Tech-House

Today’s Track: Wayward – “Camden Road”

October 14, 2021 — Leave a comment
  • Pictured: Lawrence Gayle Hayes (Drums/Synths) & Louis Greenwood (Sampling/DJ) (2021) (via PR)

Good Morning to you! This is Jacob Braybrooke, and it is time for me to get typing up for yet another daily track on the blog, because it has always been my day-to-day pleasure to write up about a different piece of music every day! Wayward is the fast-emerging Experimental Electronic music project of the London-based duo Lawrence Gayle Hayes and Louis Greenwood, who have gained acclaim from Pitchfork, Mixmag and Vice. They have worked as A&R’s for Silver Bear Recordings, and released material through the Australia-based Beasts Of No Nation label and Fort Romeau’s Cin Cin Records label, and they have been in the studio with the likes of Ninja Tune’s Park Hye Jin and Grammy-winning producer Skrillex. In March, the pair of producers released their debut LP, ‘Waiting For The World’, which was influenced by Burial’s ‘Untrue’ and they combined Drum & Bass, House, Breakbeat and Ambient elements into a concise record. Their latest release is ‘Sapphire Eyes’, a four track EP which was self-released on September 29th. It was inspired by the rave experiences they had while growing up in London – an ode to nightclubs and community. Let’s spin ‘Camden Road’ below.

Citing influences like Addison Grove, Machine Drum and Overmono for their latest short form release, the duo shared on their own Bandcamp page in a press statement, “If our debut album showcased the more reflective side of our yearning for clubs, and a softer side of the lockdown experience, this EP is the anger, frustration and urgency coming out”, concluding, “Stuck indoors again just wanting to band it out in a club with the intention of making something completely focused on the dance floor” in the notice. Their fourth track on the record, ‘Camden Road’ sticks out amongst the others for the emotive feelings which it shares, coming across to me as more nostalgic than euphoric. It boasts a similar sound to some early 00’s Hyperdub recordings and more recent Footwork releases, where the Synths and the propulsive basslines feel as vibrant as the mixed multi-cultural community that their hometown, which they are paying tribute to, has become known for in recent developments. Their vocals play with escapism, with Lawrence reciting the likes of “So much life, so much fun” and “Festivals in Hungary with black people” with a slightly muted Spoken Word delivery that doesn’t feel massively poetic, and feels grounded in approach instead, with a soft Hip-Hop rhythm and a mumbled tone of speech which fits the wonky production aspects and the very metropolitan aesthetics of London. The rest of the instrumentation goes down a treat too, with a looped Piano melody and light Synth pads creating a gentle opening, before Wayward flip the switch for the big chorus where they replace the light-hearted beats with a more rugged dance style, using some swooping drums and syncopated vocal chops to hit a BPM of around 130, which feels subversive and unpredictable when the earlier melodies are flipped on their head. Overall, I was very impressed with ‘Camden Road’, a modern dance track that has an ability of conjuring up some feelings and visuals for their listeners, a rare technique that greats like Aphex Twin and Burial have achieved in their career. It feels as fresh and lively as the street it is based on – A sprawling, multi-cultural metropolis.

  • Pictured: Cover Art for ‘Sapphire Eyes’ (EP) (Released on September 29th, 2021) (via Self-Released)

That brings us to the end of the page for another day! Thank you for joining me, and I’ll be back tomorrow for ‘New Album Release Fridays’ tomorrow as we take an in-depth look at the soon to be released new LP from a US female Funk, Soul and Alternative R&B singer-songwriter who performed a medley of her hits on an episode of major US talk show ‘The Tonight Show With Jimmy Fallon’ earlier this year. She completed her studies at USC Thornton School of Music in 2018, and she was also a contestant on ‘American Idol’ in 2014. Her latest album is named after her dog – Juno.

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Today’s Track: Caribou – “You Can Do It”

October 11, 2021 — Leave a comment
  • Pictured: Dan Snaith (aka Caribou) at a mural to accompany the ‘Suddenly’ press kit (2020) (via PR)

Good Morning to you! My name is Jacob Braybrooke, and the time has come for me to fulfill my everyday challenge of delivering another daily track on the blog, because it is always my day-to-day pleasure to write about a different piece of new music every day! As a PhD degree holder in Mathematics from Imperial College London and as the son and brother of a pair of Mathematicians in his family, the 43-year-old Canadian-born Experimental Electronic Dance music producer Dan Snaith (Primarily known for his main alias of Caribou) has always been known for his very complex patterns and layered Synth work in his compositions across notable releases like 2010’s ‘Sun’ and 2001’s ‘Breaking My Heart’, which landed a spot on Pitchfork’s list of ‘The 50 Best IDM Albums Of All-Time’ in 2017. His latest LP – 2020’s ‘Suddenly’ – earned similar praise from different publications and my humble little blog that your eyes are focusing on right now, earning a spot on my list of the ‘Top 25 Best Albums Of 2020’ late last year. The associated tour for the record, however, was originally set to take place in 2020 before the Covid-19 pandemic reared it’s ugly head into our lives. Snaith’s world tour was postponed again for 2021, before it was later to be indefinitely shelved. Now, the meticulous craftsman has announced that he will indeed be hitting the road in the UK this month and the US in early 2022, and ‘You Can Do It’ is a new single that avid Caribou fans will be hearing across headline festival sets and solo arena shows from Snaith over the course of the next year, as a bonus treat to coincide with the cheerful announcement that was made by Snaith a handful of weeks ago. Snaith has also released music as Manitoba and Daphni, and he has been working with Shynola’s Richard Kenworthy for the official music video that sees adorable pooches catching some frisbees to the beat of Snaith’s mastery. Be reminded that ‘You Can Do It’ below.

Dan Snaith gave a shout out to Migle / Kennel UPE in the description for the music video for ‘You Can Do It’ on YouTube, and the beloved IDM producer made his return to touring with a performance at London’s All Points East festival in late August and he premiered the new track during his set at Green Man Festival over the weekend prior. You can catch Snaith playing some shows in Liverpool, Nottingham, Manchester and a few more locations in the UK later this month, and he’ll be hitting sites in Glasgow, Bristol and Brighton in January 2022, before touring in the US, Canada and Europe across the new year. ‘You Can Do It’ will likely not suprise you if you are familiar with Snaith’s work already, but this is still classic Caribou at his finest. The sparkling lyric of ‘You Can Do It’ is layered over and over again to a brain-dancing degree, before a slowed down ‘Do It’ sequence takes a decent precedence over the repetition, with the continuous vocals becoming more garbled and warped as the literal distillation of the hook continues along. The warm and 90’s-leaning instrumentation makes up for the lack of variety in the songwriting for the diverse array of moods that it creates alone, however, and the rippling sentiments of the echoed vocals are spread across the coherent duration of the tune with a signature heartfelt sensibility and gets packed into the euphoric sound of a festival-ready dance hit. The energetic delivery of the Synth arrangements whip up a tone that feels celebratory and jubilant, while the sound strikes a fairly similar style to 2020’s ‘Suddenly’ where the tempo changes feel drastic, but they feel light-hearted and boundless in flow. Overall, while the sugar-colored theme lacks a little inspiration, the production is faultless and the warmly lit mood sounds appealing to a diverse group of audiences. He is ace – is our Dan Snaith.

  • Pictured: Dan Snaith in a PR photoshoot for a ‘Stereogum’ Q&A interview (2014) (Photo via PR)

Dan Snaith is a familiar face to us on the blog, and so his music has been covered a few times on the site before. His ‘Suddenly’ single landed a place on Pitchfork’s list of ‘The 30 Best Electronic Music Releases Of 2020’, and made an appearance on the blog here: https://onetrackatatime.home.blog/2020/02/28/todays-track-caribou-never-come-back/. You can also read my thoughts on ‘You & I’ here: https://onetrackatatime.home.blog/2019/12/09/todays-track-caribou-you-i/, and check out his initial comeback track ‘Home’ here: https://onetrackatatime.home.blog/2019/10/28/todays-track-caribou-home/

  • Pictured: Cover Artwork for ‘Suddenly’ (LP) (Released on February 28th, 2020) (via Merge Records)

That brings us to the bottom of the page for another day! Thank you for checking out my latest blog post, and I’ll be back tomorrow for an in-depth look at some brand new music from an Essex-born Neo-Soul singer-songwriter who grew up playing the Celtic Harp – and she attended the Purcell School For Young Musicians with Mica Levi.

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Today’s Track: DJ Seinfeld (feat. Stella Explorer) – “She Loves Me”

September 27, 2021 — Leave a comment
  • Pictured: DJ Seinfeld in an official photoshoot for the ‘Galaxy’ EP (2019) (Photo via TicketArena.co.uk)

Good Morning to you! My name is Jacob Braybrooke and, as you’ve probably figured out by now, it is time for me to get typing up for another daily track on the blog, since its always been my day-to-day pleasure to write up about a different piece of music every day! DJ Seinfeld is the alias of the Swedish House music producer Armand Jakobsson, who now finds himself being based in Germany after rising to prominence a few years ago as a key part of the new wave of Lo-Fi electronic music producers alongside names like Saint Pepsi and Ross From Friends around the time of 2016. He’s been known for releasing his electronic dance material under names like Birds Of Sweden and Rimbaudian, and he is the founder of the Young Ethics indie label. Jakobsson has since played DJ sets on the stages of The Warehouse Project and Sonar By Night, he has curated one of BBC Radio 1’s ‘Essential Mix’ sets, and, to top it all off, none other than the legendary tinkerer Aphex Twin has been known to play Jakobsson’s track ‘Sakura’ in one or two of his live DJ sets. The latest release from Jakobsson is ‘Mirrors’, his first solo album in four years following his 2017 debut, ‘Time Spent Away From U’, which is out now on Ninja Tune. It’s an expansion of the style that he explored on 2019’s ‘Galaxy’ EP and 2020’s ‘Mezcalita’ EP, with the ten-track project being recorded between Berlim and Malmo, and leaning into the realms of Ambient Electronica and late-90’s Dubstep for inspiration. The album is titled ‘Mirrors’ as a reference to how the producer views a reflection of himself in the mirror and how the throes of a nasty breakup in recent times has changed these internal perceptions. He tells us in a press release, “On this album, I wanted to retain a lot of the raw emotionality that brought people to my music in the first place, but I also wanted to become a much better producer. It’s been an arduous process but it’s a real statement of where I’m at as a producer and person right now”. The new LP includes a stunning opening track, ‘She Loves Me, which finds the experimental creative working with the emerging South African-Swedish vocalist Stella Explorer. Check it out below.

Speaking of the collaboration, Stella Explorer said in a press statement, “The fine line between self-affirmation and paranoia is alluring to me, and in music it’s always present. It’s deceptive, and lyrics can change meaning at any time”, before expanding on the duality that she feels in ‘She Loves Me’ by writing, “I think the fewer words you use, the more they shift and by combining that with different intentions like you do when you collaborate with someone (like this), it makes the outcome exciting” for her press notes. For me, as a listener, ‘She Loves Me’ highly reminds me of Burial – not necessarily in the sound itself, but the way that Seinfeld selects a very small snippet of an emotive vocal and twists the context and textures of the piece, and he has a way of saying a lot without really saying anything at all, which is similar to the techniques that Hyperdub legend Burial built his career on using as his niche. ‘She Loves Me’ are the first words that can be heard on the new album, and it sets the stage going forward by exploring diverse, new avenues of his production style. The vocals feel confused and drowsy, with lyrics like “With you, so much time/Still pieces of my mind” and “She loves me/Why does she?” morphing their way around skittering Trap beats and sparkling Synth textures that evoke a little bit of Seinfeld’s Garage roots, but they largely feel focused on a bittersweet melancholy. Lyrics like “She loves me/Yes she does” float seemlessly above a meticulous amount of saturated tape effects that evoke feelings of lost nostalgia, and the more euphoric combination of gentle lo-fi synths and very thick basslines mix the nice energy that runs underneath with an inescapable feeling of change, and a tightrope between longing and reminiscence. Overall, this track was a real suprise, and I find myself to be absolutely loving it whenever I hear it. I wasn’t quite as keen on some of Seinfeld’s other material with the more Big Beat-based Garage sounds, but I love how Seinfeld plays with the meaning of vocals on this track, and the contributing vocals from Stella Explorer adds some even more delightfully clunky emotion to the formation. This one is a real treat.

  • Pictured: DJ Seinfeld producing an ‘After Party Playlist’ mix for BBC Radio 1 (2018) (via BBC.com)

If you loved what you just heard, you may be pleased to know that some other DJ Seinfeld-related content has been posted on the blog before. Check out what I thought of ‘Electrician’, a single previously released from the ‘Galaxy’ EP here: https://onetrackatatime.home.blog/2020/01/28/todays-track-dj-seinfeld-electrician/

  • Pictured: Cover Artwork for ‘Mirrors’ (LP) (Released on September 3rd, 2021) (via Ninja Tune)

That’s all for now! Thank you for checking out my latest blog post, and I’ll be back tomorrow for more of the same shtick. My next pick comes from one half of one of my favourite rap duo’s in quite a long time, who have released great projects together via Mello Music Group. You may have caught them at Sound City in Ipswich last weekend.

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New Album Release Fridays: RP Boo – “Haters Increase The Heat”

September 17, 2021 — Leave a comment
  • Pictured: Cover Artwork for ‘Established!’ (LP) (Released on September 17th, 2021) (via Planet Mu)

Good Morning to you! You’re reading the words of Jacob Braybrooke and, of course, the time has arrived for me to get typing up for yet another daily track on the blog, because it’s always my day-to-day pleasure to write up about a different piece of new music every day! The cycle of day-to-day life has kept going, and so we’ve reached another ‘New Album Release’ Friday yet again. This week sees new albums from Fleetwood Mac guitarist Lindsey Buckingham, Hot Chip’s frontman Alexis Taylor, New Zealand-Australian soul star Jordan Rakei and “Gothic Blues” singer-songwriter Adia Victoria hitting record store shelves and digital marketplaces. There’s also the highly anticipated new nature-themed LP from Gothenburg crossover folk songwriter Jose González and St. Vincent’s soundtrack release for ‘The Nowhere Inn’ vying for your attention too. However, I wanted to select something more leftfield this week, and that’s ‘Established’ – the new solo LP from Chicago experimental House producer RP Boo – which is out on Planet Mu today. RP Boo is one of the most prominent figures, alongside DJ Rashad and DJ Spinn, in the evolution of the Footwork dance movement from Chicago. Footwork is a style of dance music that has derived from the roots of Chicago House, and incorporated elements of Juke House and Ghetto House along the way, and it quickly found success in the Mid-west region of Chicago, later finding popularity across the state, in the 2010’s. The rhythms typically draw from the sub-bass frequencies of Drum & Bass, the tracks usually feature syncopated samples of Hip-Hop and Future Funk, and the BPM is around 60. Footwork is reliant on the street dance of the same name, performed by the sub-cultural youth of Chicago. As one of the originators of Footwork, RP Boo started making music in the late-90’s with a Roland R-70 drum machine and an Akai S01 digital sampler, and he has since gone on to craft the mixtapes used for the Bud Billiken Parade, which is the largest annual African-American parade in the US. His new LP, ‘Established’ is highly inspired by his early times of creating Footwork music, and he channels the competitive nature of ‘dance battles’ for the release. Check out the single, ‘Haters Increase The Heat’, below.

“I want the listeners to really get close to something beautiful, to enjoy with family and friends”, RP Boo says of the highly experimental new release in a press statement, continuing by telling us about the sample track above, “I was feeling heat that I detected targeting me in the scene and I grab it and tracked it out and that’s what fueled the track”, he says about ‘Haters Increase The Heat’, the new single, where he reflects on his younger days where he developed passion for Paul Johnson’s Disco records from the late-90’s. Built from stabbing synth rhythms, a flickering drum machine pattern and an aggressive, yet fairly moderately paced, bassline. It all feels like a propulsive combination on the whole, with Boo strategically structuring the witty sample flips and the blaring siren-like sounds of the modulated Synth patterns to keep the rhythm feeling thick and fast, but perfectly paced for a high-stakes dance battle. Across the course of the track, the prominent male vocal sample gradually contorts into more of an unfamiliar grunt, while a soft female backing vocal sample feels barely recognizable among the heavy syncopation effects, but it certainly adds some ethereal tones to the mix, with bruising synth pad melodies and frisky keyboard patterns which add a joyful sense of playfulness to the sound. Before too long, we’re left with the musical equivalent of a dizzying game of Jenga, where the stripped-back foundations of alternative House music are contorted to a large extent that nearly combat the repetitive nature of the production, and the vocals strongly come across as an Urban dance battle track that often nearly doubles up as a gentle personal philosophy in the process. From a pure at-home listening standpoint, it is quite a challenging listen as the rhythmic dexterity marries the sample voice and drum machine arrangements to a level that warps each element beyond noticeable recognition, but these fundamental values are what keeps RP Boo feeling as relevant as ever, and it keeps Chicago as one of the finest purveyors of House music, albeit in numerous slightly different forms. As the music continues to evolve, so do the artists.

  • Pictured: RP Boo (aka Kavain Wayne Space) at a live DJ set (2019) (Photo via Backspin Promotions)

That brings us to the end of the page, and all that’s left for me to do is thank you for checking out the blog today. I’ll be back tomorrow, as per usual, with some more new music, this time coming from a New York-born indie pop singer-songwriter who co-founded the Art Pop trio Chairlift while studying at The University Of Colorado. Now gaining mainstream popularity as a solo artist, she has collaborated with producers and artists including Charli XCX, Blood Orange, SBTRKT and Danny L Harle, and she has written songs for none other than Beyonce and Travis Scott. Not too shabby at all.

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Today’s Track: Peggy Gou (feat. OHHYUK) – “Nabi”

August 5, 2021 — Leave a comment
  • Pictured: Peggy Gou in a recent press shoot (2021) (Photo courtesy of Jungwook Mok/Edm.com)

Good Morning to you! It’s Jacob Braybrooke here, and now is the right time to cheer yourself up with your daily track on the blog, as per usual, since it’s always my day-to-day pleasure to write up about a different piece of music every day! Her first new solo tune since 2019’s ‘Starry Night’, the South Korean DJ and Producer Peggy Gou has brought her A-game to the global clubs again with ‘Nabi’. We last heard from her on 2020’s ‘Jigoo’, a guest spot on Maurice Fulton’s ‘Earth’ EP. She’s had an interesting career trajectory so far – from releasing her ‘DJ Kicks: Peggy Gou’ mix on !k7 Records, to launching Gudu Records, an independent EDM label of her very own. She has also released her material on Ninja Tune and Phonica, and Gou has even spent her time in London, at 18 years of age, studying for a degree in Fashion at the London College Of Fashion, before graduating and subsequently working as the London Corresponding Editor for Harper’s Bazaar Korea. She is now currently based in Berlin, Germany – where she spends her time tinkering away with downtempo dance anthems like ‘Nabi’. Gou’s new single sees her enlists the help of OHHYUK, from the South Korean rock band Hyukoh, who added, “It’s been a long time since Covid-19 has adapted to the changes it has made in society. It contains the desire to become a butterfly and fly away from the beautiful days before” to Gou’s press release. Give ‘Nabi’ a spin below.

“We’ve all been through so much over the last year and it’s {Nabi} about facing up to the problems and negativity in our lives and learning how to deal with it”, says Gou on her process for creating ‘Nabi’, who added, “When people hear ‘Nabi’, they’ll hopefully feel the same sense of healing – that feeling that everything’s going to be OK – that I feel when I listen to the songs that inspired it”, to her press notes. Starting off with a kick drum sample and Hi-Hat snares, we’re treated to a feel-good 80’s-style dance track with gorgeously plush instrumentation and sultry Korean vocals. Some of these lyrics roughly translate to “Time, amid that emptiness/I’m about to leave now” and “In my silence time/I can only see hatred in the distance” in English, some cryptic and poignant songwriting about the passages of time, and how the natural progression of time can lead to positive change. I loved the 00’s throwback feel of ‘Starry Night’ and also the wonky experimentation on ‘Jigoo’, but I’ve noticed how ‘Nabi’ skews more towards a retro-revivalist aesthetic, with more focus on building an atmosphere with the floaty vocal harmonies and the thudding drum machine riffs. The BPM framework isn’t wildly frenetic, but the subtle Dub influences of the bright Piano rolls and the late-80’s Lounge Jazz feel of the more soulful chorus keep the pace moving quickly due to the refreshing extracts of these influences being pulled from. The spoken word piece from OHHYUK adds another intriguing layer to the sound, while the subdued warmth of the hazy, sunshine sounds of the sparse percussion and the earworm vocal hooks hints towards Gou possibly exploring a more 00’s ChillOut or Chillwave style of electronic production in the future, but the fundamentally nostalgic dressing of the laidback beats keeps the cohesion in balance rather robustly. Overall, this was a very satisfying return from Gou, with an eclectic palette of some varied influences that are embossed neatly into the soundscape, and this would be a great pick for BBC Radio 2.

  • Pictured: Peggy Gou performing at Dimensions Festival (2018) (Photo via TheVinylFactory.com)

Thank you for sticking with me until the end today, and, if you’re new to the blog and would enjoy more of this style of content, then please feel free to join me again tomorrow for the ‘New Album Release Fridays’ as we shine the spotlight on one of the weekend’s notable new album releases. I know that Kanye West is dominating the headlines tomorrow for the release of ‘DONDA’, but I’m instead going to be writing about something that got delayed to this Friday, in July, that I’ve been very excited to hear. This is a collaborative LP between the frontman of Bombay Bicycle Club and a 28-year-old rapper from East London, who first popped up in 2012 with the ‘BAEP’ EP.

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Today’s Track: Myd – “Born A Loser”

August 2, 2021 — Leave a comment

You are either born like a Teenage Dirtbag – or a privileged politician. New post time!

  • Pictured: Cover Artwork for ‘Born A Loser’ (CD) (Released on April 30th, 2021) (via Ed Banger Records)

Good Morning to you! It’s Jacob Braybrooke here, and it’s time for you to bring your trunks and a towel to the beach while you read all about my daily track on the blog, because it’s always my day-to-day pleasure to write about a different piece of music every day! Myd is an electronic dance music producer and sound engineer from Paris, France who was certainly aiming for ‘Summer Anthem’ status when he released ‘Born A Loser’, his debut solo studio album, on Because Music and Ed Banger Records back in April. The 14-track project features guest spots from Mac DeMarco, Bakar and Juan Wauters, and is billed as his coming-of-age story and a soundtrack to the eccentric side of life, although the title track flips that style of mood on its head for a neat twist. Myd got his foot in the door of the music industry as a prior member of the 4-piece experimental House group Club Cheval, and he has worked as a producer for French Hip-Hop acts like Alonzo, SCH, Lacrim and Georgio. Give ‘Born A Loser’ a whirl below.

Built from a sample of Bobby Lee’s quirky 1966 track, ‘Born A Loser’ is an intriguing Alt-House track which Myd bills as “The song is an anthem dedicated to all the people who think they are losers. This feeling should give them the strength they need to go and achieve great things”, in his own words, according to a press release. A terrific house re-work, created from hitting the switch to twist a memorable male vocal sample, that we didn’t know we ever needed – the tune deviates from the happy-go-lucky, sunshine beach melodies of the Funk-leaning efforts from the new record by taking some notable influence from the Hauntology sub-genre. Starting off with an ecstatic kick drum beat, Myd soon subverts the more cheerful and Jazz-oriented tone with a quickly warping Synth sequence that leads smoothly into a male vocal that represents a form of wailing sadness, as the pitch becomes maddened and frenzied by the unrelenting, yet comical and bouncy, bassline that carries the atmospheric qualities of the sound forwards to some driving beats and rumbling Bass sequences. While feeling minimalist and a little simple in execution on paper, the track quickly encompasses fine elements of Chicago House, with the fist-pumping Bass and the chanting backing vocals that lie with subtlety behind the main picture, and elements of Neo-Psychedelia with the modulated sounds and the vibrant keyboard riffs. It plays out almost like a drunken round of Jazzercise, as opposed to a lazy paddle in the pool, with a darker variation of tones and a gyrating pace of noise that gives the sound a nicely wonky and curvy feel. Although the track’s natural habitat would be a summer festival or a club performance, which is a shame, there’s definitely enough substance to accommodate at-home listening to a very good extent. This is Tres Bien.

  • Pictured: Myd in the official music video for ‘Together We Stand’ (2021) (Photo via PR/YouTube.com)

Thank you for celebrating your inner ‘weirdy’ on the blog with me today, and please feel free to join me for more fresh music tomorrow, with my pick being from one of my favourite albums in the last three months, and a single that I’m obsessed with to boot. It comes from a Nu-Funk, Soul and soft Jazz singer-songwriter, producer and graphic designer from Los Angeles, California who has recently performed a KEXP ‘Live From Home’ session. Last year, he released a collaborative album with Lionmilk.

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New Album Release Friday: Darkside – “The Limit”

July 23, 2021 — Leave a comment

The experimental duo who don’t always look on the bright side of life. New post time!

  • Pictured: Vinyl Copy of “SPIRAL” (LP) (Released on July 23rd, 2021) (via Matador Records)

Good Morning to you! It’s Jacob Braybrooke here, and it’s time to take a moment out with 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! Latitude Festival may be the biggest talking point of this mid-July weekend, but, for those of us who couldn’t get ourselves a ticket and need to rely on getting our music fix elsewhere, there is a handful of new records available to fresh ears. Anne-Marie, Joel Culpepper, The Jungle Giants, Emma Jean-Thackray, Leon Bridges and Mercury Prize winner Dave all have new full-length albums hitting store shelves today. My pick for this week has been eight years in the making. ‘Spiral’ arrives this morning through Matador Records from Darkside, the collaborative side-project of the insanely prolific Chilean-American composer Nicolás Jaar and the Brooklyn-based rock multi-instrumentalist Dave Harrington, a previous member of indie bands ARMS and Translations. The follow-up to 2013’s ‘Psychic’, the new record was written and recorded in 2018 and six of the tracks were largely made through an extended week-long session during that summer in New Jersey. It has a 79 on Metacritic to show solid reviews, with Charlotte Krol of NME calling it “A gorgeous, filmic record that rewards with each spin”. Check out promo single ‘The Limit’ below.

“From the beginning, Darkside has been our Jam band, something we did on days off”, Jaar spoke of Darkside’s return from hiatus, adding, “When we reconvened, it was because we really couldn’t wait to jam together again”, to the press release. Dave Harrington added, “It felt like it was time again. We do things in this band that we would never do on our own. Darkside is the third being in the room that just kind of occurs when we make music together”, to the press notes for the hype machine. Down to a tee, ‘The Limit’ is a psychedelic adventure through experimental corridors of patterns and exciting, wildly free-spirited tones that make the steadfast jolt feel like a diverse, atmospheric journey. Beginning with some intriguing Woodwinds-like sounds, Jaar laments a loss of grip on reality of life with contemplative vocals like “Don’t sow what you reap/Submit to the pace” and “The waters erase/Nothing left to see” as we build up to a lengthy instrumental that combines Folk-led guitar riffs with stiff Keyboard frames, with a driving Drum melody that adds a lot of heft to the strength. We reach a breaking point when Jaar refrains “Current with no direction”, as the steely frames take an intrusive turn to something that feels much more harsh and abrasive in setting, as the transcendant Funk beats grind to a squelching, grounded halt with grating guitar sections and propulsive Synth cuts. The finale is also dynamic enough to stay interesting on your repeated listens, as Harrington’s production cascades through jangled rhythms with an Acid rain-like quality, while Jaar’s vocals feel unphased throughout the obscure experiment of the five minutes. It’s a strange but controlled mixture of ambient tapestry overall, with an opening that reminds me of Django Django in it’s 00’s dance flair and Folk-inflicted guitars, but the following sequences of ethereal audio really keeps you on your toes and feels incomparable to much else in terms of it’s dissonant explorations of creaking acoustics. On the whole, it expertly walks the line of bizzare and frantic like a tightrope circus act, yet it never loses it’s footing to fall off the said tightrope in the analogy. It never feels like pure chaos, since the eclectic instrumentals have a coherent narrative of-sorts and the key changes never stray from the path of consistency too aggressively. It’s certainly not mainstream, but it’s good to remember that Darkside’s records are being aimed more towards an avid fanbase, as opposed to those who will just take whatever formulaic dance track the pop charts throw at them. The tune is a very cool record, with an ever-changing dymamic in sound that mixes Jaar’s virtuosic skill as an experienced classical composer with Harrington’s ear for psychedelic influences that he honed on the US DIY indie electronica scene. You can revel in it’s Jaaring nature. See what I did?

  • Pictured: Nicolas Jaar & Dave Harrington (2013) (Photo Credit: Jim Carroll/The Irish Times)

We’ve reached your destination – which is the end of the page for today! I’ll be back to do it all over again tomorrow, however, with an in-depth look into some brand new music from a popular cult UK lo-fi independent Prog-Rock duo – a married couple – who are making their second appearance on the blog with a new single that features the British godfather of Punk himself, Iggy Pop, to confirm their new set of tour dates.

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Today’s Track: Elkka – “Burnt Orange”

May 25, 2021 — Leave a comment

Let’s get to the sweetened Pulp of our favourite Welsh Femme Fatale. New post time!

  • Pictured: Elkka showing off her pandemic studio set-up (2021) (Photo via TheVinylFactory.com)

Good Morning to you! My name is Jacob Braybrooke, and it’s time for me to get typing up for your daily track on the blog, just like usual, because it’s always my day-to-day pleasure to write up about a different piece of new music every day! ‘Burnt Orange’ has been B-listed on BBC Radio 6 Music, and it comes from Elkka – real name Emma Kirby – a DJ and electronic music producer from Cardiff, who is now based in London. Kirby originally grew up wanting to be a pop star, but she found her true calling in 2016, when she founded the Femme Culture with DJ Saint Ludo. Her label’s successes include Octo Octa and Lone, and it has expanded past club nights and fundraising compilations since winning the ‘Breakthrough Label’ nod at DJ Mag’s ‘Best Of British’ Awards in 2018. Her debut solo LP, ‘Every Body is Welcome’, was another success for her, in 2019, with more established names like Caribou, George FitzGerald and Floating Points sharing her music on their pages, and earning features on Crack and Mixmag. ‘Euphoric Melodies’ is her new EP, and it was released over the past weekend via Technicolour Records – an imprint of Ninja Tune. Check out ‘Burnt Orange’ below.

Elkka’s new five-track release is pitched as “Euphoric Melodies started out as an exploration of what pulls me in, what makes me feel those moments of elation when writing music or listening to it or just when living life”, according to her press notes on the new Extended Play. She adds, “The underlying theme seems to be warmth, euphoria and nostalgia… which is what plays out in this EP in different forms. Little did I know that, as the EP came together, nostalgia for euphoria would be so prevalent” to her address. A multi-faceted production, ‘Burnt Orange’ manages to vividly evoke the Acid Techno of 90’s Warp releases and the Funk/Soul fusion of the late-1970’s with charming flair. Starting off with bouncing Drum sequences and wide reverb to give the bass a danceable repetition, the melodies slowly evolve from a cinematic and quietly String-enhanced scope to a more playful and pop-friendly club atmosphere. A whirling, virtuosic Synth sequence paves the way for an entrancing bassline with bright, hypnotic Drum scatterings. It all feels percussive, before a seemingly wordless vocal riff from Elkka enters the fray. It’s almost like she has spontaneously began to mutter along to her own track during it’s post-production stages. It has an improvisational vibe, with a rhythmic stutter that evokes 00’s Garage tunes. The chorus of-sorts features a vocal breakdown that feels very much like a Jazz Scat, as the light humming and the dance-led textures all come together for the third act to convey optimism and happiness. It feels like a tune, overall, that 90’s film character Austin Powers would only describe as “Groovy Baby”. There’s a delicacy to the production that gives it a reflexive quality where it feels we’re breaking the fourth wall between artist and audience a little bit. It’s very enjoyable, overall, with a fairly distinctive style that creates a vibrant fantasy of a warm, night summer rooftop party.

  • Pictured: Cover Art for “Euphoric Melodies” (EP) (Released on May 21, 2021) (via Technicolour Records)

That’s all for now! Join me again tomorrow for ‘Way Back Wednesdays’ as we mark the release of Moby’s ‘Reprise’ album on May 28th, this weekend, – a new project of re-imagined orchestral and acoustic versions of the most popular recordings over the course of his career – with a throwback to his highest-charting single in the UK from 1999. It got to the #5 spot in the UK Singles Chart, and every single track from it’s respective album was eventually licensed for use in a film, TV or commercial production of some form. 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: CHAI – “Action”

May 22, 2021 — Leave a comment

Stirred in a milky heritage, “Chai” is actually the Hindu word for “Tea”. New post time!

  • Pictured: Cover Artwork for “WINK” (LP) (Released on May 21st, 2021) (via Sub-Pop Records)

Good Morning! It’s Jacob Braybrooke here, and it’s time for you to read all about your daily track on the blog, because it’s always my day-to-day pleasure to write about a different piece of music every day! I played this one on my Thursday night radio show two weeks ago, and I still can’t get enough of it. ‘Action’ is one of the singles that was taken from CHAI’s new album, ‘Wink’, which is brand new out this weekend. The girls are a 4-piece Alternative Pop or Disco-Punk (It’s hard to pin them down to any one label, really) band from Nagoya, Japan – Who we previously explored on the blog with ‘Maybe Chocolate Chips’ featuring Ric Wilson, who they met at the Pitchfork Music Festival in 2019. For Western audiences, you’d probably more likely know CHAI from collaborating with Gorillaz and JPEGMafia on a track from Gorillaz’s ‘Song Machine: Season One – Strange Timez’ viral video series and compilation, and they toured with Superorganism as their support act in 2018. Take ‘Action’ by viewing the video below.

“A person who winks at a person is one who lives with a pure heart, who lives with flexibility, who does what they want” is what the CHAI girls of Kana, Mana, Yuuki and Yuna penned in a press statement to explain the at-first-glance random title of ‘Wink’ for their new LP release. They added, “A person who winks is a person who is free. With this album, we’re winking at you. We’re living freely and we hope that when you listen, you can wink an live freely, too”. The band were, although half the world away, inspired by the Black Lives Matter protests that took place across the US last June, and so they decided to put their assessments of it into words for ‘Action’. The refrain feels like a nod to Chemical Brothers’ ‘Hey Boy, Hey Girl’, before CHAI intersect these echoes with lines like “Action is more than words” and “It’s okay, it’s okay, everything is okay/Because I believe in you and me” that get the message across simply, but effectively. The instrumentation is buoyant and charming, as shiny Disco-House motifs and a rolling Electronic breakbeat helps to turn ‘Action’ from a title into a self-affirming mantra. The chorus mixes Asian vocals with a punchy, shimmering Synth riff that replaces the strutting drum machine of the verses, building to an instrumental that encourages you to get your groove on. Shadings of R&B, Hip-Hop and Acid House help CHAI to set the mellower mood, but it’s still undeniably Pop music with a highly electronic, danceable series of beats. The lyrics call for a better future and turn these ideas into a sense of cross-cultural encouragement made with their own irresistibly playful edge where the nods to Acid-House and the huge reverb effects widen the scope of the Synth melodies. It’s message continue to show relevancy as people take to the streets to show solidarity with the situation in Palestine, and, for a variety of reasons, this is one of the best singles that I’ve heard all year. Just absolutely brilliant.

  • Pictured: KANA (Lead Vocals/Rhythm Guitar), Yuuki (Bass Guitar/Backing Vocals), MANA (Keyboard and Yuna (Acoustic Drum Kit) in a promotional image shoot for “WINK” (2021) (via Music.Mxdwn.com)

If you’ve not had enough of CHAI yet, why not take some ‘Action’ on it by checking out what I had to share about ‘Maybe Chocolate Chips’, an earlier single from the new album, where the band sing about changing their perspectives and viewing moles on their faces like the enhancements of your favourite cookie treat. Catch up here: https://onetrackatatime.home.blog/2021/03/16/todays-track-chai-feat-ric-wilson-maybe-chocolate-chips/

  • Pictured: CHAI performing at Ameoba, San Francisco (2017) (Photo Credit: Jeff Clayton/YouTube.com)

That’s all for now! However, ‘Scuzz Sundays’ returns tomorrow for an entry that will have any players of the old WWE Smackdown vs. Raw 2007 Xbox 360 video game chomping at the bit. 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: The Chemical Brothers – “The Darkness That You Fear”

May 1, 2021 — Leave a comment

Trust the Brothers – because the Brothers are gonna work it out. Time for a new post!

  • Pictured: The Chemical Brothers (Tom Rowlands & Ed Simmons) (2019) (Photo by EMI Records/Virgin)

Good Morning to you! I’m Jacob Braybrooke and, as per usual, it’s time for me to get typing up for your daily track on the blog, because it’s my day-to-day pleasure to do so! Fresh off the announcement that 90’s Big Beat dance crossover stars The Chemical Brothers will be performing at festivals like Creamfields and TRNSMT later this year, a surprising new single has already been released, ‘The Darkness That You Fear’, their first piece of new material since the critical success of 2019’s ‘No Geography’ LP which won Best Dance/Electronic Album at the 63rd Annual Grammy Awards last year. It’s a little unclear as to whether a full-length follow-up to that excellent album is nearing completion, but it has been a fairly quick turn-around from the British music legends that sees them already getting back to work. The duo’s Tom Rowlands comments of the new track, “The Darkness That You Fear is a hopeful piece of music. When we found the combination of the different voices worked set to the flow of the music, it made us feel optimistic – like it was something we wanted to share” on the message of the new release, which is accompanied by a psychedelic, festival-themed music video from the Bristol-based director Ruffmercy, who has also worked with guys like DJ Shadow and Run The Jewels. Let’s wash ‘The Darkness That You Fear’ away below.

Previously signed to Astralwerks, Rowlands and Simmons have recently jumped ship to major label Republic Records, whose chief executive Glenn Mendlinger, who brought the duo’s new track to the dancefloor, comments “The Darkness That You Fear marks the return of the mighty Chemical Brothers. It is a classic Chemical Brothers opus that is psychedelic, lush and full of optimism. Tom and Ed prove they are pioneers of the genre with this uplifting track that is perfectly timed as the world comes out of darkness into light and colour” in their public statements. ‘Psychedelic’ and ‘Lush’ are similar to the words that I’d use to describe the new track, as a slightly eerie vocal sample leads the tone and atmosphere of the sprawling single. The recurring hook of “Let your heart see the colors all around you” comes across as more of a prayer than a reflective piece, leading to a more soulful undertone created by the vocal sample used in the bridge. Instrumentally, a Funk-inflicted backbeat takes the lead as the more shimmering synth melodies begin to overlap a shaky opening vocal sequence. The chorus of-sorts is a rhythmic, smooth section where the production goes for an old-school, 90’s dub party vibe of optimism and positivity. I particularly like the flickering synths break towards the final stretch of the track, before a final explosion of colour and energy points towards a brighter future. It feels like a solid tribute to the festivals that have all been cancelled and axed over the last year, with an accessible yet meticulous assortment of glowing and pretty sounds. A fantastic track that once again reminds us why The Chemical Brothers are so good at what they do, and boasts a simple message that holds cultural meaning and expression at it’s core. I’ll “Push The Button” on this – the one that’s labelled “Repeat” all summer long.

  • Pictured: The Chemical Brothers at Glastonbury Festival (2019) (Photo by Herbert P. Oczeret/EPA)

There’s ‘No Geography’ as to whether we’ve supported the ‘Block Rockin Beats’ of the Manchester icons, and so you can check out my retro review of UK #1 single ‘Let Forever Be’ featuring Liam Gallagher here: https://onetrackatatime.home.blog/2019/11/11/todays-track-the-chemical-brothers-feat-liam-gallagher-let-forever-be/. Or, if you’re a fan of 2002’s ‘Star Guitar’ then ‘Hey Boy, Hey Girl’, here we go: https://onetrackatatime.home.blog/2019/08/31/todays-track-the-chemical-brothers-star-guitar/

  • Pictured: Cover Artwork for “No Geography” (LP) (Released on April 12, 2019) (via Virgin/EMI Records)

That’s all for today – But feel free to join me again tomorrow for another new addition to our ‘Scuzz Sundays’ library of the past Pop-Punk throwbacks to THAT phase from our younger years. Tomorrow’s entry comes from a Texas Nu-Metal project with only one major label album to their credits. In March 2002, one of their tracks was famously used for then-WWF’s (and now WWE’s) Raw weekly television programme theme tune until October 2006. If you liked what you just read, why not follow the blog to get notified when every daily new post is up and like the Facebook page here: https://www.facebook.com/OneTrackAtATime/