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Today’s Track: Planningtorock – “Beulah Loves Dancing”

February 5, 2020 — 1 Comment

I’ve been Planningtowrite this one for an entire day! It’s time for your new blog post!

  • Pictured: Cover Artwork for “Beulah Loves Dancing” (October 2018) (Available on Bandcamp.com)

Good afternoon to you, Jacob Braybrooke here with your daily track for the blog! Jam Roston, formerly named Janine Roston, is an English electronic dance producer who currently lives in Berlin, Germany. She rose to fame after launching her own label, Rostron Records, where she released “Have It All”, her debut LP in 2006. Later, she went on the “Sound Of Silver” world tour with LCD Soundsystem in 2007 and released a remix of The Knife’s “Marble House” a year prior. “Beulah Loves Dancing” is a little bit old, but it’s still a recent track in her discography. It’s the lead single from her fourth LP, “Powerhouse”, a self-released album from 2018. I caught the track floated around on the BBC Radio stations for a little while in it’s original release and I’ve remembered it for long enough to feature it on the blog. Give the track a listen below.

I think it’s easy to see why it’s a very memorable little dance anthem, as it has a very original sound and the narrative framework is creative. The lyrics of the track pays tribute to the musically energised youth of Jam’s sister. With a down-tempo mood, she croons: “Back in the 80’s me and my sister were given a personal Walkman”, before referring to her sister, who loved her house music and would make her own mixtapes and cassettes. It became an obsession for her, which is beat-matched by a trippy acid synth line which remains steady, but teases a subtle line of breakbeat melodies. The bridge is led by an eccentric dreamscape vocal: “Beulah loves dancing/Has always loved music, yeah”, the story continues, with Roston taking a trip down memory lane, saying: “And I kid you not, the whole house would be shaking” as Beulah would prance about to her club music upstairs. It seems almost akin to a pop song, with a catchy vocal rhyme that hypnotically paces around the percussive techno melodies. The delivery of the vocals is particularly down-tempo, which keeps the fizzing synth notes to a controlled pace. I think the fade-out at the end is particularly nice and I love the unique composition of the track, with the childhood story being an anecdote which the melodic rhythms are built around. However, to a certain extent, I find the arrangement of the track to get a bit tedious and it doesn’t push it’s sound forward it’s techno-oriented soundscape as much as it’s experimentation suggests. Overall, I think it’s a three-star-out-of-five track as it’s use of storytelling is very intriguing and the fluctuating acid snare line is enjoyable, but the instrumentation feels limited to a point where I feel the track tries to do a bit much for it’s own good. I feel opinions may vary on this one, so I’d love to hear yours!

  • Pictured: Jam Roston (Planningtorock) in a photoshoot for her official website (2018)

Thank you for reading this post! Beulah Loves Dancing and so do I, so I’ll be dancing my way back on to the blog tomorrow with an in-depth look at a track from The Specials which is a cover version of an old Jamaican track released back in 1967! The cover version by The Specials reached #10 in the UK Singles Chart! 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/

Scuzz Sundays: Nightwish – “Wish I Had An Angel”

February 2, 2020 — Leave a comment

An angel would be nice, but I wish I had a clear plan for what I’m going to do after I graduate from my university course in summer! It’s time for your Scuzz Sundays post!

  • Pictured: Tarja Turunen (Lead Vocals), Marco Hietela (Lead Vocals/Bass Guitar), Tuomas Holopainen (Keyboard/Piano/Synths), Emppu Vuorinen (Lead Guitar) and Jukka Nevalainen (Drums) (2004 Band lineup – taken from the official Nightwish website)

It’s the end of Dry January and another cold working week here in the UK, which also means that it’s time for your weekly emo/rock/punk 90’s or 00’s throwback track as part of the aptly titled Scuzz Sundays theme on the blog. I’m Jacob Braybrooke, as always, taking you back to the simpler times of Scuzz TV as I revisit some of the tracks that I used to listen to during the days of Scuzz TV’s existence. “Wish I Had An Angel”, by the Finnish Symphonic Metal band Nightwish, is this week’s Scuzz Sunday track. It was the second single taken from their fifth studio album, “Once”, released back in September 2004 via the Spinefarm label. The eleventh single for the band, “Wish I Had An Angel” reached #60 on the UK Singles Chart upon it’s original release, becoming the band’s most commercially successful single to date, a title which it still holds to this very day. It gained popularity in the mainstream after it was featured on the soundtrack for the 2005 film, “Alone In The Dark”, loosely based on a video game series which I’m not personally familiar with at all. Let’s revisit the music video below.

Interestingly, the video above is an alternate cut of the official music video, as the original version featured scenes taken from the “Alone In The Dark” film, which were later edited out from the video – reportedly due to the overwhelmingly negative critical response to the film. In any case, it’s still a fantastic video full of all the Gothic coats, black smeared mascara and close-up angles that you could muster. Then-vocalist Tarja Turunen and bassist Marco Hietala provide duelling vocals, extravagantly chiming: “I wish I had your angel for one moment of love/I wish I had your angel tonight” over a frantic line of heavy guitar riffs and a rough pre-orchestra instrumentation. They contemplate the pain of beauty: “Last dance, first kiss/Your touch my bliss/Beauty always comes with dark thoughts”, crooned as an operatic hook by Turnunen, along with Hietela’s sighing: “I wish I had your angel/Your Virgin Mary undone/I’m in love with my lust/Burning angel wings to dust” over a symphonic composition of techno-groove metal. The instrumentation is also very orchestral, with minimal keyboard riffs, as the sound heavily features violin strings and cello arrangements, with a choral vocal hook in the background. The overall result is a progressive dark rock anthem which functions as an operatic ballad, with the male vocals and the female vocals constantly going back and forth to tell the story of taking your lust to a very dark place in your mind and how it’s easy to fall victim to this mentality as a rival. The guitar chords are punchy and the drums sound a little bit processed, which gives off slight vibes of Evanescence, who were enjoying the peak of their popularity within the same era. Overall, the sound may be a little bit Eurovision, perhaps, with a hint of cheese overfest. However, the duet vocal performance is very engaging and the instrumentation is heavy enough to justify the heightened sense of the pacing, format, composition and songwriting. As cold as ice but as solid as a rock!

  • Pictured: Cover Artwork for “Once” (June 2004) (Spinefarm Records) (Nuclear Blast Records)

Thank you for reading this post! I’ll be back tomorrow, as usual, with an in-depth look at the brand new track from an animated British band, led by a former Blur member, who notably won the “Best British Group” award at the BRIT Awards in 2018! 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: Empire Of The Sun – “High and Low”

January 24, 2020 — Leave a comment

Happy Friday! Here’s a pop track that will branch out to you! It’s time for a new post!

  • Pictured: Luke Steele (Lead Vocals, Lead Guitar) and Nick Littlemore (Bass Guitar, Drum Kits, Programming)

Happy Friday! I’m Jacob Braybrooke, of course, writing about a track to lift your spirits before, like me, you want to collapse in exhaustion at the end of an eventful working week. Today’s track is “High and Low” by Empire Of The Sun, taken from their most up-to-date LP release, “Two Vines”, released in October 2016 after the band saw a resurgence of mainstream popularity due to “Walking On A Dream” being featured in a Toyota Car advert. I didn’t really know the latest album existed, to be honest, as there was only a three year gap between “Ice Of The Dune” in 2013 and “Two Vines” in 2016 – and I can remember my Dad owning their debut, also titled “Walking On A Dream”, back in my Pre-Teen days. However, I revisited “Ice On The Dune” and remembered how I didn’t get the chance to see how “Two Vines” measured up to it. Empire Of The Sun is an Australian pop duo made up of Pnau’s Nick Littlemore and The Sleepy Jackson’s Luke Steele. They aren’t particularly big in the UK and their success has waned on an interesting curve in the US, but the duo are moderately popular in several international territories and European markets. On “Two Vines”, Steele has described the context as a visualisation of a modern city overrun by a forest jungle, with other tracks like “Digital Life” touching on conceptual themes like the social media age. Take a look at the video for “High and Low” below.

“High and Low”, the lead single of “Two Vines”, is an upbeat and celebratory pop anthem, which sounds very familiar to the regular fanbase of Empire Of The Sun and unashamedly takes a lot of influence from 70’s pop bands like Fleetwood Mac and Deep Purple, with a vocal similarity to the Barry Manilow recordings of old. The single begins very quickly, with an urgent delivery of ambient sweeps and a fast-paced, electronic guitar riff. Steele chimes: “Down where the summer and the late nights last forever/There’s a house on the hill and we can’t travel now”, before chanting: “Alice D, you’re on your way up”. I wonder if that’s a not-so hidden reference to LSD? Steele continues singing about the wild child, Alice D, crooning: “Let’s get together, forget all the troubles and just float/I don’t want you to go now/I need to be closer to you now”, before a repeat of the pop-oriented chorus filled with chanting vocal hooks and stadium-sized, large-scale electronic pop notes. A very pop-heavy track, with a fast-paced delivery of sequencing and an obvious drive towards a Eurovision-primed disco sound. Although I think the artwork is absolutely gorgeous and the pulsating sound is engaging to a certain extent, it’s ultimately a track which feels a bit underwhelming and reminiscent of a struggling third album, in my opinion. The vocal hooks are highly repetitous and the writing is straightforward because I’m not really getting the nature-controlled city aesthetic of the album. Unfortunately, I can see why the album was released to little fanfare, as the concept is fairly interesting, but the sound doesn’t lean into it enough, which is a shame due to the flamboyant costumes and the theatrical live sets which the band has. It’s a simple case of the music not sounding quite so interesting, with a flat electronic pop chorus that doesn’t really go anywhere and a lack of experimentation. Overall, I feel the duo have some interesting ideas, so it’s ultimately a shame this vine fails to outgrow it’s unfortunate blandness.

  • Pictured: Cover Artwork for “Two Vines” (October 2016)

Thank you for reading this post! I’ll be back tomorrow, as usual, with a look at a relatively new track from a Seattle-based Hip-Hop musician who has a Senegalese background and he made his debut over a decade ago with “HEAR ME OUT” in 2009! 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: Hi Grade Hi-Fi (feat. Kes D’ Jordan) – “Turn Up The Heat”

January 23, 2020 — Leave a comment

We should turn down the fog and turn up the heat in the UK! Time for your new post!

  • Pictured: Hi-Grade Hi-Fi performing a live set at the Soundsystem Culture Festival (2019) (Credit: Stalingrad O’ Neill)

Jacob Braybrooke here! Here’s an up-tempo Reggae jive that I played on my most recent radio show, which comes courtesy of underground Birmingham dub-plate group High Grade Hi-Fi, a band who describe their sound as a “Reggae Sound System like no other”, as they cohesively incorporate the different elements across old-school Dub-plate production techniques with the raw sound of Jamaican carnival and the beat-driven influences of Ska. I have previously covered “Warrior, a more politically infused hip-hop track, on the blog. Have a listen to “Turn Up The Heat” below, a more breezy and feel-good ska track, which also features the vocal talents of Kes D’ Jordan.

“Turn Up The Heat” is, comparatively, very different to “Warrior” – with a lighter emphasis on the hip-hop and a heavier focus on the influences of Disco and a warmer, more light-hearted tone. Jordan quips: “Turn up the heat/rock to the beat/living in a moment”, over the top of a golden line of sun-dripped synth pad beats and a vintage, dub-tinged kick drum beat. Jordan sings: “got to be ready/for anything that comes your way” as the underlying Ska tone welcomes a new mix of beach-glazed guitar riffs and honeyed two-step bass guitar melodies. Jordan puts the cherry on top of the cake, as: “you’ve been frozen in time” and “free the shackles from your regimented life/it’s a sterile component” ushers in a chorus of trumpets and more jazz-oriented instrumentation which kicks the pacing up to another notch, resulting in a more kinetic and slightly old-school rocksteady-tinged, effect of sequencing. The dub-plate melodies are very rhythmic and the lyrics have a very upbeat and positive message of leaving your worries behind and enjoying yourself, which is very relevant in today’s digitally-connected society. The lyrics encourage you to, for example, enjoy a swift jive to a track at a gig rather than spend the whole 3-4 minutes filming clips of it for your social media accounts. Turn up your stereo to this!

  • Pictured: Still image from the music video for “Doggies Dem (feat. Juggernaut”)” (November 2019)

For the purposes of making a comparison between “Turn Up The Heat” and their brilliant track “Warrior”, why not read my thoughts on “Warrior” down below?: https://onetrackatatime.home.blog/2019/11/13/todays-track-hi-grade-hi-fi-feat-richie-culture-warrior/

  • Pictured: Behind-the-scenes image of High Grade Hi-Fi filming the “Warrior” music video (June 2019)

Thank you for reading this post! As usual, I’ll be back tomorrow with a look at a track, released in support of their third LP released in 2016, from an Australian electronic pop duo who are comprised between one member of Pnau and one member of The Sleepy Jackson! 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: Hinds – “Riding Solo”

January 21, 2020 — Leave a comment

Here’s a track from a band who had to change their name of Deers in 2014! Oh deer…

  • Pictured: Carlotta Cosials (Lead Vocals), Ana García Perrote (Lead Guitar), Ade Martin (Bass Guitar) and Amber Grimbergen (Drums) (Photo Credit: NME) (December 2019)

Seriously, they got caught up in a legal dispute with a Canadian indie band, “The Dears” in 2014! Hello, my deers (fine, I’ll stop it now – it can’t define the quality of the band anyways), Jacob “The Joker” Braybrooke is here again, it seems – with a look at Hinds’ new track “Riding Solo”, released in December 2019 as part of their world tour announcement. It’s their first new material since their second album, “I Don’t Run”, which was released in 2018. Loosely based on the theme of deers, Hinds have cited the likes of The Strokes, Mac DeMarco, The Vaccines and Ty Segall as their main influences of their lo-fi, garage-rock sound. Let’s have a listen of the new track below!

An optimistic take on the perks of feeling isolation and loneliness, “Riding Solo” is an embracing of the quirky, garage-pop sound that we love hearing from the band. It takes a twist on independence, as Carlotta Cosials, the lead vocalist of the Spanish indie outfit, sings: “I’m staring at the celing, I’m on my private jet lag/While everyone is dreaming, I’m dancing through dynamite” over a fashionably upbeat layer of fizzled electronic snares and sliding guitar licks, mixed with a youthful and ska-influenced underlayer of glistening drum beats, which create a flamboyant and celebratory tone. It’s more electronic and pop-adjusted than much of the band’s previous efforts, but their core elements of lo-fi and garage rock remain, as the vocals take a tingling turn towards the common human feelings of moving forwards and the unfriendly touring schedules of the band as musicians. Overall, I feel it’s an overall solid tune which reminds me of Grouplove’s electro-pop sound and may be a little forgettable, but the fans of the band will be pleased by the fact we’re hearing new music from the band with a slight evolution of their sound, while keeping their core sound relatively intact.

  • Pictured: Hinds in a photoshoot for their debut album “Leave Me Alone” (2016) (Photo Credit: slatethedisco.com)

Thank you for reading this post! As usual, I’ll be back tomorrow, with an in-depth look at the new single from a Kingston Upon Thames-born English DJ who received his major breakthrough for composing the score for the 2010 smash-hit film “Monsters”! 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 Techniques – “Queen Majesty”

January 20, 2020 — Leave a comment

Here’s a ticket to a sunny paradise on Blue Monday! Tell me now, how does that feel?

  • Pictured: Cover Art for “Winston Riley’s Rock Steady & Early Reggae 1968-1969” (2017) (available at Bandcamp.com)

Good evening (or night, in my case) to you, Jacob Braybrooke here, as usual, it’s been one of the busiest days of my life today, but I’m glad that I’ve finally made it to my desk to write to you about today’s musing, which is going to be a quick overview of the classic Rocksteady track “Queen Majesty” by The Techniques, released back in 1967 on the “3-Prong Push Out” compilation. This track can also be found on the “This Is Trojan: Rock Steady” compilation album, along with many other vintage Jamaican tracks from the likes of The Ethiopians, The Three Tops and The Melodians.

I specifically picked this track as it’s “Blue Monday” – which is known as the gloomiest day of the year, but I didn’t want to go down the straightforward New Order route, even if their 1986 classic is an absolute foot-tapping tune! “Queen Majesty” is a track which I picked as a way of transporting you to a blissful Jamaican paradise on a cold January day – which is an effect created by the track in perfect harmony! The vocals, mostly from the core lineup of Winstron Riley, Slim Smith, Franklyn White and Frederick Waite, are highly satisfying as the group of vocalists croon: “Queen majesty/may I speak to thee?”, although there is a darker tone to contrast the hopeful melodies of the light, upbeat drum melodies which shimmers along to the vocal rhythm of the track. The racial slur, “True, I agree, I’m not of your society/I’m not a king, just a minstrel” evokes a more somber feeling, which blends with the contrasting hopefulness and melancholy of the love-laden line: “As long as you love me/And it won’t be so hard/as long as I see love in your eyes”, as it becomes apparent that the male protagonist is leaving the community of his lover behind, but hopes to keep a long-distance relationship going. I may be reading far too much into the lyrics, but that’s the subtle beauty of the track. A will to keep going, but a power to move on!

  • Pictured: Full Track Listing for the “This Is Trojan: Rock Steady” compilation LP (CD Outer Casing) (April 2018)

Thank you for reading this post! As usual, I’ll be back tomorrow, with a look at the new track from a Spanish indie rock band, which is currently on the B-list of the BBC Radio 6Music playlist, who changed their name of “Deers” in 2014 following a legal dispute with an existing band who are called “The Dears”! Oh dear… 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: North Downs – “Nightlife Blues”

January 17, 2020 — Leave a comment

Meanwhile, I’m from Down the East Anglia! Good evening, it’s time for your new post!

  • Pictured: Cover Artwork for “Dad’s Old Tapes” (EP Release) (December 5th, 2019) (Dana Dama Records)

Jacob Braybrooke here! I’m wishing you a lovely Friday and a great… erm… January! Yeah it’s very cold and windy outside, isn’t it? In any case, here’s a brand new track for you to sink your teeth into! “Nightlife Blues” comes from the very mysterious British electronic dance trio North Downs, who I first came across through their collaboration on Maribou State’s “Kingdom” for the latter’s most recent album, “Kingdoms In Colour”. However, the trio of North Downs, who haven’t published much information at all about their members or backstories, have just produced their own release, a four-track EP titled “Dad’s Old Tapes”. An experimental little record which spotlights a knack for creative sounds, the single “Nightlife Blues” has been championed by BBC Radio 6Music presenter Mary Anne Hobbs, of whom I really look up to. This track can currently be found on the A-list of the John Peel-inspired station.

Although it remains a rock record, “Nightlife Blues” dabbles through a lot of different electronic production work and vibrant synthesized pop melodies, which adds discordant effects to the vocal harmonies and a slight ambience, adding a Walkman tape recorder dynamic to the overall sound of the track. “Nighlife Blues” has a very euphonious guitar riff, which creates the feeling of an avant-garde punk record being edited to a contemporary pop format, which reminds me of world-inspired artists like Khruangbin, The Comet Is Coming and Maritoba. The vocals chime in: “Born in the day/born to survive/faking away/chasing the night”, over a collage of synthetic bass riffs and thunderous jazz-fusion influences. This establishes a singular groove of indie rock elements, combined with small elements of funk and nu-disco. A psychedelic pop vibe is also created through the somber chord progression and the lightly tapping drum beat. This also reminds me a little bit of The Avalanches, due to the light funk beat and the repetitive vocal chorus. However, the Plunderphonics influences aren’t as virtuosic and meticulous. It’s a well-curated package of different genres which sounds primed for the daytime or early evening slots at festivals in the summer – with an overall quality of an old-school indie dance-rock outfit like LCD Soundsystem mixed with the makeshift ambience of Bonobo or Caribou. Overall, I think it’s a decent and original mix of different genres, with a soulful quality that seems ripe for evolution and development on full-length LP releases. Warm and solid!

  • Pictured: Cover Artwork for “Nightlife Blues” (Single Release) (December 5th, 2019)

Thank you for reading this post! I’ll be back tomorrow, as per usual, with a look at yet another new track – this time, it’s a collaboration between a DJ who is the first artist to be nominated as both a musician and producer for his album, alongside a Northampton-based hip-hop artist whose debut LP was nominated for last year’s Mercury Prize award! 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: Kele Okereke – “Between Me And My Maker”

January 14, 2020 — Leave a comment

Here’s a track for you to play at a house party… or a Bloc Party! Time for a new post!

  • Pictured: Kele Okereke pictured for an interview in Clash Magazine in 2019 (Photo Credit: Rachael Wright)

This is a track which has been roaming about my Spotify Discover playlists for a little while now and I didn’t actually know until the other day that it’s been recorded by Kele Okereke, shortened to Kele, who is the lead singer of Bloc Party. He’s released a new solo record, his fourth solo LP overall, called “2042”, which was released in November last year. The single “Me and My Maker” has been buzzing around indie radio stations for a little bit over a while, and it overall seems like a low-key project compared to most other releases. The title of the album, “2042”, is a reference to the year which data, according to a census study in the US, predicts that ethnic minorities may make up the main bulk of the population in the US. Some of the tracks on the album challenges black historic events or tragedies in the news. For example, the Grenfell Tower fire incident of June 2017, the Windrush Scandal of 2018 and Colin Kaepernick’s national anthem protest in September 2016. It’s a very interesting move for the frontman of a fairly commercial indie band of the late-00’s to tackle, but I am actually quite fond of Bloc Party’s music. Let’s give “Me and My Maker” a listen below!

I feel the 6-minute duration really gives space for the rock-based collage of synthesized drum beats and the neo-psychedelic guitar lines to breathe, but the track also immediately has a rock-oriented and cinematic effect, which acts as a spiral from the beginning of the track to the near-end of the track. As a part of the chorus, Kele croons: “Into the light is where I’ll go/My body is not my soul/When I die, my spirit rise”, over a wave of experimental funk riffs, glitchy guitar chords and West African soul-infused vocals. Kele proclaims: “Upon a cloud of gold/So nothing stands/Between me and my maker”, over a hand-clap stomp and a distorted guitar line, all of which is delivered from a glam-rock influenced style from the moment Kele sings the opening line: “The butterfly lands on my palm and starts to speak to me.”! It sounds like a triumphant call for Marvel’s Black Panther to storm out for a fight to! It’s an instant reminder of the tribal rituals which take place around the world, as the track lyrically balances the ideas of life, death and rebirth, all of which is completed to a theme around nature and the environment. Kele’s put a lot of effort and hard work into this track… and it shows! It’s unexpected and it has a daring, spiritual message behind it. Overall, I like it! The writing is strong, the melodies have a cultural purpose to them and it sounds very different to his previous endeavours as part of Bloc Party!

  • Pictured: Kele Okereke (with Bloc Party) performing a live set (Photo Credit: Jason Merritt/Getty Images)

Thank you for reading this post! It’s all a bit nothingless until spring, right? Fear not, as I’ll be back tomorrow, introducing you to some more music that might have fallen under your radar in the late stages of 2019! Ill be listening to a track from a garage-punk band, based in Leeds, who are a current part of Radio X’s evening playlist for X-Posure with John Kennedy! 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: A Tribe Called RED (feat. Black Bear) – “The OG”

January 13, 2020 — Leave a comment

Here’s a daily musing on a new single from a duo who surprised me out of nowhere in 2015 with “the seal of the Halluci Nation”. However, will they manage to retain my “seal of approval”? To answer that, you’ll have to continue reading below to find out!

  • Pictured: Tim “2oolman” Hill (Production/Engineering) and Ehren “Bear Witness” Thomas (Mixing/Percussion)

Good evening, Jacob Braybroke here! I first discovered A Tribe Called RED, a Canadian electronic hip-hop group from Ontario, through the KEXP Song Of The Day podcast resource a few years back, leading me to enjoy listening to their 2015 LP, “We Are The Halluci Nation”, an album which showcased the group’s very unique strength of bringing activism to the dancefloor in a way that’s fun and musically well-rounded. Named as a homage to hip-hop legends A Tribe Called Quest, A Tribe Called Red are back, releasing a string of new singles towards the latter end of 2019. However, as a duo now, since Ian Campeau left the band due to health complications in 2017. One of the biggest new singles, “The OG”, features frequent guest collaborator Black Bear, as the band return to their self-described “Stadium Pow-Wow” sound for good measure!

A very colorful and world-inspired track, due to the African tribal chanting and the two-step Taiko drumming, “The OG” is a new track which succeeds in re-establishing the experimental sound of A Tribe Called Red and reasserting, after a few years of hiatus, the band’s refusal of boxing their sound into one specific genre. “The OG” begins with the modulated vocals of Black Bear, before a pulsating sound of bombastic electronic snare trips and loud tribal chants. The track leads into a sample of Romeo Saganah’s speech in the United Nations in September 2018, before the potent – almost violent – drumming sounds and indigenous chants continue, right after Saganah’s speech about Indegenious rights and the Trans Mountain Pipeline. This is a track which pulls a lot of different genres together – as the bassline-driven rhythm crashes along to EDM-style vibrations, which viciously pulls further influence from the likes of Heavy Techno, all produced under a wide array of Reggae styles. It’s a track which really flourishes in encompassing several genres in one overall package, while modifying the influences of each – so that it doesn’t seem to lose much of an overall cohesive quality. The result is a track which feels very political and it may be likely to cause a little bit of controversy among certain groups of different religions, but, in terms of the sound and aesthetic, it’s an enchanting return to form for A Tribe Called RED and although it’s familiar to “We Are The Halluci Nation”, I’m still excited to hearing a fully-fledged LP release to see how they expand their “Pow-Wow” sound!

  • Pictured: A Tribe Called Red performing a live set at the Lost Lake Festival in 2017 (Credit: Jeff Kravitz/FilmMagic)

Thank you for reading this post! I’ll be continuing to introduce you to some more new music inspired by different sounds from around the world tomorrow, as I’ll be looking at a new solo track from the lead singer and rhythm guitarist of the famous Liverpool band Bloc Party! 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: Floating Points – “Anasickmodular”

January 8, 2020 — Leave a comment

Is it science, magic or great music? a combination of all three? Time for a new post!

  • Pictured: Sam Shepherd in a photoshoot for an interview on the RedBull.com website (January 2018)

Jacob Braybrooke here! It’s not Rocket Science! Well, for this guy, it’s Neuroscience! Seriously, he has a degree in it! I’ve been listening quite a bit to Floating Points recently, a DJ of all things acid techno whose real name is Sam Shepherd, the co-founder of the Eglo Records label. His recent album, “Crush”, was released last November on the Ninja Tune label. It’s an experimental piece of music which dynamically mixes a range of improvisational sounds and electronic ambient works recorded around the world. It’s January, so there isn’t going to be much out until the early Spring heats up. That gives you the perfect excuse for you to go and check it out!

“Anasickmodular” is one of the singles from the album, which has made the A-list of BBC Radio 6Music for several weeks. It was named after the team who did the visual projections, the fact that he was feeling poorly on the day and how he bought a modular out of the box to record it! For me, “Anasickmodular” draws a heavy comparison to the likes of Aphex Twin and Squarepusher. Since the genre of this single is of a similar tone and style, it reminds me of several Warp Records releases from around the mid-90’s, which partially contributes as to why I like it so much. The mixing and production of the track was created during Shepherd’s live improvised set at Dekmantel Festival in 2017, with other engineering stages completed during a tour date in Sydney. For me, this gives the track it’s freeform and carefree style, which echoes throughout the strange break-beat melodies and the ethereal, percussive garage beats. The texture, as a result, sounds very warm and euphoric, due to a hypnotic trance transition which feels like the music equivalent to a child’s drawing. A twitching, off-kilter drum pattern harkens back to Warp’s late-90’s IDM exports. The midway point is a real standout, as the assortment of ambient sounds swell up to form a synth tendril which forms the effect of an orchestral crescendo. It feels like Shepherd has definitely put his club sensibilities to the test and really pushed himself, as an artist, to deliver this track. He adds a layer of scientific IDM to make it essential!

  • Pictured: Cover Artwork for “Crush” (October 2019)

Thank you for reading this post! I’ll be back tomorrow, as usual, with a look at a new track from an Irish singer-songwriter and music producer who is known for being part of the Irish Trip Hop duo Moloko, who were responsible for the chart hits “The Time Is Now”, “Sing It Back” and “Familiar Feeling”! 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/