Reggae-Rock

Way Back Wednesdays: The Specials – ‘Gangsters’

March 9, 2022 — Leave a comment
Pictured: Cover Art for’The Best Of The Specials & Fun Boy Three’ (LP) (Released In 2006) (via Pegasus Records)

Good Morning to you! This is Jacob Braybrooke, and it’s time for us to go retro with another weekly blog entry of ‘Way Back Wednesdays’ on the site, since it’s always my day-to-day pleasure to write up about a different piece of music every day! Today, we really are going ‘Way Back’ because we are talking about the British Ska revival band The Specials, who were part of the 2 Tone and Alternative Reggae movements all of the way back in the late-70’s and they have continued to represent these styles through to the present day. I was going to see a tribute band for The Specials in Stoke-On-Trent before the pandemic hit in 2020 – which I was very much looking forward to, in a way – but, unfortunately, we know how that turned out in the end. Known for combining uplifting Dub melodies with the ferocious spirit of Punk, The Specials were formed back in 1977 when they lived in Coventry – and that is way before my time. They used to wear mod-style 60’s period ‘rude boy’ outfits complete with pork pie hats, tonic & mohair suits, and loafers on-stage, likely performing their greatest hits like ‘Ghost Town’ and ‘Too Much Too Young’ that reached #1 in the UK’s singles chart. They continued their career throughout the 80’s and 90’s under a revised line-up with an alternate name of The Specials AKA, which represented their informed political stance and their wry social commentary on British society. Most impressively, The Specials are still recording new material today, and they most recently released ‘Encore’ in 2019 – an original album that re-introduced vocalist Terry Hall to their ranks, and it was a #1 entry on the UK Albums Chart. ‘Gangsters’ was another of their classics, which was recorded in Studio One of Horizon Studios in Coventry during 1979 to be released as their first track under The Specials AKA name, and it peaked at #6 in the UK Singles Chart following release. Let’s give it a spin below.

Terry Hall created the vocals for ‘Gangsters’ by mixing an “angry” recording and a “bored” recording that were cobbled together, while Horace Panter had to re-cut the Bass parts because they were originally so extreme that they “blew the needle out of the record’s grooves” and pianist Jerry Dammers overdubbed a treble-heavy Piano instrumental on to the track to compensate for the low-end of the Bass. Lyrically, ‘Gangsters’ was allegedly written about a real-life incident where The Specials had to pay for damage caused to a hotel by another band (rumored to be The Damned) as they were held responsible, and the track is also reportedly a re-working of Prince Buster’s 1964 ska track ‘Al Capone’ because ‘Gangsters’ samples the car sound effects which played at the beginning of Buster’s track. Moreover, The Specials changed the refrain in the opening line to “Bernie Rhodes knows, don’t argue” as an insult aimed at Bernie Rhodes, who was the band’s manager for a brief stint. Taking all of these different stories into account, The Specials telling a story of dis-establihment in a bizzare way as they reference incidents like a mis-step involving a guitar above a perky variety of gently Skanting Dubplate beats and odd Middle Eastern-sounding instrumentals, while the lead vocals retain an energetic – yet eeire – delivery. The guitar melodies sound different to Al Capone’s track, and so The Specials did an excellent job of re-writing that track in their own image, with the deadpan vocals conveying a feeling of self-awareness about them. Overall, ‘Gangsters’ was a vital step in introducing The Specials’ take on British Ska to wider audiences at large by paying tribute to some nice influences in clear, yet poignant ways. The vocals have a quality of vagueness which retains an aura of mystery throughout, and the danceable Rocksteady drums are likely to encourage weird great uncle’s to partake in some questionable “jerky dancing” at some family parties. Injected with humor, darkness and youth – The Specials had a big hit on their hands when they released ‘Gangsters’.

Pictured: A LEGO r-ecreation of the ‘A Message To You, Rudy’ music video (2018) (Photo Credit: Musical Brick)

That same year, The Specials also re-created ‘A Message To You, Rudy’ with the famous British-Jamaican saxophonist Dandy Livingstone. You can find out more about that here: https://onetrackatatime.home.blog/2020/02/06/todays-track-the-specials-a-message-to-you-rudy/

Pictured: Cover Artwork for ‘A Message To You, Rudy’ (Single) (Released in 1979) (via 2 Tone/Chrysallis)

That brings me to the end of another nostalgic breakdown of a beloved classic for another week on the blog, and I thank you for spending a moment of your day with me on the site today. I’ll be back to bringing some new music to your eardrums tomorrow, as we take a light gander on a downtempo soul track by an experimental Toronto-based performance artist and producer whose music encompasses Pop, Indie Rock, Jazz, Neo-Soul and Bossa Nova. She has learned to play several exotic instruments including the Harp, a Pairometer and the Tenori-on. She has shared the stage with the likes of Janelle Monae and Aloe Blacc, and she contributed her vocals to Bob Wiseman’s ‘Giulietta Masina At The Oscars Crying’ that was first issued in 2012.

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Today’s Track: Mighty Mystic (feat. Tyler Loyal & Sizzla) – ‘Far From Jamaica’

February 22, 2022 — Leave a comment
Pictured: Mighty Mystic performing at Winter Reggae Splash: A Bob Marley Celebration (2015) (Photo by David Alves)

Good Morning to you! You have tuned back into One Track At A Time and I’m Jacob Braybrooke, clocking in for the day as I take you through 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! Channeling traditional Reggae and Ska music elements with a Post-Punk twist, Mighty Mystic is the solo music project of the Massachusetts-based, but St. Elizabeth-born musician Kevin Mark Holness, who moved away from Jamaica and into Boston at the age of nine years old. He received a breakthrough when his 2006 single – ‘Riding On The Clouds’ – received radio airplay across the East Coast of the US, and he is also the younger brother of the current Jamaican prime minister, Andrew Holness. Since collaborating with peers like Shaggy and Lutan Fyah in his earlier days of creating music, he has performed on over 30 different tours and his career has spanned over two decades, with the veteran talent becoming a box office draw at live venues and a staple at national music festivals. He has released four studio albums, three of which have charted on the top 10 of the Billboard Album Charts in the US, and so he continues to find crossover success between genres and audiences on the global ‘World Music’ scene. Featuring Tyler Loyal and Sizzla, he’s decided to kick off 2022 with ‘Far From Jamaica’ – a new single that has gained over 50K streams across various digital music platforms so far. He will also be releasing his latest studio album – ‘Giant’ – on March 25th through VPAL Music. Give it a spin below.

Featuring in-house production by Holness and his backing band that was recorded at Surefire Studios in Boston, later being mastered by Tim Phillips at Mercury Sound Studios in New York City, the 13-track project of ‘Giant’ has been produced with guest contributors such as Jared Bonvino and his own fellow brother Stephen Holness. The development of ‘Far From Jamaica’ allowed Kevin Mark Holness to work with two legends of his national music scene, and he notes, “From when I was a kid growing up and listening to Reggae music I’ve always been a fan of Sizzla, so when I spoke to him about the idea of us doing a song together and him saying yes and actually doing it, it was a dream come true, and on top of it, the song came out even better than I had imagined”, in his press statement. Together, the three acts have conjured up a distinctive track boasting lyrics like “Got to get out from here, far from here/Lost in a foreign land” and “Ten thousand miles away, far from Jamaica” that bring a harsher quality to their catchy melodies under the surface. The lyrics discuss the deeper conversation of Jamaican people working away from home to provide for their families back at home, with half-rapped lyrics like “Well, if the snow no kill me/Then the stress a go do it” and “Freeze my finger, not to mention my feet” that talk about the harsh living conditions that the Jamaican immigrant community persevere through to make a living, and the physical toll that long hours take on your body and how these experiences drain you emotionally, with the vocals speaking openly about these issues with a candid outlook on the matter. Moving on, the vast instrumentation mixes a shimmering Drum beat and a traditional Reggae instrumental with some slightly aggressive guitar melodies and a wobbling groove of Bass to create catchy melodies that are sharp, and complement the very serious tone of the lyrics without diving head-first into entire ‘doom and gloom’ for the situation by making the overall message feel relatable and entertaining. Overall, ‘Far From Jamaica’ is a solid single that doesn’t whisk you away to the shoals of Kingston, but that is the point. Instead, it gives you the grit and realism of the daily grind with a very flavoursome Reggae twist.

Pictured: Mighty Mystic performing a live set at the Boston Freedom Rally (2017) (Photo by Jason Hanney)

Thank you for checking out the blog today, and I’ll be back tomorrow for another entry in our ‘Way Back Wednesday’ feature, where we’ll be reminding ourselves of one of the biggest rock ‘n’ roll hits from the early 1980’s, as it is sometimes important to do so. The track was recorded by a New York-born four-time Grammy Award winner who has had 15 Billboard Top 40 singles and she has had eight consecutive platinum albums in Canada. Married to guitarist Neil Giraldo, she recorded the track that is still her biggest hit in several countries with the writers Holly Knight and Mike Chapman.

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Scuzz Sundays: Rancid – “Ruby Soho”

April 25, 2021 — Leave a comment

A butcher stocking Rancid sausages will just go from Bad to Wurst. It’s Scuzz Sunday!

  • Pictured: Cover Art for “And Out Come The Wolves” (Released on August 22, 1995) (via Epitath Records)

Good Morning – My name is Jacob Braybrooke and, as per usual, it’s time for me to get typing up for a new ‘Scuzz Sundays’ post where we enjoy a throwback to the Pop-Punk staples of the past, in the name of the defunct Scuzz TV rock music video channel. One notable name from the era was Rancid, the Berkeley-born goth Ska-Punkers who – over the course of their 30 year career, have always remained active as an Independent band, instead choosing to stick to their underground Metal roots. The band have released nine studio albums since then, and recorded sales of up to four million units worldwide. Their third – ‘…And Out Come The Wolves’ – was released in 1995, at a time when several major record labels wanted to capitalise on their potential following the success of similar groups like The Offspring and Less Than Jake, and a few labels proceeded to have a bidding war for them. Naturally, Rancid turned around and said ‘No’ – deciding to stick at home with independent label Epitath Records instead. The record featured several stylistic callbacks to vocalist Tim Armstrong and bassist Matt Freeman’s time in Operation Ivy, and every single got to the US Modern Rock Tracks chart. Let’s revisit the popular single, ‘Ruby Soho’, below.

‘Ruby Soho’ uses a sample of The Stingers 1971 track ‘Give Me Power’, and it’s been rewarded with cover versions from Vampire Weekend, The Dollyrats, Phish’s Mike Gordon and Rie Tanaka. Still active, Rancid have confirmed that they are now working on a follow-up record to 2017’s ‘Trouble Maker’ album, which is tentatively penciled in for a release in late 2021 or early 2022. Beginning with a somber viewpoint of lyrics sung from a man sitting alone while a party rages on next door, his imagery sounds like it should be conjuring up an eerie atmosphere, but the rhythms are filled with a percussive set of guitar licks and an undercurrent of Reggae or Roots-Rock that counteracts the angsty youth context to which the words have been written. The Punk Rock elements explode in on the chorus mark, where Armstrong sings “Destination unknown, Ruby Soho” with a repeating hook, while the verses seem to have a sense of isolation to them, as lines like “Her lover’s in the distance as she wipes a tear from her eye” and “Ruby’s fading out, She disappears, It’s time to say goodbye” almost skew a narrative thread. The vocals are backed up with a call-and-response format being used by the backing band, with an upbeat variation of the chorus that adds a more feel-good, sing-a-long feel into the picture. The experience being described in the songwriting is about observing the world from your apartment, and the opening lines of “Echoes of Reggae, Comin’ through my bedroom wall” and “Havin’ a party next door, but I’m sitting here all along” make the setting sound bleak and downbeat. The guitar work does not sacrifice intensity for this sense of playful diversity, though, as the melodic sounds make for a Dub instrumental that sounds relatively fun to listen to. I think it’s fair to say the abilities of the singing was rather limited here, however, and the balancing of the tones in the Pop-Punk ballad and the subversive Reggae undertones just about works. There’s some jangle and some cut-off issues here and there, but it never made me want to turn off. Overall, I think it’s quite flawed, but there are some fun hooks and intriguing rhythms that I enjoyed hearing here, and I admire how the band didn’t compromise on their creative sphere for the interests of a major record label, who probably wanted to make them the next big thing. Instead, we get a playful ballad where not everything sticks, but there’s a decent amount of freedom and experimentation in here. This is not something that I’d go out of my way to hear again, but I think that it’s pro’s barely edge the con’s and it’s decent in the end.

  • Pictured: Tim Armstrong (Lead Vocals/Rhythm Guitar), Matt Freeman (Bass Guitar/Backing Vocals), Lars Frederiksen (Guitars/Vocals) & Branden Steineckert (Drums/Percussion) (2019) (Photo via PR/NME.com)

That tolls the bell for another week – but it’s back to the regular routine tomorrow. I’ve got loads of important new recommended music to share with you over the next week or so, and we’re going to be starting off with an emerging name from the Los Angeles dance music scene. Originally from London, you might know this DJ and Graphic Designer from his production work on two of Frank Ocean’s albums, and his frequent collaborations with rappers like JPEGMafia, Retro X and Freddie Gibbs. 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: OPM – “El Capitan”

February 28, 2021 — Leave a comment

Captain Hook never made it to Admiral – it didn’t Pan out for him. It’s Scuzz Sunday…

  • Pictured: Cover Art for “Menace To Sobriety” (Released on August 15th, 2000) (via Atlantic Records)

Good Morning to you – I’m Jacob Braybrooke, and it’s time for another entry in our “Scuzz Sunday” series where we revisit one of the landmark releases of the Pop-Punk genre and Emo-Rock movement of my childhood, between the late-90’s and the mid-00’s, to see whether the final nail has been put in the coffin of credibility for these relics, a light modification of my day-to-day pleasure to write up about a different piece of music every day! This week’s pick is one that I didn’t even remember initially, meanwhile, it comes from a group with quite a few hits to their name. Although it sounds like the drug ‘Opium’, the Los-Angeles based Rap-Metal band OPM’s name actually stands for “Open People’s Minds”, and they were formed in 1996 by John E. Necro and Geoff Turney in a ‘chance’ meeting on a short bus ride through two mutual friends they were each dating. Although they had never played live together at this point, Atlantic Records still took a gamble and signed them up. They broke out with “Heaven Is A Halfpipe”, which saw chart success internationally and won the Kerrang! Award for ‘Best Single’ in 2000, along with getting to play the single live on an episode of Top Of The Pops. Their debut album, “Menace To Sobriety”, was released in 2000, and it also spawned popular singles in “El Capitan” and “Stash Up” – the former of which was written about the band’s favourite type of rum, although it sounds a lot like ‘Captain’. Later re-recorded in 2012 for the “Heaven Can Wait” EP, the track was originally a #20 hit on the UK Singles Chart. Let’s refresh our memories with it below.

OPM are still making music, and “Menace To Sobriety” was given a 15-year anniversary reissue in 2015. One interesting little fact about this record is that there is also a ‘Clean’ version of the album that exists – where most of the profanities and bad language, and the references to drugs as well, have been essentially edited out of the original recording from the explicit lyrics. Famously re-mixed by IDM producers SoulChild (the duo of Stuart Bradbury and Damien Mendis) in 2001, OPM have sadly fallen down into a fair amount of obscurity since their well-known three singles peaked for them, and their albums since haven’t left much of a mark on relevancy. “El Capitan” is one of their most beloved tracks for their fanbase though, with light sampling effects mixing with the gentle hip-hop production and the heavy reggae-ska influences to express their affections for a rum brand. It was high on product placements for certain, but they were falling within the same wheelhouse as Rap-Rock groups like Less Than Jake and Sum 41 around the time. Starting with an “La La La La La La La”, the track springs to life with a piano sample and a surprisingly light guitar melody. Lines like “I like it on Ice with a Coca Cola, I sip it from LA to Capitola” and “I’ve been rockin since the 1900’s, microphone and two 1200’s” are rapped by each member of the band, in turn, above a relaxed bass guitar riff and a summery vibe. The material becomes much darker in the second half of the track, where the narrative becomes about getting a girl pregnant while being under the influence of alcohol, a theme that you would probably never be allowed to do these days. The final verse goes for a slight “breath of fresh air” attitude, saying that the real Captain Morgan wasn’t much fun, but according to the band, “He sure made a good ass bottle of rum”, in their own lyrics. I think where the track stutters is that it doesn’t have anything creative to say to me, and I’m failing to see where much of the art lies here. It’s just pretty short on ideas overall. However, I still thought that parts of the track were good, particularly the first verse where the instrumentation feels quite funky and bright. Reggae was a very clear inspiration for the band, and I like how the music isn’t heavy. It’s far from a retread of what other bands were doing at the time, but I found the subject matter of teen pregnancy later in the track to be distasteful and unsettling, thus letting it down in the process. The rhyming is a little basic, but the sampling feels fresh. I just wish the band had gone a slightly different route with the lyrics, and simply not “gone there”. It is not a total failure, though, for what it’s worth. I liked it until the second verse, and if it was re-written, it would be a bit more likeable.

  • Pictured: John E. Necro (Lead Vocals), Geoff Turney (Lead Guitar), Jonathan Williams (Keyboard), Etienne Franc (Bass Guitar) & Gary P. Dean (Drums) (Date n/a) (Photo via The Moshville Times)

That’s it for another week, and we’ve also reached the end of another month too. Please feel free to join me again tomorrow, where I’ll be trying to kick off the new month of March in style with a recent floor filler from a Reading-born electronic music producer who has collaborated with many artists including Nile Rogers, JP Cooper, Clairo, Ray BLK, Frances and LANY – with the featured vocalist of tomorrow’s track being Canadian R&B project RHYE, who we covered just a short week ago on the blog as a solo artist. 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: Pa Salieu (feat. Mahalia) – “Energy”

February 8, 2021 — Leave a comment

Coventry Market – Although I’m not complaining, it could be draining. New post time!

  • Pictured: Pa Salieu and Mahalia in a recent PR shoot (in 2020) (Photo Credit: Warner Bros Records UK)

Good Morning to you! I am Jacob Braybrooke, and, as per usual, it’s time for me to get typing up for 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! A 23-year-old British-Gambian rapper from Coventry, Pa Salieu was born in to a life where he was surrounded by other musicians and performers, with his Auntie being a Folk singer-songwriter from Gambia. After spending his early life growing up in Slough, Salieu landed the most played track on BBC Radio 1Xtra of 2020 in his debut single, “Frontline”, which he released in January of last year. Since then, he has released his first full-length record (Which he calls a Mixtape, rather than a traditional Album release) titled “Send Them To Coventry”, which earned him tremendous acclaim. It received a Metacritic review aggregate score of 90, as critics cited his experimentation with genres like Dancehall and Afrobeat, within a diverse Grime and Afro-Swing hip-hop template, which critics felt reflected the sonic fluidity of “Black Music” genres in the past and present. After collaborating on tracks with FKA Twigs and SL, Salieu enlisted the help of artists including Ni Santora, Stizee, Kwes Darko and Felix Joseph. The most notable of which is probably “Energy”, in which the Jamaican-British singer and actress Mahalia assists Salieu, on the closing number of the 15-track project. Let’s give this one a shot below.

The music video for “Energy” was directed by Femi Ladi, and in an interview with NME before the release of his mixtape last November, Pa Salieu spoke of his aspirations for the times ahead, explaining: “I’m not coming from a good life. But my music will have very big meaning… I see a better life for me and my family now. I can see that life can change now, I don’t feel so trapped. I can see the view over the horizon”, in reaction to the new-found acclaim signifying a fresh start for his personal and creative life. This sense of peace comes across in “Energy”, where Salieu raps lines like “Crown on my head, I was born shining” and “They put us in the dirt so we keep dying, I’ve died a hundred times and I keep fighting” over the top of a looping instrumental where the 80’s soft-rock synths are mellow, and these lyrical notes of elevation and self-worth are padded out with a rumbling Bass backing and a straightforward Bedroom Pop production. Light elements of Afrobeat flesh out the soundscape with limbering drum beats and sparsely placed guitar licks that evoke a little Funk-Rock. The tones of the instrumentation fit nicely with Salieu’s reminders to “Protect your energy”, in an ode to broadly well-meaning positivity and self-belief. The hook of “They just want your fall ’cause of jealousy” cements these messages of motivation, and the guest spot with Mahalia adds a soulful touch to proceedings. Although brief, it adds a female dynamic to the track that gives it more optimism. It’s usually more difficult for me to connect truly with artists who have been hyped up to the hills by the media like Pa Salieu seems to be, but overall, I think this is a solid performance. Although I think there’s a slight over-reliance on the auto-tune effects here for me, the sound palette has a great range and the lyrics are easy to relate with. It also feels like a good direction for Pa Salieu going forward, as the non-violent and melodic nature of the instrumental beats work nicely to convey the tone. I also like that when you take a look at his guest list, it’s wonderfully inclusive. An exciting artist.

  • Pictured: Cover Art for “Take Them To Coventry” (Released on November 13, 2020) (via Warner Records)

Well – That’s all I have for you to read today! My daily diary continues tomorrow as you would expect – where you can join me for an in-depth listen to a single from another very exciting emerging talent who I’ve heard about before, but I’ve only recently discovered for myself. She blew me away with her recent performance for KEXP’s Live At Home sessions, and this Colombian electronic music producer loves to describe her own sound as “Bright Music For Dark Times”, the direction of her debut solo LP, which she released last October from the well-known Domino Recordings label. 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: Christafari (feat. Makamae Auwae) – “Angels We Have Heard On High”

December 19, 2020 — Leave a comment

Don’t ever forget that it all happened Once In Royal David’s City! Time for a new post!

  • Pictured: Cover Artwork for “Reggae Christmas” (Released on October 8th, 2013) (via Lion Of Zion Ent.)

Twas’ the weekend before Christmas! My name is Jacob Braybrooke, and it’s time for me to get writing up all about your daily track on the blog, because it is always my day-to-day pleasure to get virtually typing up about a different piece of music every day! “Angels We Have Heard On High” is a track that I’ve actually been really looking forward to sharing with you all week – but I thought I’d leave it until now because it feels closer to the week of Christmas, and I know that you always want to hear a good one on a Saturday, or, I at least hope so. It comes from Christafari, an 8-piece Christian Reggae-Dub super-group who were put together by Mark Mohr, an ordained Church minister who was born as a Rastafarian, before he became a Christian at the age of 17. Morh also fronts the band. “Angels We Have Heard On High” was originally released back in 2013, from their “Reggae Christmas” album released through Lion Of Zion Entertainment, but it was re-released a year later, along with a new music video. This is a Reggae take on the “Angels We Have Heard On High” French hyym, which tells the story of the birth of baby Jesus from The Gospel Of Luke. Let’s take a listen to it below.

My research indicates that Mark Mohr found an affinity for Reggae music, becoming a grower of Marijuana, in his teens, after a visit to Jamaica in 1986, but his life took a turn for the best, and, after enrolling in Biola University in 1993, he received his ordination in 1997. The video for “Angels We Have Heard On High” is a real Christmas Cracker (Sorry!) and it makes me laugh out loud with the cast of colourful characters who answer their front door to find Christafari and Makamae Auwae singing the carol to them, and I feel that the Thor guy really deserves a special mention, in this post, for his dance moves. As for the song itself, it’s highly joyous and cheerful, with a minimalist vocal production that reminds me of Pentatonix in it’s Acapella influences. A fun Marimba beat and a percussive Jamaican Steel Drum beat form the groovy rhythm, as Auwae sings: “Angels We Have Heard On High/Sweetly singing O’er the Plains/And the mountains in reply/Echoing their joyous strains” on top of a light auto-tune effect that makes her voice sound clear and on-point, but not too artificial and overproduced. A Dub beat is created by Mohr, who adds a rhythmic delivery to “Me say, we give him the glory” and he, in fact, almost creates a Hip-Hop melody. The rest of the group provide some well-spirited vocal harmonies in the background, throughout the song, which are quite subtle and inobtrusive, but the odd “Hey” and the longer notes of the chorus make it feel more ‘Christmassy’ and more seasonal. It’s the cheerful chants of “Gloria, In Excelsis Deo” that gives it an uplifting punch, while the instrumental beats sound very jovial and melodic throughout. The percussion is really crowd-pleasing stuff, and I think the track manages exceptionally well to remind you of the true meaning of Christmas and slightly distract you from the heavy consumerism of the Festival, while still retaining a fun, engaging, upbeat and positive vibe. It also feels very ‘Christmassy’, while providing a nice alternative to the generic tunes from Band Aid or Paul McCartney that you end up hearing ten times a year. If you ask me, this is an absolutely fantastic way to put the “Christ” back into Christmas!

  • Pictured: Mark Mohr, Avion Blackman-Mohr, Ziza Mohr, Nikita Carter, Renato Taimes, Markus Ritchie and Justin Nalimu in the official music video for “Broken Spears” (in 2019) (Photo via PR/YouTube.com)

Thank you for reading my latest blog post! As per usual, I’ll be back at it again tomorrow, for a Festive edition of our weekly Scuzz Sundays feature, where we take an in-depth listen to one of the ghosts of Pop-Punk or Emo-Rock’s past, released between the mid-1990’s and the late-2000’s. 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: Bo Ningen (feat. Bobby Gillespie) – “Minimal”

September 25, 2020 — Leave a comment

The Math-Rock band using minimalist methods for a maximum effect. New post time!

  • Pictured: Taigen Kawabe (Lead Vocals/Bass Guitar), Yuki Tsuji (Lead Guitar), Kohhei Matsuda (Rhythm Guitar) and Monchan Manna (Drums/Percussion) (in 2020) (Photo Credit: Jørn Tomter/Tomter.net)

Good Morning to you! I am Jacob Braybrooke and, as usual, I’m typing up about your daily track on the blog, because it is always my day-to-day pleasure to get writing up about a different piece of music every day! A 4-piece Noise-Rock and Math-Rock group originally from Tokyo, Gumma and Tajimi in Japan, Bo Ningen are a mixed-gender outfit who formed the group in London, England. In Japan, Bo NIngen are licensed to Sony Music Associated Records, but they previously released their musical output on the Stolen Recordings independent label. They have toured across the globe, and they have previously collaborated with popular contemporary Post-unk and Alternative Rock bands like Savages, Faust and Damo Suzuki. A fun fact is how their name “Bo Ningen” literally just translates to “Stick Man” in their native Japanese language. Over the summer, the band released their fourth LP record, “Sudden Fictions”, and it’s their first album on the London-based indie label, Alcopop! Records. On their latest material, lead guitarist Kohhei Matsuda told the media: ““After years of countless bifurcation into sub-genres, music has been cut down to flakes. Music is suffocated. This album is a challenge to bridge between now and the time before the first bifurcation. To alternate the future”. It is time to have a listen to “Minimal” below!

It’s rather impressive that Bo Ningen, as an emerging group, managed to get the help of Primal Scream vocalist Bobby Gillespie for their single “Minimal”, and the band’s frontman Taigen Kawabe reckons it’s the ‘first ever properly produced track as well as the most catchy song in Bo Ningen’s thirteen year history’, via a press statement. “Minimal” certainly represents a slight departure of sound, with an impact as subtle and aired as the track’s title would imply. Whereas much of Bo Ningen’s earlier output has a cathartic and aggressive impact, “Minimal” has a noticeably more driving and slowly grooving effect. That’s not to suggest the Alt-Rock group are going mainstream at all, as the lead and bass guitars still have a menacing and spiraling framework, but it becomes gradually balanced out by a pinch of Electronica glitz. The intro is a slow-burning affair, and the foreign vocal conveys a rather ethereal tone. That’s until the drums kick in, and Gillespie uses his English vocals part to create a Dub-like, Reggae-driven backdrop to the percussive Taiko drum melodies. It all comes together to form a lively interplay between Japanese and English vocals, and this feels slightly melodic due to the deep, lo-fi bass beats. They are both as hard to properly decipher as each other, but it lyrically forms an attempt to suggest a point that history is fluid within a more cosmic setting. The vocals almost sound like Martians from the planet Zaagg or something, as logistically impossible as that would be. Yet, I digress, as the gentle guitar screeches and the eccentric, criss-crossing mix of the production has a quite dream-like, if anthemic, gaze to it. Overall, I feel as though Bo Ningen have managed to pull off what they were trying to do here rather well, and it all feels refreshing as a result. Lyrically, it reminds me of Shoegaze pioneers such as The Cocteau Twins and Slowdive, yet the buried Experimental Jazz sensibilities harken back to artists like The Comet Is Coming and GoGo Penguin, for me. The result is an eclectic and curious mix.

  • Pictured: Cover Artwork for “Sudden Fictions” (Released on June 26th, 2020) (via Alcopop! Records)

Thank you very much for reading my daily blog post! Feel free to join me again tomorrow, where we’ll be taking an in-depth look at the winner of the year’s Mercury Prize award with a very special dedication post! It comes from Michael Kiwanuka, a British singer-songwriter and record producer who is very popular in the US, who has been lauded by critics and has been nominated for numerous different awards over the years. He beat out the likes of Dua Lipa, Stormzy, Georgia, Lanterns On The Lake, Porridge Radio, Moses Boyd, Laura Marling and Sports Team to win the year’s award for his self-titled third studio album, “Kiwanuka”, which he released 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/

Scuzz Sundays: [Spunge] – “Jump On Demand”

August 16, 2020 — Leave a comment

It’s time for me to Scourer this cleaned [Spunge). It’s time for another Scuzz Sunday…

  • Pictured: Cover Artwork for “The Story So Far…” (Released on 26th August, 2002) (via B-Unique Records)

Good Morning, I’m Jacob Braybrooke and I’m typing up your weekly edition of Scuzz Sundays, the time of the week where we look back at a Pop-Punk or Emo-Rock classic track from between the late-1990’s to the mid-2000’s, to see if it lives up to it’s stature, since it’s my day-to-day pleasure to write about a different piece of music every day! [Spunge] were never as well-known as bands like Weezer or Slipknot, but they had a few memorable hits during the era, including “Jump On Demand”, which has rubbed shoulders with the mainstream – landing at the VERY specific spot of #39 on the UK Singles Chart, in 2002. [Spunge] are actually a British group from Tewkesbury, with Alex Copeland (Vocals), Damon Robbins (Lead Guitar), Chris Murphy (Bass Guitar) and Jeremy King (Drums) making up the current lineup. They are currently still active, but it tends to just be the odd few singles here and there, as opposed to something more substantial, like a full album release. “Jump On Demand” is the best-known single from their third studio LP release, “The Story So Far”, which was also released in 2002. The record saw the band expanding on their Ska-Punk and Rap-Metal roots to a more commercial Pop-Grunge direction, with producer John Cornfield (Muse, Supergrass) and Chris Sheldon (Foo Fighters, Therapy?) on-board to help them out with the new project, and the B-Unique Records label took over the distribution reigns from Sucka-Punch Records. It is time to check out the music video for “Jump On Demand” below.

Having previously toured with Green Day and Dropkick Murphy’s, [Spunge] were ready to bring their Ska-Punk sound to mainstream soil at the time of “Jump On Demand” being released, but it sadly didn’t seem to make much of a cultural impact. The track starts off with the quirky, rebellious, lyrics that you would expect, as Copeland sings: “So, you’re sat there in first class, Well I’m not gonna kiss your a**, Cuz’ I don’t care”, as a Jovial electric Organ melody replaces the Post-Punk edge of the opening burst of bass guitar riffs. The first verse starts off in a more subdued, quiet manner, before it builds to a decent sense of pace, with Copeland stacking: “I’m not the kind of guy who likes to go to work, It’s just I need the money” on top of an upbeat Bass Guitar riff and a mid-tempo Lead Guitar riff that fuses aggressively with the quick Drum signatures. The chorus goes: “Jump! Jump! Jump!” to point to an enthusiastic Mosh Pit, before Copeland continues: “Why is it you seem to be looking down your nose at me?, Maybe we should take some time to prove your blood’s red like mine”, as the instrumentation mixes a Ska-Punk sound with a Nu-Metal blueprint in generous amounts. It sounds animated and it feels like a TV theme tune for a US sitcom, so it’s a good fit for the aesthetics of the album’s visuals. The Organ samples are catchy and the songwriting has a quirk to it, but it sadly feels quite forgettable. This is simply because the fusion between Ska and Punk had been done a few years before, and it had been done better, by 90’s groups like Less Than Jake and Operation Ivy, even The Specials to a lesser extent in the 70’s, but it sadly doesn’t do much to stand out as a unique or a considerably original idea. The production behind “Jump On Demand” is fine, but the use of Brass sections may have freshened it up a little better. As it stands, this is unfortunately just another one of those “Scuzz Sundays” tracks that we will have largely forgotten by the time next week rocks about, but the results of this track are still harmless, and it’s not likely at all to cause any real offense.

  • Pictured: Alex Copeland (Lead Vocals), Damon Robins (Lead Guitar), Chris Murphy (Bass Guitar) and Jeremy King (Drums) in a publicity shoot to promote their 2015 UK reunion tour with Phinius Gage (2015) (via Ents24.com)

Thank you for reading this post! I’ll be back tomorrow, as per usual, with an in-depth look at a solid new track from a relatively unknown artist, a local young musician and songwriter to Seattle, who is just 22 years of age and has been described by ‘SassyBlack’ of TomTomMag.com as “a young multi-instrumentalist and producer shaping the future of dance music”, to kick off the new week in style. If you really liked what you just read, why not follow the blog to get notified when each new post is up and like the Facebook page here?: https://www.facebook.com/OneTrackAtATime