Today’s Track: Pan Amsterdam (feat. GUTS) – “Carrot Cake”

October 9, 2020 — Leave a comment

Let’s pray the whole dessert doesn’t have a soggy bottom. It’s time for your new post!

Pictured: Cover Artwork for “Carrot Cake” (Single) (Released on August 5th, 2020) (via Def Pressé)

Good Morning to you! I’m Jacob Braybrooke and, just like always, I’m here to write up about your daily track on the blog, since it is routinely my day-to-day pleasure to get typing about a different piece of music every day! Pan Amsterdam is a very tricky one to give many introductions about, and that’s because he is a producer and composer who thrives on being an enigma. He writes for his online biographies, “We really don’t know exactly where Pan Amsterdam comes from. He was found on the coast of Miami, Florida in a state of apparent amnesia”, later adding, “Pan Amsterdam must have been unconscious on the coast for 22hrs before he was discovered by none other than rock icon and ‘The Godfather of Punk’, Iggy Pop”, who has always been a very frequent collaborator for this musical mystery. His accent has a very Eastern American sound though, and he has nodded to his accent as a cross between Brooklyn, Jersey or Manhattan in a track on his debut album, “The Pocket Watch”, which was released in 2018. Since then, it’s been reported that Pan Amsterdam is supposedly the alias of a New York-based trumpeter and songwriter, Leron Thomas. Nevetheless, the usual two-year turnaround period has just come and gone, and “Pan Am” is back with the follow-up to his critically-acclaimed (If critically-dumbfounded, more like) debut record. “HA Chu” was released last Friday, on October 2nd, via the Def Pressé label. With high-profile new album releases from Róisín Murphy, Groove Armada and The National’s lead member Matt Berninger, and impressive lower-key releases from Working Men’s Club and Loraine James, it really has been one of the most busy weekends of new music releases, for me, in quite some time, and “Pan Am” looks to be no exception to the former rule, given his ascending popularity. Guest work on the album comes from Iggy Pop, Jimi Goodwin (Doves) and Jason Williams (Sleaford Mobs). Let’s have a tasty slice of “Carrot Cake”, featuring GUTS, down below.

Critics have noted that “Pan Am” goes for a more darkly textured sound on the bulk of “HA Chu” in comparison to his more Jazz-infused predecessor, as he gets together with the collaborators that I have listed above, and a couple of surprising notables to record one of the strangest and most enigmatically endearing releases of the autumn season. “I’ll funk like rotten milk and pass the expiration date/I’ll make your granny’s cow lactate” are just a few little snippets of the quirky songwriting that “Pan Am” uses to his odd advantage throughout the course (the Dessert one) of “Carrot Cake”, as he mixes up an exceptionally abstract two-step Parisian drum groove with a hazy, laidback synth rhythm that, for me, goes back to the late 60’s era of “Pre’ Hip-Hop” in conceptual spades. GUTS adds the female backing vocal of “Come In Closer” to create a weirdly soothing backing vocal that adds textured layers of good sensual feelings to proceedings. The male vocals are seemingly unrelated to this, and the lyrics being drawn upon are mostly a mix of creative wordplay and dry humour, which combine with the whirling keyboard riffs and the funk rhymes to create the subtle early Hip-Hop sensibility which carries the comic relief along to a robustly paced effect. He throws obscure pop culture references on the cards, almost muttering: “Because I don’t fight/I eat chips, and I watch a lotta’ Kung-Flu flicks/Way Of The Dragon be my profile pic” at a steady pace to an intelligent wit. The production is rooted in G-Funk and Soft-Pop, and that’s before we get to the Trumpet instrumental outro, which feels smoky and old-school in it’s delivery. Lyrically, the substance is almost non-existent because they do not really make any actual sense, but they manage to subvert your expectations of a contemporary record, and “Pan Am” strings the words together to a quirky, rhythmic pattern which makes up for a cohesive flow, and they sound good together as a result. This really takes a bit of skill, but “Pan Am” makes it seem easy. Overall, it’s tricky for anybody to properly identify what’s going on here, but I like it – and I think that’s the main point. One of the most essential tunes for the present time.

Pictured: Cover Artwork for “HA Chu” (Album/LP) (Released on October 2nd, 2020) (via Def Pressé)

Thanks for checking out your daily blog post! I’ll be back tomorrow to kick off the weekend with an in-depth look at a track which was released earlier in the Spring by an artist who recently appeared on KEXP’s “Live At Home” series of virtual gigs. He has also performed at BBC Radio 1’s Big Weekend festival, and he has earned praise from radio broadcasters including Annie Mac, Huw Stephens and Jack Saunders. None of his two songs are the same! 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: Jane In Palma – “One By One (Original Mix)”

October 8, 2020 — Leave a comment

This is basically Cuckoo from the titular BBC sitcom in music form. It’s new post time!

Pictured: Jane In Palma (a.k.a. Julian Smith) in the music video for “Safety Net” (2020) (via Vimeo.com)

Good Morning to you! My name is Jacob Braybrooke and it’s my duty to get writing up about your spotlighted daily track on the blog, because it’s still always my day-to-day pleasure to write up about a different piece of music every day! With such a name as quirky as “Jane In Palma” (a parody of the popular Australian Psychedelic Rock artist Tame Impala), you’d be forgiven for thinking this is just a “p**s take” of that culture. No, this is an incredibly experimental project. “Jane In Palma” is the latest moniker of the California-native percussionist and composer Julian Smith, who has released his material under several different aliases, with Dan Froth being his most notable, and he’s previously been associated with WNCL Recordings, Phonica White and UNO! NYC (between the years of 2010 – 2016) under that pseudonym. “Saftey Net” is the second album of his “Jane In Palma” alias, and it’s the follow-up to 2016’s debut “Primitive Thoughts”, and it was released over the summer, on July 8, via Snake Free Roofing. He has gained support from BBC Radio 1, Rinse FM, NTS Radio and Ibiza Global Radio, of all places. For me, I heard of the artist through one of John Ravenscroft’s recent turns on 6Music Recommends, of which Smith was the featured ‘Spotlight Artist’ of the particular programme. In any case, Smith has been claiming for himself to be “based somewhere between the Balearics and the Basque country”, although I am not too sure if this is a part of the act or not, but I’ve given Smith the benefit of the doubt on that. A purely Instrumental track, let’s give ourselves a gander to “One By One” below.

For his first album of the “Jane In Palma” title, Smith’s “Primitive Thoughts” LP from 2016 saw him interpret the surroundings of two locations – empty caves on the isle of Mallorica – which he used as his recording locations. On his Bandcamp page, Smith explains how “Safety Net” is all about exploring the themes of offline living, and ignoring the presence of the media around us, and the record electronically touches upon elements of Garage-Rock, Post-Punk and Surf-Rock from a sonic standpoint. Although “One By One” is not very representative at all of the core sound of the record overall, personally, it is my favourite track on the record because of it’s simplicity. The rest of the record is an interesting mix of idiosyncratic 80’s hip-hop instrumentals and underground production methods, where “the facts don’t matter if the source is crooked”, according to Smith himself, but the sound that makes up the original mix of “One By One” is a more formulaic and gentle process. It mixes up an audibly soft funk rhythm of a plucky bass guitar riff with a delightfully upbeat Conga drum beat that catches on a melodious, repetitive groove that continually sits on the top of a slightly stuttered time signature. A few push-and-pulls of the pacing can be heard now and again, but it mainly stays at a punchy mid-tempo feel, with a springy interlude towards the end. There’s evidently nothing at all to talk about lyrically here because it’s an entirely instrumental effort, but the tones are cheerful and free-form, allowing the patterns of the repeated guitar-and-drum pattern to catch the attention of your ears. The sound pallete is not too busy, but there’s enough going on to make it feel relaxed and humble, if unashamedly formulaic, to keep you occupied and simply in a nice mood. Overall, it allows Smith to nurture his creativity mind-set, and explore sequenced sets of productions with the use of the experimental recording processes, without even the need to think about the commercial justifications to do so. A “pet project” down to a tee, I find the simplicity of “One By One” to be very appealing, with music which seems basic but groovy. Definitely worth keeping your tabs on this artist.

Pictured: Cover Art for “Safety Net” (Album/LP) (Released on July 8th, 2020) (via Snake Free Roofing)

Thank you very much for reading the new post! Don’t forget that I’ll be back again tomorrow, for an in-depth look at another experimental enigma, who is more accustomed to the underground Hip-Hop Fusion realm. It comes off the back of an impressive debut album released two years ago, and the new record features guest collaborative work from Iggy Pop, Jimi Goodwin (of Doves) and Jason Williamson (of The Sleaford Mobs). 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: Chong The Nomad (feat. Hollis) – “Take Two”

August 17, 2020 — Leave a comment

Now that I have found you – Could you Find Me Two? It’s time for your daily blog post!

Pictured: Chong The Nomad pictured in the trailer for “Uncharted: Seattle” (2019) (via VisitSeattle.tv/YouTube)

Good Morning! I’m Jacob Braybrooke and I’m typing up your daily post on the blog, because it is always my day-to-day pleasure to write to you about a different piece of music each day! Let’s kick off the new week with a deep dive! Chong The Nomad (aka Alda Agustiano) is an electronic Soul singer-songwriter and music producer based in Seattle, Washington, described as: “A Young Multi-Instrumentalist and Producer Shaping The Future Of Dance Music” by SassyBlack of TomTomMag.com, who started out in the industry by learning to score compositions for film, and she draws from a cinematic background and her literacy influences to create a slick “Bedroom Groove” indie sound that blends electronic synth work with a 1970’s Pop sensibility. She has supported Death Cab For Cutie and Grammy-winning artist ODESZA on tour, and performed spots at festivals including Sasquatch Music Festival and Upstream Festival + Summit. Did I forget to mention that she’s still only 24 years of age? For her latest single, “Take Two”, which she self-released on Bandcamp last month after producing the music video during self-quarantine, she has enlisted the help of fellow Washington-based producer Hollis to write the track on a trip to Los Angeles, California. She told KEXP: “Wrote it during my first big writing trip in LA and I was super sick, Still managed to create something I’m proud of”. Let’s have a listen below!

Neo-Soul, Psych-Pop and old-school R&B are fused effervescently into a soft, but gently involving, hook-led chorus as Agustiano mocks the “Social Media Influencer” culture in her self-produced music video for “Take Two”, a track which features a noticeably Hip-Hop inspired collaboration spot with Hollis. Agustiano confidently pairs Hollis’ hook: “How long till you see me tremble? Take Two can you make it memorable?”, as Hollis repeats: “Feel me lately, Make me lazy” over the top of a buoyant Synth Drum beat and a punchy, slightly distorting Trap bassline that fizzes underneath a flickering Treble line. The rest of the lyrics are sensual and flirtatious, and the production is very honeyed and laidback. Hollis raps: “You’re my secret garden baby/But you make me want to tell somebody” above mellow textures of bubbling Synth instrumentation and brief helpings of fluttering Cello chords. It leads to a clean breakdown as Hollis recites “Whisper in my ear like that/Glitter in your eyes like that, Fingers in my hair like that”, before pondering: “How far can you take me baby” as the instrumentals slow down gradually, with a light tension being created by the Synth drum grooves and minimal string instrumentation prior. For an artist as young as Agustiano, it’s clear that we haven’t heard the best from them yet, and “Take Two” has a very D.I.Y. feel to it, but the vocal spots from Hollis add much to the optimistic R&B sound, and hints of Glitch-Pop and Jangle-Funk burst through to add diversity to the Synth-heavy framework. A promising step for Agustiano’s early career.

Pictured: Cover Artwork for “Take Two” (Single) (Released on July 10th, 2020) (via Self-Released/Bandcamp.com)

Thank you for reading this post! I’ll be back tomorrow, as usual, with a very special blog post to mark the 48th birthday of a certain personal top hero of mine – Richard D. James…. Or, should I say…. Lornaderek of Aphex Twin! I’ll be looking at a track from one of his most popular and acclaimed ambient works to cement the occasion… So you’re not going to want to miss this one! 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: Nicolas Michaux – “Parrot”

August 11, 2020 — Leave a comment

You’ve got to listen to what the Parrot says – and try to repeat! It’s time for a new post!

Pictured: Cover Artwork for “Amour Colère” (Available from September 25th, 2020) (via Capitane Records)

Good Morning! I’m Jacob Braybrooke and I’m writing up your daily post on the blog, as like always, because it is my day-to-day pleasure to write about a different piece of music every day! “Parrot” is a hidden gem of a new track which I heard during John Ravenscroft’s edition of 6Music Recommends last week, and I’ve sadly never heard of Nicolas Michaux before. Michaux is an emerging singer-songwriter who was born and raised in Belgium, but, according to the info on his Bandcamp page, he now divides his time between his home-turf’s capital city of Brussels and the Danish Islands of Samsø, where his family lives. This is where he writes, records and produces his own music, alongside a bit of time growing vegetables with his family. He self-released his debut album, “à la vie, à la mort”, in 2016, and he performs his music in both English and French. “Parrot” marks the signal that his sophomore LP effort, “Amour Colère” is due for it’s release on September 25th, and he’s signed up to Capitane Records for his next creative endeavor. Let’s take a listen to “Parrot” – with it’s Visualizer video below!

Michaux writes that “It’s one of the oldest songs on the record, but the one I recorded last” and “It’s a slightly obscure and ambiguous song, but by its themes and images I have the impression that it speaks of our time.”, upon explaining the themes and writing of the new track. The hard work paid off, because this is an excellent jangly Tropicalia-Pop cut that hints towards 90’s Brit-Pop and 00’s Synth-Funk, with vocals that evoke Thom Yorke and synth melodies which remind me of LCD Soundsystem. Michaux opens with: “Your frustration has a face, but the guard said no picture” in a low-tone delivery, as a hint of Nu-Disco flavor bursts through the Indie Rock frame, with a dry Snake Drum bassline, and a stripped-back rhythm guitar instrumental. He introduces a radiant backing vocal in after the first chorus, as the Kick Drum groove carries on going within the background of a smoky, baritone Punk direction. The lyrics are ambiguous and undefined, although a soft Political message about using vice presidents as Puppets screams out to me, with the main hook of “Listen to the words that the Parrot says, and try to repeat”. It surprisingly builds to an eminently danceable, globally-influenced outro. It retains the core guitar-and-drum groove, but an acidly jittering bass guitar line gets woven into the mix, along with a repeatedly shimmering guitar backing and a soft, Summery electronic synth riff that makes you feel the need to get up and move. The outro is lively and exciting, evoking qualities of Tropicalia and World-Rock with a slightly Vintage sound with solid ease. Overall, I think it’s brilliant because the production behind the track sounds gloriously eclectic and fresh, with cool guitar lines and a melodic drum groove that burns slowly to the tropical finish. We should be supporting artists like Nicolas Michaux on daytime radio.

Pictured: Nicolas Michaux in a publicity shot to promote the release of “Parrot” (Single) (2020) (Photo via PR)

Thank you very much for reading my new post! I will be back tomorrow for an in-depth look at another emerging musical artist, but this time, it’s going to be on more homely ground, with an LGBT Dance artist currently residing in Bristol. The artist performs under an alias which is named after a popular brand of Deodorant that all British guys typically get for Christmas. 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: Funkadelic – “Who Says A Funk Band Can’t Play Rock?”

July 30, 2020 — Leave a comment

By that logic, Who says a Music Writer can’t write about Steam trains? New Post Time!

Pictured: George Clinton and the numerous recurring members of Funkadelic in a press shot (1976) (via CBC Radio)

I don’t think I’d be fully qualified for the job… although I do love the oily and noisy old things. Good Morning, 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! Today, we’re going back to the essential unity sound of the late-1970’s to cheer us up in these distressing times! “Who Says A Funk Band Can’t Play Rock?” is the B-Side to Funkadelic’s “One Nation Under A Groove”, an album which is regarded by many critics as the greatest funk album of all-time, and it always goes near the top of “Best Album” lists and polls for it’s related genres. Fronted by George Clinton, a true icon of the business, Funkadelic explored a heavier, more psychedelic sound compared to Clinton’s sister act, Parliament. Funkadelic was very significant in the development of Pop and Rock music, and it’s one of the most celebrated ethnic Black bands in the history of musical culture. On “One Nation Under A Groove”, the Funk collective used themes of unity and acceptance as a thorough-line to creating a “party album” that anybody could enjoy, regardless of sexuality, ethnicity or gender. As the title implies, “Who Says A Funk Band Can’t Play Rock?” blurs the lines between Funk, Jazz and Rock, underneath a slightly political undercurrent, and it pursues further influence of Soul. Let’s have a listen down below!

The 2015 vinyl reissue (above) provides crisper quality to an anthem that has always gone down as a classic. Many different members of the band take the lead for the different vocal sections throughout the track, layered below a guitar workout that evokes Heavy pop riffs and the P-Funk of the album’s title track “One Nation Under A Groove”. The vocalists sway to “Who says a Funk band can’t play Rock?” and “Who says a Jazz band can’t play Dance music?” over the top of R&B-inflicted guitar riffs which gradually add layers of new elements of Blues and Soft-Punk as the track’s duration goes on. The verses evoke a hip-hop beat as the vocals go: “We’ve been around for such a while/Be kinda hart not to have a style” and “When times get slower by the mile/We relax and wear a great big smile” as the simmering bass guitar riffs and the roaring kick drum sections create a crescendo and manipulate the ongoing groove as the textures gradually become rougher and smokier. The feedback effects and slightly distorted guitar lines in the later sections could be comparable to a “Funk version of Nirvana”, with a 1960’s Blues “Parade” that struts past the various elements of Funk, Rock, Art-Pop and a slight Grunge sensibility. Most notably, the track came out at a time where “Rock” was often identified as a traditionally “White” genre, while “Hip-Hop” and “Disco” may be dismissed as categorically “Black” music. Along with Jimi Hendrix, they changed the game and they re-wrote the rule book, because Clinton would not play that, instead drawing a live crowd with sounds of politically-driven, but positive and ambitious, Rock and Funk. To conclude, this may be quintessentially “not” the significant Black music sound of the 70’s… Which organically made it become so. That’s totally worth celebrating now more than ever…

Pictured: Cover Artwork for “One Nation Under A Groove” (Released in September 1978) (via Warner Bros. Records)

Previously, I have also covered the album’s main attraction, “One Nation Under A Groove”, as part of my daily post series on the blog. Please take a moment to spread the love and show your support by reading the older blog post here: https://onetrackatatime.home.blog/2020/04/28/todays-track-funkadelic-one-nation-under-a-groove/

Pictured: Cover Artwork for “Motor City Madness: The Ultimate Funkadelic Westbound Compilation” (Released in 2006) (via Westbound Records)

Thank you very much for reading this post! I’ll be back tomorrow for an in-depth look at the brand new project from Natalie Rose Findlay, who is a UK-based indie singer-songwriter from Stockport who has famously supported the likes of The Courteeners, Brandon Flowers, Jake Bugg and Miles Kane on tour. 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 Post: Khruangbin – “Pelota”

June 26, 2020 — Leave a comment

Does it live up to the hype or should it go in the Khruang-Bin? It’s time for a new post!

Pictured: Laura Lee (Lead Vocals/Bass Guitar), Mark Speer (Lead Guitar/Occasional Backing Vocals) and Donald “DJ” Johnson (Drums/Percussion) in a press shoot for the “Con Todo El Mundo” debut album era (2018) (via Echoes.org)

At last, it’s big release time! Good Morning to you, I’m Jacob Braybrooke and I’m writing about 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! I’m glad the scorching hot weather has calmed down a bit, aren’t you? But, imagine the feeling of partying on a pleasantly warm beach in Croatia while you hear a DJ busting out the Earthly, Dub-inflicted Funk sounds of Khruangbin! It would be perfection, and it’s a tranquil feeling that the Houston trio of Laura Lee, Mark Speer and Donald “DJ” Johnson are hoping to capture on the new album, “Mortdechai”, which is the follow-up to 2018’s “Con Todo El Mundo” and it’s 2019 dub remix album “Hasta El Cielo”. They also released “Texas Sun”, a collaborative 4-track EP with Leon Bridges, in January of this year. So, they’ve been all over the shop – both sonically and geographically. I was very impressed with “Time (You and I)” and “So We Won’t Forget”, the previous two singles from the brand new album, although they don’t switch up the familiar formula of Khruangbin from their previous releases very much. “Mortdechai” releases today on the Dead Oceans label. It’s up to “Pelota”, the new single to be released by the band in support of the new album, to carry the hype train along. Let’s have a listen to it below.

A music video that is loosely based upon an animated Japanese film which has not been named by the band, Khruangbin’s “Pelota” sees director Hugo Rodríguez pair images of a Japanese Anime-style character morph through spherical shapes as the guitar-driven motifs of “Pelota” warp around a Latin American Pop style, full of Polyrhythmic drum beats and hand-clapped Jazz intervals. Khruangbin’s new album is their first to feature prominent vocals on every track, deviating from their predominantly instrumental style prior, but I was even more surprised to hear vocalist/bassist Laura Lee sing in Spanish on the new track, “Pelota”. The core lyric hook, “Ahorita Yo Puedo Ser Uno Pelota”, is a rough translation to the irreverent chorus “Right now, I can be the ball” in Spanish – an undercurrent to the track’s hidden meaning of the band exploring and observing the world by envisioning themselves as rubber balls. Silly as it may sound, it works well. This is because the band retain their dub-based, Funk and World aura with bass guitar riffs that feel familiar to their existing work, pleasing their built-in fanbase. “Pelota” has a more grounded feel to the previous two singles, “Time (You and I)” and “So We Won’t Forget”, due to the tempo being slightly raised by the lead vocals, and a lesser focus on their psychedelic trip. The instrumentation feels quite percussive, with an energetic lead guitar melody and jolting Steel Drum melodies rippling throughout. Although it’s a mostly abstract outing, it manages to negate my light concerns of the new album not sounding different enough to their prior releases to stand out amongst them. The proof will be in the pudding, however, and judging by the quality of all three singles from the new album, it’s shaping up to be one of, and potentially even, their best. I absolutely can’t wait to stream it later today once my jobs are done.

Pictured: Cover Artwork for “Mortdechai” (Released on June 26th, 2020) (via Dead Oceans)

As I mentioned, I am a huge fan of Khruangbin so I have covered multiple tracks from them in the past. Have a listen to “Time (You and I)” and “So We Won’t Forget”, the other two singles from their new album, “Mortdechai”, here: https://onetrackatatime.home.blog/2020/05/02/todays-track-khruangbin-time-you-and-i/ and here: https://onetrackatatime.home.blog/2020/05/20/todays-track-khruangbin-so-we-wont-forget/, respectively. Check out my thoughts on “Texas Sun”, the titular track of their collaborative EP with Leon Bridges, here: https://onetrackatatime.home.blog/2020/01/06/todays-track-khruangbin-feat-leon-bridges-texas-sun/. Finally, you can check out the festive hit “Christmas Time Is Here” below: https://onetrackatatime.home.blog/2019/12/13/todays-track-khruangbin-christmas-time-is-here/

Pictured: Khruangbin outside of the BBC Radio 6Music studios (2018) (via BBC Music)

Thank you for reading this post! In regards to #BlackLivesMatter, we endorse the peaceful protests on One Track At A Time. Please go and check your local area for good charity causes that help those directly affected by racism and injustice. I’ll be back tomorrow with an in-depth look at a track from a South-London based drums player who was one half of the sax-and-drums duo Binker & Moses, and he also fronted his own indie rock band, Exodus. 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: Orion Sun – “Ne Me Quitte Pas (Don’t Leave Me)”

June 22, 2020 — Leave a comment

Tiffany Majette wanted to be an astronaut but she turned to music. It’s new post time!

Pictured: Cover Artwork for “Hold Space For Me” (Released on March 27th, 2020) (via Mom +Pop Records)

Good Morning, I am Jacob Braybrooke and I’m writing about your daily track on the blog because it is my day-to-day pleasure to write about a different piece of music every day! We’re going to kick off the new week with a track by talented up-and-comer Tiffany Majette – who performs under the alias of Orion Sun – a Philadelphia-born contemporary R&B/Neo-Soul artist who had a viral hit with 2017’s “Antidote”, off her self-produced compilation LP “A Collection Of Fleeting Moments and Daydreams” released that same year, which has amassed over 6.6 million streams on Spotify. Her latest album is “Hold Space For Me”, and it was released to positive reviews by Mom + Pop Records at the end of March, earlier in this year. Majette has a very confessional, heart-on-your sleeve vocal style, with Funk-led Drum grooves warping around radiant Synth-based instrumentation to create a fruitful blend of Neo-Soul, modern R&B and pop-based Electronica. Her single, “Ne Me Quitte Pas (Don’t Leave Me)” is based on Nina Simone’s cover of Jacques Brel’s track of the same title. However, Majette strips the sadness away and focuses on the joyous elements instead, stating that it’s about: “falling in love unexpectedly & feeling like its too good to be true but actually it’s good and true. This feeling was proof to me that good things can happen to people that feel ugly inside.”. Let’s watch the video for “Ne Me Quitte Pas (Don’t Leave Me)” below.

A music video with a hand-crafted look that matches the D.I.Y. mentality of the track’s production process, “Ne Me Quitte Pas (Don’t Leave Me” starts off with a flipped sample of Simone’s rendition, before washing waves of small guitar loops and Reggae-like drum beats create a sun-dripped vibe. Majette croons: “Swear you came down like a comet/You’ll be all in my dreams like I’m f***ing haunted” over the sparse keyboard riffs and ambient synths to produce the first verse. The chorus feels similarly nuanced and vulnerable, as Majette sings: “It feels so good to know you” and “it feels so damn good”, placed above gentle guitar string plucks and Soul/R&B-instrumental breaks that also create a wider Folk influence in the slow-paced narration. The end continues the poignant blend of the three genres, but it’s noticeably relaxed by an instrumental section that carries the synth-led crescendo of spaced guitar licks and mid-tempo drum grooves along well, before she uses “Love me, forever” to bring the ambient piece to a close. It feels ripe for Summer listening despite the March release, with attentive production that provides meshes R&B-led and Electronica-driven synths with slow instrumentals that bring elements of Jazz Fusion and Folktronica to the table. I think the best is yet to come from Majette since I guess that it gets a tad repetitive, but it’s otherwise a welcoming offering that feels melodic enough for the mainstream to get, but the vibrancy makes it more appealing.

Pictured: Tiffany Majette in a photoshoot for a Q&A feature with Flaunt.com (2020) (Photographed by Sandy Ismail)

Thank you for reading this post! In regards to #BlackLivesMatter, we endorse the peaceful protests on One Track At A Time. Please go and check your local area for good charity causes that help those directly affected by racism and injustice. As per usual, I’ll be back tomorrow with a new post. I will be looking at another recent track, this time coming from an Italian experimental electronic music producer who is currently signed to Warp Records and he is also the co-founder of Presto!? Records. 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: Bentley Rhythm Ace – “Bentley’s Gonna Sort You Out!”

June 19, 2020 — Leave a comment

If you got a problem with me – Bentley’s Gonna Sort You Out! It’s time for a new post!

Pictured: Mike Stokes (Turntables/Keyboard/Producer) and Richard March (Bass/Engineering) performing a live set at a reunion show at the 02 Academy in Bournemouth (in December 2016) (Photo Credit: Charlie Raven Photography)

A 90’s dance classic to give you that Friday Feeling! Good Morning to you, my name is Jacob Braybrooke and I’m writing about your daily track on the blog, because it’s my day-to-day pleasure to write about a different piece of music every day! Bentley Rhythm Ace are an Electronic Dance duo formed in 1996 in Birmingham, consisting of engineer Richard Marsh and producer Mike Stokes. This name is, believed to have been, a reference to the Rhythm Ace line-up of analogue drum machines, which were manufactured by Ace Tone and distributed by Bentley Pianos. The duo built up an underground following, signed to Skint Records and released their self-titled debut album in 1997. The album received widespread critical acclaim and it spawned a few mainstream hits, particularly “Bentley’s Gonna Sort You Out”, which reached #17 on the UK Singles Chart. The duo switched to Parlophone for a follow-up album “For Your Ears Only” in 2000, but it was nowhere near as successful. Stokes and March disbanded shortly after, but they reunited the act in 2016, starting off with a few low-key shows, before headlining their own shows and playing at a lot of festivals across the UK circuit. The duo played a big role in the “British Big Beat” movement of the 1990’s, which is an era where club music became very popular, pioneered by famous dance artists like The Chemical Brothers, The Prodigy, Basement Jaxx, Fat Boy Slim and Propellerheads. Let’s have a listen back to “Bentley’s Gonna Sort You Out” below!

A track which would bring back fond memories for fans of the 1990’s dance crossover mainstream era of “Big Beat”, “Bentley’s Gonna Sort You Out” is a showcase for the duo’s ability to re-purpose samples, to use instrumental splicing effects and digital sequencing pad FX technology to generate a new sound from an old record, although it does feel like a product of it’s time. It is a mostly ambient track, which March and Stokes revealed in an interview that it originally sprung up from a German album of Striptease Music by the Werner Muller Orchestra. The track begins with a glitched, spaced synth pad sequence created by a Roland JD-8000, a digital piece of old analogue synth software. The next section introduces a winding keyboard/synth riff which, quite literally, bloops along to the settled, mid-tempo groove established in the first third of the track. The final section consists of a light, psychedelic bass hook and a mild Strobe effect created by a Novation BassStation. The pacing is quite aired, with a female backing vocal which heavily breathes “I love you”, a sample which breaks up the three different parts of the track. It may come across as a bit too straight-forward for some, but there are some lovely and well-produced sampling effects in play. The duo seemed to be pulling in a lot of influences from the Sample-Delia and Plunderphonics genres. You will love this if you are a fan of The Avalanches.

Pictured: Cover Artwork for “Bentley Rhythm Ace” (Album) (Released on 12th May, 1997) (via Skint Records)

Thank you for reading this post! In regards to #BlackLivesMatter, we endorse the peaceful protests on One Track At A Time. Please go and check your local area for good charity causes that help those directly affected by racism and injustice. I’ll be back tomorrow for an in-depth review of the new track from a Brighton 4-piece “Indie” pop/rock band who are signed to Warner Group Records, have cited Weezer as their major influence and worked with U2 and Daughter’s producer, Joylon Thomas, for their self-titled debut LP released in 2017. 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: Funkadelic – “One Nation Under A Groove”

April 28, 2020 — 1 Comment

A message of unity that is always relevant in times like these! It’s time for a new post!

Good morning to you, I’m Jacob Braybrooke and, as always, I’m writing up your daily post on the blog about a specific track because it’s my day-to-day pleasure to write to you about a different piece of music each day! I’m going old-school today with a classic from the Funk music love affair of the 1970’s! “One Nation Under A Groove” is an old-fashioned twirler from Funkadelic, a band with WAY too many members to really mention, but led and produced by George Clinton, a Funk musician born in North Carolina in 1941. Clinton was forever fascinated by Science Fiction and psychedelic fashion, which he draws upon for the heavier, genre-blurring sound of Funkadelic, compared to it’s sister act Parliament. Clinton was inducted into the Rock and Roll Hall Of Fame in 1997 and he’s considered to be one of the pioneering inventors of the Funk-Rock genre, along with the likes of Sly Stone and James Brown. One of the most notable Funkadelic releases was “One Nation Under A Groove”, the tenth album release of the project, released in 1978. It is considered one of the all-time best, appearing in the book of “100 Albums You Must Hear Before You Die” and ranking on similar lists by Vibe, Rolling Stone, NME and more. It’s forever remembered by it’s timeless messages of unity and together-ness! Let’s hear it below!

Less politically charged than some of Clinton’s other releases from Funkadelic or Parliament, but still containing important messages of social acceptance without boundaries (gender, race, sexuality), “One Nation Under A Groove” was a monumental record in getting the mainstream to understand Funk music and to appreciate black musicians in a less racially obtrusive way. It’s built, as the title implies, on a mid-tempo groove. Multiple vocalists take the mic and the band have fantastic chemistry, which connotes both the lyrical and musical messages of peace in unity. However, the tone is very positive and upbeat, rather than feeling threatening or intimidating. The drums feel very rhythmic, with some tubular bell smashes and hand claps for added percussion. The chorus is one to die for – with excellently repetitive guitar licks and the steady bass guitar chords adding more formulaic activity. The track is full of many different layers of instrumentation that, though almost indistinguishable as individual sections, flow together as a cohesive whole to form a symphonic and influential rock sound. It’s very guitar-driven, but the synthesized brass chords and the early R&B sensibilities keep the sound fresh and renewing, more than justifying it’s long eight-minute duration. Lively, eclectic and accessible. It’s impossible not to tap your feet or flail your arms around to this classic!

Thank you for reading this post! Stay inside and wash your hands, but turn the volume up and keep on grooving! We’ll be continuing to embrace music from different cultures tomorrow with an in-depth look back at an 80’s IDM track from a Japanese composer who was one of the members of Yellow Magic Orchestra and has scored films like ‘Merry Christmas, Mr. Lawrence’, ‘The Last Emperor’ and ‘The Revenant’! If you really liked what you just read, why not follow the blog to get notified when every daily new post is up and like the Facebook page here?: https://www.facebook.com/OneTrackAtATime/