Electronic Funk

Today’s Track: YĪN YĪN – ‘Takahashi Timing’

January 26, 2024 — Leave a comment

A three week gap between posts is a new record in recent times. Time for a new post!

Pictured: Kees Berkers (Drums), Remy Scheren (Bass Guitar), Erik Bandt (Lead Guitar) & Robbert Verwijlen (Keys) (2023) (Photo via Periferias.org.uk)

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! January is always a difficult time to find new music because we’re gearing up for the festival season where more opportunities for promotions at live festivals are greater and the mood of the globe is generally low. However, the mantle has been adopted by Bill Ryder-Jones, Marika Hackman, Sleater-Kinney, The Vaccines, Patricia Taxxon, Sprints (See my previous post for more on that) and a few others to fulfill this year’s lineup of take-whatever-you-can-get lineup of the bleak midwinter supplies. My favourite LP release of the month was from Yin Yin, a 4-piece from Maastricht (The Netherlands) who pitch their rich, comforting sound as Khruangbin meets Kraftwerk.

If you are enticed by a vibrant concoction of Psychedelic Funk, vintage-leaning Disco and East Asian-influenced Soul as the gin connected by a colourful blend of Surf Rock and Japanese instrumental sounds as the mixer, I feel you would enjoy their vibe too. I have been aware of Yin Yin’s flair for a few years, having seen their performance on KEXP’s YouTube channel and vaguely dipping into their space travel inspired record ‘The Age Of Aquarius’ (2022) and the Samurai Cinema-enhanced ‘The Rabbit That Hunts Tigers’ (2019) debut LP in the past, both of which make for nimble, curious and rewarding listens. For their latest album, they have democratically replaced founding member Yves Lennertz (Organ, Stylophone and Percussion) with new lead guitarist Erik Bandt. ‘Mount Matsu’ (out Jan 19th via Glitterbeat Records) was produced in their studio-turned-home in Belgium with the dynamic quartet combining traditional synthesizers with conventional Chinese instruments, most notably a Guzheng, which is known for its spacious flow between melodies. My sampler is ‘Takahashi Timing’, a single which Yin Yin calls an ode to their tour manager who ensures their punctuality.

“Art and ideas are personal and precious and the process of doing this truly together has been about more than just making an album, it was also a study of how collectives work”, the Dutch band say about their most recent full-length, adding, “We have decided to only use vocals sparsely, which leaves plenty of room for the listener’s imagination: you can really let your fantasy run wild as you listen and dance to it”, in an article for Ebb Music, as they visualise the process of creation like the ascension of the fictional mountain of the album’s namesake, hence the title’s theme.

A real sense of bond strikes through on ‘Takahashi Timing’, which kicks off with a groovy, percussive intro which brings the evocation of warmth to the dancefloor – or my headphones. The guitarist strums away at an uptempo pace before the glistening qualities of the bell-type percussion creates a groove that seems reminiscent of La Roux’s ‘Supervision’ album tracks. “Never too late” is the recurring vocal refrain that suggests a positive and uplifting tone, while the decent collection of disparate Disco and soulful Funk elements drive the beat forwards. New elements get added to the mix at their respective intersections, with some particularly refreshing Synth chords towards the end that modernises the experience of hearing the track. The track feels quite busy, admittedly, but it never sounds too chaotic for its own right. Instead, the sound is one that feels characterised by a passionate bunch of musicians cheerfully jamming away at real-time in a studio. Overall, it’s a hands-in-the-air style of track that manages to channel an alternative spirit while remaining accessible and radio-friendly enough to pick up potential listeners along the way because the mood is straightforward but the influences are more complex and niche. It appeals to a fairly general audience but its worthy of the credibility of any crate-digging vinyl fans’ shelf.

Pictured: VInyl Cover Art for ‘Mount Matsu’ (LP) (Released on January 19th, 2024) (via Glitterbeat Records)

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Today’s Track: Sudan Archives – ‘Home Maker’

April 25, 2022 — Leave a comment
Pictured: Sudan Archives (Brittney Denise Parks) in a CN Traveller photoshoot (2018) (Photo by Ross Harris)

Good Morning to you! This is Jacob Braybrooke, and its time for you to put those D-I-Y tools down for a few moments while I deliver yet another daily track on the blog to your eardrums and eye sight, because it’s always my day-to-day pleasure to write up about a different piece of music every day! Also known for her recent cover of Yoko Ono’s ‘Dogtown’ for last month’s ‘Ocean Child: Songs Of Yoko Ono’ compilation album, Sudan Archives (the solo music project of violinist and vocalist Brittney Denise Parks) is a psychedelic soul and experimental R&B artist who has built up a reputation amongst the internet music community with her well-received blending of organic, African-inspired instrumentation with more futuristic, electronic music elements. She is yet to follow up on her debut album, 2019’s ‘Athena’, which included the fantastic single ‘Confessions’. Nonetheless, her resume includes the headline artist slot for the Stones Throw Showcase at the South By Southwest cultural festival earlier this year. Parks has studied ethnomusicology at Passadena City College, she has performed as part of a string quartet and she has earned plenty of support from sources like BBC Radio 6 Music, KEXP, The Guardian and The Quietus. Her latest single – ‘Home Maker’ – is an exploration of the bliss which Parks can feel in her domestic life, and it was prompted by her emotions when moving from Los Angeles to her place of birth in Cincinnati, Ohio. Let’s watch the Jocelyn Anquetil-directed music video for this below.

Parks is set to perform live at the All Points East Festival in London this August, and, talking about the single’s themes of approaching the mundanity of domestic chores by re-imagining them as dream-like activities set to a lush, Utopian background, she says, “It took nesting – building a home, investing in partners that were worth my investment – to shake my anxiety and depression”, explaining, “For me, homemaking is a service to mental health and coping with fear and isolation. This song is about the effort put into making a relationship work and giving love a place to live”, in her press release. The opening has a darker tone than expected, as Parks recites a rhythmic series of lyrics like “Only bad b**ches in my trells/And baby, I’m the baddest” and “I’ve just got a wall mount for my plants/And hoping that they’ll thrive around the madness” with a sturdy Hip-Hop deliver that contrast the warmth of urging a partner to be around you at your lowest times with the darkness of cultivating a nest of your own self-doubt. Shifts between utter confidence with later lyrics like “Won’t you step inside my lovely cottage/Feels so green, it feels like f***ing magic” and self-created uncertainty with other lyrics like “My mood’s been real sloppy/I cry when I’m alone” that feel confessional in mood while self-accepting in total as she concedes her issues with mental health, and these shifts similarly show contrasting qualities between self-assured pride and self-loathing jabs. It is also quite interesting when “I’m a home maker” is made to sound like “I’m a heart breaker” in the chorus, as it shows that she’s conjuring up a seductive vision of home life despite nothing explicit being argued, while the more cheerful sections effectively banish any thought of anxiety. One of the big highlights is the bridge where, elevated by percussive hand-claps and the occasionally sweeping string, Parks chants the refrain of “Do you not feel at home when you’re with me” as she goes full throttle into Nu-Disco mood with the Jazz influence. The rest of the track’s instrumentation soundtracks her journey to discovering self-worth, through all of her trials and tribulations mentally, in similar ways. We start off with a high-Bass synth that evolves into a smoother Synth groove punctuated by glistening Keys and the rare strum of a rhythm guitar, which is all based around the programmed drums too, before the bridge allows us to breathe a sigh of relief with its more upbeat qualities. Overall, ‘Home Maker’ is a truly excellent new single that evokes a sense of really inviting us into her world, while feeling diverse enough to tell a loose narrative and feeling experimental with its blend of different genres, proving that she’s capable of bending genre rules to meet her needs.

Pictured: Cover Artwork for ‘Home Maker’ (Single) (Released on March 16th, 2022) (via Stones Throw Records)

Thank you for checking out my latest post on the blog, and don’t forget how much that your support has meant to me today, as I just reminded you of it. I’ll be back tomorrow for more music-related musings as we review one of the latest singles by an emerging indie punk 3-piece formed in Glasgow and London born out of a shared interest in unconventional songwriting. They have received support from DIY, The Line Of Best Fit and Amazing Radio. The group have over 2k monthly Spotify listeners.

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Today’s Track: Neil Frances – ‘Dancing’

April 21, 2022 — Leave a comment
Pictured: Jordan Feller (Drums/Synths) and Marc Gilfrey (Samples/Producer) (2022) (Photo by Victoria Smith)

Good Morning to you! My name is Jacob Braybrooke, and the time has come time to shine your favourite pair of dancing shoes before we get invested in 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! Saying “We like the idea of our music sound-tracking people’s weekends” to Karen Gree of NME in a recent interview, Neil Frances is not a solo artist – but rather the Los-Angeles based Alternative Soul duo of Sydney-born musician Jordan Feller and Southern California native producer Marc Gilfrey, who have named their debut studio album ‘There Is No Neil Frances’ to illustrate the fact. Out now via Nettwerk Music Group, the LP was recorded in Echo Park Studio over the past year and it follows the loose narrative of an insect who is trying to find its place in a utopian dreamscape. Exploring a wide assortment of Alternative Pop and Experimental House sounds on previous releases like 2018’s ‘Took A While’ EP and 2021’s ‘Stay Strong, Play Long’ EP, Neil Frances met in New York and began the project in 2016 with their intention of creating honest and authentic music. The duo have opened up a sold-out show for SG Lewis at The Shrine. They have also supported the likes of Jungle, Unknown Mortal Orchestra and Poolside on tours across the US. The duo will also be performing at the Shabang Live Music & Arts Festival, WonderStruck Festival and Firefly Music Festival throughout 2022 as well, and so there’s a handful of places that you can find them love if you thoroughly enjoy the new album like I have, which features contributions by Benny Sings and GRAE. Give ‘Dancing’ a listen below.

Neil Frances have gained support from KCRW, Under The Radar, Magnetic, Flood and Brooklyn Vegan in the past few years, and their own cover version of Stardust’s ‘Music Sounds Better Than You’ has amassed over 70 million streams. Explaining the concept behind their latest outing, the duo say, “Our new album is about self-realization and becoming the person that you dream of. The concept is that we are insects on Earth who ascend into outer space to become divas at a galactic ball”, in their descriptive press statement. As the ninth track on the long-player, ‘Dancing’ marks a transition point into more accessible sounds that seem easier to groove to, compared to the slower build of the earlier tracks, with it’s silky and smooth Nu-Disco vibe. An airy, gently processed lead vocal mixes together with the World Fusion-based Drums in the opening as atmospheric lyrics like “As the sea comes speaking to me/Time will voice its drift out of key” and “When I see this all to my brain/Tell the lord we’ve trouble where we went” cleanly kick-starts the dense journey of Psych-Funk, Trip Hop and Progressive Soul that flows cohesively throughout the single. A bold, one-note hook of “When dancing is seeking delight” illustrates the themes of the track beautifully in the chorus. Musically, the instrumentation represents an ethereal blend of Future Funk and soft R&B that gets stretched out by effective sampling, light vocals and manipulated sounds to create the slow-burning textures and give the groove a hypnotic quality in the process. The sparse danceability reminds me of ‘The Slow Rush’ by Tame Impala, while the vintage-leaning dance music elements recall back Gilligan Moss to my mind and the calming mood of the soulful vocals makes me reminisce over MNDSGN’s material. There’s an eclectic range of influences in here, but Feller and Gilfrey manage to make the spatial trip through these layers of music their own by developing their 90’s New-Age influences with a neat amount of detail and showing their versatility as producers who are not constrained to one specific genre. Overall, ‘Dancing’ is a song that will make your feet move involuntarily to the rhythm.

Pictured: Neil Frances in a photoshoot for ‘Finding Rhythm’ (2021) (Photo via NorthernTransmissions.com)

That brings us to the end of another roughly 24-hour period on the blog, and I really want to wish you great luck for the rest of your week in return for your generous support. I’m going to be back for ‘New Album Release Fridays’ tomorrow as we turn our attention towards the long-awaited and slightly delayed debut album release by an Australian Psychedelic Rock 4-piece who created their own Lazyfest music festival.

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Today’s Track: Blue Lab Beats (feat. Fela Kuti, Killbeatz, Kaidi Akinnibi & Poppy Daniels) – ‘Motherland Journey’

April 4, 2022 — Leave a comment
Pictured: Namali Kwaten (aka NK-OK) and David Mrkapor (aka Mr DM) (2019) (Photo Credit: Blue Note Records)

Good Afternoon to you! This is Jacob Braybrooke, as usual, and I’m writing fresh off this marathon of a WWE WrestleMania 38 weekend with yet another daily track on the blog, because it’s always my day-to-day pleasure to write up about a different piece of music every day! Pitching their sound as “Jazz-Tronica”, Blue Lab Beats are the North London-based experimental electronic music duo of sampler and producer Namali Kwaken (aka NK-OK) and multi-instrumentalist David Mrkaor (aka Mr DM) who have sat in the additional production seats for their work with artists like Ruby Francis and Age Of Luna, and they have remixed A-list pop culture superstars like Dua Lipa and Rag ‘N’ Bone Man. The follow-up to 2021’s ‘We Will Rise’ EP is the Grammy award-winning and MOBO-nominated musicians’ latest full-length studio album ‘Motherland Journey’ which they released in late February on the legendary Blue Note Records label. The new creative project explores a whole suite of Avant-Jazz, Prog-Jazz, Afro-Funk, Trip Hop, Boom Bap, Northern Soul and Contemporary R&B influences, and it has been described as an “extremely special album” to the duo, who say, “This album took us two-and-a-half-years to finish, or longest process to make an album, but it was so worth it. On this album you’ll hear many fusions of genres and inspirations that we gathered throughout that time frame and especially to work on so many of the songs during the first lockdown, it was a test in itself”, about their recent release. The title track samples Afrobeat activist icon Fela Kuti’s 70’s song ‘Everything Scatter’ and they were given permission by the BLB estate themselves to use that sample. It features guest contributions from Kaidi Akinnibi and Poppy Daniels, while they also travelled to Ghana to record it along with Killbeatz as the producer. Let’s give it a spin.

Much like all of the classic Afrobeat music releases of the 70’s and 80’s, ‘Motherland Journey’ is designed to replicate a communal experience where all of the different influences and the guest contributors are welcome as long as the album’s flow is not disrupted, and the duo also comment, “When we got confirmation to have Fela Kuti’s vocals from his publishers in Nigeria we were honestly blown away that he could really feature on our tracks. An absolute dream come true.”, on Kuti’s featured artist credit for the eclectic track. The track gets off to a bright and warm start immediately, with a quickly established groove formed by the percussive African drums and the prominent Amapiano stabs that pulls apart the standard tropes of their favourite genres with the introduction of the electronic music elements and the sparse guitar melodies to give the classic sound a more modern, updated feel. The pair layer up some of the Trumpet samples and the Afrobeat-tinged backing vocals together to blur the contrasted electronic and organic sounds together occasionally, but the rotating instrumentals and the upbeat textures creates the most dominant impression where we’re witnessing something improvisational and organic from a live house band, like the performers who used to visit Kuti’s shrines at the heart of the Afrobeat cultural movement, who are simply taking to center stage and jamming with one another, creating a timeless feeling as opposed to overtly recycling outdated ideas for simply nostalgic effect. It is not necessarily futuristic, but it feels well-built and structured neatly, with new melodies being bought into the mix to keep the grooves from getting a little tiresome. Overall, ‘Motherland Journey’ is a wonderfully encouraging listen that pulls off a fresh re-boot of it’s ideas by blending the organic percussion of the classic Afrobeat days with the progressive electronic production standards that we’re used to hearing more often from the west. The final results feel quite accessible and engaging to a fairly wide audience, without the feeling of commercialism ever truly dominating their sound in a blatant way. It just feels timeless and eminently buoyant.

Pictured: Cover Artwork for ‘Motherland Journey’ (LP) (Released on February 25th, 2022) (via Blue Note Records)

That brings us to the end of another uplifting track on the blog, and thank you for continuing to support the site. I’ll be back tomorrow to discuss the new single from an Oxford-born classically trained electronic music producer who has been covered more than once before, since I’m such a huge fan of his work. He’s going to release his first album in a decade this July, and his collaborative single ‘Heartbreak’, which he created with Bonobo, was nominated for this year’s ‘Best Dance/Electronic Recording’ honour at the Grammy awards. The British musician is currently based in Los Angeles.

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New Album Release Fridays: Warmduscher – ‘Twitchin’ In The Kitchen’

April 1, 2022 — Leave a comment
Pictured: Cover Artwork for ‘At The Hotspot’ (Digital LP) (Released on April 1st, 2022) (via Bella Union Records)

Good Morning to you! This is Jacob Braybrooke, and you are tuned into a fairly off-kilter edition of ‘New Album Release Fridays’ as we prepare for yet another daily track on the blog, because it’s always my day-to-day pleasure to write up about a different piece of new music every day! Although you may mistake them for a quirky German pop band at first glance, Warmduscher are actually a London-based Post-Punk band currently signed to Bella Union who are famed for their inside jokes and eccentric live performances, and they have been supported by BBC Radio 6 Music very regularly over the years since their formation in 2014. Warmduscher have collaborated with the likes of Iggy Pop and Kool Keith, and their previous studio album – 2019’s ‘Tainted Lunch’ – received a stunning 9/10 score from The Line Of Best Fit’s review as well as a place on BBC Radio 6 Music’s Albums Of The Year list at #6 in 2019. They have also released a remix EP – 2020’s ‘European Cowboy’ – to coincide with Record Store Day in 2020 featuring contributions from Soulwax, Savage Gary and Decius, and it was strictly limited to just 1000 vinyl copies. Thankfully, their new album is more widely available and it takes the form of their fourth full-length LP, ‘At The Hotspot’, which arrives digitally today before being released on Vinyl on July 1st. Warmduscher have gained so much praise for their originality and humor that they were previously given a shout-out on the blog when I wrote about ‘Disco Peanuts’ in late 2019. The new LP incorporates more influences of Funk and Disco than before, and it was originally going to be produced by Speedy Wunderground’s Dan Carey, who has also produced countless records for artists like La Roux, Sinead O’Brien, Squid and Black Country, New Road in recent years. However, he fell ill with Covid-19 and the Clash-praised group turned to Hot Chip’s Alex Doyle and Joe Goddard instead. It includes the new single ‘Twitchin’ In The Kitchen’ that comes accompanied by a Brixton-shot and Niall Trask-directed music video, whose previous credits include well-received videos for Fat White Family and Working Men’s Club. Let’s give this pre-release cut a spin below.

Warmduscher played a gig at Cambridge’s The Junction venue on March 26th, which was moved to a larger room due to high demand. They will also be hitting the road for dates in Brighton, Bristol, London, Manchester and Sheffield later in the year, some of which have been sold out already, and a few later dates in European locations like Amsterdam are coming up shortly too. Their frontman, known as Clams Jr, notes, “We’re just really psyched to play this whole thing live now, and it’s a whole revamp – new label, new producers, new logo – new everything”, rather matter-of-factly, in Bella Union’s press release about their new record. ‘Twitchin In The Kitchen’ gives you a good idea of what to expect, establishing a raucous mixture of aggressive Funk and harsh, dissonant Synth melodies that builds up to a screamer of a chorus. The instrumentation sounds unapologetically Post-Punk, while the lyrics complement the spacey, disco vibe of the verses because they sound pretty daft and they find the band putting on a show with their wit and sense of distinctively quirky character, as Clams recites lines like “I can’t take it, here I’m sweating/I’m clucking like a chicken” and “Grab a bowl, scrape it clean/Two-four out the door, sniff it off the kitchen floor” that are pretty silly, but they are sung with a low-pitched croon typical of Clams’ cowboy character. The vocals feel energized and heightened for certain, while the looping arrangement feels industrial and psychedelic through it’s combination of Post-Punk and Progressive Funk beats, before building to a child-like sing-along that makes the final refrains sound like a schoolyard chant-a-long of the chorus. A perfect pick-me-up for kitchen disco lovers all around the UK, Warmduscher have created an infectious Alternative Funk anthem for those who love to do a bit of ‘Twitching In The Kitchen’ with no apologies given in their typical quirky fashion. It may drive you Disco Peanuts.

Pictured: Clams Baker Jr, Jack Everett, Quicksand, Mr. Salt Fingers Lovecraft and Little Whiskers (2019) (via PR)

If you’d like to hear more of what’s in store, you can also check out my previous Warmduscher post that was published in the build-up to ‘Tainted Lunch’ back in 2019.

‘Disco Peanuts’ (2019) – https://onetrackatatime.home.blog/2019/11/30/todays-track-warmduscher-disco-peanuts/

Pictured: Cover Artwork for ‘Tainted Lunch’ (LP) (Released on November 1st, 2019) (via The Leaf Label)

That’s all for now! Thank you for ‘Twitching In The Kitchen’ to this tune with me today, and I’ll be back to guide you through another track on the blog tomorrow, where we’ve got new music coming from an Irish Post-Punk band who, although being mentioned a few times due to their frequent collaborations with Dan Carey as their producer, haven’t been covered for a fully-fledged article on the blog until now. Their second album was nominated for Best Rock Album at the 2021 Grammy Awards, and their debut LP, ‘Dogrel’, was named the ‘Album Of The Year’ by BBC Radio 6 Music.

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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: Toro Y Moi – ‘Postman’

February 15, 2022 — Leave a comment
Pictured: Cover Artwork for ‘Mahal’ (LP) (Available from April 29th, 2022) (via Dead Oceans)

Good Morning to you! This is Jacob Braybrooke, and the time has arrived for me to virtually hand-deliver yet another daily track on the blog to your letterbox, because it’s always my day-to-day pleasure to write up about a different piece of music every day! We start the day with ‘Postman’ – a track that my mother is bound to enjoy since parcels are her thing. This is the new single from the South Carolina-born producer, singer, songwriter, multi-instrumentalist and graphic designer Toro Y Moi (aka Chad Bear), who is typically recognized as a figurehead for the Chillwave and Synthwave genres from the 2010’s, but his music also toes the line between a brevity of genres including Noise-Pop, Hip Hop, Post-Disco, Psychedelic Soul, Bedroom Pop, Ambient House and Alternative Rock. He has supported the likes of Ruby Suns, Phoenix and Caribou on tour and he has performed his single ‘Ordinary Pleasure’ on Ellen’s talk show. ‘Postman’ has been released as a double single that also includes ‘Magazine’ which features Salami Rose Joe Louis as the featured credit. These two singles are leading his new album ‘MAHAL’ that explores his Fillipino descent and it will be releasing on April 29th via Dead Oceans – the same label as the likes of Mitski, Shame, Khruangbin and Bright Eyes. The new record is a generous 13-track collection which includes contributions from Unknown Mortal Orchestra’s Ruban Nielson, Sofie Royer, The Matson 2 and Alan Polomo (of Neon Indian). Let’s pay his ‘Postman’ a visit below.

‘Postman’ and ‘Magazine’ are the follow-up singles to 2019’s ‘Outer Peace’ – Bear’s sixth studio album. He also collaborated with Flume on ‘The Difference’ during May of 2020, a collaborative single that scored a Grammy nomination and it was used in a global Apple AirBuds advertising campaign. Channeling his inner Bootsy Collins with ‘Postman’, Bear lays out some slinky Psych-Soul beats and some low fidelity Funk grooves that are accelerated by some breezy percussion, like the rattling Tambourine melodies, and the more melodic, driving Bass melodies. Aside from some occasional electronic yelps that sound amusing in how comedically processed they are, the vocals are pretty spacious. Lyrics like “Just another bill today/Just another bill to pay” are direct and to the point, while the repetition of questions like “Mr Postman, did I get a letter?/Did I get a postcard” reflect on the good old-fashioned anticipation that you experience while waiting for an inevitable arrival of a piece of post, a time that we’ve all been through. The last verse, however, features a more emotive lyric of “Mama wrote a letter/A Long time ago/Then she hit her head/God bless her soul” that implies that something more dark is occurring beneath the surface, albeit in a playful way when mixed to the slow rhyming scheme of Bear’s vocal delivery, followed by the glitched outro that feels slightly futuristic by heading towards indie computer music in the brief sequence. Bear clearly leans into how post is a little non-existent in our modern day and age to create some fun and give his track a feel that is both nostalgic and a little progressive. We get a strong grower overall that is a little bizzare, but in a good way, because the composition is frisky and the repetition builds on you with a few repeated listens, and it is the kind of track that can annoy you by getting stuck in your head at work all evening – and that’s coming from my personal experience – thus becoming a catchy little ear-worm. I really liked it with subsequent listens, and I’ve enjoyed quite a lot of Toro Y Moi’s music in the past since it has an air of ‘Almost Pop’ to it where he has a knack for structuring catchy chords and writing high-spirited hooks by directing a decent diversity of various influences, yet it is within his Lo-Fi and Minimalist production that really controls the pace. It has also been a long time since we’ve heard some new solo material from him in comparison to most other artists these days, perhaps, too – and so it feels like a welcome breath of fresh air to hear from him again on ‘Postman’. An engaging and quirky letter of revival and return.

Pictured: Toro Y Moi with Flume in a PR photoshoot for ‘The Difference’ (2020) (Photo Credit: Joyce Kim)

If you want to hear how Toro Y Moi’s style meshes with Flume, you can gauge ‘The Difference’ here: https://onetrackatatime.home.blog/2020/06/06/todays-track-flume-feat-toro-y-moi-the-difference/

Pictured: Cover Art for ‘The Difference’ (Single) (Released on April 30th, 2020) (via Future Classic Records)

That’s all that I have time for today, but I hugely appreciate your support by checking out the blog every day, or for the first time today, as you continue to spread the love to the site this Valentine’s Day despite it being finished. ‘Way Back Wednesdays’ is lined up for tomorrow, where we’ll be revisiting a classic of the Hip-Hop genre of the 1990’s by the Alternative Hip-Hop collective who made Charli 2na a household name.

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Today’s Track: Terry Presume – ‘Act Up’

December 17, 2021 — Leave a comment
Pictured: Terry Presume in a recent photoshoot for a Q&A feature with Notion (2021) (Photo by Grant Spainier)

Good Morning to you! This is Jacob Braybrooke, and it’s time for you to read all about yet another track on the blog as we swoop in for a refreshing change of pace away from the Christmas-themed coverage, not forgetting that it’s always been my day-to-day pleasure to write up about a different piece of music every day! A self-described “walking question mark”, the 26-year-old Nashville-based rapper-songwriter Terry Presume is an artist who simply refuses to box his music into any one genre and he’s been open as such with this mission statement in several interviews. Raised in the neighborhood of Golden Gate by a single Haitian mother, he first made waves as part of the South Florida Hip-Hop scene, which he’s even published his own guide about for Acclaim. Praised by MTV News, New York Times and Fader – Terry has a wide range of influences including Andre 3000 and Robert Johnson and he began writing poetry at the age of 8, eventually doubling down on his talents as a solo artist and creating bodies of work that were led by his personal emotions and lived experiences – instead of genres. His latest release is ‘What Box?’, a 6-track EP that follows his tumultous escape to Los Angeles with only high risk ambitions and less than $200 in his wallet. Released on July 29th via September Recordings – the short-form release was co-produced and also mixed by his longtime friends Alessandro Buccelati and Giancula Buccellati and, once again, he draws from a wide array of inspiration and he refuses to restrict himself to conventional genre molds. Lyrically, Terry explores deeply universal emotions and pushes up against social norms with an impact that forges new spaces for people who don’t quite fit into pre-existing labels. Three weeks ago, a new music video for the lead single – ‘Act Up’ – which was created by Overcast. This animated visualizer perfectly matches the Funk-oriented single with a narrative that follows the vibrant journey of a woman unable to get Terry out of her mind. Give it a watch below.

Talking to Amplify about the recent release, Terry Presume says, “Never allow yourself to be repressed by any societal borders, whether that be emotions, thought patterns, way of life or anything that intrigues you that may be deemed abnormal for your ‘standard’. Escaping the limiting stereotypes this world has provided is what ‘What Box?’ embodies”, in his press notes. Terry taught himself to write and produce his music when he was just 11 years of age, and he always used music – as the medium – to navigate the world and the different cultures he encountered as he straddled it. ‘Act Up’ feels like another pretty solid encapsulation of his ideas as an artist, matching poetic lyrics like “Love the lesson though I hate the pain/My hearts investment surely left a strain” and “You choose your weapon, nearly hit a vain/But I can see sadness in you” to match a voice of strength found by his admission of vulnerability over the top of a zany, psychedelic and soulful backdrop. Later lyrics like “I won’t be the reason why your heart broke/Even though my love is icy that’s cold” tackle heartbreak and vengeance as topics, while the proud declaration of “I’m gonna make you act up today/I’m going to make you wish you never left” during the chorus is a more hook-based affair, introducing some catchy Pop flair into the fray. The emotions that he writes this track about are all very human and relatable ones, and the production is bolstered by a light white noise hum that crafts up an illusion that the music is being heard through a crackling Vinyl, which also brings a retro style to the fold. The guitar melodies are full of late 80’s Funk licks, and the light distortion of the riffs during the bridges have a distinctly Post-Punk feel to them. There is a lot of different influences and varied styles going into this, but it’s held together by Presume’s charisma as a performer and the easily accessible material that he writes his lyrics about. The vocals feel energetic and the drums are met with a two-step garage beat feel which give them a Punchy rhythm underneath the stretching samples and the sparse R&B delivery. Overall, the likes of sorrow and spite through heartbreak aren’t topics that anyone finds very cheerful, but they are feelings worth honoring and anticipating for Terry Presume, an exciting artist who likes to keep his music as a diverse listening experience for his audiences. His music isn’t perfect by typical Top 40 radio genre standards, but his concept is that life isn’t always fair and comes lunging at you with problems fairly fast, which is still something that we can all relate to. I like this artistic side to him and his music appeals across a broad spectrum.

Pictured: Cover Artwork for ‘What Box?’ (EP) (Released on July 29th, 2021) (via September Recordings)

That’s all for now! Thank you for checking out my latest post on the blog, and I’ll be back tomorrow to continue our ‘Countdown To Christmas’ for the year as the big day draws near with a late-90’s Brit-Pop number that appeals more to the novelty side of music. They weren’t really a group per-say, but more of a media project including a trained musician, a visual artist and a comedic actor who are all pretty famous. They were probably best known for recording an unofficial theme tune for the 1998 FIFA World Cup that reached #2 on the UK Singles Chart due to its memorable music video.

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Countdown To Christmas 2021: Beck – ‘The Little Drum Machine Boy’

December 10, 2021 — Leave a comment
Pictured: Beck Hansen in a promotional photoshoot for ‘Mellow Gold’ (1994) (Photo via DGC/Bang Bang)

Good Morning to you! You are reading the words of Jacob Braybrooke, and it’s time to pre-heat the oven and bake some Christmas Cookies as we continue our ‘Countdown To Christmas’ for the year with another daily upload on the blog, since it has always been my day-to-day pleasure to write up about a different piece of music every day! It has been a little while since we heard from Beck Hansen on the blog, but we have explored several snippets of his material on the site before. The 90’s Alternative Pop and Rock music icon has always been known for his exhaustive list of collaborations with fellow pop culture legends like Paul McCartney, Air and The Lonely Island, as well as his obscure and oblique lyricism, along with his wealth of eccentric recordings in the 90’s and 00’s that have found Beck scoring several Grammy Awards wins and a four-time platinum certification for his album sales, with some of his most popular albums being 1996’s ‘Odelay’ and 2002’s ‘Sea Change’, both of which were highly influential and earned spots on Rolling Stone’s list of ‘The 500 Greatest Albums Of All Time’ that was last revised in 2020. Although some of my favourites include 1999’s ‘Midnite Vultures’ and 2019’s ‘Hyperspace’, his rare Christmas track known as ‘The Little Drum Machine Boy’ came immediately off the back of ‘Odelay’ and ‘Mutations’, where Beck was very confident in his ability to pull together his absurdities on top of sly, freeform Hip-Hop beats. The single first appeared on KROQ’s annual Christmas tape in Los Angeles during 1996, before appearing on his label’s charity compilation titled ‘Just Say Noel’, and it can also be found on Kevin & Bean’s ‘Christmas Time In The LBC’ compilation released that same year. Beck recalled in an interview during 2008 that he actually recorded it during the summer time and nowhere near to the holidays in a studio found in Rochester, New York when he finished touring one year and that it was inspired by Outkast and Busta Rhymes’ early records. Even by Beck’s lofty experimental standards, this single is pretty bizzare. Give into the insanity below.

‘The Little Drum Machine Boy’ is a pretty obscure recording when all things have been considered, but two edits of Beck’s kooky festive anthem exist. The example above is the full-length seven minute recording which is drum machine-based, but there is also a three minute radio edit out there without the lengthy ending sequence. The problem is, with the latter version, you’re missing out on a lot of the humor and the twists on the Christmas-themed production formula. Beck was largely known for his quirky sample-based flair and his post-modern Pop Art collages of noise throughout the 90’s, and ‘The Little Drum Machine’ boy recalls this era of his discography with logical sense – building up some meticulous layers of soft-funk, wobbling bass and psychedelic guitar rhythms full of trippy and rhythmically deranged sounds with a wonky structure. It’s hard to even find a place to start with the lyrics, which rarely make any sense of a typically coherent fashion, as you’re likely to expect from the weird and wonderful palette of mid-90’s Beck. Hansen starts off with the words taken from the ancient christmas carol that his track’s title bears a clear resemblance to, before proclaiming to drop some ‘Hanukkah’ science to the mix and adds a robotic vocal to the mixture. The robotic samples act as a through-line for the wacky sonic palette, as he continues to twist and morph the tone of the universally known carol to be about the Jewish holiday of Hannukah and modernizes the melodies with the help of some eccentric synths and the consistent Drum Machine programming. The vocals feel hazy and hallucinogenic, but there’s a rhyme and a reason to a few of the lines sprinkled in here, as Beck’s near-indecipherable robot voice is actually reciting a Jewish blessing and he continues to slur some Jewish prayers throughout the song with his awkward vocals. The crazy concoction of his vocals and instrumentation bend and break the conventional Christmas tropes by transforming the vocals into being an ode to Hanukkah instead of our global end-of-the-year season. It contains some of the most abstract, on-the-nose and topically obscure Christmas lyrics ever to be issued, but Beck achieves his goal of dropping some “robot Hanukkah science” that he clearly states at the intro of the strange single, and so the ensuing collage of quirky music isn’t as hard to make out as it may first appear when you really think about it. The ending is festive and funny, while the playful lyrics throughout are dipping between hooks of different Christmas classics that you would recognize and his affection for the Jewish holiday that he depicts as equivalent. Overall, this is a strange and straight-up abnormal tune that only be 90’s Beck, and only he could only get away with making it work because he manages to make it supple enough to hold together and the unique, individual rhyme schemes of his musical blueprint saved it from diving into the pure novelty status it risks. Bonkers brilliance from the best Beck.

Pictured: Art Collage showing the many faces of Beck over the decades (2018) (Photo Credit: Sarita Schaffer)

Several sporadic entries regarding Beck have been made on the blog before, and so there’s plenty to keep you busy content-wise on this humble site if you’re an avid fan of his output. You can read all about 1999’s ‘Hollywood Freaks’ here: https://onetrackatatime.home.blog/2020/09/02/22nd-birthday-special-edition-beck-hollywood-freaks/. There’s also my thoughts on ‘Uneventful Days’ here: https://onetrackatatime.home.blog/2019/10/29/todays-track-beck-uneventful-days/ and you can see more of ‘Hyperspace’ with my review of ‘See Through’ here: https://onetrackatatime.home.blog/2019/11/28/todays-track-beck-see-through/, and one of my earliest posts was written about ‘Tropicalia’ from ‘Mutations’ here: https://onetrackatatime.home.blog/2019/08/20/todays-track-beck-tropicalia/

Pictured: Cover Artwork for ‘Midnite Vultures’ (LP) (Released on November 23rd, 1999) (via DGC Records/Bang Bang)

It’s time for me to take a deep breath and leave you to enjoy the rest of your day! The festivities will keep going tomorrow, however, with another new installment in our ‘Countdown To Christmas’ for 2021. The next pick is much more recent and it comes from a 25-year-old Tennessae-born indie rock singer songwriter who was a member of the ‘Boygenius’ trio alongside similarly young solo breakouts Phoebe Bridgers and Lucy Dacus. Her latest LP, ‘Little Oblivions’, was released to great reviews in February.

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Today’s Track: Ibibio Sound Machine – ‘Electricity’

November 25, 2021 — Leave a comment
Pictured: Eno Williams (Lead Vocals/Chief Songwriter/Producer), Scott Baylis (Synths/Trumpet), Max Grunhard (Saxophone/Synths), Alfred Kari Bannerman (Lead Guitar/Occasional Backing Vocals), Tony Hayden (Trombone/Synths), Phillip PK Ambrose (Bass Guitar), Anselmo Netto (Percussion) and Joseph Amoako (Drums) performing at the Pool Recording Studio, London for NPR’s ‘World Cafe’ (2019) (Photo via Kimberly Junod/WXPN)

Good Morning to you! I am Jacob Braybrooke, and the time has come for me to take you through yet another eclectic variety of sounds with yet another daily track on the blog, because it has always been my day-to-day pleasure to write up about a different piece of music every day! Led by Eno Williams, Ibibio Sound Machine are a ten-piece Afro Jazz collective that she formed with producers Benji Bouton, Leon Brichard and Max Grunhard in 2013 with their idea of combining the unique vocals of the Ibibio language that she used to speak whilst growing up in Nigeria with both traditional West African and more modern electronic music elements. Although currently based in London, Williams sings her lyrics in both English and the Nigerian tongue of Ibibio, and the group are known for taking their musical inspirations from the golden ages of West African Funk and Dance music, modern Post-Rock and Electro-Pop music. Since forming, the band have been interested in creating music which fuses elements of 1990’s Drum & Bass and 1980’s Afrobeat. The band also notably performed at KEXP’s ‘International Clash Day’ event in January 2019, and they have since linked up with Merge Records to issue 2017’s ‘Uyai’ and 2019’s ‘Doko Mien’ for release, with their self-titled debut album being released on Soundway Records in 2014. Their latest single, ‘Electricity’, was premiered by Lauren Laverne during her breakfast show on BBC Radio 6 Music a pair of weeks ago, and it was recorded in Hot Chip’s studio. The group will also be embarking on a UK tour next March and April, including dates in Bath, Birmingham, Worthing, Newcastle, Manchester, London and Leeds. Let’s give it a spin.

Giving her insight into the direction of the new single ‘Electricity’, frontwoman Eno Williams says, “This one started out as an idea to mix Afrobeat with Giorgio Moroder-style synth vibes”, explaining, “The end section with Alfred’s korogo (Ghanian 2-stringed Folk guitar) solo was already there when we got into the studio, but then we added the big kick drum that happens underneath and Owen from Hot Chip’s crazy drum machine percussion at the end, which gave it a futuristic Afro feel when mixed with the more talking drum parts”, in her press statement. More or less doing my job for me with the press release, ‘Electricity’ is lyrically exploring the connection between different people and the power resource. The instrumentation leans towards an 80’s Synth Pop style, with a buoyant bassline and some tight drum melodies undercut by some more grounded, progressive Synth loops courtesy of the drum machine sequences. The pace builds gradually, starting off with mid-tempo beats and purely Synth-based rhythms before introducing a decent amount of variety with sparse Saxophone melodies and short Horn sections towards the middle. A big crescendo of danceable Synth riffs and more cerebral Jazz production creates a burst of energy in the third fourth of the track, before a longer instrumental section of ritualistic chants and quick, extravagant Horn scatterings rounds off the track before we get a final repeat of the chorus. It brings a somewhat new element to the chorus, where Williams talks about love and speaking from the heart as the simple answer to life’s complexities. An uplifting track with a slightly rougher edge that reminds me of Soccer 96’s ethereal Prog-Jazz production during brief intervals, ‘Electricity’ is a single that is lyrically radiant and evidently listenable. A focused and charming return.

Pictured: Cover Art for ‘Electricity’ (Single) (Released on October 26, 2021) (via Merge Records)

That’s all for now! Thank you for reading my latest post, and it is ‘New Album Release Fridays’ tomorrow, meaning that I’ll be guiding you through one of the weekend’s most notable new album releases. This week’s pick gives you a taste of the new posthumous album by a cult favourite Alabama-born singer-songwriter who sadly left us in March. Encompassing a variety of styles including Blues, Rockabilly and Country – you may know him for opening on-tour for The Hives and The White Stripes in 2007.

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