New Album Release Fridays: Soccer 96 (feat. Salami Rose Joe Louis) – ‘Yesterday Knows Me’

May 6, 2022 — Leave a comment

Pictured: Cover Artwork for ‘Inner Worlds’ (LP/Album) (Released on May 6th, 2022) (via Moshi Moshi Records)

Good Morning to you! My name is Jacob Braybrooke, and the time has finally arrived for us to enjoy some celestial analog Synths and lumbering Hi-Hat Drums with yet another 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! Sharon Van Etten, Belle and Sebastian, Rolling Blackouts Coastal Fever, Sunflower Bean, Peaness and – as my mother just informed me earlier this morning – Emeli Sande are all taking advantage of the warm weather (and a gap in the release schedule before Kendrick Lamar unleashes his new cryptic juggernaut next week) with new albums this week. Another LP release worth keeping an eye on is the latest album by the London-based Prog-Jazz duo Soccer96, which is comprised of keyboardist Dan Leavers (Danalogue) and drummer Max Hallett (Betamax) who are also members of The Comet Is Coming. The two musicians like to keep busy in their separate careers as well. Leavers has performed alongside Scratcha DVA and Henry Lu, and he has produced albums for Ibibio Sound Machine, Snapped Ankles and Flamingods. Meanwhile, Hallett is also a member of Hot Head Show and Super Best Friends Club – and he’s also played the live drums with Sons Of Kemet, Yussef Kamal and Melt Yourself Down. They have become a regular addition to my digital library with their ethereal blend of Sci Fi-leaning Electronica, post-apocalyptic Ambient and poly-rhythmic Grime-Jazz. For their live sets, the diverse duo also pride themselves on using no laptops, sequencers or software when they perform, instead opting to play each of their parts in the moment. ‘Inner Worlds’ is the follow-up to last year’s ‘Dopamine’, an ambitious record based loosely on a narrative centered around a corrupt AI system that landed a spot on my very own ‘Top 25 Best Albums Of The Year’ 2021-end list that was published back in January on the blog. It releases today digitally, but it won’t be available to purchase on physical formats until May 27th via Moshi Moshi Records. The leading single – ‘Yesterday Knows Me’ – enlists the aid of Salami Rose Joe Louis, who previously provided the vocals for ‘Sitting On A Satellite’ that was taken off 2021’s ‘Dopamine’. Check out the music video for the single below.

Rozi Plain, Simbad, Tom Herbert and The Colours That Rise also appear on the new release, and Soccer96 pitch it for your pleasure by noting, “We’ve been reflecting on the relationship between our inner worlds and outer worlds, how our minds shape our experience and our experience shapes our mind“, in the LP’s product description on their Bandcamp profile, concluding, “How caring and nurturing our inner worlds can improve our relationship with our outer experiences. We see the creation of music as the bridge between these two worlds“, in their own words. Building off the unorthodox time signatures and Space-Pop synths of ‘Dopamine’, Soccer96 invite us all into the alluring and deliberately mechanical tone of ‘Inner Worlds’ with a typically whimsical arrangement of multi-layered vocals and gently Trip Hop-leaning instrumentals. Their beats feel ‘broken’ and ‘wonky’ to a characteristic degree, and they are tuned well to the sounds of the Soul-tinged vocals by Joe Louis that feel slow-burning and almost robotic in delivery. Instrumentally, it’s all about the texture for Soccer96 as always, as the duo continue to lay out their formula of intense textures and rather meticulous compositions that straddle the line between chaos and order like a well-balanced walk on a tight rope, while giving off the hazy and psychedelic vibes that distort the vocals and loop the drums in a sense of propulsion that slowly ascends and descends gradually. The crunching break-beat plays catch up to the more upbeat keyboard work for the most part, while the sequences bass ostinato provides subtle hints to 70’s Psych-Funk and 90’s New-Age recordings at differing points. Towards the end, there’s also a squelching solo where the electronics are really turned up to eleven and replace the wide-eyed mood of the verses with an extra angle being added between the melee of the drums and keyboard where the cut is more focused on brute sonic impact. Musically, the lead single feels very varied while the barely audible lyrics add another dimension to the light grooves. The cohesion is solid though, and there’s certainly the creativity here to warrant the genre-fluid variety of styles feeling suitable together. It’s not really a major departure in sound for the duo, but it shows the experimental and independent duo doing what they do best and embracing their creative freedom to deliver a fascinating and imaginative tapestry of textures, moods and functions. This is bound to be another Soccer96 record that you should not miss.

Pictured: Dan Leavers (Keyboard/Synths) and Max Hallett (Drums/Percussion) (2021) (Photo Credit: William Barnes)

Looking for more where that came from? Check out my previous Soccer96 post here:

‘Sitting On A Satellite’ (feat. Salami Rose Joe Louis) (2021) – https://onetrackatatime.home.blog/2021/09/24/new-album-release-fridays-soccer96-feat-salami-rose-joe-louis-sitting-on-a-satellite/

Pictured: Cover Artwork for ‘Dopamine’ (Released on September 24th, 2021) (via Moshi Moshi Records)

That brings us to the bottom of the page once again, and I thank you very much for your support today and over the years. Remarkably, I have just reached the milestone of 1,000 posts being published on the site, as of yesterday. There will be no new daily post tomorrow in the traditional sense, but please stay tuned to the homepage and the social media profiles for an important announcement arriving in the coming days.

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Way Back Wednesdays: Betty Davis – ‘Come Take Me’

April 6, 2022 — Leave a comment

Pictured: Betty Davis in an unknown official photoshoot (date n/a) (Photo via The Vinyl Factory/Baron Wolfman)

Good Morning to you! This is Jacob Braybrooke, and it’s time for us to go retro for ‘Way Back Wednesdays’ on the blog, which helps me to fulfill my goal of writing up about a different piece of music every day! We’re going to be remembering Betty Davis today, a North Carolina-born singer-songwriter who made an erotic string of Afro-Funk, R&B, Soul and rock-tinged Blues albums during the 1970’s. Davis was also known for her sexually provocative lyricism and her flamboyant live performances and, although she never became a household name, she developed a cult following and she has been cited as an influence by contemporary artists like Janelle Monae, Outkast and Jamila Woods, as well as fellow icons like Prince and Grace Jones, for her experimental blend of genres. Davis wrote, arranged and produced all of her own music in her time, a rarity for any female artist, yet alone a Black woman, during her era. She started out as a model, appearing in magazines like Glamour and Seventeen and working with designers, before she became the second wife of the legendary trumpeter Miles Davis. Although their marriage ended after a year due to implied abuse, she personally introduced him to Jimi Hendrix and Cream. She also penned material that got The Commodores signed to Motown Records. Davis sadly left us, aged 77, in February in Homestead, Pensylvania – where she had lived since her childhood – after being diagnosed with cancer a week prior. At one point, Marc Bolan of T-Rex fame encouraged her to write music for herself and she took that advice to heart when her self-titled debut studio album was released in 1973. Originally released by Just Sunshine Records (an upstart label), the record preceded three more solo albums and it got a CD and Vinyl re-issue in 2007 via Light In The Attic Records. She enlisted the help of The Pointer Sisters, Neil Schon, Sylvester and more guest contributors to bring the distinctive record to life and my focus track – ‘Come Take Me’ – was previously an unreleased track until 15 years ago, when it was included on special editions of her self-titled LP. Get a better idea of her sound with the cut below.

Her AllMusic profile describes Betty Davis as “a wildly flamboyant Funk diva with few equals… [who] combined the gritty emotional realism of Tina Turner, the futurist fashion sense of David Bowie and the trend-setting flair of Miles Davis”, according to the website, and so the music world continues to feel the effects of her tragic loss earlier in the year. ‘Come Take Me’ feels like textbook Betty Davis at her finest and most distinct, although the Vinyl re-issue of her entire back catalogue felt as though it was long overdue before the mid-00’s and it had not happened properly yet. That said, if you like the Jazz-tinged Psychedelia of Sly & The Family Stone, the loose Funk influences of Beck’s ‘Midnite Vultures’ era and his unconventional song structures, and the aggressive delivery of 70’s Rock ‘N’ Roll stalwarts, this one is for you. The intro feels a little unorthodox, before the guitar stabs and the wonky bassline comes in, with Davis croaking lyrics about not disrupting the rhythm and treating a lover right albeit with a frenzied and rather crazy attitude. The drums progress nicely throughout the track, starting off with a slow and steady vibe, before controlling the rhythm with a more frantic pace. Davis recites her lyrics with an instructive growl in her voice that complements the unapologetically Funk production of the track, where the warbling vocals carry the wobbling guitars and the trickling fusion of the Motown-esque Bass and Drums to create a rather irresistible groove. It doesn’t sound too out of date and although the songwriting may sound dated, Davis’ imagination of combining then-contemporary Blues-Rock sensibilities with creative, provocative explorations of lust, desire and sexuality in her howling vocals and erotic Jazz/Funk melodies is still there. Davis was a class act who was ahead of her time. The wide world wasn’t ready for her.

Pictured: Betty Davis in an official erotic photoshoot (date n/a) (Photo by NewYorker.com/Native Voice Films)

That’s all for now! Just to let you know that if you enjoyed today’s tribute to Betty Davis, a re-issue for her final album is also planned to be happening through her label sometimes in 2022. Thank you for checking out my latest post because your support is always highly appreciated, and I’ll be shifting our attention back to new music releases tomorrow with a review of a recent single by a South London-based indie rock band who will be releasing their self-titled debut album via Dan Carey’s Speedy Wunderground label on April 29th. They have performed at festivals including Green Man Festival, SWN Festival in Cardiff, and Fred Perry’s All Our Tomorrow’s live Festival.

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Today’s Track: Blue Lab Beats (feat. Fela Kuti, Killbeatz, Kaidi Akinnibi & Poppy Daniels) – ‘Motherland Journey’

April 4, 2022 — Leave a comment

Pictured: Namali Kwaten (aka NK-OK) and David Mrkapor (aka Mr DM) (2019) (Photo Credit: Blue Note Records)

Good Afternoon to you! This is Jacob Braybrooke, as usual, and I’m writing fresh off this marathon of a WWE WrestleMania 38 weekend 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! Pitching their sound as “Jazz-Tronica”, Blue Lab Beats are the North London-based experimental electronic music duo of sampler and producer Namali Kwaken (aka NK-OK) and multi-instrumentalist David Mrkaor (aka Mr DM) who have sat in the additional production seats for their work with artists like Ruby Francis and Age Of Luna, and they have remixed A-list pop culture superstars like Dua Lipa and Rag ‘N’ Bone Man. The follow-up to 2021’s ‘We Will Rise’ EP is the Grammy award-winning and MOBO-nominated musicians’ latest full-length studio album ‘Motherland Journey’ which they released in late February on the legendary Blue Note Records label. The new creative project explores a whole suite of Avant-Jazz, Prog-Jazz, Afro-Funk, Trip Hop, Boom Bap, Northern Soul and Contemporary R&B influences, and it has been described as an “extremely special album” to the duo, who say, “This album took us two-and-a-half-years to finish, or longest process to make an album, but it was so worth it. On this album you’ll hear many fusions of genres and inspirations that we gathered throughout that time frame and especially to work on so many of the songs during the first lockdown, it was a test in itself”, about their recent release. The title track samples Afrobeat activist icon Fela Kuti’s 70’s song ‘Everything Scatter’ and they were given permission by the BLB estate themselves to use that sample. It features guest contributions from Kaidi Akinnibi and Poppy Daniels, while they also travelled to Ghana to record it along with Killbeatz as the producer. Let’s give it a spin.

Much like all of the classic Afrobeat music releases of the 70’s and 80’s, ‘Motherland Journey’ is designed to replicate a communal experience where all of the different influences and the guest contributors are welcome as long as the album’s flow is not disrupted, and the duo also comment, “When we got confirmation to have Fela Kuti’s vocals from his publishers in Nigeria we were honestly blown away that he could really feature on our tracks. An absolute dream come true.”, on Kuti’s featured artist credit for the eclectic track. The track gets off to a bright and warm start immediately, with a quickly established groove formed by the percussive African drums and the prominent Amapiano stabs that pulls apart the standard tropes of their favourite genres with the introduction of the electronic music elements and the sparse guitar melodies to give the classic sound a more modern, updated feel. The pair layer up some of the Trumpet samples and the Afrobeat-tinged backing vocals together to blur the contrasted electronic and organic sounds together occasionally, but the rotating instrumentals and the upbeat textures creates the most dominant impression where we’re witnessing something improvisational and organic from a live house band, like the performers who used to visit Kuti’s shrines at the heart of the Afrobeat cultural movement, who are simply taking to center stage and jamming with one another, creating a timeless feeling as opposed to overtly recycling outdated ideas for simply nostalgic effect. It is not necessarily futuristic, but it feels well-built and structured neatly, with new melodies being bought into the mix to keep the grooves from getting a little tiresome. Overall, ‘Motherland Journey’ is a wonderfully encouraging listen that pulls off a fresh re-boot of it’s ideas by blending the organic percussion of the classic Afrobeat days with the progressive electronic production standards that we’re used to hearing more often from the west. The final results feel quite accessible and engaging to a fairly wide audience, without the feeling of commercialism ever truly dominating their sound in a blatant way. It just feels timeless and eminently buoyant.

Pictured: Cover Artwork for ‘Motherland Journey’ (LP) (Released on February 25th, 2022) (via Blue Note Records)

That brings us to the end of another uplifting track on the blog, and thank you for continuing to support the site. I’ll be back tomorrow to discuss the new single from an Oxford-born classically trained electronic music producer who has been covered more than once before, since I’m such a huge fan of his work. He’s going to release his first album in a decade this July, and his collaborative single ‘Heartbreak’, which he created with Bonobo, was nominated for this year’s ‘Best Dance/Electronic Recording’ honour at the Grammy awards. The British musician is currently based in Los Angeles.

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Today’s Track: Kojey Radical (feat. Knucks) – ‘Payback’

March 12, 2022 — Leave a comment

Pictured: Kojey Radical in a glamorous photoshoot for a Q&A feature with The Badger Online (2022) (Photo via PR)

Good Morning to you! My name is Jacob Braybrooke, and it is time for us to take a quick look at one of the UK’s most well-received Grime upstarts for yet another track on the blog, because it’s always my day-to-day pleasure to write up about a different piece of music every day! Rapper, creative director, mixed media visual director and a first class degree graduate in Fashion Illustration from the London College Of Fashion – is there anything that Hoxton-based musician Kojey Radical can’t do? His debut mixtape, 2016’s ’23 Winters’, debuted at #3 on the UK’s Rap & Hip Hop Albums Charts and reached the top 40 of the UK Singles Charts and, since that point, he has received three MOBO music awards nominations. He has also collaborated with a wide variety of artists such as Mahalia, Lex Amor, Ray BLK, Tom Grennan and MJ Cole. He has recently given us another ‘Reason To Smile’ with his titular first full-length studio album that was released last Friday – on March 4th – via the major label Atlantic Records. The new record is about giving people greatness and striving for self-perfection, and it features a guest appearance from his own mother alongside a plethora of other featured credits, which he explores through a progressive range of Grime, Spoken Word, Alternative Hip-Hop and Psychedelic Funk backdrops. The latter is the most prominent option on ‘Payback’, the lead single, which finds Kojey enlisting the aid of Knucks. The Jazz/Soul-oriented production was also handled by frequent collaborator Swindle. Let’s give ‘Payback’ a listen with the opulent music video below.

“When you’ve been taught to be the victim for so long, it feels great to stand up and say, no one can bully me”, Kojey says in a simple statement about ‘Payback’ as a single. Talking about the ambitions of his new album, he says, “This is the first time I’ve done it to the scale and ambition of what I speak. Previously it’s been ‘I’m warming, I’m warming, I’m warming up’ – but I’m warm now, put me in the game”, in a press release. ‘Payback’ gets off to a heated start with the brassy refrains of “Dark and bullseyes/the dress code black/Count my money up, I need my racks” in the opening chorus, before Knucks takes the lead for an equally strident verse where he raps about the different qualities that are perceived to represent black success, all of the while that a Saxophone-enhanced bassline and a taut sample-based backdrop helps to glide his vocals above the melodies with a floating flow. There’s references to popular culture, such as the Netflix series ‘Top Boy’, while there’s nods to the sample-based production of Madlib and J Dilla in the richly Funk-influenced backing beats. Some of the strongest lyrics, like “Rap my freedom like a gift/and I ain’t seen the trap since” and “From 1993, I’ve been f***ing up the narrative”, are also the most bold ones, as they speak candidly of finding wealth and measuring power with a nonchalantly poetic flair. There are subtle themes about flexing over your enemies and justice being made, where hooks like “Until we multiply black wealth/**** a statue” and “Don’t let the ivory towers come distract you” make reference to recent cultural events, but it never feels too pretentious or as if Kojey or Knucks are flaunting too much, as black financial generational wealth is the goal instead of personal ambitions within the songwriting. A very fast and furious Hip-Hop anthem with a light touch of Kojey’s undeniably Jazz-oriented and soulful Funk influences, ‘Payback’ comes at you with a hard and honest personality that makes it feel like a cut above the rest. I would have liked to hear a tad more expression from Kojey on his own, as ‘Payback’ shows that a host of collaborators have been behind the steering wheel of it, but this is a strong effort from all involved that gets a lot of the fundamentals right.

Pictured: Cover Artwork for ‘Reason To Smile’ (LP/Album) (Released on March 4th, 2022) (via Atlantic Records)

That’s all for now! Thank you very much for taking a moment out of your day to check out what I had to say, and I’ll be back tomorrow to review some more rhythms as we head back to our teenage years for a new entry of my weekly ‘Scuzz Sundays’ feature. We’ll be listening to a modern classic from one of the few female-led bands of the era who have collaborated with Tom Morello and last released an album in 2021. The single in question was memorably used in the edgy comic book movie ‘Kick-Ass’ that bought Hollywood actors like Chloe Grace Moretz and Aaron Taylor-Johnston to fame.

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New Album Release Fridays: Lady Wray – ‘Under The Sun’

January 28, 2022 — Leave a comment

Pictured: Cover Artwork for ‘Piece Of Me’ (Released on January 28th, 2022) (via Big Crown Records)

Good Morning to you! This is Jacob Braybrooke – as you’ll already expect if you’re a regular reader of the blog – and it’s time for us to sample one of the weekend’s most noteworthy new LP releases with yet another daily track on the blog, since it’s always my day-to-day pleasure to write up about a different piece of music! We’ve almost reached the end of the horrifically long month of January, but, at least we can always rely on Fridays for some potential new additions to our Vinyl collections. This week is really no different, as we have got the comeback album from Salinas-born R&B, Soul and Blues singer-songwriter Lady Wray (aka Nicole Wray, a California native) to look forward to hearing. Based in Virginia, Lady Wray turned heads very early on in her career when her debut single – 1998’s ‘Make It Hot’ – was certified Gold in sales. During her teenage years, Wray was introduced to then-emerging rapper Missy Elliott (Who has, of course, since attained Icon status in contemporary Hip-Hop music for her crossover success), who was searching for a new female singer to sign to The Goldmind Inc – Elliott’s own label. Wray impressed Elliott by performing SWV’s ‘Weal’ and, so, she was the first signee and she inked distribution deals with a larger label, Elektra Records. Arriving today through Big Crown Records, ‘Piece Of Me’ is the follow-up to 2016’s ‘Queen Alone’. In the time since, Wray gave birth to her daughter Melody Bacote in June 2018 and, during April 2020, she married musician Daniel Bacote. Therefore, it will be rather interesting to find out how Wray has matured as an artist through these experiences. She brings the warmth with ‘Under The Sun’ below.

Complemented by a liberating and fun-filled music video that was directed by Daniel Oramas, Wray says about the cheerful single that appears on her new album ‘Piece Of Me’ which is out today, “I wrote ‘Under The Sun’ thinking of summertime and all its perks. When I first heard the production, I immediately thought of warm weather and partying with my friends – just letting go and having a good time”, as she explained to Rated R&B, concluding, “I’m so happy to get this out because we need great, feel-good music these days. Something to make good memories to”, in the interview. As we get off to a bright start with an oriental guitar melody and a Jazz-laden Horn backdrop, Wray soaks in the sun with lyrics like “The sun is out/The wind is free” and “Feel like living under the sun/Feel like laughing under the sun” as she paints a picture-esque visual of deck chairs on the beach and Ice Cream while walking along the prom as colourful lyrics collide with polished percussion to create some atmospheric melodies. Her tone, especially as she croons soulful refrains like “Have a drink, close your eyes/Let yourself be hypnotized” and “Purple clouds, purple dreams/Laying back under the tree” are decidedly mellow, but Wray gives them an upbeat delivery that makes them feel almost as if they rhyme. Uplifting yet downtempo, Wray presents to us an endearing concoction of Neo-Soul and Motown vibes here as she luxuriates in the song’s energy with the simple theme of finding the joy in the small things when the sun’s rays give you a positive mind-set, with some intricate Horn sections and elevated, layered vocals that simply makes you want to change your attitude and, perhaps, turn the volume up in the process. I would say, however, that given how we’re in the midst of the cold and bland month of January that we all seem to dislike, it doesn’t really feel like the proper ‘mood music’ of the time since Wray is celebrating the power of warmth and creating cheerful melodies to mimic the sun’s presence here, and it’s unfortunate to think how the song may have come and gone a little too much by the time that June and July finally roll around to us in 2022. That said, it is also a gentle reminder that the weather will soon change and, in the process, it achieves its goal of being a very light-hearted and charming take on the 00’s summertime R&B style. Although it’s probably coming out at the wrong time as the rain pours down and the wind continually howls here in the UK, it would play better to audiences in places like Australia, where the summertime is currently hitting its peak right now. Wray just also has a distinctly no-nonsense style that sticks out beyond her contemporary peer acts too. An earworm of a vibrant track.

Pictured: Lady Wray (Nicole Wray) in a photoshoot for The Village Voice (2016) (Photo via Big Crown Records)

That is all for today! Thank you for indulging in some radiance with me on the blog today, and I’ll be back tomorrow for the penultimate entry of daily posts before our next installment of my long-running ‘Scuzz Sundays’ feature on the following day. We’re going to be analysing some fresh material from a veteran and well-known indie rock band who were formed in Leeds during 2007 who are currently performing as a trio. They won the Mercury Prize in 2012 with their debut album – ‘An Awesome Wave’.

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Today’s Track: KAINA – ‘Anybody Can Be In Love’

January 13, 2022 — Leave a comment

Pictured: KAINA in an official PR photoshoot for ‘Next To The Sun’ (2019) (Photo Credit: Vacalo Radio.org)

Good Morning to you! My name is Jacob Braybrooke, and it is time to reflect the rising warmth of the slowly arriving Spring with yet another radiant daily track on the blog, by remembering that it has always been my day-to-day pleasure to write up about a different piece of music every day! A Minneapolis-based Alternative R&B singer-songwriter who was raised in Chicago but born of both Venezuelan and Guatemalan heritage, Kaina Castillo (who goes by the shortened name of KAINA when releasing her music) is new to my ears but is definitely worth the mainstream keeping an ear on by these standards of her recent single ‘Anybody Can Be In Love’, a heartfelt track that blends mellow Neo-Soul and early 00’s Garage-Pop influences (Think ‘Flowers’ by Sweet Female Attitude) together warmly. Signed to Berlin-based independent label City Slang Records (The home of artists like Noga Erez and Roosevelt), KAINA has worked with prolific Pop producers such as Sen Morimoto and Luke Titus on her discography that includes 2019’s ‘Next To The Sun’ – her previous album – as well as EP’s like 2016’s ‘Sweet asl’ and 2018’s ‘4U’ that lyrically dealt with the themes of representation and self-identity. Her next album – ‘It Was A Home’ – is set to arrive on March 4th with a few featured guests including Helado Negro and Sleater-Kinney. To coincide with the announcement, KAINA has provided our first taster of her new record with the aforementioned single that is accompanied by a psychedelic music video that was directed by Weird Life Films that clearly takes inspiration from Mr. Rogers TV show with the Utopian visuals. Let’s take a listen to the eminent new track.

The soon-to-be touring musician says, “Anybody Can Be In Love is about letting go and accepting love when it comes to any sort of relationship, romantic or platonic” in her latest press release, adding, “I’ve seen myself and my close friends miss out on a really great moment we’ve wished for or a great relationship because we’re so fixated on getting hurt or being fearful”, as she makes it clear that she aims for the track to make listeners feel inspired to take a chance on the potential around them. Opening with a hazy psych-inflected drum beat and a calm String section that struts along confidently, KAINA opens up her heart with honest lyrics like “Everybody’s looking for a sign that they won’t trust, Missing moments we’ve been dreaming of” that spread a widely relatable message that inspires urgency while getting the point across in a calmly defiant way with mid-tempo String sections and a soulful set of bass guitar riffs that undercut the headstrong lyrics of “Doesn’t take much to get along/Doesn’t take much to take the time” as the chorus meanders along with a vibe of tranquility and clarity. There’s a neat focus on dream-inflicted ambiance where the delicate vocal performance meets in the middle with an intoxicating blend of soft pop melodies and visionary Neo-Soul elements. The textures complement the mellow tone quite nicely too, with a fiercer guitar tone that builds up the call to personal action within the song while not overbearing the illustrious atmosphere of KAINA’s fragile vocals by showing the correct amount of gentle restraint. Whether you choose to love yourself more intimately after hearing the track or taking a chance on somebody around you after hearing the bright track, the message is put across in a clear-cut way that still maintains the warmth of the subtle Soul sound. While ‘Anybody Can Be In Love’ could have possibly done with a few more interesting lyrics, it’s still a poignant little track that encourages seeing the beauty in the simplicity of your surroundings and the sweeping melodies ooze a sense of relaxation that feels wide-eyed and encouraging without feeling overwhelming at any point, and so this is really nice work from KAINA.

Pictured: Cover Artwork for ‘It Was A Home’ (LP) (Available on March 4th, 2022) (via City Slang Records)

That’s all for now! Don’t forget to be kind to yourself today, and I send my love to you for checking out my latest blog post. Exciting developments are here tomorrow as the first part of my year-end list of 2021’s best albums gets published on the site and ‘Way Back Wednesdays’ makes it’s routinely return to the site after a brief few weeks away as we sample the new full-length album from the former frontman of The Maccabees.

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Today’s Track: Khraungbin & Leon Bridges – ‘B-Side’

January 7, 2022 — Leave a comment

Pictured: Khruangbin (Laura Lee, Mark Speer & Donald Johnson) and Leon Bridges (2019) (Photo via Dead Oceans)

Good Morning to you! You’re reading text by the familiar face of the blog, Jacob Braybrooke, and it’s time to put your anxieties on pause for a few minutes as we listen to yet another daily track on the blog, since it’s always been my day-to-day pleasure to write up about a different piece of music every day! Having spent the past three years as an independent music writer, I have learned in my experiences that music often brings together a magical meeting of the minds to blend together. One pair of acts that have issued some robust material in the past together are the Grammy-nominated contemporary Jazz songwriter Leon Bridges and the Houston-based soulful Psych-Funk trio of Khruangbin who host the ‘AirKhruang’ podcast that you can hear via Apple Music and Facebook Live. I’ve written about the Laura Lee-led outfit, with Mark Speer on guitar and Donald Ray ‘DJ’ Johnson on Drums in tow, several times before on the website since I’m already a huge fan of their 60’s Thai-influenced music. In 2020, Bridges and Khruangbin released the ‘Texas Sun’ EP together, and they will be releasing a direct sequel or companion piece to that mellow record entitled ‘Texas Moon’ on 18th February, 2022 via Dead Oceans in partnership with Night Time Stories and Columbia Records. They decided to combine their efforts once again because, as Khruangbin note, “Without joy, there can be no real perspective on sorrow” and “Without sunlight, all this rain keeps things from growing. How can you have the sun without the moon?” in the EP’s product description. It’s going to be an exciting new year for Bridges and Khruangbin, and the five tracks on the new EP offer our first taste of what’s in store for them both and so I’m excited to hear the full results in a brief handful of weeks’ time. Check out their lead single – ‘B-Side’ – below.

Drawing sonically on the shared location of Texas which Bridges and Khruangbin both call home as an influence, the project aims to redefine “how people perceive Texas music – that beautiful marriage of country and r’n’b – and really paying homage to that”, as Bridges also notes in a press release. Filmed in a re-creation of an 1800’s Western village, the music video denotes this idea exponentially and feels right at home with Khruangbin’s installments of the LateNightTales’ compilation series of records that we’ve been following over the last few years. For pre-existing fans of Khruangbin, you already know there isn’t really any major adjustments being made to their sound on ‘B-Side’ with Bridges, however, it’s another stellar guitar performance from Speer and Lee that meshes beautifully with Johnson’s drums to create a tapestry of warm sounds that feel bright and mellow with a light Disco influence, all being dressed in their typically Psychedelic fashion that makes for their winning formula, and so the slick Funk-inflicted grooves and the pounding Bass and Drums combo, make for classic Khruangbin material which feels excellent, if familiar. Bridges’ vocals, meanwhile, are on-point too as he goes for a lovesick Falsetto croon that allows lyrics like “Deeply miss your love/When I’m far away, in another place” and “When I fly above/Weeks roll into days” to feel radiant while having the room to breathe as the pacing feels neat. His soulful style reminds me a lot of Michael Kiwanuka, while the classic, traditional Jazz template of his involvement with the instrumentation is more reminiscent of Curtis Mayfield and so it feels ‘Golden’ overall in terms of sounding vintage without coming across as outdated in any real way. The chorus really captures what it means to be missing somebody, as opposed to just what it feels like, as a result of the engaging vocal performance that blends cohesively with Khruangbin like a hand fits a glove, and so he just feels like another part of the band here and feels connected to them. Overall, there’s nothing that feels massively new here but, once again, the cool synergy between Bridges and Khruangbin clicks together pretty seamlessly and each of the performances are solid. We all know that we’re in really safe hands with these four musicians, and this is another expansion of the ideas the folks have explored together before that’s been created charismatically.

Pictured: Khruangbin performing at Coachella Valley Music & Arts Festival (2019) (Photo by Frazer Harrison)

If you need a reminder of how ‘Texas Sun’ sounded ahead of the successor, you can check out my post about the title track here: https://onetrackatatime.home.blog/2020/01/06/todays-track-khruangbin-feat-leon-bridges-texas-sun/. Alternatively, if you want to read more about Khruangbin, then you can check out ‘Pelota’ here: https://onetrackatatime.home.blog/2020/06/26/todays-post-khruangbin-pelota/. There is also ‘So I Won’t Forget’: https://onetrackatatime.home.blog/2020/05/20/todays-track-khruangbin-so-we-wont-forget/, ‘Time (You and I)’: https://onetrackatatime.home.blog/2020/05/02/todays-track-khruangbin-time-you-and-i/ and ‘Christmas Time Is Here’: https://onetrackatatime.home.blog/2019/12/13/todays-track-khruangbin-christmas-time-is-here/.

Pictured: Cover Artwork for ‘Texas Sun’ (EP) (Released on February 7th, 2020) (via Dead Oceans)

That’s all for now and thank you for continuing to support for the first day or lending a few minutes of your day to it for the first time if you are a new reader. Variety is the splice of life, so we’re going to be looking at some new music from a big name together. Led by Kele Okereke, the 2000’s indie rock band have sold over three million records worldwide and have been known for inflicting their guitar-oriented sound with elements of House music and urban Electronica music. In April 2022, they will be releasing their first new full-length album which will be directly involving the new members of the project who joined up when the original line-up was changed in 2015.

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Today’s Track: Ibibio Sound Machine – ‘Electricity’

November 25, 2021 — Leave a comment

Pictured: Eno Williams (Lead Vocals/Chief Songwriter/Producer), Scott Baylis (Synths/Trumpet), Max Grunhard (Saxophone/Synths), Alfred Kari Bannerman (Lead Guitar/Occasional Backing Vocals), Tony Hayden (Trombone/Synths), Phillip PK Ambrose (Bass Guitar), Anselmo Netto (Percussion) and Joseph Amoako (Drums) performing at the Pool Recording Studio, London for NPR’s ‘World Cafe’ (2019) (Photo via Kimberly Junod/WXPN)

Good Morning to you! I am Jacob Braybrooke, and the time has come for me to take you through yet another eclectic variety of sounds with yet another daily track on the blog, because it has always been my day-to-day pleasure to write up about a different piece of music every day! Led by Eno Williams, Ibibio Sound Machine are a ten-piece Afro Jazz collective that she formed with producers Benji Bouton, Leon Brichard and Max Grunhard in 2013 with their idea of combining the unique vocals of the Ibibio language that she used to speak whilst growing up in Nigeria with both traditional West African and more modern electronic music elements. Although currently based in London, Williams sings her lyrics in both English and the Nigerian tongue of Ibibio, and the group are known for taking their musical inspirations from the golden ages of West African Funk and Dance music, modern Post-Rock and Electro-Pop music. Since forming, the band have been interested in creating music which fuses elements of 1990’s Drum & Bass and 1980’s Afrobeat. The band also notably performed at KEXP’s ‘International Clash Day’ event in January 2019, and they have since linked up with Merge Records to issue 2017’s ‘Uyai’ and 2019’s ‘Doko Mien’ for release, with their self-titled debut album being released on Soundway Records in 2014. Their latest single, ‘Electricity’, was premiered by Lauren Laverne during her breakfast show on BBC Radio 6 Music a pair of weeks ago, and it was recorded in Hot Chip’s studio. The group will also be embarking on a UK tour next March and April, including dates in Bath, Birmingham, Worthing, Newcastle, Manchester, London and Leeds. Let’s give it a spin.

Giving her insight into the direction of the new single ‘Electricity’, frontwoman Eno Williams says, “This one started out as an idea to mix Afrobeat with Giorgio Moroder-style synth vibes”, explaining, “The end section with Alfred’s korogo (Ghanian 2-stringed Folk guitar) solo was already there when we got into the studio, but then we added the big kick drum that happens underneath and Owen from Hot Chip’s crazy drum machine percussion at the end, which gave it a futuristic Afro feel when mixed with the more talking drum parts”, in her press statement. More or less doing my job for me with the press release, ‘Electricity’ is lyrically exploring the connection between different people and the power resource. The instrumentation leans towards an 80’s Synth Pop style, with a buoyant bassline and some tight drum melodies undercut by some more grounded, progressive Synth loops courtesy of the drum machine sequences. The pace builds gradually, starting off with mid-tempo beats and purely Synth-based rhythms before introducing a decent amount of variety with sparse Saxophone melodies and short Horn sections towards the middle. A big crescendo of danceable Synth riffs and more cerebral Jazz production creates a burst of energy in the third fourth of the track, before a longer instrumental section of ritualistic chants and quick, extravagant Horn scatterings rounds off the track before we get a final repeat of the chorus. It brings a somewhat new element to the chorus, where Williams talks about love and speaking from the heart as the simple answer to life’s complexities. An uplifting track with a slightly rougher edge that reminds me of Soccer 96’s ethereal Prog-Jazz production during brief intervals, ‘Electricity’ is a single that is lyrically radiant and evidently listenable. A focused and charming return.

Pictured: Cover Art for ‘Electricity’ (Single) (Released on October 26, 2021) (via Merge Records)

That’s all for now! Thank you for reading my latest post, and it is ‘New Album Release Fridays’ tomorrow, meaning that I’ll be guiding you through one of the weekend’s most notable new album releases. This week’s pick gives you a taste of the new posthumous album by a cult favourite Alabama-born singer-songwriter who sadly left us in March. Encompassing a variety of styles including Blues, Rockabilly and Country – you may know him for opening on-tour for The Hives and The White Stripes in 2007.

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Today’s Track: Vanishing Twin – “Phase One Million”

October 19, 2021 — Leave a comment

Pictured: Blue Vinyl Copy of ‘Ookii Gekkou’ (LP) (Released on October 15th, 2021) (via Fire Records)

Good Morning to you! You are reading the words of Jacob Braybrooke, and now is the time for me to get typing up for yet another daily track on the blog, because it has always been my day-to-day pleasure to write about a different piece of music every day! I hadn’t heard of Vanishing Twin at all until I spotted ‘Phase One Million’ during a recent episode of The New Music Fix, but my research tells me that the Cathy Lucas-led London-based Psychedelic Pop Quintet are one of the few successful groups from the dwindling UK Psych market over the last half decade or so. Although based in London, their line-up features members from across the globe – from Italy to Japan – and this inspired them to explore their global influences when writing their fourth studio album – ‘Ookii Gekkou’ – during the worldwide lockdown months last year, by exploring shifting strands of Afro-Jazz and blending a melting pot of Afro-Jazz and Shoegaze to create a veritable concoction of sounds for the new record, which is the follow-up to 2019’s ‘The Age Of Immunology’, and it was finally released over the past weekend on Fire Records. The quintet’s sound instantly strikes the ears as a blissful combination between Khruangbin and Stereolab, and, according to Pitchfork, “The group’s cosmopolitan membership initially reflected its mission to synthesize psychedelic traditions around the globe, from Tropicalia to Kosmische Rock”, in their approach to non-traditional Pop-Jazz songwriting. Drummer Valentina Magaletti has previously worked with Bat For Lashes and Gruff Rhys on their Neon Neon project, while you might also know leading lady Lucas as a previous member of Fanfarlo. To promote the new record, Vanishing Twin will also be performing gigs in locations like Birkinhead, Edinburgh and Bristol in the coming weeks. Let’s spin ‘Phase One Million’.

The new album has been described by the group as “The sound of ordinary life under a different set of rules, in a place where it’s always night” in a press release, and the imaginative title of ‘Ookii Gekkou’ translates simply to ‘Big Moonlight’ in Japanese, an imaginative title for a record that is determined not to come across as fanciful, instead opting to go down the Stargazing Jazz route that may also draw comparisons to Air and The Comet Is Coming in terms of detailed sonic composition. ‘Phase One Million’ is a soft and rich single that builds up swiftly from an understated groove into something altogether more assured, with lyrics that glide smoothly between intrigue and meanderings. There’s a clear air of Trip-Hop about it throughout the laidback near 5-minute duration, which finds Afrobeat sparring with Electro-Soul in a way that finds the two wrapping up neatly like a comforting blanket, with ambience and Synths that dip into a slightly 80’s Synth Pop feel at very particular points. The percussion fits the visual theme vividly too, with some woozy Synth sequences and a hushed Cowbell melody that gently pulls us through to the end of the track with a confident ease. A set of poetic lyrics like “Lightning striking in the same place twice” and “We are looking for a sign” are contemplating brief ideas of nature and discovery with a light meander, as if we’re travelling through different locales at a brisk, yet otherwise relaxed, pace. It feels accessible in a peculiar way, and it certainly makes me think of acts like Portishead and the type of bands that Oklahoma label Colemine Records would usually promote in how the soothing elements of Disco and Afrobeat mould together in a generous Jazz dressing. In conclusion, ‘Phase One Million’ is an excellent single because it sounds laidback and easy to listen to, while never quite feeling bland due to the slightly more psychedelic and haunting tones that hold the different influences together tidily, and so there is a decent amount of variety to keep the repetitive soundscape from outstaying its welcome. An eclectic, cute, soft Pop hit.

That brings us to the bottom of the page for another day, and thank you for joining me on this journey. I’ll be back for a slice of something retro tomorrow with our weekly ‘Way Back Wednesdays’ selection, where we’ll be rediscovering a 70’s British Folk star who I came across on a recent installment of Cherry Red Records Radio. Her debut album was produced by the famous late BBC Radio 1 host John Peel, and she performed alongside other Art-Folk and Alternative Rock luminaries of the time like David Bowie and Nick Drake in her time on the festival circuit too. In 1974, she was voted as the fifth most popular female singer in that year’s Melody Maker readers poll.

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New Album Release Fridays: Soccer96 (feat. Salami Rose Joe Louis) – ‘Sitting On A Satellite’

September 24, 2021 — Leave a comment

Pictured: Cover Art for ‘Dopamine’ (LP) (Released on September 24th, 2021) (via Moshi Moshi Records)

Good Morning to you! You are reading the words of Jacob Braybrooke, and it’s 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! It has been a very slow week, and so I’m looking forward to taking it all down a notch with the help of the new highly anticipated album release from the London-based Drum and Synth duo Soccer96. There’s also new albums from Public Service Broadcasting, Wigan local heroes The Lathums, Marlowe’s lyricist Solemn Brigham, Merge Records’ label boss Mac MacCaughan, intriguing World-infused UK Drum & Bass producer Zen Dub, and more hitting both digital and physical storefronts for ‘New Album Release Fridays’ this week. As aforementioned, Soccer 96’s new album is one of the few LP releases that I can childishly say that I’ve been ‘Hyped up’ for in a while, based on the quality of their prior work, the singles taken from the album so far, and the general excitement about this release in Alternative music circles. Soccer96 is the side project of keyboardist Dan Leavers (‘Danalogue’) and drummer Max Hallett (‘Betamax’) from the Prog-Jazz trio The Comet Is Coming who, for those still uninitiated, are a terrific London-based Nu-Jazz trio also involving Shabaka Hutchings (‘King Shabaka’) who were nominated for the Mercury Prize in 2016 and were signed to Impulse! Records in 2018. Leavers has produced albums for Ibibio Sound Machine and Snapped Ankles, while Hallett has played the Drums with the likes of Sons Of Kemet and Yussef Kamal, and so the two musicians are very active on the UK’s underground scene. Together, Soccer96 specialise in a really diverse blend of Prog-Jazz, Instrumental Grime, Dark Ambient and Electronica that always feels as fresh and eclectic as ever. Their new album, ‘Dopamine’ – also featuring collaborations with Salami Rose Joe Louis and Nuhu Ruby Ra – is being released digitally today, with a short stint of physical transparent blue/marble brown Vinyl copies set to follow on 15th October, which are limited to just 300 copies on Rough Trade’s website. Check out the latest single below.

‘Dopamine’ is a concept album exploring the narrative of an artificial intelligence programme taking over a human nervous system, a sci-fi vision of a codependency between humans and machines, as the robots only source of dopamine is from people, and vice versa. It began life as a sonic reaction to the graphic novels of Moebius’ Jean Giraud, and the duo displayed one of the revered French artists’ paintings in the middle of their studio when recording the album for inspiration. Hallett told XLR8R, “All musical decisions would centre around this image. It was a depiction of a cosmic traveler gazing across a desert at a sort of crystal city. If the music was resonating with the image then we knew we were on the right path” in an interview. As a single itself, ‘Sitting On A Satellite’ is very obedient to these visual ideas, with the two very talented players conjuring up an Astral set of themes with the Space-Age synths, the hazily atmospheric tones and the pulsating drum rhythms that give the duo the platform to express themselves creatively with no ties to their previous projects, giving them ample creative freedom in their approach. The vocals, meanwhile, are highly processed and they seem to depict the double alter-ego system of an AI gaining human consciousness. Together, everything makes for a very hypnotic and entrancing blend of refreshing keyboard sections, laidback Drum grooves and intoxicated vocals that give off a wonky feel to the eclectic graphical influences. There feels like less of a Grime influence that we heard on The Comet Is Coming, but the London Jazz blueprints are still intact, with a colourful set of ambient instrumentals and broad sweeps of percussion that bring the duo’s niche cyber-imagination of androids to life. All in all, this is an inventive and visually creative twist on Progressive Jazz – with some vibrant experimentation and some Gorillaz-esque vocals that just orbit around the listeners ears with a calm confidence.

Pictured: Dan Leavers (Keyboard/Synths) and Max Hallett (Drums) (2021) (Photo by William Barnes)

As mentioned above, we’re all great fans of The Comet Is Coming on the blog, and, to help them take off, we’ve covered some more of their spacey stuff on the blog. Check out ‘Lifeforce Part II’ here: https://onetrackatatime.home.blog/2019/09/28/todays-track-the-comet-is-coming-lifeforce-part-2/

Pictured: Betamax & Danalogue with King Shabaka Hutchings in The Comet Is Coming (2019) (via PR)

That’s all for now! Thank you for joining me on the blog, and I’ll be back for more tomorrow. Join me then for something a little more radio-friendly (But still quite cool) single from a Liverpool-formed indie band who have been around since 2003. The band, known for the frontman’s smarky witticisms and realistic depictions of young adult issues, have released music for 14th Floor Records and Bright Antenna Records, and the veteran rockers have sold over one million copies of their albums worldwide.

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