Math-Rock

Today’s Track: Bo Ningen (feat. Bobby Gillespie) – “Minimal”

September 25, 2020 — Leave a comment

The Math-Rock band using minimalist methods for a maximum effect. New post time!

  • Pictured: Taigen Kawabe (Lead Vocals/Bass Guitar), Yuki Tsuji (Lead Guitar), Kohhei Matsuda (Rhythm Guitar) and Monchan Manna (Drums/Percussion) (in 2020) (Photo Credit: Jørn Tomter/Tomter.net)

Good Morning to you! I am Jacob Braybrooke and, as usual, I’m typing up about your daily track on the blog, because it is always my day-to-day pleasure to get writing up about a different piece of music every day! A 4-piece Noise-Rock and Math-Rock group originally from Tokyo, Gumma and Tajimi in Japan, Bo Ningen are a mixed-gender outfit who formed the group in London, England. In Japan, Bo NIngen are licensed to Sony Music Associated Records, but they previously released their musical output on the Stolen Recordings independent label. They have toured across the globe, and they have previously collaborated with popular contemporary Post-unk and Alternative Rock bands like Savages, Faust and Damo Suzuki. A fun fact is how their name “Bo Ningen” literally just translates to “Stick Man” in their native Japanese language. Over the summer, the band released their fourth LP record, “Sudden Fictions”, and it’s their first album on the London-based indie label, Alcopop! Records. On their latest material, lead guitarist Kohhei Matsuda told the media: ““After years of countless bifurcation into sub-genres, music has been cut down to flakes. Music is suffocated. This album is a challenge to bridge between now and the time before the first bifurcation. To alternate the future”. It is time to have a listen to “Minimal” below!

It’s rather impressive that Bo Ningen, as an emerging group, managed to get the help of Primal Scream vocalist Bobby Gillespie for their single “Minimal”, and the band’s frontman Taigen Kawabe reckons it’s the ‘first ever properly produced track as well as the most catchy song in Bo Ningen’s thirteen year history’, via a press statement. “Minimal” certainly represents a slight departure of sound, with an impact as subtle and aired as the track’s title would imply. Whereas much of Bo Ningen’s earlier output has a cathartic and aggressive impact, “Minimal” has a noticeably more driving and slowly grooving effect. That’s not to suggest the Alt-Rock group are going mainstream at all, as the lead and bass guitars still have a menacing and spiraling framework, but it becomes gradually balanced out by a pinch of Electronica glitz. The intro is a slow-burning affair, and the foreign vocal conveys a rather ethereal tone. That’s until the drums kick in, and Gillespie uses his English vocals part to create a Dub-like, Reggae-driven backdrop to the percussive Taiko drum melodies. It all comes together to form a lively interplay between Japanese and English vocals, and this feels slightly melodic due to the deep, lo-fi bass beats. They are both as hard to properly decipher as each other, but it lyrically forms an attempt to suggest a point that history is fluid within a more cosmic setting. The vocals almost sound like Martians from the planet Zaagg or something, as logistically impossible as that would be. Yet, I digress, as the gentle guitar screeches and the eccentric, criss-crossing mix of the production has a quite dream-like, if anthemic, gaze to it. Overall, I feel as though Bo Ningen have managed to pull off what they were trying to do here rather well, and it all feels refreshing as a result. Lyrically, it reminds me of Shoegaze pioneers such as The Cocteau Twins and Slowdive, yet the buried Experimental Jazz sensibilities harken back to artists like The Comet Is Coming and GoGo Penguin, for me. The result is an eclectic and curious mix.

  • Pictured: Cover Artwork for “Sudden Fictions” (Released on June 26th, 2020) (via Alcopop! Records)

Thank you very much for reading my daily blog post! Feel free to join me again tomorrow, where we’ll be taking an in-depth look at the winner of the year’s Mercury Prize award with a very special dedication post! It comes from Michael Kiwanuka, a British singer-songwriter and record producer who is very popular in the US, who has been lauded by critics and has been nominated for numerous different awards over the years. He beat out the likes of Dua Lipa, Stormzy, Georgia, Lanterns On The Lake, Porridge Radio, Moses Boyd, Laura Marling and Sports Team to win the year’s award for his self-titled third studio album, “Kiwanuka”, which he released in 2019. 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: Billy No Mates – “Hippy Elite”

September 8, 2020 — Leave a comment

A little birdy once told me she’s close friends with Larry Loner. It’s time for a new post!

  • Pictured: Cover Artwork for “Billy Nomates” (Self-Titled LP) (Released on August 7th, 2020)(via Invada Records UK)

Good Morning! I am Jacob Braybrooke and, like always, I’m typing up about your daily track on the blog, because it’s always my routinely day-to-day pleasure to write up about a different piece of music every day! The amusingly named “Billy Nomates” is the alias of British singer-songwriter Tor Maries, who told The Guardian that she started playing in bands in her 20’s, which sadly never went anywhere, and it led to a period of depression. It was a live gig from Sleaford Mogs that rekindled her passion for writing music, and she set up shop with her laptop, and she began floating between Bristol and Bournemouth to write, produce and perform her own material again. She originally hails from the Melton Mowbray area of the rural North East county of Leicestershire. Her No Wave style straddles between the old-school punk of Nick Cave, the youthful energy of Sonic Youth, and the Jazz-fuelled Americana of Emmylou Harris. Maries’ debut album, a self-titled LP, was released on August 7th via Invada Records in the UK, and she mastered her new album with Portishead’s Geoff Barrow as her engineer. Describing her record, she told NME in a recent interview: “In a world of Yes Men, I’ll be a No Woman, thanks”. Let’s sign for the “Hippy Elite” below.

Giving her take on climate emergency and global environmental pollution, Maries’ instead subverts your pre-conceptions with “Well, I wanna save the Whales too, but it’s a f***ing Wednesday afternoon, so a Canvas Bag and a smile is the best I’ve got for you” with a razor-sharp sense of anecdotal wit, after declaring to herself as “It’s okay, I’m a terrible person” as a mid-tempo, gentle Drum Machine beat loops itself over the top of a bitter, repelling bass guitar riff. Some of these lyrics turn out to be the funniest I’ve heard during the year, with “Well, one time, I cycled all the way home/Because this planet is our only one/But nobody saw it, and I felt all the worse for it, and it wasn’t my bike” truly standing out as an honest highlight. Later on, “If I had all that money in my pocket, drank all that local beer and ride that ego rocket” pokes fun at the wealthy, higher conservative elitism. The chorus is an expansion of these ideas presented in the post-chorus bridge, as Maries’ spitefully recites: “All the things they do, I don’t disagree/Purgatory, for me” before she wonders: “If I could only quit my job, and join the Hippy Elite” as the electronic Synth beats start to take shape, and the electric guitar riffs continually keep up a mid-tempo pace and form a groove that sits along the consistent bass guitar melodies with relative ease. There isn’t really a whole lot going on here melodically, with the focus remaining mainly on Maries’ resentful vocals and the attitudinal, genuinely funny lyricism. However, she builds the track with solid use of electric lead guitar patterns and riff-driven bass chord production to carry her personality across, along with recurring, programmed Synth beats and subtle, yet polished, electronic Drum textures that keep the momentum from lowering too much, as if to keep meandering around, as the lyrics glide between one comical rhyme to another. It skews poetic, but there are also elements of Country and Desert-Rock creeping in. Overall, I find this to be thoroughly entertaining throughout and the humor successfully manages to keep itself afloat and never get uninteresting due to the 60’s and 70’s New-Wave Punk template of her musical formula. I think it takes a longer time to properly connect with than some of the other recent output that’s been featured on the blog as new releases lately, but it’s re-playable and mature, like a fine wine. The achievement is that it’s a real grower.

  • Pictured: Billy Nomates pictured in promo materials for the Farmfestival in Somerset (in 2020) (via PR/press shoot)

Thank you very much for reading my new post! As always, I’ll be back at it again tomorrow, with an in-depth look at the latest single from another new album that was, rather coincidentally, released on the exact same day as the debut Billy Nomates album. It marks the second joint-album collaboration between two incredibly talented, no-nonsense Black musicians, as producer L’Orange links up, again, with US rapper-lyricist Solemn Brigham, for a new sequel to their defining work for label Mello Music Group’s portfolio. 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: Silverbacks – “Dunkirk”

August 22, 2020 — Leave a comment

An exciting new band who aim to exchange Gold for the price of silver! New post time!

  • Pictured: Cover Artwork for “Fad” (Album/LP) (Released on July 17th, 2020) (via Central Tones Ltd.)

Good Morning! I am Jacob Braybrooke and I am typing up about your daily track on the blog – as per usual – because it is always my day-to-day pleasure to write about a different piece of music every day! Not to be confused with a breed of Gorillas of the same name, Silverbacks are a new 5-piece indie rock band from Dublin, Ireland. The group have been making strong waves stateside and internationally, with their D.I.Y. rock sound that harkens back to the taut rhythm drive of late-70’s Indie Punk, while incorporating a NYC Synth-Punk style reminiscent of LCD Soundsystem, and paying tribute to the quintessential New York sound with a discordant element of No-Wave. They have been working with Girl Band bassist Daniel Fox, as a producer, on their debut album, “Fad”, which has garnered critical acclaim since it’s release in mid-July of this year, via Central Tones. Fun fact, the band were supposed to play a gig at my local venue of The Sugar Mill in Stoke-On-Trent back in May, and I was planning on going to check them out because I had heard of them before, but well… We all know how that turned out! Let’s just check them out now, instead – with “Dunkirk” – below.

Ireland has become somewhat of a signature area in the development of an emerging guitar sound, with the ascending popularity of aggressive Indie Punk outfits like Fontaines DC, The Murder Capital and Bambara, a market of which I get the sense that Silverbacks are tapping into with “Dunkirk”, but they stand up to these acts with their comparatively more melodic pull, as they are also trying to quietly sneak into the NYC No-Wave revival scene. The track, lyrically, is a dystopian re-imagining of the events of the Battle Of Dunkirk in 1940, with Daniel O’ Kelly using snarky hooks like: “A safety pin right through the ear/40 years of manhood” and “Swinging arms, Beating commuters on the tarmac beaches of Dunkirk” to rhythmically bring things up to date with the exploration of masculinity and domestic-ism as themes. An “every punk trick in the book” signals a knowing nod to a churning Bass guitar hook that takes the steady Lead guitar hook to a more fiery place and creates a rougher energy, to counteract the cleaner production style used in the verses. The chorus explores the idea of the Dunkirk beaches now being a holiday resort for the OAP crowd, with a sarcastic undertone of couples in failing marriages in similar vein to The Sex Pistols’ “Holiday In The Sun”, as his vocals grow in disorientation and precedes a high-pitched interlude. The delivery has a Drone quality to it, and the guitar riffs remain to be driven by intellect. The tension gets calmed down by an upbeat bass guitar riff that comes out of nowhere, forming up a Math-Rock inspired outro that suprised me as a listener, and deviates from the D.I.Y. punk style that it was building towards at a gradual place. Overall, the guitar work feels impressive and the sound pays off in challenging the conventions of a typical indie punk act. I probably wouldn’t choose to listen intently to it, as I’ve never been a part of the musical world it’s catering towards and it mainly washes over me quite a bit, which makes it quite difficult for me to feel that I can judge a record like this. For what it is worth, however, I think they’re a stronger part of the popular new Irish punk scene, but it is sadly not a sound that I’m really into – it’s just not “my thing”. But, I feel it is technically good, and worth a listen.

  • Pictured: Daniel O’ Kelly (Lead Vocals/Writer), Killian O’ Kelly (Rhythm Guitar/Backing Vocals/Producer), Peadar Kearney (Lead Guitar), Emma Hanlon (Bass Guitar) and Gary Wickham (Drums/Percussion) (in 2020) (via PR)

Thank you for reading today’s blog post! Tomorrow marks the signal for a new weekly edition of Scuzz Sundays, the time of the week where we take a look back at an Emo-Rock or a Pop-Punk relic from between the late-1990’s and the mid-2000’s. Shockingly, we’ll be celebrating the one-year anniversary of the feature with an in-depth look back at a terrible tune that was a predominant part of the Scuzz TV era… But most fans probably would not have it any other way! 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: Rolling Blackouts Coastal Fever – "Cars In Space"

March 24, 2020 — 1 Comment

When it comes to writing a space-themed post, you have to planet! It’s new post time!

Pictured: Fran Keaney (Lead Vocals/Acoustic Guitar), Joe White (Lead Guitar), Tom Russo (Rhythm Guitar/Backing Vocals), Joe Russo (Bass Guitar/Percussion) and Marcel Tussie (Drums) (2020) (press shoot via DIYmag.com)

Good morning to you, I hope that you’re staying safe and healthy! My name is Jacob Braybrooke and I’m here to type up about your daily track on the blog, as it’s my day-to-day pleasure to do so! “Cars In Space” is the new track by Rolling Blackouts Coastal Fever, an Australian 5-piece Psychedelic Rock group who have enjoyed major breakthrough success with their debut LP, “Hope Downs”, released in 2018 through the Sub-Pop label. They previously had a lot of success with their EP’s “Talk Tight” and “The French Press” when they were signed to Ivy League Records. Last year, they released their “In The Capital” EP to another round of applause from both music journalists and listening fans alike. The band have been praised for their replay value, their punk-inspired approach to songwriting, their accessibility for casual audiences and their experimentation in the many rock genres of the 1970’s, such as Kraut-Rock, Math-Rock and No Wave. Following in the foot steps of commercially successful Australian rock bands like Tame Impala and Pond, Rolling Blackouts Coastal Fever have a lot of hype built up around them. Can the quintet do it justice? Let’s see below.

The Melbourne 5-piece with an incredibly long name respond to worldwide acclaim with the Julia Jacklin-directed video for “Cars In Space”, a sweeping country-inspired folk rock lullaby about “the swirling words and thoughts before a break-up”, according to lead vocalist Fran Keaney. Aided by in-tone backing vocal harmonies from Tom Russo, Keaney narrates a sun-dripped guitar riff and an uptempo drum rhythm that often feels reminiscent of The Magic Numbers and Supergrass, singing: “Could have been stumbling/On the ancient stone/Four feet, wandering/In the eve before we turn inside”, a choral refrain which repeats to the sound of propellant horn arrangements and intentionally makeshift, jangle-pop bursts of DIY-rock culture. Keaney continues to deliver short and simplistic vocal refrains: “You want it simple/How hard you make it” and “Buzzing overhead/Banging on and on and on”, as Keaney narrates an intense scene of romantic conflict over the top of an emotionally upbeat, reassuringly comforting guitar solo. At a long duration of nearly 6 minutes, Rolling Blackouts Coastal Fever almost justify the time and energy of the listener with a track that’s simply a bit of fun to make you feel good, as well as operating as a functional throwback to the 1980’s Australian Indie Pop era which housed acts like The Hard-On’s, New Christs and The Rockmelons. Now, I did write almost. I feel the track lacks a bit of boldness, as the tone of the track doesn’t drastically change during it’s long length and lyrically, I don’t feel it’s as engrossing as some of the band’s older work. That said, I still think it’s a welcome return from a well-liked group who have undeniably brilliant chemistry as a band! Let’s hope that a new album is in the works.

Pictured: Cover Artwork for “Cars In Space” (Single Release) (Released on 10th Feb 2020) (via Sub Pop Records)

Thank you for reading this post! I hope you enjoyed it – keep washing those hands! I’ll be back tomorrow with a look at a slightly older album-only track from one of my personal favourite British Alternative Hip-Hop artists who’s a self-professed “mother’s boy” and sung a song to her on-stage at last year’s Glastonbury Festival – as well as appearing on Channel 4’s Celebrity Gogglebox with her! 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: FVLCRVM -“Words”

March 16, 2020 — Leave a comment

The name’s like an LOL or YOLO – There’s my attempt to cheer you up! New post time!

  • Pictured: FVLCRVM in a press photoshoot to promote the release of “Loose” (2018) (Photo Credit: New Noise Magazine)

Fear thee not, We haven’t reached the age of meme-ified, internet text-based stage titling- FVLCRVM is actually a name taken from a “mad Russian jet fighter” according to this DJ! Good evening, I’m Jacob Braybrooke, writing about your daily track on the blog, as it’s still my day-to-day pleasure to do so! I couldn’t find the real name of FVLCRVM, but he’s a Slovakian electronic music producer who I discovered through listening to NTS Radio last week. He played a live set at this year’s Eurosonic Festival at Groningen in The Netherlands, being described as one of the “stand-out” artists from the festival by radio presenter Kevin Cole. He began his career by playing the funk guitar in his church band before he formed a math-rock band with some friends from church, before he broke into the international dance club scene with “Hi!” in May 2017, a viral hit on YouTube, which gained support from Mixmag and Resident Advisor and has amassed over 42k views at time of writing. “Words” was released in 2018, but a new EP is due to arrive later this year. Let’s have a listen to “Words” below.

I could have left “Words” to speak for itself – but that would be lazy of me! The most recognizable element of the track, for me, after my first listen, was the similarity in voice to Damon Albarn, of Blur and Gorillaz fame, although the tone is more dance-centric and the synth-based instrumentation has a fairly post-apocalyptic texture. However, there’s a melodic bassline that feels ‘pop’ enough to add a decent level of accessibility and a gentle theme of hope. It’s matched by FVLCRVM’s smoothly filtered vocals, where he calls for action environmentally, singing: “The bitter/the pleasant/the status/the class wars” over a layered EDM stab which bubbles under the surface. The chorus is a simply delivered, minimalist vocal line: “It’s all just words to me”, which is layered underneath a gentle breath of treble and a skittering, sci-fi-ish acid strobe. FVLCRVM continues: “The sandstorm/The beaches/The bottom line/The human kind”, a repetitious hook he signs off: “I wish I understood you better”, before the developing composition falls off-kilter and goes into a chaotic state of frenzy, playing off the regular theme of inconsistency, due to the sudden tempo shifts and glitching progressions during the track. A slight gospel influence adds depth behind the track, lyrically, as FVLCRVM continues to recite his vocals and convey an important ecological message. Overall, it’s a track which caught me off-guard with it’s hidden complexities underneath it’s pop-driven dance melody, leaving us with a fairly strong interweaving of artistic expression, with an accessibility. This one’s a good ‘un!

Thank you for reading this post! I’ll be back tomorrow, as per usual – with an in-depth look at an album-only track from a British, London-based Indie Rock band who have returned from a six-year hiatus, after working on solo projects – and have dabbled in experimenting with genres like Folk, World, Electronica and Jazz Fusion in their career, as well as being the Sunday night headliners of this year’s BBC Radio 6Music Festival in Camden two weekends ago. 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/