Halloween Special 2020: Rockwell – “Somebody’s Watching Me”

October 31, 2020 — Leave a comment

Why did the Ghost walk into the pub? For the Boo’s. It’s time for your Halloween post!

Pictured: Cover Art for "Somebody's Watching Me" (Single) (Released in 1984) (via Motown Records) — Pictured: Cover Art for “Somebody’s Watching Me” (Single) (Released in 1984) (via Motown Records)

Spooky Dooky! I’m Jacob “The Howling Beast” Braybrooke, and I felt obliged to write your new daily blog post about something at least loosely related to the holiday formerly known as All Hallows Eve, because it’s always my day-to-day pleasure to write up about a different piece of music every day! If I’m honest with you, I’m an Ebeneezer Scrooge when it comes to Halloween. For one thing, what actually is it that we are even celebrating? For another, it’s not exactly like we’re able to dress up in silly costumes and go to parties, or beg strangers for sweets at their doorstep, in the first place, this year really. However, at the very least, it does give us the chance to take an in-depth look at a fun track that we can associate with all things Spooky Dooky. It’s a track that many people often mistakenly believe was performed by Michael Jackson. I give you – Rockwell’s “Somebody’s Watching Me” from 1984. This track was a Paranoia-themed radio hit that managed to reach #6 in the UK Top 40 Singles Chart. It was released on the world-renowned Motown label, and it was the lead single from Rockwell’s debut studio album of the exact same title. People often believe the track was credited solely to “The King Of Pop” because of vocal similarities to Rockwell – and Rockwell is the alias of Kennedy William Gordy, who is the son of Motown CEO and founder Berry Gordy. Kennedy was close friends with the Jackson family when he was growing up in the music industry, and so he enlisted the aid of Michael and Jermaine Jackson to perform backing vocals on the track. So, it’s technically true that Michael Jackson was a credited performer on the track – However, he is not the main credited artist to it. Ironically, let’s watch Rockwell perform his global radio hit below.

“Somebody’s Watching Me” also made a very memorable appearance in the Pilot episode of US crime drama TV staple “Miami Vice”, where undercover police officer “Rico” Tubbs performs a striptease routine to it in a nightclub. As you can see from the Twilight Zone-inspired music video, the track had a decent impact on popular culture of it’s time in the 80’s. It turned out to be a one-hit wonder for Gordy though, unfortunately, and so you could say it’s a pity that nobody was listening to him, rather than watching him. Musically, it’s a punchy and humorous take on the 80’s-Schlock B-movie horror film in mainstream pop music form, with Gordy fearfully crooning: “I’m just an average man with an average life” and “I just want to be left alone, in my average home” with a delightfully screeched delivery. Jackson comes in on the chorus, singing: “I always feel like somebody’s watching me” and Gordy chimes in with “And I have no privacy” and “Who’s playing tricks on me” on top of a catchy Synth-Funk instrumental with a tinge of polished New-Wave guitar riffs. A few cascading backing vocal effects are present in the chorus, and the breakdown sees further questioning of paranoia for Gordy when he sings: “When I’m in the shower/I’m afraid to wash my hair” and “But, can people see me on the TV, or am I just paranoid” with a bizarrely old-English sounding accent, over the top of the jovial toy keyboard notes and the tingling little Synth riffs that permeate through the track on top of a typical two-step drum beat. There is a very clear emphasis on the Rock instrumentals for the song’s instrumental backing beat, but the very contemporary 80’s synth and keyboard combination is done quite well. The lyrics perhaps don’t show a lot of progression in the narrative, but the chorus is catchy and memorable. I think that most people would probably agree that Rockwell’s abilities were limited, but it’s still a fun novelty single that was nudged towards the public eye (or ear) by the guest inclusion from one of the world’s most instantly recognizable voices in music. It also shows how far surveillance has come in a way. It’s charming and good enough for me.

Pictured: Rockwell (Kennedy William Gordy) with Michael Jackson (1984) (Photo via RollingStone.com)

Thank you for reading my melodically devilish new blog post! I’ll be back tomorrow with another special post – as it marks the time for a new entry in our Scuzz Sunday series, where we dig out an ancient relic of the Emo-Rock or Pop-Punk genres, from between the late-1990’s until the mid-2000’s. Let me tell you – It may just be The Best Song In The World! 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: Working Men’s Club – “Valleys”

October 5, 2020 — Leave a comment

I don’t think it’s really about the Welsh-Folk who live in the Valleys. It’s new post time!

Pictured: Cover Art for “Valleys” (Single) (Released on August 12th, 2020) (via Heavenly Recordings)

Good Morning to you! My name is Jacob Braybrooke and, as always, it’s now time for me to write up about your daily track on the blog again, because it is always my day-to-day pleasure to write up about a different piece of music every day! Previously, I covered “White Rooms and People” by Working Men’s Club, all the way back in April, and I was left very satisfied. A 4-piece New-Wave indie rock group formed in Yorkshire, Working Men’s Club actually managed to play a gig at The Sugar Mill in my current city of Stoke-On-Trent “pre-Covid” at the time where I sadly hadn’t heard of them before, and I perhaps regret not taking the opportunity to go and see them perform now. Nonetheless, six months later, the debut album by the group has arrived over the weekend on Heavenly Recordings, a prestigious Indie label which is also home to artists like The Orielles, Baxter Dury and Cherry Ghost. Their debut album is a self-titled LP, and it features all the previously released singles, alongside several brand new tracks. I feel as though their first LP effort would sit right at home in the era of Soft Cell and Depeche Mode, and I’m really impressed by how mature their sound is considering each of the band’s line-up are aged just before their 20’s. There’s a clear mixtape feel to each of the tracks, and the band’s frontman Sydney Minsky-Sargeant reflected on his outspoken style of lyricism across his influences in a recent interview with DIYMag.com: “I feel there’s been a lack of decent music in general for a long time. “I don’t think I could name 10 bands in the past decade that have made me really go, ‘F***ing hell’. I think it’s all really safe.” As a real lover of anything musically that goes under-exposed in the press, I can certainly relate to his opinions, and I strongly think there’s a general truth in the large media corporations over-exposing the generically produced music to our society. Let’s have a listen to the recent single “Valleys” below.

On the album’s opening track, “Valleys”, specifically, Syd explained via press release: “‘Valleys’ is probably the most honest song on the record and I guess sets a premise for the rest of the album, growing up in a small town and trying to escape,”, later concluding: “Having been in lockdown since the end of Winter in Todmorden it seems like there couldn’t be a more appropriate time to release this song”, upon explaining how the track sets the table, sonically, for the rest of the record to bounce off. A percussive set of LCD Soundsystem-like Synth-Funk rhythms and 80’s New Order-like 5,8,6 beats lead into post-punk backed vocals from Minsky-Sargeant, who croons: “Trapped inside a town, Inside my mind/Stuck with no ideas, I’m running out of time” over the top of Euphoric, old-school Synth-Pop sequences and a more contemporary lick of paint comes from the ominously upbeat guitar riffs. The NYC Synth-like vocals are dowsed in reverberation and pulsating echo effects, while the delayed pedal effects of the guitar-led sequences add a layered production that gets the lyrical mood of isolation and small-town mentality across with a more light, textural atmosphere. The towering, soft-centered, electronically glitched dance breaks seem to represent the explosions in our protagonists’ creative influx of a mind, and powerful hooks like “The fusion is right as the sense” and rhetorical questions like “Is this enough?” lean to a more virtuosic place to signal this. The patterns of the overall rhythms are noticeably far less guitar-driven than the sound of the band’s earlier singles “White Rooms and People” and “A.A.A.A.”, but a knowing nod to the musical influences that aided Minsky-Sargeant to escape the deep feelings that the track “Valleys” was conceived from is a blueprint which connects the subtle dots together to prevent the change in sound from feeling too jarring, even if an old-fashioned New-Wave sensibility is being replaced by the blips and glitches of a new Drum Machine. Above all, “Valleys” is a track that lyrically discusses a joyous search for life, and these themes are delivered with an urgency and an 80’s-influenced drive that adds a neo-psychedelic poise to a more cerebral guitar instrumental, and this succeeds very well.

Pictured: Sydney Minsky-Sargeant (Lead Vocals/Rhythm Guitar/Drum Machine), Liam Ogburn (Bass Guitar), Rob Graham (Lead Guitar/Synths) & Mairead O’Conner (Keyboard) (2020) (Photo by Jenn Five)

As I’ve just mentioned before, I have also taken an in-depth look at the track “White Rooms and People”, an earlier single release by the band, ultimately produced as a track that also appears on the same album. You can peruse the link to that post here: https://onetrackatatime.home.blog/2020/04/01/todays-track-working-mens-club-white-rooms-and-people-explicit/

Pictured: Cover Art for “Working Men’s Club (Released on October 2nd, 2020) (via Heavenly Recordings)

Thank you very much for reading my latest daily blog post! I’ll be doing it all again tomorrow, just like always, as we take an in-depth look at the new collaborative single produced by a British producer currently based in Los Angeles who has attained a large cult following over the years, and another British-born electronic dance music producer who is one of my personal favourites, best known for releasing a UK Top 40-charting album in 2012. Coincidentally, he appeared on the blog just recently for his Lockdown EP. If you really liked what you just read, why not follow the blog to get notified when each new post is up and like the Facebook page here?: https://www.facebook.com/OneTrackAtATime

Today’s Track: A Certain Ratio – “Berlin”

October 3, 2020 — Leave a comment

My calculator was fine yesterday, but it doesn’t work at all now. It just doesn’t add up!

Pictured: Cover Artwork for “ACR LOCO” (Released on September 25th, 2020) (via Mute Records Ltd.)

Jokes aside, it’s time for your daily blog post! My name is Jacob Braybrooke and, you guessed it, I’m here to type up about your daily track on the blog since it’s always my day-to-day pleasure to get writing about a different piece of music every day! Named after a line from Brian Eno’s 1974 track, “The True Wheel”, A Certain Ratio were formed in 1977 in Greater Manchester by bass guitarist Jeremy Kerr, lead guitarist Peter Terrell, rhythm guitarist/trumpeter Martin Moscrop and lead vocalist Simon Topping. At the time, A Certain Ratio were one of the first bands to debut on Tony Wilson’s Factory Records in 1979, with their unique blend of Nu-Funk and Disco-Rock, influenced by New-Wave Rock production and Latin percussion, leading the group to become prominent figures in the Avant-Funk and the Math-Rock genres, particularly in the underground Indie Rock music scene of the UK during the 1980’s and 1990’s, with the band going through several line-up differences, and went on to eventually score seven different releases on the UK Top 10 Independent Singles Chart. In recent years, the band have been reissuing their back catalogue of five albums on the Mute Records label. For the first time since 2008, the band have just released a new album, “ACR Loco”, that was produced mostly by the trio of Jez Kerr, Martin Moscrop and drummer Donald Johnson. Speaking of the project, Kerr explained to NME that: “This album is a culmination of everything we’ve ever done”. Take a listen to “Berlin” below.

“Berlin” features backing vocals from New Order and Primal Scream’s well-known backing vocalist Denise Johnson, who sadly passed away in July. On her passing and the track, Moscrop told the press: “Denise will be missed so much by us, but her soaring voice will live on forever in our music and we are so blessed to have recorded with her on ACR Loco”. There is certainly a tragic backstory to the production of this track, then, and I feel as though its only amplified or enhanced by the idyllic and soft-spoken moods of the new track. Jezz Kerr updates the group’s retro sound with gentle nods to a more contemporary style of production, with a bubbling series of digital synths as he whimsically sings: “It will kill you if you dare, it will be a wave to drown you” over a taut, frizzled guitar rhythm and fluid drum machine riffs. Kerr’s vocal delivery is dry, and even deadpan to a point, as he effectively forms a ballad about mental anxiety and emotional depression. He wistfuly croons: “Every step you take is, someone else’s” during the mid-point of a rhythmic bridge as we continually build to a chorus that feels more direct and much less cerebral, even sounding punchy and hook-driven to a certain extent. It sees Kerr layer: “You never ever leave, your head alone” above a flickering, electronic keyboard synth line which vicariously spins off into a post-Kraftwerk, Motorik disco aesthetic. Johnson’s female vocals add a bit more lyrical texture to the proceedings, as she adds: “You never, ever, leave your head alone” to add a graceful impact to the work of an old-school Post-Punk group using a pulsating drum rhythm and timely vocal themes to challenge their original sound, whilst also retaining an old-school feel with the synth work, which is probably most comparable to New Order’s work from the mid-2000’s era. Overall, it just sounds like a group returning because they know what they’re doing, and that’s a good thing.

Pictured: Jezz Kerr (Lead Vocals/Bass Guitar), Martin Moscrop (Lead Guitar/Trumpet), Peter Terrell (Rhythm Guitar/Engineering), Matt Steele (Keyboard/Synths) and Donald Johnson (Drums/Percussion) in an official photoshoot image to promote “ACR LOCO” (in 2020) (Photo Credit: ArtRockStore.com)

Thank you very much for reading my new post! Tomorrow marks the time for another weekly installment of our Scuzz Sundays series, which recently celebrated it’s 1st year anniversary. As always, we’ll be going back between the late-1990’s and the mid-2000’s to have a listen back to an Emo-Rock or a Pop-Punk classic from the time period, to see if it can hold up to the modern times (Or to see whether it was actually any good in the first place, in most cases, to be honest). 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: Erasure – “Nerves Of Steel”

September 21, 2020 — Leave a comment

The 80’s duo who seemingly never want to Erase their sound. It’s time for a new post!

Pictured: Cover Artwork for “The Neon” (Released on August 21st, 2020) (via Mute Artists Ltd.)

Good Morning to you! I’m Jacob Braybrooke and I’m typing up your first post of the new week because, as per usual, it’s still my day-to-day pleasure to write up about a different piece of music every day! Of all of the groups from the New Wave of British Synth-Pop to emerge during the 80’s, Erasure are one of the few still active. The duo have written over 200 songs in their library, and they have sold an estimation of over 28 million albums globally, according to Official Charts Company’s data. Some of their biggest chart hits include “A Little Respect”, “Chains Of Love” and “Always”, and the duo have remained to be a fixture of the LGBT Community, particularly in European territories, with lead vocalist Andy Bell having an androgynous look as part of his openly gay sexuality. Recently, I saw Erasure perform a half-hour set for BBC Radio 2’s Live At Home virtual festival. This comes accompanied by their eighteenth studio album “The Neon”, which was released on August 21 by Mute Records. The new album is Erasure’s most commercially successful album in a while, as it debuted at #4 on the UK Albums Chart with first-week sales of 8,394 copies in the country, making “The Neon” the duo’s highest-charting album since 1994’s “I Say I Say I Say”. Bell described the sound of the new album as “going back to the beginning” with older synth use and it was self-produced. Let’s hear the new single “Nerves Of Steel” below.

Fitting of the current Covid-dominated times, the duo aim for “The Neon” to be “a place that lives in the imagination”, according to their press release. It becomes clear that Erasure wanted to bring back their feel-good New Wave sounds of the 80’s to fit our problematic current affairs on “Nerves Of Steel”, the lead single of their most recent project. Bell opens, layered above a very buoyant Synth riff, “Are you gonna make your way back here?, Who rattled your cage?”, with the analogue synth work reading between the lines of a Glam Rock-infliction that lurks in the corner from the LGBT themes and the echoing syncopated keyboard riffs that provide a flamboyant, 1980’s visual. The second verse is more based around rhythm, with a slightly rougher 80’s synth riff intertwining with the familiar keyboard instrumental backing. It opens the window of opportunity up for an energetic and more Power-Pop based chorus, as Bell repeats: “You’re the object who owns my affection/Nerves Of Steel, turn in my direction” over a bustling synth riff and a glossy Drum Machine riff sequence that blips along to the continuous keyboard backing track. The vocals feel lustful and romantic, if without an explicit intimacy, as Bell recites: “Come and find me in the Motor hotel”, as a subtle keyboard riff twinkles in the background. Overall, I think that it’s perfectly fine. It’s probably not going to be the best track that you’re going to hear all week, or even all day truly, from a technical standpoint at least, but it does have a growing effect on you with repeated listens and it has it’s loyal audience. So, as long as they continue to develop a semblance of culture within music, I’m happy with it. It simply sees this duo stick to what they know – with a Catwalk-like strut of confidence.

Pictured: Andy Bell (Vocals/Writer) & Vince Clarke (Keyboard/Synths) (2020) (via SynthpopFanatic.com)

Thank you very much for reading my new post! As per usual, I will be back at it again tomorrow. We’re going to take an in-depth look at a recent single from a Swedish singer-songwriter and producer of French origin. She was nominated for “Best Newcomer” at the 54th Annual Grammy Awards in 2012 following the release of her debut EP, “The Flower’s Bed”, in that year. She has since collaborated with artists including The Bear Quartet, Camera Obscura, David Lindh and Jonathan Johansson. 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: Joe Goddard & Hayden Thorpe – “Unknown Song”

August 3, 2020 — Leave a comment

What on Earth is this?, you might ask. I really couldn’t tell you. It’s time for a new post!

Pictured: Joe Goddard (Hot Chip) and Hayden Thorpe (ex-Wild Beasts) in a press image (2020) (via Pitchfork.com)

Good Morning, I’m Jacob Braybrooke and I’m writing up your daily track on the blog, as per usual, because it’s my day-to-day pleasure to write about a different piece of music every day! Forgive me if you’ve never heard this one before, it seems to be a pretty “Unknown” song, apparently. Jokes aside, this one-off single is a collaboration between Joe Goddard, of Hot Chip, and Hayden Thorpe, the former frontman of Wild Beasts (an indie rock band who disbanded in 2018). This single was released a few months ago, and the collaboration came together after Goddard and Thorpe linked up following a shared career-long appreciation for each other’s work, and it marks the first time in which both of these UK-based musicians have worked together. “Unknown Song” was heavily inspired by the global closure of clubs and dancefloors, as Goddard & Thorpe reflect on a new-found sense of connectivity between society, and “a synchronicity with our fellow beings”. Goddard & Thorpe elaborated on this, on a press statement, posting: “In the absence of touch, music is that sensual meeting point”, with Goddard concluding: “We are in the midst of a crisis but gaining the new appreciation of dancing together is a small positive that I hope to hold onto after all of this”, positioning the collaborative track as a soundtrack for awaiting an energetic return to the dancefloor after the pandemic, at long last. Let’s stream the track below.

Joe Goddard and Hayden Thorpe are both signed to Domino Recordings, via their own respective acts, but it’s unclear whether this is a one-off deal, or if they plan to join forces again in the near future. It’s a mesh between their two established styles, as Thorpe’s Falsetto vocals get delivered on top of a thumping electronic beat that evokes Erasure and Orchestral Manoeuvres In The Dark. Thorpe recites: “Unknown Song, where all the lost chords belong” and “Unknown Song, how do the words go on this one?” over a synth groove that shimmers along to a hand-clapped drum machine loop. It rolls along to the bridge, where the beat violently trips as Thorpe adds: “Got no method, but I’ve killer intuition” before a more pop-oriented chorus that evokes a slick 80’s pop feel, and a warm Summer-primed feeling. A cut-up “Damn right” vocal effect accompanies Thorpe’s euphoric vocals in the chorus. The overall sound of the track evokes 80’s Prog-Synthpop and 90’s EDM in equal measure, and the lyrics have a slice of comedic quirk to them. A playful set of verses remind me of New Order, and the heavy-pop chorus feels like a love letter to the Pet Shop Boys. On the flip side, the structure gets a little flimsy towards the end, with a more commercial feeling to the chorus that marks a stark contrast to the House-oriented style of the verses, but it just about holds itself together due to the clear range of influences, that flow quite well together. In the end, I think it’s fair to write that – more people should know this song!

Pictured: Cover Artwork for “Unknown Song” (Single) (Released on 8th May, 2020) (via Domino Recordings)

Thank you for reading this post! As always, I’ll be back tomorrow. We’ll be taking an in-depth look at a recent single from an English indie rock group who were known for a similar time period to Hot Chip. The band used Star Trek voice samples to work the time-bending themes of one of their most popular albums, and the band have also been met with critical acclaim that includes earning a total of five nominations for The Ivor Novello awards. If you really liked what you just read, why not follow the blog to get notified when each new post is up and like the Facebook page here?: https://www.facebook.com/OneTrackAtATime

Today’s Track: Crack Cloud – “Ouster Stew”

July 29, 2020 — Leave a comment

How many people does it take to make just one song, eh? It’s time for your daily post!

Pictured: Cover Artwork for “Pain Olympics” (Released on July 17th, 2020) (via Meat Machine Records)

A winter comfort! Good Morning to you, I’m Jacob Braybrooke and I’m writing up your daily track on the blog, because it’s always my day-to-day pleasure to write about a different piece of music every day! The last few weekends haven’t really seen a lot of high-profile releases, likely due to the ongoing complications related to the COVID-19 pandemic, however, there certainly hasn’t been an entirely barren, record-shaped hole of exciting new music, because it has allowed for a lot of young and emerging artists to capture my interest with their fresh and developing sounds. One notable conformist to this rule are Crack Cloud, with their second album “Pain Olympics”, which they self-released on July 17th, in association with Meat Machine. Crack Cloud is not a “band” in the traditional sense, but it’s a very large collective of different musicians, film directors, street artists, fashion designers, and several others, all of which are based in Vancouver, Canada. This creates an interesting exploration of the relationship between film and music, bordering stylistically on the lines between Art-Rock and Post-Punk. The leading single from their new album is “Ouster Stew”, a track that’s been getting heavy airplay on BBC Radio 6Music. Let’s have a listen below.

I think it’s safe to say that on “Ouster Stew”, Crack Cloud reaffirms that, it’s a project dedicated to subverting your expectations at each corner of it’s turn. Whether they mean to or not, the cryptic collective evoke 1980’s New-Wave and 1990’s Synth-Funk on the fragmented guitar lines and the wonky synth lines that are also embellished with elegant piano sections on the repeated grooves. Zach Choy, the vocalist, spins nonsensical spoken-word verses like: “Excommunicated, we are free/What will we do? What can they say for us to agree” and “We’re writing from the start, so we gonna burn a few/Sizing up that Ostrich for our dear communal stew”, with a chanting chorus, while the playful keyboard melodies and the 80’s-driven synths elicit Prefab Sprout and Deacon Blue, while the tightly-wound drum section flies off the steering wheel for the next half of the track. An illogically powerful drum solo builds to a Jazz-inflicted Saxophone solo, with the brass section leading to a bleak synthesizer outro. Lyrically, the style is very animated and brash. The vague ideas of tribal settlement add a brief, thin context to the ensuing chaos. The direction is anarchic, with some small-sized chanting and quirky keyboard riffs thrown in for good measure. There’s no doubt that it’s daft and silly, but it feels retro and comedic. There’s an old-school evocation of 80’s New-Wave that takes center stage in the sonic aspects. Although it feels like the obvious single, it’s lively and eclectic. I like how it also feeds the interests of contibutors who are interested in different aspects of creative media, as opposed to just music as a necessary viewpoint. They’re clearly having good fun. A thumbs-up.

Pictured: Crack Cloud standing outside of the BBC Radio 6Music studios with Marc Riley (in 2018) (via BBC Music)

Thank you for reading this post! Please make sure that you check out the blog tomorrow, where we will be going back to the Black Funk world of the 1970’s for an in-depth revision of a sensational track that was the B-side of one of the world’s most famous all-time Funk singles, produced by a music collective who were fronted by the icon George Clinton, who also led their sister band, Parliament. A very legendary man, indeed! If you really liked what you just read, why not follow the blog to get notified when each new post is up and like the Facebook page here?: https://www.facebook.com/OneTrackAtATime

Today’s Track: The Bravery – “An Honest Mistake”

July 24, 2020 — Leave a comment

Reforming this band would be a Courageous thing to do… It’s time for your new post!

Pictured: Cover Artwork for “The Bravery” (Self-Titled LP) (Released on March 14th, 2005) (via Polydor Records)

I’m feeling quite Brave about this one! Good Morning, I’m Jacob Braybrooke and, as usual, I’m writing about your daily track on the music blog, because it is my day-to-day pleasure to write about a different piece of music every day! A retro track, The Bravery’s “An Honest Mistake” was recorded in 2005 for the band’s self-titled debut album released that year. A 5-piece based in New York City, The Bravery was formed by lead vocalist Sam Endicott, lead guitarist Michael Zakarin, bassist Mike Hindert, keyboardist John Conway and drummer Anthony Burulcich. They released three studio albums before they went inactive in 2012, before confirming the band had disbanded in 2014 on the band’s website and social media pages by revealing that all members were pursuing different creative interests, and there was no plans for the band to resurface for the foreseeable future. A post-punk influenced indie dancefloor jam, “An Honest Mistake” was the band’s biggest commercial hit. It reached #7 on the UK Singles Chart, and their self-titled album peaked at #5 on the UK Albums Chart. It was also widely exposed to the media, being licensed for use in several video games including ‘Burnout: Revenge’, ‘Singstar Rocks’ and ‘True Crime: New York City’. It was also used in TV episodes for CSI: NY, Heroes and Grey’s Anatomy. Suffice to say, this was a true relic of mid-00’s “indie”-brand musical culture. Let’s revisit the track below.

The guitar pedal gets the drum machine whirring at the start of the video, and it seems The Bravery were just making the most use they could out of the untouched household objects left in Endicott’s Dads’ garage. To start off, a loud drum pattern leads into a hi-hat synth loop that gradually adds layers of electric guitar riffs and two-step keyboard beats, to form the basic melody that runs as a thorough line between the lo-fi, new-wave guitar instrumentation and the sauntering, Northern Soul-infused synth rhythms. Endicott croons, to a semi-Falsetto effect: “People/They don’t mean a thing to you, They move right through you/Just like your breath”, a brazen comment that adds a rebellious edge to the synth-heavy melodies. The bridge is led by an interlude of post-punk inflicted bass guitar riffs, before he proclaims: “My old friend/I swear I never meant for this”, with an assembly of reckless guitar notes, forming a short section, sandwiched between the two refrains. Endicott continues, in the chorus: “Don’t look at me that way/It was an honest mistake”, which gets delivered with a more intense Falsetto effect, as the tempo lowers slightly and the repeating synth hooks take a backseat to a pop-oriented line of melodic guitar lines. A more synth-heavy interlude can be found near the end, with the electro-pop sections distorting slightly with the guitar-driven sections. It sounds somewhere between The Killers and The Strokes, with self-deprecating lyrics and an obvious New-Millennium Revival sound that was all the rage in popular music at the time. The vocals are self-reflective, and they evoke Robert Smith of The Cure. The synth-led dance/rock fusion is highly 1980’s-inspired, evoking Depeche Mode and New Order. However, I feel there is a slight over-reliance on the auto-tune machine, especially in the later sections, and the overall sound doesn’t stand out among their peers, such as The Editors and LCD Soundsystem, very much. It’s a pity that it leans into tired tropes of the 00’s “indie boom” a little too closely, because most of what I’m hearing works quite nicely. The sonic direction provides some fun and likeable hooks, to the effects of the swelling synthesizer loops. Sadly, a lot of it comes across as mechanical, and as an economically-efficient product for the label. That said, I like how this single never denied the roots of its genre, and the vocal performance never makes Endicott comes across as contrived or dishonest. A decent effort, but I admit it could have been more.

Pictured: Sam Endicott (Lead Vocals), Michael Zakarin (Lead Guitar), Mike Hindert (Bass Guitar), John Conway (Keyboard/Synths) and Anthony Burulcich (Drums/Occasional Backing Vocals) (2012) (Photo via FanArt.TV)

Thank you very much for reading this post! Don’t forget that a new edition of Scuzz Sundays, a weekly look back at a pop-punk or emo-rock classic from the mid-90’s to the late-00’s, will be posted in just two days time! But, first, check back with the blog tomorrow for an in-depth look at something a bit different to our usual fare. It comes from an American ambient composer who has said that her music was inspired by her participation in a church choir while growing up in Louisiana. She composes with analogue hardware to create electronic synth loops built around her vocal sections. If you really liked what you just read, why not follow the blog to get notified when each new post is up and like the Facebook page here?: https://www.facebook.com/OneTrackAtATime

Today’s Track: Leila Moss – “Atoms At Me”

July 21, 2020 — Leave a comment

You’ll have a hard time studying her Particle-ular theories! It’s time for your new post!

Pictured: Liela Moss in an official press photoshoot to promote “Who Got Power?” (2020) (via Bella Union)

It’s an Atomic Bombshell! Good Morning to you, I’m Jacob Braybrooke and, as always, I’m writing about your daily track on the blog because it’s routinely my day-to-day pleasure to write about a different piece of music every day! “Atoms At Me” marks the beginning of an exciting spread of new music from Leila Moss, a London-based musician and songwriter who is a key member of English indie rock band The Duke Spirit, along with her electro-rock side-project Roman Realms, a duo with Duke Spirit bassist Tony Butler. Liela Moss has confirmed the news of “Who Got Power?”, a new solo LP, due for the release date of August 7th via Bella Union. To go along with the announcement of the new album, Moss has dropped the music video for it’s lead single, “Atoms At Me”. It was directed and filmed by her neighbor, who is IYEARA vocalist Paul O’ Keefe. Not a completely random favour, then. Moss explains: “I am dancing with the walls and grooving in the recesses. Preparing – but hesitating – to reveal more of myself. The visual quality softly distorts and abstracts me, hinting at the way we keep old emotional patterns at bay; a bit too afraid to bring them to surface, to witness your needs and fears with clarity.”, with an electronic sound that deviates from the acoustic, serene sound of 2018’s “My Name Is Safe In Your Mouth”, her personal debut solo release. Let’s hear the results of the beautiful concept below!

The beginning of the track evokes Folk and Blues, as we find Moss delving deeper into Dark-Wave and New-Wave, while lyrically searching for a fiery immediacy, calling for her senses to find a new passion for modern society. A raspy, but not harsh, acoustic guitar line paves the way for the first verse, Moss croons: “Be a beginner when you’re older/Can I climb back into my bed?” and “Everybody’s buried into my shoulders, everyone that I’ve ever met”, before she layers a Gospel-driven, aired backing vocal above a bridge: “Wake my senses up right now, you know I can’t be right this time”, before a chorus that bursts with disquiet Bass Guitar riffs and harsh Keyboard lines. Moss recites: “Say whatever you mean, Atoms coming at me/”Say whatever you want, I’m just following me”, before interrupting proceedings with a softly distorting synth bed, teasing an Acid-Pop element that never quite goes to the forefront. The guitar work is Industrial and contorted, but the overall tone remains to feel uplifting amidst the self-reflective lyricism. The lead guitar and bass guitar melodies create a tense atmosphere, but they feel hopeful and open as Moss holds onto each chord for as long as possible, opening the contextual meanings out, and making the fantastical aesthetics sound spacious, but grounded in reality. The addition of the short Acid lines feel intriguing, layering a simmering Dark-Wave throb on top of the acoustic instrumentation to make the synths evoke 1980’s-era New-Wave. A Marimba is briefly used to complement the breathy, summer feeling of the vocal sections. It basically sounds like a Bluesier, more alternative Florence & The Machine, with a decent vocal performance, which teases the album effectively. It’s good music – not rocket science!

Pictured: Cover Artwork for “Who The Power?” (Available to buy from 7th August, 2020) (via Bella Union)

Thank you for reading this post! I’ll be back tomorrow, with an in-depth look at a track that was brought to my attention yesterday, but the new album of the project was released in April earlier in the year. The track comes from an American Alternative Hip-Hop duo from Seattle, Washington who produce rap music that never stops experimenting, having released four studio albums on the Sub-Pop Records label. The duo curated part of the programme for the Dutch music festival “Le Guess Who?”. If you really liked what you just read, why not follow the blog to get notified when each new post is up and like the Facebook page here?: https://www.facebook.com/OneTrackAtATime

Today’s Track: JARV IS… – “Save The Whale”

July 17, 2020 — Leave a comment

JARV IS… finally releasing a new full-length album today! It’s time for your daily post!

Pictured: Jarvis Cocker in a promotional photoshoot to promote a UK tour (2018) (Photo Credit: Roberto Ricciuti/Getty)

After raving to “House Music All Night Long” over the summer, Pulp’s Jarvis Cocker has managed to create something of a very memorable Lockdown anthem, with the single, which was released back in March, garnering huge popularity with the internet music community, universal acclaim with fans and critics alike, and gaining significant airplay on BBC Radio 2 and BBC Radio 6Music. Several interviews and in-depth articles featuring Cocker, as well as his Bedtime Stories podcast series on Facebook and YouTube, have drummed up the marketing machine while we waited for his new album, “Beyond The Pale”, which releases today on Rough Trade Records. JARV IS… is not a group per-say, but it’s the 90’s Brit-Pop icon and his touring band. I’m quite fond of Jarvis because he’s an eccentric character and I think that British pop-rock music would never be the same without him, since he’s also an influential figure. “Beyond The Pale” was originally set to release on May 1st, but it was delayed to July 17th due to complications amidst the Coronavirus pandemic. It seems to have definitely been worth the wait, as the album has been garnering widespread acclaim from critics, enough so to give it a 92/100 on Metacritic, a review aggregate site, with many critics categorizing it to be his strongest work since… Well, Pulp. I loved “House Music All Night Long”, as countless others did! Let’s listen to “Save The Whale” below!

Fate didn’t seem to want “Beyond The Pale” to exist in the way that it does, since Cocker only wanted the band to only perform live, releasing no albums, but Geoff Barrow (from Portishead) gave Cocker the nudge, and he used studio overdubs to live tapes they were recording for personal use to create their band’s self-dubbed “alive” album rather than a live one, after the COVID-19 pandemic threw a wrench in the way of the original concept. Many of the YouTube comments for the music video of “Save The Whale” tell you how the sound of the track was heavily influenced by the gritty jazz sensibilities of Leonard Cohen, but it’s a mature style of music that doesn’t get created often anymore. Cocker introduces: “Take your foot off the gas, because it’s all downhill from here”, breathily delivered over the top of a bubbling synth pad, and a pattern of mellow drum machine loops that blip along to a shimmering lo-fi synth beat. He adds witty remarks: “You are a manifestation of the universe, your form is unimportant” and “People daubing the walls with seamen and blood” over the top of a mellow Violin section. Backing vocals coo under his noticeably Baritone, in-tone delivery, and “Tell the truth/Take my hand” marks a shift in structure, as a reverb-drenched electronic beat comes into play. The unique songwriting reminds me of the cinematic flavor of Baxter Dury, as Cocker croons: “Me and you, we’ve gone and found a new civilization, now how much are we going to charge people for admission?”, an eccentric line that leads to a swelling string section and a light guitar groove. The key refrain: “We’ve got to move, Beyond The Pale” adds a calming, Zen-like meditation feeling to the ongoing Sci-Fi mannerisms. It’s strange and intriguing, with downbeat vocal hooks that feel meditative and ASMR-like, but there are crescendos of scheming synth patterns that evoke Depeche Mode, meaning there is enough of a 80’s new-wave pop melodicism to carry the deep and cerebral structure through. Unlike the endangered species of Whale, It’s not likely to get extinct too shortly, and it makes for excellent summer listening. It’s challenging and academic, but it’s melodic and witty enough to work. Just like many others, I feel that JARV IS… smashing it all over again!

Pictured: Cover Artwork for “Beyond The Pale” (Released on July 17th, 2020) (via Rough Trade Records)

As mentioned beforehand, I have also covered Jarvis Cocker’s lockdown hit “House Music All Night Long” on the blog, the lead single from the new album “Beyond The Pale”. You can peruse the link and take a look at it right here: https://onetrackatatime.home.blog/2020/03/09/todays-track-jarv-is-house-music-all-night-long/

Pictured: Jarvis Cocker performing at the Primavera Sound Festival in Barcelona (2019) (Photo Credit: Adela Loconte)

Tha you very much for reading this pos! Don’t forget that our weekly feature of Scuzz Sundays is right around the corner again, so you can expect a new entry in two days time! But, in the meantime, we’re going to take a look at a brand new track from one of my recent finds from the KEXP Song Of The Day podcast, from another band who have been getting creative during the lockdown crisis. An Italian 4-piece group, they describe their music as “Pajama music for Pajama people” in relation to their 1980’s-inspired Dream-Pop synth sound. If you really liked what you just read, why not follow the blog to get notified when each new post is up and like the Facebook page here?: https://www.facebook.com/OneTrackAtATime

Today’s Track: Enigma – “Sadeness (Part 1)”

July 8, 2020 — Leave a comment

This interesting German-Romanian electronic music producer managed to crack the “Enigma code” of the mainstream singles charts in the 1990’s. It’s time for a new post!

Pictured: Enigma (Michael Cretu) in a photoshoot to promote “The Fall Of A Rebel Angel” (2016) (via ParisMatch.com)

Remember this one? Good Morning to you, my name is Jacob Braybrooke and I’m writing up about your daily track on the blog, since it’s always my day-to-day pleasure to write about a different piece of music every day! It’s a strange sight to behold – a composer managing to have a big chart hit with an ambient chillout track that was built upon Gregorian Chants and tribal Flute sounds, but somehow… before I was even born…. It happened! Enter Enigma, the alias of German-Romanian music composer Micheal Cretu. The inspiration for his experimental project was a product of his desire to make a kind of music that did not obey “the old rules and habits” of commercial pop music, and presented a new form of artistic expression with mystic and experimental components, according to his interview with Melvyn J. Willin. Thus, he produced atmospheric intercultural soundscapes which dabbled in elements of New-Age and Worldbeat. He became a very successful artist for doing so, selling a total of over 70 million records worldwide, and receiving three Grammy Award nominations. He’s still going, having released his eighth ambient LP – “The Fall Of A Rebel Angel” – in 2016. He burst onto the scene with his international hit “Sadeness (Part 1)” in 1990, a track that somehow reached the #1 spot of the singles charts in 24 countries, which includes the UK. Let’s have a listen back to his breakout track below!

I’ve always wanted to join the Gregorian monks, but I never got the chants! There is no denying that Engima’s “Sadeness (Part 1)” is probably the most profoundly odd track to reach #1 in the UK, but I feel there is a nice amount of artistic merit to it, as opposed to it being a ‘fad’, and just a novelty. Starting off with an ominous line of Gregorian monk chants, Cretu gradually adds the layers up to combine the Gothic themes with ambient dance beats that were in the contemporary boom period of the time. Cretu repurposes a sample of the drums in Soul II Soul’s “Keep On Movin'” to create a gentle hip-hop beat, and Cretu combines them with a shimmering Pan-Pipe hook to get a downtempo, sultry groove going. It creates a very multicultural and strange ambient texture, and Cretu expands the idea out with the sound of a woman panting after a breathy line of odd foreign language vocals, paired up with the unexpected, short burst of a guitar solo in the middle. The climax (No pun intended) matches the ongoing Flute melodies with the sequence of more beat-driven synthesizer riffs, and the bizzare Gregorian monk chants bring a full-circle effect to the cerebral, trance-inducing 4-minute duration of ethereal, rich sound effects and dense, world-based instrumentation. The Peruvian flute melodies are the highlight for me, and the combination of strange sounds are quite appealing in a surprising number of ways, such as the seductive vibe of the light female backing vocals and the chemistry the different sections have in creating the visionary style that amounts up to an ambient fantasia. I’m probably just reading a bit too much into it, but it does still sound imaginative, and deeply sensual. The layering is quite solid. Sadly, I have a feeling that – much like the ancient customs of an old Gregorian tribe – it will sadly be forgotten as time wares on, and ‘Chart Pop’ gets more meme-oriented by the second!

Pictured: Cover Artwork for “MCMXC a.D.” (Released on 10th December, 1990) (via Virgin/Charisma Records)

Thank you very much for reading this post! I’ll be back tomorrow, as always, with an in-depth listen to the (Pssssst… it’s really bad) brand new single from a Scottish folk-rock band who originally performed the track, “When We Collide”, that The X-Factor winner Matt Cardle had the UK’s Christmas #1 Single with in late 2010. If you really liked what you just read, why not follow the blog to get notified when each new post is up and like the Facebook page here?: https://www.facebook.com/OneTrackAtATime