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Today’s Track: Pet Shop Boys – “It Doesn’t Often Snow At Christmas” (2009 Version)

December 14, 2020 — Leave a comment

Everything I’ve ever done. Every place I’ve ever been. Every place I’m going to. A Sin!

  • Pictured: Neil Tennant (Lead Vocals/Producer) and Chris Lowe (Keyboards/Synths) (2016) (via PR)

Season’s Greetings to you! I am Jacob Braybrooke – and it’s now time for me to fulfill my daily duties of typing up today’s track on the music blog, because it’s always my day-to-day pleasure to get writing up all about a different piece of music every day! I have had a lot of fun seeking out some Alternative festive tunes to share with you via my daily means, and I have got a lot more of them in store for you this week as we build up to a very different Christmas. Pet Shop Boys, the English Synth-Pop duo of Neil Tennant and Chris Lowe, probably doesn’t need any real introductions to you, but aside from their obvious hits of “West End Girls” and “Go West”, I’m not too sure if you knew they recorded their own Christmas electronic dance track. “It Doesn’t Often Snow At Christmas” is the title of the tune, and it’s actually been recorded in two versions. The track was first released back in 1997 to their exclusive Fan club at the time, and it was later re-released, and re-recorded, as a new version of the track in 2009, and so the remastered work is still fairly recent. This version appeared on an EP, “Christmas”, which they released in 2009, as the B-side to “All Around The World”, a brand new single. The EP, which bundled the two tracks together, was also available in a Physical format. The cover artwork is nice, since it calls back to the balloon trademark of the Brazillian compilation, “Party”, which the duo also released in 2009. The EP just managed to crack the Top 40 of the UK Singles Chart in 2009 – having reached the spot of #40. Let’s watch them perform it at the 02 Arena in London below.

Tennant and Lowe, as Pet Shop Boys, are officially the UK’s best-selling duo in music history… Sorry, Chemical Brothers… and the “Christmas” EP, which they released in 2009, also featured a remix of Madness’ “My Girl”, and a cover version of Coldplay’s “Viva La Vida”, along with a re-worked version of “All Over The World”. The track in question today, “It Doesn’t Often Snow At Christmas”, is a sharper and slightly more pessimistic affair, as Tennant sings about the British national identity of Christmas and of taking a well-needed break from the commercial distractions that come along with the festive season. The synth-led instrumentation and properly “Flat” electronic sound of Kraftwerk come across as classic Pet Shop Boys, as Lowe combines vintage keyboard riffs with Choral backing vocals mixed with percussive Sleigh Bell melodies. The vocals border into Scrooge territory, as Tennant sings the likes of: “Christmas is not all it’s cracked up to be” and “Nothing on the TV that you’d want to see”, before a White Christmas lyrical reference, singing: “Bing Crosby, Are you listening to me?” before the chorus kicks in, where Tennant chants: “But, I’ll still have a glow at Christmas/Because I’ll be with you” in a quick, rhythmic fashion. He also sings: “Now, it’s all about shopping and how much things cost”, a small songwriting motif of melancholy that feels briefly profound. The tones are upbeat, and it plays up to the more melodic stance of the ultra-pop Synth dance beats and the social-realist vocals. Overall, it plays out most like you would expect a Christmas-themed Pet Shop Boys track to sound like, with Tennant using a Falsetto to give the perverse pop a more neo-futuristic vibe in light of the unashamedly 80’s style. There’s little new here, but that’s not a bad thing. What you get is two of the all-time greats sticking to their roots, but with all of the trimmings of a Festive theme. I don’t feel it’s quite as fun as 2020’s “Monkey Business” as a result, but it still sees the beloved national treasures making a fair point on the modern Christmas and it feels timely for our circumstance this year.

  • Pictured: Pet Shop Boys at the London Olympic Games Opening Ceremony (2012) (Photo via BBC.com)

It’s quite difficult not to recognize Pet Shop Boys for all they have done for British Pop music, and that means we’ve previously reviewed some of their other tracks right here on the blog. Don’t forget to peruse my feelings on 2016’s “The Pop Kids” here: https://onetrackatatime.home.blog/2019/11/04/todays-track-the-pet-shop-boys-the-pop-kids/, and 2020’s “Monkey Business”, here: https://onetrackatatime.home.blog/2020/01/27/todays-track-pet-shop-boys-monkey-business/

  • Pictured: Cover Art for “Monkey Business” (Single) (Released on January 3, 2020) (via x2 Records)

Thank you for reading my latest Seasonal sprinkling on the blog! We’ll be taking a break from the Christmas music tomorrow as we return back to some usual output on the blog. Tomorrow’s track comes from an British indie folk singer-songwriter, who is currently based in Paris, who released her fifth studio album earlier on in the year. Her band, which she fronts, have once appeared on an episode of BBC One’s “Wanderlust”, with the group playing in a night club where Joy, a character who is played by Toni Colette in the television series, attended.  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: Ray Stevens – “Santa Claus Is Watching You”

December 12, 2020 — Leave a comment

He knows when you’re sleeping and he knows when you’re awake. It’s new post time!

  • Pictured: Cover Art for “Christmas Through A Different Window” (Released: 1997) (via MCA Nashville)

Festive tidings to you – I am Jacob Braybrooke, and it’s now time for me to get typing up all about today’s track on the daily music blog, because it is always my day-to-day pleasure to write about a different piece of music every day! “Santa Claus Is Watching You” is a quirky little Christmas track, which I found out all about when I was researching some alternative or obscure Christmas tracks to spotlight on the blog this year over the world wide web. Sadly, the name of Ray Stevens did not initially ring any Jingle Bells with me (See what I did there?), but it turns out that he’s really a very prolific Country and R&B singer-songwriter originally from the state of Georgia, over in the states. He’s also worked as a television presenter, music arranger and music producer too, and Stevens has also been inducted into the Nashville Songwriters Hall Of Fame, the Georgia Music Hall Of Fame, the Christian Music Hall Of Fame and he’s even received Gold certification sales for some of his albums, so he may be just a little bit before my time, is all. After all, what do I know, eh? “Santa Claus Is Watching You” was a track which he originally wrote and performed as a one-off single released back in 1962, before he later re-released the track as a part of his “Christmas Through A Different Window” seasonal LP collection in 1977. You can still buy the record, but the single in it’s original form is a rarity now, and it’s worth a decent amount of money. I do not have that kind of money. Anyways, let’s laugh along to the music video below.

Ray Stevens has also been inducted into the Country Music Hall Of Fame and Museum, which happened just last year in 2019, and so he is still trucking along with his work. The track, specifically, has actually been doing the rounds for a long time now, and you can also get hold of it from his “The Best Of Ray Stevens” compilation album which he put out in 1967, where the track was even re-recorded, electronically, to simulate stereo. As a result of this, I sadly have no real idea of when the official music video, that you just saw above, was released. However, it’s still quite charming and memorable despite it’s dated production. The track, however, peaked at the #45 spot on the US Billboard Hot 100 chart. I think that it’s still quite funny, too. The start plays out with a showering of Sleigh Bell melodies, as Stevens calls out: “Now baby-doll, sweetie-pie, sugar-plum, honey-bunch, angel-face” above a stop-and-start combination of Piano and Guitar work, before delivering the killer hook of “Be careful what you say and do/’Cause Santa Claus is watching you” on top of the jovial, care-free rhythms. It gets more romantic and unveiling later on, as Stevens attributes “You’d better kiss and hold me tight/And give me a good lovin’ night” and “When Christmas comes, you’ll be crying too” to the repeated vocal hook. A quirky bridge of doo-wop filler lines and a list of reindeer’s names who are not a part of Santa’s elite group of Sleigh pullers follow up on the verses, to add a quirky sense of fun to the lyricism. He later claims that Santa Claus is the head of the CIA, and the track ends with some form of Spoken Word freestyle about his paranoia of being watched by the White-bearded international celebrity. It makes for a fun and entertaining listen, although the cohesion and flow of the track gets a little uneven at times, as Stevens keeps dashing through different modes of his wordplay vocal delivery and his instrumental breaks during the track. I’m not sure how appealing this track would be to children either, but I think that’s a good thing, in this case, because it makes it feel different to your bog-standard festive Pop track primarily aimed at Children that Pop singers like Ariana Grande and Justin Bieber are known to have performed in recent years. Stevens also manages to deliver some good comedy throughout the single too, even if the flow loses it’s way a little bit during the middle. The Rockwell of yuletide tracks – which came an odd 20 years before, perhaps. Overall, it’s still pretty hilarious.

  • Pictured: Vinyl Copy of “Santa Claus Is Watching You” (1962) (Photo via Discogs.com/Mercury Records)

Thank you for checking out my latest blog post! Tomorrow marks a short-lived, but celebratory, new era for our weekly Scuzz Sundays series, because we’re going to be looking at some festive-themed emo-rock and pop-punk gems taken from the late-1990’s, up until the mid-2000’s, from tomorrow onwards. Tomorrow’s Emo throwback comes from a classic American Heavy Metal band who are often regarded as “Glam-Rock” for their prominent use of makeup and female costumes. 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 Futureheads – “Christmas Was Better In The 80’s”

December 10, 2020 — Leave a comment

Travelling through time like the DeLorean on a festive winter’s breeze. New post time!

  • Pictured: Ross Miller (Lead Vocals/Rhythm Guitar/Synths), Barry Hyde (Lead Guitar/Occasional Backing Vocals), David Craig (Bass Guitar) & David Hyde (Drums) (2019) (Photo Credit: Paul Alexander Knox)

Season’s Greetings to you – I’m Jacob Braybrooke, and it’s time for me to get writing up about another random Christmas song, because it’s always my day-to-day pleasure to write up about a different piece of music every day! The Futureheads are another one of those Punk-Rock bands who were a part of the “indie” boom of the 00’s – in the vein of The Wombats, Editors and Maximo Park. Influenced by New-Wave and Math-Rock bands like Gang Of Four, Fugazi and Devo – the 4-piece group were formed in Sunderland in 2010, and went on to have quite a few hits on the UK Singles Chart, such as “Hounds Of Love”, “Decent Days and Nights” and “Skip To The End”, among others. Back in 2010, the band decided to get festive with a one-off Christmas single titled “Christmas Was Better In The 80’s”, where the indie troupe grimace about the lost nostalgia of their childhood Christmas season and reminisce about those days where Space Invaders was in, and Rubik’s Cubes were the must-have toy of the yuletide season… Not that I’d really know of. I was born in 1998. Anyhow, they released it through their own indie label of Nul Records, along with the accompanying music video below, which was also a part of the group’s 10th birthday celebration since they formed. Let’s take a blast from the past with the track below.

“Christmas Was Better In The 80’s” was released six days before the actual day of Christmas back in 2010, and they also released their fourth album, “The Chaos”, earlier that year. It seems they really were as busy as the Elves in Santa’s workshop, then. Most recently, the band released their sixth album “Powers”. last year, which also marked the end of a six-year hiatus for the band. The track is written in a first-person perspective, as the band’s lead vocalist, Ross Miller, sings: “On Christmas Eve in the 80’s/My mother would say to me” above a soft and minimalist Piano section. After singing: “Christmas was better in the 80’s/Better in the 1980’s”, we reach a dramatic key change of upbeat bass guitar riffs decorated with sleigh bells and long backing vocal harmonies. The band declares together: “The snow was deeper in the 80’s/And everybody used to play, outside on Santa’s sleigh” over the top of quickly paced guitar work and a fast, uptempo delivery. Miller, meanwhile, continues to reminisce about the yuletide season of his adolescence, singing the likes of “Plastic trees and snowball fights/Happy Days and Silent Nights” while the band provide some choral backing vocal harmonies and some quick, percussive Bell melodies in the background. It doesn’t really evoke the Synth-obsessed Dance-Pop that arguably dominated the musical culture of the 1980’s, but it feels sentimental and nostalgic enough to create a decent alternative to the bucketloads of royalty payments which Mariah Carey or The Pogues make every year from streaming services. I like how it feels original too, and it’s not a reworked version of a traditional carol or a cover of a typical Christmas track with slightly varied lyrics to make it about the 1980’s. Overall, while the music itself sadly doesn’t really sound as if it’s coming from the 1980’s, the Everything Everything-esque vocal hooks and the sharp, guitar-driven Indie Rock sound make for a good slice of modern originality – even though I can’t compare the Festive tidings of the 1980’s to the present offerings…because I just wasn’t born then.

  • Pictured: Cover Art for “Christmas Was Better In The 80’s” (Released in 2010) (via Nul Records)

Thank you for checking out my new seasonally themed blog post! New Release Friday is definitely happening tomorrow – as we take an in-depth look at a brand new album release which I’m really excited about. It comes from an Australian Plunderphonics/Sample-Delia duo who had to make their fans wait 16 years between the release of their breakthrough debut album and their hallucinogenic-inspired sophomore album follow-up. It’s only taken four years this time – so we could say thank goodness for that! 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: Glasvegas – “A Snowflake Fell (And It Felt Like A Kiss)”

December 8, 2020 — Leave a comment

It’s nice how we all live in a world where no Snowflakes are the same. New post time!

  • Pictured: James Allan (Lead Vocals/Piano/Rhythm Guutar), Rab Allan (Lead Guitar/Backing Vocals), Paul Donaghue (Bass Guitar/Backing Vocals) and Jonna Löfgren (Drums) (2019) (Photo via Wegow.com)

Good Morning – my name is Jacob Braybrooke, and I’ve got some more Alternative festive music to share with you over the holidays, because it’s always my day-to-day pleasure to write up about a different piece of music every day! Glasvegas are a Scottish indie rock group who seem to be what folk music is to Scotland, in musical form, in what Irn Brn is to national drinks in the country. Although I have heard little of them, the band have still managed to release a Platinum-selling debut album, which reached #2 in the UK Singles Charts, and was also nominated for the Mercury Prize in 2009, and it also went Gold in Sweden and North America. Following on from that, the band have signed up to BMG Rights Management, and have released two more LP records. Next year, the band are gearing up to release “Godspeed” in April, which is their fourth studio album and their first not to feature the drummer, Jonna Löfgren. Tracing back to 2008, they released “A Snowflake Fell (And It Felt Like A Kiss)”, which is a Christmas-themed EP that consists of six tracks, which they recorded in a Citadel, over in Transylvania. Let’s watch them perform the EP’s title single below.

Glasvegas spent one week recording the Festive EP release with Rich Costey, who was also the co-producer of the band’s enormously successful debut album. It also features contributions from The Concentus Choir, who performed backing vocals on “Silent Night/Noapte De Vis”. In the video, you can see them performing the title track with a full string section choir on “Christmas At The Quay”, and so it becomes very clear that Glasvegas wanted to explore a very classical and orchestral sound on their festive EP collection. In a strongly accented vocal performance, James Allan sings: “The breeze, from the Graveyard keeps murmuring death” and “Now, I’m compelled to care/About my future going nowhere” to evoke a downbeat and isolated mood. The chorus is more hopeful and peaceful, since Allan croons: “Now, I don’t feel so all alone in the cold wondering where I’m going today/Then a snowflake fell and it felt like a kiss, now I’m okay” over the top of a gently ascending jingle bell melody and a swooping Violin section. This comes after a darker variation of the chorus, where the style is more downtempo and less choral. The spacious Bell melodies are implying that we have a character being cocooned from the harsh cold weather, and the vocals are finding a niche blend between the familiar warmth of the festive season, and the bleakness of Snow that comes with the Northern winters of a Glasgow setting. The instrumentation is composed of a simple Piano line, as opposed to any noisy Guitar parts, and so it feels like a good way for the band to step outside of the comfort zone a little bit. I think that the Christmas textures are quite mild and subtle, and I’m not really getting much of a mood that really makes me feel anything. It may be that I’ve not part of the Glasgow world that the track is addressing, but, for me, it’s only really washing over me and not being majorly affecting. It is nice, however, and I feel that the little String sections are pretty. Although it’s just not really a track that I can see myself coming back to, I feel it is still an interesting take on the traditional Carol spirit.

  • Pictured: Cover Artwork for “A Snowflake Fell (And It Felt Like A Kiss)” (EP) (Released on 1st December 2008) (via Columbia Records)

Thank you for reading my latest post – and happy holidays to you! Regular output resumes again for the day tomorrow, where I’m going to finally get around to nattering about a track that came out earlier in the year. It comes from a female solo singer-songwriter and producer who is from Utrecht, in the Netherlands, and loves to experiment with retro Guitar sounds and vintage Synth sounds that draw from the inspirations of 70’s pop. Her latest EP was released in September by AT EASE. 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/

Scuzz Sundays: White Zombie – “More Human Than Human”

December 6, 2020 — Leave a comment

In your head, In your head – is gonna be White Zombie… Zombie… It’s Scuzz Sunday!

  • Pictured: Cover Artwork for “Astro-Creep: 2000 – Songs Of Love, Destruction and Other Synthetic Delusions of the Electric Head” (Album/LP) (Released in 1995) (via Geffen Records)

Good Evening to you – I’m Jacob Braybrooke, and it’s finally time for me to get typing up about your new entry in our weekly Scuzz Sundays series, where I take you back to the Emo-Rock and Pop-Punk movements of the late 1990’s, up through to the mid-2000’s, with an ancient gem that I’ve dug out from that era of rock, named in tribute to the now-defunct Scuzz TV channel from my childhood years. It’s almost time to cap off 2020 – and this is going to be our last regular installment of the ongoing series until the new year of 2021, because we are getting more festive with the theme from next week onwards. Last, but not least, we have White Zombie – the trailblazing NYC-based Alternative Metal group most famously comprised of the rock goddess Sean Yseult, the lead guitarist Jay Yuenger, the drummer John Tempesta, and – of course – their frontman, Rob Zombie – who has since gone on to direct a wealth of B-movie horror flicks. Although disbanding in 1998, the band were still ranked highly at #56 of VH1’s “100 Greatest Artists of Hard Rock” list that was published in 2006. “More Human Than Human” was one of their signature tracks – and it was included on the group’s fourth and, what proved to be, their final album – with the shortened title of “Astro-Creep 2000”, which was released in 1995 by Geffen Records. It landed the 4-piece group their most commercially successful album – reaching #6 on the US Billboard Top 200 albums chart, which was a really successful feat for an Alternative Heavy Metal record at the time. A few interesting facts about the track is that it features a repeated Slide Guitar figure, which is more commonly used in Blues music. Moreover, Zombie sampled the moaning vocal effects in the intro from “Cafe Flesh”, a Post-Apocalyptic pornography movie, of all items. Let’s hear the results of this below.

“More Human Than Human” quickly became White Zombie’s most recognizable single in their storied career, earning the band their second Grammy Award nomination for Best Metal Performance, and being ranked on PopMatters’ list of “The 10 Best Alternative Metal Singles Of The 1990’s” list. The title of the track, as well as the lyrics themselves, also derive from the Phillip K. Dick poem “Do Androids Dream Of Electric Sheep”, as Zombie wanted to infuse more elements of Sci-Fi Horror and Industrial rock themes into the band’s output for the LP. It was the single that tipped Rob Zombie over the edge to the mainstream of American radio, built around the toe-tapping Funk guitar rhythm that evokes qualities of Groove Metal. After the electronic intro with the witty sample, we get into the consistent Sliding guitar riff that forms the melodic basis of the track. Rob Zombie has a distorted vocal style, and he sings; “More Human Than Human” repeatedly over the top of the steady guitar instrumentation, with bass guitar riffs that are chugging along to the delayed pedal effects and the undertones of Post-Grunge. Zombie also proclaims the likes of “I am the Jigsaw man” and “I am the ripper man” above the crushing drum patterns and the Whammy-accentuated guitar work with a snarling vocal delivery that makes it a good fit for every over-the-top action flick that came out in the late-90’s. The vocals are pretty difficult to decipher and there’s not really a great deal of substance to them, but it’s the laidback Funk sensibilities and the Hip Hop-inspired placement of the quick samples that made the track stand out amongst the pack since there’s a decent amount of varied influences going into the composition. This lives up to it’s status as an, albeit cheesy, 90’s classic. It’s great to end our feature on a high this year.

  • Pictured: Rob Zombie (Lead Vocals/Producer/Writer), Jay Yuenger (Lead Vocals), Sean Yseult (Bass Guitar/Backing Vocals) and John Tempesta (Drums) (1995) (Photo by Mick Hutson/Redferns)

Thank you for reading my latest blog post! As usual – I’ll be back tomorrow – although it will be a pre-written one since I’m making the travels back to my non-university home for the festive period tomorrow. There are only ever so many hours in a day, after all! I’m going to continue to shout about a certain Kansas-based singer and songwriter who describes herself as a “Girl who makes music in her living room”. 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: High Contrast (feat. LOWES) – “Rhythm Is Changing”

December 4, 2020 — Leave a comment

I can play this every night – but the beat don’t feel the same! It is time for a new post!

  • Pictured: High Contrast (Lincoln Barrett) at Let It Roll Open Air Festival (2015) (via Hospital Records)

Good Morning to you – It’s perhaps a bit early for this one, but that’s the way that my schedule goes! I’m Jacob Braybrooke, and it’s time for me to get writing up about your daily track on the blog, because it’s always my day-to-day pleasure to get typing away up here about a different piece of music every day! Grammy-nominee High Contrast, the project of Welsh Drum-and-Bass artist Lincoln Barrett, is a name with a long resume – including remixed treatments for the likes of Kanye West, The White Stripes and, even, Adele. He also curated some music for the 2012 Olympic Games Opening Ceremony in London. He is an artist who I have a little deal of familiarity with – I liked the throwback feel of “The Beat Don’t Feel The Same” and the semi-soulful vibe of “Remind Me”, two singles which have added a good share of variety to his back catalogue in recent years, but he is not really a guy who I’ve personally ever sat down and listened to a full-length album, front to back, from. “Rhythm Is Changing” was sent to me by a music plugger, of all sources. “Notes From The Underground” is out today – his ninth studio album release which features guest spots from the likes of Kae Tempest, Anita Blay and Ady Suleiman by the 3Beat Productions record label. He explores 90’s Dance revival, especially on “Rhythm Is Changing”. Let’s stream it below.

Barrett strikes me as a producer who always wants to engage with his instincts, whether that takes him down an experimental or pop-based approach, as he detailed in the making of his new record: “I used to think you could be more prescriptive making an album”, explaining, “I realized you can’t control it all in advance, you’re better off just following your heart and not overthinking it. Music is an escape from linearity and language and from a whole lot else”, per a statement on Primary Talent’s artist biography. “Rhythm Is Changing” takes a spontaneous route, with a series of electronic beats that unpredictably change every time the hook comes in, delivered by Northern Soul 4-piece group, LOWES. It starts off with a 90’s-centric Piano piece, before a sweep of Horn samples lead to a crescendo of Jungle beats and strobe effects that come into play when the vocal loop of “An I feel like the rhythm is changing” builds momentum for the bassline to kick in. There are some robotic, glitched Horn samples that come in at the next vocal intersection, before a Heavier tempo of drum beats and looped male vocals provide the next turn. You end up with a track that unashamedly takes cues from the Big Beat rave era of the late 90’s that housed names like The Chemical Brothers and The Prodigy. The production feels notably subversive however, and it adds a sequenced layer of complexity beneath the surface. This is quite interesting because the music at the time was often dismissed as “cheap” and “disposable” fare to make for a “fun night in the club” and not much else, but it was later being established as an art form of music in it’s own right, and deservedly so. With “Rhythm Is Changing”, you get a cool track which sounds really impressive and appealing because it manages to consistently re-invent itself with it’s instrumentation and production. It’s also a gutsy move to be releasing this style of music when the government have actually closed the settings where you’re supposed to take it in and enjoy it more fully – but Barrett has still created a full-on club banger.

  • Pictured: Cover Art for “Notes From The Underground” (Album/LP) (Released on December 4th, 2020) (via 3Beat Productions)

Thank you for reading my new post! As always, I’ll be back tomorrow – and we are going to be getting festive again for the Christmas season now that we are officially into Advent! This is an older track from a collection of five EP’s worth of Christmas carols and Festive-themed tracks, all of which were recorded by an established American singer/multi-instrumentalist who has received an Academy Award nomination for Best Original Song for “Mystery Of Love” from the 2017 film, “Call Me By Your Name”. 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 Wombles – “Wombling Merry Christmas”

December 1, 2020 — Leave a comment

What is a 70’s kid’s favourite sport on Television? – Wombledon! Time for a new post!

  • Pictured: Cover Art for “Wombling Merry Christmas” (Single) (Re-Released in 2011) (via Dramatico)

Crikey – I really couldn’t think of anything else! Not to worry, because it’s now time for me to get typing up all about today’s track on the blog, because it’s my day-to-day pleasure to help you discover a different piece of music every day! In timely fashion, since today marks the first day in which you’re allowed to open the first door of your advent calendar, we’re going to take a look at “Wombling Merry Christmas”, a festive novelty hit from 1974. For those unaware, The Wombles was a children’s television series run by BBC in the 1970’s, which was based on a series of children’s books written by Elisabeth Bereford, and it was centered on a set of pointy-nosed creatures that lived underground and recycled human rubbish. It sounds pretty trash on paper, pun intended, but it was very popular and influential at the time. Naturally, the producers of the show decided to get a group of people to dress up as The Wombles and appear on an episode of Top Of The Pops in November of 1974 to kick-start a campaign for “Wombling Merry Christmas”, a novelty single released on CBS Records, to reach the #1 spot of the UK Singles Chart that year. It nearly did so, reaching the #2 spot, losing only to Mud’s “Lonely This Christmas”. This was actually only their first attempt at it, because the track was re-recorded in 2011, with a new music video, in an effort to reach the same goal of a Christmas #1 hit in the UK Singles Chart. It fared much worse, however, I think the reason being that The Wombles were too old of a property for the new generation of youngsters, who are typically the age market who consume the most music, especially via streaming platforms. The track was released in West Germany too, yet it failed to chart. Let’s watch The Wombles perform it below.

It’s tricky to understand that it exists. This is coming from a 22-year-old who has no real experience of seeing The Wombles on television, but I’m vaguely familiar of their existence due to some early memories. You’ve got to remember that it was actually a decent commercial success, even though my research tells me that the critics mostly mocked it during its original release, for reasons that seem pretty clear. That never stopped them from performing a short set – including this track – at the Glastonbury Festival in 2011, however. It was later compiled onto the LP, “Keep On Wombling”, which was surprisingly the group’s third album release as The Wombles. “Merry Wombling Christmas” could be described as a care-free tune for the seasonal time, with the lead erm… Womble singing upbeat pop lines like: “Open your eyes/Look to the skies/When you are lonely” and “Under the ground/There is the sound of a symphony” over the top of a 70’s-centric guitar riff that evokes the contemporary Pop culture of it’s time. The comparisons to The Kinks and The Beatles are measurable, and the hook comes through at a brisk pace, as “All day, we will be Wombling in the snow” and “We wish you a Wombling Merry Christmas” comes through with an uplifting mood, before a saxophone solo provides a brief respite from the Boyband-ish vocals. I wouldn’t say that the melodies are particularly Christmassy, and I don’t think the hook is really that catchy, but it’s a fun case of something random existing and the instrumentation is varied enough for it to not get tiresome. We’re obviously not meant to take it too seriously, and it’s cheesy fun. I could argue that it’s novelty diminishes the credibility of the arts, but I’m too busy Wombling along to feel the need to get too harsh on it. It doesn’t really take the trash out of it’s opposition since there’s not very much to it musically, but I still wish you a Wombling Merry Christmas!

  • Pictured: Cover Artwork for “Keep On Wombling” (Released in December, 1974) (via CBS Records)

Thank you for checking out today’s Christmas-themed blog post – I’ve got more to come later this week! As always, you can join me again tomorrow – Where we will be looking at something more serious, but it’s still quite light-hearted. The track comes from a new French Synth-Punk group who are still in their 20’s, and they have just released their debut album on the Un Plain Simple label imprint of Sony Music. The trio have supported Blossoms on a European Tour. 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: Maximo Park – “Baby, Sleep”

November 30, 2020 — Leave a comment

The group making Rock sound like a walk in the park – A Maximo one. New post time!

  • Pictured: Cover Art for “Nature Always Wins” (Available from February 26th, 2021) (via Prolifica Inc.)

Greetings! It’s teatime – and it’s also time for me to get writing up about your daily track on the blog, since it’s always my day-to-day pleasure to get typing up about a different piece of music every single day! We’re going to round off the month with new music from an established Alternative Rock group who are from my home turf of England, here in the UK. That’s right – Maximo Park are back! It makes a nice change for me because I can’t recall hearing much from them for quite some time, but I can still remember the Newcastle trio being around quite a lot while I was growing up, with chart hits like “Our Velocity” and “Books From Boxes” that were taken from their second album, “Our Earthly Pleasures”, which was certified as Gold in sales within the UK. Their debut album, “A Certain Trigger”, achieved the same commercial milestone, as well as being nominated for the Mercury Prize in 2005. “Nature Always Wins” is the title of their forthcoming seventh album, and it is set for release on February 26th, in the new year of 2021. Fronted by vocalist and songwriter Paul Smith, the band have recently unveiled our second look at the upcoming new album with the single “Baby, Sleep”, with their new album marking their first new music release in three years, since the release of 2017’s LP, “Risk To Exist”. Check out the official music video below.

The band ended up finishing their upcoming new album across the globe by virtually producing the record with Atlanta-based producer Ben Allen, who has worked with Deerhunter and Animal Collective, sharing work between the two continents due to the Covid-19 pandemic. Paul Smith has described the new single, “Baby, Sleep” as “a light-hearted look at the surreal nature of sleep deprivation, and the way it distorts normality in a capitalist society”, via his press notes. The opening is remarkably familiar, as Paul Smith sings: “It may appall you to know/But the mall is the only place I go” and “Same channel on my TV/The talking heads just can’t agree” before he stops and he asks himself: “What does the modern world mean to me?”, a little hook that continually permeates through the rest of the track. The instrumentation is very guitar-based, and it evokes some 90’s nostalgia with it’s Brit-Pop feel. It leads to an adult-oriented, lyrically mature chorus as Smith sings: “My baby only sleeps when she wants to/But, baby, so rarely wants”, as in a very small child, and not a “Baby” in a lover or romantic sense. The final stretch is more witty and observational, as Paul chants: “What are all these balloons doing in my front room?” with a shattered bass guitar breakdown overlapping his comedic, strongly accented vocals. The chorus invokes a sweet and lullaby-like quality, and the subtle backing vocals of a female choir add a charming, sentimental harmony, which mixes with the energetic tone of Smith gritting his teeth at the political condition of the world in the earlier sections nicely. Overall, I’m not really sure of what the relevance of Maximo Park is in 2020 – and that’s a pity, because what you get here is smart songwriting skills and a human element to the presentation that seems realistic, but thoughtful and engaging. Not likely to drastically change the world – but it’s easily going to put a smile on your face.

  • Pictured: Paul Smith (Lead Vocals/Keyboard/Producer/Rhythm Guitar), Duncan Lloyd (Lead Guitar/Bass Guitar/Occasional Backing Vocals) & Tom English (Drums/Percussion) (2020) (Photo via readdork.com)

Thank you for reading my new blog post! That’s it for November of 2020 – but you are more than welcome to join me again tomorrow, as we ring in a new month with a novelty single from 1979, based on a children’s TV series created by Elisabeth Bereford, that may just have something to do with the “C” word that relates to the 25th of December… It may leave you Wombling! 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/

Scuzz Sundays: Guns ‘N’ Roses – “You Could Be Mine”

November 29, 2020 — Leave a comment

Oh, Sweet Child O’ Mine – it seems that we are in for a true classic! It is Scuzz Sunday!

  • Pictured: Axl Rose (Lead Vocals/Piano), Slash (Lead Guitar/Rhythm Guitar), Duff McKagan (Bass Guitar/Backing Vocals), Dizzy Reed (Keyboard) and Steven Adler (Drums) (Photo via Getty Images)

It’s that time again! Good Morning, I’m Jacob Braybrooke and it’s time for us to dig out an ancient relic from the Pop-Punk and Emo-Rock movements of the late-1990’s up to the mid-2000’s to see whether they can hold up to value and quality in a contemporary setting, named in tribute to the disabled TV channel known as Scuzz TV. This week’s entry in our ongoing feature series falls a little earlier than our specified window, but it does give me very good memories of seeing those cheesy music videos for theme songs of an Action movie, with imagery of the band playing the single being intersected with a series of short clips taken from the movie. In all honesty, I don’t think I have seen it at all in recent times. They were often pretty random too – I vaguely recall Simon Webbe performing one for 2007’s “Fantastic Four: Rise Of The Silver Surfer”, of all combos. Case in point – 1991 was Guns ‘N’ Roses turn as they created the theme song of “You Could Be Mine” for the game-changing blockbuster, “Terminator II: Judgment Day”. Guns ‘N’ Roses don’t need much of an introduction – and that makes my job a bit easier. Spearheaded by the iconic Vocalist Axl Rose and the legendary Guitarist Slash, the US Hard Rock phenomenon have a long list of accolades including record sales of over 100 million worldwide, a well-deserved place on the Rock and Roll Hall Of Fame, and international fame, which includes 7 albums to chart in the UK Top 40. Let’s listen to “You Could Be Mine” below.

“You Could Be Mine” was originally released as the theme song for James Cameron’s Sci-Fi epic, “Terminator II: Judgment Day” in June of 1991, before it was later re-released as part of Guns ‘N’ Roses’ “Illusion II” album later on, in September of that year. It was packaged as a physical single release, with “Civil War” as the B-side, and it went on to become a huge commercial gain – with a top five chart position in more than ten countries globally, including the #3 spot on the UK Top 40 Singles Chart. The long story goes that Arnold Schwarzenegger himself even invited the band over to his house for dinner to negotiate the deal for their involvement. “You Could Be Mine” is probably one of the band’s most straightforward offerings, with a one-minute intro of Glam-ish guitar riffs and a steady drum beat leading to lyrics that play off of toxic relationships and on-purpose heartbreak, as Rose chimes: “I’m a cold heart breaker, Fit to burn, and I’ll rip your heart in two” to fit the old-school action themes of it’s associated movie. Rose sustains his high notes for a big, hook-led chorus where he chants: “‘Cause you could be mine/But you’re way out of line” and “You get nothin’ done/I bet you could be mine” as Slash gets to his trademark Jamming, and Steven Adler delivers some fast drumming. The signature solo from Slash is easily the biggest takeaway from this, as he gets to shredding some heavy bass guitar riffs at a chaotic pace, and the part feels beautifally placed as well. The lyrics are standard stuff for Rock & Roll, with nothing that feels too textured or thematically complicated, but it suits the aggressive tone of Rose’s Glam-driven vocal delivery pretty well. It is pretty cheesy and conventional of it’s time as an overall package, but it hasn’t aged badly at all with the expertly crafted guitar solo from Slash and the sense of fun and nostalgia that it evokes when we’re looking at it from a present-day perspective. After all, Guns ‘N’ Roses are a classic – and I cannot dispute that. Overall, I feel this is still a lot of fun.

  • Pictured: Cover Art for “Use Your Illusion II” (Released on September 17th, 1991) (via Geffen Records)

Thank you for reading my latest blog post! As per usual, please feel free to join me again tomorrow – where we’ll be saying adios to November with an in-depth listen to brand new music from a popular Alternative Rock group who are from my native country of England. They had crossover hits with “Our Velocity”, “Girls Who Play Guitars” and “Books From Boxes” back in 2007, and their first two albums were certified as Gold in sales in the UK. 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: Jade Bird – “Headstart”

November 28, 2020 — 1 Comment

Give me all the extra time you want – Mo Farah would still out-run me! New post time!

  • Pictured: Jade Bird in a “Get To Know…” Interview Feature (in 2018) (Photo Credit: PR/DIYMag.com)

Good Morning to you! My name is Jacob Braybrooke, and I’m here to fulfill my duties of writing up about your daily track on the blog, because it’s always my day-to-day pleasure to write up about a different piece of music every day! Sometimes, it’s great to let the youngsters have a turn to show off their musical skills – and 21-year-old London-based singer-songwriter Jade Bird certainly has those. Bird grew up around the likes of Bob Dylan, Joni Mitchell and Neil Young, which were introduced to her by a family friend, and she also enjoys reading – incorporating the influences of her literature hero Patti Smith into her music to create an Acoustic blend of Folk, Soft-Pop and rustic Americana. Her self-titled debut album was released in 2018, and I can remember that it gained her national radio airplay on Radio X. There’s no further details about it yet, but Bird has confirmed that her follow-up LP is on the way, likely seeing the light of day in 2021. “Headstart” is our first teaser of her sophomore album release, and it’s an offering that she wrote during a trip to Upstate New York at the beginning of the year before… well… the world went doo-lally. Let’s sample it below.

It’s quite crazy to think how successful she has been for someone who is a year younger than me… What have I done wrong? Jade Bird said in a press release that “Headstart” is “quite a light-hearted song, about liking someone who just can’t see the signs” adding that it “feels like community” to her and it’s release feels like it’s giving “a bit of joy to the end of the year”. It kicks off with a familiar sound, as Bird immediately chimes in with: “They say, I act around you/Different than I usually do” over the top of a simply composed, light acoustic guitar melody. It builds up to a more powerful chorus, as Bird asks: “Why is it so hard?” before adding: “I’ve given you a Headstart/I know us girls aren’t easy, but come on, what do you need to see?” as she delivers a more angry tone, but we continually dip in-and-out of the soft guitar beats. I quite like the handful of sass and feist that are noticeable in the track’s tone, and the combination of acoustic melodies build to some big, crowd-pleasing vocal harmonies – and I think that it’s really good. It sounds very “indie” and accessible, but she decides not to use any auto-tune and I quite like that Bird’s instrumentation is very simple, and that’s charming. I also think that there’s something about Jade Bird which feels very down-to-earth and human as a performer – her music simply makes me like her just as a person. This is because you can hear some personality coming throughout her songwriting, and it never feels very mechanical or one-dimensional because her voice is unique and commanding for her age. Maybe I’ve finally found a soulmate? I don’t know about that – but the song is a thumbs-up from me. Let’s hope she doesn’t do an Ed Sheeran and try to make Grime. We all know that was shocking!

  • Pictured: Jade Bird ‘Letting her hair down’ (in April 2019) (Photo Credit: Emma Swann/DIYMag.com)

Thank you for reading my new blog post! As per usual, tomorrow marks the time for another entry in our Scuzz Sundays series, where we take a look at an old Pop-Punk or Emo-Rock relic from the late 90’s to mid-00s. This week’s entry came just a little bit before that box, but it was the theme song for 91’s cinematic classic, “Terminator II: Judgment Day”. 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/