Future-Garage

Today’s Track: Yunè Pinku – ‘DC Rot’

April 14, 2022 — Leave a comment
Pictured: Yunè Pinku in promotional artwork for the ‘Bluff’ EP (2022) (Photo Credit: Joshua Onabowu)

Good Morning to you! This is Jacob Braybrooke, and the time has come for me to get typing up 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 music every day! Teen Techno music producer Yuné Pinku is an emerging name in the alternative dance music community with a love for Madonna and Billy Joel drawing from her influences of 90’s Acid House and classic UKG recordings. Her sturdy profile includes a collaboration with Australian experimental music producer Logic1000 for the track ‘What You Like’ from 2021. She has also been co-signed by Joy Orbison, who invited her to contribute a guest mix for his residency on BBC Radio 1 last year. The 19-year-old artist has her roots found in Malaysia and Ireland, and you can hear her most recent work through her debut EP release – ‘Bluff’ – which is out now via PLATOON. She says, “Bluff is about letting go and reeling in, finding your feet in the night life world. I think this song is kind of an ode to London night life and it’s a song I think really sums up my feeling of the good times I had as a teenager in London, but also with the slight paranoia of the danger that exists in the night world”, when explaining her experiences of carving out her niche as a bedroom pop producer in the EDM world. If you live in London, you can also catch her playing at The Bermondsey Social Club for her debut headline show appearance on April 29h. The penultimate single to be lifted from the EP is ‘DC Rot’, and the music video acts as an ode to the homemade skateboarding reels of the 00’s. It stars her sister Faith – who also happens to be a pro skater. Let’s check it out below.

Acknowledging her passion for the craft of Skateboarding in Synth-heavy style on ‘DC Rot’, the London-based DJ says, “DC Rot is an exploration of a year and all the things you can do in one”, adding, “Whether it’s coming out of hibernation and getting older, experiencing in excess whether that be negative or positive. Putting yourself out there and sometimes getting hurt, but just going on a pilgrimage of all the things you can and can’t do. In this case, a motif is skate culture hence the title DC Rot, it can be such a freeing culture but can be pretty shakey at other times, constantly shifting”, in her attached notes. ‘DC Rot’ captures the vibe of a 00’s throwback like Peggy Gou and Park Hye Jin, balancing out a multi-tude of wavering beats and interchangeable grooves that are initially built from dissonant piano house keys and a robust kick drum sequence, while Pinku’s nonchalant vocals recite melodic lyrics like “Funky baby on the clock/Vodka tonic, 3 ‘o’ clock” and “3 more lover, down with hot/I can’t not see you enough” with a hazy, relaxed feel that makes the EDM-driven track feel like a suitable accompaniment to an evening where you are preparing for a night out. The phased-out breakbeats and the crystalline synths make for an intriguing contrast to the conversational, gently spoken-sung delivery of the vocals. This successful blurs any idea that Pinku is placing herself into a box of specific genre conventions, and the gleaming warmth of Pinku’s production manages to make the melodic progression feel quite futuristic. Her voice, meanwhile, sighs and demures magnetically to draw you into her sonic pallete before the pace spirals more uncontrollably. The pipe harmonies and the Chill Hop-oriented breakbeats pull the scene back on course later, creating a sense of unpredictable layering that feels reflective of Pinku’s lyrical themes of expressing her perceived loss of purpose in life outside of the night club’s doors. Charming and refreshing, ‘DC Rot’ shows that Pinku has the talent to disregard old traits and step into a more futuristic sound instead, while carrying herself as more than just a monetisable project with her more gripping statement of intent creatively.

Pictured: Cover Artwork for ‘Bluff’ (EP) (Released on April 1st, 2022) (via PLATOON)

That brings me right to the end of another daily post, and thank you for continuing to support the site every day! I’ll be back tomorrow, where it’s shaping up to be a ‘Good Friday’ because there’s another entry of ‘New Album Release Fridays’ in store for you. We’ll be previewing the new solo album from a Tom Petty and Neil Young-influenced rock star known for his work as the former lead guitarist of The War On Drugs, if you’d like to join me then. He also co-created ‘Lotta See Lice’ with Courtney Barnett in 2017.

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Today’s Track: Flight Facilities (feat. Channel Tres) – ‘Lights Up’

December 22, 2021 — Leave a comment
Pictured: Hugo Gruzman (DJ/Producer) and James Lyell (DJ/Producer) (2021) (Photo via James Gourley/Getty)

Good Morning to you! I am Jacob Braybrooke, of course, and it’s time for me to help you fill up the funky playlist for the disco at your Office Christmas Party at the end of this working week, since it has always been my day-to-day pleasure to write up about a different piece of music every day! Flight Facilities are the Australian Electronic Dance duo of Hugo Gruzman and James Lyell who were formed in Sydney in 2009 and also perform under the name of Hugo & Jimmy. On previous recordings, they have worked with prominent names in the industry including the ‘Princess of Pop’ Kylie Minogue herself – as well as Bishop Nehru, Reggie Watts, Stee Downes and Owl Eyes. Although the seven year gap has not been a complete drought of material for the die-hard Flight Facilities fans out there – it is still testament to the streaming-dominated state of the modern music industry that their second LP record ‘FOREVER’ – released on November 12th via Future Classic – was their first true album release since 2014. It has reached #6 on the Australian Albums chart and it features another array of guest vocalists including Emma Louise, BRUX, BROODS, Jody Felix, Your Smith and DRAMA. In a statement, the AIR Award-winning duo said, “The best way to describe this album is a combination of where we’ve been, where we are and where we’re going. As true as it was from our first release, the foundations and glue for all our work has consistently been ‘collaboration’. While our musical journey has always been an intentional exploration of multiple genres, our hearts and roots lie on the dance floor. We applied that same explorative ethos to this record, taking a concerted dive delve into the previously untouched niches and era’s of dance. It’s been a long time coming, and only the same time will tell if it was worth the wait “, in a press release. The new album will also be supported by the ‘FOREVER’ tour that will commence in Perth during March 2022. The lead single, ‘Lights Up’, features the high in demand Compton producer and vocalist Channel Tres. Buckle your seat belt up and mount into it below.

With his low-pitched and sensual vocal delivery, Channel Tres has been a lyricist that everybody in the dance industry has been itching to include on their tracks. In the last few years, Tres has worked with a gigantic list of electronic dance producers including Disclosure, SG Lewis, Tokimonsta, Polo & Pan, Emotional Oranges and many more – so he has been everywhere as if he is the Jimmy Carr, Rosie Jones or Rob Beckett of dance music. ‘Lights Up’ features noticeable influences of Future Garage and Detroit Techno – and Flight Facilities note, “We’ve always loved the sound of the early Detroit House scene that crossed over with the Paradise Garage era. Combined with our love for Channel’s voice, it seemed like a perfect fit”, in their press release. ‘Lights Up’ almost sounds like a track that was being recorded whilst at a secluded street party with industry friends in Chicago, with Tres opening the scene with “Y’all should’ve called me to work on the album earlier/We could have been making something great” over a muffled vocal delivery following a lengthy fade-in to the track. The rest of the vocals mix an informal delivery with a quickly paced Spoken Word spin on gentle Hip-Hop, with Tres splurting out lyrics like “Trying to catch a Bass, and I’ll slide on you” and “I’m a MC, BYOB, bring your own bottles” that he recites with the silky and mildly sexual low-pitched croon that we’ve heard him use to similar effect on Disclosure and T’Challa King feature spots before. It definitely feels like his trademark and although it does not feel unexpected, it works smoothly here and plays to familiar strengths as usual. It establishes a tone of confidence for the rest of the track, which jolts along at an uptempo but not overly heightened pace. An influence of Detroit Techno – from the likes of Joe Smooth – drips from every note of Hugo and James’ production, with some velvet-smooth Synths that reassure us that this flight is going to be a smooth and relaxed ride. The personality of the track is charismatic enough, however, and one particular highlight of the track for me is towards the end where Tres repeats the refrain of “Got the whole city going up” while Horns continually whirr in the backbeat, giving off an impression that Horns are lighting things up in the background, as this section gives the Synths some added momentum to increase the aggression of the instrumentation slightly and drive the melodies forwards. Meanwhile, the two-step drum beats and the fluctuating Bass patterns blend together with Tres’ accentuated vocals nicely during the main bulk of the track. Overall, this was a strong effort from all involved that does ‘Dance Music’ in a modern enough way, while also respecting some of the relatively forgotten sub-genres of House and Techno from the past, giving it a retro-futurist feel. The track originally dates back to April so, although it fits more of a summer vibe than a cold December one, remember that it is summer in Australia.

Pictured: Cover Artwork for ‘FOREVER’ (LP) (Released on November 12th, 2021) (via Future Classic)

That’s all for now! Thank you for your smooth sailing with me today, and I’ll be back tomorrow to ‘Light Up’ the eve of Christmas Eve with an affectionate lump of seasonal Silton coming from a Rochford-born Jazz singer and BBC Radio 2 presenter who has famously covered Radiohead’s ‘High and Dry’ to mainstream success in the UK charts.

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

October 21, 2021 — Leave a comment
  • Pictured: Maya Jane Coles in the official music video for ‘Run To You’ (2021) (Photo via PR/EDM.com)

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

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

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

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

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Today’s Track: Totally Enormous Extinct Dinosaurs – “The Distance”

October 16, 2021 — Leave a comment
Pictured: TEED (Orlando Higginbottom) in an ‘I Can Hear The Birds’ EP shoot (2020) (via Pia Riverola)

Good Morning to you! You’re reading the words of Jacob Braybrooke, and I’ve got a new dance track to jumpstart your weekend for your daily track on the blog, because it has always been my day-to-day pleasure to write about a different piece of music every day! As I teased yesterday, ‘The Distance’ comes to you from a London-born Electronic House producer who I honestly believe is frequently at the top of my own underrated lists. The musician who consistently lives up to that pressure is Orlando Higginbottom – aka Totally Enormous Extinct Dinosaurs – who swept me right off my feet and onto both the dancefloor and the bedroom with 2012’s ‘Trouble’, his major label debut album on Polydor Records. Although he has not released a full-length follow-up album since that year, to say the prehistorically-themed producer has been in hibernation until now would be simply far from the truth. In 2014, he launched the Nice Age cross platform label with a collaborative track featuring Anna Lunoe, and he’s continued to release a string of emotive yet vibrant singles like ‘Energy Fantasy’ and ‘Body Move’ and he even released a breath of fresh air during lockdown last year with his ‘I Can Hear The Birds’ EP, which was immensely enjoyable. I was delighted to hear ‘The Distance’, the title track from a new forthcoming EP that he will be releasing on his Nice Age label on October 27th, which is his first piece of new music since his ‘Heartbreak’ collaboration with Bonobo early last year. He is also a classically trained musician and the son of a former Oxford choir conductor, and he’s been injecting some colour into the UK’s club environments with his music and costumes since his late teens, commenting to Spin that he was looking for a name that “couldn’t be cool, couldn’t be put into some kind of scene that gets hip for six months and then falls out of fashion” in 2015. His 2012 album, ‘Trouble’, also found places in best of year lists compiled by DJ Magazine, iTunes UK, NME and the BBC. Let’s go ‘The Distance’ below.

Higginbottom has kept rather hush-hush about the influences behind his new EP, but his Bandcamp page has been teasing that ‘The Distance’ finds him stripping the sounds back to the core roots of his very early material that he released as mixtapes on the Greco-Roman label in the late 00’s and the early 10’s, where he explored warm Jungle melodies and ambiguous melancholy with a unique twist of emotional, quintessentially English heft of depth. The title track starts off with some chirping birds and a trickling series of Synth lines, with a muted croon about a lost lover from Higginbottom floating nicely over the top, before a more cinematic burst of Bass and some carefully treading Drum beats provide a more melodic and boastful bassline. The rest of his lyrics are delivered quite hazily and nostalgically, with Higginbottom singing quietly about the memories of a past romance of which, however much that he tries to let go and live on, continues to submerge him in memory and youth. There’s certainly a slight hint of nostalgia in his vocal performance that feels small but profound, and it works very smoothly when married by the atmospheric instrumentation and the diverse tones of the electronic production that he creates. The melodies are a little disorienting and they feel fragmented in nature, which fits the themes of temporary pleasure and preserved sentimentality that is explored by the irregular time signatures and the wistful textures of his sound. Overall, ‘The Distance’ is an outstanding tune that continues to cement his status as one of the UK’s most exciting talents over the course of his career, and he lives up to my lofty anticipations once again pretty confidently and easily. It really takes me back to why I enjoyed his work so much in the first place, and that’s because he makes ‘The Distance’ feel like more than just another dance track from one of the UK’s hundreds of electronic music producers. He takes me back to the tone and style of his previous work by recording vocals that sound deliberately shaky and plaintive. They are imperfect, and this gets a wealth of genuine emotional depth across to my ears as the listener. The diffracting melodies feel deep and fractured, yet the Synth lines feel as refreshing as the first rays of sunshine after a pitch black and frosty January night, and the combo of the Drum and Bass sections continue to inject vibrancy and energy into the recording, with a cohesive variation of dance-based genre influences and an archetypal English feel to the harsh, but fair, bleakness of the songwriting. A truly exceptional effort from a genuinely talented and fulfilling, remarkable music creative.

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

I hope that you enjoyed my latest blog post, and that you feel encouraged to check out some of Orlando Higginbottom’s other work. You can start with a few snippets on my blog, with a short review of his Bonobo-led collaboration for ‘Outlier’ here: https://onetrackatatime.home.blog/2020/10/06/todays-track-bonobo-totally-enormous-extinct-dinosaurs-heartbreak/. I have also talked about his birdsong EP released in lockdown in 2020, which makes for a refreshing change of pace and it was named my second favourite EP of the year. Sample ‘Los Angeles’ from it here: https://onetrackatatime.home.blog/2020/08/05/todays-track-totally-enormous-extinct-dinosaurs-los-angeles/

Pictured: TEED with Bonobo (Simon Green) in a ‘Heartbreak’ PR shoot (2020) (Photo by Grants Panier)

Thank you for checking out my blog today, and please feel free to revisit some of the ghosts of Pop-Punk past with me for a fresh new entry in our ‘Scuzz Sundays’ library tomorrow. This week’s entry marks the debut appearance from a Florida Rock group who met at an AP Music Theory class in 2001. They have released five albums to date.

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Today’s Track: DJ Seinfeld (feat. Stella Explorer) – “She Loves Me”

September 27, 2021 — Leave a comment
  • Pictured: DJ Seinfeld in an official photoshoot for the ‘Galaxy’ EP (2019) (Photo via TicketArena.co.uk)

Good Morning to you! My name is Jacob Braybrooke and, as you’ve probably figured out by now, it is time for me to get typing up for another daily track on the blog, since its always been my day-to-day pleasure to write up about a different piece of music every day! DJ Seinfeld is the alias of the Swedish House music producer Armand Jakobsson, who now finds himself being based in Germany after rising to prominence a few years ago as a key part of the new wave of Lo-Fi electronic music producers alongside names like Saint Pepsi and Ross From Friends around the time of 2016. He’s been known for releasing his electronic dance material under names like Birds Of Sweden and Rimbaudian, and he is the founder of the Young Ethics indie label. Jakobsson has since played DJ sets on the stages of The Warehouse Project and Sonar By Night, he has curated one of BBC Radio 1’s ‘Essential Mix’ sets, and, to top it all off, none other than the legendary tinkerer Aphex Twin has been known to play Jakobsson’s track ‘Sakura’ in one or two of his live DJ sets. The latest release from Jakobsson is ‘Mirrors’, his first solo album in four years following his 2017 debut, ‘Time Spent Away From U’, which is out now on Ninja Tune. It’s an expansion of the style that he explored on 2019’s ‘Galaxy’ EP and 2020’s ‘Mezcalita’ EP, with the ten-track project being recorded between Berlim and Malmo, and leaning into the realms of Ambient Electronica and late-90’s Dubstep for inspiration. The album is titled ‘Mirrors’ as a reference to how the producer views a reflection of himself in the mirror and how the throes of a nasty breakup in recent times has changed these internal perceptions. He tells us in a press release, “On this album, I wanted to retain a lot of the raw emotionality that brought people to my music in the first place, but I also wanted to become a much better producer. It’s been an arduous process but it’s a real statement of where I’m at as a producer and person right now”. The new LP includes a stunning opening track, ‘She Loves Me, which finds the experimental creative working with the emerging South African-Swedish vocalist Stella Explorer. Check it out below.

Speaking of the collaboration, Stella Explorer said in a press statement, “The fine line between self-affirmation and paranoia is alluring to me, and in music it’s always present. It’s deceptive, and lyrics can change meaning at any time”, before expanding on the duality that she feels in ‘She Loves Me’ by writing, “I think the fewer words you use, the more they shift and by combining that with different intentions like you do when you collaborate with someone (like this), it makes the outcome exciting” for her press notes. For me, as a listener, ‘She Loves Me’ highly reminds me of Burial – not necessarily in the sound itself, but the way that Seinfeld selects a very small snippet of an emotive vocal and twists the context and textures of the piece, and he has a way of saying a lot without really saying anything at all, which is similar to the techniques that Hyperdub legend Burial built his career on using as his niche. ‘She Loves Me’ are the first words that can be heard on the new album, and it sets the stage going forward by exploring diverse, new avenues of his production style. The vocals feel confused and drowsy, with lyrics like “With you, so much time/Still pieces of my mind” and “She loves me/Why does she?” morphing their way around skittering Trap beats and sparkling Synth textures that evoke a little bit of Seinfeld’s Garage roots, but they largely feel focused on a bittersweet melancholy. Lyrics like “She loves me/Yes she does” float seemlessly above a meticulous amount of saturated tape effects that evoke feelings of lost nostalgia, and the more euphoric combination of gentle lo-fi synths and very thick basslines mix the nice energy that runs underneath with an inescapable feeling of change, and a tightrope between longing and reminiscence. Overall, this track was a real suprise, and I find myself to be absolutely loving it whenever I hear it. I wasn’t quite as keen on some of Seinfeld’s other material with the more Big Beat-based Garage sounds, but I love how Seinfeld plays with the meaning of vocals on this track, and the contributing vocals from Stella Explorer adds some even more delightfully clunky emotion to the formation. This one is a real treat.

  • Pictured: DJ Seinfeld producing an ‘After Party Playlist’ mix for BBC Radio 1 (2018) (via BBC.com)

If you loved what you just heard, you may be pleased to know that some other DJ Seinfeld-related content has been posted on the blog before. Check out what I thought of ‘Electrician’, a single previously released from the ‘Galaxy’ EP here: https://onetrackatatime.home.blog/2020/01/28/todays-track-dj-seinfeld-electrician/

  • Pictured: Cover Artwork for ‘Mirrors’ (LP) (Released on September 3rd, 2021) (via Ninja Tune)

That’s all for now! Thank you for checking out my latest blog post, and I’ll be back tomorrow for more of the same shtick. My next pick comes from one half of one of my favourite rap duo’s in quite a long time, who have released great projects together via Mello Music Group. You may have caught them at Sound City in Ipswich last weekend.

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Today’s Track: Genesis Owusu – “Same Thing”

June 7, 2021 — Leave a comment

The Genesis of a futuristic mega-star of Hip-Hop music in the making. New post time!

  • Pictured: Genesis Owusu in a general promo press shoot (2020) (Photo Credit: Bec Parson/OURNESS)

Good Morning to you! It’s Jacob Braybrooke here, 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 music every day! One of my true standouts of the year so far has undoubtedly been ‘Smiling With No Teeth’ from the Australian-Ghanian Hip-Hop rising star Genesis Owusu, who is the brother of Citizen Kay, which was released in March. In that case, I was absolutely chomping at the bit to cover ‘Same Thing’ on the blog as soon as I was aware of it’s release. An outtake from Owusu’s masterpiece of Funk-drenched and deeply contextual debut solo LP release, which he sent out through his own label OURNESS, which he reportedly spent 60 hours jamming with his Black Dog backing band to conceive. It’s nice to see, therefore, Owusu releasing some of the material which didn’t make the cut on the side. He tells the press, “The songs chosen for the album conveyed a very specific narrative, but we also made a lot of great music that didn’t necessarily fit the album’s narrative points”, alongside the release of the colorful Byron Spencer-directed video for ‘Same Thing’, designed to reflect Owusu’s themes for the track. Check it out below.

“Same Thing was one of the tracks born from the seemingly limitless SWNT sessions”, Owusu added to his press notes for the unveiling of ‘Same Thing’, adding, “The track is still in the realm of the album’s themes of mental health (more specifically, the crazy s**t the mind makes up”, to accompany the trippy visuals conveyed by the music video. The track itself veers more towards the Thundercat or MNDSGN 70’s Funk revivalist sound of the present times than the more aggressively focused angles that ‘Smiling With No Teeth’ took as a body of work, and so I can probably see why Owusu decided to leave it on the cutting room floor originally from his latest long-player project. He opens, “It’s still the same thing you want from me/It’s the same thing I fear to see”, as a shimmering Synth riff buckles ahead of the Funk-rooted guitar licks. He flows together the danceable instrumentation with vocals touching on internal disarray and the push-and-pull dynamic of a mental health struggle, rapping lyrics like “See, I thought that I crawled out of the void” and “Back out the black to the laughs and joy” and “I remember the scent of a happiness/I still smell it most of the time” with a quick precision. The later lyrics hint at a hesitant decision to enter a new relationship despite the promise of new happy memories going unfulfilled to the unknown, with lyrics like “Smile in the teeth but my trusting is skewed/PTSD from my soul, black and blue” and “Dance on the line linking love and bruise/My heart is terrified when I’m thinking of you” before a female backing vocal comes in to potentially add her perspective to the dynamic. The rhythms, with the vibrant Synth chords and the minimal drum basslines, are reminiscent of Prince. It’s almost like Owusu is telling us all a narrative, which he did very nicely on his solo album. I think it would be nice for him to explore themes beyond mental health in the future, but, as for the here and now, I’m very convinced that he can do no wrong. I really admire Owusu’s sheer perseverance when it comes to making music, and the ways that he links his own personal character with the personality of the backing music. He’s an incredibly versatile performer, and the focus that he puts into both lyrics and melody. This is the scent of somebody who is clearly not just your average artist, as he also does things very differently to the average modern rap artist. I will swear by this artist.

  • Pictured: Genesis Owusu in a press shot for the Red Bull House Party (in 2020) (Photo via RedBull.com)

If you’re new to Genesis Owusu, which makes sense because he seems to be a little slept on generally despite the very positive reviews for his work, I’d really recommend getting yourself acquainted with the rest of his craft. You can get started with my review of ‘Don’t Need You’ here: https://onetrackatatime.home.blog/2020/11/06/todays-track-genesis-owusu-dont-need-you/, and the more aggressive themes of racism on the energetic outburst of ‘Whip Cracker’ here: https://onetrackatatime.home.blog/2021/03/27/todays-track-genesis-owusu-whip-cracker/

  • Pictured: Cover Art for “Smiling With No Teeth” (LP) (Released on March 5th, 2021) (via OURNESS)

We’ve reached the end of my musical musings for Monday morning! Thank you for sticking with me to this point, and I will be here again tomorrow to share another track that marks the return of another favourite from recent times, as this certain Moshi Moshi-signed London indie girl pop/rock group return from a two-year hiatus with a new single that was co-produced in the studio with Joe Goddard & Al Doyle from Hot Chip fame. 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/

New Album Release Friday: Django Django – “Glowing In The Dark”

February 12, 2021 — Leave a comment

…and I’ve got a name proposal for the follow-up – Django Unchained! New post time.

  • Pictured: David McLean (Acoustic Drum Kit/Producer), Vincent Jeff (Lead Singer/Rhythm Guitar), Jimmy Dixon (Bass Guitar) and Tommy Grace (Synthesizers/Drum Machine) (in 2013) (Photo by Sonic)

Good Afternoon – and I wish a happy half-term to any teachers reading this! I’m Jacob Braybrooke, and it’s time for me to get typing up on the blog for your daily dosage of recommended music listening, because it is always my day-to-day pleasure to write up about a different piece of music every day! Of course, it’s Friday – and we traditionally have another crop of new releases to sift through. This week feels a little quieter than the last few instances. I’m suddenly looking forward to hearing Claud’s debut full-length release after discovering them basically just days ago, there’s also a return LP from mid-00’s childhood favourites The Pretty Reckless, there’s daytime-friendly Country from Florida Georgia Line, and Pale Waves are adding to the ‘Indie’ genre. As I went down the obvious route last week with a peak at the new album from Dave Grohl’s group of megastars, I felt that a more leftfield and not so familiar choice would suit us nicely this week. “Glowing In The Dark” is the fourth studio LP to come from Django Django, an Art-Rock quartet who formed together in London after the four producers met each other through their studies at the Edinburgh College Of Art in 2009. Their material has previously been handpicked for video game soundtracks including Grand Theft Auto V and FIFA 13, and the band’s self-titled debut album was nominated for the Mercury Prize following it’s release in 2012. Signed to the Because Music label, Django Django have made waves in the Dance Music scene through collaborations with Hot Chip and Roisin Murphy. Their new album, “Glowing In The Dark”, is rooted in the themes of escaping from despair, from constraints, from small-town life, from dreams, and just living on Earth. Let’s give the title track a stab below.

One of the band’s co-founders – lead vocalist Vincent Jeff – has billed the new record as “a creative rebirth for the band of sorts” and the track listing includes a collaboration with Charlotte Gainsbourg. In addition to this, the 4-piece Alternative Rock band have enlisted the help of New York-based graphic designer Braulio Amadio, who created the animations for the technicolor-themed music video that you’ve just watched. So far, the new album is a critical win, and their plethora of electronic sounds manage to sound just as vibrant as the colours of Amadio’s visual work. “Glowing In The Dark”, the title track, matches the lively images nicely. Most notably, it goes back to the electronic 90’s sounds of bands like OMD and New Order, with a half-spoken and half-sung series of vocals ascending above a slick, polished bassline and a propulsive set of drum loops that control the push-and-pull tempo of the sonic Synths. A harmonic backing vocal and a UK Garage-inflicted bass beat seem to propel the electronic beats forward at an emerging, and then retreating, pattern. The lyrics touch on a need to find escapism, and a search for adventure in life. Vincent Jeff delivers the refrains of “Give me a remedy, a hand, a guide, and now we see” and “My senses taken leave, I need a space to breathe” with a catchy rhythm, and the accompanying Synth loops seem clean and clear. A simple “Now we’re glowing in the dark” leads the repeating chorus, as a punchy set of two-step drum beats put the pedal to the medal, and gradually layered electronic keyboard riffs punctually enter the fray, shuffling the mixing and adding a glitched quality to the sound that makes Jeff’s vocals stutter, and add a quirky set of wonky production to the soundscape. Overall, I really enjoyed this. It’s the first time that I’ve properly taken note of Django Django’s work, and I’m walking away impressed. This would have been a solid fit for music festivals, with a euphoric sound that crosses a range of genres with a decent amount of depth, and on the whole, it shows the band to be a solid class of tinkerers.

  • Pictured: Cover Art for “Glowing In The Dark” (LP) (Released on Feb 12th, 2021) (via Because Music)

That’s all for now – Take care of yourself, and get digging through that backlog of yours. Scuzz Sundays is our next weekly feature, and a new addition to that library is set to arrive at the usual time. Before then, why not reconvene with me tomorrow? I’ll be taking a deep dive into the most recent album release to come from a well-established Synthpop group from Australia. The band are probably best known for their third album that came out in 2011 – which ultimately earned the awards for “Best Dance Release” and “Artisan Award for Best Cover Art” at the ARIA Music Awards of the same year. If you really liked what you just read, why not follow the blog to get notified when every new daily post is up and why not like the Facebook page here?: https://www.facebook.com/OneTrackAtATime/

New Album Release Friday: Bicep (feat. Clara La Sun) – “Saku”

January 22, 2021 — Leave a comment

I know it’s January – but let’s not give this one the Cold Shoulder. It’s new post time…

  • Pictured: Cover Artwork for “Isles” (Album/LP) (Released on 22nd January, 2020) (via Ninja Tune)

Good Morning to you – I’m Jacob Braybrooke, and it’s now time for me to get typing up about your daily track on the blog, since it is routinely my day-to-day pleasure to write about a different piece of music every day. It’s New Album Release Friday – which means it’s time for me to lead you into an in-depth look at one of the artists behind this weekend’s new album releases. This week’s selection includes the fourth album from the Canadian R&B outfit RHYE, as well as new outings from UK Grime rapper Bugzy Malone and US cult rockers Moon Taxi – along with the new EP release from Venezuelan Art-Pop enigma, Arca. However, the most high-profile new release in a while has arrived today from Bicep. The duo – which is made up of the Northern Irish electronic dance music producers Andrew Ferguson and Matthew McBriar – have been gaining a lot of traction in the UK Club scene, and rock-solid airplay from BBC Radio 1 and BBC Radio 6Music, in recent weeks, has exposed more casual ears to their layer-building sound. Bicep was formed in 2009 as a blog called “Feel My Bicep” where the two DJ’s used to post lost tracks of the Chicago House and Detroit Techno variety, along with forgotten Disco Pop and Italo Disco remixes. “Isles” is the title for the new LP, and it’s just been released via Ninja Tune. It represents a “snapshot in time” for the duo, and the guest list includes Julie Kent, Machina and Clara La Sun. The latter features on the new single “Saku” – and you can check out it’s video below.

So far, the reviews for “Isles” have been rather kind. Bicep said of the hotly anticipated new album, “We aim to pull influences from a broad range of inspiration when we write music, our tracks often go through many iterations and directions before we settle on the final ingredients”. The duo added that “Saku feels like a good example of a hybrid for us” to their press notes. “Saku” feels like an encapsulation of Bicep’s global influences, with 90’s IDM and 00’s Garage sounds creating a textured, dreamy vision. The drum programming evokes a light Hip-Hop breakbeat, while Clara La Sun’s vocals feel melancholic. She sings: “Can’t say the feeling was strong, Know you’re thinking of me” and “I just need to feel what I felt before, Can you help me feel what I’m waiting for?” with a minimalist delivery, as a whispered vocal unfolds below an animated percussion. Subtle layers of timbres and polished production glides above La Sun’s vocals, as she sings: “I just need to feel everything before, Can you help me feel what I’m searching for?” with a vagueness that feels provocative and ethereal. It isn’t immediately danceable, with abstract drum beats and hypnotic sonic loops building layers on layers of synth sounds. The slow-building soundscape builds to a crescendo, where the vocals are cut out, and we’re left with a vigorous backing vocal loop that faints softly in the background. Meanwhile, the sound gets more intimate and synth-driven, with a bright stream of hazy synth effects invoking an emotive atmosphere. The repetitive percussion sounds and the honeyed synth production retains a cinematic element. The vocals evoke a 00’s R&B aesthetic, before the flourishing synths take hold of the pacing. Although I’m a little bit less familiar with Bicep’s work – in comparison to Aphex Twin or The Chemical Brothers – I think that I can see the appeal to them. The layers build up to convey a dream-like aural environment – with polished synth instrumentals and tranquil vocals that hint at a science-fiction soundtrack feel. The idea of a home-listening trance record from the duo is a rather bold move – and I feel the album would have benefited more from the sweeping euphoria of a live summer stage – but I realise that is not viable right now given our current situation with COVID-19. All in all, I think there’s much to enjoy here.

  • Pictured: Andrew Ferguson (DJ/Producer) and Matthew McBriar (DJ/Synths) (2019) (via Facebook.com)

Ages ago – I posted an in-depth review of one of Bicep’s earlier offerings – “Atlas” – which was released last year. If you want to catch the euphoria of that track, be my guest here: https://onetrackatatime.home.blog/2020/05/19/todays-track-bicep-atlas/

  • Pictured: Cover Artwork for “Atlas” (Single/EP) (Released on April 3rd, 2020) (via Ninja Tune)

That’s all for today – Don’t forget that we’ve got a new addition to our Scuzz Sundays catalogue dropping in two days time! Before then, why not join me again tomorrow? Unusually for me, I’ll be going a little bit more mainstream tomorrow. We’re going to be taking an in-depth look at the sizzling new single from a US Rock band, which is comprised up of three brothers and their cousin, who have 12 Grammy Award nominations to their name – including 4 wins. You could say, then, that they are “Royalty” of the stadium Rock scene. 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: Baba Stiltz – “Running To Chad”

December 21, 2020 — Leave a comment

This is it – A chance to take! Nightlife scene, all the plans you’ve made. New post time!

  • Pictured: Cover Art for “Running To Chad” (LP) (Released on September 25, 2020) (via Self-Released)

Good Morning to you! My name is Jacob Braybrooke, and it’s time again for me to get typing up about your daily track on the blog, because it has always been my day-to-day pleasure to get writing to you about a different piece of music every day! Although his name makes him sound like he’s a French mime artist, Baba Siltz is an upcoming, 27-year-old Experimental Electronic Dance musician from Stockholm, Sweden. He started making electronic dance music at the age of 15, releasing quirky and experimental Alternative Pop records under the mantra of the “Bethlehem Beard Corporation”. That was 10 years ago, however. Fast-Forward to 2020, where his artist biography on Spotify reads as simply “No one puts Baba in the corner”. That, and he has also released his latest solo album – titled “Running To Chad”. This follows Baba’s unconventional songwriting through the explorations of Surf-Rock, Soft-Funk and Psychedelic Rock, and it plays out mostly like a Swedish artists’ take on the beach-ready California rock sounds of the 1960’s and the 1970’s. The EP was released back in September, which he self-released. Let’s check out the title single of the record below.

https://youtu.be/A8q_JCJ_ndY

The “Running To Chad” EP also features remixes of the titular single from DJ Python and Jesse, the first being a minimalist Techno cut that slowly builds to a warmer, more pulsing House track, and the second remix cut – from Jesse – is a deeper and more meditative, ambient take on Baba Stiltz’s track. As for the original itself, the track feels like a love letter to the classic, summer-geared Rock sounds of The Beach Boys and The Surfaris, as Baba whips up a lighthearted, melodic track where he comedically drops in one-liners like “San Diego dreams, California love” with a slightly cerebral and ethereal, low-pitched croon delivery. He plays the sense of quirky humor very cool, and he wears it’s heart on his sleeve while keeping a straight face through the entire length of the track – an almost 6-minute fusion of percussive drum beats, laidback bass guitar grooves and a soft Techno acid section gradually forming in the centre. The lyrics of “What you running from? Indigo dreams and a pocket full of ones” and “Took a trip, It’s an easy out/Bleach-stained hair on a Bus down south” are whimsical and darkly rhythmic, as we build to the killer hook of “It’s your favourite game, Now you’re on a roll/No return, gonna lose control”, with a distinct and flat dance-not-dance form of vocal pitch. Everything builds up to an interlude of fluttering Acid synths and percussive, Tango-esque backing beats. The instrumental has a very light-hearted and warm texture, and it feels excellent for the grim weather that we’re currently receiving here in England, as my friend pointed out to me on the phone today when we had a quick chat about this one. I think this is a track that may take longer for some people, most likely the more casual listenership, to truly connect with – in fact, I didn’t really get it at first, probably because I wasn’t really born in the Surf-Rock era that the track is borrowing from. However, it’s very worth the time and the effort, because this track feels really ‘cool’, in the way that it walks the line between a Dance tempo and a Cerebral vocal, and it is unlike anything else that I’ve been hearing recently. Now I can’t stop playing it – and it doesn’t get old!

  • Pictured: Baba Stiltz in a photoshoot for a Inverted Audio feature (2014) (Photo via inverted-audio.com)

Thank you for checking out my latest blog post! I’ve got more music tomorrow – a last-minute addition to our schedule on the blog for this week, with a track that came out in 2010, and I think that it’s now super relevant again given the recent news about the Christmas season, especially here in the UK. The track, never released as a single, comes from one of my “Jacob Classics” – a poetic Swedish singer-songwriter from Gothenburg who once wrote an anecdotal track about the famous movie actress, Kirsten Dunst. 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: 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/