Synthwave

Today’s Track: Andy C & Shimon – “Body Rock” (2001)

September 24, 2020 — Leave a comment

Right. That is it. It’s time for us to quit the ‘Clowning’ around! It’s time for a new post!

  • Pictured: Andy Clarke performing with MC TONN PIPER at Rampage Festival (2019) (via YouTube.com)

Good Morning to you! My name is Jacob Braybrooke and I am writing up about your daily track on the blog, as always, because it is routinely my day-to-day pleasure to write up about a different piece of music every day! 2001, in September to be exact, saw the release of a polarizing little club track of the title “Body Rock”, which was a collaboration between Andy Clarke, the co-founder of RAM Records, and his RAM Records signee Shimon. Clarke, best known as Andy C, is a Wasall-based English DJ and electronic producer who was a pioneering staple of the Drum-and-Bass genre of EDM music. He was a part of the RAM three, a circle of artists who raised prestige for the Drum-and-Bass genre through this specialist record label, which also includes Shimon and co-founder Ant Miles. Most popularly, the likes of Chase & Status, Sub Focus and Wilkinson have found chart success through releases on the RAM Records label. “Body Rock” reached #28 on the UK Singles Chart, and it was divisive because of it’s unusual sound, which we’ll get to in a bit. For now, let’s have a listen to it below.

Just in case you hadn’t realized, “Body Rock” divided most of Andy C’s more hardcore fanbase because of the “Clown-ish” sequencing effects used as the sampled hooks, which combines with a swinging pendulum rhythm to form an oddly patterned loop of synthesized melodies. As a matter of fact, some listeners even went so far as to give it a derogatory term of “Clown-Step” as a phrase to describe similar tracks that arrived soon after “Body Rock”, as it was obviously a huge commercial success, so other producers who were just looking for hits were started to follow the sound as a commercial trend. One fun theory that has circulated around the internet is that Andy C and Sub Focus used a sample of Rocky Horror’s “Timewarp” to fit the tune when mixing the track live to form the beat, but it’s unclear whether there is any evidence to prove this to be the truth. In whichever case, “Body Rock” starts off with a swinging triplet rhythm that precedes a few strange vocal parts. It gets more off-kilter and bizzare when the Snare Drum kicks in, and hits on the recurring Synth loops. This is followed up by the introduction of a really Staccato-heavyweight bassline that calls upon Acid Techno and Alternative Jungle influences to create a fluid, fluctuating synth beat which feels acidic and meandering in it’s continous, skittering nature. A brief interlude of odd, slowed ambient wind samples follows up on the main bassline drop, before an eclectic Kick Drum beat and Hi-Hat snare drops make the proceedings a little more percussive and progressive in it’s textures. Overall, it’s certainly rather unusual for an experimentally layered Drum-and-Bass track such as this to reach the mainstream – with single CD/Vinyl sales of 38,000 copies in shops (Yes… Physical Shops!) to boot. However, I believe the most important point to take away from this is that whether different groups of music lovers loved it or not… It gained a strong reaction. For me personally, although I can see where most angles of the nitpicks of criticism were coming from, I think that it’s innovative and a lot of fun. It was something very different at the time, and it still retains a unique ring to it today.

  • Pictured: Cover Artwork for “Body Rock” (Single) (Released on 3rd September, 2001) (via RAM Records)

Thank you very much for reading my daily blog post! I’ll be back tomorrow with a switch of gears, as we move from Experimental Drum-and-Bass to a more Alternative form of Post-Punk and Industrial-Rock. Tomorrow’s track comes from a Japanese 4-piece Math-Rock and Noise-Rock group formed in London, England who have performed collaboratively with Savages, Damo Suzuki and Faust. They are currently signed to Stolen Recordings and they are licensed to Sony Music Associated Records. 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: PlanningToRock – “Jam Fam”

September 7, 2020 — Leave a comment

Strawberry, Blackcurrant, Apricot… Oh, not that kind of ‘Jam! It’s time for a new post!

  • Pictured: Jam Roston (a.k.a. PlanningToRock) in an official publicity shoot for her official website (2018) (via PR)

Good Morning! I am Jacob Braybrooke and, as per usual, 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! Kicking off the new week’s worth of posts is Planningtorock, a Bolton-raised electronic music producer who is currently now based in Berlin, who first made her mark on the club circuit over Europe as part of the electronic ensemble Chicks On Speed, who had a hit in 2006 with “Have It All”. Roston has since remixed tracks for the likes of The Knife, Peaches, Robyn, Telepathe and AUSTRA. Roston now has three critically acclaimed studio albums to her name, and she continues to build up a dedicated following with every album release on DFA Records. It has since been bought to my attention, courtesy of BBC Radio 6Music’s Daytime Playlist, that Roston has unveiled her latest project, “PlanningtoChanel”, an EP full of compositions produced entirely for Chanel’s Autumn-Winter 2020 Fashion show. The EP contains five tracks created by Roston in conjunction with Michael Gaubert, the Fashion label’s sound director. Gaubert told the media: “I always felt that Jam incorporates operatic and cinematic elements into their unique sound”, later continuing, “The Chanel show was inspired by French cinema from the 70s and 80s and Planningtorock blessed the show with their sound and gave birth to ‘PlanningtoChanel’”. Without any more ado, let’s stream the single “Jam Fam” below.

Roston said: “With ‘Jam Fam’ I wanted to create an authentic 1980s sound, so no big kick or bass and plenty of high swimming synths. I recorded my voice and sung lots of ‘ohs’ and ‘ahs’ and then pitched them each individually to create a vocal melody. I wanted the track to be super up in feeling and fun and classic sounding”, before announcing that a portion of proceeds from all future Planningtorock releases will be donated to anti-racist organisations. Revenues from “PlanningtoChanel” will specifically be donated to the Marsha P Johnson Institute, which advocates on behalf of black transgender people in the US. It’s nice to see Roston making a lovely contribution to society through her work and it’s just as well that “Jam Fam” is a nice piece of work too. There are no vocals to be heard whatsoever, but there is the odd “oooh’s” or “ahhh’s” thrown in to add solid variation to the 80’s-leaning disco sound. The core melody reminds me a little of Lipps Inc. “Funky Town” hit from the 70’s, with a few Violin string sections to intersect a feel-good, joyous feeling to the two-step drum beat and the recurring loops of bouncy, upbeat Synths and natural, organic instrumentation. There’s some shaking Maraca’s in play through the duration of the track, and a glistening Synth rhythm which adds a lustrous shine to the cohesion, giving across a quality that feels cinematic and grand. Although the melodies are repetitous and continous, they never seem tiresome or monotonous due to the core beat forming an entertaining, recursive funk groove that adds rich infusions of Disco, Ambient House and Euro-Dance. The results feel very dense and, overall, it nails the visual connotations of Fashion and Glamour through it’s old-school New-Wave Pop sensibilities. This is a (mostly) instrumental treat, with a well-developed retro flavour.

  • Pictured: Jam Roston with Nemone for “The 6 Mix” in the BBC Radio 6Music studio (in Feb. 2019) (via BBC.co.uk)

As I mentioned in yesterday’s clues, as to who the identity of today’s artist is, I mentioned that I have previously covered another track from Roston on the blog before. That post is still alive and kicking, and you can still read up on my thoughts of “Beulah Loves Dancing” here: https://onetrackatatime.home.blog/2020/02/05/todays-track-planningtorock-beulah-loves-dancing/

  • Pictured: Cover Artwork for “Beulah Loves Dancing” (12″ Single) (Released on October 30th, 2018) (via DFA Records)

Thank you very much for reading this post! Don’t forget that I will be back tomorrow, as promised, with an in-depth look at an emerging singer-songwriter who recorded her debut album with Portishead’s Geoff Barrow in Bristol and supported The Sleaford Mods at a live gig on their recent tour. She told NME in a recent interview: “In a world of Yes Men, I’ll be a No Woman, thanks”. 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: Darkstar – “Blurred”

August 26, 2020 — Leave a comment

Darth Vader would be thrilled.. Oh wait, that is the Death Star! It’s time for a new post!

  • Pictured: Cover Artwork for “Civic Jams” (Released on June 19th, 2020) (via Warp Records)

Good Morning, I am Jacob Braybrooke and I’m typing up about your daily track on the blog as, like always, it’s my day-to-day pleasure to write about a different piece of music every day! Darkstar is the English Electronic duo of James Young and Aiden Whalley, who began making music together in London during the late-2000’s. Although they have, thankfully, never troubled the mainstream in any real form, they’ve remained to be a hit with hardcore music fans and maintained a solid critical reception in their years of activity. Currently signed to one of the world’s most groundbreaking labels, Warp Records, Darkstar released their fourth studio LP, “Civic Jams”, in June of this year. The duo draw their influential sound from UK Grime, Ambient House, IDM, Acid Techno, Alternative Blues and Progressive Synthpop, and are probably best known for their 2009 single, “Aidy’s Girl Is A Computer”, a track which was used in a TV advertising campaign for Colette, an accessory retailer. The closing track of their new record is “Blurred”, an Ambient track which was released as a single last week, alongside a self-produced video. It pays tribute to the British music venues that have been forced to shut their doors due to COVID-19, via a Google Earth satellite feed. This is also a plea to appeal for the government to acknowledge the circling online petitions that have been asking for them to help out with funding the survival of Grassroots venues. It’s a sad and hard-hitting, but intriguing, music video, and it’s the reason why I wanted to share the track with you today. Check it out below.

Darkstar’s James Young said, on the video, “I think I’ve been going to nightclubs since I was 16, buying records from 15 and tape packs from 14 all housed and cultivated in places either in this video or not too far.”, later adding: “It’s a stark reminder at how hard it can be to keep these places going particularly now – so massive props to the people involved in working to keep that dream alive. It can’t be ignored to see just how many of these places fell. It’s hard not to correlate that to the political landscape and how the value of independent music is weighed up by these people even before a pandemic.”, as images of closed venues matches their themes of memory together with the melancholic Synth textures and emotive Choir effects of “Blurred”, the track. The instrumentation is minimalist and gentle, as a smooth underlayer of tranquil, opaque Vocal loops shapes up to an edifying flicker of Drum Machine blips and sensitive, delicate ambience. It feels timely for the uncertain atmosphere that has been created by Covid-19 and it crafts a mellow semblance of a dream-like, almost Shoegaze-inspired atmosphere. The production never quite seems to position itself into a particular genre though, and the tone remains downtempo and psychedelic, while flickers of light created by the push-and-pull Synth structure and the slightly distorting, yet woozy and peaceful, Choir-esque vocal loops signal a glimmer of hope. Overall, the track is very quiet and will likely have several different emotional effects on it’s listeners, but I think it’s impressive, and the music video adds a level of context that makes the instrumental quality feel richer, making it seem just that little sweeter.

  • Pictured: James Young (Producer/Engineer/Drums) and Aiden Whalley (Keyboard/Synths) (2020) (Photo via PR)

Thank you very much for reading this post! As usual, I’ll be back tomorrow, for an in-depth look at an emerging electronic dance music producer based in Yorkshire who is becoming a prominent figure in the UK’s Electronic Jazz club scene, and she has previously played for the London Symphony Orchestra, as well as performing live DJ sets on Giles Peterson’s Worldwide FM. 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: Beckie Margaret – “God”

August 19, 2020 — Leave a comment

Potential deity of Avant-Pop, or apprentice to the Cool Thing Guys? It’s new post time!

  • Pictured: Beckie Margaret being interviewed backstage at Village Green Festival (in 2019) (via Gateway978.com)

Good Morning! I’m Jacob Braybrooke and I’m writing about your daily track on the blog, as per usual, because it is my day-to-day pleasure to write about a different piece of music every day! Beckie Margaret is a singer-songwriter and producer based in Southend-On-Sea who began writing music at the age of 5, and then 7. She is an emerging artist who is signed up to Cool Thing Records, the indie label set up by Luke Branch and Jazz Miel of UK indie puck group, Asylums. “God” is a bit of a deep dive, and I sadly could not find much information about Margaret around on the internet. However, she originally found inspiration to write her own music through Poetry and Classic Literature. She also cites Jeff Buckley, Bon Iver and James Blake as her main influences. She is currently working on a new EP and her debut full-length album release with Rees Bromfield of Youth Club as her producer. Explaining the lyrics behind “God”, she wrote on social media: “God”s lyrics are laced with the obsessive thoughts that come with the slow, painful realisation that someone you loved, only saw you as “a bit on the side”. She also wanted to capture the standstill feel of our current COVID-19 situation, writing: “I wanted to release something during this uncertain time that outlined the foundations of a dysfunctional love, one that lingers in the deprivation of what could’ve been,” she shared, “Complete and utter inner chaos whilst realizing your own reality.” – Let’s have a listen to her track,”God”, below!

Beckie Margaret displays a resolute confidence and a strong vulnerability on “God”, using cerebral Dark-Wave Synth melodies and Alt-Pop production to pave the way for her future development as an independent artist. She is authoritative and brooding, using a Gothic-Pop inversion, while opening: “I like the Roses on your body, you never bought me flowers” as she plays with irony and regret. The contextual themes of obsessively romantic behavior feel intimate and suggestive, as she croons: “Boy, it was fun loving you when you were God”, to play on how lust can often consume people, and it becomes an obsession that takes hold of your faith and sexuality. She offers a glimmer of hope and a notion of moving-on later in the chorus, crooning: “You make me want to believe in God”, before holding a long note to air the chorus out with a radiant breeze. The instrumentation throughout is rooted in Americana and Desert-Rock, with plucking bass guitar riffs and ambient washings of Synth tones which create a very honest and downbeat tone, if a little painful and sarcastic in emphasis. This forms an emotive and angered soundscape that reminds me a little bit of Alexandra Savior’s “The Archer”, a record which was released earlier this year and is one of the year’s best to me personally, with a shattered influence of Lana Del Rey and Florence & The Machine, but with a more Blues-driven sound and a cooler aesthetic. “God” feels a touch more influenced by Post-Grunge and Art-Pop than Savior’s record, but it also goes for a volatile emotion and a similarly deep, plodding melodicism. Overall, I think that she has a beautiful voice and I feel the melodic components are as cold as ice, but in a good way as it rains down on it’s intended effect, given by the theatrical style. It, maybe, doesn’t stand Margaret out among her contemporary peers that much, but it does stand out a little, and her brooding instrumentation nails her objective of capturing the fine difference between strength and vulnerability. This is an artist who I am surely looking forward to keeping tabs on.

  • Pictured: Beckie Margaret pictured before recording a live episode of “Get In Her Ears” (2018) (via Hoxton Radio)

Thank you for reading this post! I’ll be back tomorrow, as always promised, with an in-depth look at a recent, but slightly old, track from another artist of an emerging status. This time, it’s coming from an Alternative Punk duo, originally based in Los Angeles, who has just released their debut album on the Bella Union label, with a sound that calls back to 90’s Trip-Hop and 60’s Punk, with the likes of Portishead and Broadcast as their inspirations. 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: Totally Enormous Extinct Dinosaurs – “Los Angeles”

August 5, 2020 — 1 Comment

A here-and-now project which is anything BUT prehistoric. It’s time for your new post!

Pictured: Cover Artwork for “I Can Hear The Birds” (EP) (Released on May 27th, 2020) (via Self-Released)

Good Morning! I’m Jacob Braybrooke and I’m writing up your daily post on the blog, just like always, because it’s still my day-to-day pleasure to write up about a different piece of music every day! With a slightly amusing real name of Orlando Higginbottom, his pseudonym of Totally Enormous Extinct Dinosaurs takes things up to a further extreme, a name he chose to inject some colour into the British club scene. He has only ever released one album, “Trouble”, a dance record that reached #34 on the UK Albums Chart in 2012. However, Higginbottom has become one of my favourite artists for his seamless abilities in shifting between vibrant dance tones and atmospheric, distinctively British bleakness at ease. “I Can Hear The Birds” is a five-track EP that marks a bold departure from the Club-oriented sounds of his previous material, a project that he self-produced and self-released during the lockdown period. The EP was created by real-life snippets of bird sounds sent to him by a group of his friends living in Australia, Canary Islands, Los Angeles, and London. He posted on social media: “Working on my existing musical projects was proving difficult and so this pattern of receiving bird recordings from friends and sending them back as songs emerged as a welcome practice.” Let’s listen to the second track “Los Angeles” below!

Birdsong is often seen as a meditative and relaxing genre of music, so it’s a nice change of pace to hear something quite different from an EDM producer who would usually probably prefer to DJ in exotic clubs across the globe. Higginbottom loops a light synth pad melody with a soft, twinkling Piano section to create a mellow intro, as the gentle Keyboard riff gradually increases the tempo of the track, and a reverberated rumble of Bass quickly proceeds a contemplative, deeply textured synth line. This isn’t entirely electronic, with the glimmering piano score remaining audible, forming a repeated fragment of a hopeful, but somewhat downbeat, quality. The field recordings of bird sounds also help in bringing the ambient textures to life. I wouldn’t say that it’s minimalist, due to the fragmented effects in various play, but it’s raw and mellow, while the Synthesizer loop adds more involvement. What really impresses me about this track is that it has a very enigmatic presence. The Synth textures feel downbeat and contemplative, but they are melodic enough to offer a reassuring feeling of warmth, hope and comfort. There is also a light evocation of Sci-Fi, due to the evocative nature of the electronic instrumentation, it makes me think of Ready Player One or Blade Runner. The textures also feel personal and affecting, and another interpretation of the vibe could be reminiscing over a failing relationship, and giving a fresh start to a former romantic partner. In any case, the main point is how the track feels very pure and natural, as a bustling Los Angeles night scene can also be pictured in my mind, with many different interpretations to relax your mind to. In short, this is unmissable! He is a very underrated artist, and I am a massive fan of him.

Pictured: Totally Enormous Extinct Dinosaurs (Orlando Higginbottom) in a photoshoot (2020) (Photo by Pia Riverola)

Thank you very much for reading this post! I’ll be back tomorrow, as usual, with an in-depth listen to a recent single taken off a brand new album from a New Zealand-based Indie Punk band who met each other while studying at The University Of Auckland, starting out by performing Jazz and Swing as each of the band members performed under various monikers throughout the tenure. They are still well-known for their use of vocal harmonies. 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: The Bravery – “An Honest Mistake”

July 24, 2020 — Leave a comment

Reforming this band would be a Courageous thing to do… It’s time for your new post!

  • Pictured: Cover Artwork for “The Bravery” (Self-Titled LP) (Released on March 14th, 2005) (via Polydor Records)

I’m feeling quite Brave about this one! Good Morning, I’m Jacob Braybrooke and, as usual, I’m writing about your daily track on the music blog, because it is my day-to-day pleasure to write about a different piece of music every day! A retro track, The Bravery’s “An Honest Mistake” was recorded in 2005 for the band’s self-titled debut album released that year. A 5-piece based in New York City, The Bravery was formed by lead vocalist Sam Endicott, lead guitarist Michael Zakarin, bassist Mike Hindert, keyboardist John Conway and drummer Anthony Burulcich. They released three studio albums before they went inactive in 2012, before confirming the band had disbanded in 2014 on the band’s website and social media pages by revealing that all members were pursuing different creative interests, and there was no plans for the band to resurface for the foreseeable future. A post-punk influenced indie dancefloor jam, “An Honest Mistake” was the band’s biggest commercial hit. It reached #7 on the UK Singles Chart, and their self-titled album peaked at #5 on the UK Albums Chart. It was also widely exposed to the media, being licensed for use in several video games including ‘Burnout: Revenge’, ‘Singstar Rocks’ and ‘True Crime: New York City’. It was also used in TV episodes for CSI: NY, Heroes and Grey’s Anatomy. Suffice to say, this was a true relic of mid-00’s “indie”-brand musical culture. Let’s revisit the track below.

The guitar pedal gets the drum machine whirring at the start of the video, and it seems The Bravery were just making the most use they could out of the untouched household objects left in Endicott’s Dads’ garage. To start off, a loud drum pattern leads into a hi-hat synth loop that gradually adds layers of electric guitar riffs and two-step keyboard beats, to form the basic melody that runs as a thorough line between the lo-fi, new-wave guitar instrumentation and the sauntering, Northern Soul-infused synth rhythms. Endicott croons, to a semi-Falsetto effect: “People/They don’t mean a thing to you, They move right through you/Just like your breath”, a brazen comment that adds a rebellious edge to the synth-heavy melodies. The bridge is led by an interlude of post-punk inflicted bass guitar riffs, before he proclaims: “My old friend/I swear I never meant for this”, with an assembly of reckless guitar notes, forming a short section, sandwiched between the two refrains. Endicott continues, in the chorus: “Don’t look at me that way/It was an honest mistake”, which gets delivered with a more intense Falsetto effect, as the tempo lowers slightly and the repeating synth hooks take a backseat to a pop-oriented line of melodic guitar lines. A more synth-heavy interlude can be found near the end, with the electro-pop sections distorting slightly with the guitar-driven sections. It sounds somewhere between The Killers and The Strokes, with self-deprecating lyrics and an obvious New-Millennium Revival sound that was all the rage in popular music at the time. The vocals are self-reflective, and they evoke Robert Smith of The Cure. The synth-led dance/rock fusion is highly 1980’s-inspired, evoking Depeche Mode and New Order. However, I feel there is a slight over-reliance on the auto-tune machine, especially in the later sections, and the overall sound doesn’t stand out among their peers, such as The Editors and LCD Soundsystem, very much. It’s a pity that it leans into tired tropes of the 00’s “indie boom” a little too closely, because most of what I’m hearing works quite nicely. The sonic direction provides some fun and likeable hooks, to the effects of the swelling synthesizer loops. Sadly, a lot of it comes across as mechanical, and as an economically-efficient product for the label. That said, I like how this single never denied the roots of its genre, and the vocal performance never makes Endicott comes across as contrived or dishonest. A decent effort, but I admit it could have been more.

  • Pictured: Sam Endicott (Lead Vocals), Michael Zakarin (Lead Guitar), Mike Hindert (Bass Guitar), John Conway (Keyboard/Synths) and Anthony Burulcich (Drums/Occasional Backing Vocals) (2012) (Photo via FanArt.TV)

Thank you very much for reading this post! Don’t forget that a new edition of Scuzz Sundays, a weekly look back at a pop-punk or emo-rock classic from the mid-90’s to the late-00’s, will be posted in just two days time! But, first, check back with the blog tomorrow for an in-depth look at something a bit different to our usual fare. It comes from an American ambient composer who has said that her music was inspired by her participation in a church choir while growing up in Louisiana. She composes with analogue hardware to create electronic synth loops built around her vocal sections. 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: The Lovely Eggs – “Long Stem Carnations”

July 13, 2020 — 1 Comment

If you’re Egg-Cited for a bit of Indie punk – you’re in the right place! It’s new post time!

  • Pictured: Holly Ross (Lead Singer/Guitar) and David Blackwell (Drums) (in 2018) (Photo Credit: Alex West/URY Music)

I’m planning to leave you Egg-static about this one! I’m Jacob Braybrooke and I’m writing about your daily track on the blog, and dishing out some cringeworthy egg-related puns, because it’s my day-to-day pleasure to write about a different piece of music every day! The Lovely Eggs, a two-piece Lo-Fi Psychedelic punk duo from Lancaster, England – made up of the Egg-Stravagantly (sorry!) married couple Holly Ross (Vocals/Guitars) and David Blackwell (Drums/Percussion) – have teamed up with producer (and I’m not making this up!), David Friedmann (MGMT/Tame Impala/The Flaming Lips) for their sixth LP outing, “I Am Moron”, which was released on 10th July via their indie label, Egg Records. Ross is well-known for being the lead vocalist and guitarist for the all-female band, Angelica. It’s fair to say that the couple don’t take themselves Egg-Stroadinarily seriously, since other album titles include 2018’s “This Is Eggland”. In their press statement, they explain: “For the last two years, The Lovely Eggs have sat back and watched England, and the rest of the planet, slowly eat itself”, adding: “Their new album, I Am Moron, is the result of these observations, a relentless assault of a modern culture that is bringing the world to it’s knees”. The album brings a mix of heavy psych and strangeness, flickering between Prog. sounds and Electronic Synth influences. Let’s get a taster with “Long Stem Carnations” below.

“Long Stem Carnations” is based on the Mars One programme, a project that aims to establish a permanent human settlement on Mars, but applicants are offered a one-way ticket, and they can never return to Earth again. This inspired the Psychedelically-driven production on “I Am Moron”, as well as fascinating the band and drawing parallels between this mission and their own isolation as a band. The lyrics themselves in “Long Stem Carnations” are nonsensical, with Ross droning: “I’m as strong as a Wagon wheel, and I’m connected to how you feel”, after a buzzing synth intro, layered above a burst of Blondie-esque, Pop-Punk bass guitar riffs, and a frenetic blast of drum notes. The picture is painted by Lo-Fi electronic synths, and the hooks of “When you think you know, but you’ve nothing left to show” interweave with upbeat keyboard sections. There’s also a regular pattern in the track, where a long line of “Long Stem Carnations” are delivered over some brooding and cerebral keyboard sections, drowning out the loud, distorted guitar riffs. This flips the switch, where the track drastically changes it’s rhythm from a major key, to a minor one. There is also a long outro towards the end, where the track stops hurdling forwards at it’s quick-witted pace, and we end up with a murmuring synth pattern that meanders along to a lack of other instrumentation, getting across a feeling of abandonment and quiet solitude, as the synth pattern whirrs and changes it’s volume. It doesn’t sound very polished, but the DIY production methods are creatively used to make a unique sound. There’s enough of an 80’s-esque pop element for it to work on evening radio, I also feel the humor blends well with the ambiguous sonic sounds, in a Kubrick-ish sense. There’s no question that it’s a track that will take longer for casual listeners to get into, but I don’t think they’re even trying to target the mainstream – and that is always an upside, for me. I like how it feels slow and melancholic, but it’s also fairly melodic, and it’s the kind of track that will unfold it’s layers and unfurl it’s meanings with continual listens. Overall, I feel that you could say it’s pretty Egg-scelent, after all!

  • Pictured: Cover Artwork for “I Am Moron” (Album/LP) (Released on July 10th, 2020) (via Egg Records)

Thank you for reading this post! As per usual, I will be back tomorrow for your next daily blog post! I plan to bring the summer vibes, as we’re going to be listening to a famous track from a legendary musician and songwriter from Cameroon. He played the Saxophone and the Vibraphone, and he developed a musical style that was very culturally significant to Cameroon, blending elements of Jazz and Funk with traditional World, Cameroonian music. Sadly, he left us on 24th March this year, due to COVID-19. I can’t wait for us to pay tribute to him! 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: 박혜진 Park Hye Jin – “Like This”

July 10, 2020 — Leave a comment

Do you like it like that? I really like it “Like This”! It’s time for your new daily blog post!

  • Pictured: 박혜진 Park Hye Jin in a photoshoot to promote the release of the “How Can I” EP (2020) (via NinjaTune.net)

Good Morning, Afternoon or Evening – I’m Jacob Braybrooke and I’m 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! You know how it works by now, I give you my honest thoughts on an interesting or exciting track, old or new. The latter is the case for today! 박혜진 Park Hye Jin is an emerging rapper, DJ and producer who has recently signed to Ninja Tune. Born in Seoul and later based in Melbourne, Jin has become a renowned producer by the internet music community for her work in light, ambient electronic textures that feel majestic, dream-like and influenced by a wide range of cultural movements from across the globe. She’s just 26 years old, and she’s already performed at international music festivals such as Primavera and Dour – a personal favourite of her’s. She has also performed alongside British Indie stalwart Jamie XX in London last year. Two Fridays ago, on June 26th, Jin released her latest six-track EP production – “How Can I” – which thematically deals with the conflicted emotions that came to life touring around the world, with infectious whispered vocals and new sonic directions. Let’s have a listen to the EP’s lead single, “Like This”, below!

“This lead single has no English lyrics in it at all”, says Ashley Yun, a project manager at Hye Jin’s label Ninja Tune, “It’ll be a really good benchmark for how ready society is to hear music that isn’t in English. That prospect is really exciting.”, she elaborates. It’s a statement that pushes well-deserved diversity in Asian electronic music production and sonic music development as a whole, but I also feel the result of the overall sound adds a hazy, slow-moving effect that plays off Jin’s strengths in her specific right. “Like This” sounds carefree and delicate, with widely scattered vocal effects and a soft, meditative ambience that seems freeform and gently minimalist. The grooving vocal section, particularly beginning from the first verse, has an intangibly sensual delivery and uses a simple gliding effect to form up a light crescendo of chiming melodies, creating a vivid dream-like effect. Her vocals feel tranquil and sweet, in contrast to the slightly chilling percussion. The tempo is slightly raised in the chorus, and it suddenly becomes easier to dance to. However, they also feel very hypnotic to me, and it creates a firm, albeit faint, melancholy. It’s almost as if Jin is contemplating her missing absence of her family or simple home comforts at a time when she’s in the middle of a rowdy, prime-time live DJ set. I like to intepret the textures in the ambient tracks like these, but I don’t think the production of this style of music is really meant to be discussed, but felt instead, so it’s open to your own ears too. In my case, the swelling synthesizers of the minimalist house vibe feels creatively layered, and the intricate methods she uses feels inspired by Aphex Twin’s work on Selected Ambient Works Volume II, while it sounds more beat-driven, akin to Peggy Gou, a similarly contemporary DJ of Asian origin. Overall, I think this makes for excellent background listening. Mild and lush, with a catchy Earworm hook.

  • Pictured: Cover Artwork for “How Can I” (EP/6 Tracks) (Released on 26th June, 2020) (via Ninja Tune)

Thank you very much for reading this post! Don’t forget that I’ve got a new weekly edition of Scuzz Sundays coming up in two days time, but I will be warming you up for it tomorrow with a contemporary, recently released Alternative Punk track from a young, emerging 4-piece from Liverpool. The new track is named after the “Badside” of a very famous British-American musician, theorist and filmmaker who was the lead singer/guitarist of the influential 1970’s band Talking Heads. 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: Thundercat – “Funny Thing”

July 2, 2020 — Leave a comment

The lady who shouts “Thundercat” on The Undateables would love it! New post time!

  • Pictured: Thundercat (Stephen Lee Bruner) performing at the 02 ABC, Glasgow (2017) (via WikiMedia Commons)

Good Morning, I’m Jacob Braybrooke and I am writing about your daily track on the blog, since it’s always my day-to-day pleasure to write about a different piece of music every day! For today’s track, Thundercat is obviously not their real name. It is, indeed, the stage name used by Stephen Lee Bruner – a Funk, R&B and Soul singer-songwriter from Los Angeles, California – who adopted the name as a tribute to his love for anything Geek culture-related, such as his love for 1980’s cartoons and the Japanese Manga/Anime franchise Dragonball. It’s all a part of his brand! His fourth studio album, “It Is What It Is”, was released earlier this year, and it is dedicated to rapper Mac Miller, who sadly died aged 26 in 2018, as you might know. Bruner produced his new record with Flying Lotus, and it features guest appearances from Childish Gambino, Kamasi Washington, Ty Dolla $ign, and many others. A single that grabbed my attention from the album, while listening to BBC Radio 6Music in the daytime, was “Funny Thing”. Let’s have a listen to “Funny Thing” with its video below.

Just shy of two minutes long, Thundercat could have a potentially big hit on his hands if he allows the bouncy electronic drum grooves and the celestial synths of “Funny Thing” to swell. Bruner uses a playful fusion of old-school Funk, Soul and R&B, with a modern synth-led instrumental twist, to detail a romantic moment as a dancehall-like, drug-infused love party nears toward it’s end. There’s a cheeky idiocy in all of his lyrics: “Someone hold my phone/Cause’ I can’t hold my tongue” and “Then I’m gonna ruin the fun/ that’s not your problem because I’ve seen to much baby, Sorry if I get a little PTSD”, as Bruner delivers the honeyed vocals, layered above the backdrop of a bouncy, stomping bass line and a skittering drum loop to create the wonky, synth-soul sensibility. In the chorus, he intonely warbles “I just want to party with you tonight, because you make everything alright” over a soft, lo-fi keyboard riff. The visual aesthetic is vintage Funk-Soul and animated, and the sonic direction is rickety and psychedelic, but I also find there to be a sadness to the track as well. The synth lines are mid-tempo and downbeat, with an expressive vocal delivery that makes me feel like Bruner could also be lamenting a failed relationship or an unstable life decision at the party. It sounds intimate, and the poignant Falsetto lyric delivery is what makes this track stand out for more than it’s playfulness and it’s quirky humour. It’s a very old-fashioned sound which harkens back to the thematic racial unity of Funk and Jazz in the 1960’s and 70’s, and it’s more appealing to mature listeners than a teenage audience. The contemporary lick of synth makes it compulsively listenable.

  • Pictured: Cover Artwork for “It Is What It Is” (Released on April 3rd, 2020) (via Brainfeeder Records)

Thank you for reading this post! In regards to #BlackLivesMatter, we endorse the peaceful protests on One Track At A Time. Please go and check your local area for good charity causes that help those directly affected by racism and injustice. I’ll be back tomorrow with an in-depth look at the new track from an emerging female solo artist, who I have covered and positively reviewed beforehand, whose last music video was co-directed by Loyle Carner, and she landed a spot on the BBC’s Sound Of 2020 poll. 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: Orion Sun – “Ne Me Quitte Pas (Don’t Leave Me)”

June 22, 2020 — Leave a comment

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

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

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

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

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

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