Way Back Wednesday: Alexei Sayle – “Ullo John! Gotta New Motor?”

May 19, 2021 — Leave a comment

The British stand-up comedian taking no wind out of their Sayles. Let’s go Way Back!

Pictured: Cover Art for “Ullo John! Gotta New Motor?” (Single) (1984) (Springtime/Island Records)

Good Morning to you! It’s Jacob Braybrooke here, as per usual, and it’s time for you to read all about 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! Today, we are revisiting the unlikely UK Top 20 chart success that was ‘Ullo John! Gotta New Motor?’ from Alexei Sayle. Sayle is a stand-up comic and novelist from Anfield, Liverpool – and a popular one at that. In 2007, he was voted by Channel 4 viewers as the 18th greatest gagster of all-time on their ‘100 Greatest Stand-Ups’ programme in 2007. He’s famous for his work in Shakespeare’s ‘The Tempest’ on the West End, his ‘Imaginary Sandwich Bar’ radio comedy on BBC Radio 4, and his often surrealist comedy routines in TV comedy programmes like ‘The Young Ones’ and his appearances in the ‘Carry On’ series of films. ‘Ullo John, Gotta New Motor?’ was originally released in 1982, before receiving mainstream attention when it was re-released in 1984. Sayle produced the track with Clive Langer and Alan Winstanley, who have produced for Madness and Elvis Costello. The 12-inch Vinyl single package also saw many different versions arrive at shop shelves thanks to it’s profanities. He released two other albums prior to this single, and so it wasn’t a completely random venture into music. Sayle released two follow-up singles that were included on ‘Panic’, his third and final album, which is a parody of Michael Jackson’s ‘Off The Wall’ of 1979. See if John’s Gotta New Motor yet below!

By the time that ‘Ullo John! Gotta New Motor?’ was re-issued in 1984, Sayle had starred in the popular BBC sitcom ‘The Young Ones’ and the ITV sitcom ‘Whoops Apocalypse’, which explains the better commercial luck the second time around. There has also been loads of different re-workings of the track, and a re-working from Ian Dury was ordered by Toshiba for an advertisement in 1985 because promoters started to spot the success of the single. Set to a Synthpop or soft Funk backdrop with some New-Wave synths and a few guitar licks, Sayle proceeds to perform a Spoken Word or light Rap set of sentences playing the character of a loudmouthed Liverpuddlian. The lyrics are generally a mix of banal absurdity and seemingly unconnected jokes, with off-kilter references to Barry Manilow, Bongo Drums, Avon representatives and Billy Joel taking up the picture. “Is there life on Mars?/Is there life in Peckham” is my favourite line, but “I keep tropical fish/In my underpants” and “Ere you wanna brown ale/Mine’s a light and bitter” are good moments too. There isn’t much that you can sensibly compare this record too, but there’s a playful sensibility of Ian Dury here, an abstract jumble of puns that remind me of Dry Cleaning, and it’s all dressed up in a Monty Python or Horrible Histories sense of British wit and humor in obscurity. There’s no chorus, no story, and seemingly no point, but Sayle is mocking a stretched Cockney banter that people used to talk in a certain manner around the city nearer back to the time. It’s a bit obsolete now, but Sayle pulls it off with an enthusiastic performance and a musical backdrop that uses distorted vocal effects and delay pedals to warp things a little and add to the bizzare humor. There’s not much musically here and it’s not an artistic masterpiece of complex multi-layered art, but it was never trying to be. I couldn’t really understand most of the lyrics without looking them up, but this adds a little depth to the vocals. Overall, it’s still a fun throwback to the times when comedians recorded Novelty singles around BBC Comic Relief time to assert themselves as a comedic force and that’s rather quaint these days. That said, I probably wouldn’t be asking for Michael McIntyre to record a Metal-themed parody about his Wheel, although a Novelty single from Rev Richard Coles would make sense due to his past experience as a member of Communards. It’s still a track that had me laughing though, and I’m probably going to be sorry when I find myself repeating it around the kitchen all day tomorrow. I’m sure you will be too.

Pictured: Alexei Sayle pictured in an article for The Irish Mirror (2016) (Photo Credit: The Daily Mirror)

That’s all for now! Tomorrow, I’ve got some new music to share with you from an emerging female solo act from Los Angeles who describes herself as a “Jazz School drop-out” who is now making her very own Rock music independently. The 22 year old singer-songwriter may have just a handful of releases out there in the world, but she’s also known for working with her childhood friend, Marinelli, on lyrics that have pointed observation and self-deprecating pop culture references about the surreality of growing up. 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: Iden Kai – “Disco James”

April 1, 2021 — Leave a comment

My haircut would be right for a Silent Disco – no volume what-so-ever. New post time!

Pictured: Front Sleeve for “Disco Fortuna” (Released on January 15, 2021) (via Neon City Records)

Good Afternoon to you (Borderline Evening) – I am Jacob Braybrooke, and it’s finally time again for me to get scribbling up about your track of the day on the blog, as per typical, because it’s always my day-to-day pleasure to write up about a different piece of music every day! Bandcamp is a truly excellent resource for finding some rarities from some of the world’s independent creatives, and one of my recent discoveries has been Iden Kai’s new album, ‘Disco Fortuna’, which was released to the app and wherever you stream your music on January 15th via Neon City Records. I could find very little information on Iden (Which is pronounced as “Eiden”) when I had searched him up on the web, other than knowing how he pronounces his name and that he is a Mexican DJ and Electonic Funk record producer. However, he seems to be gaining some rock solid traction with those who enjoy their Future Funk and Disco revivialist anthems – for instance – he currently has 3.3k montly followers on Spotify and ‘Disco Fortuna’ has amassed over 10k streams on the platform as well, which is pretty good going for someone so off-the-radar online. Check out the single, ‘Disco James’, below.

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=rFcIe-JACzA

Iden Kai offers up his mixes to the currently popular ‘Future Funk’ sub-genre, which, if you are not familiar with the name of this style of music, it pays homage to the viral culture of Synthwave, Chillwave and Vaporwave, but ultimately takes on a more hyper-melodic and anime-style visual work that is defined partly by it’s samples of rare smooth jazz, R&B and lounge Jazz recordings of the 80’s. In more simpler terms, it’s basically the most “poppy” music that you could probably come across, with young artists who share their material around places like YouTube. It’s sometimes seen as quite a trashy and disposable style of production, but like with any good art, it just depends how you treat the genre and what credibility you strive to add to it. ‘Disco James’ is actually a nice way to get acquainted with the relatively new sub-genre. It strips away the more ‘trashy’ qualities of the early-2010’s internet meme culture for me, and it provides an update to 90’s house that feels driven by more Japanese influences. The sound is strikingly upbeat, as Horn melodies and synth instrumentation provides a throwback feel designed to get the party grooving. Meanwhile, the vocal samples are chopped up and screwed up, the lyrics barely inaudible, to also carry across a Metropolitan aesthetic. The keys are playful and the effects experiment with nostalgic moods, with a breakdown towards the end of the track that feels less Jazz-influenced and more video game sound directed. Of course, there’s quite little here in the way of original material from the artist – but it seems like the goal for Iden was to re-purpose these prominent samples of vintage tunes for appeal towards a fresh audience. While it probably won’t appeal to everybody for it’s disposable approach to art, depending on who you ask, it’s earned a few good repeat listens from me. Super melodic, emphasizing on fun and knowingly nodding to the 80’s with care, there’s enough here to keep the party dancing all through a long night.

Pictured: Still image from the ‘Disco Fortuna’ music video (2021) (Photo by Real Love Music)

Thank you for checking out my latest post – I did try to beef it up! This one should get the extended bank holiday weekend moving in style. The festivities continue tomorrow with our ‘New Album Release Friday’ section – where we take a sampler of one of Good Friday’s new album releases. Tomorrow’s track comes from a fresh South London 4-piece group who have been fusing witty, jumbled Spoken Word sections with Post-Rock guitar shredding to unanimously praised effect! 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: Dante Elephante – “Game Of Love”

March 15, 2021 — Leave a comment

Play what you want – but you better not go play Mind Games on me! New post time!

Pictured: Cover Art for “Game Of Love” (Single) (Released on Feb 26th, 2021 (via Born Losers Records)

Good Afternoon to you! Jacob Braybrooke here, wishing you a happy Monday, as I report to the blog for my track of the day, since it is always my day-to-day pleasure to write up about a different piece of new music every day! If you cast your mind back to just two months ago, you may recall our ‘New Album Release Friday’ feature on the blog, where we took an in-depth look at ‘Mid-Century Modern Romance’, the third studio album to be released by Dante Elephante (aka Ruben Zarate), on the Born Losers Records label at the very beginning of the new year. The album sees the singer-songwriter – who is based in the Highland Park area of Santa Barbara near Los Angeles in California – shed his previous Surf-Rock and Stoner-Pop sound for a more retro guise of Disco-Pop and Dance-Rock. Produced by Paul Cherry, the LP was a cheeky little sleeper hit of a release, with some groovy tunes that have really grown on me in the last two months. The sound is nicely inspired, while nostalgic at the same time, as an overall classic-sounding Pop package that doesn’t set the world alight, but refreshingly manages to transport you away from the grim reality of our current circumstances with a passionate stride. To follow up on album stand-outs like ‘Jeni’ and ‘Find Somebody To Love’, Zarate has just released a one-off single in the form of a cover version of Santana’s 60’s Soul Pop anthem, ‘Game Of Love’. If you find the sampling below to be enjoyable, Zarate also hosts his own eccentric podcast, ‘The Dante Elephante Podcast’, which you can check out each Thursday on commercial platforms like Spotify, Apple Music, YouTube, and wherever else that you get your podcasts. You can have a sing along to the on-screen lyrics for ‘Game Of Love’ below.

Paired with the above music video, which is dedicated to Gregg Alexander, Zarate has been promoting his music with a live appearance on the KCRW radio station, where you’ll find him talking about the records that take him back in his very own all-Vinyl playlist titled ‘Private Playlist’ which articulates his inspiration from his heroes, including rarities from Orange Juice and Eydie Gorme. The segment is up on his YouTube channel if that sounds interesting to you, where you can also find some live performances of tracks from the new album, alongside the above music video for bonus single ‘Game Of Love’. Speaking of that track, it demonstrates some maturing of his songwriting skills and some acting chops, with Zarate busting some moves to co-incide with the more upbeat, dance-oriented chorus sections. The verses are a little more pensive though, with soulful melodies and mid-tempo synth beats that continually emerge and retreat back in the more toned down sections. The drum beat grooves are rather nice, before sensual lines like “So, please tell me why you don’t come around here no more/Cause right now I’m dying outside the door of your loving store” creep in to the soundscape with a lightly drawing scope. The chorus is more hook-led, with rhymes like “It just takes a little bit of this, A little bit of that/It started with a kiss, Now we’re up to bat” and “A little bit of laughs, A little bit of pain, it’s all in the game of love” that feel forthright and ready for summer. The percussive elements are neatly packed into the sound, and Zarate increases the tempo of the original track just a little to give it a more funky, progressive update. Overall, it’s a really lovely little track because it demonstrates a clear talent that Zarate has in making pop music that sounds old-school and vintage with a top-notch sense of authenticity, and while the results are not really a groundbreaking record, it’s one that feels charming, with an affectionate Falsetto tool that takes me from a somewhat mundane setting, and it makes me feel like I’m beach-bound on a pleasantly hot day. It’s just good Pop music.

Pictured: Ruben Zarate (of Dante Elephante) in a ‘GoodTimes.SC’ promo shoot (2019) (via PR)

As aforementioned, this is the second time that Dante Elephante has pulled an appearance on the little blog. Although it’s grown on me more since then, you can also check out my guidance of album single ‘Las Vegas’ here: https://onetrackatatime.home.blog/2021/01/08/new-album-release-friday-dante-elephante-las-vegas/

Pictured: Cover for “Mid-Century Modern Romance” (Released on Jan 8, 2021) (via Born Losers Records)

That’s all for now – Please feel free to check back here tomorrow, however, with an in-depth look at some more brand new music recommendations. Tomorrow’s track is almost guaranteed to send you straight to the bustling atmosphere of Asian aesthetics, with an in-depth look at the superb new track to come from a promising all-female indie rock band from Nagoya, Aichi who are signed to the Sub-Pop Records label. The band have recently collaborated with Gorillaz for a track on the ‘Song Machine, Season One: Strange Timez’ compilation. 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: Patawawa – “Adadadadeya”

March 11, 2021 — Leave a comment

Try to say this track title three times fast – There’s a challenge for you. New post time!

Pictured: Beth Garrett (Vocals), Sam Wilmot (Bass Guitar) & Rory Lovatt (Percussion) (in 2019) (via PR)

Good Afternoon to you! I’m Jacob Braybrooke, and it’s time, once again, for me to get typing up for your daily track on the blog, as always, since it is routinely my day-to-day pleasure to write up about a different piece of music every day! A wet and ferociously windy day has surprisingly turned into a sunny and bright one for me here today in the East Anglia, and so Patawawa’s ‘Adadadadeya’ has abruptly turned into some nice ‘Mood Music’ for the occasion. The warm and tropical sound of this Indie Disco-Funk trio comes from the sleeping town of Matlock in Derbyshire, with the band comprised of vocalist Beth Gerrett, bassist Sam Wilmont and guitarist/backing vocalist Rory Lovatt. The trio’s influences include Prince and Pet Shop Boys, and they have earned the spotlight from publications like NME, The Guardian and Earmilk, with further exposure on BBC Music Introducing and John Kennedy’s X-Posure on Radio X. ‘Adadadadeya’ was admittedly released a while back, November 2020, to be exact. However, it’s still the fourth single from their upcoming debut album, ‘Power-Up’, which finally arrives on the Modern Sky label on the 26th of March. The new album has seen a lengthy production process with delays caused by the Covid-19 pandemic, but I have little doubt that the record could replicate the success of their 2018 Tez Cadey co-featured single, ‘Patagonia’, which has racked up over four million streams on Spotify. Let’s see them perform the track virtually for Y-Not Festival below.

The aim of Patawawa seems to be to take us back to the golden age of Disco, where contemporary production collides with the heyday where Chic and Earth, Wind & Fire were topping the singles charts globally. Vocalist Beth Garrett said of the single, “Adadadadeya is about ending up somewhere unexpected. That could be at a rave or somewhere at a festival”, back in a press release when the single was released. With relatable lyrics, she elaborated “you know that feeling when you meet complete randomers, but you end up in their little gang for the night and have DMC’s, deep meaningful chats. You don’t know where you, or what the hell’s going on, but it’s amazing.” as a sense of normalcy and hope to see live music derives from the track in the midst of a tricky time. The track immediately gets it’s disco essence, with an anthemic lead guitar riff and a few exclamations of the amusing hook, “Adadadadeya”, paving the way for vibrant, light and warm Bongo notes to enter the picture. The verses have a bright guitar pattern, with lines like “A girl smiled at me from across the street” and “She walked up and whispered, come with me” having a rhythmic twang and a quirky sense of humor. The melodies are the brightest during the chorus, where sparse Conga drum beats build to lines like “Then, she said to me, Adadadadeya” and “Said it on repeat, Adadadadeya” that feel nonsensical, but catchy. The basslines are filled with Funk-inflicted guitar licks, and the sparse drum rhythms give the instrumentation a more delicate, off-kilter and acidic quality. The track weaves some polished Nu-Disco sounds to give the old-fashioned influences a loving nod, but also a modern update, with a few synth beats and syncopated drum patterns which blend into the backgrounds of the grooves, but they add some more polish to the upbeat sounds all the same. There’s not a whole lot of substance in the lyrics, but they are quirky and give the hook of ‘Adadadadeya’ some more involvement, to the point where it would make for a nice bit of interaction with a crowd at a live performance. The overall sound reminds me of Miami Horror, yet with earlier influences that feel plucked from the 60’s or 70’s, Overall, I think it’s some good fun. The melodies are catchy and involved, they’ve done a good job of carving out a niche for themselves and it makes me want to shake my booty on the dancefloor. It’s probably not the kind of thing that I would listen to a whole album of, if I’m being critical, but I can picture it being really good fun in a live performance at a hot festival.

Pictured: Patawawa before an interview with Adrianna Barreno (in 2019) (via ODYRmagazine.com)

That’s all I’ve got for you today! Rest assured, though, I’ll be back tomorrow for an in-depth look at one of the week’s most interesting new album releases. This week’s selection comes from a group who describe themselves as a “leading light in Afro-Jazz” with a touring line-up comprised of a 4-piece Horn section, a 2-piece vocal choir and an electronics rhythm section. Orchestrated by guitarist/producer Tom Excell, the Alt-Jazz collective were once chosen by David Byrne to perform at Queen Elizabeth Hall for the south bank’s meltdown festival. 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: Natalie Bergman – “Shine Your Light On Me”

March 9, 2021 — Leave a comment

We’re shining a light on the faithful gospel of this Suburban Wild Belle. New post time!

Pictured: Cover Artwork for “Mercy ” (LP) (Available from May 5, 2021) (via Third Man Records)

Good Morning to you – My name is Jacob Braybrooke and, as you’ve certainly pieced together by now, it’s time for another 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! Natalie Bergman’s “Shine Your Light On Me” is a new single that I recently discovered through KCRW’s Top Tune podcast, and then John Ravenscroft played it on a recent episode of 6Music Recommends, and then I played it on my own radio show. That’s because it’s a real grower, and if Natalie’s voice sounds familiar to you, you might know her as one half of the Suburban Chicago Prog-Rock duo Wild Belle – although that’s an act that I’m sadly not familiar with in the slightest. This is the second single to be released from her upcoming debut solo album, “Mercy”, which releases on May 7th on Third Man Records. That feels like ages away, but she’s only just getting started on building some more anticipation for her new release, an album which takes it’s inspiration from Bergman’s religious faith as a Christian and classic TV live performances during the era of the 70’s, with Bergman specifically thinking about Diana Ross & The Supremes. This is particularly shown through the use of a 4:3 ratio on the single’s music video, which was directed by Alan Del Rio Ortiz and shot by cinematographer Ben Chappell, who have worked in tandem with Arctic Monkeys, Solange, King Krule, and others before. Let’s sample “Shine Your Light On Me” below.

“Shine Your Light On Me is a love song. It’s a prayer. A heartbroken melody hoping for sunshine”, Natalie Bergman said of the new single release. For Bergman, incorporating her faith into the creation of her soulful music is also a crucial factor of the writing process, as she told mxdwn.com in a recent interview, “My faith and music are crucial to my existence. I sing a lot about home on this record. My Paradiso, my Heaven”, before concluding, “Gospel music gives me hope. It is the good news. It’s exemplary. It can bring you truth. It can keep you alive. This album provided me with my only hope for coming back to life itself” in her speech. It’s a light and elegant aspect of her performances, and this sense of radiant warmth is also an attractive part of the appeal for her new tune. It feels lightly catchy and silky smooth, with Bergman reciting lines like “Lord, please be my Shepherd/I have gone astray” and “I’ve been lost in the desert, won’t you lead me to new pastures” over the top of a harmonic backing vocal and a soft earworm melody, where keyboard riffs and gentle synths neatly trickle their way into the core guitar rhythms, before retreating again. Hooks like “Come on, shine your light on me, Sweet Jesus” and “Let me dwell in your house forever” turn a feel of tragedy into a source of reassurance, with a lightly Psychedelic spin on contemporary Gospel vocals giving the track a vintage and old-fashioned sound. The most affecting part of the track, for me, however, is where the instrumentation slows down and we discover the reason why our protagonist, as such, is praying to God. Lines such as “Like the morning does, I cry for him” and “He was my greatest love, I cry for him” permeate through the subtle guitar licks and the more raw, painfully honest lyrics. This section shows me a great deal of vulnerability, and it adds a more emotive layer to the Gospel framework. Overall, I really like this tune and it’s been playing on repeat at times. It’s hard for me to pinpoint exactly why I enjoy it so much because there’s loads of little elements in the track that influence that opinion, but I mostly just find the track to be very catchy in a delicate sense and it really captures my attention in the sound feeling quite distinct and out-there. The ‘Crooner’ throwbacks and the classic Soul delivery make me think a lot of Moses Sumney, and a little of SAULT too – while the visuals feel more akin to The Ed Sullivan Show and, to a more mainstream extent, Duffy’s ‘Rockferry’. This is a sound which ultimately deserves to be heard, with it’s personal themes and it’s bold, retro quality.

Pictured: Natalie Bergman with Elliot Bergman in The Current Studios (2013) (via TheCurrent.org)

Thank you for checking out my latest music musing… If you want more where that came from, make sure that you join me again tomorrow, where we’ll be going “Way Back” to re-explore an important sound from before the 2000’s that influenced the modern offerings. Tomorrow’s track is a 90’s Deep House and Garage classic with lots of different mixes out there to it’s name. However, we’re going to look at my favourite, the “Live Garage Mix” of 1997 – where House icon Peven Everett performs the trumpet and the vocals on the track. Further mixes from Basement Jaxx, R.I.P. Productions and M-Beat were released later on, but the original single reached #22 on the UK Singles Chart, where it remained in the charts for five straight weeks. 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: Menahan Street Band – “The Duke”

February 23, 2021 — Leave a comment

Nearly a decade – but they’re gonna give us something to Taco about. New post time!

Pictured: Physical Vinyl copy of “The Exciting Sounds Of Menahan Street Band” (LP) (Released on February 26th, 2021) (via Daptone Records) (Available to buy from shopdaptonerecords.com)

My word… I do miss my street food. On that tangent, I’m Jacob Braybrooke – and it’s time for me to get typing up on the blog for your daily track on the blog, because it’s routinely my day-to-day pleasure to write up about a different piece of music every day! A now six-piece retro Funk and Soul collective encompassing a strong variety of musicians from The Budos Band, El Michels Affair, Sharon Jones & The Dap-Kings and Antibalas, Menahan Street Band are an Instrumental Jazz group who were founded in Brooklyn, New York in 2007 by Thomas Brenneck, who gave this project their moniker while living in an apartment on Menahan Street in the NY neighborhood of Bushwick. Even if you think you’ve never heard their music before, the chances are more likely that you probably have, and that’s because their original tracks have been sampled widely in Hip-Hop by contemporary artists like Kendrick Lamar, Kid Cudi and 50 Cent. Citing Ella Fitzgerald, Curtis Mayfield and Ennio Morricone as main influences, the collective are currently signed to Daptone Records. Now, after a ten-yer hiatus, “The Exciting Sounds Of Menahan Street Band”, the act’s third full-length album, is set to release this Friday on that label. Check out one of the new singles, “The Duke”, below.

Yes, you read that correctly. It’s been nearly a full decade, but Menahan Street Band are following up on 2012’s “The Crossing” this week. Entitled “The Duke”, their recent single was recorded at the old Dunham Studio in Brooklyn during the Charles Bradley “Victim Of Love” sessions. Shared in a statement from the artists on Instagram, the band said “Some turned into songs that made Charles’ album. We tried putting vocals on this track, but Charles could never get into it. Years later, while putting together ‘The Exciting Sounds Of…’ album, we thought this was the perfect place for The Duke”, when commenting on the track’s previous origins, with this cut being originally intended for Charles Bradley, before the Instrumental collective put their own fresh spin on the template. A classical-sounding and traditioanlly built Jazz instrumental, “The Duke” feels playful and joyous in it’s approach, with a vintage and nostalgic 80’s Soul Fusion sound that highly reminds me of Delvon Lamarr Organ Trio, and a little of Khruangbin too with it’s light-hearted World Music elements. Starting off with a tinny Organ riff, “The Duke” evolves into a more hypnotic affair with the sweeping Trumpet sounds and the funk-laden guitar licks that are added into the chorus. It unveils more tone and timbre, with a two-step drum beat coming into the second verse, after we settle back into the groove created by the continous Organ melody. The final section of the piece feels more restrained, with an angular rhythm guitar solo briefly replacing the warmth of the toy-like and playful Keyboard instrumentation, but all three elements of the Jazz, Soul and R&B sound remain intact because of the push-and-pull nature of the Brass-based instrumentation. The chorus is reminiscent of a crescendo, while the verse acts as a small build-up for the groove to be unleashed into a more melodic explosion of sounds in the chorus. The mood and design is quite fascinating, but the focal Jazz sound is one full of comfort and warmth. Although the instrumental sound never really “goes anywhere” in the typical sense, we’re left with a delightfully old-school and vintage-feeling assortment of moods. Top marks for this.

Pictured: Thomas Brenneck (Lead Guitar), Nick Movshon (Bass Guitar), Mike Deller (Organ), Dave Guy (Trumpet), Leon Michaels (Saxophone) & Homer Steinwess (Drums) (2020) (via Frontview Magazine)

Thank you for reading this post – I’m very grateful for your support. That’s all for now, but please check back with me tomorrow for another episode in our “Way Back Wednesdays” weekly feature where we remember the pre-2000’s music sounds that should be remembered from time to time. In a rare look at a mainstream-oriented tune tomorrow, we’re going to treat my mother to one of her favourites. It comes from an Australian star of stage and screen who, despite suffering injuries to his back in the new series of ITV’s ‘Dancing On Ice’, he’s still not going to give up the fight for you! 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: Bullion – “Thirty Two”

February 1, 2021 — Leave a comment

A Bullion of silver – let’s see if this music is worth it’s weight in gold! New post time!

Pictured: Cover Art for “Heaven Is Over” (Released on September 25, 2020) (via Jagjaguwar Records)

Good Afternoon – I’ve just seen the Royal Rumble, and that means it’s time for me to get typing up for 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! We’re kicking off the new month with a familiar face to the blog – and one of the releases that you might have missed in 2020. We’ve covered Bullion’s work once before – and this is the electronic music alias for NTS Radio host Nathan Jenkins, who largely self-produces his own material from his studio in West London. The follow up to the “We Had A Good Time” EP, which released at the very beginning of last year, was the “Heaven Is Over” EP, a little release that I would really recommend for it’s subversive, Warp Records-esque production tools. Under his pseudonym, Jenkins has released a multitude of work for the Young Turks, R&S, The Trilogy Tapes and Jagjaguwar Records companies. During his time-frame, Jenkins has also established himself in the European dance scene, where he’s lived in Lisbon, Portugal for a number of years. My eyes were really drawn to this beautiful fan-made video to his track, “Thirty Two”, which was uploaded onto YouTube last October by TRUTH CRAB, with the Japenese anime’ visuals being taken from Ai Monogatari’s 90’s mini-series, “9 Love Stories”. Let’s take the beauty in below.

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=OF7E5nDPsXc

“Thirty Two” was, indeed, taken from the “Heaven Is Over” EP from Bullion – which got it’s digital release last September, and a physical 12″ vinyl release followed that December. I’d say it would have made for a brilliant Stocking filler at yuletide time – and the five-track EP was also released as a part of the “Friends Of” project – which was launched, then, as a joint initiative between the Jagjaguwar Records, Secretly Canadian and Dead Oceans label to provide financial support for independent artists affected by the difficulties of the ongoing Covid-19 pandemic. Jenkins also kept himself busy throughout the year by producing Westerman’s debut solo album, “Your Hero Is Not Dead”, along with collaborating with Sampha and Talking Heads’ David Byrne. Even though “Thirty Two” was never officially released as a single, I think it’s still a solid reflection of the 80’s euphemisms and the self–quoted “Pop, Not Slop” attitudes that Jenkins brings to the table. Some might find the lack of any vocals to turn them away, but we’re instead treated to a richly detailed atmosphere that evokes a nostalgic, child-like emotion that would be fairly difficult to replicate with real words. The odd hum, or two, from Jenkins is enough to create a Shoegazed, dream-like backing track to the instrumental sounds. Speaking of those, we get a more electronic style of sound than some of the more piano-based compositions you would find on the EP, with shuffling drum beats and slightly grooving guitar licks evoking a gently propelling sound, while 80’s New Wave-inspired synth lines glide slowly beneath the organic instrumentation to blend these soft instrumentals with a more child-like ambience. It reminds me slightly of Boards Of Canada – with toy Organ chords and mid-tempo Synth lines creating a lightly psychedelic haze to the overall sound. Together, these soft instrumentals gently ascend in tempo, while the odd rumble of bass brings the celestial Synths back down to Earth. I know that some listeners really don’t like the lack of vocals in their music, but I really liked this little release. “Thirty Two” feels very relaxed and quite child-like, but there’s still a light melancholy to the sound with it’s mid-tempo pacing and the push-and-pull bassline. Overall, it is a very nicely laid out little track, and the possible flaws are easy to shake.

Pictured: Bullion (a.k.a. Nathan Jenkins) in a photoshoot for his NTS Radio Show (2017) (via NTS)

If you liked “Thirty Two”, I get the feeling that you will also like the title track from Jenkins’ “We Had A Good Time” EP release last February. Check it out right here: https://onetrackatatime.home.blog/2020/05/27/todays-track-bullion-we-had-a-good-time/

Pictured: Cover Art for “We Had A Good Time” (Released on February 28, 2020) (via DEEK Recordings)

That’s all I’ve got to share with you today – and so I’m going to move on with my shorter working day. Join me again tomorrow for an in-depth look at one of my favourite singles in quite a long time, and this next one is currently really blowing up online with the 6Music crowd of listeners. The track comes from a London-based, female-led Post-Punk group who have recently signed up to the well-known 4AD indie music label, and they were inspired to write and perform their own music by bands including The Feelies, The Necessaries, Pylon and even The B-52’s of wide “Love Shack” 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/

New Album Release Friday: Dante Elephante – “Las Vegas”

January 8, 2021 — 1 Comment

What happens in Vegas – stays in… Ohh heck no, I’m telling everyone. New Post time!

Guess who’s back? Back again! Of course, it’s Jacob Braybrooke – and I’m here, once again, to type up about the daily track on the blog, because it’s always my day-to-day pleasure to write to you about a different piece of music every day! Firstly, apologies for missing out yesterday – I had a panicking crisis going on with my laptop and the battery, and so I obviously needed to prioritize using what I could to save ALL of the sheer volume of University work that I’ve been doing, as opposed to the blog. However, things are back to normal now – and I can start off our new weekly feature. Since it’s Friday, there’s always a handful of new album releases, and so we’re going to pick one to review each week. This is the artist who stuck out to me the most when I was doing my research on artists with a new album out this weekend, and so I have only just heard of him myself. “Mid-Century Romance” is the fourth album release to come from Dante Elephante (the pseudonym of Ruben Zarate), an Alternative Surf-Pop singer-songwriter currently based in Los Angeles, California. The new album was released today via Born Losers Records. Produced by Paul Cherry, the new LP is the follow-up to 2018’s “Rare Attractions”, and it finds Zarate drifting away from his roots as a Stoner rock musician into a more R&B, disco Synth-Pop sound. He also hosts his own self-titled podcast, with new episodes hitting streaming services (such as Spotify, Apple Podcasts, etc.) each Tuesday. Let’s check out the new single “Las Vegas” below.

His latest single sees Zarate take us on a Synth-drenched, R&B-lite road trip through the desert of Las Vegas, as he noted “Las Vegas holds a special place in my heart”, on the Jack Campise-directed music video. Elaborating on his creative process behind the track, he explained: “Living in Santa Barbara, the idea of driving five hours to Las Vegas was a no-brainer. So we went every weekend. Of course, during a pandemic made it ten times more difficult, and I learned Vegas is a crazy place” – oh, the luxuries of leaving the house in this day and age. “Las Vegas” is polished off by a nostalgic set of quirky keyboard riffs and the occasional String melody, with a central theme of 1979 being now. Zarate asks: “Could you tell me if I’m good enough?” and “So, am I always going to feel this way?” over the top of a flickering Synth beat and a mid-tempo, 80’s drum rhythm. The refrain in the chorus is more reflective, with Zarate singing: “We’re driving through grand canyons” and “We’re flying to Las Vegas” to a romantic partner or a close friend, to the beat of a light acid synth line and the mid-tempo, 80’s drum groove that continues permeating through the track. It touches on 90’s house sounds, with Zarate breaking it down with: “Dream, a little dream of me” in the bridge towards the conclusion, as we hurtle to the end point of the track with a little Disco fever. Overall, there seems to be masses of artists going for a rather similar style these days, with nostalgia for the 80’s playing a key role in people’s functions for listening to lots of music in the first place, and so the group doesn’t really need any new members. However, I still think that “Las Vegas” is rather nice. The throwback vocal harmonies make it stand out enough among the pack, and the Disco influences are clearly here with a good heart. I don’t think the sound is anything revolutionary, but the soulful vocals and the mild chord progression give it a certain punch. Overall, I feel that it is unoriginal, if effective. Enough love has clearly gone into the creative aspects, even if it’s a little light on viscerality to take the “catchy” feel up another peg.

Pictured: Ruben Zarate (aka Dante Elephante) in a photoshoot (2020) (Photo by Tommy McDermott)

Thank you for checking out the first edition of our new weekly feature – it was something that I was sort-of doing already, so we may as well make it official. I’m going to be picking up from where I left off yesterday, as we switch our gears to a more ambient/electronic sound from a producer who is often compared to Boards Of Canada for his nature-based production methods, and you may also know him as the graphic designer ISO50. 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: Bent – “Friends”

January 5, 2021 — Leave a comment

The Sample-Delia duo who see nothing wrong with bending the rules! New Post time!

Pictured: Cover Art for “Up In The Air” (Released on November 14th, 2020) (via Godlike & Electric)

Top ‘O’ The Morning to you – I’m Jacob Braybrooke, and it’s time for me to fulfill my duties of typing up about your daily track on the blog, because it is routinely my day-to-day pleasure to write up about a different piece of music every day! As we see out the last year and enter the new one, it’s nice to look back at some of 2020’s lower-key releases that you might have missed. Unfortunately, Bent’s “Friends” falls under that category, and I don’t mean it lightly – because this one has really grown on me. Bent are the Nottingham-based Sample-Delia duo of Neil Tolliday and Simon Mills, who released “Up In The Air” last November, which marks their first LP release in 14 years – since 2006’s “Intercept”. When I first discovered “Friends”, I sadly did not know very much about the duo, because when you type up “Bent friends” into a Google search, it obviously came up with some questionable results. However, I have now learned that Bent were pioneers of the Chillout music genre, and I have also learned they are very influential to Electronica, and gained critical praise from major publications like NME, The Quietus and Mixmag. Their music has frequently been used in advertising, and they would sell copies of their records in the hundreds of thousands. Collectively, Bent have also become known for their sense of humor, which displays quirky ‘crate-digging’ results on their concept albums, including 2000’s “Programmed To Love”, 2002’s “Everlasting Blink” and 2004’s “Ariels”, and they have remixed artists including Dolly Parton, Hall and Oates, Faithless, and Morcheeba. Let’s stream “Friends” below.

Bent was conceptualized through Neil and Simon’s dis-satisfaction with the state of the electronic dance music genre in 1997, and they felt it wasn’t meeting their expectations. Released in November, “Up In The Air” has a rural, countryside vibe to it – through the transformative sampling production and the incredible promo art – which depicts nature and farm animals. Like a fresh cider on a summer’s day, “Friends” proves to be a slightly more upbeat ending to the chilled, gentle sounds of the rest of the album. Created through a sample of a track that was recorded way back in the 1930’s, the Bent duo manage to put a tropical, breezy spin on the recording. The album was recorded remotely from Neil in his UK studio in Sherwood, and Simon created four of the LP’s tracks in his rural Ireland studio, and I think that the album’s themes of countryside and farm life manages to feel timely and profound, in a time where many of us are isolated. “Friends” feels joyous and cheerful, with an old-fashioned female vocal crooning: “Just friends, we’re not lovers no more/Just friends, not like before” and “To think of all that’s been/Not to love again, It’s like pretending, this is our beginning” over the top of a slowly moving, but comprehensively layered, sequence of gently sweeping String sections and the cinematic, vintage set of Disco instrumentation – with lightly reverberating Synths. Oh yes – and there’s plenty of Bongo drums as well. The chorus is lightly catchy, but it still manages to sound pretty relaxed, opening up the gap for a slightly downtempo, sadly emotive quality to the vocals – While the mid-tempo drum beats and the summer-inspired bass rumbles veer the track just a little into Space Disco territory. I read some negative reviews for the album on places like Album Of The Year, with some users calling it “Spa music” and felt the “Background music” feel of the album was disappointingly dull. At first, it didn’t really quite manage to grip me, because the album is certainly not going to be the most visceral or quick-paced record that you’ll hear all year around, but with the frequent set of re-listens, it’s managed to connect with me. It makes for some greatly thematic listening, and it has an ethos of taking obscure, vintage material – with the clever uses of sampling to extract some more transformative and absorbing moods. It might be that it’s because I’ve spent a lot of life growing up in The Fens myself, and so it has almost been like revisiting my own wilderness. In any case, I definitely feel that it’s worthy of your time and a fair chance.

Pictured: BENT (Simon Mills and Neil Tolliday) in a recent press shoot (2020) (Photo via IDMmag.com)

Thank you for checking back with me on the blog today! Tomorrow’s post will be an exciting one – because it’s the first entry of a BRAND NEW weekly feature – right here on the blog! I bet that suprised you, right? This is “Way Back Wednsedays” (See what I did there?) – the time of the week where we dig our music collection for something which made it’s mark before the date of the 2000’s. Our first entry comes from an Alternative Hip-Hop trio originally led by an Experimental Trip-Hop/Funk artist who is now known as “Shabazz Palaces”. 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/

One Track At A Time

Soft-Funk