Today’s Track: Raf Rundell – “Monsterpiece”

January 19, 2021 — 1 Comment

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

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

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

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

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

Thank you for reading my latest blog post! We’re going “Way Back” tomorrow for the latest post in our weekly Wednesday feature, where we take an in-depth listen back to music pre-dating the 2000’s – influencing each of the different types of sound that we love today. Tomorrow’s track goes down the Ambient Pop and the Space-Rock route, as we rediscover a late-90’s favourite from a French Prog-Rock duo who produced the soundtrack of the same name for “The Virgin Suicides”, a Sofia Coppola-directed drama film that was released in 1999. If you really liked what you just read, why not follow the blog to get notified when every new daily post is up and why not like the Facebook page here?: https://www.facebook.com/OneTrackAtATime/

Way Back Wednesdays: Digable Planets – “Rebirth Of Slick (Cool Like Dat)”

January 6, 2021 — Leave a comment

As Booker T would have said around that time – Can you dig it, Sucka? New Post time!

Pictured: Ishmael Butler, Ladybug Mecca and Craig Irving (2005) (Photo Credit: LasVegasWeekly.com)

Good Morning to you, I’m Jacob Braybrooke, and I’m here to – you guessed it! – get typing up your daily track on the blog, since it’s always my day-to-day pleasure to write up about a different piece of music every day. Never mind the “Rebirth Of Slick” – it’s the “Birth of a New Era” here on the blog today – because this is my first entry in a brand new weekly feature. “Way Back Wednesdays” (…See what I did there?) is a new weekly entry where, each Wednesday, we take an in-depth look back at an influential cut or a rarity, that was released pre-2000. I feel this is just a decent way to get more broader, classic music thrown into the mix, to go along with all of my new release-based output that runs on the blog throughout a typical week. Digable Planets was the brainchild of Ishmael Butler, Craig Irving and “Ladybug Mecca” Marianna during the 1980’s and 90’s, a trio of Hip-Hop chic who you could label under the umbrella of “Boom Bap” Hip-Hop artists like A Tribe Called Quest, Public Enemy and Nas, who were emerging in contemporary rap culture of the time. Interestingly, they never set out to be a “Jazz-Rap” group – they simply made use of Jazz-infused samples and using the resources that were available for them to use, being as creative as their composition practices would allow by experimenting with the tools at their disposal. “Rebirth Of Slick (Cool Like Dat)” was their first single, and it became the lead single of their debut LP, “Reachin’ (A New Refutation of Time and Space)”, released in 1993 via Pendulum. The track got to #15 in the US Billboard Hot 100 charts, and it was certified as Gold by the RIAA shortly after, with the sales figure of 500,000 units. Thanks to today’s tech – You can still check out the music video below.

Although the track was never intended to be a “Hit” – It still earned the group the Grammy Award for Best Rap Performance by a Duo or Group in 1994. Sadly, it seems that it was not really meant to last for Digable Planets. Their second album, “Blowout Comb” – released in 1994 – failed to match the success of their original LP effort, leaving the group to follow their own paths and begin their own seperate projects, although there have been a few notable reunions in the decades since. Nonetheless, “Rebirth Of Slick (Cool Like Dat)” would have been an impossible development in Experimental Hip-Hop and Sample-Delia at the time, even if Ishmael Butler likes to now record his own left-field Funk music under the alias of “Shabazz Palaces” in these trying times. It was anchored from a sample of the 1979 track “Stretching” by Art Blakey & The Jazz Messengers, whereby the trio interlace fragmented Trumpet breaks and smart, catchy Acid Synth rhythms. Butler raps about childhood and the political awareness of underground hip-hop records in the first verse, while Marianna raps about the feel of unity that it encourages in the second verse, and Irving jumps in with a verse on the expression of ethnicity through hip-hop culture at the end. The “Cool Like Dat” refrain changes to “Chill Like Dat” and “I’m Peace Like Dat” throughout the process, and the combined “We Jazz Like Dat/We Freak Like That” hook at the end sets a table for the trio’s lofty musical ambitions. The sound is confident and polished – with vintage Saxophone riffs and light-hearted dribbles of Acid Synths crafting a satisfying, mid-tempo Jazz-Aura aesthetic, which has been created uniquely through sampled materials. The “Boom Bap” production feels less aggressive on this release, in juxtaposition with their peers of the time. However, it creates an atmosphere of “Slickness” and “Cool” that makes it an enjoyable listen – due to a relaxing Lounge-Jazz vibe, and it still remains to be the chemistry of the three musicians that makes it work – and so it jostles happily through the spectrum of Hip-Hop self-aggrandization.

Pictured: Cover Art for “Reachin’ (A New Refutation Of Time and Space)” (1993) (via Pendulum Records)

Thank you for taking the time out of your day to read my exciting, new post! As always – you can join me for more of the same tomorrow, where we’ll be taking an in-depth look at a more recent release that you may have missed throughout the last year. We’re going into Electronic/IDM territory tomorrow, with a single from a San Francisco-based producer who is often compared to the likes of Boards Of Canada and Ulrich Schnauss in the ways that he merges natural sounds with synth beats. You may also know him as ISO50 for his graphic design and photography work. 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 Avalanches – “Music Makes Me High”

December 11, 2020 — Leave a comment

The light in my life is going out tonight without a flicker of regret. Time for a new post!

Pictured: Cover Art for “We Will Always Love You” (Released on Dec 11th, 2020) (via Universal Music)

Good Morning to you! My name is Jacob Braybrooke, and it’s now time for me to get typing up all about your 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’s New Release Friday – and although there’s a new EP out today by Foster The People, which you should also check out – since you’re reading my words, we’re going to take a look at the third LP collection to come from The Avalanches, “We Will Always Love You”, who are one of my TOP tier favourite artists. The album is full of 25 sample-delia and plunderphonics tracks that explore cosmic themes, spirituality and what it means to be human. The narrative of the album was inspired by an idea that voices of lost records and lost artists are floating around in space to send out transmissions – with the concept also being inspired by the romantic tale of Ann Druyan, creative director of the Golden Voyager project, whose heartbeat was captured for the Golden Record on the day after Carl Sagan proposed to her, whose image is imposed on the cover artwork of the record after the sound waves were processed through a Spectogram, and turned into the image. Now comprised of Robbie Chater and Tony Di Biasi, the duo are most famous for 2000’s “Since I Left You”, a debut record that, no pressure to the two, really changed the way that we make music. “Wildflower” followed a lengthy 16 years later, and seemed to get a more mixed general reception, but I felt it was an excellent album in it’s own right. Let’s sample the track “Music Makes Me High” below.

At least it only took them four years this time… Along with some help, of course. Released today via Modular Recordings, the new long-player features a staggering guest line-up including MGMT, Johnny Marr, Kurt Vile, Tricky, Sampa The Great and more – alongside guests such as Neneh Cherry, Blood Orange, Rivers Cuomo and Sananda Maitreya (formerly Terrence Trent D’Arby) who have already appeared on the singles. It’s staggering to think how it was back in February that we heard our first tease of their new effort, but it’s now finally here. In an interview with NME, I can recall Robbie and Tony explaining how “Music Makes Me High”, their new promotional single of the time, was largely a throwback to the style of music which they grew up listening to. There are definitely prominent elements of Detroit House and Chicago Soul here, with a very vintage genre of sound which, you could argue, inhabits the qualities and values that Robbie and Tony are all about as artists – Scavengers of an endless record collection – that harken back to the roots of their sample-based production flair. Sampling hallucinogenic beats from Salty Miller’s track of the same title, and The Devoted Souls 80’s anthem “Keep On (Holding On)”, the vocals retain a lighthearted feel of a wild, drug-induced night out, while the short and snappy synth loops give the track an upbeat, funky feel. The short samples of cheering crowds remind me of the adventurous, earthly vibes of “Since I Left You”, and the brief Gospel backing vocals add some weight to the track’s cooling effects of it’s hook. While the track probably might not be for everybody’s cup of tea due to it’s lack of the sonic qualities found on their more hip-hop oriented work, I think the layout is very impressive, as the central sample pulls together with the push-and-pull production to form a clean, unified sound. The gift of The Avalanches’ work of repurposing old samples into a format that feels imaginative, and this track really emphasizes those abilities of the duo’s ever-present desire to uplift – and renew, in the face of adversity.

Pictured: The Avalanches (Robbie Chater & Tony Di Blasi) in a press shot for “Wildflower” (2016) (via PR)

It’s been a long singles run for the duo in the lead-up to today’s album release, and we’ve covered some of the bases already here on the blog. Check out my review for the first teaser, from way back in February – and the titular track – here: https://onetrackatatime.home.blog/2020/02/21/todays-track-the-avalanches-feat-blood-orange-we-will-always-love-you/, followed by the second single, “Running Red Lights”, here: https://onetrackatatime.home.blog/2020/03/20/todays-track-the-avalanches-feat-rivers-cuomo-pink-siifu-running-red-lights/, and finally, we also took a look at “Wherever You Go”, of which you can read up on my feelings on here: https://onetrackatatime.home.blog/2020/07/23/todays-track-the-avalanches-feat-jamie-xx-neneh-cherry-clypso-wherever-you-go/

Pictured: Mural promoting “We Will Always Love You” in Melbourne, Australia (2020) (via Stereogum)

Thank you for putting up with my latest love letter to The Avalanches. Happy Listening! Wherever You Go, don’t miss out tomorrow’s post on the blog, which highlights some more alternative Festive music, this time being a comedic single that came in the 1960’s from a Country and R&B singer-songwriter who has been inducted into the Nashville Songwriters Hall Of Fame and the Christian Music Hall Of Fame. 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: Genesis Owusu – “Don’t Need You”

November 6, 2020 — 1 Comment

I wonder what this Canberra-born rapper has in his bandage of tricks! New post time!

Pictured: Genesis Owusu in a press shot for the Red Bull House Party (in 2020) (Photo via RedBull.com)

Wow, I can’t believe it’s Friday again already. I’m Jacob Braybrooke, and It’s time for me to write to you about today’s anthem on the blog, because it has always been my day-to-day pleasure to write up about a different piece of music every day! This weekend seems very light on new album releases, so we’re going to take an in-depth look at a track from earlier in the year that I probably wish I’d got around to actually typing words about here sooner. I give you “Don’t Need You” by Genesis Owusu. I’m the Head Of Music at OMG Radio at Staffordshire University, and this is a track that I discovered back in September through The Current’s Song Of The Day podcast. I rather liked it on first impressions, so I gave it a spot on the C-List. It’s been climbing the rankings of our daytime rotation list, and I’d finally moved it up to the A-List yesterday for the next week or so. This is a real grower for Genesis Owusu – who is an Ghanian-Australian producer, rapper and lyricist from Canberra who once performed as the opening act for 5 Seconds Of Summer for their sold-out charity benefit concert in Sydney last year. He is also the brother of fellow Canberran songwriter Citizen Kay. This was just a one-off single release. Warm your ears up for “Don’t Need You” below.

Owusu’s earlier track, “WUTD”, was once used for a Bose Noice Cancelling Headphones advertising campaign last year, and Owusu’s track “Sideways” received national airplay on the Triple J radio station over in the States last year, so it’s fair to say that Owusu is no stranger to a little bit of mainstream attention here and there, despite sticking to his guns as an Alternative R&B and Trip-Hop artist. “Don’t Need You” really struck me with it’s hybridity of Funk-Rock, Trip-Hop, R&B and Neo-Soul influences, which taps into melodies and harmonies that seem very eclectic and dynamic. The tone shifts around all over the place, but in a good way. Owusu opens with a somber mood, as he sings: “Once I left your crazy a**, I took a therapy session” over the top of a washing ambience created by the gentle keyboard keys. A burst of energy leads into an off-kilter Funk instrumental as Owusu raps: “Said, I can’t leave my bed today/You tied me on my chest again” in the first verse. The bridge raises the intensity of the groove-driven melodies with a fragmented strobe effect that weaves through Owusu’s lyrics as he recites: “Wait, could this be true? I don’t like you, I don’t like you” with a slightly Falsetto-led delivery. It reminds me a little bit of David Byrne from Talking Heads and Jim Morison of Carter The Unstoppable Sex Machine, but not too closely to either of them individually. That’s a really good thing, because this also allows to Owusu to add some humor to the lyrics about self-empowerment and independence, with laugh-out-loud hooks like: “I said your a** is stinky, and you built like a mole/And I’ll boot your a** to London if you can’t take a stroll” that land on the surface of the wonky production details. There’s also a subtle touch of melancholy in places, as Owusu raps: “Same tricks/How’d you do me like that?” in a rhythmic interlude that evokes a more 00’s-leaning fusion of R&B and Chicago Soul. I think that what Owusu manages to do is rather exciting, and it feels original. The wonky delivery of the synths and the instrumental sections appeal to me as a lover of Alternative music, whilst the chorus feels hook-oriented and melodic enough for some decent crossover appeal for the more mainstream types of listeners. All around, it’s very solid indeed. This is interesting, eclectic and, above all, a lot of fun. Can’t you see he’s rich?

Pictured: Cover Artwork for "Don't Need You" (Single) (Released on May 15, 2020) (via Ourness Pty Ltd.) — Pictured: Cover Artwork for “Don’t Need You” (Single) (Released on May 15, 2020) (via Ourness Pty Ltd.)

Thank you for reading my latest blog post! As always, I’ll be back tomorrow, for an in-depth look at some brand new music from a fresh Alternative Rock/Lo-Fi Punk band who come from Galway on the West Coast of Ireland, who performed a live session for Steve Lamacq’s Drivetime show on BBC Radio 6Music yesterday. 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: Public Enemy (feat. George Clinton) – “When The Grid Go Down…”

November 4, 2020 — Leave a comment

If you don’t like this one…You may be a rap fan’s Public Enemy #1! It’s new post time!

Pictured: Flavor Flav and Chuck D at a festival (2014) (Photo Credit: Tim Mosenfelder/Getty Images)

Well…vhere we are again! Good Morning to you, I’m Jacob Braybrooke and I’m typing up your daily post on the blog, because it’s always my day-to-day pleasure to get writing to you about a different piece of music every day! If you’ve not heard of Public Enemy, then you must have been living under a rock for the past few decades! They’ve been going ever since the late-1980’s, and they have been known for their very political, hard-edged styles of hip-hop experiments, with critic Stephen Thomas Erwleine of AllMusic naming them “the most influential and radical band of their time”. With the current US election, it’s intriguing to see them making a return to the public eye. It’s down to the current lineup of Chuck D and Flavor Flav – along with Bassist Davy DMX and a few more who were not part of the group’s original lineup, to put their unique spin on contemporary themes and socio-economic ideas. “What You Gonna Do When The Grid Goes Down” is their latest album, and it saw the classic act go old-school with the release dropping on Def Jam. It’s their fifteenth studio album, and their first under the “Public Enemy” name since 2017 (as they released “Loud Is Not Enough” as ‘Public Enemy Radio’ earlier in 2020). The new album features a star-studded guest list including DJ Premier, Run-DMC, Nas, Mark Jenkins and more. The album had a quick turnaround from it’s announcement and it’s release, and there seems to be a fairly mixed reception to Public Enemy’s latest, although it skews positive. The opening track is “When The Grid Go Down..”, which brings together the rap icons with the bona-fide Funk legend George Clinton. Let’s take a listen below.

With lyrics like “All around/Without the sound/Uncle Jam’s army” and “We are here/What you gonna do when the grid go down?” bursting through a distorting stock radio effect, “When The Grid Go Down” is a short and sweet introduction just shy of 2 minutes long that signals the return of the beloved Hip-Hop group as we lead into “GRID”, the first full-length track on the new album. The vocals play on themes of Public Enemy being “heroes” in a time of distress, further teasing ideas of mature rebellion and social activism to be consistently explored throughout the sound of the record. Some of these lyrics stick out to me, like “Socially Engineered Anarchy Induced Chaos” and “One against the other, Him against his brother” that are recited under a smoky, washing backing vocal from Clinton. These themes of standing up to authority as a group and repelling political degrades as a union feel rather reflective of the Funk music that Clinton used to make with Funkadelic and Parliament in the late-1970’s, with a light guitar brushing that sounds neo-psychedelic and punk-driven enough to bat a few eyelids, for me, anyways. The subtle hip-hop breakbeat comes into the fray at the midway mark, with a heavy melody being teased by the gradually increasing tempo and raising intensity on the harsh, abrasive drum beats that skitter along to the hip-hop instrumental beats at a speedy and prevalent pace. Although this is clearly more of a skit or interlude rather than a fully fleshed-out track, it manages to fulfill it’s role of establishing a few key themes for the album in a melodic and nicely thought-out way. Although the ideas of rebellion in unity are the ideas that Public Enemy have been playing around with for years, they are still relevant, if a little generic at this point. It’s a little bit dis-spiriting to see that most of the original line-up hasn’t come back for this outing, but Flavor Flav and Chuck D have done a good job in working with the resources they still have access to. Overall, I’d like to see the classic rap act bring a couple of fresher ideas to the table, but the hazy production of this teaser/intro is a solid affair that feels drawing and expansive. Although I know exactly what to expect from the record, it still makes me intrigued to see where it will go. The psychedelic vibes point towards a Gorillaz-esque colour of hip-hop experimentation. All in all, the concepts may feel tired, but this sounds like it’s going to be a good thing.

Pictured: Cover Artwork for "What You Gonna Do When The Grid Goes Down?" (Album/LP) (Released on September 25th, 2020) (via Def Jam Recordings) — Pictured: Cover Artwork for “What You Gonna Do When The Grid Goes Down?” (Album/LP) (Released on September 25th, 2020) (via Def Jam Recordings)

Thank you very much for reading my new post! Always one to celebrate an eclectic mix of playlist selections, I am going to be switching up styles again tomorrow – as we take a look at the recent solo project of a female producer and composer who is best known for being one-half of the influential indie rock duo The XX. 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: Janelle Monáe – “Turntables”

October 19, 2020 — Leave a comment

A few tables continue to turn for this international activist. It’s time for your new post!

Pictured: Cover Artwork for “Turntables” (Single) (Released on September 15th, 2020) (via WMG)

The tables are about to turn! Good Morning, I am Jacob Braybrooke and I’m here to write about your daily track on the blog, because it’s my day-to-day pleasure to write about a different piece of music every day! “Turntables” is the new single from Janelle Monae, a well-known US rapper, songwriter, actress, producer and activist. She has received eight Grammy nominations in her career and she won Billboard’s Women in Music Rising Star Award in 2015 and Billboard’s Trailblazer Of The Year Award in 2018. As a matter of fact, the Boston City Council has also named October 16th as “Janelle Monae Day”, since 2013, in the city of Boston (in the state of Massachusetts) in celebration of her work as an empowering female activist. 2018’s “Dirty Computer” was an absolute hit for Monae, both critically and commercially, and Monae has been breaking into the Hollywood acting world on the side, having starred in 2015’s Oscar Best Picture-winning film “Moonlight” and 2016’s award-nominated “Hidden Figures”. Her latest film project is “All In: The Fight For Democracy”, an Amazon Studios-created documentary about suppression of electoral voting in the US, and it features and was produced by Stacey Abrams. The documentary was released on September 18th, and it is available now on Amazon Prime Video. You probably think I’ve missed a trick by putting this blog post up on October 19th, just a few days shy of Boston’s day dedicated to her work, but I only began my research on the day after, so be it. Let’s hear her rap on “Turntables” below.

Janelle Monae is also starring in the new film “Antebellum”, and she laid out an explanation to Entertainment Weekly, via a recent interview, on why she decided to combine the two worlds of her Hollywood career and her music creativity to come off an informal hiatus from producing rap music to write the track, replying: “Right now, I am focused on turning the election in our favor and I hope this song can inspire those who are on the ground doing the work.”, and there is a clear level of confidence and awareness that you can easily take away from “Turntables”, whether you’re a casual listener or a more hardcore variety of music fan. Monae is never afraid to speak strong words on the track for the causes that she genuinely believes in, mixing her sharp one-liners like “Cookin’ with my crisco, Look at where my fist go” and “You gaslight, ’bout to meet your match” and more politically-charged lyrics like “I got a new agenda, with a new dream/I’m kicking out the old regime” and “America, you a lie/But the whole world ’bout to testify” with an upbeat and rhythmic hip-hop delivery, over the top of a smooth set of subtle gospel backing vocals and quick splashes of classic Jazz instrumentation. It creates an old-school Funk vocal sensibility of togetherness and unity, while feeling contemporary in it’s headstrong approach. The rap verses also have a tinge of 80’s Soul to their pitch, with the anticipation of excitement creeping in as Monae repeats the lines of “Turn, turn, turn, The tables got to.” above an uptempo drum beat and a bass guitar riff which lightly courses along to her backing vocals. The emphasis is placed on Monae’s vocal performance, and it pays off very well, because Monae simply knows what she is protesting about, and her passion really shines through her vocals, which sound direct and straightforward without feeling too formulaic and/or controversial. The classic hip-hop elements don’t progress much beyond Monae’s initial idea and the overall themes of the track sound very simple and clear-cut. However, it results in some upbeat helpings of classic Jazz Fusion beats for you to nod your head along to, and it promotes a sensible and relevant message. Even though it’s probably not her best work musically, it’s perfectly suited for the times and Monae puts in a passionate, strong vocal performance that deserves recognition and feels true to herself, despite tying in to a movie marketing campaign. This gives me hope that a few tables do turn.

Pictured: Janelle Monáe at The Castlefield Bowl, Manchester (in 2019) (Photo Credit: Melanie Smith)

Thanks for reading my new blog post! Please don’t forget to join me again tomorrow, where we’ll be taking an in-depth listen to the groovy new dance track from an Australian Disco-Pop band who we have covered on the blog previously, although it was months ago now. The band are comprised up of members who inhabit funny characters, and they have performed at music festivals such as Splendour In The Grass and Falls Festival. They won AIR’s award for “Best Independent Dance/Electronica Album” for their debut LP, in 2019. 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: Dylan Cartlidge – “Yellow Brick Road”

October 10, 2020 — Leave a comment

Are you off to see The Wizard Of Oz, or the Wozard Of Iz? It is time for your new post…

Pictured: Cover Art for “Yellow Brick Road” (EP) (Released on August 14th, 2020) (via Glassnote Records)

Good Morning to you! My name is Jacob Braybrooke, and I’ve arrived to type up your daily track of the blog, because it is always my day-to-day pleasure to get writing up about a different piece of music every day! A 23-year-old Rapper and Songwriter who grew up in a small town in North-East Yorkshire, Dylan Cartlidge has become a local celebrity after starring in the BBC documentary, “The Mighty Redcar”, and touring the local bars with his band, Bi: Lingual, before garnering radio support from BBC Radio DJ’s Annie Mac, Huw Stephens, Jack Saunders, Phil Taggart and Matt Wilkinson. Since then, Cartlidge has been garnering some attention from the United States, which includes a recent appearance on KEXP’s virtual live session series of “KEXP From Home” and a live session at The Current’s Day Party in Austin, Texas last year. Dylan Cartlidge has also performed at music festivals including SXSW, Reading and Leeds Festival, and most notably, BBC Radio 1’s Big Weekend in Middlesborough last year. In slightly more recent times, Dylan Cartlidge has been collaborating with the critically-acclaimed producer James Dring (Gorillaz, Jamie T) on his latest EP release, “Yellow Brick Road”, which was released on August 14th, on Glassnote Records in the UK/US and AWAL Recordings in international territories. Let’s listen to the titular track below.

“Yellow Brick Road” has managed to reach the #40 position of the Billboard Alternative Chart in the US, and Cartlidge explained via a press release that “It’s about how fear and self-sabotage can dump the weight of the world on your shoulders in your most hard-earned moments, but it’s also about how overcoming all of this can be as simple as putting one foot in front of the other and stepping into the unknown”, and a few other critics have noted in his abilities to deconstruct the genres that he grew up with up to an eclectic, pastiche style, to which Cartlidge has responded: “I don’t want to sound preachy or like I’m trying to fix all the world’s problems. If people want to listen to my music and just groove, they can, but if people relate to it that’s great.”, and I feel that “Yellow Brick Road” demonstrates a decent talent for Cartlidge in writing new music that undoubtedly has an accessibility intact, but it also feels alternative enough to work in more non-commercial situations. Now that I’m aware that he’s worked with one of the producers for Gorillaz and Jamie T on the track, I can sense the similarities between these sounds, but it’s still a lot of fun, and I think that he deserves a few extra points just for that Afro alone. On the new EP’s title track, he mixes a motivational Hip-Hop sensibility with a 70’s Neo-Psychedelic Funk sound. He also performs his lyrics with an off-kilter sensibility, over the top of an interweaving synth pattern, as he delivers sharp rhymes like “Grabbing for it like you would pitch em’ at the store/No real vision for where you were heading for” and “Stop-Motion, Everybody’s ghostin”, over the top of bizzare backing vocals and drum beats that skitter unevenly. The chorus, however, is a little more guitar-driven and the off-kilter production settles to a calmer sequence of patterns, and a rush of bass bursts through as Cartlidge recites: “Petals in your necklace got me so in the zone” and the uptempo moods of self-reward lurk in with “Better stop your no-shows and carry on with hello, ‘Cause you got me running ’round this yellow brick road”, a chorus that he recites with a brisk confidence whenever it gets repeated. Mostly, it sounds like Beck to me, with some delightfully obscure rap hooks which embrace a little absurdity and humour, and we’ve also got a bunch of lines that don’t make a great deal of sense, but they fit the theme of the track and just gel together well. I feel the chorus has a bit too much of a “record-label” feel to it, for my two cents, and I think the overall messages of the track, although relevant, are a bit generic and they could have probably been developed a little bit further to help flesh out the influences that he’s been stringing together more evenly. However, for the most part, it’s all very positive. There is clearly something in the way of talent to Cartlidge here, and his small-town background has a fresh intrigue in going around this. As I mentioned before, extra points for THE Afro!

Pictured: Dylan Cartlidge at The Current’s Day Party in Austin, Texas (2019) (Photo via Colleen Cowie)

Thank you for reading this post! Don’t forget that tomorrow marks the spot for a new weekly installment in our year-spanning “Scuzz Sundays” feature, where we re-evaluate the presentation of a late 90’s-mid 00’s Emo-Rock or Pop-Punk classic single, and we see whether it can hold up to quality in the modern times! We’ve got a real heavy-hitter on the way tomorrow from an iconic British Goth-Punk band, a female-led affair, who are very popular in the wider mainstream of Europe! 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: Pan Amsterdam (feat. GUTS) – “Carrot Cake”

October 9, 2020 — Leave a comment

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

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

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

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

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

Thanks for checking out your daily blog post! I’ll be back tomorrow to kick off the weekend with an in-depth look at a track which was released earlier in the Spring by an artist who recently appeared on KEXP’s “Live At Home” series of virtual gigs. He has also performed at BBC Radio 1’s Big Weekend festival, and he has earned praise from radio broadcasters including Annie Mac, Huw Stephens and Jack Saunders. None of his two songs are the same! If you really liked what you just read, why not follow the blog to get notified when every new daily post is up and why not like the Facebook page here?: https://www.facebook.com/OneTrackAtATime/

Scuzz Sundays: Transplants – “Diamonds and Guns”

September 13, 2020 — Leave a comment

Diamonds Are Forever, or will they disappear with this 2002 tune? It’s Scuzz Sunday…

Pictured: Cover Art for “Transplants” (Self-Titled) (Released on October 21st, 2002) (via Hellcat Records)

Good Morning! My name is Jacob Braybrooke and I’m writing about your daily track on the blog, as per usual, because it’s my day-to-day pleasure to do so! We’ve reached yet another installment of Scuzz Sundays on the blog, which means that it’s time for our weekly look back at an Emo-Rock or Pop-Punk relic released between the late-1990’s and mid-2000’s, named as a way of tribute to the now-defunct rock music video TV channel Scuzz, to see if the classics haven’t lost their quality. “Diamonds and Guns” reached #27 on the UK Singles Chart in 2002, and it was performed by the US Pop-Punk/Rap-Metal 3-piece collective, Transplants. This was mainly a side project of Rancid’s Tim Armstrong and Death March’s Rob Aston (also known as ‘Skinhead Rob’), who later recruited Blink-182’s Travis Barker as their drummer, and they officially formed the trio and started the new project. This came with a self-titled LP that was released in the same year, via Hellcat Records. Since then, it hasn’t seen a great deal of longevity as Transplants have been on-and-off hiatus, once in 2003 and then again in 2010, but they’ve had three album releases under their wing in the time since. Most recently, the group released “In A Warzone”, in 2013. Their self-titled LP, however, reads like a who’s-who of the commercial pop-punk scene of their time, in terms of the guest list. It included contribution’s from AFI’s Davey Havok, The Distillers’ Brody Dalle, The Nerve Agents’ Eric Ozenne and several more, even including Armstrong’s Rancid bandmates Matt Freeman and Lars Fredricskon. Their biggest commercial hit, “Diamonds and Guns” features Funkdoobiest’s Son Doobie, and all four of these guys star in the official music video, which Epitath Records have thankfully preserved for your enjoyment below. Let’s have a listen back to “Diamonds and Guns”, down below.

With audio production of the self-titled LP being handled by Tim Armstrong and Dave Carlock in Armstrong’s basement, this came across slightly more as an independently written “passion project”, as opposed to a label-driven and manufactured release that some of Transplant’s members native bands were likely subject to. Surprisingly, the single opens with an insistent Piano melody that basically glides along the top of a rolling, cascading guitar loop, above a woozy, neo-psychedelic backing vocal. The lead vocals feel mellow at first, with Armstrong reciting: “Bombs going off in Sierra Leone/Taken more shots than Karl Malone” over the top of zany bass guitar hooks. As we get to the chorus, it begins to sound more tense and rickety. The band chant: “It’s a wicked world that we live in/It’s cruel and unforgiving” under a slick reverb effect, before pulsating lines of drum synths introduce a more sonic direction to the palette. Alas, it never goes full-throttle drum and bass, since we settle into the fluttering piano hook and the bitter guitar patterns again. The lyrics are hard-hitting and of a darkly political subject matter, with the lines: “From those who bust shots to those who stuff cops, To those who serve rocks on all the hard blocks” sticking out among the rest in particular. Overall, it feels like more a fusion of psychedelic rock and rap-rock than pop-punk and rap-metal, and I think it works pretty strongly, unexpectedly so. It sounds fairly experimental for the three guys involved, and I imagine the creative freedom that comes off, essentially, a side-project like this, does them a few favours for this. The rap interlude reminds me of Gorillaz’ “Clint Eastwood” (Which came out a year prior) with Doobie’s blunted delivery and stifling lyricism, with pleasantly dark classic rock sensibilities that evoke The Rolling Stones’ “Sympathy For The Devil” to me. These results feel quite inspired, and these characteristics give it it’s unique edge.

Pictured: Tim Armstrong (Lead Vocals/Lead Guitar), Robert Aston (Bass Guitar/Backing Vocals) and Travis Barker (Drums/Percussion/Sampling/Loops) (in 2013) (Photo Credit: Jason Tate/Chorus.fm)

Thank you for reading this post! As always, I’ll be back tomorrow to kick off another seven days worth of daily musings. We will be starting off the week with an in-depth look at a recent single from a Malian 4-piece rock group who have made the track their first to ever be sung entirely in English. This band were formed in Bamako after they were forced to leave their homes in response to the Malian Civil War in 2012 and the resulting imposition of Sharia law. 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: Marlowe – “Future Power Sources”

September 9, 2020 — 1 Comment

From my experience, I’ve learned that BBQ is a very reliable sauce. It’s new post time!

Pictured: Marlowe (L’Orange & Solemn Brigham) in a press shot to promote “Marlowe 2” (2020) (via PR)

Good Morning! I am Jacob Braybrooke and, just like always, I’m typing up 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! If you have not heard of Marlowe before, this is a collaborative alternative rap project comprised from the duo of L’Orange, a Seattle-based producer, and Solemn Brigham, a rapper and lyricist based in North Carolina. L’Orange’s quickfire vinyl samples and experimental electronic beats conjoin with Brigham’s vocals, concerning social commentary and global poverty, to mark a neo-psychedelic take on the more old-fashioned, melodic Hip-Hop sounds that were being explored by the likes of A Tribe Called Quest and Public Enemy in the late-1980’s. This is still a rather green act, with the duo making their debut just two years ago with “Marlowe”, a self-titled album, which was released in July 2018. A full two years later, L’Orange and Solemn Brigham are now back with “Marlowe 2”, the direct sequel and follow-up to their self-titled album, which was released on August 7th, via Mello Music Group. Let’s take a gander to the sampler, “Future Power Sources”, below.

Looking to underground icon DJ Trackstar (the DJ and engineer for Run The Jewels) to help them co-produce the new track, “Future Power Sources” sees Solemn Brigham spin a surrealist spoken word rap about self-development, personal growth and reflective maturation over the top of an ever-flowing, scratched Industrial electronic beat that provides a zany and kinetic flow to the methodical, classic hip-hop sound being produced overall by the duo. It creates an authoritative and left-field backdrop to the evolving soundscape, and L’Orange fills the track with quick clips and fast samples to add a witty undertone to Brigham’s more serious vocals, while the latter recites: “Brand new day, put your face on” and “Better find another model/I’ve been holding on the bottle, like a new dad” at a breakneck speed. In fact, the vocals never really slow, except for the brief interval near the end, as Brigham concludes “I been putting up my hands, I just want to be Sovereign, but I’m still trying to get up, in the heart of it” and “Everything that I’m looking for, a part of me” with a gliding quality over L’Orange’s rapid and accurate sample work. There is a lot going on here within the space of three minutes, but I feel as though the melodic structure of the track seems repetitious enough and the lyricism is clear cut-enough for audiences to understand relatively lightly. It sounds as though a lot of effort has obviously gone into each of the sample clearances, the licensing needed to obtain the numerous quick clips used for this track, to help them re-purpose the futuristic and whimsical qualities they wanted to obtain for the track. Overall, I think it’s one of the strongest hip-hop releases of the last few months, and it pays off nicely, with an exciting sound.

Pictured: Cover Artwork for “Marlowe 2” (LP) (Released on August 7th, 2020) (via Mello Music Group)

Thank you very much for reading my new post! As promised, I’ll be back tomorrow, and we’ll be switching gears with an in-depth look at a new track from earlier in the year, that I’ve been meaning to cover on the blog since then, but never quite had the time to. It comes from a Chilean-American ambient/classical electronic music composer who has Palestinian ancestry from Bethlehem. He is perhaps most notable for releasing a large volume of experimental recordings for his independent label, Other People. It includes a five-hour improvisational live performance concert at MoMA PS1 in 2012, and the release of two full albums this year. 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/

One Track At A Time

Psychedelic Rap