New Album Release Friday: Raf Rundell (feat. Terri Walker) – “Always Fly”

April 9, 2021 — Leave a comment

OM Days – It’s Friday, so there’s a crop of new releases to sift through. New post time!

Pictured: Cover Art for “O.M. Days” (LP) (Available from April 9th, 2021) (via Heavenly Recordings)

Good Morning to you! My name is Jacob Braybrooke, and it’s time for me to get typing up for your daily track on the blog, since it’s always my day-to-day pleasure to write up about a different piece of music every day! Somehow it’s been an entire week since the bank holiday weekend for Easter began, but, luckily, we’ve got some new music to listen to. The wider industry has, no doubt, their eyes on the latest album from London Grammar to enthrall the masses, but new offerings from The Walking Dead star Emily Kinney, the first of two albums to come this year from the twilight career of popular US hip-hop collective Brockhampton, and the two-time Native American Music Award winner Samantha Crain also arrive today. However, one of the week’s new album releases that I think you should keep tabs on is ‘O.M. Days’ – the second solo LP from Raf Rundell, who rose to prominence as a former one of The 2 Bears with Joe Goddard, of Hot Chip, in the 2010’s. This is Rundell’s first album to release on the ever-reliable Heavenly Recordings label – Home to the acclaimed UK alternative acts like Baxter Dury and The Orielles – and it’s theme sees Raf Rundell emerging from his Forest Hill bunker with a joyful, larger-than-life, good times party record mixing styles including Dub, 2-Step, Soul and New Wave. One of the album’s centerpieces is ‘Always Fly’ – a new single featuring 90’s R&B and Neo-Soul icon Terri Walker as the two deliver soulful vocals with an accompanying music video that pays homage to George Michael and Aretha Franklin’s ‘I Knew You Were Waiting (For Me)’ collaborative tune from back in 1987. Let’s sample the record with ‘Always Fly’ below.

The follow-up to 2018’s ‘Stop Lying’ – ‘O.M. Days’ continues to establish Rundell’s resume as a collaborative one, with guest appearances from Chas Jankel, Lias Saoudi, Man & The Echo and Andy Jenkins waiting to be heard on the album. Describing his link-up with Walker, Rundell says: “Here, my dears, is a piece of Grown and Sexy R&B for the 20’s”, “Lady Terri Walker, a true treasure of London’s music scene, is ALWAYS FLY”, in his press notes. The resulting sound is a retro-disco and club wind-down affair, as futurist keyboard loops and soul-strutting hip-hop breakbeats bounce away in the background. Rundell and Walker sing lyrics like “Let go, you can trust us, lose control” and “Carry us to places still unknown” that feel like peculiar references and may hint towards something darker. The tone is very joyful, however, as a hint of romance meets it’s cue point in the middle, as the punchy refrain of “I’ve got so many things I’ve got to do/A hundred ways to try and be with you now” hits the sweet spot. Instrumentally, the mild Gospel infusions and the slight scratches of the turntables pulls further on the 80’s Disco thread, but the House music-based melodicism and the very chirpy drum beats have something of the 70’s about them. The first time I heard this on BBC Radio 6Music – it failed to particularly grab me. The 3rd or 4th time, I started to get it. We must be on more like the 13th or 14th time now – and I simply can’t get enough of it, and this one has been a favourite of mine while making dinner in the kitchen lately. What keeps me coming back to this track is the mish-mash of a classic Soul sound with a modern lick of paint that comes via the synths. The rhythms are simply very catchy, but there’s a playful personality being evoked through the sounds. The sounds of the dog barking are quirky, and the synth interlude at the end gets a bit wonky in the best way possible. Yet, it’s not necessarily ‘Weird’ music, but it’s just fresh and sounds good. That makes it one of the year’s strongest Pop releases so far for me, if not my favourite overall. Very addictive, laidback, catchy sound – and I can’t wait to see Rundell soar to greatness as, even on-repeat, this one is ALWAYS FLY.

Pictured: Raf Rundell visitng Lauren Laverne at the BBC Radio 6 Music studio (2020) (via BBC.com)

Back in January, I started to briefly crawl my way into an introduction to Rundell’s work for my take on the album’s lead single, “Monsterpiece”, which goes for a more Ian Dury-inspired style. If you liked this, why not see what I thought of it back then here?: https://onetrackatatime.home.blog/2021/01/19/todays-track-raf-rundell-monsterpiece/

Pictured: Raf Rundell in an online interview with The AU Review (2015) (Photo via YouTube.com)

That’s all for now! There’s no Scuzz Sundays post this week.. You can blame whoever decides when Easter is for that, as, for the second year-running, we’re going to be promoting a special sports entertainment event on the blog with some songs inspired by the spectacle of professional wrestling! That’s right – the WrestleMania Weekend is back! As it’s being broadcast in two nightly installments again this year, there will be a themed post going out on both Saturday and Sunday a-piece. If you really liked what you just read, why not follow the blog to get notified when every new daily post is up and why not like the Facebook page here?: https://www.facebook.com/OneTrackAtATime/

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

April 1, 2021 — Leave a comment

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

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

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

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

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

Thank you for checking out my latest post – I did try to beef it up! This one should get the extended bank holiday weekend moving in style. The festivities continue tomorrow with our ‘New Album Release Friday’ section – where we take a sampler of one of Good Friday’s new album releases. Tomorrow’s track comes from a fresh South London 4-piece group who have been fusing witty, jumbled Spoken Word sections with Post-Rock guitar shredding to unanimously praised effect! If you really liked what you just read, why not follow the blog to get notified when every new daily post is up and why not like the Facebook page here?: https://www.facebook.com/OneTrackAtATime/

Today’s Track: Dante Elephante – “Game Of Love”

March 15, 2021 — Leave a comment

Play what you want – but you better not go play Mind Games on me! New post time!

Pictured: Cover Art for “Game Of Love” (Single) (Released on Feb 26th, 2021 (via Born Losers Records)

Good Afternoon to you! Jacob Braybrooke here, wishing you a happy Monday, as I report to the blog for my track of the day, since it is always my day-to-day pleasure to write up about a different piece of new music every day! If you cast your mind back to just two months ago, you may recall our ‘New Album Release Friday’ feature on the blog, where we took an in-depth look at ‘Mid-Century Modern Romance’, the third studio album to be released by Dante Elephante (aka Ruben Zarate), on the Born Losers Records label at the very beginning of the new year. The album sees the singer-songwriter – who is based in the Highland Park area of Santa Barbara near Los Angeles in California – shed his previous Surf-Rock and Stoner-Pop sound for a more retro guise of Disco-Pop and Dance-Rock. Produced by Paul Cherry, the LP was a cheeky little sleeper hit of a release, with some groovy tunes that have really grown on me in the last two months. The sound is nicely inspired, while nostalgic at the same time, as an overall classic-sounding Pop package that doesn’t set the world alight, but refreshingly manages to transport you away from the grim reality of our current circumstances with a passionate stride. To follow up on album stand-outs like ‘Jeni’ and ‘Find Somebody To Love’, Zarate has just released a one-off single in the form of a cover version of Santana’s 60’s Soul Pop anthem, ‘Game Of Love’. If you find the sampling below to be enjoyable, Zarate also hosts his own eccentric podcast, ‘The Dante Elephante Podcast’, which you can check out each Thursday on commercial platforms like Spotify, Apple Music, YouTube, and wherever else that you get your podcasts. You can have a sing along to the on-screen lyrics for ‘Game Of Love’ below.

Paired with the above music video, which is dedicated to Gregg Alexander, Zarate has been promoting his music with a live appearance on the KCRW radio station, where you’ll find him talking about the records that take him back in his very own all-Vinyl playlist titled ‘Private Playlist’ which articulates his inspiration from his heroes, including rarities from Orange Juice and Eydie Gorme. The segment is up on his YouTube channel if that sounds interesting to you, where you can also find some live performances of tracks from the new album, alongside the above music video for bonus single ‘Game Of Love’. Speaking of that track, it demonstrates some maturing of his songwriting skills and some acting chops, with Zarate busting some moves to co-incide with the more upbeat, dance-oriented chorus sections. The verses are a little more pensive though, with soulful melodies and mid-tempo synth beats that continually emerge and retreat back in the more toned down sections. The drum beat grooves are rather nice, before sensual lines like “So, please tell me why you don’t come around here no more/Cause right now I’m dying outside the door of your loving store” creep in to the soundscape with a lightly drawing scope. The chorus is more hook-led, with rhymes like “It just takes a little bit of this, A little bit of that/It started with a kiss, Now we’re up to bat” and “A little bit of laughs, A little bit of pain, it’s all in the game of love” that feel forthright and ready for summer. The percussive elements are neatly packed into the sound, and Zarate increases the tempo of the original track just a little to give it a more funky, progressive update. Overall, it’s a really lovely little track because it demonstrates a clear talent that Zarate has in making pop music that sounds old-school and vintage with a top-notch sense of authenticity, and while the results are not really a groundbreaking record, it’s one that feels charming, with an affectionate Falsetto tool that takes me from a somewhat mundane setting, and it makes me feel like I’m beach-bound on a pleasantly hot day. It’s just good Pop music.

Pictured: Ruben Zarate (of Dante Elephante) in a ‘GoodTimes.SC’ promo shoot (2019) (via PR)

As aforementioned, this is the second time that Dante Elephante has pulled an appearance on the little blog. Although it’s grown on me more since then, you can also check out my guidance of album single ‘Las Vegas’ here: https://onetrackatatime.home.blog/2021/01/08/new-album-release-friday-dante-elephante-las-vegas/

Pictured: Cover for “Mid-Century Modern Romance” (Released on Jan 8, 2021) (via Born Losers Records)

That’s all for now – Please feel free to check back here tomorrow, however, with an in-depth look at some more brand new music recommendations. Tomorrow’s track is almost guaranteed to send you straight to the bustling atmosphere of Asian aesthetics, with an in-depth look at the superb new track to come from a promising all-female indie rock band from Nagoya, Aichi who are signed to the Sub-Pop Records label. The band have recently collaborated with Gorillaz for a track on the ‘Song Machine, Season One: Strange Timez’ compilation. 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: Patawawa – “Adadadadeya”

March 11, 2021 — Leave a comment

Try to say this track title three times fast – There’s a challenge for you. New post time!

Pictured: Beth Garrett (Vocals), Sam Wilmot (Bass Guitar) & Rory Lovatt (Percussion) (in 2019) (via PR)

Good Afternoon to you! I’m Jacob Braybrooke, and it’s time, once again, for me to get typing up for your daily track on the blog, as always, since it is routinely my day-to-day pleasure to write up about a different piece of music every day! A wet and ferociously windy day has surprisingly turned into a sunny and bright one for me here today in the East Anglia, and so Patawawa’s ‘Adadadadeya’ has abruptly turned into some nice ‘Mood Music’ for the occasion. The warm and tropical sound of this Indie Disco-Funk trio comes from the sleeping town of Matlock in Derbyshire, with the band comprised of vocalist Beth Gerrett, bassist Sam Wilmont and guitarist/backing vocalist Rory Lovatt. The trio’s influences include Prince and Pet Shop Boys, and they have earned the spotlight from publications like NME, The Guardian and Earmilk, with further exposure on BBC Music Introducing and John Kennedy’s X-Posure on Radio X. ‘Adadadadeya’ was admittedly released a while back, November 2020, to be exact. However, it’s still the fourth single from their upcoming debut album, ‘Power-Up’, which finally arrives on the Modern Sky label on the 26th of March. The new album has seen a lengthy production process with delays caused by the Covid-19 pandemic, but I have little doubt that the record could replicate the success of their 2018 Tez Cadey co-featured single, ‘Patagonia’, which has racked up over four million streams on Spotify. Let’s see them perform the track virtually for Y-Not Festival below.

The aim of Patawawa seems to be to take us back to the golden age of Disco, where contemporary production collides with the heyday where Chic and Earth, Wind & Fire were topping the singles charts globally. Vocalist Beth Garrett said of the single, “Adadadadeya is about ending up somewhere unexpected. That could be at a rave or somewhere at a festival”, back in a press release when the single was released. With relatable lyrics, she elaborated “you know that feeling when you meet complete randomers, but you end up in their little gang for the night and have DMC’s, deep meaningful chats. You don’t know where you, or what the hell’s going on, but it’s amazing.” as a sense of normalcy and hope to see live music derives from the track in the midst of a tricky time. The track immediately gets it’s disco essence, with an anthemic lead guitar riff and a few exclamations of the amusing hook, “Adadadadeya”, paving the way for vibrant, light and warm Bongo notes to enter the picture. The verses have a bright guitar pattern, with lines like “A girl smiled at me from across the street” and “She walked up and whispered, come with me” having a rhythmic twang and a quirky sense of humor. The melodies are the brightest during the chorus, where sparse Conga drum beats build to lines like “Then, she said to me, Adadadadeya” and “Said it on repeat, Adadadadeya” that feel nonsensical, but catchy. The basslines are filled with Funk-inflicted guitar licks, and the sparse drum rhythms give the instrumentation a more delicate, off-kilter and acidic quality. The track weaves some polished Nu-Disco sounds to give the old-fashioned influences a loving nod, but also a modern update, with a few synth beats and syncopated drum patterns which blend into the backgrounds of the grooves, but they add some more polish to the upbeat sounds all the same. There’s not a whole lot of substance in the lyrics, but they are quirky and give the hook of ‘Adadadadeya’ some more involvement, to the point where it would make for a nice bit of interaction with a crowd at a live performance. The overall sound reminds me of Miami Horror, yet with earlier influences that feel plucked from the 60’s or 70’s, Overall, I think it’s some good fun. The melodies are catchy and involved, they’ve done a good job of carving out a niche for themselves and it makes me want to shake my booty on the dancefloor. It’s probably not the kind of thing that I would listen to a whole album of, if I’m being critical, but I can picture it being really good fun in a live performance at a hot festival.

Pictured: Patawawa before an interview with Adrianna Barreno (in 2019) (via ODYRmagazine.com)

That’s all I’ve got for you today! Rest assured, though, I’ll be back tomorrow for an in-depth look at one of the week’s most interesting new album releases. This week’s selection comes from a group who describe themselves as a “leading light in Afro-Jazz” with a touring line-up comprised of a 4-piece Horn section, a 2-piece vocal choir and an electronics rhythm section. Orchestrated by guitarist/producer Tom Excell, the Alt-Jazz collective were once chosen by David Byrne to perform at Queen Elizabeth Hall for the south bank’s meltdown festival. 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/

New Album Release Friday: Jane Weaver – “The Revolution Of Super Visions”

March 5, 2021 — Leave a comment

If could have any Super Power in the world – I would abolish Covid-19. New Post time!

Pictured: Cover Artwork for “Flock” (LP) (Released on March 5th, 2021) (via Fire Records)

Good Morning to you – I am Jacob Braybrooke, and as you may have guessed, it’s time again for me to get typing up for your daily track on the blog, since it is always my day-to-day pleasure to write up about a different piece of music every day! Quickly, we’ve reached the end point for another week in Lockdown, but rest assured, there are always new things to do from Friday. Last week was a jam-packed point for new album releases, and so this week feels quite a bit lighter. There’s a new LP from cult Scottish Prog Rock duo Arab Strap, Norweigan Alt-Pop producer AURORA, and the most mainstream-targeted release comes from the reigning Kings Of Leon, as well as a new single to announce the upcoming new album from iconic female Alt-Rock singer St. Vincent. It’s slim pickings for me this week, but the one artist that I probably have the most familiarity with is Jane Weaver. Even that familiarity is not a large deal, but I remember enjoying the shape-shifting Synth-Folk sounds of her previous LP, “Modern Kosmology”, in 2017. Her ninth main album release, “Flock”, arrives today via Fire Records, with live touring dates all over the country to follow later in the year. The new record is also available on an olive-green vinyl and poster from Rough Trade, and a Crean-coloured Vinyl from Indie Store. Although you might not know her by name, Jane Weaver has been around for a long time. She was a former member of Brit-Pop band Kill Laura, who used to manage New Order in the 1990’s. She was also part of the Folktronica project Misty Dixon, and Weaver also fronts her own ambient chillwave side-project, Fenella. Let’s sample “The Revolution of Super Visions” below.

“The revolution accidentally happens because so many people visualize the same ideals and something supernatural occurs” is what the Liverpool-based singer-songwriter and electronic producer said of the lead single taken from her newly arrived album in a press release, continuing “Everyone is exhausted by social media, inequality and the toxic masculinity of the world leaders contributing to a dying planet” in her written analysis of the track’s core themes. Starting off with a simple “You look good” and a basic “Do you look at yourself and find nothing?” over the top of a strutting, 80’s-inspired Disco synth riff and a fairly acidic, yet mellow synth line. For me, there’s a real Bowie-ism found within this sound, with a lighter update of Glam-Pop than Goldfrapp gave us on “Black Cherry” in 2003. The vocals rely on long, shimmering harmonies as verse lines like “I wasn’t ready to say, but I danced to your beat for sixteen hours/I’m camouflaged at the scene” and “See you gaze in the haze, the line of fire” have a long and high-pitched tone, being recited over the top of a strutting bassline that fits the current vogue for retooled disco. Weaver, however, refuses to shy away from the themes of materialism and consumerist addictions that I can interpret in her lyrics, with subtle vocals like “You try to dress to impress, This occasion for me, it’s time to hide” landing a more significant impact on a more intent listen. Songwriting aside, the instrumentation matches the cosmic-themed visuals and the 80’s Synth-Pop aesthetics with a host of bold layers, as distinct psychedelic synthesizers and processed, discordant acoustics production give the track a rather progressive feel, instead of necessarily relying on the creation of a punchy hook. In the end, though, my imagination isn’t too hard-pressed to imagine Gwen Stefani or Jessie Ware performing the track as it’s centerpiece. However, it’s the well-timed fusion of Prog-Pop and Prince-inspired mid-90’s Synth-Funk that makes the melodies memorable to me. It’s a solid case of Weaver bending the rules of Pop to her benefits.

Pictured: Jane Weaver outdoors in Manchester for Silent Radio (in 2017) (Photo by Joseph Curran)

Thank you for taking up the time to check out my new post! What are the new music, film or TV releases that you’re going to be purchasing, downloading or streaming over the weekend? Let me know in the comments below. Don’t forget to join me again, in the meantime, tomorrow – where we’re going to take a look at some recently-released music from one of my childhood staples of the Scuzz era. Perhaps their most recognisable track, “Make Me Wanna Die”, was previously used as a featured track on the movie soundtrack of 2010 Hollywood comic book film “Kick-Ass”, which starred Chloe Grace Moretz and Christopher Mintz-Plasse. 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: SG Lewis (feat. RHYE) – “Time”

March 1, 2021 — Leave a comment

Let’s find out if his latest mix is worth jamming out to Time after Time. New post time!

Pictured: Cover Art for “Times” (LP) (Released on February 19, 2021) (via Jasmine Music Limited)

Good morning to you, I am Jacob Braybrooke and it’s time for me to get writing up or 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! New month, new music – and that sentiment feels certainly true for the Reading-born electronic dance music producer, SG Lewis. Samuel George Lewis has just released his debut studio album, “Times”, through Virgin EMI and PMR Records, becoming his landmark full-length release after he began posting his own retrospective, uplifting club anthems online to streaming formats like Soundcloud. Inspired by the Sophisti-Pop of James Blake and Bon Iver, and the club-oriented Hip-Hop sounds of artists like Common and Timbaland, Lewis made a name for himself on viral platforms, while sharpening his live mixing skills by getting involved in the nightlife of his local scene in Liverpool. The superb Orlando Higginbottom (a.k.a. TEED) has a production credit on “Times”, but you will also find collaborations with Nile Rogers, Channel Tres, Robyn, Frances and more on the record too. SG Lewis has also established creative partnerships with Raye, LANY and Bruno Major over the course of his young pro career as well. The opening track, and fourth single, on the LP is “Time”, a laidback Disco-House fusion track that features a soulful vocal performance from Canadian R&B singer-songwriter RHYE, who featured on the blog with his new solo work on this blog just two weeks ago. Let’s take a listen below.

A record that pays loving tribute to Deep House, Chillwave, Synth-Funk and Dance-Pop music, SG Lewis announced “Times” as his first high profile release since his interconnected suite of “Dusk”, “Dark” and “Dawn” EP’s over the last two years, through his popular social media accounts back in late-October. With the announcement, he clarified that “This album is an ode to the present moment, and the finite chances we have to celebrate it. It’s an exploration of escapism and euphoria, and the memories attached to these experiences”, in conveying the moods and tones explored within the 40-minute recording. Kicking us off, “Time” is a taster that sets the scene for the rest of the track listing, with a vocal sample taken from “Don’t Look Any Further” by Denis Edwards. It paves the way for the light Garage beat to drop in, with a gentle and soothing Acid melody that reminds me of the late-90’s overly played hit “Music Sounds Better With You” by Stardust. RHYE’s vocals fit the mid-tempo template nicely, with lines like “Sun’s coming up, I wanna play” and “See me fadin, Come on and love this false horizon, babe” carrying the message to make the most of every day and not to take the nice little moments in life for granted. It’s nothing too deep, but it resonates clearly. The chorus is a little more involved, with a beautifally mid-volume arrangement of strings incorporating some classic Disco beats into the tune as the Violin strings swell and soar over the beaming synths of the mid-tempo bassline. An understated series of Conga drum beats is the cue point for the big finale of the track, where the Funk-inspired grooves dip below the vocals of “Somebody says, come over here” to replicate the sounds of vinyl crackles as the beat gently begins to fade away. With club doors currently closed around the world, we can only hope that SG Lewis will be able to take these sounds to festival stages late in the summer to make the most of this music. However, I’d rather he release this music than keep delaying it, like the new Bond movie because it allows a feeling of normalcy to breathe through the harmonies. RHYE’s vocal performance is strong, while the production of the track feels inspired and tinkered with. This sounds a little more commercial than the type of electronic music that I would typically choose to listen to, but I still think that it would sound great on mainstream daytime radio. It’s easy to like, there’s clear inspiration in the sound and it feels well-produced overall. It was – basically put – well worth spending 4 minutes and 20 seconds of my Time with.

Pictured: SG Lewis backstage at Coachella Music and Arts Festival (2019) (Photo via the360mag.com)

That’s all for today! I’ll be back tomorrow, just like every day, with an in-depth review of some more brand new music – this time coming from an Israeli-born singer, songwriter and self-producer whose track was once used in an advertising campaign for Apple’s music streaming service, and in her earlier years, she used to studied composition at the Jerusalem Academy of Music and Dance. 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: RHYE – “Black Rain”

February 15, 2021 — Leave a comment

I’m going to try to come up with the best Bread puns – don’t ask Rye! New post time.

Pictured: Cover Art for “Home” (LP) (Released on January 22nd, 2021) (via Loma Vista Recordings)

Good Afternoon to you – my name is Jacob Braybrooke, and it’s time for me, yet again, to get typing up for your daily track on the blog, and that’s because it’s always my day-to-day pleasure to write up about a different piece of music every day! Despite sharing his name with a type of bread – albeit a different spelling – RHYE is also the successful Alternative R&B project of the Canadian multi-instrumentalist Mike Milosh, whose debut album was nominated for the Polaris Music Prize when it was released in 2013. He released his fourth studio album, “Home”, last month under the Loma Vista Recordings label. While it didn’t get lauded by the critics, it still turned in a solid critical reception with decent reviews. While it hasn’t blown me away, it’s one of the few albums to be released in January that kept me coming back for more during the slightly lukewarm period. The album made a few waves on the Belgian, German and Swiss album charts, and Milosh described the project – which follows 2018’s “BLOOD” – as “We would talk about how music doesn’t mean anything if you can’t make the listener feel it” while he was teething away with the mixer Alan Moulder when they were recording the material between Milosh’s home, The Complex and United Recording Studios. Milosh was also interested in exploring Disco and classic Soul influences on the record, which was also inspired by his experience of learning how to play the Cello with his father. The video for promotional single, “Black Rain”, was directed by Sam Taylor-Johnston, and the dancer is Hollywood star Aaron Taylor-Johnston (‘Kick-Ass’, ‘The Avengers: Age Of Ultron’). Check it out below.

Those are some fluid moves from the “Godzilla” and “Tenet” actor, and the camera just slowly pans across the horizon to capture each of the detailed little body gestures between his movements, paired to the lighthearted beat of the track that Milosh describes as “It has this 80’s version of Disco, like the way Quincy Jones was interpreting Disco” in response to his inspiration taken from a suit of symphonic 80’s synth-funk tunes, “Scheherazade” by Nikolai Rimsky-Korsakov. The sound of the track is also very mellow and the tempo is quite relaxed, with Milosh delivering the lines of “Breathe some air, take in time/Hold around your neckline” and “A gentle song, time to make you feel good” with a gentle chime, which is given a fair amount of space to breathe between the 70’s disco-like string section and the flickering synth tones in the opening. The instrumentation is quite upbeat and bouncy, with the soft Falsetto effect of Milosh’s vocals complementing the mid-tempo guitar grooves. A bustling keyboard riff cues the arrival of a sweat-breaking chorus, where the refrains of “So don’t go running, Just ’cause a little Black Rain” and “Just give me something” feel uplifted above the brief rumbles of synth-driven Bass and the electronic R&B sounds. It’s not necessarily about creating a swooping and catchy hook, with the atmosphere being driven by the influences of 80’s Disco-Soul fusion and the laidback Electro-Funk production instead, with fairly sedate vocal delivery to boot. It’s perhaps lacking in the memorability factor a little, however, I enjoy the chilled feeling of the Soulful sound. Much like the album, it didn’t make me excitedly exclaim “Wow” on my first listen, yet it’s very pleasant to listen to and I feel the qualities of the warmth expands on more listens. The music equivalent of an organic soup on a mundane day.

Pictured: RHYE performing at the NOS Alive Festival in Lisbon, Portugal (2017) (Photo via Redferns)

That’s all for today! However, like always, I’ll be turning in another performance tomorrow. As you know, I’m a massive fan of my electronic music – and the next track, which you’ll have to come back and then find out more about tomorrow, is well within that wheelhouse. It comes from a female electronic music producer who has seen a lot of love from BBC Radio 6Music in the last few months, and she created her latest EP release during a road trip that took her from Los Angeles to New York over the summer. You may know her from “The Frontier”, a track that got a spot on Resident Advisor’s Top 10 Tracks Of The Decade in 2016. She’s also remixed artists like Slowdive, Four Tet and Robyn over the years. 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/

New Album Release Friday: Bicep (feat. Clara La Sun) – “Saku”

January 22, 2021 — Leave a comment

I know it’s January – but let’s not give this one the Cold Shoulder. It’s new post time…

Pictured: Cover Artwork for “Isles” (Album/LP) (Released on 22nd January, 2020) (via Ninja Tune)

Good Morning to you – I’m Jacob Braybrooke, and it’s now time for me to get typing up about your daily track on the blog, since it is routinely my day-to-day pleasure to write about a different piece of music every day. It’s New Album Release Friday – which means it’s time for me to lead you into an in-depth look at one of the artists behind this weekend’s new album releases. This week’s selection includes the fourth album from the Canadian R&B outfit RHYE, as well as new outings from UK Grime rapper Bugzy Malone and US cult rockers Moon Taxi – along with the new EP release from Venezuelan Art-Pop enigma, Arca. However, the most high-profile new release in a while has arrived today from Bicep. The duo – which is made up of the Northern Irish electronic dance music producers Andrew Ferguson and Matthew McBriar – have been gaining a lot of traction in the UK Club scene, and rock-solid airplay from BBC Radio 1 and BBC Radio 6Music, in recent weeks, has exposed more casual ears to their layer-building sound. Bicep was formed in 2009 as a blog called “Feel My Bicep” where the two DJ’s used to post lost tracks of the Chicago House and Detroit Techno variety, along with forgotten Disco Pop and Italo Disco remixes. “Isles” is the title for the new LP, and it’s just been released via Ninja Tune. It represents a “snapshot in time” for the duo, and the guest list includes Julie Kent, Machina and Clara La Sun. The latter features on the new single “Saku” – and you can check out it’s video below.

So far, the reviews for “Isles” have been rather kind. Bicep said of the hotly anticipated new album, “We aim to pull influences from a broad range of inspiration when we write music, our tracks often go through many iterations and directions before we settle on the final ingredients”. The duo added that “Saku feels like a good example of a hybrid for us” to their press notes. “Saku” feels like an encapsulation of Bicep’s global influences, with 90’s IDM and 00’s Garage sounds creating a textured, dreamy vision. The drum programming evokes a light Hip-Hop breakbeat, while Clara La Sun’s vocals feel melancholic. She sings: “Can’t say the feeling was strong, Know you’re thinking of me” and “I just need to feel what I felt before, Can you help me feel what I’m waiting for?” with a minimalist delivery, as a whispered vocal unfolds below an animated percussion. Subtle layers of timbres and polished production glides above La Sun’s vocals, as she sings: “I just need to feel everything before, Can you help me feel what I’m searching for?” with a vagueness that feels provocative and ethereal. It isn’t immediately danceable, with abstract drum beats and hypnotic sonic loops building layers on layers of synth sounds. The slow-building soundscape builds to a crescendo, where the vocals are cut out, and we’re left with a vigorous backing vocal loop that faints softly in the background. Meanwhile, the sound gets more intimate and synth-driven, with a bright stream of hazy synth effects invoking an emotive atmosphere. The repetitive percussion sounds and the honeyed synth production retains a cinematic element. The vocals evoke a 00’s R&B aesthetic, before the flourishing synths take hold of the pacing. Although I’m a little bit less familiar with Bicep’s work – in comparison to Aphex Twin or The Chemical Brothers – I think that I can see the appeal to them. The layers build up to convey a dream-like aural environment – with polished synth instrumentals and tranquil vocals that hint at a science-fiction soundtrack feel. The idea of a home-listening trance record from the duo is a rather bold move – and I feel the album would have benefited more from the sweeping euphoria of a live summer stage – but I realise that is not viable right now given our current situation with COVID-19. All in all, I think there’s much to enjoy here.

Pictured: Andrew Ferguson (DJ/Producer) and Matthew McBriar (DJ/Synths) (2019) (via Facebook.com)

Ages ago – I posted an in-depth review of one of Bicep’s earlier offerings – “Atlas” – which was released last year. If you want to catch the euphoria of that track, be my guest here: https://onetrackatatime.home.blog/2020/05/19/todays-track-bicep-atlas/

Pictured: Cover Artwork for “Atlas” (Single/EP) (Released on April 3rd, 2020) (via Ninja Tune)

That’s all for today – Don’t forget that we’ve got a new addition to our Scuzz Sundays catalogue dropping in two days time! Before then, why not join me again tomorrow? Unusually for me, I’ll be going a little bit more mainstream tomorrow. We’re going to be taking an in-depth look at the sizzling new single from a US Rock band, which is comprised up of three brothers and their cousin, who have 12 Grammy Award nominations to their name – including 4 wins. You could say, then, that they are “Royalty” of the stadium Rock scene. 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: Raf Rundell – “Monsterpiece”

January 19, 2021 — 1 Comment

I hope that you are not afraid of the Monsters living under your bed… New post time!

Good Morning to you! My name is Jacob Braybrooke, and it’s now time for me to get writing up on the blog about today’s daily track, because it’s always in routine of my day-to-day pleasure to write about a different piece of music every day! Rest assured, the 2021 album release calendar is filling up, and it’s not too shabby in the process. A recent addition to the crop is “O.M. Days”, the second solo LP to come from the South London-based singer-songwriter Raf Rundell, and this is his first LP recording with the famous Heavenly Recordings label. The album unleashes the beast to the world on Friday 9th April, and it’s his second solo LP, following the release of 2018’s effort “Stop Lying”. Rundell first made his mark on the world as one half of the experimental pop duo ‘The 2 Bears’, along with Hot Chip’s Joe Goddard. It later became ‘The 3 Bears’, due to the inclusion of Metronomy’s Joe Mount. “O.M. Days” explores Disco, Soul, Funk, Latin, New-Wave and Post-Punk influences, and it features guest appearances from Chas Jankel, Lias Saoudi, Teri Walker and Man & The Echo. If you want to see him live, you can hopefully see him play gig dates in Leeds, Birmingham, Glasgow, London, Brighton and Manchester in support of the new album this May, so fingers crossed those could go ahead in some capacity. Check out his “Monsterpiece” below.

“I tried hard to be Ian Dury, But realised I couldn’t. So, I tried my best in a different way, and here we are”, Raf Rundell jokingly explained as he teased the creative direction of the lead single. He even went so far as to pull in Chad Jankel, the former Ian Dury & The Blockheads musician, to add a neat guitar line into the track, for a dream collaboration. Yet, Rundell still manages to capture the essence of Baxter Dury, Ian’s son, and I’d argue that the “Sports Team-meets-Baxter Dury-meets-Gorillaz” style of the New-Wave crossed Disco-Soul influences paints him in his own light. Lyrics like “Fast vibrations, grooving, when you’re moving, when you’re doing what you love” drift over the top of Balearic synth lines and sun-dipped instrumentation, bolstered by funk-inspired guitar riffs and a lithe, idiosyncratic bassline. The Post-Rock vibes creep in when Rundell cheerfully croons “How fly can you fly/In this world so unforgiving” and “How free can you be/To make a life what you make a living” with a spot of sophistication, above the scatterings of synthetic pop sounds. The instrumentation is suitably varied, with a lengthy Flute chorus entering the fray at about the two-thirds mark, and a drop of strobing synths that add a psychedelic house sound. The harmonic Flute break and the nodding to Electro-Soul is commendable, with a strange sense of ‘Party Anthem’ sound adding a new touch to the rather academic, intellectual pop sound of his influences. Although I think this one is a bit of a “One and done” deal rather than something that stores new elements for you to discover on repeated listens, it also has a distinct and unique sound that feels original. By meshing the New-Wave 70’s together with more contemporary synth sounds, you get the fresh marriage of Soul and Punk. It’s not “Monstrously” bad at all.

Thank you for reading my latest blog post! We’re going “Way Back” tomorrow for the latest post in our weekly Wednesday feature, where we take an in-depth listen back to music pre-dating the 2000’s – influencing each of the different types of sound that we love today. Tomorrow’s track goes down the Ambient Pop and the Space-Rock route, as we rediscover a late-90’s favourite from a French Prog-Rock duo who produced the soundtrack of the same name for “The Virgin Suicides”, a Sofia Coppola-directed drama film that was released in 1999. 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/

New Album Release Friday: Dante Elephante – “Las Vegas”

January 8, 2021 — 1 Comment

What happens in Vegas – stays in… Ohh heck no, I’m telling everyone. New Post time!

Guess who’s back? Back again! Of course, it’s Jacob Braybrooke – and I’m here, once again, to type up about the daily track on the blog, because it’s always my day-to-day pleasure to write to you about a different piece of music every day! Firstly, apologies for missing out yesterday – I had a panicking crisis going on with my laptop and the battery, and so I obviously needed to prioritize using what I could to save ALL of the sheer volume of University work that I’ve been doing, as opposed to the blog. However, things are back to normal now – and I can start off our new weekly feature. Since it’s Friday, there’s always a handful of new album releases, and so we’re going to pick one to review each week. This is the artist who stuck out to me the most when I was doing my research on artists with a new album out this weekend, and so I have only just heard of him myself. “Mid-Century Romance” is the fourth album release to come from Dante Elephante (the pseudonym of Ruben Zarate), an Alternative Surf-Pop singer-songwriter currently based in Los Angeles, California. The new album was released today via Born Losers Records. Produced by Paul Cherry, the new LP is the follow-up to 2018’s “Rare Attractions”, and it finds Zarate drifting away from his roots as a Stoner rock musician into a more R&B, disco Synth-Pop sound. He also hosts his own self-titled podcast, with new episodes hitting streaming services (such as Spotify, Apple Podcasts, etc.) each Tuesday. Let’s check out the new single “Las Vegas” below.

His latest single sees Zarate take us on a Synth-drenched, R&B-lite road trip through the desert of Las Vegas, as he noted “Las Vegas holds a special place in my heart”, on the Jack Campise-directed music video. Elaborating on his creative process behind the track, he explained: “Living in Santa Barbara, the idea of driving five hours to Las Vegas was a no-brainer. So we went every weekend. Of course, during a pandemic made it ten times more difficult, and I learned Vegas is a crazy place” – oh, the luxuries of leaving the house in this day and age. “Las Vegas” is polished off by a nostalgic set of quirky keyboard riffs and the occasional String melody, with a central theme of 1979 being now. Zarate asks: “Could you tell me if I’m good enough?” and “So, am I always going to feel this way?” over the top of a flickering Synth beat and a mid-tempo, 80’s drum rhythm. The refrain in the chorus is more reflective, with Zarate singing: “We’re driving through grand canyons” and “We’re flying to Las Vegas” to a romantic partner or a close friend, to the beat of a light acid synth line and the mid-tempo, 80’s drum groove that continues permeating through the track. It touches on 90’s house sounds, with Zarate breaking it down with: “Dream, a little dream of me” in the bridge towards the conclusion, as we hurtle to the end point of the track with a little Disco fever. Overall, there seems to be masses of artists going for a rather similar style these days, with nostalgia for the 80’s playing a key role in people’s functions for listening to lots of music in the first place, and so the group doesn’t really need any new members. However, I still think that “Las Vegas” is rather nice. The throwback vocal harmonies make it stand out enough among the pack, and the Disco influences are clearly here with a good heart. I don’t think the sound is anything revolutionary, but the soulful vocals and the mild chord progression give it a certain punch. Overall, I feel that it is unoriginal, if effective. Enough love has clearly gone into the creative aspects, even if it’s a little light on viscerality to take the “catchy” feel up another peg.

Pictured: Ruben Zarate (aka Dante Elephante) in a photoshoot (2020) (Photo by Tommy McDermott)

Thank you for checking out the first edition of our new weekly feature – it was something that I was sort-of doing already, so we may as well make it official. I’m going to be picking up from where I left off yesterday, as we switch our gears to a more ambient/electronic sound from a producer who is often compared to Boards Of Canada for his nature-based production methods, and you may also know him as the graphic designer ISO50. 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/