Reggae

Today’s Track: The Halluci Nation (feat. Chippewa Travellers) – ‘It’s Over’

January 6, 2022 — Leave a comment
Pictured: Tim Hill (Producer/Engineering) and Ehren Thomas (Mixing/Percussion) (2020) (Photo via PR)

Good Morning to you! You are tuned into the text of Jacob Braybrooke, as we ready ourselves for 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! Music you may have missed from last year headlines the page today, and it comes your way from an Ottawa-based Canadian experimental electronic dance music duo known for blending Ethnotronica, Moombahton, Reggae and the ‘Brostep’ term of post 2000’s Dubstep with elements of First Nations music, particularly known for their vocal chanting and high-speed drumming – and their name is The Halluci Nation. It wasn’t always that way, however, as the band used to be titled A Tribe Called RED, a homage to the legendary Hip-Hop group A Tribe Called Quest. Last year, however, they decided to scrap their old alias in light of “as we move into this next phase of our evolution, we also find it necessary to remember our past”, in their own words. Now a duo comprised of Tim Hill and Ethren Thomas, their name is a phrase borrowed from activist/artist John Trundell to “describe the vast global community of people who remember at their core what it means to be human”, in Trundell’s quote. The group describe their own style of music as a “Stadium Pow-Wow” sound, which is a style of contemporary club music for urban First Nations (A society of Canadian indigenous people who are classified distinctly from the Metis and Inuit groups). My first experience with The Halluci Nation was hearing their stellar third album, ‘We Are The Halluci Nation’, released in 2016. The follow-up, ‘One More Saturday Night’, was self-released last July, which finds the duo collaborating with the likes of Black Bear, The Beat and Northern Voice – some of which they have frequently recorded material with before. The band’s latest album pays tribute to the Electric Pow-Wow gatherings at Ontario’s Babylon nightclub the group ran between 2007 and 2017. Hear more about their change of identity below and skip to 1:05 to hear the new track ‘It’s Over’ below.

“We wanted to pay homage to the Electric Pow Wow and wrap that whole decade of the experience up and close the cycle, and in doing so give direct co-ordinates of where the future was headed. In a nutshell, that’s what this album is about”, says co-founder Ehren “Bear Witness” Thomas in a press release, explaining, “We just wanted to make a party record, as well, one that people could dance to while still having the strong message we are known for”, about the planning and recording behind the record. Going for a more psychedelic take on their older material, Hill and Thomas combine stretched samples of vocal chants performed by Chippewa Travellers with EDM-inflicted Dubstep to explore the memories of the club nights that brought their Canadian community of indigenous people together back in the 2000’s, but the ferocious pace of the brisk Drums also imply a regret concerning the abrupt disbandment of the Babylon nightclub’s scenes. Some fragmented Synth effects are sprinkled throughout the song that evokes the vibrant nostalgia and anti-colonialism surrounding the club nights. Meanwhile, the driving melodies of the instrumentation are there to remind you that it is a positive dance record, as their signature style of moulding Septia-toned vocals from Chippewa Travellers together with visceral drum and bass melodies that set things into motion with a commanding Bassline, while the trickling Trap snares and the some declarative EDM drums that gradually incorporate reverb-drenched Dub and righteous vocal chants into the equation. ‘It’s Over’ suffers from repetition a little, but it does a fantastic job of spreading the message that forms the emotive core of the album that breathes new life into a memory or dream that settler colonialism and its extractive violence have attempted to erase, and ‘It’s Over’ provides a club-heavy but contemplative moment that gives the affirmations and goals of The Halluci Nation a reasonable amount of space to take root, as the band continue to cement themselves as one that needs to exist to serve the social purpose.

Pictured: Cover Artwork for ‘One More Saturday Night’ (Released on July 30th, 2021) (via Self-Released)

I have previously shined a small spotlight on The Halluci Nation before their rebranding, with a detailed post about another track that aims to get more indigenous people represented in the media. Find out more about ‘The OG’ here: https://onetrackatatime.home.blog/2020/01/13/todays-track-a-tribe-called-red-feat-black-bear-the-og/

Pictured: The Halluci Nation performing at the Lost Lake Festival (2017) (Photo Credit: Jeff Kravitz/FilmMagic)

That’s everything I’ve got lined up for you today! I’m still working on my year-end Albums list of 2021 and it is coming soon. In the meantime, thanks for checking out my latest post, and I’ll be back tomorrow to get you re-acquainted with a Grammy-nominated Texas-born Jazz artist and a Houston trio who host the ‘AirKhruang’ radio show on Facebook Live and NTS Radio. They will be releasing a direct sequel to their earlier collaborative EP ‘Texas Sun’ on 18th February through the Dead Oceans label.

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Way Back Wednesdays: Jimmy Cliff – ‘The Harder They Come’

November 3, 2021 — Leave a comment
  • Pictured: Jimmy Cliff in a PR shoot for a Rolling Stone interview feature (2021) (Photo via Vision Addict)

Good Afternoon to you! This is Jacob Braybrooke, and you’ve come to the right place for a seminal selection of my weekly ‘Way Back Wednesday’ series of classic appraisals, because it’s always been my day-to-day pleasure to write up about a different piece of music every day! Even the most casual audiences of music would have heard some material from Jamaican Ska and Rocksteady multi-instrumentalist, producer, actor and composer Jimmy Cliff before, since he composed iconic tracks like ‘Hakuna Matata’ and ‘Reggae Night’ that have been etched deeply into popular culture. Also known for hits like ‘You Can Get It If You Really Want’ and his cover version of Johnny Nash’s ‘I Can See Clearly Now’ that was used in Disney’s classic ‘Cool Runnings’ film about the first ever Bobsleigh team from Jamaica to enter the Olympic games, Cliff is a crucial component in popularizing genres such as Reggae and Alternative Soul across the world. One of five performers inducted into the ‘Rock and Roll Hall Of Fame’ in 2010, the St. James-born vocalist is the only living reggae musician to hold the Jamaican government’s Order Of Merit, the highest honour that can be granted for his services to performing arts and sciences. ‘The Harder They Come’, the soundtrack album and its titular lead single from the Perry Henzel-directed motion picture of the same name released in 1972, is widely considered to be one of Cliff’s greatest releases. The record peaked at #140 on the US Billboard 200, and, in 2021, the album was deemed to be “culturally, historically or aesthetically significant” by the Library Of Congress and so it has been selected for preservation in the National Recording Registry. Let’s remind ourselves of the iconic title track below.

Voted as the 73rd greatest album of all time by Entertainment Weekly’s editors in July 2013, the soundtrack was a true celebration of Reggae globalization with prominent guest spots from 60’s Jamaican Rocksteady icons like Desmond Dekker, The Maytals and The Melodians. Speaking of the hit title track, Jimmy Cliff recalled in an interview conducted for the Wall Street Journal in 2013, saying, “The lyrics came from my past. I grew up in the church and had always questioned what they were telling me. Like the promise of a Pie in the sky when you die”, elaborating, “I wanted the song to have a church feel and to reflect the environment I grew up in – the underdog fighting all kinds of trickery”, in the text. Like some other songs on the album, ‘The Harder They Come’ appears twice, paralleling both the movie’s core themes and the autobiographical essence of Cliff’s career. It’s placement during the middle of the album gives it an entirely different feel than when it appears as the uplifting, positive closer, and this works well as it is sandwiched between the nostalgic sweetness of The Maytals’ guest track and just prior to the more alarmed warnings of ‘Johnny Too Bad’ shortly afterwards. Following a simple story of a character who is proving his naysayers wrong and overcoming the odds stacked against him, Cliff recites motivational lyrics like “As sure as the sun will shine/I’m gonna get my sure now, what’s mine” and “Between the day you’re born and when you die/They never seem to hear your cry” and acknowledges realistic expectations in sequences like “I keep on fighting for the things I want/Though I know that when you’re dead you can’t” that bring his ambitions to earth at brief intervals. The second verse is a standout, and the vocals emphasize the power of religion and ignoring bad influence upon your personality from the people who doubt your potential. The track still manages to stand out nicely in this modern time by feeling relatively grounded yet still upbeat and cheerful, boasting some optimistic lyrics that don’t shy away from recognizing fault in setting unrealistic targets for yourself. There are a few shades of Calypso, Tropicalia and Belefonte in the Gospel-leaning sounds of the recording, where a collective sequence of backing vocals from a choir lends some assistance to the cinematic atmosphere of the single’s filmic roots. The percussion has some smooth, breezily flowing instrumentation and the inherent excitement of the key Soulful harmonies gets a positive message across. In conclusion, ‘The Harder They Come’ is a down-to-earth, but nonetheless still interesting, Reggae classic that still works well in the present day. The odd Organ chords and the gently quickening Reggae beats are great at supporting Cliff’s optimistic lyrics about his life, but the bleaker moments never feel glossed or sugar-coated over too much. A solid, universal Ska crossover hit.

That brings us to the end of yet another daily post on the blog! Thank you for your support, and I’ll be back tomorrow to review a relaxing, new and entirely Ambient Electronica project from an English-born experimental electronic music producer who has contributed to albums for Brian Eno and Coldplay in his career so far, and he has appeared twice on the blog in different capacities before. His new album, ‘Music For Psychedelic Therapy’, shall finally be releasing on Domino Records next weekend.

  • Pictured: Cover Art for ‘The Harder They Come’ (OST) (Released on July 7th, 1972) (via Island Records)

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Way Back Wednesdays: Lady Saw – “Sycamore Tree”

August 11, 2021 — Leave a comment
  • Pictured: Cover Art for ‘Passion’ (LP) (Released on June 12th, 1997) (via VP Records/CoverMyTunes)

Good Morning to you! It’s Jacob Braybrooke here, and it’s time for me to get typing up on the blog for this week’s ‘Way Back Wednesday’ flashback, as we revisit the seminal sounds of the past that have been influential to the present, since it’s always my day-to-day pleasure to write up about a different piece of music every day! It has become a rather multi-cultural week on the blog so far, and that lovely trend continues with ‘Sycamore Tree’ by Lady Saw, which was released as a single from her 1997 album, ‘Passion’, which reached the #8 spot on the US Billboard Reggae Top Albums Chart. It, therefore, officially became Saw’s first album to chart. Formerly known as ‘The Queen Of Dancehall’, Lady Saw was a Jamaican vocalist and producer whose career has spanned for two decades, and she holds the distinction of being the first black female DJ to be certified as both a Grammy-winning artist and a Platinum-selling artist. In more recent times, Saw converted to Christianity in late 2015 and announced that she would now identify as “Marion Hall”, and she has began a career in writing Gospel music – which Hall has performed at The White House. Revisit ‘Sycamore Tree’ below.

Ever since the peak of her popularity, Hall has been known for her ‘Slack’ performance style that has been controversial to the authorities in Jamaica, a battle that has also influenced Hall to write protest anthems about freedom of speech and double standards between how vulgarity is perceived in music from male and female Jamaican artists. Hall is also known for her socially conscious lyrics, and one of the biggest examples of this trend was her 1996 track, ‘Condom’, a track that warns young girls about the dangers of unprotected heterosexual sex. She has, therefore, never been afraid to speak her mind with her music, and 1997’s ‘Sycamore Tree’ is another decent portrayal of this attitude. The lyrics are about an obstructive woman who will not participate in oral sex with a love interest, and tries to convince him that she is a more honest person than we’re led to believe, with some occasionally lewd lyrics like “Remember, it was under the Sycamore tree” and “The sun stopped shining for me” that discreetly show the cracks of her true intentions. This style of lyrics are recited underneath her famously high-pitched bass that she was known for frequently producing. Her raw vocals continue to reflect upon one of the most contentious musical topics in her country for a number of decades, but the sound maintains a rather joyful and bright personality, with some light, yet classic Dub toasting and shimmering, percussive rhythms, which turns her assessment of Jamaican sex taboos into a more refreshingly wicked, playful affair. A potent and firmly female-focused effort, the Reggae backing beat is rather catchy, with Hall bragging about a ‘false innocence’ with lines that feel fully aware of her sexuality, such as “Mi a gal wi gi yuh all di wickedest ride”, while also proclaiming lyrics like “a nuh everything mi like” in later sections. On the whole, it’s not something that I would usually choose to listen to, since it’s simply not in my typical wheelhouse of favourite genres, so to speak, but I enjoyed a few minutes of the time that I spent with Saw’s song. The vibe is pretty sexual, but joyously defiant and character-oriented. A seminal salute to her free spirit.

  • Pictured: Lady Saw (aka Marion Hall) performing at The White House (2016) (Photo via Jamaicans.com)

That’s enough of my musical musings for another day, and thank you very much, as always, for reaching the end of the page. I’ll be here to catch up with you once again tomorrow with some more information about, possibly, one of my favourite new albums in recent memory. It is really good, and it takes us to South Korea for some Shoegaze sounds. The young adult artist, however, likes to keep his proverbial cards quite close to his chest. We know very little more than his recording name: Parannoul.

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Today’s Track: Pachyman – “Destroy The Empire”

August 10, 2021 — Leave a comment
  • Pictured: Cover Art for ‘The Return Of…’ (LP) (Available from August 16th, 2021) (via ATO Records)

Good Morning to you! This is Jacob Braybrooke, and the time has come for me to upload yet another daily post about a track on the blog, because it’s always my day-to-day pleasure to write up about a different piece of music every day! A university-trained Reggae musician, LA’s Pachy Garcia is perhaps best known as the drummer and vocalist of the LA-based Prog-Punk band Prettiest Eyes, although he was born in San Juan, Puerto Rico. During his upbringing, Garcia was obsessed with vintage instrumental Dub recordings from his greatest influencers, Scientist and King Tubby, and he now aims to recreate their vibes with his own unique take on the genre. His latest album, ‘The Return Of…’ is set for release on Friday, August 13th, through ATO Records – the same label where you would also find the likes of Nilüfer Yanya, Allen Stone and King Gizzard & The Lizard Wizard. He’s been gaining traction lately, with airplay on BBC Radio 6 Music and KCRW, and he won the ‘2021 Discovery Award’ at this year’s Latin Alternative Music Conference. Check out ‘Destroy The Empire’ below.

With ‘The Return Of..’, Pachy Garcia wants to show how the ‘Caribbean flow’ of his heroes can be transnational, and he tells the press, “With this project, I was looking to make positive music and radiate good energy; something to kinda disconnect from the negative things that were happening at the moment”, Garcia – aka Pachyman – explains. He adds, “I am trying to make this product a service for humanity in the sense that I just wanted to shine a positive light” to his notes, and his sound is built from a rich tradition of musical forms that resounds from Jamaica and San Juan, to Mexico and Southern California. With a simple, reverberated shout of “Destroy The Empire”, we’re immediately off to the races with the beginning of his latest single. Garcia radiates some good energy with the opening drum riffs that begin to just effortlessly scatter themselves around some more traditional Dub instrumentation, creating an initial soundscape that subtly develops throughout the rest of the track’s duration. Garcia delicately introduces Twangy rhythm guitar riffs and sultry Drum beats to the mixture that add a soulful, honeyed skew to the bright, summertime sound. Another highlight is the wobbly Cuíca melody, which gives proceedings a more quirky and, perhaps, falsely exotic lift. There’s also some gently rattling Maraca melodies to add some more spacious percussion to the laidback mood of the sound, and more shimmering sounds that seem to be coming from the Guiro, although I’m not entirely sure whether this is the correct instrument he uses or not. Either way, when thrown together, these sounds create a globally influenced atmosphere that feels bright and inviting, but Garcia pays homage to these Dub and Latin American sounds of old with his tongue in his cheek a bit, although he is absolutely believing in the music that he is making. He just manages to provide a light-hearted take on these heroes of his, and so his hazy and breezy melodies radiate with a quirky personality throughout. It probably falls under a niche overall, but I find that approach rather charming and likeable, and it’s clear that he’s done his research to pull it off. It’s not entirely clear who the ‘Empire’ is, and my gut tells me that it’s a nod towards Brazil’s Tropicalia movement, but I certainly am quite excited to destroy it with him on Friday.

  • Pictured: Pachy Garcia (Pachyman) in a ‘At 333 House’ PR shoot (2021) (Photo by Total Control/AUS)

That brings us to the end of the page for another day, and thank you very much, as always, for reaching this point. I’ll be back tomorrow for ‘Way Back Wednesdays’, as we take an in-depth visit back to one of the sounds of the past that have been influential for the present! My next pick comes from a Jamaican vocalist, producer and songwriter who was known as ‘The Queen Of Dancehall’, and she was the first female DJ to become a Grammy-winning and Platinum-selling artist during her peak.

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Way Back Wednesdays: Phyllis Dillon – “Don’t Stay Away”

August 4, 2021 — Leave a comment

Prepare for the warmer summer heat with a sweet soul from Jamaica. New post time!

  • Pictured: Cover Art for ‘One Life To Live’ (LP) (Released in 1972) (Reissued by Cherry Red Records)

Good Morning to you! This is Jacob Braybrooke, and, as we do every week, it’s time to go ‘Way Back’ to the sounds of the past which have been influential to those of the present, because it’s always my day-to-day pleasure to write about a different piece of music each day! An OD in Jamaica, Phyllis Dillon was one of the very few vocalists of the late-1960’s Jamaican Rocksteady scene to be female in an otherwise highly male-dominated genre. She recorded a very large number of singles for Duke Reid’s lucrative label, Treasure Isle, during the late-60’s to the mid-1970’s. At the time, the Jamaican music market was nearly entirely driven by recording tracks as standalone singles, and Dillon, like most others, was another vocalist who went for years before joining the album racks in the country. Although she only made a little impact outside of her home market, Dillon was well remembered for recording vintage tunes like 1966’s ‘Don’t Stay Away’, her lucrative first release, which was heralded by Jamaica Gleaner as “perhaps the finest female performance in Jamaican music” in 2014. The self-penned song featured Tommy Cook & The Supersonics as her backing band, and, in 2012, it was sampled by Kes for ‘Tuesday On The Rocks’. After moving to the US and living a double life, Dillon initially quit her recording career in 1978, but she would return to touring and recording in the 1990’s in territories like the UK and Germany, inspired by a rekindled interest in American Ska. ‘Don’t Stay Away’ from Dillon below.

Although she had returned to the recording studio with Lynn Tatt in 1998, she only remained active in creating new projects until an illness eventually took hold of her wellbeing, and, in 2004, she tragically passed away in New York due to her battles with cancer, but she was later awarded the ‘Order Of Distinction’ by the Jamaican government in 2009. Although you probably know exactly what we’re getting here from my descriptions alone, and you would be correct, this track was a pivotal moment in black female music for her domestic market because it was a huge hit in the country. It’s not tricky to see why, as it mostly conformed to the tropes of the Dub scene at the time, but her voice certainly gave her the skill to stand out from the pack, at the same time. The lyrics are a direct and object lesson in telling her lover that he would not keep his distance if he knew how much she loved him. It doesn’t feel as sentimental as most of the similar Reggae cuts of the time, but her upbeat delivery has a great sense of honesty, rather than jealousy or scorn. Her vocals are very clear and need no distortion trickery whatsoever to get the crystal clear sincerity and the general lyrical themes of the single along to the more casual types of listeners nicely enough. The instrumentation is varied enough to prickle your ears up and take good notice too, and I especially like the smoky solo that sounds like a Harmonica towards the home stretch because it feels on-point and distinctive for the time, marking one memorable moment for the otherwise Soul-oriented melodies. The backing band pull in a deceptively simple performance that complements her tone with good cohesion, and the embellishments of Brass and Strings throughout the track give the rhythms a detailed and concise soundscape for Dillon’s pure vocals to work with effectively. On the whole, there are no surprises here, but there doesn’t need to be. A simple master-class in writing and performing easy, steady Reggae music that appeals to everybody.

  • Pictured: Cover Artwork for ‘This Is Trojan: Rocksteady’ (Compilation LP) (Released in April 2018)

Many thanks to you for not staying away from the blog today, and please feel free to join me again tomorrow as we shift our attention to the potentially seminal sounds of the present! This choice in question marks, surprisingly, the first appearance on the blog from a South Korean DJ who I am a little fond of already. Now based in Berlin, she has started up her own label, Gudu Records, in 2019, and she has toured across the planet, including a time where she had studied at the London College Of Fashion.

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New Album Release Friday: U-Roy (feat. Santigold) – “Man Next Door”

July 16, 2021 — Leave a comment

A Solid Golden victory lap for one of Reggae’s true pioneering figures. New post time!

  • Pictured: U-Roy ‘The Originator’ performing live (2012) (Photo by Le Pictorium/Alarmy Stock Photos)

Good Morning to you! It’s Jacob Braybrooke here, and it’s time for me to enliven up your ear’s taste buds with 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! Fridays are always special, because we enjoy an in-depth taste of one of the weekend’s biggest new releases. This week’s roster includes LP’s from Liverpool’s Pizzagirl (More on that another day), the Scottish-Sudanese film composer Eliza Shaddad (Refer back to last Saturday for more on that), young Bedroom Pop sensation Clairo, fast-rising Brighton indie rockers Yonaka, and Australia’s Electronica staple Chet Faker. If you missed the memo yesterday, Yves Tumor has just quietly dropped a new EP on Warp Records too.

This week’s pick doubles up as a tribute post to the late-great Dub icon U-Roy, who we sadly lost due to a long-lasting illness in February. U-Roy is a very famous Jamaican musician who was known as ‘The Originator’ of Toasting – a talkative, melodic vocal style that can be sung or chanted, usually in a monotone rhythm, over the top of a smoky beat by a Reggae DJ, which has also been massively influential to hip-hop culture ever since the 1970’s. His final full-length album, ‘Solid Gold U-Roy’, is being released today via Trojan Jamaica – and so this is a very significant moment in time for African music because this is, tragically, the very last time that we’re ever going to hear from U-Roy. The expansive guest list for the new record – which was originally scheduled to debut in 2020 before the Covid-19 pandemic caused delays – includes Mick Jones (of The Clash), Shaggy, Tarrus Riley, David Hinds (of Steel Pulse), Ziggy Marley, Big Youth, Jessie Royal, Rygin King and Richie Spice, who all help to make the new record an authentic celebration of U-Roy’s career. The lead single, ‘Man Next Door’, finds an honoured Santigold collaborating with U-Roy on an eminent Reggae standard that has been one of her favourite classics for decades. Give it a spin below.

‘Man Next Door’ was originally written by John Holt and first released by his Jamaican vocal group The Paragons back in 1968, while U-Roy has sampled the original tune before on his own 1962 track, ‘Peace and Love’, and it has seen lots of covers in the decades since, with big musical acts like Massive Attack and UB40 getting in on the action. U-Roy’s version is accompanied by the vibrant music video directed by Trojan Jamaica co-founders Zak Starkey and Sharna Liguz, who both worked with Nick Franco/1185 Films on this. Liguz says, “We had always loved U-Roy because of the power of his voice, and his lyrics, with their humour and their seriousness”, adding, “We made the ‘Solid Gold’ album because we wanted everyone to know that U-Roy helped invent rap”, to their press notes on today’s posthumous release. ‘Man Next Door’ finds U-Roy jumping out of the gate at first instance with his Toasting style for a duet with the US songwriter Santigold that brings ‘Man Next Door’ up to date with more contemporary instrumentation without losing the cultural spirit of the well-loved originals. The classic lyrics, about Paranoia in a neighborhood ruled by drug dealers, are given a retro-futurist lift by boasting some jovial Organ stabs and an upbeat pace, where the Dub-led jolts of rhythm warp themselves around a catchy duet vocal structure from U-Roy and Santigold at swift ease. The uptempo pitch is kept from getting too heavy or abrasive, meanwhile, by the sinuous and chilling melodies from the subtle Steel Pans, which helps U-Roy to reach the top of his game for a final time with his toasting. Santigold, meanwhile, adds a more psychedelic twist to the track with her female vocals that drift lightly into the deep pockets of groove that are being maintained by the instrumentals that trickle along smoothly. Overall, this is a masterclass from one of the true greats. Rest in peace, our ‘Originator’ U-Roy.

  • Pictured: Cover Art for “Solid Gold U-Roy” (LP) (Available from July 16, 2021) (via Trojan Jamaica)

That’s enough Toasting for right now! But, please feel free to join me again tomorrow morning for recent music from one of the UK’s most hotly tipped new artists for great success in 2021. A singer-songwriter from Grantham, she is a favourite on student radio across the nation, and she performed at Glastonbury Festival in 2019 on the BBC Introducing stage. Later this year, she will be releasing a new EP on the major label Polydor Records to follow-up on her live performance on national BBC Two TV programme ‘Later… With Jools Holland’ from a few months ago.

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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: Shaggy (feat. Junior Reid & Bounty Killer) – “Ragamuffin Christmas”

November 24, 2020 — Leave a comment

I once thought I saw Shaggy shoplifting the Pick and Mix in the cinema. It wasn’t him!

  • Pictured: Shaggy appearing on “Good Morning Britain” (2020) (Photo Credit: Ken McKay/ITV/REX)

Good Morning to you! I’m Jacob Braybrooke and it’s another day which means that it’s another time for me to get 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! We’re almost exactly a month out from Christmas Day, and so Jamaican Reggae producer Shaggy, of all people, has been spreading the festive cheer with his new Christmas album, “Christmas In The Islands”, which came out last Friday via BMG Rights Management. It certainly is one of the most random new album releases of recent memory, and it’s tricky for me to comprehend why it exists in the first place, but here we are. Mind you, Mariah Carey has made $42,954 in royalties for ONE DAY of Spotify Streams alone for “All I Want For Christmas Is You”, so I can’t say I really blame him for wanting to get in on that big bucks action. It seems like a lengthy LP collection too – with 16 tracks featuring guests such as Ne-Yo and Joss Stone. The first single to come from the new yuletide album is titled “Ragamuffin Christmas”, and it features Shaggy’s pals Junior Reid and Bounty Killer. Let’s press play to the festive track below.

Shaggy tells us in the publicity release: “Since I was a child, I can remember seeing tourists flock to Jamaica during Christmas time for some sun, fun, rum and great parties”, adding that he hopes the new release will “transport listeners and share how we celebrate Christmas in the islands” as he hopes to embody the Jamaican culture into one Christmas-themed record, giving us another reason to believe that it’s a thing besides needing a bit of cash. It is quite difficult for me to know where to start with this one, to be honest. It seems like Shaggy has been throwing everything that he has on one of those Casio keyboards that you used to play around with in secondary school. The introduction is led by some kind of sonic loop that evokes the sound akin to a whining cat, with “It’s christmas time” being the only decipherable lyric, before Shaggy drenches the vocals of “It really feels like it’s a ragamuffin kind of Christmas” in heavy auto-tune effects. Junior Reid delivers the Hip-Hop verses with a fairly fine flow, while Bounty Killer lurks around in the background for much of the song, just to add the odd “Christmas” shout or “Shaggy” trademark with a high-pitched voice. The track is polished off by a Sleigh Bell melody towards the end, with a Rave honk intersecting each of the rap verses from Reid and Killer. I sadly couldn’t find any of the lyrics for “Ragamuffin Christmas” online, and I didn’t have much better luck in trying to decipher them for myself. Is it any good? Well… no. I think we could all agree that it’s absolutely terrible, with lyrics that are inaudible, production that is messy in all places, and sound effects that don’t give it a very modern feel. However, it’s not really awful in a way that angers me. Instead, I think it’s funny. It makes me snigger and giggle nearly the whole way through it. I find it absolutely hilarious that “Christmas” is the very basic outline to even justify why it exists, and the concept of “Ragamuffin Christmas” is passively amusing. The entire song seems to be built purely around the basis of this though, and I’m not really sure if I’m supposed to not take it seriously. Either way, It did really make me laugh. This has no credibility from a technical standpoint, but I had a a laugh at it. I quite like how completely random it is.

  • Pictured: Cover Art for “Christmas In The Islands” (LP) (Released on November 20th, 2020) (via BMG)

Thank you very much for reading my latest post! I’ll be back tomorrow – for an in-depth look at the brand new track from one of my personal favourites – to bring some good artistry back into things. It comes from a US band who had a big hit with an Alternative Pop track back in 2011 that sounds upbeat and cheerful, but the lyrics were actually hinting at a mass school shooting. 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: Lost Horizons (feat. The Hempolics) – “I Woke Up With An Open Heart”

October 28, 2020 — Leave a comment

Likewise, I hope that I didn’t wake up on the wrong side of the bed. It’s new post time!

  • Pictured: Cover Artwork for "In Quiet Moments" (Available from February 26, 2021) (via Bella Union)
    Pictured: Cover Artwork for “In Quiet Moments” (Available from February 26, 2021) (via Bella Union)

Good Morning to you! My name is Jacob Braybrooke, and, as per usual, I’ve arrived to fulfill my duties of typing up your daily post on the blog, because it is always my day-to-day pleasure to get writing up about a different piece of music every day! Lost Horizons marks the collaboration between Simon Raymonde, the former Bass Guitarist of Cocteau Twins and the founder of the Bella Union record label, and Richie Thomas (best known for his alias of Dif Juz), who have been writing and producing music together in a capacity ever since the 1980’s, and decided to officially form the collaborative project a few years ago. “Ojalá” was their debut album as Lost Horizons, released back in 2017, and it saw the duo collaborate with guest artists including Ghostpoet, Liela Moss and Marissa Nadler, along with a few more of Raymonde’s and Thomas’ friends from over the decades of their time in the music industry. Three years have passed, and it’s time for the follow-up. “In Quiet Moments” is the title of their second album as Lost Horizons, and it’s being released in two parts. The first 8 tracks will be shared digitally on December 4th, whilst the next 8 tracks will be available from February 26th, and you can buy the whole collection of these tracks on physical formats like Vinyl on that same date. This time around, Raymonde and Thomas have included a star-studded list of guests including Porridge Radio, John Grant, Penelope Isles and Karen Peris (from The Innocence Mission). “I Woke Up With An Open Heart” is the lead single, and it features vocals from the South London-based Gospel Soul group, The Hempolics. Let’s have a listen to their new track below.

“I think In Quiet Moments is more in the direction of where we’re going”, is what Raymonde told the media in the press release for the new album, with the duo adding: “People have retreated into their lives, and in those quiet moments, reflected on the world, how we fit in and who we trust” to tease the themes of the new record. “I Woke Up With An Open Heart” is reflective of the central themes, and it’s not too difficult to notice how it unashamedly goes back to the Birmingham sound of the 1980’s, with further similarities to Bristol’s Massive Attack and the 1970’s Reggae-Ska pioneers The Specials. Mixing old elements of Dubplate and Ska-Punk, with a connected Trip-Hop style, the track manages to encompass a dazzling array of moods and tones. The Reggae sensibility may not be abundantly clear in the beginning, but it develops progressively with Thomas’ deceptively lo-fi drum beats, with the addition of the whistling Horn sections and the Brass-driven Jazz sounds. It also feels rooted firmly in the “London Soul” sound, a quality that is created through The Hempolics’ soulful vocal delivery. Grippa Laybourne croons: “Must have been in the night, where you stole my time, rolled right over me” and “In my apple tree, you’ll find just what you’ll need/In my apple tree, you’ll find all the care you’ll need” over melodic shards of smoky Brass interludes and Dub-like guitar work. The lyrics feel contemplative, and they gradually build to a Ska-led instrumental of downbeat Saxophone melodies and a very subtle, woozy synth line. I like how the vocals feel quite enigmatic, and a very Urban texture connects these broad elements together. It feels directly in the lineage of old-school, grim British music that perhaps doesn’t see much vibrancy or colour. It’s a huge success, and it feels as diverse as the Lost Horizons name suggests.

  • Pictured: Ritchie Thomas & Simon Raymonde in a press shoot to promote "Ojala" (in 2017) (via PR)
    Pictured: Ritchie Thomas & Simon Raymonde in a press shoot to promote “Ojala” (in 2017) (via PR)

Thank you very much for reading my new blog post! As per usual, I will be back on the proverbial case again tomorrow. You can join me then for an in-depth listen to a soulful new single from a Canadian Alternative R&B singer who was featured as the vocalist of the Kaytranada single “What You Need”, which was previously covered on the blog. She is identified as Queer. 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: Orion Sun – “Ne Me Quitte Pas (Don’t Leave Me)”

June 22, 2020 — Leave a comment

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

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

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

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

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

Thank you for reading this post! In regards to #BlackLivesMatter, we endorse the peaceful protests on One Track At A Time. Please go and check your local area for good charity causes that help those directly affected by racism and injustice. As per usual, I’ll be back tomorrow with a new post. I will be looking at another recent track, this time coming from an Italian experimental electronic music producer who is currently signed to Warp Records and he is also the co-founder of Presto!? Records. If you really liked what you just read, why not follow the blog to get notified when each new post is up and like the Facebook page here?: https://www.facebook.com/OneTrackAtATime