Today’s Track: Jitwam – ‘Brooklyn Ballers’

May 5, 2022 — Leave a comment

Pictured: Chalo co-founder Jitwam in a promotional photoshoot for ‘Brooklyn Ballers’ (2022) (Photo via PR)

Good Morning to you! This is Jacob Braybrooke, and the time has come for me to give a shout-out to the Broolyn Ballers and each of the readers from elsewhere as we get prepared for 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! A self-described “Psychedelic Soul Savant” who was born in North-East India, now based between New York and Sydney, moved to New Zealand and Australia to spend his formative years there, later living in monasteries in Thailand and washed-out apartments in London, Jitwam is the co-founder of Chalo, an ambitious creative project alongside Dhruva Balram that supports up-and-coming Indian, Pakistani and Kashmiri artists, with a full-length self-titled album being released via The Jazz Diaries in 2020 that had its proceeds donated to the Human Rights Law Network and the Zindagi Trust. As a solo artist, however, he’s released a string of EP’s and a few albums, with 2019’s ‘Honeycomb’ serving as his latest LP. Jitwam has also collaborated with numerous artists including Dam Swindle, Mike Bloom and renowned Broken Beat maestro Kaidi Tatham. Other career highlights include his placements on Moodyman’s DJ-Kicks compilation series, embarking on a national NTS Radio tour in India, touring across the US and Europe, and opening a show for the acclaimed Funk virtuoso Roy Ayers with his full live backing band. His brand new single – ‘Brooklyn Ballers’ – is a one-off release from what I gather, but it offers an energetic ode to his passion for (just) one of the area’s that he has lived in throughout his eventful lifetime. Give it a spin below.

“Brooklyn Ballers is a homage to the city in all its hustle and bustle“, Jitwam explains about the far-reaching notes of the track which are delivered below the soulful and radiant instrumentation, adding, “The magic in the air, that can make dreams come true and can turn your fears into your worst nightmares“, in his own single’s product description on the Bleep website. The opening reminds me of one of Skule Toyama or Night Tempo’s modern Chillwave records, where the summer atmosphere shines right through thanks to the raucous sampled guitar hook that induce the nostalgia of the 70’s Disco-Rock era, before the track soon evolves into more of a Detroit House style of record with additional elements of Hip-Hop and World Fusion music. The lead vocals have a spoken, but catchy and rhythmic, delivery to them where subtle nods to Guns ‘N’ Roses ‘Paradise City’ and Joe Smooth’s ‘Promised Land’ creep in due to the lyrics and the key song structure. A myriad of styles, including Psychedelic Soul and Vaporwave, make their way into the instrumental-driven sections of the track. Jitwam melds together the Gospel-esque backing vocals, some Madlib-style sampling and some Maribou State-style cues of World-Funk and Dub into the mix too to finalise the package, which plays out as a chilled soundtrack to his simple love for the location and a very deep, percussive groover that acts as an ode to some of New York’s most respected producers. The area’s energy is almost embodied by the Jazz inflections and the Detroit House influences, creating a laid back shuffle that gradually builds and draws upon various elements to expand it beyond the original state. A chef’s kiss.

Pictured: Cover Artwork for ‘Brooklyn Ballers’ (Single) (Released on March 23rd, 2022) (via Roya Records)

That’s all for now! Thank you for checking out my latest blog post, and I’ll be ready to take you through a new entry of ‘New Album Release Fridays’ tomorrow as we take a quick preview of one of the weekend’s new and notable album releases. The record in question comes from the Prog-Jazz and Electronica sides of the Alternative Music spectrum by a duo made up of two members from The Comet Is Coming. The duo’s drummer has also toured with Sons Of Kemet, Melt Yourself Down, and Yussef Kamal.

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Way Back Wednesdays: Patti Labelle – “Music Is My Way Of Life”

October 27, 2021 — Leave a comment

Pictured: Cover Artwork for ‘It’s Alright With Me’ (LP) (Released on March 2, 1979) (via Epic Records)

Good Morning to you! You’re reading the words of Jacob Braybrooke, and it is time for me to get typing up for yet another daily track on the blog, because it is always my day-to-day pleasure to write up about a different piece of music every day! As a diva that is responsible for selling over 50 million records worldwide, an actress who has appeared in productions like ‘Dancing With The Stars’ and ‘American Horror Story: Freak Show’, and an entrepreneur with a star on the Hollywood Walk Of Fame, as well as a lifestyle TV host for ‘Living It Up With Patti LaBelle’ and an inductee of the Apollo Theater Hall Of Fame, the question for Patti LaBelle is more clearly: What hasn’t she done? For her musical career, she started singing at church and later formed a vocal group, Patti LaBelle and The Bluebelles, which later became simply known as The LaBelles, and they scored a US #1 single with ‘Lady Marmalade’. As a solo artist, she set the R&B genre alight once again with ‘It’s Alright With Me’ in 1979, her third full-length LP, which she produced alongside the Grammy Award winning mixer Skip Scarborough, and the album enjoyed a sizable run of mainstream radio and chart success, reaching the #33 position of the US R&B charts. ‘Music Is My Way Of Life’, later to be remixed by electronic music producers like Joey Negro and John Luongo, soon became an ultimate R&B/Disco classic of the late 1970s. Follow her philosophy below.

One of the most interesting facts that I’ve read about the Pensylvania-born singer is that, in 2015, she released her own ‘Patti’s Sweet Potato Pie’ to the US supermarket shelves, and, due to a YouTube video praising the product shortly going viral, literally sold like hot cakes, as if they were, and shifted millions of units where, through the result of a 72-hour period, Walmart reportedly sold one pie every second. An 8-minute dance stomper, 1979’s ‘Music Is My Way Of Life’ came around when Disco was huge and hit a commercial peak, although LaBelle mixed things up a little by working with Scarborough, known for producing his romantic ballads, to create arrangements that were more sleak and intricately designed. ‘Music Is My Way Of Life’ isn’t a slow jam however, and it provides a lot of Disco grooves instead. Lyrics like “When I dance they look at me, That’s the one thing you can’t take from me/That’s the music that I feel in my soul” and “When the daylight comes and I’m leaving the dancefloor/By night time, I’ll be back for more” feel exuberant and triumphant, and it is filled up with feel-good instrumentation to boot. The Jazz elements shine through clearly, and there’s plenty of guitar licks that keep proceedings feeling upbeat and light-hearted. The vocal performance is strong, and LaBelle sings about how music shapes her identity and how dance music brings her together with loved ones with a convincing passion. The track is also filled with a floating Piano line of chords that add to the Jazz sound, and the Horn section creates another soulful groove. Overall, ‘Music Is My Way Of Life’ is a classic due to it’s traditional Jazz and Funk grooves, and it’s open-armed embrace of unity and Disco. If that is her philosophy – then It’s Alright With Me.

Pictured: Patti LaBelle at the BET Honors at Warner Theatre, Washington (2016) (Photo by Paras Griffin)

Thank you for checking out my latest throwback track post on the blog today, and I’ll be back tomorrow for a long-awaited debut appearance on the music blog from an emerging female-led Post Punk band from the Isle Of Wight who will be touring in locations such as Cambridge, Oxford, Guildford and Reading in the winter months. Signed to Chess Club Records – the home of artists like Sinead O’Brien and Phoebe Green – the 4-piece have been praised by UK newspapers like The Observer and The i.

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New Album Release Fridays: Remi Wolf – “Quiet On Set”

October 15, 2021 — Leave a comment

Pictured: Cover Artwork for ‘Juno’ (LP) (Released on October 15th, 2021) (via Island Records)

Good Morning to you! You are reading the words of Jacob Braybrooke, and you are joining me for another daily track on the blog, which is the platform for my mission of writing up about a different piece of music every day! We’ve reached the third Friday of October, and the competition is heating up in time for the end-of year lists that will be rolling in by various music publications and YouTube channels shortly. This week – new albums from the likes of London-based, Art Pop-driven Psychedelic Jazz quintet Vanishing Twin, Swedish Electronic Pop producer and blog alumni Sir Was, Cumbria-born Wild Beasts multi-instrumentalist Hayden Thorpe, Billie Eilish’s beloved brother FINNEAS and retro international DJ Purple Disco Machine are all vying for a place on said lists. My pick for this week – however – is possibly the most vibrant one of the pack, and it comes from the California-born Alternative R&B and Synth-Funk singer Remi Wolf, who appeared as a contestant on ‘American Idol’ in 2014 and completed her studies at USC Thornton School Of Music in 2018. Earlier in the year, she made an appearance on a major US talk show – ‘The Tonight Show With Jimmy Fallon’ – to perform a medley of her hits. The follow-up to 2019’s self-released ‘You’re A Dog’ EP and 2020’s ‘I’m Allergic To Dogs’ major label debut EP, ‘Juno’ continues Wolf’s running trend of pooch titles since it was named after her adorable pet dog. The album was announced with two singles, including a catchy Pop number titled after a phrase that your favourite actress – mine are Kathryn Newton and Natalia Dyer – might mutter while shooting on location if they weren’t such sweet people. Be ‘Quiet On Set’ below.

Telling us about her debut full-length LP, Wolf states, “Every song on this record is a vivid snapshot into what was going on in my life and mindset the day I wrote each one”, adding, “The album is named ‘Juno’ after my beautiful dog I adopted during lockdown. He ended up being in every single writing session for this album and I consider him my partner, witness and support in the making of this record”, to her press release while explaining how Juno was her true companion when mastering her material.’Quiet On Set’ has a 00’s sound that reminds me of R. Kelly and Usher in tone, and her vocals feel very quippy, with one-liner lyrics like “I’ve been stealing Corvettes, stunting” and “Eating my ass like the human centipede” that have a playful Hip-Hop delivery on top of a Pop-oriented drum groove and some funk-oriented guitar licks that form a smooth, polished bassline. The lyrics veer strongly into over-the-top territory, providing a quirky and comedic dramatization of Wolf’s issues with ADHD and overworking, themes that my otherwise feel bleak or mundane. Wolf, however, uses lyrics like “I ain’t leaving my bed/The work be killing me dead” to spin the typical emotions into something more bouncy and quirky, with a hilarious refrain of “I don’t want to be a debbie downer” being played out right across the middle of the track. The overall package feels marvelously Beck-like and it reminds me of his 90’s LP, ‘Hollywood Freaks’ in its muddled pastiche of commercial Pop-Funk music. Pitch-shifted narration ends the track, where Wolf goes into a bizzare tangent reminagining herself as a baby, while earlier lyrics like “Wait, there ain’t no steeze if there ain’t no grease/Unless you order that sugarfish sushi” feel directly taken out of Beck’s late-90’s playbook by combining strange and obscure hooks with a false rhyme delivery. Overall, ‘Quiet On Set’ was a fun tune that makes me imagine what may happen if Beck and Brockhampton had a love child together, with Wolf displaying a frivolous personality while discussing the ruminations of her mental health. Some of these retro, Chiptune-like Synth melodies and unique lyricism could come across as irritable to some, but I feel that she would definitely appeal quite well to children and teenagers if she went a little bit easier on the bad language. She probably doesn’t want to target this mass audience, however, and that’s a really good thing because it allows her peculiar lyric elements and her throwback Synth Funk sounds to resonate without any restriction. Overall, this is mental health stigma represented in a fun way.

Pictured: Remi Wolf at a LA Drive-In Benefit Gig (2021) (Photo by Amy Sussman/Getty Images/TNS)

On that note, that’s all I’ve got time for today. Thank you for heading to the blog for your daily fix today, and I’ll be back tomorrow to rave on about some brand new music from a UK electronic house producer who I honestly think is one of the most underrated musicians in the whole of history. I’ll be thrilled to present my post about the technological wizard, who is pretty prehistoric in his fashion and approach. Last year, he collaborated on a tune with Bonobo to signal the arrival of the ‘Outlier’ label. He’s also known for the launch of the Nice Age cross-platform label in 2014. The first release was a collaboration with gifted Aussie DJ and Apple Music 1 host, Anna Lunoe.

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Today’s Track: MNDSGN – “Hope You’re Doin’ Better”

August 3, 2021 — Leave a comment

Massaging the inner workings of your crowded mind on a bright day. New post time!

Pictured: Cover Art for ‘Rare Pleasure’ (LP) (Released on May 14th, 2021) (via Stones Throw Records)

Good Morning to you! It’s Jacob Braybrooke here, and it’s time for me to unload with another music recommendation for you, because it’s always my day-to-day pleasure to write up about a different piece of music every day! ‘Rare Pleasure’ is the brilliant new album on Stones Throw Records from the Los-Angeles based singer-songwriter and graphic designer Ringgo Ancheta, who releases his own Soulful blend of laidback Jazz and soft Funk music as MNDSGN. That does look pretty unpronounceable at first glance, but you are supposed to say it as “Mind Design”. He is very new to my ears, in all honesty, but he has been doing the rounds for several years, collaborating with Danny Brown for ‘Classic Drug References, Vol. 1’ in 2013, working in the side project of Vivians with The Koreatown Oddity for a self-titled album in 2015, and, last year, he released the gorgeous ‘Forever In Your Sun’ collaborative album with Lionmilk. He is the youngest brother of four in his family, of Filipino descent, and he developed his interests in music when he learned how to play the Organ at a young age, before his older brother introduced him to Hip-Hop music and beat production. If you’re a fan of Thundercat or Toro Y Moi, you’d love this. Check out ‘Hope You’re Doin’ Better’ below.

To gain your interest further, Stones Throw Records’ description of ‘Rare Pleasure’ reads like: “Inspired by soundtrack music, Samba, Exotica and 70’s/80’s library records, Rare Pleasure is intensely intimate, sourcing lyrics from MNDSGN’s family and interpersonal experiences, and reflective of the world at large”, and the new LP features guest appearances from Anna Wise, Kiefer, Carlos Niño, Devin Morison and more, who all contribute precisely to Ancheta’s mellow sonic soundboard. The title more or less tells you all that you need to know about the track, with Ancheta singing about the severed bonds of friendships when circumstances of life naturally change, and how distance or disagreement plays a role in the cycle of human nature. Lyrics like “Going through the motions like that” and “You know you’ve got a friend whenever you need one” make his intentions clear, while Anchetta delivers these vocals with a familial warmth and the musical equivalent of a polite smile, bolstered by some mid-tempo keyboard riffs and some light influence from 1970’s Funk that plays out like George Clinton has just gradually slowed down to a crawl at one of his Parliament and Funkadelic parties. The soulful grooves are quite cerebral in pace, mellow in tempo and they are given a more airy weight, but the reverberated Synth patterns and the clear Neo-Jazz production, created by some gently pulsating Drum melodies and some tight Brass samples, feel rhythmic enough to get a funky groove going. It’s not a dance track by any means, but it feels very soothing, and these softly catchy melodies allow the timed duration of the track to slowly dissipate away as you tune in to the thick basslines, simply relaxing your ear-drums and conveying some very hypnotic effects in the process. The dreamy vocals call back to Frank Ocean at his most haziest, and the soothing guitar melodies reminds me of late J Dilla, while some child-like qualities carry the basic themes of the songwriting to a more compelling level. This is a truly excellent lead single from a fantastic new album, which has been on regular rotation among my lists and my libraries for the past crop of weeks, and I would highly recommend streaming the full record the whole way through for more. ‘Slowdance’ is another top-notch single with a similar, but more flirtatious, tone to it. A very well-arranged new release that is impossible not for me to recommend. Bravo.

Pictured: MNDSGN (Ringgo Ancheta) in a photoshoot for ‘Medium Rare’ (2021) (Photo via KRCW.com)

Thank you for your continued support for the blog, and, if you’ve been going through a tough time lately, I hope you’re doin’ better. Please feel free to join me again tomorrow, as we go ‘Way Back’ to late-1960’s Jamaica for our weekly Wednesday throwback, as we revisit one of the most prolific female vocalists of the old-school Jamaican Reggae scene, who released her material on Duke Reid’s Treasure Isle label.

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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/

Today’s Track: Iden Kai – “Disco James”

April 1, 2021 — Leave a comment

My haircut would be right for a Silent Disco – no volume what-so-ever. New post time!

Pictured: Front Sleeve for “Disco Fortuna” (Released on January 15, 2021) (via Neon City Records)

Good Afternoon to you (Borderline Evening) – I am Jacob Braybrooke, and it’s finally time again for me to get scribbling up about your track of the day on the blog, as per typical, because it’s always my day-to-day pleasure to write up about a different piece of music every day! Bandcamp is a truly excellent resource for finding some rarities from some of the world’s independent creatives, and one of my recent discoveries has been Iden Kai’s new album, ‘Disco Fortuna’, which was released to the app and wherever you stream your music on January 15th via Neon City Records. I could find very little information on Iden (Which is pronounced as “Eiden”) when I had searched him up on the web, other than knowing how he pronounces his name and that he is a Mexican DJ and Electonic Funk record producer. However, he seems to be gaining some rock solid traction with those who enjoy their Future Funk and Disco revivialist anthems – for instance – he currently has 3.3k montly followers on Spotify and ‘Disco Fortuna’ has amassed over 10k streams on the platform as well, which is pretty good going for someone so off-the-radar online. Check out the single, ‘Disco James’, below.

Iden Kai offers up his mixes to the currently popular ‘Future Funk’ sub-genre, which, if you are not familiar with the name of this style of music, it pays homage to the viral culture of Synthwave, Chillwave and Vaporwave, but ultimately takes on a more hyper-melodic and anime-style visual work that is defined partly by it’s samples of rare smooth jazz, R&B and lounge Jazz recordings of the 80’s. In more simpler terms, it’s basically the most “poppy” music that you could probably come across, with young artists who share their material around places like YouTube. It’s sometimes seen as quite a trashy and disposable style of production, but like with any good art, it just depends how you treat the genre and what credibility you strive to add to it. ‘Disco James’ is actually a nice way to get acquainted with the relatively new sub-genre. It strips away the more ‘trashy’ qualities of the early-2010’s internet meme culture for me, and it provides an update to 90’s house that feels driven by more Japanese influences. The sound is strikingly upbeat, as Horn melodies and synth instrumentation provides a throwback feel designed to get the party grooving. Meanwhile, the vocal samples are chopped up and screwed up, the lyrics barely inaudible, to also carry across a Metropolitan aesthetic. The keys are playful and the effects experiment with nostalgic moods, with a breakdown towards the end of the track that feels less Jazz-influenced and more video game sound directed. Of course, there’s quite little here in the way of original material from the artist – but it seems like the goal for Iden was to re-purpose these prominent samples of vintage tunes for appeal towards a fresh audience. While it probably won’t appeal to everybody for it’s disposable approach to art, depending on who you ask, it’s earned a few good repeat listens from me. Super melodic, emphasizing on fun and knowingly nodding to the 80’s with care, there’s enough here to keep the party dancing all through a long night.

Pictured: Still image from the ‘Disco Fortuna’ music video (2021) (Photo by Real Love Music)

Thank you for checking out my latest post – I did try to beef it up! This one should get the extended bank holiday weekend moving in style. The festivities continue tomorrow with our ‘New Album Release Friday’ section – where we take a sampler of one of Good Friday’s new album releases. Tomorrow’s track comes from a fresh South London 4-piece group who have been fusing witty, jumbled Spoken Word sections with Post-Rock guitar shredding to unanimously praised effect! 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: Bullion – “Thirty Two”

February 1, 2021 — Leave a comment

A Bullion of silver – let’s see if this music is worth it’s weight in gold! New post time!

Pictured: Cover Art for “Heaven Is Over” (Released on September 25, 2020) (via Jagjaguwar Records)

Good Afternoon – I’ve just seen the Royal Rumble, and that means it’s time for me to get typing up for your 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! We’re kicking off the new month with a familiar face to the blog – and one of the releases that you might have missed in 2020. We’ve covered Bullion’s work once before – and this is the electronic music alias for NTS Radio host Nathan Jenkins, who largely self-produces his own material from his studio in West London. The follow up to the “We Had A Good Time” EP, which released at the very beginning of last year, was the “Heaven Is Over” EP, a little release that I would really recommend for it’s subversive, Warp Records-esque production tools. Under his pseudonym, Jenkins has released a multitude of work for the Young Turks, R&S, The Trilogy Tapes and Jagjaguwar Records companies. During his time-frame, Jenkins has also established himself in the European dance scene, where he’s lived in Lisbon, Portugal for a number of years. My eyes were really drawn to this beautiful fan-made video to his track, “Thirty Two”, which was uploaded onto YouTube last October by TRUTH CRAB, with the Japenese anime’ visuals being taken from Ai Monogatari’s 90’s mini-series, “9 Love Stories”. Let’s take the beauty in below.

“Thirty Two” was, indeed, taken from the “Heaven Is Over” EP from Bullion – which got it’s digital release last September, and a physical 12″ vinyl release followed that December. I’d say it would have made for a brilliant Stocking filler at yuletide time – and the five-track EP was also released as a part of the “Friends Of” project – which was launched, then, as a joint initiative between the Jagjaguwar Records, Secretly Canadian and Dead Oceans label to provide financial support for independent artists affected by the difficulties of the ongoing Covid-19 pandemic. Jenkins also kept himself busy throughout the year by producing Westerman’s debut solo album, “Your Hero Is Not Dead”, along with collaborating with Sampha and Talking Heads’ David Byrne. Even though “Thirty Two” was never officially released as a single, I think it’s still a solid reflection of the 80’s euphemisms and the self–quoted “Pop, Not Slop” attitudes that Jenkins brings to the table. Some might find the lack of any vocals to turn them away, but we’re instead treated to a richly detailed atmosphere that evokes a nostalgic, child-like emotion that would be fairly difficult to replicate with real words. The odd hum, or two, from Jenkins is enough to create a Shoegazed, dream-like backing track to the instrumental sounds. Speaking of those, we get a more electronic style of sound than some of the more piano-based compositions you would find on the EP, with shuffling drum beats and slightly grooving guitar licks evoking a gently propelling sound, while 80’s New Wave-inspired synth lines glide slowly beneath the organic instrumentation to blend these soft instrumentals with a more child-like ambience. It reminds me slightly of Boards Of Canada – with toy Organ chords and mid-tempo Synth lines creating a lightly psychedelic haze to the overall sound. Together, these soft instrumentals gently ascend in tempo, while the odd rumble of bass brings the celestial Synths back down to Earth. I know that some listeners really don’t like the lack of vocals in their music, but I really liked this little release. “Thirty Two” feels very relaxed and quite child-like, but there’s still a light melancholy to the sound with it’s mid-tempo pacing and the push-and-pull bassline. Overall, it is a very nicely laid out little track, and the possible flaws are easy to shake.

Pictured: Bullion (a.k.a. Nathan Jenkins) in a photoshoot for his NTS Radio Show (2017) (via NTS)

If you liked “Thirty Two”, I get the feeling that you will also like the title track from Jenkins’ “We Had A Good Time” EP release last February. Check it out right here: https://onetrackatatime.home.blog/2020/05/27/todays-track-bullion-we-had-a-good-time/

Pictured: Cover Art for “We Had A Good Time” (Released on February 28, 2020) (via DEEK Recordings)

That’s all I’ve got to share with you today – and so I’m going to move on with my shorter working day. Join me again tomorrow for an in-depth look at one of my favourite singles in quite a long time, and this next one is currently really blowing up online with the 6Music crowd of listeners. The track comes from a London-based, female-led Post-Punk group who have recently signed up to the well-known 4AD indie music label, and they were inspired to write and perform their own music by bands including The Feelies, The Necessaries, Pylon and even The B-52’s of wide “Love Shack” 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/

Way Back Wednesdays: Digable Planets – “Rebirth Of Slick (Cool Like Dat)”

January 6, 2021 — Leave a comment

As Booker T would have said around that time – Can you dig it, Sucka? New Post time!

Pictured: Ishmael Butler, Ladybug Mecca and Craig Irving (2005) (Photo Credit: LasVegasWeekly.com)

Good Morning to you, I’m Jacob Braybrooke, and I’m here to – you guessed it! – get typing up your 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. Never mind the “Rebirth Of Slick” – it’s the “Birth of a New Era” here on the blog today – because this is my first entry in a brand new weekly feature. “Way Back Wednesdays” (…See what I did there?) is a new weekly entry where, each Wednesday, we take an in-depth look back at an influential cut or a rarity, that was released pre-2000. I feel this is just a decent way to get more broader, classic music thrown into the mix, to go along with all of my new release-based output that runs on the blog throughout a typical week. Digable Planets was the brainchild of Ishmael Butler, Craig Irving and “Ladybug Mecca” Marianna during the 1980’s and 90’s, a trio of Hip-Hop chic who you could label under the umbrella of “Boom Bap” Hip-Hop artists like A Tribe Called Quest, Public Enemy and Nas, who were emerging in contemporary rap culture of the time. Interestingly, they never set out to be a “Jazz-Rap” group – they simply made use of Jazz-infused samples and using the resources that were available for them to use, being as creative as their composition practices would allow by experimenting with the tools at their disposal. “Rebirth Of Slick (Cool Like Dat)” was their first single, and it became the lead single of their debut LP, “Reachin’ (A New Refutation of Time and Space)”, released in 1993 via Pendulum. The track got to #15 in the US Billboard Hot 100 charts, and it was certified as Gold by the RIAA shortly after, with the sales figure of 500,000 units. Thanks to today’s tech – You can still check out the music video below.

Although the track was never intended to be a “Hit” – It still earned the group the Grammy Award for Best Rap Performance by a Duo or Group in 1994. Sadly, it seems that it was not really meant to last for Digable Planets. Their second album, “Blowout Comb” – released in 1994 – failed to match the success of their original LP effort, leaving the group to follow their own paths and begin their own seperate projects, although there have been a few notable reunions in the decades since. Nonetheless, “Rebirth Of Slick (Cool Like Dat)” would have been an impossible development in Experimental Hip-Hop and Sample-Delia at the time, even if Ishmael Butler likes to now record his own left-field Funk music under the alias of “Shabazz Palaces” in these trying times. It was anchored from a sample of the 1979 track “Stretching” by Art Blakey & The Jazz Messengers, whereby the trio interlace fragmented Trumpet breaks and smart, catchy Acid Synth rhythms. Butler raps about childhood and the political awareness of underground hip-hop records in the first verse, while Marianna raps about the feel of unity that it encourages in the second verse, and Irving jumps in with a verse on the expression of ethnicity through hip-hop culture at the end. The “Cool Like Dat” refrain changes to “Chill Like Dat” and “I’m Peace Like Dat” throughout the process, and the combined “We Jazz Like Dat/We Freak Like That” hook at the end sets a table for the trio’s lofty musical ambitions. The sound is confident and polished – with vintage Saxophone riffs and light-hearted dribbles of Acid Synths crafting a satisfying, mid-tempo Jazz-Aura aesthetic, which has been created uniquely through sampled materials. The “Boom Bap” production feels less aggressive on this release, in juxtaposition with their peers of the time. However, it creates an atmosphere of “Slickness” and “Cool” that makes it an enjoyable listen – due to a relaxing Lounge-Jazz vibe, and it still remains to be the chemistry of the three musicians that makes it work – and so it jostles happily through the spectrum of Hip-Hop self-aggrandization.

Pictured: Cover Art for “Reachin’ (A New Refutation Of Time and Space)” (1993) (via Pendulum Records)

Thank you for taking the time out of your day to read my exciting, new post! As always – you can join me for more of the same tomorrow, where we’ll be taking an in-depth look at a more recent release that you may have missed throughout the last year. We’re going into Electronic/IDM territory tomorrow, with a single from a San Francisco-based producer who is often compared to the likes of Boards Of Canada and Ulrich Schnauss in the ways that he merges natural sounds with synth beats. You may also know him as ISO50 for his graphic design and photography work. If you really liked what you just read, why not follow the blog to get notified when every new daily post is up and why not like the Facebook page here?: https://www.facebook.com/OneTrackAtATime/

Today’s Track: The Avalanches – “Music Makes Me High”

December 11, 2020 — Leave a comment

The light in my life is going out tonight without a flicker of regret. Time for a new post!

Pictured: Cover Art for “We Will Always Love You” (Released on Dec 11th, 2020) (via Universal Music)

Good Morning to you! My name is Jacob Braybrooke, and it’s now time for me to get typing up all about your daily track on the blog, because it is always my day-to-day pleasure to write up about a different piece of music every day! It’s New Release Friday – and although there’s a new EP out today by Foster The People, which you should also check out – since you’re reading my words, we’re going to take a look at the third LP collection to come from The Avalanches, “We Will Always Love You”, who are one of my TOP tier favourite artists. The album is full of 25 sample-delia and plunderphonics tracks that explore cosmic themes, spirituality and what it means to be human. The narrative of the album was inspired by an idea that voices of lost records and lost artists are floating around in space to send out transmissions – with the concept also being inspired by the romantic tale of Ann Druyan, creative director of the Golden Voyager project, whose heartbeat was captured for the Golden Record on the day after Carl Sagan proposed to her, whose image is imposed on the cover artwork of the record after the sound waves were processed through a Spectogram, and turned into the image. Now comprised of Robbie Chater and Tony Di Biasi, the duo are most famous for 2000’s “Since I Left You”, a debut record that, no pressure to the two, really changed the way that we make music. “Wildflower” followed a lengthy 16 years later, and seemed to get a more mixed general reception, but I felt it was an excellent album in it’s own right. Let’s sample the track “Music Makes Me High” below.

At least it only took them four years this time… Along with some help, of course. Released today via Modular Recordings, the new long-player features a staggering guest line-up including MGMT, Johnny Marr, Kurt Vile, Tricky, Sampa The Great and more – alongside guests such as Neneh Cherry, Blood Orange, Rivers Cuomo and Sananda Maitreya (formerly Terrence Trent D’Arby) who have already appeared on the singles. It’s staggering to think how it was back in February that we heard our first tease of their new effort, but it’s now finally here. In an interview with NME, I can recall Robbie and Tony explaining how “Music Makes Me High”, their new promotional single of the time, was largely a throwback to the style of music which they grew up listening to. There are definitely prominent elements of Detroit House and Chicago Soul here, with a very vintage genre of sound which, you could argue, inhabits the qualities and values that Robbie and Tony are all about as artists – Scavengers of an endless record collection – that harken back to the roots of their sample-based production flair. Sampling hallucinogenic beats from Salty Miller’s track of the same title, and The Devoted Souls 80’s anthem “Keep On (Holding On)”, the vocals retain a lighthearted feel of a wild, drug-induced night out, while the short and snappy synth loops give the track an upbeat, funky feel. The short samples of cheering crowds remind me of the adventurous, earthly vibes of “Since I Left You”, and the brief Gospel backing vocals add some weight to the track’s cooling effects of it’s hook. While the track probably might not be for everybody’s cup of tea due to it’s lack of the sonic qualities found on their more hip-hop oriented work, I think the layout is very impressive, as the central sample pulls together with the push-and-pull production to form a clean, unified sound. The gift of The Avalanches’ work of repurposing old samples into a format that feels imaginative, and this track really emphasizes those abilities of the duo’s ever-present desire to uplift – and renew, in the face of adversity.

Pictured: The Avalanches (Robbie Chater & Tony Di Blasi) in a press shot for “Wildflower” (2016) (via PR)

It’s been a long singles run for the duo in the lead-up to today’s album release, and we’ve covered some of the bases already here on the blog. Check out my review for the first teaser, from way back in February – and the titular track – here: https://onetrackatatime.home.blog/2020/02/21/todays-track-the-avalanches-feat-blood-orange-we-will-always-love-you/, followed by the second single, “Running Red Lights”, here: https://onetrackatatime.home.blog/2020/03/20/todays-track-the-avalanches-feat-rivers-cuomo-pink-siifu-running-red-lights/, and finally, we also took a look at “Wherever You Go”, of which you can read up on my feelings on here: https://onetrackatatime.home.blog/2020/07/23/todays-track-the-avalanches-feat-jamie-xx-neneh-cherry-clypso-wherever-you-go/

Pictured: Mural promoting “We Will Always Love You” in Melbourne, Australia (2020) (via Stereogum)

Thank you for putting up with my latest love letter to The Avalanches. Happy Listening! Wherever You Go, don’t miss out tomorrow’s post on the blog, which highlights some more alternative Festive music, this time being a comedic single that came in the 1960’s from a Country and R&B singer-songwriter who has been inducted into the Nashville Songwriters Hall Of Fame and the Christian Music Hall Of 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/

Today’s Track: Public Enemy (feat. George Clinton) – “When The Grid Go Down…”

November 4, 2020 — Leave a comment

If you don’t like this one…You may be a rap fan’s Public Enemy #1! It’s new post time!

Pictured: Flavor Flav and Chuck D at a festival (2014) (Photo Credit: Tim Mosenfelder/Getty Images)

Well…vhere we are again! Good Morning to you, I’m Jacob Braybrooke and I’m typing up your daily post on the blog, because it’s always my day-to-day pleasure to get writing to you about a different piece of music every day! If you’ve not heard of Public Enemy, then you must have been living under a rock for the past few decades! They’ve been going ever since the late-1980’s, and they have been known for their very political, hard-edged styles of hip-hop experiments, with critic Stephen Thomas Erwleine of AllMusic naming them “the most influential and radical band of their time”. With the current US election, it’s intriguing to see them making a return to the public eye. It’s down to the current lineup of Chuck D and Flavor Flav – along with Bassist Davy DMX and a few more who were not part of the group’s original lineup, to put their unique spin on contemporary themes and socio-economic ideas. “What You Gonna Do When The Grid Goes Down” is their latest album, and it saw the classic act go old-school with the release dropping on Def Jam. It’s their fifteenth studio album, and their first under the “Public Enemy” name since 2017 (as they released “Loud Is Not Enough” as ‘Public Enemy Radio’ earlier in 2020). The new album features a star-studded guest list including DJ Premier, Run-DMC, Nas, Mark Jenkins and more. The album had a quick turnaround from it’s announcement and it’s release, and there seems to be a fairly mixed reception to Public Enemy’s latest, although it skews positive. The opening track is “When The Grid Go Down..”, which brings together the rap icons with the bona-fide Funk legend George Clinton. Let’s take a listen below.

With lyrics like “All around/Without the sound/Uncle Jam’s army” and “We are here/What you gonna do when the grid go down?” bursting through a distorting stock radio effect, “When The Grid Go Down” is a short and sweet introduction just shy of 2 minutes long that signals the return of the beloved Hip-Hop group as we lead into “GRID”, the first full-length track on the new album. The vocals play on themes of Public Enemy being “heroes” in a time of distress, further teasing ideas of mature rebellion and social activism to be consistently explored throughout the sound of the record. Some of these lyrics stick out to me, like “Socially Engineered Anarchy Induced Chaos” and “One against the other, Him against his brother” that are recited under a smoky, washing backing vocal from Clinton. These themes of standing up to authority as a group and repelling political degrades as a union feel rather reflective of the Funk music that Clinton used to make with Funkadelic and Parliament in the late-1970’s, with a light guitar brushing that sounds neo-psychedelic and punk-driven enough to bat a few eyelids, for me, anyways. The subtle hip-hop breakbeat comes into the fray at the midway mark, with a heavy melody being teased by the gradually increasing tempo and raising intensity on the harsh, abrasive drum beats that skitter along to the hip-hop instrumental beats at a speedy and prevalent pace. Although this is clearly more of a skit or interlude rather than a fully fleshed-out track, it manages to fulfill it’s role of establishing a few key themes for the album in a melodic and nicely thought-out way. Although the ideas of rebellion in unity are the ideas that Public Enemy have been playing around with for years, they are still relevant, if a little generic at this point. It’s a little bit dis-spiriting to see that most of the original line-up hasn’t come back for this outing, but Flavor Flav and Chuck D have done a good job in working with the resources they still have access to. Overall, I’d like to see the classic rap act bring a couple of fresher ideas to the table, but the hazy production of this teaser/intro is a solid affair that feels drawing and expansive. Although I know exactly what to expect from the record, it still makes me intrigued to see where it will go. The psychedelic vibes point towards a Gorillaz-esque colour of hip-hop experimentation. All in all, the concepts may feel tired, but this sounds like it’s going to be a good thing.

Pictured: Cover Artwork for "What You Gonna Do When The Grid Goes Down?" (Album/LP) (Released on September 25th, 2020) (via Def Jam Recordings) — Pictured: Cover Artwork for “What You Gonna Do When The Grid Goes Down?” (Album/LP) (Released on September 25th, 2020) (via Def Jam Recordings)

Thank you very much for reading my new post! Always one to celebrate an eclectic mix of playlist selections, I am going to be switching up styles again tomorrow – as we take a look at the recent solo project of a female producer and composer who is best known for being one-half of the influential indie rock duo The XX. 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/