for checking out my latest blog post, and I’ll be back tomorrow for an in-depth look at some brand new music from an Essex-born Neo-Soul singer-songwriter who grew up playing the Celtic Harp – and she attended the Purcell School For Young Musicians with Mica Levi.

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Way Back Wednesdays: Lady Saw – “Sycamore Tree”

August 11, 2021 — Leave a comment

Pictured: Cover Art for ‘Passion’ (LP) (Released on June 12th, 1997) (via VP Records/CoverMyTunes)

Good Morning to you! It’s Jacob Braybrooke here, and it’s time for me to get typing up on the blog for this week’s ‘Way Back Wednesday’ flashback, as we revisit the seminal sounds of the past that have been influential to the present, since it’s always my day-to-day pleasure to write up about a different piece of music every day! It has become a rather multi-cultural week on the blog so far, and that lovely trend continues with ‘Sycamore Tree’ by Lady Saw, which was released as a single from her 1997 album, ‘Passion’, which reached the #8 spot on the US Billboard Reggae Top Albums Chart. It, therefore, officially became Saw’s first album to chart. Formerly known as ‘The Queen Of Dancehall’, Lady Saw was a Jamaican vocalist and producer whose career has spanned for two decades, and she holds the distinction of being the first black female DJ to be certified as both a Grammy-winning artist and a Platinum-selling artist. In more recent times, Saw converted to Christianity in late 2015 and announced that she would now identify as “Marion Hall”, and she has began a career in writing Gospel music – which Hall has performed at The White House. Revisit ‘Sycamore Tree’ below.

Ever since the peak of her popularity, Hall has been known for her ‘Slack’ performance style that has been controversial to the authorities in Jamaica, a battle that has also influenced Hall to write protest anthems about freedom of speech and double standards between how vulgarity is perceived in music from male and female Jamaican artists. Hall is also known for her socially conscious lyrics, and one of the biggest examples of this trend was her 1996 track, ‘Condom’, a track that warns young girls about the dangers of unprotected heterosexual sex. She has, therefore, never been afraid to speak her mind with her music, and 1997’s ‘Sycamore Tree’ is another decent portrayal of this attitude. The lyrics are about an obstructive woman who will not participate in oral sex with a love interest, and tries to convince him that she is a more honest person than we’re led to believe, with some occasionally lewd lyrics like “Remember, it was under the Sycamore tree” and “The sun stopped shining for me” that discreetly show the cracks of her true intentions. This style of lyrics are recited underneath her famously high-pitched bass that she was known for frequently producing. Her raw vocals continue to reflect upon one of the most contentious musical topics in her country for a number of decades, but the sound maintains a rather joyful and bright personality, with some light, yet classic Dub toasting and shimmering, percussive rhythms, which turns her assessment of Jamaican sex taboos into a more refreshingly wicked, playful affair. A potent and firmly female-focused effort, the Reggae backing beat is rather catchy, with Hall bragging about a ‘false innocence’ with lines that feel fully aware of her sexuality, such as “Mi a gal wi gi yuh all di wickedest ride”, while also proclaiming lyrics like “a nuh everything mi like” in later sections. On the whole, it’s not something that I would usually choose to listen to, since it’s simply not in my typical wheelhouse of favourite genres, so to speak, but I enjoyed a few minutes of the time that I spent with Saw’s song. The vibe is pretty sexual, but joyously defiant and character-oriented. A seminal salute to her free spirit.

Pictured: Lady Saw (aka Marion Hall) performing at The White House (2016) (Photo via Jamaicans.com)

That’s enough of my musical musings for another day, and thank you very much, as always, for reaching the end of the page. I’ll be here to catch up with you once again tomorrow with some more information about, possibly, one of my favourite new albums in recent memory. It is really good, and it takes us to South Korea for some Shoegaze sounds. The young adult artist, however, likes to keep his proverbial cards quite close to his chest. We know very little more than his recording name: Parannoul.

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Today’s Track: Lorde – “Solar Power”

July 3, 2021 — Leave a comment

Good Lorde – she’s back, and with the help of producer Jack Antonoff. New post time!

Pictured: Cover Art for “Solar Power” (Available from August 20th, 2021) (via Universal Music)

Good Morning to you! It’s Jacob Braybrooke here – with another daily track on the blog, since it’s always my day-to-day pleasure to write up about a different piece of music every day! Lorde is back – the critically beloved singer from New Zealand perhaps best known for #1 hit single ‘Royals’ and 2017’s ‘Melodrama’. I’ve got to be honest, I wasn’t really there when she hit the ground running with ‘Pure Heroine’ in 2013, and so Lorde repesents a gap in the history of pop music knowledge for me. However, I know that her work is often hyped up to the hills by critics and audiences alike, so there’s a lot of anticipation building for her new album ‘Solar Power’, which is set for release on August 20th via major label Universal. It’s actually winter in New Zealand for her, and the pre-order sales should add some decent statistics to her reported figure of over five million albums sold worldwide. She’s been working with Jack Antonoff on the new record, who is a mega-producer who has collaborated with the likes of Taylor Swift, St. Vincent, Lana Del Rey and Carly Rae Jepsen, as well as leading his own indie band named Bleachers. Lorde has also shared the title single from the record, which Lorde says is all “about that infectious, flirtatious summer energy that takes hold of us all”. Grab a seat on your deck chair and give it a try below.

In an email sent to her fans with the release of the track and the album’s announcement, the Golden Globe-nominated singer-songwriter revealed that ‘Solar Power’ will be “a celebration of the natural world, an attempt at immortalizing the deep, transcendent feelings I have when I’m outdoors”, upon entering her new era. I can definitely hear shades of the Covid-19 pandemic being reflected in her songwriting on the tune, which is given a cult-ish and Midsommar-like aeshetic in the video, but it’s actually just about appreciating the warm weather, and the power that summer music adds to our hot season. This is all emphasized through the smoky Jazz sounds, like the soft splashings of Trumpet and Saxophone melodies, and the long vocal harmonies that drive the Sunshine Pop beats forward. There’s a nod to A Tribe Called Quest when she calls out “Can I kick it? Yeah, I can” and a modern twist on summer culture when she sings “My boy behind me, he’s taking pictures” for Instagram, no doubt. Antonoff plays the bass guitar with simplicity, and the backing vocals have a Gospel quality that shows her newfound euphoria. The chorus is a simple refrain of “Solar Power” that is held long and nimbly, with warm percussion and an intimate, acoustic instrumental underneath. Lyrics like “I’m kind-of like a prettier Jesus” and “The girls are dancing in the sand/And I throw my cellular device in the water/Can you reach me, no, you can’t” have an 80’s, sexual Pop quality to them. Everything is destined for some chart success in the mainstream over the summer, with a nice message that is conveyed simply and rhythmic Pop sounds that are easy to find catchy, but it never goes overboard with cluttered hip-hop production or auto-tune effects, and so I like how it’s rather basic, and the lack of urgency feels refreshing. Overall, I wasn’t crazy about it. I felt the ending was a bit too close to comfort to George Michael’s ‘Faith’ for me, with the same timing structure of the beats bordering a bit on plagiarism for me. However, I still found it to be an enjoyable listen. It’s fine and perfectly competent summer Pop, but I felt that it could have done more for me, as I also felt the lyrics lacked much to say. Otherwise, it’s a comforting slice of intelligent Jangle-Pop with solid radio play on the cards. I liked it. I just didn’t love it.

Pictured: Lorde & Jack Antonoff at a GRAMMY’s party in NYC (2018) (Photo by Kevin Mazur/Etty Images)

That’s all for now! Thank you for your continued support for the blog, and please feel free to join me again tomorrow for another weekly entry in our ‘Scuzz Sundays’ feature. The track marks the second appearance on my humble site by a unique Christian metal band who have sold over 12 million records worldwide. Their abbreviated name stands for Payable On Death.

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