Future Funk

Today’s Track: Pan Amsterdam (feat. GUTS) – “Carrot Cake”

October 9, 2020 — Leave a comment

Let’s pray the whole dessert doesn’t have a soggy bottom. It’s time for your new post!

  • Pictured: Cover Artwork for “Carrot Cake” (Single) (Released on August 5th, 2020) (via Def Pressé)

Good Morning to you! I’m Jacob Braybrooke and, just like always, I’m here to write up about your daily track on the blog, since it is routinely my day-to-day pleasure to get typing about a different piece of music every day! Pan Amsterdam is a very tricky one to give many introductions about, and that’s because he is a producer and composer who thrives on being an enigma. He writes for his online biographies, “We really don’t know exactly where Pan Amsterdam comes from. He was found on the coast of Miami, Florida in a state of apparent amnesia”, later adding, “Pan Amsterdam must have been unconscious on the coast for 22hrs before he was discovered by none other than rock icon and ‘The Godfather of Punk’, Iggy Pop”, who has always been a very frequent collaborator for this musical mystery. His accent has a very Eastern American sound though, and he has nodded to his accent as a cross between Brooklyn, Jersey or Manhattan in a track on his debut album, “The Pocket Watch”, which was released in 2018. Since then, it’s been reported that Pan Amsterdam is supposedly the alias of a New York-based trumpeter and songwriter, Leron Thomas. Nevetheless, the usual two-year turnaround period has just come and gone, and “Pan Am” is back with the follow-up to his critically-acclaimed (If critically-dumbfounded, more like) debut record. “HA Chu” was released last Friday, on October 2nd, via the Def Pressé label. With high-profile new album releases from Róisín Murphy, Groove Armada and The National’s lead member Matt Berninger, and impressive lower-key releases from Working Men’s Club and Loraine James, it really has been one of the most busy weekends of new music releases, for me, in quite some time, and “Pan Am” looks to be no exception to the former rule, given his ascending popularity. Guest work on the album comes from Iggy Pop, Jimi Goodwin (Doves) and Jason Williams (Sleaford Mobs). Let’s have a tasty slice of “Carrot Cake”, featuring GUTS, down below.

Critics have noted that “Pan Am” goes for a more darkly textured sound on the bulk of “HA Chu” in comparison to his more Jazz-infused predecessor, as he gets together with the collaborators that I have listed above, and a couple of surprising notables to record one of the strangest and most enigmatically endearing releases of the autumn season. “I’ll funk like rotten milk and pass the expiration date/I’ll make your granny’s cow lactate” are just a few little snippets of the quirky songwriting that “Pan Am” uses to his odd advantage throughout the course (the Dessert one) of “Carrot Cake”, as he mixes up an exceptionally abstract two-step Parisian drum groove with a hazy, laidback synth rhythm that, for me, goes back to the late 60’s era of “Pre’ Hip-Hop” in conceptual spades. GUTS adds the female backing vocal of “Come In Closer” to create a weirdly soothing backing vocal that adds textured layers of good sensual feelings to proceedings. The male vocals are seemingly unrelated to this, and the lyrics being drawn upon are mostly a mix of creative wordplay and dry humour, which combine with the whirling keyboard riffs and the funk rhymes to create the subtle early Hip-Hop sensibility which carries the comic relief along to a robustly paced effect. He throws obscure pop culture references on the cards, almost muttering: “Because I don’t fight/I eat chips, and I watch a lotta’ Kung-Flu flicks/Way Of The Dragon be my profile pic” at a steady pace to an intelligent wit. The production is rooted in G-Funk and Soft-Pop, and that’s before we get to the Trumpet instrumental outro, which feels smoky and old-school in it’s delivery. Lyrically, the substance is almost non-existent because they do not really make any actual sense, but they manage to subvert your expectations of a contemporary record, and “Pan Am” strings the words together to a quirky, rhythmic pattern which makes up for a cohesive flow, and they sound good together as a result. This really takes a bit of skill, but “Pan Am” makes it seem easy. Overall, it’s tricky for anybody to properly identify what’s going on here, but I like it – and I think that’s the main point. One of the most essential tunes for the present time.

  • Pictured: Cover Artwork for “HA Chu” (Album/LP) (Released on October 2nd, 2020) (via Def Pressé)

Thanks for checking out your daily blog post! I’ll be back tomorrow to kick off the weekend with an in-depth look at a track which was released earlier in the Spring by an artist who recently appeared on KEXP’s “Live At Home” series of virtual gigs. He has also performed at BBC Radio 1’s Big Weekend festival, and he has earned praise from radio broadcasters including Annie Mac, Huw Stephens and Jack Saunders. None of his two songs are the same! If you really liked what you just read, why not follow the blog to get notified when every new daily post is up and why not like the Facebook page here?: https://www.facebook.com/OneTrackAtATime/

Today’s Track: Jane In Palma – “One By One (Original Mix)”

October 8, 2020 — Leave a comment

This is basically Cuckoo from the titular BBC sitcom in music form. It’s new post time!

  • Pictured: Jane In Palma (a.k.a. Julian Smith) in the music video for “Safety Net” (2020) (via Vimeo.com)

Good Morning to you! My name is Jacob Braybrooke and it’s my duty to get writing up about your spotlighted daily track on the blog, because it’s still always my day-to-day pleasure to write up about a different piece of music every day! With such a name as quirky as “Jane In Palma” (a parody of the popular Australian Psychedelic Rock artist Tame Impala), you’d be forgiven for thinking this is just a “p**s take” of that culture. No, this is an incredibly experimental project. “Jane In Palma” is the latest moniker of the California-native percussionist and composer Julian Smith, who has released his material under several different aliases, with Dan Froth being his most notable, and he’s previously been associated with WNCL Recordings, Phonica White and UNO! NYC (between the years of 2010 – 2016) under that pseudonym. “Saftey Net” is the second album of his “Jane In Palma” alias, and it’s the follow-up to 2016’s debut “Primitive Thoughts”, and it was released over the summer, on July 8, via Snake Free Roofing. He has gained support from BBC Radio 1, Rinse FM, NTS Radio and Ibiza Global Radio, of all places. For me, I heard of the artist through one of John Ravenscroft’s recent turns on 6Music Recommends, of which Smith was the featured ‘Spotlight Artist’ of the particular programme. In any case, Smith has been claiming for himself to be “based somewhere between the Balearics and the Basque country”, although I am not too sure if this is a part of the act or not, but I’ve given Smith the benefit of the doubt on that. A purely Instrumental track, let’s give ourselves a gander to “One By One” below.

For his first album of the “Jane In Palma” title, Smith’s “Primitive Thoughts” LP from 2016 saw him interpret the surroundings of two locations – empty caves on the isle of Mallorica – which he used as his recording locations. On his Bandcamp page, Smith explains how “Safety Net” is all about exploring the themes of offline living, and ignoring the presence of the media around us, and the record electronically touches upon elements of Garage-Rock, Post-Punk and Surf-Rock from a sonic standpoint. Although “One By One” is not very representative at all of the core sound of the record overall, personally, it is my favourite track on the record because of it’s simplicity. The rest of the record is an interesting mix of idiosyncratic 80’s hip-hop instrumentals and underground production methods, where “the facts don’t matter if the source is crooked”, according to Smith himself, but the sound that makes up the original mix of “One By One” is a more formulaic and gentle process. It mixes up an audibly soft funk rhythm of a plucky bass guitar riff with a delightfully upbeat Conga drum beat that catches on a melodious, repetitive groove that continually sits on the top of a slightly stuttered time signature. A few push-and-pulls of the pacing can be heard now and again, but it mainly stays at a punchy mid-tempo feel, with a springy interlude towards the end. There’s evidently nothing at all to talk about lyrically here because it’s an entirely instrumental effort, but the tones are cheerful and free-form, allowing the patterns of the repeated guitar-and-drum pattern to catch the attention of your ears. The sound pallete is not too busy, but there’s enough going on to make it feel relaxed and humble, if unashamedly formulaic, to keep you occupied and simply in a nice mood. Overall, it allows Smith to nurture his creativity mind-set, and explore sequenced sets of productions with the use of the experimental recording processes, without even the need to think about the commercial justifications to do so. A “pet project” down to a tee, I find the simplicity of “One By One” to be very appealing, with music which seems basic but groovy. Definitely worth keeping your tabs on this artist.

  • Pictured: Cover Art for “Safety Net” (Album/LP) (Released on July 8th, 2020) (via Snake Free Roofing)

Thank you very much for reading the new post! Don’t forget that I’ll be back again tomorrow, for an in-depth look at another experimental enigma, who is more accustomed to the underground Hip-Hop Fusion realm. It comes off the back of an impressive debut album released two years ago, and the new record features guest collaborative work from Iggy Pop, Jimi Goodwin (of Doves) and Jason Williamson (of The Sleaford Mobs). If you really liked what you just read, why not follow the blog to get notified when every new daily post is up and why not like the Facebook page here?: https://www.facebook.com/OneTrackAtATime/

Today’s Track: Groove Armada – “Lover4Now”

October 1, 2020 — Leave a comment

The Electronic Dance duo back to prove the old ways are the best! It’s new post time!

  • Pictured: Cover Artwork for “Edge On The Horizon” (Available on October 2nd, 2020) (via BMG Rights)

Good Morning to you! My name is Jacob Braybrooke and, as usual, I’m back on the daily blogging round again today, because it’s still always my day-to-day pleasure to write up about a different piece of music every day! This Friday, tomorrow even, sees the release of “Edge Of The Horizon”, the first new album from Groove Armada, the London-based 1990’s Electronic “Big Beat” duo of Tom Findlay and Andy Cato, to come from the classic duo in exactly ten years. “At The River”, “I See You Baby” and “Superstylin'” are just three of the ten UK Top 40-charting singles to come from the duo’s output over their established 30-year career. They have also released eight studio albums, four of which have charted within the Top 50 of the UK Albums Chart. Prolific as the duo’s decent chart success would suggest, the two producers have crossed over in genres and styles, since meeting in the mid-1990’s, where the duo began the project by setting up their own series of club nights in London (Remember those?) named “Captain Sensual at the Helm of the Groove Armada”, and it was inspired by 1970’s discotheque, which impressed local pioneer “Tummy Touch” to help them get their break, and kick-start their crossover appeal to the mainstream. “Edge Of The Horizon” was very much inspired by the classic 80’s Synth-Funk sounds which Cato and Findlay grew up listening to, and the current Covid-19 restrictions seemed like the right moment for this, as Cato said, in a press release, “During those studio days, the rest of the world shuts down. There’s an intensity, anyone looking in might say madness, that kicks in when we’re totally lost amongst the instruments, synths and records day and night.”, adding, “But that shared, unspoken feeling that comes when we both know we’ve got it right cuts through as clear as ever”. “Edge Of The Horizon” features collaborative tracks with Nick Littlemore (of Empire Of The Sun and Pnau band fame) and the Chicago House producer, Paris Brightledge. The lead single, “Lover4Now”, features guest vocals from Todd Edwards. Let’s listen to it below.

“Lover4Now” feels very much like Cato and Findlay’s ode to 80’s Italo disco, and it, of course, comes accompanied by that cutesy animated music video which sees Mio (the Dog) and Cosmos (the Cat) on their adorable search for love following an online dating session. The rhythms and 1970’s-driven lead vocals immediately call back to Rick James’ “Super Freak” from 1981 to me, as vocalist Tom Edwards delivers his lyrics playing on deceitful romance and alluring lust with a vintage, somewhat fearful, yet still with a playful and upbeat touch, with a mid-1970’s Funk croon. The whirling synthesizers beats in between the vocal sections, where Edwards recites, “Her words are like a song on the radio, Stuck in your head with nothing meaningful” seem bright and intelligent, with catchy pop hooks which feel like a love letter to the vintage style of pop and R&B that seem to have inspired the new track greatly. It has a very “old-fashioned” and “European” disco sound/feel to it, with a light-hearted element of production and subtle elements of early Garage and Detroit House creeping in from the visuals of Ibiza sunsets and cheeky, short-lived Summer romances. The up-tempo backing vocals and the stop-and-start nature of the keyboard synths in the bridge, as Edwards recites: “You need a little sympathy, you’ve had enough wasting your time”, over the top of a brisk ambience. Lines in the chorus feel more rhythmic, as Edwards sings the likes of “There you go looking for her again, and how many before you have there been?” and “She’ll only say what she thinks you wanna hear/You think that she will notice, but she won’t” to put across the ideas of the initial physical thrill of passionate romance, and the mental dangers to come from this. There is never really a “drop” here in terms of the synths raising their intensity up to another level, but the beat feels punchy enough and it’s kept at a relaxed pace to catch your ears nicely. Overall, it skews a bit more poppy than what I would normally choose to listen to, but I feel it’s still a cool record. It has a hugely “old” feel to it, yet I find it to be refreshing in today’s era of very auto-tuned hip-hop/pop-hybrids and business-driven releases aimed at the Teenage girl market. Overall, I really like this. Much better than expected.

  • Pictured: Groove Armada (Andy Cato & Tom Findlay) in a press shoot (2020) (Photo via BMG Rights UK)

Thank you very much for reading my new post! As per usual, I will be back tomorrow for an in-depth listen to a recent single from another one of the week’s new album releases. I am very fond of this artist, so I have covered her work on the blog once or twice before. This comes from a contemporary Disco-Pop female artist who was once a member of Moloko, a duo with her partner Mark Brydon, who had a few mainstream chart hits in the 80’s with tracks like “Sing It Back” and “The Time Is Now”. If you really liked what you just read, why not follow the blog to get notified when every new daily post is up and why not like the Facebook page here?: https://www.facebook.com/OneTrackAtATime/

Today’s Track: Tame Impala – “Is It True?”

August 24, 2020 — Leave a comment

Can’t you see my eyes are open wide? Would I lie to you, baby? – It’s new post time…

  • Pictured: Tame Impala performing a live set on the Pyramid Stage at Glastonbury Festival 2019 (Photo via BBC Music)

Good Morning! I am Jacob Braybrooke and I’m typing up about your daily track on the blog, because it is still always my day-to-day pleasure to write about a different piece of music every day! Even if you’re just a casual listener of music, I’m sure that you’re probably at least familiar with the name of Tame Impala by this point – an Australian Psychedelic Rock outfit predominantly steered by Kevin Parker as a solo producer, with touring band members to fill out the band’s line-up. He’s been making huge waves with 2012’s “Lonerism” and 2015’s “Currents”, and he’s been gaining mainstream attention with his latest release, “The Slow Rush”, which was released back in February, by Fiction Records in the UK, and other labels internationally. A new single, “Is It True?”, was released from the new album two weeks ago, alongside a technicolor-inflicted new music video which engulfs Parker in a retro visual format of a Synesthesia-like aesthetic, as he grooves to the track around tripped colour art, created to look like it was made from clippings of VHS Recordings and Amiga 2000 graphic engines. Parker has also kept busy during the self-quarantine period with a remixed version of the new album, “The Slow Rush In An Imaginary Place”. On his latest album release, Parker wanted to craft a variety of Pop soundscapes, and Parker opted to write and record the album himself in his studios in Melbourne and Los Angeles. Also exploring wide themes of growing maturity and coming-of-age, he told the media: “A “lot of the songs carry this idea of time passing, of seeing your life flash before your eyes, being able to see clearly your life from this point onwards.” “I’m being swept by this notion of time passing.”, later adding, “There’s something really intoxicating about it.” Let’s have a listen to the brand new single – “Is It True” – below.

“Is It True?” likely marks the final nail in the coffin as to how far the project of Tame Impala goes as a guitar-based psychedelia rock outfit, embracing a vivid Synthpop flair of production and unabashedly catchy, rhythmic hooks, but it never feels derivative or tired as far as a modern Prog-Pop record can go, as the synth compositions instead feel rich and thoughtful, as “Is It True” marks one of the strongest highlights of his latest album’s material. Parker contemplates taking a promising relationship further, reciting: “We started talkin’ bout devotion/The kind that goes on eternally/And I tell her I’m in love with her/But, how can I know that I’ll always be” in the opening verse, layering his vocals over a smooth instrumental of shimmering West African drum samples and lines of drifting keyboard riffs that flutter across the cut, with an easygoing strip of Horn sections to keep the groove rolling. During the bridge, Parker asks: “That’s a promise I can’t make and I won’t validate, Was I being immature, I don’t know, I don’t care” to an upbeat rhyme over a wistful, bubbling Synth bed instrumental. That’s before the heavy electronic snares hit you hard, and the track sounds very polished in glittering Disco rock. The same kind of Psych-Pop, with a slight R&B infliction, vibe carries on, until a major key change marks the beginning of a mellow and delicate little interlude. The Vegas-inspired bassline is still faintly audible, with the same Strobing effects, which feel gradually slower and more contemplative. Parker sidetracks with: “In my head, I said, we’ll see how it goes, until we know, what the future holds” as the high production values increasingly get detailed with a laidback Conga drum groove and a slow-paced, fizzing bed of Keyboard instrumentals and gentle Synth work. It could disappoint fans fond of Parker’s more guitar-driven material, but I think that it works as a great pop track, sounding danceable and dancefloor-friendly, while using a reflective style of lyricism that complements the awkward narrative. Exciting and sonically stimulating.

  • Pictured: Tame Impala (Kevin Parker) in the video for “Call My Phone Thinking I’m Doing Nothing Better” (2020)

As previously mentioned, Parker always finds ways to keep himself busy, so he has been collaborating with The Streets on “Call My Phone Thinking I’m Doing Nothing Better”, of which you can read my review of the track here: https://onetrackatatime.home.blog/2020/05/08/todays-track-the-streets-feat-tame-impala-call-my-phone-thinking-im-doing-nothing-better/, and if you can’t get enough of the sounds and themes that Parker explores on The Slow Rush, you can check out my thoughts on “It Might Be Time” here: https://onetrackatatime.home.blog/2019/11/16/todays-track-tame-impala-it-might-be-time/ and “Lost In Yesterday” here: https://onetrackatatime.home.blog/2020/02/14/todays-track-tame-impala-lost-in-yesterday/

  • Pictured: Cover Artwork for “The Slow Rush” (Released on February 14th, 2020) (via Fiction Records in the UK)

Thank you very much for reading my daily blog post! As always promised, I will be back tomorrow for an in-depth look at a recent single, and a new LP announcement, from a popular Alternative Synthpop band from Baltimore, Maryland who went viral with a live performance of their 2014 crossover hit “Seasons (Waitin’ On You)” on the US talk show, The Late Show with David Letterman. If you really liked what you just read, why not follow the blog to get notified when every new daily post is up and why not like the Facebook page here?: https://www.facebook.com/OneTrackAtATime/

Today’s Track: Orion Sun – “Ne Me Quitte Pas (Don’t Leave Me)”

June 22, 2020 — Leave a comment

Tiffany Majette wanted to be an astronaut but she turned to music. It’s new post time!

  • Pictured: Cover Artwork for “Hold Space For Me” (Released on March 27th, 2020) (via Mom +Pop Records)

Good Morning, I am Jacob Braybrooke and I’m writing about your daily track on the blog because it is my day-to-day pleasure to write about a different piece of music every day! We’re going to kick off the new week with a track by talented up-and-comer Tiffany Majette – who performs under the alias of Orion Sun – a Philadelphia-born contemporary R&B/Neo-Soul artist who had a viral hit with 2017’s “Antidote”, off her self-produced compilation LP “A Collection Of Fleeting Moments and Daydreams” released that same year, which has amassed over 6.6 million streams on Spotify. Her latest album is “Hold Space For Me”, and it was released to positive reviews by Mom + Pop Records at the end of March, earlier in this year. Majette has a very confessional, heart-on-your sleeve vocal style, with Funk-led Drum grooves warping around radiant Synth-based instrumentation to create a fruitful blend of Neo-Soul, modern R&B and pop-based Electronica. Her single, “Ne Me Quitte Pas (Don’t Leave Me)” is based on Nina Simone’s cover of Jacques Brel’s track of the same title. However, Majette strips the sadness away and focuses on the joyous elements instead, stating that it’s about: “falling in love unexpectedly & feeling like its too good to be true but actually it’s good and true. This feeling was proof to me that good things can happen to people that feel ugly inside.”. Let’s watch the video for “Ne Me Quitte Pas (Don’t Leave Me)” below.

A music video with a hand-crafted look that matches the D.I.Y. mentality of the track’s production process, “Ne Me Quitte Pas (Don’t Leave Me” starts off with a flipped sample of Simone’s rendition, before washing waves of small guitar loops and Reggae-like drum beats create a sun-dripped vibe. Majette croons: “Swear you came down like a comet/You’ll be all in my dreams like I’m f***ing haunted” over the sparse keyboard riffs and ambient synths to produce the first verse. The chorus feels similarly nuanced and vulnerable, as Majette sings: “It feels so good to know you” and “it feels so damn good”, placed above gentle guitar string plucks and Soul/R&B-instrumental breaks that also create a wider Folk influence in the slow-paced narration. The end continues the poignant blend of the three genres, but it’s noticeably relaxed by an instrumental section that carries the synth-led crescendo of spaced guitar licks and mid-tempo drum grooves along well, before she uses “Love me, forever” to bring the ambient piece to a close. It feels ripe for Summer listening despite the March release, with attentive production that provides meshes R&B-led and Electronica-driven synths with slow instrumentals that bring elements of Jazz Fusion and Folktronica to the table. I think the best is yet to come from Majette since I guess that it gets a tad repetitive, but it’s otherwise a welcoming offering that feels melodic enough for the mainstream to get, but the vibrancy makes it more appealing.

  • Pictured: Tiffany Majette in a photoshoot for a Q&A feature with Flaunt.com (2020) (Photographed by Sandy Ismail)

Thank you for reading this post! In regards to #BlackLivesMatter, we endorse the peaceful protests on One Track At A Time. Please go and check your local area for good charity causes that help those directly affected by racism and injustice. As per usual, I’ll be back tomorrow with a new post. I will be looking at another recent track, this time coming from an Italian experimental electronic music producer who is currently signed to Warp Records and he is also the co-founder of Presto!? Records. If you really liked what you just read, why not follow the blog to get notified when each new post is up and like the Facebook page here?: https://www.facebook.com/OneTrackAtATime

Today’s Track: DJ Houseplants – “Just Don’t Know”

May 30, 2020 — Leave a comment

A rare example of a track released before the world went a bit nuts! It’s new post time!

  • Pictured: Cover Artwork for “Just Don’t Know” (Single) (Released on February 14th, 2020) (via Berlin House Music)

Good afternoon to you, my name is Jacob Braybrooke and, just like always, I’m here to write about your daily track on the blog because it’s my day-to-day pleasure to write about a different piece of music every day! “Just Don’t Know” is a nice little single that I found through KEXP’s Song Of The Day podcast a week or two back. It was released back in mid-February by Berlin House Records and it’s credited to DJ Houseplants, a DJ, producer and designer called Justin Av, who’s named his alias after his dream job to be a Botanist. Questionable why he’s making music for a living instead, then. Av is a local artist to Seattle, Washington, so he isn’t very well-known, but he’s got an impressive number of local contacts and music releases in his career. In the past, he was called HansmJustin before he made a splash on his local scene. A man of many names (and talents), it seems. Have a listen to “Just Don’t Know” below!

I “Just Don’t Know” what to say about this one. Just joking! It caught onto my attention and interest due to it’s, seeming unashamedly, house-leaning style of heavily 00’s-influenced pop focus. The sound reminds me of mainstream classics like Stardust’s “Music Sounds Better With You”, Modjo’s “Lady Hear Me Tonight” and Spiller & Sophie Ellis Bextor’s “Groovejet”, but it also feels like it’s been updated with a modern touch of subtle hip-hop influences and it’s lengthy 5-minute duration gives me the impression that, despite it being a pop-driven sound, he isn’t trying to just have a hit. This melodic structure consists of a mid-tempo, Funk-groove led bassline, with loads of synthesized keyboard riffs, with a few guitar lick sounds, thrown in. They get repeated over and over again to increase the “Earworm” affect, before the vocals kick in: “I don’t know what to say/Ooh, that I love you?, I just don’t know”, again being repeated on a melodic circle, with soulful female backing vocals that increase the depth of the House-inflected, Disco-Pop sounds. There’s a good pinch of Chill-Wave in there, with an upbeat and distorted vocal breakdown towards the end. The result of each of these components is a radio-ready and pop-friendly record, but it has something more to it. This added weight is created by the Funk and Soul influences. I feel the vocals could do with a lick of polish, as they may be a little too overly auto-tuned in places, but he’s only a local artist and may have limited tools to work with. Otherwise, the production work is fairly good. Overall, it’s a solid track that goes down as a fun early summer anthem from an artist who may need your support!

  • Pictured: Cover Artwork for “Root Bound [CLIPP099)” (EP Release) (Released on 29th August, 2019) (via clipp.art)

Thank you very much for reading this post! At this time, I encourage you to please stay safe inside, don’t do anything silly and that you keep on washing those hands! It’s time for a new weekly edition of Scuzz Sundays tomorrow, which is our weekly look back at an emo-rock or pop-punk classic from the mid-90’s to mid-00’s to see if it holds up! I’ve had a super busy weekend, so I will be choosing the track tonight – it will be as much of a suprise to me as it is for you! If you really liked what you just read, why not follow the blog to get notified when every new daily post is up and why not like the Facebook page here?: https://www.facebook.com/OneTrackAtATime/

Today’s Track: Wajatta – “Don’t Let Get You Down”

May 21, 2020 — Leave a comment

Sticks and Stones may break my bones, but they won’t let get me down. It’s time for a new post!

  • Pictured: Wajatta (Reggie Watts & John Tejada) in a press shot to promote “Don’t Let Get You Down” (2020) (via PR)

Good afternoon, I’m Jacob Braybrooke and – you guessed it! – I’m typing up about your daily track on the blog because it’s my day-to-day pleasure to write about a different piece of music every day! Even bank holidays! “Don’t Let Get You Down” is another one of the recent tracks that I never quite got around to writing about before, but it’s worth a listen. It’s the titular single of the sophomore LP from American Electronic Dance duo Wajatta, which is comprised of Reggie Watts and John Trejada. They’re signed to Brainfeeder, an imprint of the Ninja Tune label. Wajatta (wa-Ha-ta) are influenced by the Chicago House sounds of the 1970’s, with their roots in Detroit Techno, 70’s funk and New York Hip-Hop. Watts describes “Don’t Let Get You Down” as “The poppiest song we’ve ever done”. Believe it or not – and I didn’t actually know this until just a couple of days ago – Watts is an on-air personality and drummer for The Late Late Show with James Corden, an American late-night TV talk show. He did a bit of cross-promoting by performing this track live on the show. Let’s watch it below!

I LOVE the support of the crowd on this one – who cheer for almost everything that Watts does. It’s clear that he’s got quite the following and it could lead to some major commercial success for the duo. “Don’t Let Get You Down” – poor grammar aside – seems to play off his character-driven personality in the sense that his vocal delivery is fairly quirky and strange. The track is very hook-based, with a light whistling melody running during the track, and brightly pulsating synth sounds. Watts sings: “Don’t let get you down, I know how love can feel” over the top of metallic drum beats and a minimally looping bassline. There’s a light techno sensibility within the instrumental sections, with a synth-heavy focus on acidic strobe effects, but the overall mixing remains mellow and calming. Watts’ voice is unique and silky, with nonsensical mutters and a Falsetto production style which can get a tad annoying, but it also comes off as groove-led and comedic with decent range. The overall sound has a real 00’s throwback to it, which makes me think of Eric Prydz and Bob Sinclair on repeated listens. This is because the melodic structure is slowly paced, but the deep house qualities feel very prominent. All in all, it’s not a bad track at all – and the sense of character comes across strongly. However, I don’t feel that it’s quite there. The synths bubble under the surface to build a sense of tension, but there’s little payoff. The track does have a bit of an overly commercial undertone to it in the lack of innovation. However, it’s a pleasant and smooth-sailing house track that has a good vocal range. So, the flaws “Don’t Let Get It Down” to a point that detracts it too highly.

  • Pictured: Cover Artwork for “Don’t Let Get You Down” (Released on 28th February 2020) (via Brainfeeder)

Thank you for reading this post! Please make sure that you stay safe, don’t do anything silly and keep on washing those hands. As always, please join me tomorrow – Where i’ll be giving an in-depth look (or listen, rather) at the new track from an American hip-hop producer from Nanuet, New York who directs and edits his own music videos. He opened for Wu-Tang Clan on their 20th Anniversary Tour in Europe as a “dream gig”! If you really liked what you just read, why not follow the blog to get notified when every new daily post is up and why not like the Facebook page here?: https://www.facebook.com/OneTrackAtATime/

Today’s Track: Skule Toyama – “United In The Night”

May 13, 2020 — Leave a comment

This one’s hellbent on destroying some EDM “Stereo”-Types – It’s time for a new post!

  • Pictured: Promotional Cover Artwork for “Stereo” (Single Release) (Released in 2020) (via Business Casual)

Good morning to you, I’m Jacob Braybrooke and I’m writing your daily track on the blog, as always, since it’s my day-to-day pleasure to write about a different piece of music, whether it’s old or new, every day. It’s quite a dull backstory of how I found Skule Toyama, as I was just scrolling through my recommendations on Bandcamp and I came across “Stereo”, his new album. With names like “Disco Roller”, “Fantasy Synth” and “Take A Break”, I gave it a chance. The anime-style drawings put me off a bit at first, but after a few listens, I’ve come to really like it. Barely anything is known about Toyama at all and I couldn’t even find any photos of the real man himself. However, it’s implied that Toyama is a male solo producer on their Bandcamp biography. According to this, Toyama is a Mexican artist, of the Chill-Wave genre, who started producing Ambient House music inspired by disco/funk music and the “melancholic aesthetics” of the 1980’s in Mexico. His sound also extends to “Soft-Funk” and “Future-Funk”. Let’s have a listen to the track “United In The Night” below.

I think that “Stereo” is a very appropriate name for a track which sounds so unashamedly EDM Disco-Pop in it’s visuals of lying down with a big speaker on full blast, on a very hot Beach somewhere in Thailand or Jamaica. I’ve never travelled so I don’t know what I’m really going on about there, but I DO know that it’s a very bold move to release a dance record when there’s no market for it since you know… we can’t actually go to a club, but I feel it’s justified by the seamless blending of Toyama’s influences in creating a very calm and relaxed, but still upbeat and danceable, atmosphere which is easy to access and soothing to escape with, but there’s still a hidden complexity and a non-commercialism to the overall textures that demand your further attention in repeated listens. “United In The Night” has a very beat-driven, looping bassline which moulds over a luminous, washing synth line and very groove-ridden drum machine sequences. There’s an unashamedly pop sound on the surface, but I picked “United In The Night” to analyse because it has a slightly rougher texture and it evokes a slightly more somber feeling than a lot of the other tracks found on “Stereo”. This is due to the whimsical, fantastical element of the vocal sample which is unintelligible, but mutters phrases with “Live in your Dreams” and Japanese words, in a way that feels akin to the old game of Chinese Whispers us Brits used to play in primary school, in it’s cheeky vocal layering. There’s a syncopated guitar riff in here, with even a slight use of Jazz instrumentation in the later stages of the track. The clear EDM pop style, the funkish grooves, the vivid, if typically Anime, visual aesthetics and the eclectic sonic palette create a sound that is very enjoyable. It was a great find. Please don’t go mainstream Toyama – you are just right as you are!

  • Pictured: Cover Artwork for “Stereo” (Released via Bandcamp on April 10, 2020) (via Business Casual Records)

Thank you for reading this post! I’ll be back tomorrow, as usual, with an in-depth look at a slightly older track, released in 2017, by another artist of the Chill-Wave genre that I also recently found on Bandcamp. He’s from Paris, France and he’s signed to the Z-Tapes indie label. He seems to have a much larger online following than Skule Toyama and he has a single called “Flowers” feat. Nori which has over 9.6m views on YouTube. If you really liked what you just read, why not follow the blog to get notified when each new post is up and like the Facebook page here?: https://www.facebook.com/OneTrackAtATime