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Today’s Track: Nas – “Moments”

September 11, 2021 — Leave a comment
  • Pictured: Track Listing for ‘King’s Disease II’ (Released on August 6th, 2021) (via Mass Appeal Records)

Good Morning to you! I’m Jacob Braybrooke, and I’m going to be putting the ‘Hip’ into the ‘Hop’ on this rather cloudy Saturday morning to up its ante with another daily track on the blog, because it’s always been my day-to-day pleasure to write up about a different piece of music every day! It’s only been under a year since legendary 90’s rapper Nas won the Grammy Award for ‘Best Rap Album’ with 2020’s ‘King’s Disease’. However, that was more of a ‘legacy Grammy’ if you ask me, and I feel that his new direct continuation of that record – ‘King’s Disease II’ – released a handful of short weeks ago, is a bit better and more representative of such an award. Another victory lap for the famous associate publisher of Mass Appeal magazine, and a New York-based musician whose debut album – 1994’s ‘Illmatic’ – has been inducted into the Library Of Congresss National Recording Registry, ‘King’s Disease II’ once again finds the multi platinum-selling entrepreneur bringing the Fontana-born producer Hit Boy on-board with him, and the frequent pair have seemed to become something of a collaboration cheat code in recent years. The new album also features fruitful guest appearances from the likes of Eminem, Ms. Lauryn Hill, Charlie Wilson, EPMD and more. The new record also comes highly recommended from the critics, scoring an excellent 88/100 on review aggregate site Metacritic to indicate “Universal Acclaim” from lots of music publications. Check out the mid-album highlight ‘Moments’ below.

‘King’s Disease II’ was released in early August through Nas’ own label, Mass Appeal Records (of course) and, as well as performing strongly in review sections, this new release marked another commercial milestone for the famous rival of Jay Z, as it went straight to #3 in the US Billboard 200, becoming Nas’ highest charting album in nine years, and its first week sales of 56,000 units outmatched those of its predecessor in his ‘King’s Disease’ string of recent releases last year. An introspective anthem that matches chopped old time Soul samples with a clear, witty backdrop of nostalgic realizations, ‘Moments’ reminds me, in terms of its narrative thread, to recent movies like Disney Pixar’s ‘Soul’ and Amazon Prime’s ‘The Map Of Tiny Perfect Things’, where it feels like a grounded celebration of the little beauties in life, and this really connects with me on a decent personal note because I recently had my sister’s wedding, and that was a ‘Once In A Lifetime’ deal of enjoyment. Lyrics like “We used to all put in and go half on bail money/F**k making it rain now, we makin’ it hail money” harken back to the youthful days and the emerging stages of his career, and reflective sequences like “My whole career I stayed away from features/But I figured its perfect timing to embrace the leaders” are calling cards for the album as Nas speedruns through his personal growth through the decades. The catchy chorus, with quick hooks like “Movin’ in ya first crib or having your first kid/Moments you can’t relive” really hammers the point home with a near equal mixture of accessibility and relatability. I love how these rhymes feel a little clumsy at points, as the straightforward meaning of the track really helps to give them a freestyle flair that charms. Plenty of credit goes to Hit Boy too, who works very hard behind the DJ decks to make everything flow together elegantly. The whimsical mix of laidback Horn sections, the strutting muted drums, the fluttering Glockenspiel melodies and self-satisfied Bass beats feels nicely endearing and complements Nas’ relatively unpolished vocals well to tell the story, and it gives the brief lyrics that may otherwise come across as a bit too slap-dash a well-contained, apt Jazz influence for the backdrop to flourish. He’s perhaps not a brilliant producer on his own, but when he works with Nas, there’s a really coherent chemistry that feels very engaging. It is a bold statement – but this is one of Nas’ best.

  • Pictured: Cover Artwork for ‘Illmatic’ (LP) (Released on April 19th, 1994) (via Columbia Records)

As Nas’ quietly declares in the track that we just heard, he is now considered a legacy artist and so he’s no stranger to making appearances on my blog already. Last year, we took a listen to the lead single ‘Ultra Black’ from the first ‘King’s Disease’ record, which you can still read here: https://onetrackatatime.home.blog/2020/10/14/todays-track-nas-feat-hit-boy-ultra-black/. Meanwhile, earlier in the year, we looked back at his culturally significant debut album ‘Illmatic’ with the single ‘It Ain’t Hard To Tell’ for ‘Way Back Wednesdays’ – a moment that you can relive from my site here: https://onetrackatatime.home.blog/2021/04/21/way-back-wednesdays-nas-it-aint-hard-to-tell/

  • Pictured: Cover Art for ‘King’s Disease’ (LP) (Released on August 21st, 2020) (via Mass Appeal Records)

That brings us to the end of the page for today, and thank you very much for being a part of this particular moment with me! It’s ‘Scuzz Sundays’ tomorrow, and so we’ve nearly reached the part of the week where we take things a little less seriously and either head-bang or cringe to some of the Pop-Punk anthems from the teenage time of our lives. My pick for this week comes from a rather successful Kanas City-bred Post-Grunge band who have sold over seven million albums worldwide. Since 2012, the band’s leading man has been hit with accusations of lip syncing during live shows.

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Today’s Track: The Lathums – “I’ll Get By”

September 9, 2021 — Leave a comment
  • Pictured: Alex Moore (Lead Vocals/Songwriter), Scott Concepcion (Multi-Instrumentalist), Johnny Cunliffe (Bass Guitar/Backing Vocals) and Ryan Durrans (Drums) (2021) (Photo Credit: XSNoise.com)

Good Morning to you! You are reading the typeface of Jacob Braybrooke, and the time has finally come for me to get typing up for today’s 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! Led by multi-instrumentalist and singer-songwriter Alex Moore, The Lathums are a 4-piece indie Pop/Rock band from Wigan who have supported Blossoms on tour in Europe, and they have been gaining a hefty share of steam in recent years of their very own, crowding out Wigan’s local market with their fans at a weekend signing. This band seem to be true local celebrities of their area because they helped to save Wigan’s football club by giving their fans a chance to win a one-off ‘Holy Grail’ vinyl with a competition that raised £4,000 for their home’s team. Gearing up to release their debut studio album, ‘How Beautiful Life Can Be’, on September 24th through the Universal-owned Island Records label, The Lathums have been gaining national radio airplay from Radio X, with the title track from the album being a former ‘Record Of The Week’ on the commercial station, and The Lathums have appeared on The Chris Moyles Breakfast Show for a performance and interview. They have also landed a C-list spot on BBC Radio 6 Music’s daytime playlist with ‘I’ll Get By’. Give it a spin below.

The Lathums enlisted the help of Baby Queen and Inhaler collaborator James Slater to direct the video for ‘I’ll Get By’, who explained in a press statement: “I wanted the video to be a celebration of the different passions and personalities in the area where the band are from. A journey through a magical North”, as he comments on the colorful cast of characters that appear in the video, which includes some Alpacas, a vaudeville wrestler and an Elvis impersonator, among others in the celebratory video for embracing cultural diversity. The smile-wide optimism of the visuals feel like a neat combination when paired to the joyful lyrics and earnest vocals from Moore, who happily croons cheerful lyrics like “The road is long, But I’ve got you and you’ve got me/We belong anywhere we roam” and “You are the one thing I believe/That will save me from the pain” to the sound of a chugging rhythm section that introduces some warm Desert Rock-esque guitar riffs and some Folk-oriented Drums to the mix as we harken back to the Jangle-Pop of the mid-60’s. It feels fit for a summery outdoors music festival, with a rhythmic refrain of “Maybe you’re the sculpture or you’re the statue / maybe you’re a king or maybe you’re my queen or maybe you are something in between” rounding us off with a clean, acoustic finale. The meaning of ‘Indie’ feels far from undisputed and well-defined in the modern day and age, as I’ve complained about on the blog in the past, and so, since The Lathums are signed to a major label, I personally would not consider them to truly be an Indie band. I can still see the label angling for a chart hit here, which doesn’t quite sit that well with me, due to the pop-influenced style and the high level of accessibility, however, I did still find this mix of soothing Magic Numbers-esque Sunshine Pop revival and 90’s Brit-Pop archetypes to make for a pleasant listen overall. There’s nothing that feels particularly memorable nor terrible here, but it’s a nicely crafted tune where the band don’t use any auto-tuning effects and simply rely on their natural likability and their clear influences to maintain your interest, and that part of the equation pays off well. The calm melodies and the sweet instrumentation says nothing of the unrest that clouds many young adult artists’ music, and makes for a refreshing change because it talks about finding peace through safety and conciliation instead, and that felt like a breath of fresh air. On the whole, this was a nice little Pop jangler that rolled along at an engaging speed and it did something different to some of their contemporary peers. A nice reminder to be kind to yourself made from the use of the band’s fairly mature musical direction.

  • Pictured: Cover Art for ‘How Beautiful Life Can Be’ (Available from Sept. 24th, 2021) (via Island Records)

That brings us to the end of the page for another day, and thank you, as always, for reaching the bottom of the post with me. It’s ‘New Album Release Fridays’ tomorrow, and we’ll be catching up with a fairly familiar face from the blog as they launch their debut full-length album on Ninja Tune. She is a South Korea-born and Melbourne-based DJ whose EP, ‘How Can I?’, appeared on my year-end best Albums list from 2020. The new record features guest spots from Take A Daytrip, Clams Casino and Nosaj Thing, and she’s gained further support from stations like SiriusXMU and KCRW.

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Scuzz Sundays: The All American Rejects – “Dirty Little Secret”

September 5, 2021 — Leave a comment
  • Pictured: Cover Art for ‘Move Along’ (LP) (Released on July 12th, 2005) (via Interscope Records)

Good Morning to you! This is, of course, Jacob Braybrooke, and this is the time of the week where we revisit some of the Pop-Punk anthems of the past – typically released between the late-90’s and the mid-00’s – to see whether any of the most popular music from THAT phase of our lives can still hold a candle to quality in the modern times, and that fits in with my day-to-day pleasure to write up about a different piece of music every day! It’s been a hot minute since we wrote about The All American Rejects other major hit, ‘Gives You Hell’, for the feature, and so it naturally feels like a decent time to unveil their other big ‘Dirty Little Secret’. This was a commercially successful rock band from Stillwater, a city in the state of Oklahoma, who were one of the Dreamworks Records pack of the Scuzz TV Pop-Punk 00’s that had also included bands like Smash Mouth and Papa Roach among their line-up. Led by Tyson Ritter, the 4-piece group have shifted units to the heights of Platinum success when they hit the peak of their popularity, and ‘Dirty Little Secret’ was certified Gold in the UK in 2019, almost ten years after the original release of the single. These days, the band do not seem to be working on albums anymore, but they have continued to tour and in 2019, they released a new single on their new label Epitath. They were ranked at #183 on Billboard’s ‘200 Artists Of The Decade’ list in 2010. Spin ‘Dirty Little Secret’ below.

‘Dirty Little Secret’ was not actually about an angsty end to a youthful relationship, as commonly assumed, but the memorable hit track was actually written about a light case of tax fraud experienced by frontman Tyson Ritter and the follow-up of a hasty cover up that cleared up the boys time for finishing off their second studio album, ‘Move Along’, a well-enough reviewed sophomore release that spawned three top 15 singles in the US, and therefore bolstered the LP’s appeal to solid sales to the tune of a Double Platinum certification by the RIAA after the milestone of two million copies was met. ‘Dirty Little Secret’ led the band to become a fair household name, and so it’s definitely the type of music that you would have expected to hear from them, and the genre, at the time. The driving bass melodies power it to the Power-Pop side that bands like Relient K or Wheatus aimed for, and this formula of mostly pure Pop meets a light slab of Punk worked out well for the fame-seeking dreams of these artists at the time. Lyrics like “You are the only one that needs to know” and “These sleeping thoughts won’t lie” largely fit the themes of secrets and, ironically, don’t reveal too much, and that works out in favour of the songwriting here because it gives things a little bit of fun, rather than simply blurting out the obvious meaning, if you will. The furnishings of Acoustic Guitar in the beginning soon become more distorted and dirty guitar riffs, and we’re led into a vastly more Grunge-influenced second half that gives proceedings more of an edge, albeit very briefly. The chorus has a catchy hook of “I’ll keep you my dirty little secret” that scream for a festival crowd to sing along to, and the straightforward Drums give the production a tighter feel. The vocals feel a bit generic for the time, and the lyrics aren’t really that interesting, and it’s a catchy Pop-Rock tune from the 00’s that plays out predictably. However, I place an emphasis on the word of ‘Catchy’ there, because it is a pleasant tune to listen to as it simply feels punchy and engaging. On the whole, this is not necessarily great, but when I was younger I found that All-American Rejects were one of the better ‘Trashy’ bands of the era, and this is nowhere near the absurd levels of Crazy Town or The Bloodhound Gang. It perhaps borrows from too many typical ideas from its time, but the self-indulgence of Ritter’s vocal delivery and the snappy guitar melodies were enough to keep me entertained. Inoffensive and rather anthemic, ‘Dirty Little Secret’ didn’t ever quite match the feel-good fun of ‘Gives You Hell’ for me, but it’s a fair effort to do so. Harmless and reasonably nice, its success was understandably no secret for the band.

  • Pictured: Tyson Ritter (Lead Vocals/Keyboard/Piano/Acoustic Guitar), Nick Wheeler (Lead Guitar/Backing Vocals/Synths), Mike Kennerty (Rhythm Guitar) and Chris Gaylor (Drums/Percussion) (2018) (Photo by Jeff Neumann/AlternativeMusicPress.com)

Right – that leaves us at the end of the line for another week. Thank you for joining me, and I’ll be back to kick off the next week of daily uploads from the morning onwards. Tomorrow’s track gives us a closer look at one of the upcoming weekend’s new EP releases, and it comes from a project who previously made an appearance on the blog in January, and have been supported by Lauren Laverne on a recent episode of ‘The New Music Fix’ on BBC Radio 6 Music. This Avant-Garde Duo is formed up of two previous members of Spring King, who have been on the cover of Dork Magazine.

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Today’s Track: Penelope Isles – “Iced Gems”

September 4, 2021 — Leave a comment
  • Pictured: Lily Wolter (Lead Vocals/Songwriter), Jack Wolter (Drums/Backing Vocals), Jack Sowton (Lead Guitar/Piano) & Becky Redford (Bass Guitar/Backing Vocals) (2020) (Photo via Bella Union Records)

Good Morning to you! You’re reading the words of Jacob Braybrooke, and it’s time for me to bring just a small slab of spice to your Saturday with some fresh high-profile independent music, because it’s always my day-to-day pleasure to write up about a different piece of music every day! Penelope Isles are a familiar face on the blog, who pulled in a few appearances on my humble site two years ago with a pair of singles from their promising debut album, ‘Until The Tide Creeps In’, which was released on Simon Raymonde’s Bella Union label in 2019. This project is centered around the two siblings of Lily and Jack Wolter, who are joined on tour by bassist Becky Redford and pianist/rhythm guitarist Jack Sowton. Together, the band are now based in Brighton, although the Wolter siblings grew up on the Isle Of Man. This band have garnered acclaim from Stereogum and Brooklyn Vegan, as well as supported groups like The Flaming Lips, The Magic Numbers and Wallows on live tours. If you are local to me, you can catch them playing live at The Portland Arms in Cambridge on November 25th for the generous ticket price of £9.90 per head. Two years have been removed since their first LP was issued, and the follow-up record, ‘Which Way To Happy’, will mark the end of the two-year turnaround period when it hits record store shelves on November 5th. The band have embarked on three US tours, and so it will be exciting to see how they expand on their success. Check out the new single ‘Iced Gems’ below.

Penelope Isles started working on their second album at a small cottage in Cornwall during lockdown in 2020, and the 4-piece eventually approached the frequent MGMT collaborator Dave Fridmann to bring his electronic experience to the party as their mixer. Lily Wolter says, on working with him, “He made everything so colourful. It’s an intense-sounding record – a hot record. It was so refreshing to have that blast of energy from Dave – it’s like he framed our pictures” in the LP’s announcement details for the press. ‘Iced Gems’ finds the band reflecting on some emotional realizations and very late evenings while brainstorming for the new record by the seaside, and it definitely brings a more sonic sound template to the typically relaxed sound of their previous record, but the instrumentation is still fairly stripped back and goes for a swooping, introspective tone. The music video finds the Wolter siblings travelling around in a camper van and really embracing the reclusive surroundings of a nature setting, and it feels like a suitable complement for the delicate synth pads and the fragile keyboard riffs that are heard in the main track. Lily sings about the seeking of purpose and the rush of companionship that she feels around her closest friends, and these sweet lyrics are delivered neatly above tight drum machine sequences that feel intricately textured and have a quietly sparkling undertone. The drum machine feels relatively forceful, and it nicely controls the tempo when the colourful sound effects add a rush of energy to the ending section of the single. Meanwhile, there’s also a neatly decorated Acoustic guitar instrumental and a tidily tinkling Bell riff that lurk in the background and ensure more detail for the mid-tempo soundscape. I also find the track title to be a fairly interesting one because ‘Iced Gems’ were a sickly tooth-rotting treat that British kids used to consume in the 00’s, and so this connotes a sense of holding onto nostalgia and contrasting the simpler times with more overbearing feelings as a young adult in the modern times. Overall, this is an excellent single that deserves the mainstream radio play that it sadly isn’t likely to get due to them simply not being a bigger name, because it feels easy to connect with, but there’s a lovely emphasis on the textured sounds and the blissful personality that Lily Wolter shows through her reserved vocals. There is a natural progression to their earlier sound in how the synth work brings a new element to the ‘Slacker’ style of their earlier record, and the different arrangements of the instruments are simply very pleasant to listen to. There’s a lot going on, but it maintains the peaceful vibe. I wholly recommend this.

  • Pictured: Cover Art for ‘Until The Tide Creeps In’ (LP) (Released on July 12th, 2019) (via Bella Union)

If you’re not familiar with Penelope Isles and you enjoyed the sound of this, you can start making your way through some of the band’s earlier discography with some of my older posts regarding them on the blog. Check out the fan-favourite ‘Leipzig’ here: https://onetrackatatime.home.blog/2020/01/10/todays-track-penelope-isles-leipzig/ and the 7-minute epic ‘Gnarbone’ here: https://onetrackatatime.home.blog/2020/01/10/todays-track-penelope-isles-gnarbone/

  • Pictured: Cover Art for ‘Which Way To Happy?’ (LP) (Available from November 5, 2021) (via Bella Union)

That’s all for now and thank you, as always, for reaching the end of the page for me and continuing to support these types of music artists alongside me. I’ll be back again tomorrow for some fun with our ‘Scuzz Sundays’ feature, as we revisit a popular single from a mid-00’s Stillwater-based Pop-Punk band who have continued to tour in the present day after leaving a sizeable mark with Dreamworks Records with several successful albums in their heyday. They have sold over ten million records worldwide, and, in 2012, were ranked at #73 on Billboard’s list of the Hot 100 Artists Of The 2000’s.

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New Album Release Fridays: Little Simz – “I Love You, I Hate You”

September 3, 2021 — Leave a comment
  • Pictured: Cover Art for ‘Sometimes I Might Be Introvert’ (Released on September 3rd, 2021) (via Age 101)

Good Morning to you! You are reading the rather excited words of Jacob Braybrooke, and it’s time for me to get typing up 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! ‘New Album Release Fridays’ returns today, and this week’s array of competitive new offerings includes fresh releases from Drake, Iron Maiden (Just saying), Manic Street Preachers, The Wildhearts, Lauren Alaina, Priya Ragu, LANY and more. However, the biggest release of the week for me certainly comes from Little Simz, who is a female British rapper (of Nigerian ancestry) from Islington, London. I’ve raved on about her multiple times as the future of Hip-Hop music on the blog, and the ‘Drop 6’ EP and the singles lifted so far from her new album ‘Sometimes I Might Be Introvert’, out now on her own label Age 101, have certainly whetted my appetite for some more. The new album is centered around the theme of introversion and how Simz handles a shy, reserved personality in a business driven by the talkative social media influencers and complicated job recruitment processes of the modern times, and so it sounds like an interesting exploration of ideas when you consider that Simz is quite a fast-rising producer whose job is to project her voice to the public at large. This is her fourth full-length LP release, and it is the follow-up to 2019’s ‘Grey Area’ in album terms, an LP that won Album Of The Year awards at both the NME Awards and the Ivor Novello Awards following its release. Check out her new single, ‘I Love You, I Hate You’, below.

“Inflo {her co-producer] asked me, “What do you love and what do you hate”, I knew the answer immediately”, Simz says to us of her latest deep-cutting single, adding, “I wanted to just let people know like, yo, I’m actually this way inclined, being this introverted person that has all these crazy thoughts and ideas and theories in my head, and not always feeling like I’m able to express it if it’s not through my art”, to her general press release. If you’re fan of Little Simz, like me, then you may have noticed how the new single is just a little bit more alike to her early stuff because it focuses more on the introspection elements, trading in anthemic experimentation for a more personal quality. Lyrics like “Hard not to carry these feelings even on my best days/Never thought my parent would give me my first heartbreak” expresses her troubled relationship with her mother or father, and these quick bars are recited over the top of a driving Snare drum which forms a well-rounded bassline, and these sequences are interspersed with a darkly soulful male backing vocal that repeats the hook of “I love you, I hate you” at a consistent tempo formed by a sample. The subject matter of the heated vocals flow from hot to cold throughout, and Simz expertly communicates a tense feeling of not being able to live with or without a part of her heritage. The rest of the instrumentation honestly reminded me of The Avalanches because these wistful Horn sections and sprawling String arrangements feel very virtuosic and carefully curated in texture. The harp riffs build some tension for the murkier segments, and the crescendo of Classical instrumentation samples cuts right to the bone, allowing for the uneasy emotions to flourish in the soundscape. I like how Simz is never afraid to shift geers when she needs to, and the track certainly heads in a more unpredictable formula than we may be used to hearing from her. On the whole, this is another solid-as-a-rock showing from Simz, where she delivers her very raw and smartly written lyrics on top of an engaging sample-based backbeat that heads in some creative storytelling. She is an excellent role model for young girls, and she cements that claim with the natural talent that she shows on singles like this.

  • Pictured: Little Simz in a ‘Drop 6’ Promo Shoot (2020) (Photo Credit: TAMIYM)

Are you a fan of Little Simz? If you haven’t been converted yet and fancy checking out some more like this, why not start with some of the singles that we have previously discussed on the blog here? Check out the excellent ‘Where’s My Lighter?’ featuring Alewya here: https://onetrackatatime.home.blog/2020/05/15/little-simz-feat-alewya-wheres-my-lighter/, an go back to where the build for the new album started with ‘Introvert’ here: https://onetrackatatime.home.blog/2021/04/27/todays-track-little-simz-introvert/

  • Pictured: Cover Artwork for “Drop 6” (EP) (Released on May 6th, 2020) (via Age 101 Records)

That brings us to the end of the page for another day! Thank you for joining me again today, as always, and I’ll be back tomorrow for some brand new music from an Indie Rock group currently signed to Simon Raymonde’s Bella Union record label. They previously impressed me on the blog with their debut album two years ago and made a pair of appearances on the site, and they’re back with a new album set to release in November. This group is centered around two Brighton-based siblings who originated from the Isle Of Man, and they have embarked upon three US tours. They have hit the road with notable groups such as The Flaming Lips, The Magic Numbers and Wallows.

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Today’s Track: Still Woozy – “Get Down”

September 2, 2021 — Leave a comment
  • Pictured: Cover Art for ‘If This Isn’t Nice, I Don’t Know What Is’ (LP) (Self-Released on August 13th, 2021)

Good Morning to you! You are reading the words of an, as of about teatime, 23-year-old Jacob Braybrooke, and it’s now time for me to spend a little time of the day by delivering your daily track on the blog to your eye line, because it’s always my day-to-day pleasure to write up about a different piece of music every day! One of the latest albums that I’ve been nodding my head along to is ‘If This Isn’t Nice, I Don’t Know What It Is’, the debut studio album from the US indie bedroom Pop artist Still Woozy – his real name is Sven Eric Gamsky – who released the record on August 13th via his own Still Woozy Productions sub-division of the Interscope Records label. Gamsky began producing his own Pop music at home at just 13 years of age, and he grew up in the Moraga part of the San Francisco Bay area near Oakland, California. You may previously know him as a member of the Experimental Math-Rock band Feed Me Jack, who split up on amicable terms in 2016. Gamsky has now become very prolific in a short span of time and he aims to release a new single every 7 or 8 weeks, which IQ happily finds to be “genre-bending” music. Check out the single ‘Get Down’ below.

A self-reliant producer with a Major in Music from The University Of California in Santa Cruz as of 2015, Gamsky will be taking his sounds on the road for the upcoming festivals including Life Is Beautiful and Firefly, and many of the tickets for his solo shows in the US – for locations like Washington DC and Philadelphia – have been sold out already. UK fans can catch him in Brighton, Glasgow, Birmingham, Bristol and more next Spring. ‘Get Down’ definitely feels influenced by his majoring in a classical guitar emphasis and his minor in electronic music during his time of studies, where merticulously planned guitar patterns control the briefly fluctuating signatures of the funky guitar lick patterns. He largely goes for a mix of modern Indie and commercial Funk, delivering the vocals with a hushed croon and giving the tempo a mid-speed treatment. The backbeat feels easy-going and accessible, while the struftul Drums feel like a clean accompaniment to the playful lyrics about young romance and sexual tension. He weirdly sounds similar to Mac Millar here, as he pairs a bubbling and upbeat backing beat with a blissful, Synth-driven instrumental that moves along fast enough, but emphasizes the feelings of regret and striving for something greater that you can identify in his voice. The rest of his lyrics play out as a confident reminder to follow your instincts and go with the flow of things when it comes to pursuing a friend as a love interest, as he lets out brief sighs when reciting lines like “She gave me a look that made me sweat/I think about it and I won’t forget” and “I had you on the dance floor/I swear, it was in the air” while he steps outside of his bounds briefly. The main hook of “She wanna get down” has an air of Soul to it, while the chorus draws from Folk and Psych-Rock a little bit with the tight basslines and the swift guitar work. If I were to offer my constructive feedback, I would have liked the chords to progress a little bit more and introduce more instruments to the mix to give the sounds a little more variety. Other than that, this is a really nice and catchy Pop-oriented tune that feels eclectic enough, and it should appeal to a sizable crowd of listeners due to the accessibility and his relatable songwriting concepts. A tightly arranged Pop package.

  • Pictured: Sven Eric Gamsky (Still Woozy) (2019) (Photo via Tim Mosenfelder/FilmMagic/Getty Images)

That brings us to the end of the page for another morning! I’ll be back tomorrow for ‘New Album Release Fridays’, and it’s going to be a good one because we’re learning more about one of the most highly anticipated Hip-Hop releases of the year and it comes from a female rapper who I admire very dearly. It is the follow-up to 2019’s ‘Grey Area’, which won the Album Of The Year at the NME and the Ivor Novello Awards.

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Way Back Wednesdays: The Free Design – “Kites Are Fun”

September 1, 2021 — Leave a comment
  • Pictured: Cover Art for ‘Kites Are Fun’ (LP) (Released in 1967) (via Light In The Attic Records)

Good Morning to you! You are reading the words of Jacob Braybrooke, and it’s time for us to enjoy an in-depth revisit of a pre-00’s sound of the past that has become very influential for the present for ‘Way Back Wednesdays’, which is in-keeping with my day-to-day pleasure to write up about a different piece of new music every day! Having caught an old episode of Cherry Red Radio on a whim two or three weeks ago, I quickly learned about The Free Design, an early 60’s to mid 70’s family pop group who were formed in Delevan, New York and went on to become huge influences for the likes of The Beach Boys, Beck, Stereolab and Belle & Sebastian, despite receiving relatively little attention during their earlier stages of their career. Comprised of three of four Dedrick siblings, this “harmony group” – of many from the time – speedily recorded a two song demo and subsequently found a home with the independent easy listening record label Project 3, a platform that allowed more creative freedom for them than most competitors. The band dabbled in Neo-Psychedelia, Jangle-Pop, Sunshine Pop and soft Funk, but failed to land a hit because their label suffered from their low resources to promote their artists very aggressively. Almost four decades later, however, Light In The Attic Records had re-issued most of the quintet’s back catalog of albums and singles, revealing a band that were unfairly slept on to a new generation of new-found fans. 1967’s ‘Kites Are Fun’ was cited as a huge influence for Japanese percussionist Cornelius, and the title track was the only real single release from it, having reached #33 on the Billboard Adult Contemporary Charts in the US, thus becoming their only single to chart. Unveil the mysteries of ‘Kites Are Fun’ below.

Indie acts such as The High Llamas and Pizzicato Five have all cited The Free Design’s music as influences for their own for their happy-go-lucky brand of late-60’s Baroque Pop and pastoral Soft-Folk, and the critics have always seemed to be in agreement with this level of praise, and the title cut of 1967’s ‘Kites Are Fun’ earned single status on Billboard’s ‘Bubbling Under The Top 100’ and ‘Top 40 Easy Listening’ surveys in the US. The sounds on the title track are so 60’s that you might want a pair of sunglasses and a convertible Cadillac to complement your easy listening experience. It is a lovely mix of sophisticated Pop music and chilled Folk melodies, however, with the hushed croon delivering lyrics like “We’d like to be a zillion miles away from everyone/’Cause Mum and Dad and Uncle Bill don’t realize Kites Are Fun” as they celebrate child-like innocence with the gentle thump of a Tambourine and a whimsical Horn section carrying us to a peaceful chorus. The lyrical themes follow the typical embrace of peace and love that strangely didn’t resonate with the ‘Hipster’ crowd of the time due to its lack of commercial success, but the band deliver plenty of high notes when the intimate lyrics such as “See my kite, it’s green and white” that use gentle rhyming schemes to emphasize the nostalgic atmosphere of the cheerful sounds. It’s not massively upbeat however, and what strikes me most about their choice of instrumentation is how they emphasize sophisticated chords that are more often associated with Chamber Folk or Classical Jazz music to blur the lines between psychedelic pop, folk music and lounge Jazz in a way that gives them an individual edge over their peer groups of the time. This renders ‘Kites Are Fun’ as a lovely listen throughout, where a subtle sense of melancholy and a strong pushing of Sunshine Pop boundaries make for a mix of late-60’s and early 70’s music that was not quite done by another band in the same way since their time. Lyrics like “But we like each other more than anything” have a somewhat comic effect, while the orchestral instrumentation, especially the Flute sounds that all get peppered throughout the choral melodies, slot the track into a relaxed Easy Listening vibe that feels emotive enough, but expands the vocabulary of the writing. Just like Kites – this is a lot of fun!

  • Pictured: Chris Dedrick (Lead Vocals/Acoustic Guitar), Bruce Dedrick (Lead Guitar), Ellen Dedrick (Tambourine), Stefanie Dedrick (Percussion) & Sandy Dedrick (Drums) (1967) (Photo by TVTropes.org)

That brings us to the end of the page for another day! Thank you for ringing in the new month with me, and it is my birthday tomorrow, but I look forward to finding some time to talk about some new music regardless. Tomorrow’s pick comes from an American Bedroom Pop singer-songwriter who began making music at the age of 13 and he grew up in Moraga, California situated in the San Francisco Bay area. He’s become prolific in a short span of time, and IQ says that his music is “genre-bending”.

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Today’s Track: Billie Marten – “Human Replacement”

August 30, 2021 — Leave a comment
  • Pictured: Billie Marten before a ‘Quench’ interview (2016) (Photo by CardiffStudentMedia.co.uk)

Good Morning to you! This is Jacob Braybrooke, and I’m here to bring a bit of Billie Marten into your Bank Holiday weekend, because it’s always my day-to-day pleasure to write up about a different piece of music every day! This artist in question is a British singer-songwriter from Ripon, North Yorkshire who described her own music as “a mix between acoustic and quite folky and a little indie” back in 2014. Despite only being a youngster at 22 years of age, Marten has already released two EP’s and three full-length LP’s. Her latest album, ‘Flora Fauna’, was released earlier in the summer – May 28th, to be precise – on Fiction Records, the same standalone label that festival headliners like The Cure, Kaiser Chiefs and The Maccabees have all been a part of. Marten got her big break through her viral popularity on sites like YouTube, despite only just finishing her GCSE’s, and she has since become more widely known for her BBC ‘Sound Of 2016’ nomination. Another fun fact about her is that she has a self-described “weird obsession” for Alpacas, and she has expressed a wish to keep one during some interviews. Her new album, ‘Flora Fauna’, is the follow-up to 2019’s ‘Fedding Seahorses By Hand’ and it was co-produced with Rich Cooper (Mystery Jets, Lucy Rose). Check out Joe Wheatley’s official video for ‘Human Replacement’ below.

Marten’s new LP also includes the BBC Radio 1-playlisted singles ‘Garden Of Eden’ and ‘Creature Of Mine’ and she says of the recent release, “I wasn’t really treating myself very well. It was a bit of a disruptive time. All these songs are about getting myself out of that hole – they’re quite strong affirmations.”, adding, “The name ‘Flora Fauna’ is like a green bath for my eyes. If the album was a painting, it would look like Flora and Fauna – it encompasses every organism, every corner of the Earth, and a feeling of total abundance” to her press notes. ‘Human Replacement’ takes these ideas a step further with a soul-shattering assessment of a women’s right to be left alone when outside of the home late at night. She delivers wise-cracking lyrics like “Blood on the moon/Too young, too soon” and “You’re watching my back/I live for the nightmare” across the course of a less traditional Pop song structure. A decent amount of tension builds in the more subdued verses, as Marten muses on themes of female safety and religious faith amid some rather unnerving String flourishing and thumping Percussion sounds. Her vocal tones go for darker melodies when lyrics like “Kids in dark places/A sound for the ages” creep into the picture with a more whispered delivery that reminds me of Ela Minus’ moody flair. This Blues-inflicted assortment of intense moods and murky textures are matched by some more curious sets of instrumentation, where some sharpened guitar chords drive the melodic bassline forwards. Billie Marten’s tale of woeful street harassment is topped off by some jangling Piano chords and some screeching Violin melodies that continue to abandon a more typical Folk song template for a more alternative, hushed formula of richly augmented soundscapes. Overall, this is a powerful little anthem that properly showcases Marten as one to do things differently and benefits from that unique edge.

  • Pictured: Cover Artwork for ‘Flora Fauna’ (LP) (Released on May 28th, 2021) (via Fiction Records)

That brings us to the end of the page for another day! Thank you for reaching this point with me, and I’ll be back for more tomorrow, where we’ll be taking a trip to the small village of Frillesås on the western coast of Sweden for new music from a Jazz-influenced electronic music producer who is signed to City Slang Records. He has collaborated with Little Dragon and he is set to perform at the ESNS festival in Gronigen next January. A few weeks go, he was selected by Lauren Laverne as her ‘Spotlgiht Artist’ on an episode of ‘The New Music Fix’ on BBC Radio 6Music.

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Scuzz Sundays: Evanescence – “Call Me When You’re Sober”

August 29, 2021 — Leave a comment
  • Pictured: Cover Art for ‘The Open Door’ (LP) (Released on September 25, 2006) (via Wind Up Records)

Good Morning to you! You’re reading the words of Jacob Braybrooke, I have returned from my short break away from the blog, and so it’s time for me to add another entry to our ‘Scuzz Sundays’ library, because it is – once again – my day-to-day pleasure to write up about a different piece of music every day! It has been a little while since we had a female-led band featured on a ‘Scuzz Sunday’ on the site and I like to be inclusive for all on the site, so I’ve decided to whip up a quick one from Amy Lee’s Evanescence today since, all things considered, they are a good quality group. The lead single from their second album – ‘The Open Door’ – released in 2006, ‘Call Me When You’re Sober’ reached the top five of the UK singles chart that year. For their second album, the Arkansas 5-piece group decided to head towards a Symphonic Metal direction and they used backing vocals from choirs when the album was written over an 18 month period. Evanescence have always sold well in European markets, and this album was no different because ‘The Open Door’ topped the album charts in Greece, Switzerland, Germany and Australia too. The record also won ‘Album Of The Year’ at the MTV Australia Video Music Awards in 2007, and the record has also been certified as Double Platinum according to the RIAA. Let’s revisit the lead single below.

The pressure was certainly mounting up for Amy Lee’s quintet to deliver the goods for the follow-up LP to their widely successful ‘Fallen’ debut in 2003, and they made small steps to repeating their huge success with ‘Call Me When You’re Sober’, a single that reached ten of the different component Billboard charts in the US. Lee wrote the anthemic single about her dwindled relationship with Seether’s lead vocalist, Shaun Morgan, and she recorded the soon-to-be hit of the time with co-producer Dave Fortman (Slipknot, Simple Plan) as she penned the lyrics about how addiction issues had terminated the ties with her former love interest. To change things up, Lee’s band transformed the Grunge sounds of ‘Bring Me To Life’ and such earlier hits for a more sultry mix of strings and delayed pedal effects for ‘Call Me When You’re Sober’, while the rest of ‘The Open Door’ included a few classical Piano ballads. This single would have played out as more familiar for their fans though, with hard-hitting lyrics like “Don’t cry to me/If you loved me/You would be here with me” and “Sick with shame, Must be exhausting to lose your own game” being recited above a fairly radio friendly style of melodramatic guitar riffs and mascara-wearing aggression. Lee still seems very confident in what she’s going after here, however, and she delivers these lines with a cool confidence that suggests a little bit more than simply selling units. While the instrumentation is admittedly a little on the forgettable or even predictable side of her usual angle, the whimsical Piano breaks and the sweeping bass melodies are packaged together neatly. There’s some nice personality to the slightly evil sort-of chuckle towards the end, and the assortment of Strings towards the melodic chorus decorates the proceedings with a solid coat of polish. Overall, this is a haunting monologue that may come off as a bit bland or a bit too pop-oriented at times, but it certainly does more good than it does any real harm. Amy Lee’s vocals are lovely, as always, and the swooping mixture of different instruments feels very neat overall. It definitely has a lot of polish to it, but it has enough substance to stand out nicely enough by the time it stops spinning. A solid, if not quite up to personal best, offering.

  • Pictured: Amy Lee (Lead Vocals/Keyboard), Troy McLawhorn (Lead Guitar), Jen Majura (Rhythm Guitar/Backing Vocals), Tim McCord (Bass Guitar) & Will Hunt (Drums) (2020) (Photo via Concord.com)

If you want to revisit another taste of Evanescence’s 00’s days, then make sure that you are ‘Going Under’ with me for an in-depth dig through their prior discography here: https://onetrackatatime.home.blog/2020/10/11/scuzz-sundays-evanescence-going-under/

  • Pictured: Cover Artwork for “Fallen” (Released on 3rd March, 2003) (via Wind-Up/Epic Records)

That’s all for now! Thank you for your patience in allowing me to deliver some new content to your eats when the time suited me, and I’ll be kicking off a brand new week of daily music recommendations tomorrow with a sleeper hit from a British female indie rock singer-songwriter from Ripon, North Yorkshire. She started to gain attention by attracting new viewers to her acoustic YouTube performances in their hundreds when she was only twelve years old, and, in 2015, she was nominated for the BBC’s ‘Sound Of 2016’ Award.

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Scuzz Sundays: The White Stripes – “Fell In Love With A Girl”

August 22, 2021 — Leave a comment
  • Pictured: Cover Art for ‘White Blood Cells’ (Released in 2011) (via Sympathy For The Record Industry)

Good Morning to you! I’m Jacob Braybrooke, and you have joined me for another weekly edition of ‘Scuzz Sundays’ where we remember the Pop-Punk hits of the past, all in memory of the now-defunct Scuzz TV channel. That’s all in-keeping with my day-to-day pleasure to write about a different piece of music every day! The Detroit-born sibling duo of The White Stripes is a name that everybody knows – especially given the iconic opening riff of ‘Seven Nation Army’ that has really gone down in history as a memorable standout of 21st century popular culture. It is fairly surprising that, in that case, they have yet to make an appearance on the feature until now. The duo rose to prominence in the Garage Rock revival scene of the 00’s that also saw bands like The Yeah Yeah Yeah’s achieve success in the mainstream, and the group scooped up a win for ‘Best Alternative Music Album’ for each of their final three albums at the Grammy Awards. In 2015, they also ended up at #6 on Rolling Stone’s list of the greatest music duo’s of all time. They were also well-known for their black and white cosmopolitan aesthetic styles until they went on an indefinite hiatus from 2011 onwards, as well as their low-fidelity approach to their production process. ‘Fell In Love With A Girl’ was the lead single to be lifted from their third studio album, ‘White Blood Cells’, which was chosen as one of NME’s ‘Top 100 Albums Of All Time’ in 2003. The single itself almost reached the top 20 of the UK Singles Chart, and it was the group’s first single to reach the US Alternative Songs Chart. Revisit the tune below.

We’re all very familiar with The White Stripes already, but you may not know that several, rather bizzare, cover versions and remixes of ‘Fell In Love With A Girl’ have been issued since the original single reached #21 on the US Bubbling Under Hot 100 singles chart in 2002. There was Joss Stone’s 2003 cover, redubbed ‘Fell In Love With A Boy’, that halted the frenetic guitar energy of Jack White down to a more understated pace. There was a parody lounge version of the track released by Richard Cheese in 2002, and Weird Al Yankovic included it for his ‘Angry White Boy Polka’ mash-up of parodies a year later. I have to say, I much prefer the original studio recording to any of those alternatives. Speaking of the original track, we’re treated to a tight sequence of arena rock music and DIY Post-Punk production packed into a concise two-minute duration. The lyrics discuss a distinction between love and lust, with quick shots like “Bobby says its fine, he don’t consider it cheating now” that have a false rhyming scheme, while the pretty catchy and lightly distorted lead guitar riffs match the uncomplicated and straightforward songwriting with some attention-grabbing, high-energy fare. Jack White injects some influence of Glam-Rock into his wailing vocal delivery and story-based lyrical progression, and drummer Meg White keeps up with his frenetic pace by bringing up some loud drum beats that complement White’s strung-out chorus nicely. These melodies soon begin to feel melodic and addictive, and the speed at which they bring all the goods to the table is certainly impressive. All of these slightly different elements, along with the animated LEGO-produced video that was directed by Michael Gondry that probably should be remembered better than it seems to be, all come together suitably for a 2-minute adrenaline shot of stadium rock that, at the time, broke the band into the consciousness of the charts in an admirable way. While I don’t think this is among their absolute best, it’s still sounding pretty original and contemporary enough today, and you wouldn’t have questioned its age if it came out yesterday. Guitar rock fans simply fell in love with it.

  • Pictured: Jack White (Lead Vocals/Guitars/Keyboards/Piano/Synths) and Meg White (Drums/Percussion/Occasional Backing Vocals) (in 2007) (Photo by Stephen Lovekin/WireImage)

That brings us to the end of the page for another 24 hour period, and thank you for getting this far with me today. I’ll be back at it again tomorrow to kick off a shortened week of business, as I will be going away for a few days this week, with fresh new music of a more niche variety. My first of three weekly picks comes from a Croatian dance music group who do things differently with their self-described ‘Organic House’ sound. The 5-piece group have released their debut album on Rika Muzika this summer, and their own Facebook page pitches the sound as “Jazz-infused Post-Rock meets Ambient Electronica meets Tech-House with a percussion twist”. Sounds good!

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