New Album Release Fridays: Soccer 96 (feat. Salami Rose Joe Louis) – ‘Yesterday Knows Me’

May 6, 2022 — Leave a comment

Pictured: Cover Artwork for ‘Inner Worlds’ (LP/Album) (Released on May 6th, 2022) (via Moshi Moshi Records)

Good Morning to you! My name is Jacob Braybrooke, and the time has finally arrived for us to enjoy some celestial analog Synths and lumbering Hi-Hat Drums with yet 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! Sharon Van Etten, Belle and Sebastian, Rolling Blackouts Coastal Fever, Sunflower Bean, Peaness and – as my mother just informed me earlier this morning – Emeli Sande are all taking advantage of the warm weather (and a gap in the release schedule before Kendrick Lamar unleashes his new cryptic juggernaut next week) with new albums this week. Another LP release worth keeping an eye on is the latest album by the London-based Prog-Jazz duo Soccer96, which is comprised of keyboardist Dan Leavers (Danalogue) and drummer Max Hallett (Betamax) who are also members of The Comet Is Coming. The two musicians like to keep busy in their separate careers as well. Leavers has performed alongside Scratcha DVA and Henry Lu, and he has produced albums for Ibibio Sound Machine, Snapped Ankles and Flamingods. Meanwhile, Hallett is also a member of Hot Head Show and Super Best Friends Club – and he’s also played the live drums with Sons Of Kemet, Yussef Kamal and Melt Yourself Down. They have become a regular addition to my digital library with their ethereal blend of Sci Fi-leaning Electronica, post-apocalyptic Ambient and poly-rhythmic Grime-Jazz. For their live sets, the diverse duo also pride themselves on using no laptops, sequencers or software when they perform, instead opting to play each of their parts in the moment. ‘Inner Worlds’ is the follow-up to last year’s ‘Dopamine’, an ambitious record based loosely on a narrative centered around a corrupt AI system that landed a spot on my very own ‘Top 25 Best Albums Of The Year’ 2021-end list that was published back in January on the blog. It releases today digitally, but it won’t be available to purchase on physical formats until May 27th via Moshi Moshi Records. The leading single – ‘Yesterday Knows Me’ – enlists the aid of Salami Rose Joe Louis, who previously provided the vocals for ‘Sitting On A Satellite’ that was taken off 2021’s ‘Dopamine’. Check out the music video for the single below.

Rozi Plain, Simbad, Tom Herbert and The Colours That Rise also appear on the new release, and Soccer96 pitch it for your pleasure by noting, “We’ve been reflecting on the relationship between our inner worlds and outer worlds, how our minds shape our experience and our experience shapes our mind“, in the LP’s product description on their Bandcamp profile, concluding, “How caring and nurturing our inner worlds can improve our relationship with our outer experiences. We see the creation of music as the bridge between these two worlds“, in their own words. Building off the unorthodox time signatures and Space-Pop synths of ‘Dopamine’, Soccer96 invite us all into the alluring and deliberately mechanical tone of ‘Inner Worlds’ with a typically whimsical arrangement of multi-layered vocals and gently Trip Hop-leaning instrumentals. Their beats feel ‘broken’ and ‘wonky’ to a characteristic degree, and they are tuned well to the sounds of the Soul-tinged vocals by Joe Louis that feel slow-burning and almost robotic in delivery. Instrumentally, it’s all about the texture for Soccer96 as always, as the duo continue to lay out their formula of intense textures and rather meticulous compositions that straddle the line between chaos and order like a well-balanced walk on a tight rope, while giving off the hazy and psychedelic vibes that distort the vocals and loop the drums in a sense of propulsion that slowly ascends and descends gradually. The crunching break-beat plays catch up to the more upbeat keyboard work for the most part, while the sequences bass ostinato provides subtle hints to 70’s Psych-Funk and 90’s New-Age recordings at differing points. Towards the end, there’s also a squelching solo where the electronics are really turned up to eleven and replace the wide-eyed mood of the verses with an extra angle being added between the melee of the drums and keyboard where the cut is more focused on brute sonic impact. Musically, the lead single feels very varied while the barely audible lyrics add another dimension to the light grooves. The cohesion is solid though, and there’s certainly the creativity here to warrant the genre-fluid variety of styles feeling suitable together. It’s not really a major departure in sound for the duo, but it shows the experimental and independent duo doing what they do best and embracing their creative freedom to deliver a fascinating and imaginative tapestry of textures, moods and functions. This is bound to be another Soccer96 record that you should not miss.

Pictured: Dan Leavers (Keyboard/Synths) and Max Hallett (Drums/Percussion) (2021) (Photo Credit: William Barnes)

Looking for more where that came from? Check out my previous Soccer96 post here:

‘Sitting On A Satellite’ (feat. Salami Rose Joe Louis) (2021) – https://onetrackatatime.home.blog/2021/09/24/new-album-release-fridays-soccer96-feat-salami-rose-joe-louis-sitting-on-a-satellite/

Pictured: Cover Artwork for ‘Dopamine’ (Released on September 24th, 2021) (via Moshi Moshi Records)

That brings us to the bottom of the page once again, and I thank you very much for your support today and over the years. Remarkably, I have just reached the milestone of 1,000 posts being published on the site, as of yesterday. There will be no new daily post tomorrow in the traditional sense, but please stay tuned to the homepage and the social media profiles for an important announcement arriving in the coming days.

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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: 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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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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New Album Release Fridays: Lady Wray – ‘Under The Sun’

January 28, 2022 — Leave a comment

Pictured: Cover Artwork for ‘Piece Of Me’ (Released on January 28th, 2022) (via Big Crown Records)

Good Morning to you! This is Jacob Braybrooke – as you’ll already expect if you’re a regular reader of the blog – and it’s time for us to sample one of the weekend’s most noteworthy new LP releases with yet another daily track on the blog, since it’s always my day-to-day pleasure to write up about a different piece of music! We’ve almost reached the end of the horrifically long month of January, but, at least we can always rely on Fridays for some potential new additions to our Vinyl collections. This week is really no different, as we have got the comeback album from Salinas-born R&B, Soul and Blues singer-songwriter Lady Wray (aka Nicole Wray, a California native) to look forward to hearing. Based in Virginia, Lady Wray turned heads very early on in her career when her debut single – 1998’s ‘Make It Hot’ – was certified Gold in sales. During her teenage years, Wray was introduced to then-emerging rapper Missy Elliott (Who has, of course, since attained Icon status in contemporary Hip-Hop music for her crossover success), who was searching for a new female singer to sign to The Goldmind Inc – Elliott’s own label. Wray impressed Elliott by performing SWV’s ‘Weal’ and, so, she was the first signee and she inked distribution deals with a larger label, Elektra Records. Arriving today through Big Crown Records, ‘Piece Of Me’ is the follow-up to 2016’s ‘Queen Alone’. In the time since, Wray gave birth to her daughter Melody Bacote in June 2018 and, during April 2020, she married musician Daniel Bacote. Therefore, it will be rather interesting to find out how Wray has matured as an artist through these experiences. She brings the warmth with ‘Under The Sun’ below.

Complemented by a liberating and fun-filled music video that was directed by Daniel Oramas, Wray says about the cheerful single that appears on her new album ‘Piece Of Me’ which is out today, “I wrote ‘Under The Sun’ thinking of summertime and all its perks. When I first heard the production, I immediately thought of warm weather and partying with my friends – just letting go and having a good time”, as she explained to Rated R&B, concluding, “I’m so happy to get this out because we need great, feel-good music these days. Something to make good memories to”, in the interview. As we get off to a bright start with an oriental guitar melody and a Jazz-laden Horn backdrop, Wray soaks in the sun with lyrics like “The sun is out/The wind is free” and “Feel like living under the sun/Feel like laughing under the sun” as she paints a picture-esque visual of deck chairs on the beach and Ice Cream while walking along the prom as colourful lyrics collide with polished percussion to create some atmospheric melodies. Her tone, especially as she croons soulful refrains like “Have a drink, close your eyes/Let yourself be hypnotized” and “Purple clouds, purple dreams/Laying back under the tree” are decidedly mellow, but Wray gives them an upbeat delivery that makes them feel almost as if they rhyme. Uplifting yet downtempo, Wray presents to us an endearing concoction of Neo-Soul and Motown vibes here as she luxuriates in the song’s energy with the simple theme of finding the joy in the small things when the sun’s rays give you a positive mind-set, with some intricate Horn sections and elevated, layered vocals that simply makes you want to change your attitude and, perhaps, turn the volume up in the process. I would say, however, that given how we’re in the midst of the cold and bland month of January that we all seem to dislike, it doesn’t really feel like the proper ‘mood music’ of the time since Wray is celebrating the power of warmth and creating cheerful melodies to mimic the sun’s presence here, and it’s unfortunate to think how the song may have come and gone a little too much by the time that June and July finally roll around to us in 2022. That said, it is also a gentle reminder that the weather will soon change and, in the process, it achieves its goal of being a very light-hearted and charming take on the 00’s summertime R&B style. Although it’s probably coming out at the wrong time as the rain pours down and the wind continually howls here in the UK, it would play better to audiences in places like Australia, where the summertime is currently hitting its peak right now. Wray just also has a distinctly no-nonsense style that sticks out beyond her contemporary peer acts too. An earworm of a vibrant track.

Pictured: Lady Wray (Nicole Wray) in a photoshoot for The Village Voice (2016) (Photo via Big Crown Records)

That is all for today! Thank you for indulging in some radiance with me on the blog today, and I’ll be back tomorrow for the penultimate entry of daily posts before our next installment of my long-running ‘Scuzz Sundays’ feature on the following day. We’re going to be analysing some fresh material from a veteran and well-known indie rock band who were formed in Leeds during 2007 who are currently performing as a trio. They won the Mercury Prize in 2012 with their debut album – ‘An Awesome Wave’.

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Today’s Track: KAINA – ‘Anybody Can Be In Love’

January 13, 2022 — Leave a comment

Pictured: KAINA in an official PR photoshoot for ‘Next To The Sun’ (2019) (Photo Credit: Vacalo Radio.org)

Good Morning to you! My name is Jacob Braybrooke, and it is time to reflect the rising warmth of the slowly arriving Spring with yet another radiant daily track on the blog, by remembering that it has always been my day-to-day pleasure to write up about a different piece of music every day! A Minneapolis-based Alternative R&B singer-songwriter who was raised in Chicago but born of both Venezuelan and Guatemalan heritage, Kaina Castillo (who goes by the shortened name of KAINA when releasing her music) is new to my ears but is definitely worth the mainstream keeping an ear on by these standards of her recent single ‘Anybody Can Be In Love’, a heartfelt track that blends mellow Neo-Soul and early 00’s Garage-Pop influences (Think ‘Flowers’ by Sweet Female Attitude) together warmly. Signed to Berlin-based independent label City Slang Records (The home of artists like Noga Erez and Roosevelt), KAINA has worked with prolific Pop producers such as Sen Morimoto and Luke Titus on her discography that includes 2019’s ‘Next To The Sun’ – her previous album – as well as EP’s like 2016’s ‘Sweet asl’ and 2018’s ‘4U’ that lyrically dealt with the themes of representation and self-identity. Her next album – ‘It Was A Home’ – is set to arrive on March 4th with a few featured guests including Helado Negro and Sleater-Kinney. To coincide with the announcement, KAINA has provided our first taster of her new record with the aforementioned single that is accompanied by a psychedelic music video that was directed by Weird Life Films that clearly takes inspiration from Mr. Rogers TV show with the Utopian visuals. Let’s take a listen to the eminent new track.

The soon-to-be touring musician says, “Anybody Can Be In Love is about letting go and accepting love when it comes to any sort of relationship, romantic or platonic” in her latest press release, adding, “I’ve seen myself and my close friends miss out on a really great moment we’ve wished for or a great relationship because we’re so fixated on getting hurt or being fearful”, as she makes it clear that she aims for the track to make listeners feel inspired to take a chance on the potential around them. Opening with a hazy psych-inflected drum beat and a calm String section that struts along confidently, KAINA opens up her heart with honest lyrics like “Everybody’s looking for a sign that they won’t trust, Missing moments we’ve been dreaming of” that spread a widely relatable message that inspires urgency while getting the point across in a calmly defiant way with mid-tempo String sections and a soulful set of bass guitar riffs that undercut the headstrong lyrics of “Doesn’t take much to get along/Doesn’t take much to take the time” as the chorus meanders along with a vibe of tranquility and clarity. There’s a neat focus on dream-inflicted ambiance where the delicate vocal performance meets in the middle with an intoxicating blend of soft pop melodies and visionary Neo-Soul elements. The textures complement the mellow tone quite nicely too, with a fiercer guitar tone that builds up the call to personal action within the song while not overbearing the illustrious atmosphere of KAINA’s fragile vocals by showing the correct amount of gentle restraint. Whether you choose to love yourself more intimately after hearing the track or taking a chance on somebody around you after hearing the bright track, the message is put across in a clear-cut way that still maintains the warmth of the subtle Soul sound. While ‘Anybody Can Be In Love’ could have possibly done with a few more interesting lyrics, it’s still a poignant little track that encourages seeing the beauty in the simplicity of your surroundings and the sweeping melodies ooze a sense of relaxation that feels wide-eyed and encouraging without feeling overwhelming at any point, and so this is really nice work from KAINA.

Pictured: Cover Artwork for ‘It Was A Home’ (LP) (Available on March 4th, 2022) (via City Slang Records)

That’s all for now! Don’t forget to be kind to yourself today, and I send my love to you for checking out my latest blog post. Exciting developments are here tomorrow as the first part of my year-end list of 2021’s best albums gets published on the site and ‘Way Back Wednesdays’ makes it’s routinely return to the site after a brief few weeks away as we sample the new full-length album from the former frontman of The Maccabees.

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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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Today’s Track: Mykki Blanco (feat. Blood Orange) – “It’s Not My Choice”

September 16, 2021 — Leave a comment

Pictured: Cover Artwork for ‘Broken Hearts & Beauty Sleep’ (Mixtape) (Released on June 18th, 2021) (via Transgressive Records)

Good Morning to you! This is Jacob Braybrooke and, as you’ve probably figured out already by this point, it is time for me to get typing up about yet another track for today’s post on the blog, because it is always my day-to-day pleasure to write up about a different piece of new music every day! An Alternative Hip-Hop and Psych-Soul rapper and solo singer-songwriter – as well as being an activist, poet and visual performance artist – Mykki Blanco has enjoyed a steady ride to fame, having worked with such lucrative mainstream mega stars like Taylor Swift and Kanye West. Blanco was first born in Orange County, California as the daughter of an IT specialist and a Paralegal at the North Carolina Patent and Trademark Office, before Blanco began hormone therapy for her transgender transition in 2019, having used different gender pronouns throughout their career to this point. They also published a manuscript of poems – ‘From The Silence Of Duchamp To The Noise Of Boys’ – in 2011. Having since contributed to works with Teyana Taylor, Blanco is now one of the leading figures in New York City’s LGBT popular culture scene. In June, they released a new mixtape, ‘Broken Hearts & Beauty Sleep’ on the Transgressive Records label, the first of two short-form albums that Blanco is set to release this year and, technically, it marks their first proper studio music release since 2016’s ‘Mykki’. The new record sees them join forces with several guests like God Colony, Jamila Woods and Bruno Ribiero, and a physical release of the project is set to hit record shop shelves next month. ‘It’s Not My Choice’ finds Blanco working with the famous Soul mega producer Dev Hynes, who was previously a member of Test Icicles and he has since produced music with artists like Harry Styles, Blondie, Carly Rae Jepsen and Jazmine Sullivan, and he has released several critically acclaimed albums under the moniker of Blood Orange. He’s also directed the music video for this collaboration with Blanco. Give it a listen below.

“Creating with Dev Hynes [Blood Orange] as director of this video was as effortless as creating the song together”, Mykki Blanco said in a press statement, later explaining, “This video was carefree and captured what I feel to be some quintessential summer moments. Being with friends, being in nature, and having a sense of poise no matter your own personal thunderstorm” in their assessment of the collaboration’s process and influences. ‘It’s Not My Choice’ seems to find Blanco pondering the pro’s and con’s against deciding to end a relationship that has become dysfunctional. There are no sour regrets to this one, so to speak, but it finds them torn on whether to keep the romance afloat or to allow a natural change of heart to take precedence. These mournful lyrics are given a clean polish from Hynes’ production that, for my liking, has long taken cues from Prince and Janet Jackson in 80’s Synth-Pop flair. There is a soulful female vocal sample that adds radiant and long harmonies to the forlorn sounds, and Dev Hynes uses the strength of a catchy Piano beat and a smoky Trumpet backbeat to complement the Hip-Hop melodicism of Blanco’s lyrical delivery, as the two provide a tense and punchy soundtrack to the deliberation of a potential break up. The bassline feels understated and a little basic, but it’s given plenty of fresh energy from the explosive Synth pads, the ruminating Keys and the wistful Horn sections, while the more plaintive Percussion gives a more optimistic outlook to the emotional tug of war being evoked by the vocals, which Hynes also adds to with a crooning refrain towards the beginning of the tune, leading to a nice and apologetic vocal section that gives us some closure of the pre-built narrative when we reach the finale of the joint venture. Overall, this was pretty good. One of my minor gripes is how the album itself is only around the 30 minute mark in length, and so I think it could have done with two or three more tracks to flesh out the interesting ideas that Blanco has a little more thoroughly. Their sense of self-awareness mixed with the melodic production of the track is right on the cutting edge of rap-inspired Pop, however, and the contemporary twist gives fresh life to the 80’s influences. There is a bit of a niche here, and I would not say that I’m really the ‘target audience’ for this music, as such, but it does certainly feel like the right time to get some more diverse voices, that are worth hearing, into my ear plugs and Blanco is included in that for the good chemistry they exhibit with Hynes here. A crowd pleasing, infectious Pop record.

Pictured: Mykki Blanco performing at a fashion event (2020) (Photo by Getty Images/Edward Berthelot)

That brings us to the end of the page for another day, and so all that’s left for me to say is thank you for supporting the blog once again. I’ll be back tomorrow for ‘New Album Release Fridays’ as you would expect, and I’m going for a pick that feels more left-field this week, as we’re going to be taking a closer look at the Footwork movement that was developed in 2010’s Chicago. It’s tied in with the new release from a pioneer of the genre, who has released a series of well-reviewed records on Planet Mu Records. In his earlier times, he made mixtapes for the Bud Billiken Parade.

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Today’s Track: Kozmodrum – “Wormhoooooooooole…”

August 23, 2021 — Leave a comment

Good Morning to you! You are reading the words of Jacob Braybrooke, and now is the time for me to pollute your ears with another daily track on the blog, because it’s always been my day-to-day pleasure to write to you about a different piece of music every day! This is a shortened week of project work for me on the blog this week, and so I’ll be going away for my sister’s wedding during the week, but I still wanted to sneak ‘Wormhole’ in, and this new one comes from a Croatian 5-piece group called Kozmodrum. Exploring Dub, Techno and House, the quintet have found success in their domestic market and they seem to be looking to gain new fans overseas with the release of their self-titled third full-length album, back in June, via Rika Muzika. Describing their sound as “Organic House Music”, the band use the framework of a DJ set by producing electronic compositions that were designed to be played openly, where they loop beats until a cue point is given to indicate a switch to another part. On Facebook, they pitch this as “Jazz-infused Post-Rock meets Ambient Electronica meets Tech House with a percussion twist”, and that sounds really good to me. A 5-piece led by a classically trained drummer – Janko Novoselić – Kozmodrum won a Porin Award (The Croatian equivalent to the BRIT’s) for their second LP, ‘Gravity’, released in 2017. I was really pleased that John Ravenscroft introduced me to this project on BBC Radio 6 Music a number of weeks ago because it’s been growing on me ever since. Check out the lead single of the band’s new album, ‘Wormhole’, below.

Kozmodrum cites Tycho and Elektro Guzzi as their stylistic influences for their new record, and they told Twisted Soul, “After our first two albums, that were each very different in their own way – the first one being an exploration of Jazz/Fusion moods and the second veering toward more electronic/ambient atmospheres – this album is the most truthful representation of how we really sound live” in their own promo message. ‘Wormhole’ is a tune that was being developed over the space of five years until it reached its final form that you can hear on the new LP, and this tireless dedication to their own craft clearly shows in the meticulous structuring and the layers that build throughout the track. The six-minute duration seems to be on the longer side of things, but the instrumentation is paced nicely and it feels packed neatly considering the various Drum, Synth, Keyboard and Bass sequences in play. There’s no vocals, just pretty guitar melodies and splashings of rumbling Bass that gets a light-hearted tone across, and the animated music video adds nicely to the hand-woven aesthetic of the overall proceedings. As you would expect for a mix between Jazz and non-traditional Dance music, there is a fairly minimalist start to things before the different layers keep building and then evolving to form new loops, creating some sublime electronic grooves that have a bright warmth to them in the process. More complex, fragmented and harmonic Synth sounds follow in the later stages and small elements of Prog-Jazz and Math-Rock are evoked through the specific timing schemes. I really like how the track takes cues from Nu-Jazz, non-traditional Punk and experimental Electronic music to do something unique with the instruments being used, and the resulting sound is a blissful and chilled affair that is never afraid to throw some rougher sounds into the mixture. Once established, the grooves bump and slither their way through a Psychedelic concoction of genres that just slips neatly into your ears and keeps you actively listening out for the chord changes at the same time because they feel interesting and carefully textured. In summary, it is a lovely listen and definitely worthy of more ears than it’s been getting.

Pictured: Cover Art for ‘Kozmodrum’ (Self-Titled LP) (Released on June 25th, 2021) (via Rika Muzika)

That brings us to the end of the page for another day! Thank you for reaching this historic part of the day for me, and please feel free to join me again tomorrow as we do it all over again. I’ll be supporting more music from a lesser-known artist in John Peel style again as we take a detour into some DIY Hip-Hop production. My next pick comes from a 30-year-old rapper from South East London who has based his new album, ‘Section 1’, on the tragedies that have all defined his twenties, such as mental health struggles and familial loss. It’s a hard-hitting listen that demands your hearing.

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Today’s Track: Elkka – “Burnt Orange”

May 25, 2021 — Leave a comment

Let’s get to the sweetened Pulp of our favourite Welsh Femme Fatale. New post time!

Pictured: Elkka showing off her pandemic studio set-up (2021) (Photo via TheVinylFactory.com)

Good Morning to you! My name is Jacob Braybrooke, and it’s time for me to get typing up for your daily track on the blog, just like usual, because it’s always my day-to-day pleasure to write up about a different piece of new music every day! ‘Burnt Orange’ has been B-listed on BBC Radio 6 Music, and it comes from Elkka – real name Emma Kirby – a DJ and electronic music producer from Cardiff, who is now based in London. Kirby originally grew up wanting to be a pop star, but she found her true calling in 2016, when she founded the Femme Culture with DJ Saint Ludo. Her label’s successes include Octo Octa and Lone, and it has expanded past club nights and fundraising compilations since winning the ‘Breakthrough Label’ nod at DJ Mag’s ‘Best Of British’ Awards in 2018. Her debut solo LP, ‘Every Body is Welcome’, was another success for her, in 2019, with more established names like Caribou, George FitzGerald and Floating Points sharing her music on their pages, and earning features on Crack and Mixmag. ‘Euphoric Melodies’ is her new EP, and it was released over the past weekend via Technicolour Records – an imprint of Ninja Tune. Check out ‘Burnt Orange’ below.

Elkka’s new five-track release is pitched as “Euphoric Melodies started out as an exploration of what pulls me in, what makes me feel those moments of elation when writing music or listening to it or just when living life”, according to her press notes on the new Extended Play. She adds, “The underlying theme seems to be warmth, euphoria and nostalgia… which is what plays out in this EP in different forms. Little did I know that, as the EP came together, nostalgia for euphoria would be so prevalent” to her address. A multi-faceted production, ‘Burnt Orange’ manages to vividly evoke the Acid Techno of 90’s Warp releases and the Funk/Soul fusion of the late-1970’s with charming flair. Starting off with bouncing Drum sequences and wide reverb to give the bass a danceable repetition, the melodies slowly evolve from a cinematic and quietly String-enhanced scope to a more playful and pop-friendly club atmosphere. A whirling, virtuosic Synth sequence paves the way for an entrancing bassline with bright, hypnotic Drum scatterings. It all feels percussive, before a seemingly wordless vocal riff from Elkka enters the fray. It’s almost like she has spontaneously began to mutter along to her own track during it’s post-production stages. It has an improvisational vibe, with a rhythmic stutter that evokes 00’s Garage tunes. The chorus of-sorts features a vocal breakdown that feels very much like a Jazz Scat, as the light humming and the dance-led textures all come together for the third act to convey optimism and happiness. It feels like a tune, overall, that 90’s film character Austin Powers would only describe as “Groovy Baby”. There’s a delicacy to the production that gives it a reflexive quality where it feels we’re breaking the fourth wall between artist and audience a little bit. It’s very enjoyable, overall, with a fairly distinctive style that creates a vibrant fantasy of a warm, night summer rooftop party.

Pictured: Cover Art for “Euphoric Melodies” (EP) (Released on May 21, 2021) (via Technicolour Records)

That’s all for now! Join me again tomorrow for ‘Way Back Wednesdays’ as we mark the release of Moby’s ‘Reprise’ album on May 28th, this weekend, – a new project of re-imagined orchestral and acoustic versions of the most popular recordings over the course of his career – with a throwback to his highest-charting single in the UK from 1999. It got to the #5 spot in the UK Singles Chart, and every single track from it’s respective album was eventually licensed for use in a film, TV or commercial production of some form. 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/