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: Ultraísta – “Tin King”

April 22, 2020 — Leave a comment

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

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

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

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

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

Thank you for reading this post! As per usual, I’ll be back tomorrow, with an in-depth look at a golden oldie from the Kingston, Jamaica sounds of the late 1960’s from a Jamaican Rocksteady duo who released a cover of “Don’t Look Back” by The Temptations and are still going strong to this day, having toured around the UK, Brazil and Hong Kong last year. If you really liked what you just read, why not follow the blog to get notified when every new daily post is up and why not like the Facebook page here?: https://www.facebook.com/OneTrackAtATime/

Today’s Track: Gary Clail (On-U Sound System) (feat. Bim Sherman) – “Beef (Future Mix)”

February 10, 2020 — 1 Comment

I’ve got no issue with this beef! A new week, a new set of posts, starting with this one!

Pictured: A still image featuring Gary Clail in the official music video for “Another Hard Man” (1995)

I would usually be cooking a meatless meal in aid of the Meat Free Mondays campaign tonight, but since I’m covering a track with the title of “Beef”, it’s hard to know whether that’s necessarily gone out of the window this week! I’m Jacob Braybrooke, covering your daily track on the blog, as always. I’ve noticed that I’ve been covering a lot of new tracks on the blog lately and so I thought it would make a nice change to share a little 90’s house track which I’ve recently found out about, which comes courtesy of Gary Clail, An English DJ and recording producer who made a name for himself from the Bristol music scene in the 1990’s, a little before the late 1990’s IDM movement featuring the likes of Aphex Twin, Plaid and Boards Of Canada. The founder of On-U Sound Records and the producer of early 90’s club hits like “Human Nature” and “These Things Are Worth Fighting For”, Clail established himself as an important fixture of the underground electronic music side of the 90’s dance craze. “Beef” is an interesting old record which is taken from his second LP, “End Of The Century Party”, which he released as Gary Clail On-U Sound System in 1989. There was no music video, but the future mix audio of “Beef” is available on YouTube below.

Clail repeats: “Beef, how low would you go?” over a fluctuating snare line as he reminds me of the Limbo games that I used to play at the end-of-term party at Primary School. It’s an upbeat, groove-driven synth hook which is used to anchor the diverse arrangement of the track. The instrumental disco sound is heavily infused with light elements of nu-disco and dark-wave synthpop, with an overall Dub-plate format. The pacing is noticeably inflected with Reggae and Clail adds a sense of ambient techno vibes to proceedings with his gradually building layout of BPM rises and synthetic funk-tinged vibrations. The vocals float above a layer of politicized themes and minor-key drum-and-bass sensibilities which provide a catalyst for the propelling drum waves and the building tempo of the vibraphone riffs. I’ve heard a story that Clail nicked the lyrical refrain from an old Public Enemy classic, “Bring The Noize”, released in 1988. He reworks the phrase: “Bass, how low can you go” and he replaces the line of “Death row, what a brother knows” with the intercepting vocals of “Hear the cry/Cattle row”, led by a chant-based question of “Would you kill it yourself?”, a not-so subtle comment which supports the ideas of Vegetarianism. Overall, I believe it’s a cohesive house anthem which brings the best out of the different elements which it musically pulls it’s influences from, as the track sounds uniformly structured and it effectively pulls a wide array of talent together. Constructively, I find the vocal hooks to sound a little under-cooked, if you pardon the pun, as the slow build doesn’t necessarily lead to a fast payoff, but it sounds like Clail has some fascinating political views to express – which I’m inclined to explore further.

Pictured: Cover Artwork for “End Of The Century Party” (1989/On-U Sound Records) (Photo from eBay.com)

Thank you for reading this post! I’ll be back tomorrow with a look at the new track from the leading man of REM – I was in a curry shop when I heard the band had split up and I fell in the Korma! 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: 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: A Tribe Called RED (feat. Black Bear) – “The OG”

January 13, 2020 — Leave a comment

Here’s a daily musing on a new single from a duo who surprised me out of nowhere in 2015 with “the seal of the Halluci Nation”. However, will they manage to retain my “seal of approval”? To answer that, you’ll have to continue reading below to find out!

Pictured: Tim “2oolman” Hill (Production/Engineering) and Ehren “Bear Witness” Thomas (Mixing/Percussion)

Good evening, Jacob Braybroke here! I first discovered A Tribe Called RED, a Canadian electronic hip-hop group from Ontario, through the KEXP Song Of The Day podcast resource a few years back, leading me to enjoy listening to their 2015 LP, “We Are The Halluci Nation”, an album which showcased the group’s very unique strength of bringing activism to the dancefloor in a way that’s fun and musically well-rounded. Named as a homage to hip-hop legends A Tribe Called Quest, A Tribe Called Red are back, releasing a string of new singles towards the latter end of 2019. However, as a duo now, since Ian Campeau left the band due to health complications in 2017. One of the biggest new singles, “The OG”, features frequent guest collaborator Black Bear, as the band return to their self-described “Stadium Pow-Wow” sound for good measure!

A very colorful and world-inspired track, due to the African tribal chanting and the two-step Taiko drumming, “The OG” is a new track which succeeds in re-establishing the experimental sound of A Tribe Called Red and reasserting, after a few years of hiatus, the band’s refusal of boxing their sound into one specific genre. “The OG” begins with the modulated vocals of Black Bear, before a pulsating sound of bombastic electronic snare trips and loud tribal chants. The track leads into a sample of Romeo Saganah’s speech in the United Nations in September 2018, before the potent – almost violent – drumming sounds and indigenous chants continue, right after Saganah’s speech about Indegenious rights and the Trans Mountain Pipeline. This is a track which pulls a lot of different genres together – as the bassline-driven rhythm crashes along to EDM-style vibrations, which viciously pulls further influence from the likes of Heavy Techno, all produced under a wide array of Reggae styles. It’s a track which really flourishes in encompassing several genres in one overall package, while modifying the influences of each – so that it doesn’t seem to lose much of an overall cohesive quality. The result is a track which feels very political and it may be likely to cause a little bit of controversy among certain groups of different religions, but, in terms of the sound and aesthetic, it’s an enchanting return to form for A Tribe Called RED and although it’s familiar to “We Are The Halluci Nation”, I’m still excited to hearing a fully-fledged LP release to see how they expand their “Pow-Wow” sound!

Pictured: A Tribe Called Red performing a live set at the Lost Lake Festival in 2017 (Credit: Jeff Kravitz/FilmMagic)

Thank you for reading this post! I’ll be continuing to introduce you to some more new music inspired by different sounds from around the world tomorrow, as I’ll be looking at a new solo track from the lead singer and rhythm guitarist of the famous Liverpool band Bloc Party! 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: Sunset Gun – “Be Thankful For What You’ve Got”

November 7, 2019 — Leave a comment

That is a great motto for us all to live by! Good evening, it’s time for your new musing!

Pictured: Vinyl Artwork for “Be Thankful For What You’ve Got” (1984)

Sunset Gun were an indie pop/jazz group comprised of two sisters: Louise and Deirdre Rutowski, as well as Ross Campbell, who worked as a producer and a percussionist with the two sisters. It was later expanded to include a backing group, which was comprised of Jim Williams (lead guitar), Graham Brierton (bass guitar) and Gordon Wilson (drums). They released a couple of singles and an album for CBS Records in 1984, before becoming one of the first acts to sign with 4AD, an indie record label which is still strong to this day, with acts such as The National, Beirut and Future Islands signed up. “Be Thankful For What You’ve Got” is a track from 1984.

“Be Thankful For What You’ve Got” is a consistent staple of the lost 80’s time capsule list on my student radio station. In itself, it’s a poppier cover version of the track of the same name, originally written and composed by William DeVaughn from 1974, which is exactly a decade before the “Sunset Gun” cover version was released. This version of the track has a more electronic style, which is different to the grounded jazz and funk roots of the original. Louise and Deirdre open the track with: “Though you may not drive a great big Cadillac/Gangsta whitewalls/TV antennas in the back” over a bed of 80’s synth-guitar lines and an undeniable loyalty of funk, with the chorus hook of: “Diamond in the back, sunroof top/Diggin’ the scene/with a gangsta lean” adding a more choral arrangement, with the core message being delivered over a layer of soul-like keyboard chords: “But remember brothers and sisters/You can still stand tall/Just be thankful for what you got”, which has a fun and infectious groove to it. The lyrical themes of the track are a social comment on the materialism of greed and how having everything you may want isn’t what you actually need. I think the instrumentation is basic and simple to a point, but the vocals are gorgeous and it’s the unique take on the original’s soul influences that gives this a step in it’s own right!

Pictured: Louise Rutowski (Vocals), Ross Campbell (Percussion) and Deirdre Rutowski (Vocals)

Thank you for reading this post! I’ll be back tomorrow with a track from a very niche experimental rock group who currently have a YouTube channel with only 72 subscribers! Yes, that’s right! 7-2! 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: The Comet Is Coming – “Lifeforce (Part II)”

September 28, 2019 — 1 Comment

Welcome to the blog! I hope that your Saturday, like this group, is out of this world…

Pictured: Shabaka Hutchings (Saxophone), Dan Leavers (Keyboard, Synths) and Max Hallett (Drummer)

The Comet Is Coming are a new Jazz band from London who I’ve grown increasingly fond over in the last few months since the release of their first full-length LP, “Trust In The Lifeforce Of The Deep Mystery” in March, via the Impulse Records label. They consist of King Shabaka on the Saxophone, Danalogue on the Keyboard/Synths and Betamax on the drums. Their sound is incredibly exciting and they have the power of inspiring the youth to get down with the Brass Instruments with their wonderful synth melodies and the breathtaking (literally) performance from Shabaka on the Saxophone. It is a shame they haven’t seemed to really take off on BBC Radio 1 and 1Xtra, but at the same time, my friend has convinced me they are a little too good for that and a little bit too clever for the brainwashed masses. I’ve heard the live performances are absolutely glorious and I’m in love with their take on the Jazz genre, infusing it with a burst of fresh air and new life as a result of their fast-paced Saxophone pieces and the elements of psychedelia which elevate the overall space theme to another frontier entirely. The Comet Is Coming are a true gift to their planet.

Over the weekend (at time of writing), The Comet Is Coming released “The Afterlife”, a 6-track EP which acts as a companion piece of the full-length LP. It’s a similar sound to their LP, but it sounds more infused with reggae and ska elements this time around. “Lifeforce (Part II)” is the promotional single, a track which, like an expansion pack to a computer game or dessert after a main course on a meal out, doesn’t stray very far from the sound of the LP, but it still expands on the original output in a few meaningful ways. I think the synth background creates somewhat of an ethereal and atmospheric sci-fi landscape, which becomes a good vehicle for the gorgeously paced drum melodies to really sink into the psyche of the listener. Shabaka is fantastic, as usual, on the Saxophone as he enthralled me with the high-octane pacing of the Saxophone and he manages to transport you to another dimension (pun intended) with a single click of a key on his Saxophone. However, it’s the queieter moments which also have the power to shine, a key reason why the band are so unique and very good at what they’re doing. If the LP wasn’t really your style, it likely won’t convert you very much as a newbie. On the other hand, if you’re a massive fan of the band and you really catch their drift, you’re going to absolutely love how the percussion, both organic and electronic, mesh together to create a shape-shifting, winding sci-fi beat. It’s a good teaser of more to come from a highly underrated band.

Pictured: Cover Art For “The Afterlife” EP (2019)

Thank you for reading this post! I’ll be back tomorrow with the latest of my “Scuzz Sundays” series of themed posts! If you really liked what you just read, why not follow the blog to get notified when every new daily post is up and like the Facebook page here?: https://www.facebook.com/OneTrackAtATime/https://www.facebook.com/OneTrackAtATime/

Today’s Track: Caravan Palace (feat. Charles X) – “About You”

September 13, 2019 — Leave a comment

Get your dancing shoes on and get those (new) Jazz hands ready! It’s time for your Friday post!

Pictured: Cover Art For “Chronologic” (2019)

Electro Swing is actually a genre which you might not have come across. It was recently popularised in culture by a French group called Caravan Palace, who have been circulating in most of the European club scenes for a while. They have released four studio LP’s so far in their career, with “<|°_°|>” (a.k.a “Robot Face”) being their most popular, having released in 2015 to a great critical reception and the lead single, “Lone Digger”, becoming a viral hit on YouTube, amassing over 2.6 million views at time of writing. It’s not a record that I can say I have much of an emotional connection to, but it’s still a decent record that sounds interesting and it works well in exploring a new genre that felt very fresh upon it’s original release.

Naturally, the follow-up has arrived and it makes sense for the French party animals to collaborate with a few other artists on the new album, “Chronologic”. “About You” is one of the singles and features vocals from Charles X (I’ve never heard of him either). The track is a coin that certainly has two sides to it. On one side, you have a brassy, youthful new jazz melody with an old-school swing sensibility that feels a little bit typical of Caravan Palace’s usual formula, but it’s still fun. On the other hand, you have a very typical pop chorus that fits the mainstream world of Justin Bieber and Jason Derulo to a tee when the overly auto-tuned vocals from Charles X kick in: “Still, will you let me, will you let me over/Cause your high heels take me higher” as Charles X duets with Zoé Colotis, the lead singer of the band. She kicks off the track and Charles X later chips in again with: “And if the car comes equipped with a moon roof/Then the stars will surely help with the mood”. The issue is that the vocals and the breakdown sound constantly at odds with each other. It feels a bit like two different songs have simply just been squashed together and they don’t ever manage to blend cohesively as a single unit. The lyrics are very uninteresting and easily forgotten. It really sounds like the band are going down a much more commercial, mainstream route. It makes a lot of sense for their label to want that, seeing as the previous LP did very well, but it loses some of the charm and the clean breath of fresh air that was previously there. The end product is a track that’s “fine”, but it’s just such a 6/10 record and I can’t shake the feeling of being a little bit disappointed by this.

Pictured: Zoé Colotis (vocals), Arnaud Vial (guitar), Hugues Payen (violin), Camille Chapelière (saxophone), Victor Raimondeau (clarinet), Charles Delaport (double bass), Antoine Toustou (trombone) and Paul-Marie Barbier (vibraphone)

Thank you for reading this post! It’a going to have to be a quick one tomorrow, but I’ll be looking at another track from Friendly Fires’ first release in 8 years, “Inflorescent”! If you really liked what you just read, please follow the blog to get notified when every daily new post is up and like the Facebook page here: https://www.facebook.com/OneTrackAtATime/