Pop

Today’s Track: Iraina Mancini – ‘Do It (You Stole The Rhythm)’

February 1, 2022 — Leave a comment
Pictured: Cover Art for ‘Do It (U Stole The Rhythm)’ (Single) (Released on September 24, 2021) (via Self-Released)

Good Morning to you! It’s the first of the month, meaning that I have completed my challenge of the month to get through the month, and it’s time to get the next month off to a joyous start with yet another daily track on the blog, because it’s always my day-to-day pleasure to write up about a different piece of music every day! Taking her inspiration from many sources as varied as French cinema and 60’s Psychedelia, the London-born singer, songwriter, DJ, actress, model and radio presenter Iraina Mancini has only released a handful of solo singles so far, but she has still been doing the rounds of the industry for an impressive number of years. Born into a musical family, her father was Warren Peace, a childhood friend of David Bowie, who provided backing vocals and songwriting assistance while touring with Bowie from 1973’s ‘Aladdin Sane’ through to 1976’s ‘Station To Station’. Iraina began modelling and writing music herself at the age of 15, with her first band being Mancini, an Electronic Pop outfit who appeared on Channel 4’s ‘Mobile Act Unsigned’. Since then, Mancini has been acting in films directed by the likes of Richard Jobson and Duncan Ward, and she went on to become a DJ who has played all over London and some cultural festivals like Glastonbury and The Toronto Film Festival. Mancini presents her own show on Soho Radio and she has also run a monthly event – ‘Soul Box’ – in East London with fashion photographer Dean Chalkley and Acid Jazz Records founder Eddie Piller. Therefore, she has really been busy through a relatively short span of time, and if a new album should be arriving in 2022, then I could definitely see the likes of BBC Radio 1 picking up on her career. Today, we are catching up with her single ‘Do It (You Stole The Rhythm)’ that she released last September. It was co-produced by Jagz Kooner, who has become a top name on the UK’s mash-up scene, where he has produced critically acclaimed music by Manic Street Preachers, Primal Scream, Reverend And The Makers, Kasabian, Garbage and others. Let’s give it a spin.

“I wrote this about that feeling of pure joy when you are surrounded by people you care about and there is music, sunshine, laughter and great energy.”, the former United Agents talent agency member Iraina Mancini has spoken about her BBC Radio 6 Music playlisted track, adding, “There is almost a magic in the air when all those things are combined, an electricity that makes you feel truly alive. I tried to capture that in this song as I thought now more than ever we are craving togetherness and joy”, to her straightforward press release. Drawing from the era where late great DJ Andrew Weatherhall was always at his knob-twiddling best for his legendary records such as 1991’s ‘Screamadelica’ as she mixes classic Soul influences with ruminating Gospel sounds and vintage Psychedelia callbacks. The opening is palpable and light-hearted, as the twinkling waves of eminent Synths and an inviting beat of layered percussion create an enchanting backdrop for Iraina’s iridescently performed vocals to plunge us neatly into her sun-soaked setting of euphoria. The vocals feel a little reminiscent of tracks like George Michael’s ‘Freedom’ and The Avalanches ‘The Divine Chord’ as nostalgic elements of Post-Disco take a controlling hold on the rhythm. The lyrics contribute to the hazy and joyously Psychedelic Pop vibe of the recording by accelerating the happy tone of the instrumentation and creating some false rhyming schemes that give her beats a punchy knack for melody. It also feels a little cinematic, and I truly could envision the track being licensed to get played during a flashback sequence of a care-free romantic comedy movie where the two lead characters are partaking in a fun travelling montage, yet the souffle-light chorus and the late 60’s psychedelia-influenced melodies fill up the background of the setting very nicely. There’s nothing about the lyrics that feel truly memorable, but they still contribute to the overall scene well because they simply fulfill the track’s feelings of untroubled contentment by echoing us back to a more simpler time alongside the funk-laden Gospel influence of the glistening synths and the ruminating keys in the fray. A solid, naturally progressive follow-up to her two previous singles, ‘Deep End’ and ‘Shotgun’.

Pictured: Iraina Mancini in an official promotional photoshoot for ‘Deep End’ (2021) (Photo via Clashmusic.com)

That brings us to the bottom of the page for another day! Thank you for checking out my latest post, and I will be back tomorrow to start up the engine for my throwback time machine as we go ‘Way Back’ for Wednesday once again. On the radar this time is a Scottish 80’s Synth-Pop singer often credited simply as ‘Natasha’ whose popular single of ‘Iko Iko’ experienced a resurgence in popularity when it was notably used during the soundtrack of the highest-grossing Italian film of 2014, ‘Un Boss In Salotto’.

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Countdown To Christmas 2021: Fat Les – ‘Naughty Christmas (Goblin In The Office)’

December 18, 2021 — Leave a comment
Pictured: Alex James (Bass Guitar), Keith Allen (Vocals) & Damien Hirst (Artist) (1998) with Paul Haye (Photo by Rex)

Good Morning to you! This is, of course, Jacob Braybrooke – and it’s time for you to make some room in the fridge for your sprouts and carrots (and don’t forget those tasty Pigs In Blankets) shortly after reading your latest entry in my ‘Countdown To Christmas 2021’ catalogue, since it’s always my day-to-day pleasure to write up about a different piece of music every day! When researching some Christmas and winter-themed tracks to discuss on the site every year – I always opt for some of the straight-up strangest and most alternative offerings to include alongside the more serious suggestions. I believe that I may have just found one of the most weird-but-wonderful (Depending on how you feel about terrible novelty songs that you would not get away with making today) in the case of 1998’s ‘Naughty Christmas (Goblin In The Office)’. This was an attempt at comedy produced by the UK novelty super-group of Fat Les. They were not really a British band per-say, but more of a weird type of side project involving Blur’s bassist Alex James, actor Keith Allen and visual artist Damien Hirst among their most famous line-up. Other iterations of Fat Les, however, have involved the likes of producer Matt Eaton and Happy Mondays’ Rowetta joining and replacing their ranks in later years. The post-Britpop hangover project of Fat Les were probably best known for recording ‘Vindaloo’, the unofficial theme song for England’s team in the 1998 FIFA World Cup, a still reasonably well-liked serving of quirky Pop/Rock that reached #2 in the UK Singles Chart, and the music video was memorable for being a spoof of The Verve’s ‘Bitter Sweet Symphony’ and also Massive Attack’s ‘Unfinished Sympathy’ in its narrative, concept and structure. Released as their second single, the follow-up of ‘Naughty Christmas (Goblin In The Office)’ was not quite as successful, but it reached #21 in the UK Singles Chart and was notable for including additional vocals from a pre-fame Lily Allen and Kill City’s vocalist Lisa Moorish. The title of the bizzare yuletide anthem is also a bit of a misnomer, but the music video reveals what happens when an office Christmas party goes awry after drinking one too many cups of Eggnog at your works do. On that note, prepare yourself for the odd insanity below.

Fat Les also recorded tunes like ‘Who Invented Fish & Chips’ and ‘Jerusalem’ – their unofficial theme song for the England football team at Euro 2000 – with celebrities like Michael Barrymore, Ed Tudor-Pole, Andy Kane, the London Gay Men’s Chorus and the London Community Gospel Choir appearing in their music and videos as the usual suspects. You may have noticed already, but the music video that you’ve just seen for ‘Naughty Christmas (Goblin In The Office)’ featured an array of performers including Paul Kaye, Roland Rivron and Damien Hirst himself. If you were watching closely, you can have also spotted future Little Britain stars Matt Lucas and David Walliams at the office party, and I’m pretty certain that I spotted a young Mel Giedroyc during some of the background shots, but I may be wrong about that. The song itself is a really surreal one at best, with amusing hooks like “I am a naughty, naughty man/You are a naughty naughty woman” and “Cor blimey, You’re so slimey” that sees Moorish and Allen deliver some back-and-forth duelling in terms of the vocals. The songwriting isn’t exactly subtle or sophisticated then, with refrains such as “I’ll do anything/You’ll do anything too” that ensure the song isn’t likely to be played during a children’s stocking filling activity hour at a primary school. The sheer absurdity of the video and the song makes for some decent comedic value, however. Otherwise, I think I’ve already made it abundantly clear through my own implications that, from a technical musicianship perspective, this is fairly awful. The lyrics are not cohesive, the instrumentation lacks variety, and it’s not particularly catchy. However, in terms of fulfilling its main goal of making me crack a smile and simply enjoy myself for a few minutes, it succeeded. At a brief side note, who wears devil’s horns to an office party?

Pictured: Alex James (Bass Guitar/Vocals), Keith Allen (Writer/Actor) & Damien Hirst (2002) (Photo via IMDB.com)

That’s all for now! Thank you for attending my weekend-before-Christmas party, and although I won’t be back tomorrow since I’ll be at work, good old Saint Nick himself will be continuing his takeover of my ‘Scuzz Sundays’ feature instead. He’ll be talking about a festive track from a still well-liked 90’s rock band whose last release was the 2020 album ‘Cyr’ and they still record new music regularly today. The frontman and primary songwriter was also notably once a promoter for the TNA wrestling company.

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Countdown To Christmas 2021: Pentatonix – ‘The Prayer’

December 4, 2021 — Leave a comment
Pictured: Cover Artwork for ‘Evergreen’ (LP) (Released on October 29, 2021) (via RCA Records)

Good Morning to you! My name is Jacob Braybrooke, and its time for you to hesitantly place your minty fine After Eight’s back into the cupboard despite your temptations since the actual day hasn’t arrived yet, as we ‘Countdown To Christmas’ with another festive post on the blog, because it’s always my day-to-day pleasure to write up about a different piece of music every day! If you’re a fan of the ‘Pitch Perfect’ films – here’s something that Yule possibly find to be ‘Aca-Awesome’. ‘The Prayer’ is a cover version of the 1998 relaxed duet tune made famous by Celine Dion and Andrea Bocelli, later covered by Paradise & Anthony Callea to notable reviews. The most recent version, however, comes from the A-capella group of Pentatonix who were formed back in Arlington, Texas during 2011 who won the sixth season of NBC’s ‘The Sing Off’ on US TV and scored a lucrative $200,000 record deal with Sony Music to reward their time. Although I can recall little of their material, I seem to think Pentatonix are a pretty famous group in popular culture. I’d heard their name before researching away for ‘The Prayer’ and I know that most of their music is also Christian Contemporary. Their YouTube channel has over 19 million subscribers and their videos have over 5 billion views, and the act have won three Grammy awards, having become the first A Capella project to win ‘Best Arrangement, Instrumental or A Capella’ in 2015 and 2016. They are no strangers to releasing seasonal albums, but ‘Evergreen’ is their latest yuletide album release and their tenth LP record overall. Let’s check out the lead single below.

The former holders of the #1 spot on Billboard’s Independent Albums Chart for a time in 2013, Pentatonix got into the festive spirit pretty early, having released ‘Evergreen’ on October 29th via RCA Records and promoted it with a performance of ‘The Prayer’ with hopeful contestant Victory Brinker on ‘America’s Got Talent’ recently. The band also announced a new Christmas tour to go with the album that is currently running, and they will be taking their intimate live sets to US venues in Kentucky, Illinois and Minnesota later this month. In what feels like the most painful and obvious statement that I’ve written on the blog all year round, because that’s the point of the genre, the emphasis is purely on the vocal performance and the verbal delivery of the lyrics here, just to get our discussion about ‘The Prayer’ rolling. Opening up with a spacious set of long harmonies, the band lead the faithful anthem with “I pray you’ll be our eyes/And watch us where we go” as the 5-piece match up the religious context of the lyrics to the spacious backing harmonies that back Mitch Grassi’s lead up. Hopeful lyrics like “Guide us with your grace/To a place where we’ll be safe” and “A world where pain and sorrow will be ended/And every heart that’s broken will be mended” hope to put the ‘Christ’ into ‘Christmas’ as the band members all trade exchanges between each other, with reverberated bass patterns created from their tenor voices creating an operatic backdrop for the optimistic songwriting. Some extra variety is added to the sounds when the band member Scott Hoying sings the Italian lyrics of Bocelli to complement the backing vocals of Kirstin Maldonaldo and Kevin Olusola who take the position of Celine Dion in retrospect, as he hits the notes with a sense of fragility that makes the track feel produced quite delicately. ‘The Prayer’ has a nice blend of Soul and Classical to it that has a pleasant theme to it, and although the production risks feeling a tad bit commercial at times, Pentatonix sell it decently and it feels like it is adding a new twist to the original track, a goal that all of the most effective cover versions of older records should strive to achieve. I can’t claim to know the technical aspects of A Capella, but I still enjoyed hearing this. Ripe for the season.

Pictured: Scott Hoying (Baritone Lead/Backing Vocals), Mitch Grassi (Tenor Lead/Backing Vocals), Kirstin Maldonaldo (Alto Lead/Backing Vocals), Kevin Olusola (Vocal Percussion/Beatboxing/Cello/Backing Vocals) and Matt Sallee (Vocal Bass/Bass Lead/Occasional Backing Vocals) (2021) (Photo courtesy of Getty Images for DCP)

That’s enough of testing out our voices for one day! Thank you for checking out the blog today, it is very highly appreciated, and I finally get a day off from writing a post everyday on the blog tomorrow because a very special guest who lives in the North Pole will be taking over the weekly ‘Scuzz Sundays’ feature throughout December. His 1st selection comes from another Christian Contemporary group whose lead vocalist Matt Thiessen was a co-producer for Owl City’s 2012 album ‘The Midsummer Station’.

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Countdown To Christmas 2021: Elle King – ‘Please Come Home For Christmas’

November 13, 2021 — Leave a comment
  • Pictured: Elle King backstage at GMA’s ‘Summer Concert’ series (2017) (Photo by David Crotty/Getty)

Good Morning to you! You are reading the words of Jacob Braybrooke, and the time has arrived for our first festive post of the new year’s holiday season, and that’s also because it’s always been my day-to-day pleasure to write up about a different piece of music every day! The John Lewis advert is out. The supermarket shelves are full of tat. The Hallmark movies are now showing on TV almost each day and everybody’s sharing a list with an item or two. That can only mean one thing: It’s here again for another year. Whether you still think it’s too early or not is up for debate, but since this is me writing the blog and planning a post out every single day, I’ve decided that it’s time to start looking at different artists who are getting into the seasonal spirit as we begin our own ‘Countdown To Christmas’ series of Christmas-themed posts on the blog, which will be spread throughout the next seven or eight weeks, or so. We’ll be listening to a variety of on-brand Yule tracks, both new and old, that will provide alternatives to the yawners from Sir Paul McCartney and Elton John that we seem to get over-exposed to every single year, while sharing the same goal of injecting some Christmas flair into your streaming playlists. My first exhibit of the season this year is Elle King, an LA-born multi-instrumentalist and singer songwriter who is the daughter of the comedic actor Rob Schneider and the former model London King. You may remember her from scoring a big hit in the mainstream with ‘Ex’s & Oh’s in 2017, a track which reached #15 in the UK Singles Chart and the top ten in the US charts. She’s also known for her collaboration, ‘Drunk’, which she performed with Miranda Lambert, a single which has racked up over 150 million streams worldwide. She has also toured with acts like James Bay, Joan Jett, Of Monsters & Men, Michael Kiwanuka and Train. Check out her new rendition of ‘Please Come Home For Christmas’ below.

To tell the truth with you, when I first heard Elle King’s version of ‘Please Come Home For Christmas’ a week ago, I had never heard of the track before at all and it was only when I was researching some information for this post that I learned that it’s a cover version of an ancient and traditional Christmas R&B recording. It was originally performed by legendary Blues pianist James Brown in 1960, which he co-wrote with Gene Redd, and it reached #76 on the US Billboard Hot 100 chart in December 1961. Since then, it has been covered by the likes of Bon Jovi, Kelly Clarkson, The Eagles, Willie Nelson, Josh Gracin, Gary Allan and Lee Roy Parnell. Elle King is just the latest to join their ranks and, hopefully, put a fresh spin on the original version. She does so with her mid-pitched crooning and sultry guitar melodies that feel representative of her Country-leaning solo material, while also keeping the Jazz element of the original track intact. Lyrics like “Oh, what a Christmas to have the blues/My baby’s gone, I have no friends, To wish me greetings once again” discuss the melancholy felt by those people who spend Christmas alone and apart from loved ones, while the later verses show a more optimistic take on simply enjoying the festivites of the time of year, as sequences such as “Choirs will be singing/Silent night/Christmas carols, by candlelight” and “Friends and relations send salutations/Sure as the stars shine above” trade the longing and agony of the opening verse for feelings of anticipation and contentment, as the final hook of “No more sorrow, no grief and pain/I’ll be happy, Christmas once again” draws things to a naturally mood lifting conclusion. This was a decent take on the original carol because Elle King manages to modernize some of the widely universal themes of the old 1960’s recording and King sounds absolutely accessible to a casual, very easygoing audience of listeners. While her take didn’t really suprise me in any way or did something that I’m likely to remember for that long, regrettably, this was perfectly fine and enjoyable to listen to as it sounded pleasant and it has a solid, calm vibe going on. A cheerful carol, with an air of Amy Winehouse to it, that everyone can find relatable if heard by all of the family at dinner.

  • Pictured: Elle King in an official photoshoot for Teen Vogue (2013) (Photography by Matthew Kristall)

That’s the only trick that I’ve got left in my stocking of seasonal strains for today! I’ll be back tomorrow for more of the same ‘Scuzz Sundays’ shtick as we look back at one of the Pop-Punk era’s memorable anthems of the late-90’s to mid-00’s era to see if it can hold up to some quality and value tomorrow! On the chopping block this week is an Agura Hills-formed Post-Grunge band with a silly name who haven’t appeared on the feature since March of 2020 – when the global lockdowns began. Known for hits such as ‘The Reason’, the Californian band have sold over ten million albums globally.

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Way Back Wednesdays: Patti Labelle – “Music Is My Way Of Life”

October 27, 2021 — Leave a comment
  • Pictured: Cover Artwork for ‘It’s Alright With Me’ (LP) (Released on March 2, 1979) (via Epic Records)

Good Morning to you! You’re reading the words of Jacob Braybrooke, and it is time for me to get typing up for yet another daily track on the blog, because it is always my day-to-day pleasure to write up about a different piece of music every day! As a diva that is responsible for selling over 50 million records worldwide, an actress who has appeared in productions like ‘Dancing With The Stars’ and ‘American Horror Story: Freak Show’, and an entrepreneur with a star on the Hollywood Walk Of Fame, as well as a lifestyle TV host for ‘Living It Up With Patti LaBelle’ and an inductee of the Apollo Theater Hall Of Fame, the question for Patti LaBelle is more clearly: What hasn’t she done? For her musical career, she started singing at church and later formed a vocal group, Patti LaBelle and The Bluebelles, which later became simply known as The LaBelles, and they scored a US #1 single with ‘Lady Marmalade’. As a solo artist, she set the R&B genre alight once again with ‘It’s Alright With Me’ in 1979, her third full-length LP, which she produced alongside the Grammy Award winning mixer Skip Scarborough, and the album enjoyed a sizable run of mainstream radio and chart success, reaching the #33 position of the US R&B charts. ‘Music Is My Way Of Life’, later to be remixed by electronic music producers like Joey Negro and John Luongo, soon became an ultimate R&B/Disco classic of the late 1970s. Follow her philosophy below.

One of the most interesting facts that I’ve read about the Pensylvania-born singer is that, in 2015, she released her own ‘Patti’s Sweet Potato Pie’ to the US supermarket shelves, and, due to a YouTube video praising the product shortly going viral, literally sold like hot cakes, as if they were, and shifted millions of units where, through the result of a 72-hour period, Walmart reportedly sold one pie every second. An 8-minute dance stomper, 1979’s ‘Music Is My Way Of Life’ came around when Disco was huge and hit a commercial peak, although LaBelle mixed things up a little by working with Scarborough, known for producing his romantic ballads, to create arrangements that were more sleak and intricately designed. ‘Music Is My Way Of Life’ isn’t a slow jam however, and it provides a lot of Disco grooves instead. Lyrics like “When I dance they look at me, That’s the one thing you can’t take from me/That’s the music that I feel in my soul” and “When the daylight comes and I’m leaving the dancefloor/By night time, I’ll be back for more” feel exuberant and triumphant, and it is filled up with feel-good instrumentation to boot. The Jazz elements shine through clearly, and there’s plenty of guitar licks that keep proceedings feeling upbeat and light-hearted. The vocal performance is strong, and LaBelle sings about how music shapes her identity and how dance music brings her together with loved ones with a convincing passion. The track is also filled with a floating Piano line of chords that add to the Jazz sound, and the Horn section creates another soulful groove. Overall, ‘Music Is My Way Of Life’ is a classic due to it’s traditional Jazz and Funk grooves, and it’s open-armed embrace of unity and Disco. If that is her philosophy – then It’s Alright With Me.

  • Pictured: Patti LaBelle at the BET Honors at Warner Theatre, Washington (2016) (Photo by Paras Griffin)

Thank you for checking out my latest throwback track post on the blog today, and I’ll be back tomorrow for a long-awaited debut appearance on the music blog from an emerging female-led Post Punk band from the Isle Of Wight who will be touring in locations such as Cambridge, Oxford, Guildford and Reading in the winter months. Signed to Chess Club Records – the home of artists like Sinead O’Brien and Phoebe Green – the 4-piece have been praised by UK newspapers like The Observer and The i.

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Way Back Wednesdays: Feargal Sharkey – “A Good Heart”

July 14, 2021 — Leave a comment

Let’s see whether this Northern Irish OBE jumped the ‘Shark’ in 1985. New post time!

  • Pictured: Casette Tape of ‘A Good Heart’ (Released in 1985 in UK) (1986 in US) (via Virgin Records)

Good Morning to you! It’s Jacob Braybrooke here, and it’s ‘Way Back Wednesdays’, meaning that we’re diving back into the sounds of the past that have been influential to those of the present, not forgetting that it’s my day-to-day pleasure to write up about a different piece of music every day! Feargal Sharkey’s ‘A Good Heart’ is a straight-up Pop tune from 1985 that my mother says she used to own on casette tape, which she brought up during an episode of ‘Top Of The Pops 1991’ on BBC Four, although I’ve never listened to the song at all before until now. Sharkey is an OBE, and he is a Nothern Irish singer from Derry who was mostly known for being the lead vocalist of rock band The Undertones, who famously performed ‘Teenage Kicks’, which was late-great BBC Radio 1 DJ John Peel’s favourite single of all-time. I believe that he’s much less musically active now, but, in more recent times, he has taken up differing roles in the UK’s commercial music industry, receiving several awards as an advocate and some honours for his charity work in the Arts sector. I caught a recent article which says Feargal Sharkey has been campaigning to preserve the rivers of Cambridgeshire, and that’s my area, and so it really is a small world. Released by Virgin Records as the lead single from his self-titled debut album, ‘A Good Heart’ reached #1 on the UK Singles Chart upon its release. Get a blast from the past below.

A fun fact about Feargal is that he is the chairman of the Amwell Magna Fishery. As a lifelong fly fisherman, Feargal has actively campaigned against the pollution of Chalk Streams, and the regulations of the Water industry which impact the UK’s water resources. He gave the Keynote address at The Rivers Trust Autumn Confererence in 2018, and, in 2010, he appeared on Wired’s list of ‘The Wired 100’ for his contributions to nature at #56. So, you could say that he’s got ‘A Good Heart’ in those respects. The tune itself is probably what you’d expect to see on ‘That’s 80’s’ or an old repeat of ‘Top Of The Pops’ on BBC Four, because it sounds pretty normal for it’s time. Lyrics like “Highest risk of striking out/The risk of getting heart/Still, I have so much to learn” and “My expectations may be high/I blamed it on my youth/Soon enough, I’ve learned the painful truth” get the ideas of trial/error in dating across simply and easily, with a melody that skews towards rougher Country a little bit, with the twangy guitars and the shimmering drums, and upbeat Keyboard melodies that get a Funk influence across a little. Looking back, I would say that the vocals are a bit woeful on this. It’s not that Sharkey is a particularly bad singer, but his strong Derry accent and his roots in classic Punk feel a little jarring or lost on this one. The chorus is mostly done by the backing singers, however, and the arrangement pulls him a few favours. Overall, I reckon he, or his label, was trying a bit too hard to just simply ‘have a hit’ with this one, which doesn’t typically sit very well with me. I think the track is also a little confused in what it wants to be, with the guitar solo in the middle suggesting a Glam-Rock direction, and the happy-go-lucky guitar rhythms indicating some retro Funk. I quite enjoyed my time with it, however. It’s catchy enough, and the different elements of the instrumentation give it decent enough heft to not seem tiresome. The punchy energy carries through to the end, and the chorus is a sweet slice of teenage pop with a Soulful feel. A slight jumble of ideas, but a charming earworm of 80’s Pop.

  • Pictured: Feargal Sharkey reporting to Cambridge City Council (2019) (CambridgeIndependant.co.uk)

There’s your blast from the past! Please feel free to join me again tomorrow as we revert our attention back to some brand new music. Tomorrow’s pick comes to you from a lesser-known Indie Rock band, who have a new album out on Ba Da Bing! The female-fronted group, from Melbourne, once had SXSW’s most-played song of their ‘Morning Show’ in 2019, and they have also recorded a live session for Seattle’s KEXP.

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Way Back Wednesdays: The Mock Turtles – “Can You Dig It?”

June 23, 2021 — Leave a comment

WCW’s Booker T would have been saying… Can you dig it, Sucka? Let’s go Way Back!

  • Pictured: Martin Coogan (Lead Vocals/Rhythm Guitar), Martin Glyn Murray (Lead Guitar), Andrew Stewardson (Bass Guitar/Viola), Joanne Gent (Keyboards/Cello/Acoustic Guitar) and Steve Barnard (Drums/Percussion) pictured for a BBC Radio 6Music Live Hour shot (1991) (Photo via BBC.com)

Good Morning to you! It’s Jacob Braybrooke here – I’m writing from Cambridgeshire instead of Stafford once again – and it’s time for you to read 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! It’s also Wednesday – which means that we’re going ‘Way Back’ to remember the sounds of the past that have been important to the present. A fondly remembered radio-friendly hit from 1991, ‘Can You Dig It?’ was the masterwork of The Mock Turtles, who saw their peak in popularity during the baggy ‘Madchester’ Brit-Pop movement of the 1990’s. It’s still never too far away from radio airplay on the likes of BBC Radio 2 and Radio X in the present day, making it a reliable choice for our little mid-week feature. It was taken from their well-performed LP, ‘Turtle Soup’, released in 1990, and it was released as a physical single along with the B-side, ‘Lose Yourself’, as it was known back in the day. One interesting fact is how the single was also dedicated to Alan Duffy, and this was made clear when Siren Records decided to print an Alan Duffy quote, “Shine on you crazy diamond”, on the CD single sleeve. It was also featured very prominently in Vodafone adverts in 1992. Let’s dig it out below.

‘Can You Dig It?’ saw commercial success when it reached #18 on the UK Singles Charts and #12 in Ireland. Fatboy Slim (or Norman Cook, at the time, before he was Fatboy Slim) was also a huge fan of the indie classic, and he decided to remix the track with Simon Thornton for a re-release, and this version peaked at #19 on the UK’s Top 40, alongside charting within the Top 100 in Ireland, Greece and The Netherlands. As for the original that we all know and enjoy, ‘Can You Dig It’ became a memorable one-hit wonder for The Mock Turtles with it’s smear of light Disco elements, a catchy guitar melody that feels instantly familiar now, and the head-nodding Drum beats that create a recognizable and fairly groovy melody. The lyrics come across naturally, with no distortion or auto-tune effects, with vocalist Martin Coogan delivering motivational lyrics like “See how big and strong I’ve grown/I’m standing on my own” and “One little kiss isn’t anything/You keep insisting on everything” that have a clear theme and a quick rhythm. The verses are very short and compact in their length, allowing space for the twangy guitar riffs and the uplifting basslines to sink their teeth deeply into your ears. The beats can be described as very “baggy”, and the years of tiresome gigging finally paid off for the truly ‘Indie’ group at the time. It’s important to remember how ‘Indie’ basically just categorizes modern Pop now, and not entirely self-produced independent music anymore. Overall, a slightly over-played tune now, but one that is still well-suited for a hot summers day in the beer garden of the pub, and, in retrospect, it’s exciting to think how The Mock Turtles probably had more to offer than this if they were given the right chance by the higher-up’s. For what it is, it’s a tuneful and melodic mesh of true Indie and soft Disco music, and one that is still warmly received years later for how charming and unforgettable it feels. We all dig it.

  • Pictured: Vinyl Copy of ‘Can You Dig It?’ (Single) (Released in 1991) (Photo by BetterOnVinyl.co.uk)

That’s all destiny wrote for today. Stay tuned in for more ‘Way Back Wednesdays’ in seven days’ time. In the meantime, I’ll be back tomorrow for a ‘deep dive’ into one of the weekend’s new album releases – because there’s loads arriving on Friday! Tomorrow, it’s the turn of a fast-rising Folk megastar who grew up in Arlington, Massachetus – who worked on her previous album, her debut, with the producer Gabe Wax. If you really liked what you just read, why not follow the blog to get notified when every new daily post is up and why not like the Facebook page here?: https://www.facebook.com/OneTrackAtATime/

Scuzz Sundays: Wheatus – “Teenage Dirtbag”

June 20, 2021 — Leave a comment

A celebrity is next door. He lives on my block and he drives an I-Roc. It’s Scuzz Sunday!

  • Pictured: Cover Art for “Teenage Dirtbag” (Single) (Released on June 20, 2000) (via Columbia Records)

Good Afternoon to you! It’s Jacob Braybrooke here – prepping you up for another ‘Scuzz Sunday’ as we enjoy a throw back to the rock music video channels of old, with tracks that were originally unleashed to the masses between the late-90’s and the mid-00’s, to find out whether they hold up to quality and value in our modern society. If you haven’t heard Wheatus ‘Teenage Dirtbag’ before, you’ve either been living under a rock for 20 years or you might need to get your local GP to examine your hearing. This tune was everywhere when it was released back in 2000, and it became the personal anthem of many adolescent teenagers going through a particular phase of their lives, questionable haircuts and all. Sadly, it was also Wheatus’ one and only hit, although the band are technically still active and the lead vocalist, Brendan B. Brown, was featured on the title track of Math The Band’s new album, ‘Flange Factory Five’, which came out last October. ‘Teenage Dirtbag’ never excited the professional music press much, but it was still a gigantic commercial success by selling five million units worldwide, as of 2014, and it stays continually relevant with licensing for film & TV productions like Netflix’s ‘The Chilling Adventures Of Sabrina’, ‘Girlboss’ and HBO’s ‘Generation Kill’. Come with me Friday and don’t say maybe with the old video below.

It’s quite surprising that we haven’t covered ‘Teenage Dirtbag’ on the ‘Scuzz Sundays’ feature before considering that it was such a memorable hit single from the peak era of MTV, and it’s success expanded beyond their domestic territory of the US. In Australia, it was certified three times platinum and it stayed at the #1 spot in the charts for four weeks. In the UK, it was certified as platinum twice in 2018. It also reached the top of the charts in Austria, and it also peaked at #2 in both Ireland and Germany, it’s burgeoning popularity inspired by a childhood experience of Brendan B. Brown’s. I think it’s fair to point out that it’s very much a Power-Pop record, and it doesn’t really qualify as Pop-Punk because it bears little resemblance to the core elements of that category. The instrumentation is almost dream-like, with a rickety acoustic guitar riff, hilariously dated record scratches and an angsty Drum part. Brown paints the picture of the scene with lines like “But she doesn’t know who I am/And she doesn’t give a damn about me” and “Her boyfriend’s a d**k, and he brings a gun to school” that are a funny, hook-led breakdown of an awkward adolescent teenage crush at high school. The production is a light Hip-Hop pastiche, there’s no distortion, and the chorus is the defining aspect of the tune. It finds the soft, coffee shop guitar riff unleashing the heavy weight of an overdrive pedal. The mightily quantized Drums, the melodic angst of the guitar melody, and the collision of sounds makes a coherent sort-of sense, and it’s easy to sing along to. The bridge is also very memorable, as Brown tries to emulate a female voice with a mild Falsetto effect, which isn’t very convincing, although I’m not sure that it’s supposed to be potent. The lyrics are pretty horrendous. Why is he a Teenage Dirtbag? Because he listens to Iron Maiden. This mixture is endearing, however, and you easily find yourself having a lot of fun with it, however dumb it is. I find it strange how the video has been censored too, since the teenage market was the target audience for buying it, but, on the whole, it’s still a lot of fun and it doesn’t feel like it’s been overplayed too heavily. It’s not brilliant, or even ‘good’ from an intellectual standpoint, but it was only ever trying to be a popcorn Pop song that you can blast to the full volume in your car and sing along to. Without guilt.

  • Pictured: Brendan B. Brown (Lead Vocals/Rhythm Guitar), Matthew Milligan (Electric Upright Bass), Brandon Ticer (Keyboard) and Leo Freire (Drums) (2020) (Photo by Martyn Goodacre/Getty Images)

Thank you for taking today’s trip down memory lane with me – and please make sure to join me again tomorrow for an in-depth look at some brand new music from an American indie folk singer-songwriter who is releasing her latest solo album next week. It marks her second appearance on the site, and you may know her as a previous member of the trio Boygenius with Phoebe Bridgers and Julien Baker, who have also found similar solo success in recent months. 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 Fridays: Ambar Lucid – “Get Lost In The Music”

June 18, 2021 — Leave a comment

Witches can tell the time by looking across to their witch watch. Time for a new post!

  • Pictured: Cover Art for “Get Lost In The Music” (LP) (Released on June 18, 2021) (via 300 Entertainment)

Good Morning to you! It’s Jacob Braybrooke, and it’s already time again for me to get typing up all about your daily track on the blog, because it’s always my day-to-day pleasure to write up about a different piece of music every day! I know that we’ve made it to Friday and, this week, it seems the hot weather is keeping the bigger releases at bay a little. There’s still plenty to be enjoyed, however, including the 20th go-around from the incomparable 50 year-plus veteran Joan Armatrading. Radio 1 favourite BERWYN gets his shot at fame with his debut solo album, Deap Vally follow up on their recent ‘Digital Dream’ EP with their new ‘American Cockroach’ EP and BRIT Awards Rising Star winner Griff looks to get her foot in the door with…. er… ‘One Foot In Front Of The Other’. KEXP introduced me to Ambar Lucid, however, a Pop, Alternative and Indie R&B singer-songwriter based in the suburb of Little Ferry, New Jersey, who is releasing her second solo album, ‘Get Lost In The Music’, through 300 Entertainment today – which is June 18th. Lucid’s real name is Ambar Cruz, who was born to a Mexican father and a Dominican mother, and she was the subject of the ‘Llegaron Las Flores’ documentary that saw her reunite with her father and sister, who she had not been able to see since the age of 8 due to deportation, that was produced in 2019. Cruz’s new album explores radical self-love, conceptualized over her love for Michael Jackson in the 1980’s, with lyrics that are sung in both English and Spanish. This follows 2020’s ‘Garden Of Eden’. Let’s ‘Get Lost In The Music’ below.

The Latin Soul songstress has gained over 600k monthly followers on Spotify, and she told Vice, “A lot of people have their own insecurities and their own battles that they’re dealing with, and sometimes they project them onto other people, maybe not even on purpose” in an interview last year, adding, “It’s so important to define yourself, and to be true and honest to yourself. That is the only way I think we end up on the path that is most authentic to ourselves, and brings us the most happiness”, as she continues to don the Día de Muertos painted mask in her videos to reference her Latin heritage. The opening of ‘Get Lost In The Music’ wants to transport you fully into the 60’s Classical aesthetics with the muted horn and organ riff sample, before Lucid croons: “I got a visit from the Mushroom god/He said it’s time to say goodbye to your ego” to delve into the 60’s Psych-influences. She continues to sing about letting go of your own negativity and getting swept up into the sounds of music with lyrics like “Revival of beauty is insanity” and “What’s the point of living if you’re already dead/” in the chorus. The vocals are given a lot of clean production, with a disorienting mix of neo-soul and modern Psychedelia that gives her delivery a harsh, piercing effect. Meanwhile, the instrumentals continue to draw you in with vibrant guitar licks and a two-step drum beat that urgently kicks into gear and permeates a sense of darkness throughout the track. Moreover, the opening sequence dips in and out of the track, inviting the listener to explore nostalgia and imagination. These arrangements, overall, feel hypnotic and immersive. The main reason why I just don’t like a lot of ‘mainstream’ pop nowadays and dislike Ariana Grande or Camila Cabello is because their production makes them sound much the same, and the reliance on auto-tune distances me away from the artists for this reason, instead of getting me interested to learn more. In the case of Lucid, she’s bringing a Latin tinge and a vintage mystical element to things, and ‘Get Lost In The Music’ is shaping up to be the ‘Off The Wall’ for the younger generation. One thing I’d say is that I did find the vocal effects to be a little over-done, making her tone a little too robust and, in turn, a tad artificial. That said, I like that it’s just undeniably Pop and I feel that Lucid’s “Modern Urban Witch” costumes are rather interesting. I also like it’s message and how that connects with me as a lover of music, and this is kept simple but effective. On the whole, this is an entrancing mix of Pop that shows me that Lucid can be bothered, since a lot of effort clearly went into the visuals and the artwork too. A bewitching twist on modern Pop.

  • Pictured: Ambar Lucid in a press photoshoot for “Garden Of Lucid” (2019) (Photo via Complex.com)

That’s all for now! Have a Wicked Witch of a weekend! Make sure to reconvene with me right here again tomorrow, as we delve into one of the most popular new releases from one of Britain’s current biggest groups, who are building up to their next album release in August with a notable single that sees the Scottish Synth-Pop trio enlist the help of none other than Robert Smith, from The Cure, to add a fresh dimension to their existing formula. If you really liked what you just read, why not follow the blog to get notified when every new daily post is up and why not like the Facebook page here?: https://www.facebook.com/OneTrackAtATime/

Today’s Track: The Snuts – “Somebody Loves You”

March 29, 2021 — Leave a comment

Not to be confused by the goo that runs down my nose in this season. New post time!

  • Pictured: Jack Cochrane (Lead Vocals/Acoustic Guitar), Joe McGillveray (Lead Guitar), Callum Wilson (Bass Guitar/Backing Vocals) and Jordan ‘Jojo’ Mackey (Drums) (2019) (Photo taken via readdork.com)

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, as per usual, because it is always my day-to-day pleasure to write up about a different piece of music every day! An emerging indie rock band originating from West Lothian, Scotland – The Snuts are a band who I’ve heard a little of before, but I’m admittedly not that familiar. Signed to Parlophone Records, a German indie label which was acquired by Warner Music Group in 2013, each of the group’s four members met each other during their time in secondary school, and they have been performing music together since the band was formed in 2015. They have been getting modest airplay from BBC Radio 1 and Radio X over the last few years, and they also made this year’s NME 100 – of the famous publications hotly tipped artists to gain success stories in 2021. This weekend, on April 2nd, The Snuts are set to release ‘W.L.’ – their debut album, and The Snuts have told us that some of the tracks on the record were written ten years ago. ‘Somebody Loves You’ is the most recent single to date, and it’s made the C-list of BBC Radio 1’s usual rotation. It’s important to note that the new track has been released in aid of the Scottish Refugee Council, and they have donated the budget for the music video to charity, so they turned to the SRC’s workers to film the video instead. Let’s see the results below.

Is is just me or does the band’s lead – Jack Cochrane – share an uncanny resemblance to the delightful Daniel from The Undateables? Before I go on too much of a tangent, The Snuts have commented “Our debut album W.L. is our lifetime work.”, elaborating, “It’s a collection of milestones and melodies that time stamp a dream we had becoming a reality”, for their press release about the debut full-length collection, which they also say: “It’s a record about being true, loving and resilient.” as they gear up for the release date on Friday. If you like the sound of this, you can also catch them on a headline tour across the UK and Ireland in 2022. ‘Somebody Loves You’ is a self-explanatory title for the track – a light-hearted and feel-good Pop, barely Rock, anthem about showing care to others. Built on some acoustic guitar backings, lines in the opening verse like “It’s a lovely day, rain clears from my feet again” and “The panic stations clear out from the streets today” that hone in on themes like empathy and appreciation for the small moments in life. The guitar work is gentle and uplifting, with slightly more riffing on the chorus, where Cochrane happily sings “Someone loves you, and that someone is me” at the end of the chorus. Overall, I have mixed feelings on this one. Starting with the bad news, I found the songwriting to lack depth, in the sense of it reminding me of tunes from New Radicals and The Fray but not doing much that felt different to those bands, and so it feels a little bit dated – in a bad way – as a result. It sounds a bit like the label had some creative control over the track itself, with it feeling like a bit too much like they are trying to have a hit. I could be wrong about this, but I didn’t find the subject matter to have much to say other than the “Have a nice day” kind-of idea. It’s just not that memorable, and I simply didn’t feel that it was pushing any boundaries. That said, it’s not terrible. For starters, I really liked how the voice of Cochrane comes across quite naturally. He’s not monkeying around with any auto-tune effects – and that’s far more than I could say about some of the genre’s contemporary peers (Here, I am looking at excruciatingly mediocre self-ascribed “Indie bollocks” bands like The 1975 and Pale Waves in particular), and that makes the track quite basic, but pleasant, to listen to. I also enjoy how the band went about creating the music video for the track, and it’s great to see them donating what they don’t need to those who are less fortunate and making a positive impact on society in the process, and so I think that’s worth giving the praise for. Overall, I don’t think it’s great, but there are things that I liked in it. The production is nice – everything else feels a little too disposable for my snobbish taste.

  • Pictured: Cover Artwork for “W.L.” (Released on April 2nd, 2021) (via Parlophone Records)

That’s all I’ve got time for today – as the end of the month of March in the not-so new year quickly approaches. I’ve got more music on tab for you tomorrow, though, like always – with an in-depth look at a fab recent single from a fully independent South African singer-songwriter who was included on the shortlist of nominations in the Academy Awards of 2018 for ‘Best Original Song’ – with a track that she wrote for the film ‘Bombshell: The Hedy Lamarr Story’. 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/