Synth-Rock

Today’s Track: NOISY – “Where’s Your Head?”

January 25, 2021 — Leave a comment

You may find yourself Drowned In Sound as a Consequence Of Sound! New post time!

  • Pictured: Cody (Rapper/Lyricist), Connor (Lead Guitar), Spencer (Bass Guitar/Producer) (2020) (via PR)
    Pictured: Cody (Rapper/Lyricist), Connor (Lead Guitar), Spencer (Bass Guitar/Percussion) (2020) (via PR)

NOISY by name – and noisy by nature! Good Morning to you, I’m Jacob Braybrooke and it’s now time for me to get typing up for 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! A Worthing-based Rap-Rock band who describe their material as “mosh-pit worthy noise for the paranoid age”, NOISY have liked to blur the lines of different genres since they formed in bassist Spencer’s basement roughly 18 months ago. Their main influences include Slowthai and Yungblood, and the trio are hoping to support You Me At Six and Bad Sounds on tour for their rescheduled dates later in the year. These days, NOISY are currently signed to Island Records, an imprint of the Universal Music Group, and the major label support has helped them to turn the heads of DIY, Dork and The Line Of Best Fit. Ubisoft also used one of their signature tracks, “So What”, for the soundtrack of their latest Open-World action video-game, “Watch Dogs Legion”, which allowed for wider exposure. “Where’s Your Head?” is a sample of the 3-piece’s sound, which they released as a single last summer – and it was re-released last October as a part of the ‘I Wish I Was A…’ EP. Check out the self-directed video below.

“Where’s Your Head?” is a track simply about having the back of your friends, and the songwriting was highly influenced by the COVID-19 pandemic. They also took to the streets of Worthing to shoot the music video, as vocalist Cody told the press: “With the subject being quite close to home we wanted to shoot the video all around our hometown Worthing, going to all the places where we’ve met and hung out through the years of knowing each other”. This release, as per fitting of the band’s name, is noisy indeed. Themes of looking out for your companions are echoed during the first two verses, where Cody raps: “I know a sad girl hitting my phone at two, Waking me up ’cause she’s got the blues” and “I know a sad boy losing his left and right, He could be using a mate tonight” over the top of feedback-drenched guitar lines and tribal, ethnological chants that add a backing vocal. Lyrics such as “When he be down, he be questioning his life” and “It’s proving hard to get somebody, Just to talk back” are delivered speedily, and at the breakneck pace of the changing instrumentals, but they suggest a murkier implication for the lyrics. We get some slowed synth lines in the bridge, and then we get ominously thumping electronic bass-lines that allow a brief moment of sentimentality to burst through the Post-Punk guitar sounds, and the energetic lead guitar chords keep things moving at a fast pace. Starting off with the good, I actually think that what Noisy are doing here is original and fresh – mixing the Post-Rock instrumentals with the IDM-centric compositions feels youthful and dynamic. However, If I’m being honest, I don’t like this one very much at all. There’s certainly potential here, so I don’t mean to knock them down too much. However, for me, it feels less like NOISY and more like MESSY. It’s nice to see them mixing elements of Rap-Rock, Post-Grunge and Electronica together, but they feel burned into a cauldron with no real rhyme or reason here. There’s simply something very “off” about the pacing – the attempts to change the tone feel very uneven and jumbled to me, and it almost feels like the synths are trying to fasten bits of the tune together instead of retaining a control to the proverbial chaos. There’s just not a consistent tone that connects the transitions together, and I’ve noticed there’s a bit of a “record label” chorus going on here, and that element of “Pop” also feels buried under the rubble of grunge-driven punk sounds and techno soundscapes. To conclude, I think there’s something with this band – it sounds student-friendly and buoyant. However, the major issue, for me, is just the tone – there just isn’t a lot of cohesion behind the blending of the genres, and the sound feels confused as a result. In my opinion, it could simply be improved with more flow and less clamour – although I have nothing wrong with music being noisy, as shown by my love for Aphex Twin over the years. Sadly, I also need the odd thing to put into the “Worst” category of my monthly wrap-up posts, and not everything can be good. On a positive note, I see big potential here.

  • Pictured: NOISY outside of Wingfield House (2020) (Photo Credit: Raw Power Management/PR)

That’s the end of the story for today – Thank you for the support! I’ll be back for more tomorrow, as always, as I continue to obliterate the final remains of my 2020 backlog with an in-depth look at a recent track to come from one of my Bandcamp deep dives of last year. This independent project represents the new material to come from a duo who previously compiled half of the line-up for the lo-fi indie rock band, Spring Meadow. As a newly formed duo, the two producers released an EP last year on the Practice Music label. If you really liked what you just read, why not follow the blog to get notified when every new daily post is up and why not like the Facebook page here?: https://www.facebook.com/OneTrackAtATime/

Today’s Track: Raf Rundell – “Monsterpiece”

January 19, 2021 — 1 Comment

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

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

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

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

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

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

Today’s Track: Keep Dancing Inc – “No Milkshakes In Hell”

December 2, 2020 — Leave a comment

Chocolate. Strawberry. Banana. Mint. Toffee – Take your pick! It is time for a new post!

  • Pictured: Cover Art for “Embrace” (Album/LP) (Released on October 23rd, 2020) (via Sony Music)

I will have you know that my Milkshakes bring all of the boys to the yard! I’m Jacob Braybrooke – and it’s time for me to get writing up all about your daily track on the blog, because it’s always my day-to-day pleasure to type up about a different piece of music every day! Keep Dancing Inc are one of my latest discoveries – a new Synth-Punk trio from France. They have previously supported Blossoms on a tour through Europe. Their debut album – “Embrace” – was released on 23rd October through Un Plain Simple, a French imprint of the Sony Music label. The track grabbed me with it’s weirdly opaque subject matter, and I think it positions them to be an exciting act to follow in the indie Electronica scene. To bring the new album to life, the trio worked on the production process with Tom Carmichael, who has also produced records for the likes of HAIM, Fat White Family and Jamie Issac over the years – recording twelve tracks together between Paris and Margate in England. On that note, it’s time to pick your poison… or milkshake, of choice – Let’s slurp into “No Milkshakes In Hell” below.

“This song tells an absurd story”, the band explained in the press release, “It’s about a psychopath who has an addiction for Milkshake”, adding, “The idea was probably inspired by movies like ‘Profando Rosso’ by Dario Argento or John Carpenter’s ‘Halloween’, some movies Louis saw when he was writing the lyrics of this song”, and it’s the playful tone of the songwriting which sets us up for the New Wave-inspired production. There’s an unashamedly 80’s Synthpop vibe that wraps the instrumentation and the vocals together, as Louis chants: “I go from town to town, and I bring them down/’Til the frozen liquid hits my brain/and tries to drive me insane” with a cold and tough delivery, but the crescendo of the glitch beats and the sweeping, bouncing synths add a melodic punch to it. Quirky lines like “I stabbed a man with a straw last night” and “I’m a milkshake maniac, Beware of my shake attack” create a narrative that the vocals are almost recounting to us. An undercurrent of Synth-Punk, with some obvious comparisons being drawn to LCD Soundsystem here, keeps the character of the odd, Milkshake psychopath intact, with a definite Neo-Punk sound that evokes Horror Movie synths into the home stretch at the end, where the Drum Machine beats are layered more frantically. It never quite turns into a feel good and upbeat pop anthem though, as the vocals maintain their cerebral rhythms. The bassline teases a more thunderous drop too, but it never quite takes off, and so it retains the Post-Punk edge. It definitely quenches my thirst, which is a bit more than I can often say about Milkshakes in real life. I think it’s a lot of fun, and I think their real share of talent comes in when they create the character of the psychopath and they manage to make him seem quirky and engaging, but retain his bleak and calculated personality, due to the production of the lead vocals. Tres Bien!

  • Pictured: Louis (Lead Vocals/Rhythm Guitar/Synths), Joseph (Bass Guitar/Backing Vocals/Keyboard and Gaby (Drums/Percussion/Occasional Backing Vocals) (in 2020) (Photo via DIYMag.com)

Thank you for checking out my new blog post! As per usual, I’ll be back for more tomorrow – Join me for an in-depth look at one of my recent deep dives. The track comes from a small local artist from Minnesota over in the United States who self-produces an self-releases his own bedroom pop and lo-fi material. His other project is Sleeping Jesus, and the track was recently featured on The Current’s Song Of The Day podcast series. 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: PVA – “Talks”

November 21, 2020 — Leave a comment

Been non-stop listening to a new EP by a band named after Glue… I can’t put it down!

  • Pictured: Josh Baxter, Ella Harris & Louis Satchell in a recent press shot (2020) (Photo via DIYMag.com)

The very history of Glue is a sticky one…Good Lord! Good Morning to you, I am Jacob Braybrooke, and it’s finally my turn again to get writing up about your daily track on the blog, since it is always my day-to-day pleasure to do so! I’m not actually certain if this new South London-based trio have named themselves after a type of Glue we all used in primary schools, but they are still turning heads nevertheless. Comprised of Josh Baxter, Ella Harris and Louis Satchell, PVA are a new genre-pushing Synth-Punk trio who originally established themselves as an enigmatic force when they started out in 2019. At the time, PVA decided to release just a half-length snippet of one of their tracks onto the wide internet – instead deciding to win over their fans based on the euphoric feel of their live gigs alone. It is an interesting management practice to say the least, especially these days. Yesterday, they released their debut EP, “Toner”, on Big Dada, an imprint of the larger Ninja Tune label, although I originally discovered the lead single, “Talks”, about six weeks ago. Dominic Haley wrote, in an interview feature for the Loud and Quiet website, “Their music mutates around an array of genres”, later adding, “They’re both brutal, and dripping in underground cool, but accessible and totally danceable”. Let’s have a listen to the new single, “Talks”, below.

Filled with 80’s New Wave guitar sweeps which evoke Prefab Sprout and New Order, Balaeric synth work that evokes LCD Soundsystem and Battles, and even a Big Beat-inspired EDM interlude, that evokes Propellerheads and Basement Jaxx, “Talks” is a solid track to get your foot in the door of the diverse music industry with. It feels hard to pinpoint down into a specific term of genre – and I like how it feels quite unconventional and obscure in doing so. The band said, in a press release, that lyrically “Talks is about how we invent games in order to avoid expressing our true feelings or take the risk of being hurt”, explaining, “The song also takes inspiration from real relationships and the fictional relationship between John and Abigail Marston (who are the main characters of video game, Red Dead Redemption). I’m afraid that latter reference hits a blank with me – but I can certainly see some expressive emotions coming through the vocals. Baxter sings, “Even in the furthest reaches, I’ve searched for forgiveness” above the euphoric synth line, which evokes a choppy 80’s rock sound. Baxter croons: “Bound to the heart you gave me” and “Confess about what I thought” in the second verse, duelling over some neat backing vocals from Harris, with an intriguing lyrical wordplay, layered above the New Wave guitar sensibility, which reminds me of Baxter Dury. The hook-led chorus carries along a slick hi-hat rhythm, where off-key Organ patterns evoke Nu-Jazz, and they meet with syncopated drum machine beats reminiscent of Nu-Disco, which even cross paths with warm Post-Punk backing vocals that have an anxious tonal delivery. You end up with a sound that feels quite immediate, and the intricate Funk patterns really end up creating a rather confident formula as the 80’s-leaning Pop sound struts along with the Disco-esque song structure. The vocal delivery feels deadpan too, and this elicits a small touch of humour and Motorik sounds, so I could see some more mainstream eyes looking at this 3-piece for their eclectic style. It all “Sticks” together!

  • Pictured: Cover Artwork for “Toner” (EP) (Available to buy from November 20th, 2020) (via Big Dada)

Thank you very much for tuning into the blog for today’s post! Don’t forget that tomorrow, we will be taking an in-depth look at an ancient classic from Pop-Punk past and Emo-Rock history – as part of our new entry in the Scuzz Sundays series – where we will be looking at a popular band led by a female singer-songwriter who has led a famous solo career in recent years, having since collaborated with B.O.B. and CHVRCHES for a few more mainstream radio hits! 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: Phoenix – “Identical”

October 24, 2020 — Leave a comment

Twinned together like Abingdon-on-Thames and Schongau, Germany. New post time!

  • Pictured: Thomas Mars (Lead Vocals), Deck “The Halls” D’Arcy (Bass Guitar, Keyboard), Laurent Brancowitz (Lead Guitar) and Christian Mazzalai (Rhythm Guitar/Percussion) (in 2019) (via press shot)

It’s the weekend! My name is Jacob Braybrooke and, as per usual, I’m here to get typing up your daily track on the blog, because it’s always my day-to-day pleasure to write about a different piece of music each day! Best known for the singles “1901”, “Lisztomania”, “Chloroform” and “If I Ever Feel Better”, Phoenix are an established Alternative/Indie Pop-Rock band from Versailles, France. They have six evolutionary albums under their name, and they are a band who I have followed for a large number of years, much like my post about The Mountain Goats yesterday. “Identical” is their new single release, and it marks their first new material since 2018’s one-off single “Monologue”, and it also follows their excellent Latino-leaning 2017 album record, “Ti Amo”. It was also dedicated by the band to the memory of the longtime collaborator Phillipe Zdar, who sadly passed away last year at the age of 50. The track is also the soundtrack for the brand new film “On The Rocks”, which stars Bill Murray, Rashida Jones and Marlon Wayans, and it was directed by Sofia Coppola, of whom the band’s frontman Thomas Mars is married to. The film was released earlier in the month in selected cinemas and on the Apple TV+ subscription streaming service. The online music video for the track features Roman Coppola-directed imagery spliced together by the movie producer, Masa Tsuyuki. Let’s take a listen to “Identical” below.

Phoenix have also compiled the score for the new film, which tells the story of “Faced with sudden doubts about her marriage, a young New York mother (Jones) teams up with her larger-than-life playboy father (Murray) to tail her husband (Wayans) in this bittersweet comedy.”, according to the film’s press release. “Identical” opens it’s path to uplifting pop anthem with a more reserved, fractured stop-and-start synth beat as Mars layers: “I don’t just know you/I’ve grown like that too” and the drum section becomes more prevalent in the pre-bridge, where Mars layers: “In the same room, on the same night/I found you caught in the headlines” as the synth riffs gradually increase in their acidic qualities and the tempo steadily increases. Mars has begun to chronicle the band’s relationship with Phillipe Zdar, with lines like “Gazing ’round the corner of the university/Can’t call it out, but keep calling you out loud” and “I’m no prophet/I’m your friend/Take my advice, make your mistakes” sticking out lyrically, over the top of a propulsive keyboard sequence and a snappy, percussive rhythm guitar distortion which gives the chorus it’s slightly abrasive edge. The synth beats maintain a melodic flow, however, and never skitter too heavily towards a harsh and raw sound. The mood feels rhythmic and uplifting, instead, as well as lyrics that feel rather self-reflective, as Mars riffs on about getting to know the specific traits of a person and how to try and wash away their more negative characteristics. It results in an overall sound that feels less catchy and punchy than most of Phoenix’s older work, and it has a much more introspective tone to it instead. This also ensures that there is a decent balance of familiarity with the electronic direction we’re used to hearing from them, whilst also offering a different mood to represent something a little bit fresh, and I feel it works out pretty well. It’s perhaps going to be forgotten quite easily, but it sees the band delivering well on their noticeably more intelligent pop template.

  • Pictured: Official Movie poster for “On The Rocks” (Dir. Sofia Coppola) (in 2020) (via PR/Apple TV +)

I spotted some mince pies and stollen cakes in my trip to Aldi yesterday, so if you’re feeling in the mood for some early festive spirit today, you can still check out my post about Phoenix’s seasonal yule rock single, “Alone On Christmas Day”, here: https://onetrackatatime.home.blog/2019/12/12/todays-track-phoenix-feat-bill-murray-alone-on-christmas-day/

  • Pictured: Phoenix in a still from the official music video for “Ti Amo” (2017) (Photo via YouTube.com)

Thank you for reading this post! Don’t forget to join me again tomorrow, where I’ll be delivering on a new entry in our weekly Scuzz Sundays series, where we dig out a relic from the Pop-Punk and Emo-Rock genres, from the late-1990’s until the mid-2000’s, to see if it can hold up in the present day! If 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: Working Men’s Club – “Valleys”

October 5, 2020 — Leave a comment

I don’t think it’s really about the Welsh-Folk who live in the Valleys. It’s new post time!

  • Pictured: Cover Art for “Valleys” (Single) (Released on August 12th, 2020) (via Heavenly Recordings)

Good Morning to you! My name is Jacob Braybrooke and, as always, it’s now time for me to write up about your daily track on the blog again, because it is always my day-to-day pleasure to write up about a different piece of music every day! Previously, I covered “White Rooms and People” by Working Men’s Club, all the way back in April, and I was left very satisfied. A 4-piece New-Wave indie rock group formed in Yorkshire, Working Men’s Club actually managed to play a gig at The Sugar Mill in my current city of Stoke-On-Trent “pre-Covid” at the time where I sadly hadn’t heard of them before, and I perhaps regret not taking the opportunity to go and see them perform now. Nonetheless, six months later, the debut album by the group has arrived over the weekend on Heavenly Recordings, a prestigious Indie label which is also home to artists like The Orielles, Baxter Dury and Cherry Ghost. Their debut album is a self-titled LP, and it features all the previously released singles, alongside several brand new tracks. I feel as though their first LP effort would sit right at home in the era of Soft Cell and Depeche Mode, and I’m really impressed by how mature their sound is considering each of the band’s line-up are aged just before their 20’s. There’s a clear mixtape feel to each of the tracks, and the band’s frontman Sydney Minsky-Sargeant reflected on his outspoken style of lyricism across his influences in a recent interview with DIYMag.com: “I feel there’s been a lack of decent music in general for a long time. “I don’t think I could name 10 bands in the past decade that have made me really go, ‘F***ing hell’. I think it’s all really safe.” As a real lover of anything musically that goes under-exposed in the press, I can certainly relate to his opinions, and I strongly think there’s a general truth in the large media corporations over-exposing the generically produced music to our society. Let’s have a listen to the recent single “Valleys” below.

On the album’s opening track, “Valleys”, specifically, Syd explained via press release: “‘Valleys’ is probably the most honest song on the record and I guess sets a premise for the rest of the album, growing up in a small town and trying to escape,”, later concluding: “Having been in lockdown since the end of Winter in Todmorden it seems like there couldn’t be a more appropriate time to release this song”, upon explaining how the track sets the table, sonically, for the rest of the record to bounce off. A percussive set of LCD Soundsystem-like Synth-Funk rhythms and 80’s New Order-like 5,8,6 beats lead into post-punk backed vocals from Minsky-Sargeant, who croons: “Trapped inside a town, Inside my mind/Stuck with no ideas, I’m running out of time” over the top of Euphoric, old-school Synth-Pop sequences and a more contemporary lick of paint comes from the ominously upbeat guitar riffs. The NYC Synth-like vocals are dowsed in reverberation and pulsating echo effects, while the delayed pedal effects of the guitar-led sequences add a layered production that gets the lyrical mood of isolation and small-town mentality across with a more light, textural atmosphere. The towering, soft-centered, electronically glitched dance breaks seem to represent the explosions in our protagonists’ creative influx of a mind, and powerful hooks like “The fusion is right as the sense” and rhetorical questions like “Is this enough?” lean to a more virtuosic place to signal this. The patterns of the overall rhythms are noticeably far less guitar-driven than the sound of the band’s earlier singles “White Rooms and People” and “A.A.A.A.”, but a knowing nod to the musical influences that aided Minsky-Sargeant to escape the deep feelings that the track “Valleys” was conceived from is a blueprint which connects the subtle dots together to prevent the change in sound from feeling too jarring, even if an old-fashioned New-Wave sensibility is being replaced by the blips and glitches of a new Drum Machine. Above all, “Valleys” is a track that lyrically discusses a joyous search for life, and these themes are delivered with an urgency and an 80’s-influenced drive that adds a neo-psychedelic poise to a more cerebral guitar instrumental, and this succeeds very well.

  • Pictured: Sydney Minsky-Sargeant (Lead Vocals/Rhythm Guitar/Drum Machine), Liam Ogburn (Bass Guitar), Rob Graham (Lead Guitar/Synths) & Mairead O’Conner (Keyboard) (2020) (Photo by Jenn Five)

As I’ve just mentioned before, I have also taken an in-depth look at the track “White Rooms and People”, an earlier single release by the band, ultimately produced as a track that also appears on the same album. You can peruse the link to that post here: https://onetrackatatime.home.blog/2020/04/01/todays-track-working-mens-club-white-rooms-and-people-explicit/

  • Pictured: Cover Art for “Working Men’s Club (Released on October 2nd, 2020) (via Heavenly Recordings)

Thank you very much for reading my latest daily blog post! I’ll be doing it all again tomorrow, just like always, as we take an in-depth look at the new collaborative single produced by a British producer currently based in Los Angeles who has attained a large cult following over the years, and another British-born electronic dance music producer who is one of my personal favourites, best known for releasing a UK Top 40-charting album in 2012. Coincidentally, he appeared on the blog just recently for his Lockdown EP. 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

Today’s Track: A Certain Ratio – “Berlin”

October 3, 2020 — Leave a comment

My calculator was fine yesterday, but it doesn’t work at all now. It just doesn’t add up!

  • Pictured: Cover Artwork for “ACR LOCO” (Released on September 25th, 2020) (via Mute Records Ltd.)

Jokes aside, it’s time for your daily blog post! My name is Jacob Braybrooke and, you guessed it, I’m here to type up about your daily track on the blog since it’s always my day-to-day pleasure to get writing about a different piece of music every day! Named after a line from Brian Eno’s 1974 track, “The True Wheel”, A Certain Ratio were formed in 1977 in Greater Manchester by bass guitarist Jeremy Kerr, lead guitarist Peter Terrell, rhythm guitarist/trumpeter Martin Moscrop and lead vocalist Simon Topping. At the time, A Certain Ratio were one of the first bands to debut on Tony Wilson’s Factory Records in 1979, with their unique blend of Nu-Funk and Disco-Rock, influenced by New-Wave Rock production and Latin percussion, leading the group to become prominent figures in the Avant-Funk and the Math-Rock genres, particularly in the underground Indie Rock music scene of the UK during the 1980’s and 1990’s, with the band going through several line-up differences, and went on to eventually score seven different releases on the UK Top 10 Independent Singles Chart. In recent years, the band have been reissuing their back catalogue of five albums on the Mute Records label. For the first time since 2008, the band have just released a new album, “ACR Loco”, that was produced mostly by the trio of Jez Kerr, Martin Moscrop and drummer Donald Johnson. Speaking of the project, Kerr explained to NME that: “This album is a culmination of everything we’ve ever done”. Take a listen to “Berlin” below.

“Berlin” features backing vocals from New Order and Primal Scream’s well-known backing vocalist Denise Johnson, who sadly passed away in July. On her passing and the track, Moscrop told the press: “Denise will be missed so much by us, but her soaring voice will live on forever in our music and we are so blessed to have recorded with her on ACR Loco”. There is certainly a tragic backstory to the production of this track, then, and I feel as though its only amplified or enhanced by the idyllic and soft-spoken moods of the new track. Jezz Kerr updates the group’s retro sound with gentle nods to a more contemporary style of production, with a bubbling series of digital synths as he whimsically sings: “It will kill you if you dare, it will be a wave to drown you” over a taut, frizzled guitar rhythm and fluid drum machine riffs. Kerr’s vocal delivery is dry, and even deadpan to a point, as he effectively forms a ballad about mental anxiety and emotional depression. He wistfuly croons: “Every step you take is, someone else’s” during the mid-point of a rhythmic bridge as we continually build to a chorus that feels more direct and much less cerebral, even sounding punchy and hook-driven to a certain extent. It sees Kerr layer: “You never ever leave, your head alone” above a flickering, electronic keyboard synth line which vicariously spins off into a post-Kraftwerk, Motorik disco aesthetic. Johnson’s female vocals add a bit more lyrical texture to the proceedings, as she adds: “You never, ever, leave your head alone” to add a graceful impact to the work of an old-school Post-Punk group using a pulsating drum rhythm and timely vocal themes to challenge their original sound, whilst also retaining an old-school feel with the synth work, which is probably most comparable to New Order’s work from the mid-2000’s era. Overall, it just sounds like a group returning because they know what they’re doing, and that’s a good thing.

  • Pictured: Jezz Kerr (Lead Vocals/Bass Guitar), Martin Moscrop (Lead Guitar/Trumpet), Peter Terrell (Rhythm Guitar/Engineering), Matt Steele (Keyboard/Synths) and Donald Johnson (Drums/Percussion) in an official photoshoot image to promote “ACR LOCO” (in 2020) (Photo Credit: ArtRockStore.com)

Thank you very much for reading my new post! Tomorrow marks the time for another weekly installment of our Scuzz Sundays series, which recently celebrated it’s 1st year anniversary. As always, we’ll be going back between the late-1990’s and the mid-2000’s to have a listen back to an Emo-Rock or a Pop-Punk classic from the time period, to see if it can hold up to the modern times (Or to see whether it was actually any good in the first place, in most cases, to be honest). 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: Garbage – “I Think I’m Paranoid” (1998)

September 18, 2020 — 2 Comments

The old Wisconsin rock band who really love to Trash Talk! It’s time for your new post!

  • Pictured: Cover Artwork for “Version 2.0” (Released on May 11th, 1998) (via Mushroom Records/Almo)

Good Morning to you! My name is Jacob Braybrooke and I’m writing about your daily track on the blog, as usual, because it’s always my day-to-day pleasure to write up about a different piece of music every day! I hope this one’s not rubbish… Garbage are a classic 4-piece Alternative Rock band who formed together in Madison, Wisconsin in 1993, and went on to sell over 17 million records worldwide. All four of the members have been involved in the songwriting and production processes of their work together, and, in a rare case for a long-serving project such as this, the original line-up has never even changed a budge since they formed the group. Most recently, the band have released 2016’s “Strange Little Birds” following a three-year hiatus between 2017 and 2010. “I Think I’m Paranoid” was an international hit for the group in 1998, and it has since remained to be one of their most popular singles. It came from their sophomore LP effort, “Version 2.0”, which was released to universal critical acclaim and good commercial success in 1998. Following a year in production, the album made it to #1 of the UK Albums Chart and it earned two Grammy Award nominations. Garbage followed this by performing and co-producing the Bond theme for the nineteenth film of the Spy franchise, “The World Is Not Enough”, which was released in the year after. In 2007, “I Think I’m Paranoid” would see a remastered release and it was included on Garbage’s Greatest Hits compilation album, “Absolute Garbage”. Trash by name, but is it trash by nature? Let’s quickly find out, down below.

Blondie meets Hole meets Electronica always seems to be the vibes that I’m usually getting from Garbage whenever I hear the classic track, “I Think I’m Paranoid”. The lyrics feel pretty high and dry, as Shirley Manson struts good confidence when playing with the themes of mental paranoia and vengeful lust, with a tone that cohesively shifts between a slightly more light-hearted, melodic pop nature and a violent, aggressive Alt-Punk number between the key hooks on the vocals. Manson croons: “You can look but you can’t touch” and “Heaven knows, what a girl can do” in the involving opening, as a shiny Synth pattern envelops over the top of a gentle, acoustic guitar strum. As the vocals from Manson get thicker and a bit more hard-hitting, so does the melody. Manson exclaims: “I think I’m paranoid/complicated/manipulated” in the chorus to a sudden burst of feist, as quick elements of Post-Punk and Pop-Grunge begin to creep in, before a soft DJ vocal scratch reverts the beat back to it’s more simplistic formula. Of course, before long, we get a second Pop-Grunge chorus, along with a killer bridge that introduces an energetic backing guitar riff and a more character-driven lead vocal to the mix. “Bend me, break me/Anyway you need me/All I need is you” brings the single to a close, with a gleaming Synth riff and the repeated DJ scratching effects. It’s got a very layered structure, with different elements providing the jump-off points for tonal changes and musical key changes throughout the duration. Although it’s somewhat lacking in an element of surprise overall, the track has very comfortably demonstrated much tighter songwriting than what came before for Garbage. Manson found her strong voice for addictive, lustful Post-Grunge.

  • Pictured: Shirley Manson (Lead Vocals/Keyboard/Producer), Duke Erikson (Lead Guitar/Samples), Steve Marker (Bass Guitar/Backing Vocals) and Butch Vig (Drums/Percussion) (2016) (Photo via Getty Images)

Thank you for reading my latest post! As always, Scuzz Sundays, our weekly look back at an Emo-Rock/Pop-Punk relic from the years past, is coming up in just two days time! Before then, don’t forget to check back with me on the blog tomorrow for an in-depth listen to a recent Lockdown single from an Israeli singer, songwriter and producer who released her debut album to a very positive critical reception in 2017. Her single, “Dance While You Shoot”, was used by Apple in a global advertising campaign for it’s Apple Music streaming service. 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: Yukon Blonde – “You Were Mine”

September 17, 2020 — Leave a comment
  • Pictured: Jeff Innes (Lead Vocals/Writer), Brandon Scott (Lead Guitar/Backing Vocals), James Younger (Bass Guitar), Rebecca Gray (Keyboard/Synths) & Graham Jones (Drums) (2020) (Photo via Dine Alone)

Good Morning! My name is Jacob Braybrooke and, just like always, I’m writing about your daily track on the blog, because it is always my day-to-day pleasure to write up about a different piece of music every day! A Canadian 5-piece Indie Rock group from Kelowna, British Columbia who are now based in Vancouver, Yukon Blonde have been touring the globe for almost 15 years, and have played numerous live sets at highly established music festivals such as South by Southwest, along with breaking out from winning the Juno Award for Breakthrough Group Of The Year in 2013. “You Were Mine” is the latest single taken off their upcoming fifth studio album, “Vindicator”. which is the first album to be written, produced and recorded entirely by the band in their own studio. You can buy their new album from 13th November, via Dine Alone Records. It comes highly anticipated, and it’s title is a nod to how the band felt upon it’s post-production completion. On “You Were Mine”, the group’s front-man, Jeff Innes, told Kill Beat Music in a press statement: “James brought the initial idea to the table, and after several hours of jamming, eating Scooby-snacks and drinking Churchill martinis, it started to fall apart in the most perfect way imaginable,” he stated. “I feel like this song somehow epitomizes the spirit of a successful collaboration in our band. Words like ‘compromise’ had no place in that session; everyone sings leads at some point, everyone plays everything. It’s certainly among our favourites from the record.” Let’s see how it all came together on the single below.

A Synth-Punk band known for previously embracing more minimalist and keyboard-oriented rock groove music, “You Were Mine” also marks a stark departure in sound to the NYC-Punk sound of their previous album and that comes along with their new single also being the first entirely self-produced single to come from the Innes’ home studio… and kitchen. “You Were Mine” has a fairly minimalist opening, as Innes contemplates: “I keep pretending that you were mine, When I’m all alone” over the top of a moderate piano riff and a light, Synth-driven R&B hook. The second verse’s repeat of “I keep pretending that…” causes the danceable elements to shift dramatically to a more neo-psychedelic, Acid-Pop altered state. Innes’ spins a mellow Spoken Word rap, reciting: “Summer came in the blink of an eye/Nothing remains, but the sheltering sky/Cast under cancer” over a slowed, more Dream-Pop geared soundscape that keeps the R&B-inflictions audible, but the stuttering Drums provide more of a morphing ambience than before. A calm interlude persists at a breezy, if jaunty, fashion. Shortly after this, Innes’ drowns his vocals in a heavy Auto-Tune effect to halve the tempo, and bring the sense of wonky production to the forefront a little more aggressively than before, with a quickly revolving Piano section and a tonally fluctuating Groove line bring the track to a danceable and hopeful, although not necessarily fast-paced, close. It’s quite hard for me to figure out if I really like the new track or not, and that’s just because it feels very different to the style of output that Yukon Blonde have delivered in the past. That’s a very good thing, as it means we’re not getting a retread of what’s come before again. However, on the negative end, I’m not sure if it really does enough to stand out from the likes of (You saw it coming…) Tame Impala and MGMT. The atmosphere is very reminiscent of Tame Impala’s “Let It Happen”, and the pop-friendly hooks also highly remind me of Foster The People, a band who I often find to be overlooked. The concern is that, here at least, it feels a little bit un-even and it doesn’t quite mish-mash R&B and more LCD Soundsystem-influenced NYC-Punk fully cohesively, with a middle section that drags a little and the self-reflective lyricism not quite managing to touch me where it hurts. On the other hand, I am looking forward to seeing what the band do with their new direction and the creative freedom of the individual production methods. I have a feeling this track will probably grow on me over time. But, as for now, I’m sadly left a bit apprehensive.

  • Pictured: Cover Artwork for “Vindicator” (Available from November 13th, 2020) (via Dine Alone Records)

Thank you for reading this post! Tomorrow, I’m making the long travel back to my university in Staffordshire to restart actually having a life again, so the daily post will have to be pre-written in advance! We’re going to take an in-depth look at an easy classic from 1998 with a band name that reflects the opposite of what the quality of their music has proven to live up to be! The band formed in Madison, Wisconsin in 1993 and – unusually – they have managed to keep their original band line-up intact over the decades since. 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/

22nd Birthday Special Edition: Beck – “Hollywood Freaks”

September 2, 2020 — Leave a comment

It’s hard to think someone ever actually designed that…thing. It’s time for a new post!

  • Pictured: Cover Artwork for “Midnite Vultures” (Released on November 23rd, 1999) (via DGC Records/Bang Bang)

But, that’s why… I LOVE it! Good Morning to you, I am Jacob Braybrooke and I’m writing about your daily track on the blog, as per usual, because it’s my day-to-day pleasure to get typing up about a different piece of music every day! I’m 22 today, not that it really changes anybody’s lives or anything, so I thought it’d be cool to spotlight one of my all-time favourites, since this is similar to what I did last year, where I introduced you to the first track that I ever played on the radio. A consistent repeat of my streaming library is Beck’s “Midnite Vultures”, the seventh LP record that was released by the multi-BRIT and multi-Grammy winning producer, back in 1999. This is probably the biggest outlier in Beck’s shape-shifting discography, as it was the last album he produced before going into his more acoustic-driven, Folk sound that has since become popular with his fans. I present to you… An Experimental Funk album! The critical response was divisive, as it parodied and satirized the pastiche of late-70’s US R&B/Soul and 80’s Neo-Psychedelic Vegas aesthetics with Beck’s typically obscure hook-driven songwriting, the abrupt changes in instrumentation, and the sleek G-Funk influences it pays homage to. I can understand the common criticism that the novelty factor puffs out of steam and energy a little bit towards the end, but it’s still one of the most fun and engaging albums that you could ever possibly listen to and it was wholly different to 96’s “Odelay” and more tonally original than 98’s “Mutations”. Simply put, it stands out as a breath of fresh air in his discography, and the unique sound has never fully been revisited by Beck since. I prefer “Hollywood Freaks” to any of the other tracks you would find here – so give it a fair chance to grow on you below.

Had a few listens? Good. For me, “Hollywood Freaks” works perfectly as the White teen aged male’s pastiche to postmodern R&B, with a satirical jab to any R&B-based “booty call” track ever written, as Beck valiantly hangs out with: “The Hollywood freaks on the hollywood scene”, with distractedly low rate workings of sexual activity (“Hot milk, mmm tweak my nipple”) and a care-free mimicry of political correction, and elitism. Beck isn’t making fun of rap or even of people who shop at Old Navy, inherently doing so. Beck’s vocals sound upbeat and dynamic, twisting-and-turning between different textures and breaking stylistic conventions at each turn, before layering out a wailing rap background vocal of: “Jockin’ my mercedes/Probably have my baby/Shop at Old Navy/You wish you was an old lady”, following interludes of funk-laden breaks, as a Brass melody wraps itself around the hook: “Touch it real good if you want a peace/How do people know I’m that type of freak?”, before we go back to those fragmented, deep Synth rhythms and infectiously melodic rap verses. Explicit lyricism (“I wanna know what makes you scream/Be your twenty million dollar fantasy)” and mocking the upper-class (“My sales go triple/We drop lobotomy beats) makes for the icing on the cake, with nonsensical songwriting that shines with an affectionate grin. The entire vibe of the record is Prince goes doo-lally, and “Hollywood Freaks” asserts this, with it’s clever spoken-word delivery and a rebellious tinge of Punk melodicism that drives the humor forward. It ends with a child’s backing vocal, and a gentle stream of Synths that marks a key change, as we lean more heavily into dance-led territory. The erotic nature of the lyrics makes for a knowing nod to white postmodernists, with vocals and instrumentation that toys around with the R&B genre’s conventions of money, fame and power. Overall, I feel these themes still work brilliantly 20 years on, and it’s still difficult to find anything else that sounds entirely like this. Well – they do say that truly good music never ages!

  • Pictured: Beck Hansen in a promotional photoshoot for “Mellow Gold” (1994) (Photo via DGC/Bang Bang)

I have previously covered a brief selection of Beck’s other work on the blog. Last year, he released a new album, “Hyperspace”, and you can read up on my thoughts on the lead single “Uneventful Days” here: https://onetrackatatime.home.blog/2019/10/29/todays-track-beck-uneventful-days/ and the album track “See Through” here: https://onetrackatatime.home.blog/2019/11/28/todays-track-beck-see-through/. I have also previously looked at another classic track from his older discography, “Tropicalia”, which you can explore here: https://onetrackatatime.home.blog/2019/08/20/todays-track-beck-tropicalia/

  • Pictured: Art Collage showing the many faces of Beck over the decades (2018) (Photo Credit: Sarita Schaffer)

Thank you for reading my new post! I’ll be back tomorrow with an in-depth look at an Irish Alternative Punk poet who is an emerging artist on the Chess Club Records indie label. She has often been likened to Mark E. Smith, Nick Cave and The Slits, and she has performed with John Cooper-Clarke and The Brian Jonestown Massacre at sold-out theater shows across the UK, as well as gaining traction from outlets like The Guardian, The Quietus and Stereogum. 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/