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.

“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/

Today’s Track: Tycho – “Outer Sunset”

January 9, 2021 — 1 Comment

Better keep my grammar in check on this one. Nobody wants a ‘Typo’. New Post time!

Pictured: Tycho (aka Scott Hansen) at Greek Theatre, Los Angeles (in 2019) (Photo Credit: Jon Bauer)

Good Morning to you – my name is Jacob Braybrooke, and it’s time for me to – once again – fulfill my daily duties of typing up your daily track on the blog, because it is always my day-to-day pleasure to write to you about a different piece of music every day! A little bit like Boards Of Canada, Tycho is an ambient electronic music producer (currently based in San Francisco) who loves to blend multiple aspects of media tools within his disposal to fully realize vital themes of Nature and Environment within his compositions. From taking samples of weather broadcasts and pre-recorded dialogue, Scott Hansen usually creates a luscious set of rural soundscapes to allow his elements of downtempo guitar and analogue production to breathe. In fact, you may also know his work already – as the graphic designer ISO50. “Outer Sunset” was the lead single from his most recent album, “Simulcast”, which was released back in last February as a co-distribution between Ninja Tune and Mom + Pop Records. This work is connected to “Weather”, Hansen’s previous LP record, of which Hansen has removed the vocal sections, and Hansen had decided to expand upon the ambient instrumentation instead. It’s a very timely record to hear during Lockdown – a time where one of the few positives has been the re-positioning of nature and birdsong as one of the world’s beauties outside of our windows – and it sadly fell under my radar a bit beforehand. That’s about to change. Let’s have a listen to “Outer Sunset” below.

Many critics have attributed that “Simulcast” finds Hansen strip down his futuristic technology for a dip back into the dreamy, lo-fi electronica that originally bought him to the dance. Hansen said of the LP: “A Simulcast is the transmission of a program across two different mediums and two different languages”, expanding with, “With these two albums, I wanted to present the same ideas in two languages, one more literal, and the other more open to interpretation”, before explaining, “Simulcast expands on the concepts laid out in ‘Weather’, but shifts into the abstract, with instrumental soundscapes in place of lyrics, opening up a visual space and translating the message into a new language”, in his press notes. “Outer Sunset” fuses hazy guitar lines with a chilled-out electronic synth loop, although I feel the melodies are beat-driven enough to sustain an indie, ‘pop’ flair. The beats aren’t entirely off-kilter, but they feel serene and simple. There is a palpable sense of stillness about it, with some sun-licked guitar tones to add a fair rumble of bass, and a merticulously layered sequence of shuffle beats that are carefully plucked beneath them, to an almost DJ Shadow-ish degree of subtle Hip-Hop breakbeat influences. The melodies present a feeling of coming-of-age and nostalgia to me, and this leaves me cutting off from the outside world for a few minutes and delving into my own thoughts for a little while, this showing a visual effect of the mellow Indietronica stylings. These elements of Synthwave, modern Chillout and 10’s Vaporwave are upbeat enough to carry the airy Pop beats all of the way through, although the tone is still fairly laidback, and the chord progression remains simple. It shapes up to be perfect “In The Bathtub” music.

Pictured: Cover Artwork for "Simulcast" (Released on February 28th, 2020) (via Mom + Pop Records) — Pictured: Cover Artwork for “Simulcast” (Released on February 28th, 2020) (via Mom + Pop Records)

Thank you for checking out today’s post – It was better late than never, eh? It’s already going to be time for a new entry in our Scuzz Sundays series tomorrow, and we’re going to be making up for the lack of notable new releases with a “big name” post from the past instead. It’s a less obvious pick from the band in question though, even if it is that legendary Grunge trio who used to feature now-Foo Fighter Dave Grohl in the drumming seat amongst the famous line-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: Baba Stiltz – “Running To Chad”

December 21, 2020 — Leave a comment

This is it – A chance to take! Nightlife scene, all the plans you’ve made. New post time!

Pictured: Cover Art for “Running To Chad” (LP) (Released on September 25, 2020) (via Self-Released)

Good Morning to you! My name is Jacob Braybrooke, and it’s time again for me to get typing up about your daily track on the blog, because it has always been my day-to-day pleasure to get writing to you about a different piece of music every day! Although his name makes him sound like he’s a French mime artist, Baba Siltz is an upcoming, 27-year-old Experimental Electronic Dance musician from Stockholm, Sweden. He started making electronic dance music at the age of 15, releasing quirky and experimental Alternative Pop records under the mantra of the “Bethlehem Beard Corporation”. That was 10 years ago, however. Fast-Forward to 2020, where his artist biography on Spotify reads as simply “No one puts Baba in the corner”. That, and he has also released his latest solo album – titled “Running To Chad”. This follows Baba’s unconventional songwriting through the explorations of Surf-Rock, Soft-Funk and Psychedelic Rock, and it plays out mostly like a Swedish artists’ take on the beach-ready California rock sounds of the 1960’s and the 1970’s. The EP was released back in September, which he self-released. Let’s check out the title single of the record below.

The “Running To Chad” EP also features remixes of the titular single from DJ Python and Jesse, the first being a minimalist Techno cut that slowly builds to a warmer, more pulsing House track, and the second remix cut – from Jesse – is a deeper and more meditative, ambient take on Baba Stiltz’s track. As for the original itself, the track feels like a love letter to the classic, summer-geared Rock sounds of The Beach Boys and The Surfaris, as Baba whips up a lighthearted, melodic track where he comedically drops in one-liners like “San Diego dreams, California love” with a slightly cerebral and ethereal, low-pitched croon delivery. He plays the sense of quirky humor very cool, and he wears it’s heart on his sleeve while keeping a straight face through the entire length of the track – an almost 6-minute fusion of percussive drum beats, laidback bass guitar grooves and a soft Techno acid section gradually forming in the centre. The lyrics of “What you running from? Indigo dreams and a pocket full of ones” and “Took a trip, It’s an easy out/Bleach-stained hair on a Bus down south” are whimsical and darkly rhythmic, as we build to the killer hook of “It’s your favourite game, Now you’re on a roll/No return, gonna lose control”, with a distinct and flat dance-not-dance form of vocal pitch. Everything builds up to an interlude of fluttering Acid synths and percussive, Tango-esque backing beats. The instrumental has a very light-hearted and warm texture, and it feels excellent for the grim weather that we’re currently receiving here in England, as my friend pointed out to me on the phone today when we had a quick chat about this one. I think this is a track that may take longer for some people, most likely the more casual listenership, to truly connect with – in fact, I didn’t really get it at first, probably because I wasn’t really born in the Surf-Rock era that the track is borrowing from. However, it’s very worth the time and the effort, because this track feels really ‘cool’, in the way that it walks the line between a Dance tempo and a Cerebral vocal, and it is unlike anything else that I’ve been hearing recently. Now I can’t stop playing it – and it doesn’t get old!

Pictured: Baba Stiltz in a photoshoot for a Inverted Audio feature (2014) (Photo via inverted-audio.com)

Thank you for checking out my latest blog post! I’ve got more music tomorrow – a last-minute addition to our schedule on the blog for this week, with a track that came out in 2010, and I think that it’s now super relevant again given the recent news about the Christmas season, especially here in the UK. The track, never released as a single, comes from one of my “Jacob Classics” – a poetic Swedish singer-songwriter from Gothenburg who once wrote an anecdotal track about the famous movie actress, Kirsten Dunst. 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: Robin Kester – “Sweat and Fright”

December 9, 2020 — Leave a comment

That title is reflective of my two reactions for an exam deadline date. New post time!

Pictured: Robin Kester in a publicity shot to promote “Sweat and Fright” (2020) (Photo via Podcart.co)

Good Afternoon to you – I am Jacob Braybrooke, and it is time for me to deliver yet another daily post on the blog, because it’s always my day-to-day pleasure to write up about a different piece of music every day! This single – “Sweat and Fright” – is a track that I set up for a review earlier, but I sadly never quite got around to covering it yet. I look forward to jogging my memory about it, since it sadly fell down the wayside of my mind a little bit ever since. Nevertheless, it comes from Robin Kester, who is an Experimental Electronic Folk singer, songwriter and producer, who is from Utrecht in The Netherlands. “Sweat and Fright” was the final single from her “This Is Not A Democracy” EP, which she released in September on the AT EASE indie label. Having previously recorded some work in a vacant psychiatric institution with retro guitars and vintage synthesizers to draw on 70’s pop and Shoegaze-influenced compositions, Kester decided to explore a dark variation of dream-filled tones for the EP, which she calls her “ode to Nightmares”. Let’s try not to fall asleep to “Sweat and Fright” below.

Kester’s “This Is Not A Democracy” EP was co-recorded and co-produced with Marien Dorlejn in his studio and it plays on the abstract themes of nightmares and shifting mental states – along with a glimmer of hope in it’s explorations of escapism and free voice. It’s an intriguing new direction for the up-and-coming Netherlander, who has previously toured with the likes of Villagers, Aleila Diane and Laura Gibson. Evoking a hint of Weyes Blood-like folk idioms, Kester cries out: “Woke up/Sweat and Fright/Dreams more violent with each night” as a textured synth line slowly flickers in-and-out of the centre. It becomes surprisingly Blues-inspired, with a line of steady bass guitar riffs and an up-tempo Drum signature gently pushing a melodic undercurrent to the forefront of the hypnotic, slow-building atmosphere. As if the track were a dream, these elements feel surreal, but structured enough to convey some semblance of a narrative and theme on needing self-empowerment in a waking life, as Kester calls out: “All my days, start with the same idea” and “Poisoned with an appetite/Carry on so carelessly/Singing haunted melodies” as if she is a dreamer within the lyrical framework. Her vocals are slightly distorted and never feel quite so clear, but the laidback instrumental beats and the accompanied sonic loops feel dramatic and theatrical to a point, enough to display the dream-laden thematically of the track. It feels psychedelic to a certain extent, but internalized due to the miniature synth beats that imply closed space and intimacy. Overall, it’s great to hear these moods coming across so vividly. Though it may be an over-used word in music press – it feels very ethereal. An interesting narrative and detailed production contribute to it.

Pictured: Cover Art for “This Is Not A Democracy” (Released on September 11th, 2020) (via AT EASE)

Thank you very much for reading my new post – I’m sure you might agree that this was a great winter track to listen to. We’ll be getting back in the Christmas spirit tomorrow, for an in-depth look at a slightly more widely appealing indie pop/rock track that references the old 80’s Nostalgia of the season, coming from a British band who were formed in Sunderland. Their band name derives from the title of The Flaming Lips’ “Hit To Death In The Future Head” album, that was released back in 1992. 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: Sweet and Lonely – “Daybreak”

December 3, 2020 — Leave a comment

I reckon that I could keep writing these posts until the break of dawn! New post time!

Pictured: Cover Artwork for “Daybreak” (Single) (Released on October 26th, 2020) (via Self-Released)

Good Evening to you – It’s all been a busy one for me today, but I’ve finally made it onto the blog to get writing up about your daily track on the blog, because it’s always my day-to-day pleasure to write up about a different piece of music every day! “Daybreak” is one of my latest deep dives for the blog – this is a new Lo-Fi pop tune that comes from Sweet and Lonely – who is a local artist of Minnesota in the States. It is just the second single release of the new project from Nick Elstad, a songwriter and producer, who likes to make minimalist, Dream Pop and Indie music from his own house, and he’s also released music under the alias of Sleeping Jesus. I first heard the tune from The Current, a community radio station in Minnesota, who publishes a “Song Of The Day” podcast series that allows you to download a free new track every day, and it really caught my attention there. There isn’t much more on the internet that I could find out about Elstad or Sweet and Lonely – but I think that sense of mystery allows us to appreciate the textures of the sound a little more, but there is a music video available on his YouTube channel. Let’s take a listen to “Daybreak” below.

The new track, “Daybreak”, was self-released to Elstad’s Bandcamp page on October 26th, of this year, and he described the lyrics and production of the new single as “Daybreak is the mix between the crisp air of fall and the last breath of summer”, adding, “Short and Sweet, drenched in nostalgia and new found hope”, according to the notes that he has published alongside the new track on his Bandcamp page. It’s a very Seasonal sound that jumps out at me – With a mild Falsetto effect that mixes with the rolling Synth lines to create an effective and poignant picture of the changing of the guard, both emotionally and in acceptance with a changing period of time. The vocals are strikingly retrospective, as Elstad sings: “All day staring at the ceiling, wonder how your best years slowly gone away”, over the top of a mid-tempo Synth rhythm in the opening verse. Tonally, these washing patterns morph into a gently psychedelic and romantic setting, as Elstad asks: “Are we already there? When did everything change?”, before delivering the emotive line of “You are everything I’ve ever wanted” as a simple vocal harmony takes hold of the chorus, and a slow-burning set of synth lines take a noticeably more upbeat and soaring quality. It’s quite gentle for somebody who looks up to Aphex Twin and Bjork so very much, but it’s melodic enough. The chorus has a quite uplifting mood and the synth-based instrumentation creates a nice atmosphere of comforting electronic melodies – and I think it’s the contemplative vocals that carries the light, but personal to a subtle extent, motifs of the electronic beats forward to a tranquil and pastoral texture. This guy is really good!

Pictured: Nick Elstad (aka Sweet and Lonely) in the “Best Years” music video (2020) (via Leah Elstad)

Thank you for checking out today’s track recommendation! I’ve got more festive music to share with you on Saturday, but that isn’t stopping New Release Friday from happening tomorrow. Check back in with me then – to take an in-depth look at a recent track of a heavier variety. It comes from one of the UK’s biggest names in Drum and Bass – a Welsh EDM pioneer who is a Grammy nominee, a remix artist for the likes of Adele, Kanye West and The White Stripes, and he even curated some music for the 2012 Olympic Games Opening Ceremony in London. 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: Lou Hayter – “My Baby Just Cares For Me”

November 17, 2020 — 1 Comment

Rainbow Drops. Betamax. Those would be the days – If I was born! It’s new post time!

Pictured: Lou Hayter at the Skate at Somerset House Launch Party in London (2019) (via GotCeleb.com)

Good Morning to you! My name is Jacob Braybrooke, and it’s time for you to check out today’s track on the daily blog, since it has always been my day-to-day pleasure to write up about a different piece of music every day! Lou Hayter’s “My Baby Just Cares For Me” is a nostalgic Synthpop single which I hoped to get the chance of writing about a little sooner. Although it gained a little airplay from BBC Radio 6Music and John Kennedy’s X-Posure on Radio X, it sadly didn’t seem to get the mainstream attention that I feel it probably should have received. The track comes from London-based DJ and producer Lou Hayter, who started making music as the keyboardist of a Mercury-nominated electronic group, New Young Pony Club. Since then, she’s been a part of the duo of Tomorrow’s World with the French DJ and producer JB Dunckel. She’s also been in the duo of The New Sins with Nick Phillips. She’s released little of her own solo music, but she’s performed DJ sets for clients like Chanel, Paul Smith and Damien Hirst in his “Treasures Of The Wreck Of The Unbelievable” art exhibition in Venice – and at the Cannes Film Festival. This single, “My Baby Just Cares For Me” is the first sample of her upcoming debut solo album, which encompasses her love for 80’s Pop, Disco, Yacht Rock, Electro Pop and Acid House, and it is currently scheduled for release sometime in 2021. Let’s take a listen to “My Baby Just Cares For Me” below.

The accompanying music video takes the form of a Sophisti-Pop 80’s collage, directed by Alice Kunisue, who Lou Hayter feels perfetly captures the main essence of the single, saying: “I saw Alice’s work with Ed Banger and I loved it straight away. It’s made up of moving collages, which is kind of a visual representation of how the record was made: I cut up a sample I found and I played around with it” in a press release. Judging by how Kunisue affirmed: “Lou is as sweet and beautiful as her music, it was such a pleasure working with her”, it really sounds like the collaboration is a match made in heaven. The track gives me a vibrant sense of the London fashion world: With beats that sound unashamedly 80’s and undeniably Pop, along with lyrics that toy around with ideas of trophy wives and dolly relationships for the camera as Hayter sings: “Call me every single day and I hear you say, I’m not with you, I don’t take it serious ’cause you love me the most, I know it’s true” during the opening lines, as it becomes clear that disingenuous love is a key theme. The lyrics also feel very glamorous and very sexual, as Hayter rhymes: “You speak in English, but your kiss is French” in the bridge, and “When I look at you I see, The future you and me” with an innocent and mellow delivery. A sharp 80’s Future Pop sound pushes to the forefront, with Hayter crooning: “No sweat, ‘Cause we’re tied like that” in the chorus. The main sample gets pushed-and-pulled to the upbeat rhythm of the heavy 80’s Synth-led instrumentation. “Tried other boys, but baby you’re the best” is another slick line that really emphasizes the quirky and seductive vocal characteristics. The production is kept fairly simple, but the Celestial Funk synths and the 80’s R&B, melodic influence keeps things moving with a nostalgic vibe. I also like how the soft vocals and the subtle Electro-Soul patterns seem to be showing a sweet and lighthearted nature, but it actually holds a darker melancholy of unrequited love within – lyrically. The radio edit feels a bit short and sweet at 3 minutes, and I think it could have done with being a little longer – but if my only real complaint is that I wish it was longer – You’ve got what should be a radio hit on your hands. I’m pretty sure that any other writer has probably said this about the track – but I think it’s very retro, and very cool. Reminds me of the sound that La Roux would explore in the very late-00’s, in quite a good way. Overall, this is a cooing, rhythmic and sexy throwback which is well worthy your time.

Pictured: Cover Artwork for "My Baby Just Cares For Me" (12" Single) (Released on 25th August, 2020) (via Loaded Records) — Pictured: Cover Artwork for “My Baby Just Cares For Me” (12″ Single) (Released on 25th August, 2020) (via Loaded Records)

Thank you very much for reading my latest blog post! As always, I will be back at it again tomorrow – as we finally mention the “C” word for the first time of the year…. And that is the only little tease that I’m going to let you in on… for now. 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: Daniel Avery – “Lone Swordsman”

November 12, 2020 — 1 Comment

I wish that it was but a flesh wound for the 90’s Black Knight! It’s time for a new post!

Pictured: Daniel Avery in an interview photoshoot for Crack Magazine (in 2020) (Photo by Tom Andrews)

Hands up if you got my little reference to Monty Python up there! Good Morning, I’m Jacob Braybrooke and it is time for me to write your daily post, because it’s always my day-to-day pleasure to write up about a different piece of music every day! “Lone Swordsman” is a different type of charity single – a tribute to the legendary 90’s DJ Andy Weatherhall, who we owe a lot of our music to. He sadly passed away at the age of 56 in February due to a Pulmonary Embolism. This comes from Daniel Avery, a London-based Electronic Ambient Dance musician. The track’s title is taken from one of Weatherhall’s numerous side projects – ‘Two Lone Swordsmen’ – a name which Weatherhall and Keith Tenniswood co-produced a series of albums and EP’s under. The track is the digital B-side to Avery’s “Dusting For Smoke” single, which has been taken from his latest album, “Love + Light”, that Avery put out earlier in the year via Mute Records. Proceeds from “Lone Swordsman” via Bandcamp will be donated to Amnesty International in memory of Andy Weatherhall, so please make sure that you seek it out there. Let’s sample the track with the Greg Hodgson-directed video below.

An improvisational piece, Avery posted on his social media: “I was in my studio the morning I heard about Andrew Weatherhall’s passing. The track ‘Lone Swordsman” is what formed that day”, adding, “Andrew was a hero, a friend and someone who regularly reminded us all how it should be done”, and he was close to Weatherhall personally, having performed some back-to-back live DJ sets together in the past. With no lyrics at all to speak of, the solemn and peaceful beats of “Lone Swordsman” are enough to create a fitting little tribute to Andy Weatherhall with a euphoric sense of innocence and purity that has no need for vocals to add an extra punch to the digital melodicism. It starts off with a percussive, stabbing drum pattern that almost replicates the sound of a Ping-Pong ball to me, creating a theme of childhood and soft nostalgia with the ambient soundscape. A musing sequence of gentle synths creep in, a Celestial sound that adds an element of Space-Pop and old-school 90’s rave tracks with it’s deeply electronic sound. The tempo slightly raises throughout the track as we gently build up to an ambient washing of vivid, colourful Synths and more deeply textured, percussive drum loops. There is a slick bassline that runs throughout, one which doesn’t feel too modern or contemporary, but instead feels analogue-driven and with a contemplative tone that fits the subject matter of the track nicely, and continues to evoke a nostalgic and light-hearted emotion with it’s light sonic steps. The recurring set of synths keep lurking in and out – as if to just slowly massage your ears to the beat of the more percussive layers in the repeating drum beat of the track. Rather than evoking a Dancehall-oriented club sound, it reminds me of the work that legendary DJ and personal favourite Aphex Twin explored on “Xtal” specifically and the general sound of “Selected Ambient Works 85-92” by using the simplicity of the drum sounds to Avery’s advantage. This is not really a heavy dance beat and feels more of an emotive ambient ilk, so you’re not going to find the next big dancefloor-filling club record if you’re looking to find that from this, but it feels perfectly suited for it’s purpose instead and it’s laid out very impressively, with merticulously planned synths which properly reward you with repeated listens to it. Rest in peace, old friend.

Pictured: Cover Art for "Dusting For Smoke" (EP) (Released on September 1, 2020) (via Phantasy Sound) — Pictured: Cover Art for “Dusting For Smoke” (EP) (Released on September 1, 2020) (via Phantasy Sound)

Thank you for reading my new post! As always, please feel free to join me again tomorrow – where will be skewing towards Post-Punk instead. We will be taking an in-depth listen back to cult classic track from 1989, an example of work taken from the early discography of a cult favourite 90’s Post-Punk band who were formed in 1986 by Ian MacKaye in Washington, DC. The band earned critical acclaim and crossover success across the world before starting their indefinite hiatus in 2003. 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: HONNE – “Free Love”

November 11, 2020 — Leave a comment

Did you know that HONNE means “True Feelings” in Japanese? Time for a new post…

Pictured: HONNE (Andy and James) in an interview with Alicia Atout (in 2016) (via A Music Blog, Yea)

Good Morning to you! My name is Jacob Braybrooke, and it’s time for me to get typing up all about your daily track on the blog – since it is always my day-to-day pleasure to write about a different piece of music every day! It’s difficult to believe that Andy Clutterback and James Hutcher were a pair of English teachers when we found them just a few years ago, but it’s been fantastic to see the two, who compile up the London-based Alternative Soul duo of HONNE, grow over the last five years. HONNE now have two full LP’s to their name, along with a few EP’s and a recent mixtape, which they have self-produced during Lockdown. The new single, “Free Love”, is a re-release from the latter. “No Song Without You” saw the duo dabble into fairly more Synthwave and Dream-Pop oriented rhythms, glossing a new touch of paint over the top of their typically laidback, mellow and sexual sounds. The duo are signed to Tatamae Recordings, their own imprint of Atlantic Records. “Free Love” comes with a brand new music video filled with animated characters. Let’s have a listen to it below.

It seems that HONNE’s one-half Andy Clutterback has got married since the last time that we probably checked in with them, stating her as an influence of their recent mixtape, telling The Manila Times via a Zoom Interview in August: “We’ve been going out for 12 years and we’re now married. We’ve been together way since HONNE even started”, adding, “I guess in many ways, she is a big inspiration and influence on the music and on the lyrics”, to illustrate the romantic themes of the dream-glazed mixtape release. “Free Love” certainly sounds like one of the most care-free and joyous tracks from the record, with Clutterback starting off: “Imagine a house, Way up on a hill, Dog in the yard, and Trees in the field” over the top of Hutcher’s sequenced, gentle drum machine rhythm and brushings of acoustic bass guitar riifs. “As wonderful as this all seems/This is beyond our means/It’s just a dream” is a stark turning point, as the synth rhythms fade away and the more uplifting, melodic lead guitar riff kicks in. Clutterback recites: “I can’t get you all that stuff, But I can give you all my love” over the top of neo-psychedelic, warm acoustic guitar strums and jovial, percussive, syncopated drum rhythms. It’s littered with the intimate lyrical euphemisms of older HONNE, with lines in the verses like: “We might have kids, Or maybe three” and “Imagine a place, Where we can be free/There’s no-one for miles/Just you and me” that retain a sense of daydreaming and imagination. The guitar riffs noticeably up the tempo of the sound a few times, and there’s also the usage of Handclaps to keep things fresh, while blending into the happy tone of the sound. Overall, it’s just more of HONNE, with a familiar sound which pleases the fanbase and pleases those who are more casually tuned in. Great to hear from them!

Pictured: James Hutcher (left) (Keyboard, Synths) and Andy Clutterback (right) (Lead Vocals, Producer)

HONNE are one of our favorites on the blog, so I’ve also written a couple of posts about some of their older tracks here too. If you liked the sound of this, why not check out 2015’s “Warm On A Cold Night” here: https://onetrackatatime.home.blog/2019/12/17/todays-track-honne-warm-on-a-cold-night/ and the mixtape’s title track “No Song Without You” here: https://onetrackatatime.home.blog/2020/06/15/todays-track-honne-no-song-without-you/

Pictured: HONNE at the album launch party of “Love Me/Love Me Not” (in 2018) (via Getty Images)

Thank you for reading this post! I’ll be back tomorrow, as per usual, with an in-depth look at a recent charity single that was also a tribute to the late DJ Andy Weatherhall, who was a world-class talent when it came to having a great ear for music. It comes from a London-based Electronic Experimental Ambient music producer who used to release his work as “Stopmakingme”, including remixes for Little Boots and Metronomy. If 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: Sneaks – “Do You Want To Go Out Tonight?”

October 13, 2020 — Leave a comment

I’m glad that I have finally found the time to Sneak this one in. It’s time for a new post!

Pictured: Sneaks (Eva Moolchan) in a promotional photoshoot (in 2020) (via Sneaks’ official website)

Good Afternoon to you! My name is Jacob Braybrooke and, as per usual, I’m here to get typing up 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! “Happy Birthday” is a recent album release that has been gaining popularity on the underground Electronic music scene. The record comes from Sneaks, the alias of Eva Moolchan, who is an emerging Post-Punk and Spoken-Word musician based in Washington, DC. The album was dropped on August 21st, and it marks Moolchan’s third full-length album release for Merge Records. It also follows “Highway Hypnosis”, which only came out a year ago, and so this does mark a quick turn-around period coming from the back of her previous LP effort, although she has previously released her early output via Danger Records, including her 2015 debut LP, “Gymnastics”. To spice proceedings up for her latest album release, she has confidently turned to Carlos Hernandez as her mixing engineer. She’s also been in the studio with the Grammy-winning producer Jacknife Lee (Taylor Swift, REM, U2, Editors). Let’s sample “Do You Want To Go Tonight” below.

Jordan Bassett, a journalist for NME, praised Woolchan: “She favours short, sharp, effortlessly cool compositions that worm their way into your conciousness without breaking a sweat”, and there’s an incredible sense of bold ambition that comes with Woolchan’s work on the syncopated staccato beats and her ambiguous songwriting style on “Do You Want To Go Out Tonight?”, the opening track of the new album. Sneaks’ lyrics are noticeably minimal, apart from the use of the track’s oft-repeated title line of “Do You Want To Go Out Tonight/”, which she delivers with a smoky and direct mode of delivery. After a few repeats of the line, the jittering electronic bassline is juxtaposed by a rolling set of percussive Drum Machine sequences, which begin to favour rolling Bell melodies and No-Wave elements of light riffs. It forms a textual outlier for an incredibly 80’s-influenced sound, with a few comparisons to Liquid Liquid and Shirley Manson coming to my mind. The track poses the risk of the continuous chorus line getting stale by the end of the track with it’s repeated nature… but, for me, it really doesn’t. This seems to be because the variation of the electronic sounds are diversified enough to incorporate light elements of Post-Punk and Math-Rock to the palette at a consistent pace, and the track unexpectedly closes off to the swelling sound of an Orchestral pattern of laidback Violin sounds and intense Cello strings, which also manage to give off a rather cinematic and soundtrack feel to the light grooves of the glitched Synthpop sounds and the clear 80’s influences, all delivered within the setting of an IDM-like production method. Overall, the large emphasis on the towering Synthesizer instrumentation, building to an escalating set of String parts, manages to keep the only line of lyrics interesting enough to suffice the, rather short, however, length of the track, and I think that’s a feat certainly above the average level of musicians who create their music under this 80’s-reminiscent Synthpunk banner. After all of that – I think I would fancy a night out.

Pictured: Cover Artwork for “Happy Birthday” (Released on August 21st, 2020) (via Merge Records)

Thank you very much for reading my new blog post! I’ll be back tomorrow, as per usual, with an in-depth look at another recent album release, and we are deviating in style as we look towards the Hip-Hop genre. The single will come from a pioneering American rapper and singer-songwriter who was certainly a part of “The Golden Age” of Hip-Hop between the 1970’s and 90’s and he’s released twelve full-length albums, seven of which were certified Platinum and Multi-Platinum in the US. He is the co-founder of Mass Appeal Records, just to give you another clue. 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