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lucky-sevens · 4 years

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so, you’ve heard about the mechanisms, but have no idea what they are or how to get into them?

the mechanisms are a steampunk folk concept band! if you’re familiar with the decemberists, some of the stuff david bowie has done, or steam powered giraffe, it’s a bit like that- each album tells a story! (the albums are all tragic space operas, with the added bonus of being very queer!)

the bit where it starts to get complicated is the band itself. they’re all playing characters, and they do their shows in character! so, basically, the narration on the albums isn’t omniscient- it’s being narrated by the mechanisms, who have opinions about the story and tend to get involved in it at some point. to differentiate them from the actual band, i’m going to refer to them as ‘the crew of the aurora’!

further details under the cut! (edit: added some links!)

the albums

they have 4 main albums, which you can listen to on spotify, bandcamp and youtube! just look them up, there's a youtube account called TheVoidSings that does lyric videos + album playlists, as well as the mechanisms official account! in addition, they are all linked at the end of this post.

(note: the albums are all tragedies, and there’s some pretty intense stuff that can happen- i wouldn’t let that steer you away from it as they are very good and well done, but if you tend to like lighter or happier stories, be a bit careful going in? a lot of queer characters tend to die- because 1. everyone dies and 2. everyone is queer- which, while it’s not bury your gays, i know some people like to avoid.)

album descriptions

-once upon a time (in space)- based on european fairy tales! stars snow white and her attempt to rebel against the evil king cole and his intergalactic empire and rescue her sister, rose red! also has a lesbian romance at the center!

-ulysses dies at dawn- based on greek mythology! stars four 'suitors'- orpheus, oedipus, ariadne, and hercules- trying to break into ulysses/odysseus' secret vault on a job for the olympians, an elite mob family with a stranglehold over the planet it takes place on

-high noon over camelot- a steampunk western based on arthurian legend! features poly arthur, guinevere, and lancelot on a quest for the G.R.A.I.L, the control center of the abandoned space station they're trapped on

-the bifrost incident- based on norse mythology! a locked room mystery around what happened to the ratatosk express, a train that disappeared eighty years ago with all of the asgardian ruling class on board. this album is also rock, versus the earlier ones which were folkpunk.

you can listen to them in any order (i've summarized them in order of release), but you should listen to the album of your choice in order/all the way through! (my personal favorite is high noon over camelot!)

the crew

the crew of the aurora is a group of nine queer space pirates! they’re all immortal, mostly because of dr carmilla, a morally ambiguous, very lonely lesbian vampire who has a slight problem with experimenting on dying children. they all have a mechanical part of some kind- for example, ashes o’reilly has mechanical lungs, because they originally died from smoke inhalation. that part is called their mechanism, and it’s what’s keeping them immortal! (also, their immortality works by having them come back from death, rather than being unable to be harmed. this can result in them doing really stupid shit, dying, and then just coming back. they murder each other a lot to bond) there’s a lot of found family vibes, which is quite nice! in general, despite being tragic figures themself, they add an air of humor to the albums with their banter and the like!

each of the crew has their own backstory, mostly from quite different genres! if you’d like a fairly comprehensive version of all their backstory songs, i’d recommend this recorded show and if you’d like just an assessment of their general vibes/a good intro to everything, i’d suggest looking up ‘the ignomious demise of dr plitchard’ (one of their stand-alone songs)

bonus content

recorded gigs- there are quite a few out there, and i’d highly recommend listening to them, because the shows were the original way the media was supposed to be! there’s a ton of in character banter, they’re all in costume, all that!

death to the mechanisms- the mechanisms’ last show! it has a very bittersweet vibe, but there’s also incredible lighting, as well as proper recordings of tales to be told and drunk space pirate (the songs they play at the beginning and end of each show!) there’s also a lot of lore there that’s nice to know, including what it says on the tin: how they all, eventually, die. note- there’s a stream and an audio version. the stream is choppy and cuts out a lot, and the audio version is nice and clean, but the stream is still nice to watch because of the lighting and the visual jokes.

tales to be told volumes one and two- compilations of all their standalone songs! some of them fit with albums, and some of them are their own retellings that work on their own! this is also where all the backstory songs are compiled, though i’d recommend watching the recorded show i linked instead as that has the relevant exposition.

frankenstein- a standalone, 10 minute album on youtube about the story of victoria frankenstein and the rogue ai she created.

dr. carmilla albums (exhumed and [un]plugged + ageha prototype edition, available on bandcamp)- songs telling the backstory of doctor carmilla, the mechanisms’ creator! they’re in a different style than the rest- think girl in red. lots of yearning lesbian music vibes.

mechanisms fiction- this is on their website! has a lot of very interesting lore and character things, and i’d highly recommend reading all of it! it’s also very well written. personally, i’d recommend ulysses and narcissus go to the seaside, the quickest draw, archive footage, and bedtime story for the writing, and ever after, the story of the toy soldier, who killed dr carmilla, and ghost in the machine for lore!

resources

links to almost all the mechanisms content out there!

album links

once upon a time in space- spotify/bandcamp/youtube

ulysses dies at dawn- spotify/bandcamp/youtube

high noon over camelot- spotify/bandcamp/youtube

the bifrost incident- spotify/bandcamp/youtube

bonus content

tales to be told, volume 1- spotify/bandcamp/youtube

tales to be told, volume 2- spotify/bandcamp/youtube

frankenstein- spotify/bandcamp/youtube

mechanisms ‘supplementals’ (songs not in the albums, alternative versions, etc)- youtube

exhumed and (un)plugged- bandcamp/youtube

ageha (prototype edition)- bandcamp/youtube

mechanisms fiction

additional short story

tumblr (mostly an inactive blog for the band to post about shows they were doing, but features some in-character posts)

twitter (ditto)

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gig compilation post

fiction compilation post

blog compilation post

deep lore post

fanfiction recommendations list

#the mechanisms #the mechs #gonna tag this with #because a lot of tma people end up wanting to get into the mechs #the magnus archives #my posts

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theradioghost · 6 years

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The Mechanisms

Or, an attempted quasi-masterpost/crash course of content for the gay mythical dieselpunk space pirate band we all deserve in our lives.

The Story

A spacefaring vampire mad scientist and aspiring musican known as Dr. Carmilla once created a group of quasi-mechanical immortals to serve as her backing band. The doc has since has an “accident” with an airlock, but her creations, the Mechanisms, are still driven to perform. So, in their living starship Aurora, they travel the universe, looking for fun if possible, violence when necessary, and hopefully both at once; and performing the stories of what they’ve seen over their long lives.

These stories don’t tend to end happily.

OR, the Mechanisms were a musical cabaret act who performed scifi-genre-mashups which combined spoken-word storytelling and music in queer retellings of myths and fairy tales, in character as a band of morally questionable space pirates. And it’s great.

Crew members included:

Jonny D’Ville, captain first mate and storyteller, former murderous gunslinger with a cold mechanical heart

Ashes O’Reilly, quartermaster and firestarter from the mobster planet Mallone with a pair of mechanical lungs

Drumbot Brian, pilot, launched into space by an uncomprehending world, entirely mechanical except his heart (which now comes with “ends justify means” and “means justify ends” settings)

Gunpowder Tim, master-at-arms, who destroyed the Earth’s moon in the war against the Moon Kaiser three hundred years in the future ago and was given new eyes by the crew

Nastya Rasputina, engineer and last surviving princess (after the Revolution) of the Cyberian empire, dating the ship

Ivy Alexandria, archivist and navigator, with a mechanical brain that remembers everything except her own former life,

Baron Marius von Raum, doctor, not a baron, not a doctor

Raphaella la Cognizi, science officer, has wings, plays piano

The Toy Soldier. Exactly what it says on the tin.

The octokittens.

There may have also been a ninja at some point? I’m honestly not sure?

In late 2019, the Mechs announced that the band would be calling it quits, and they played their final two shows in January of 2020, resulting in the bittersweet and ignoble deaths of the once-immortal crew of the starship Aurora.

Music: aka, Where Can I Listen?

There are 4 main Mechanisms albums, 2 Tales To Be Told collections, and one single. You can buy the whole discography for £5+ pay-what-you-want on their Bandcamp here, which I thoroughly recommend. You can also listen to them on Spotify and on their official Youtube channel!

Tales to be Told and Tales to be Told Vol. II include the backstory songs of many of the crewmembers, as well as some of their other standalone adventures and tales, and a couple of songs tied to the other albums.

Once Upon a Time in Outer Space is Grimmsian fairy tales and nursery rhymes reinterpreted as a sci-fi tragedy about the rebellion against cruel tyrant Old King Cole, lead by Cole’s former general Snow White. Snow’s sister, the warrior Rose, was kidnapped by Cole to be cloned into his unstoppable army, and both Snow and Rose’s bride-to-be Cinders are desperate to free her and overthrow Cole. And then the Mechanisms show up... I often use Our Boy Jack as a song to introduce people to the band.

Ulysses Dies at Dawn is a cyberpunk noir retelling of the Odyssey and assorted Greek myth. In a city that covers a world, where the minds of the dead are imprisoned by the ruling Olympians to run the vast Acheron computer network, bitter war veteran Ulysses is the only one who may have found a way to escape. So, a quartet of menacing Suits have been sent to get the secret out of them -- and out of their strange underground vault -- by any means necessary.

High Noon Over Camelot, an Arthurian space western featuring trans Mordred, polyamorous and morally questionable gunslingers Arthur/Lancelot/Guinevere, Drumbot Brian as a decaying metal Merlin, slightly mad preacher-man Galahad, many good intentions, and few good results; all trapped within an abandoned space station in failing orbit around a star, all hoping to find the mysterious GRAIL in time.

The Bifrost Incident is their cosmic-horror locked-room-mystery take on Norse myth. After leaving for its three-day maiden voyage with all the high and mighty of Asgard onboard and then vanishing for 80 years, Old Lady Odin’s Ratatosk Express has finally arrived, and it’s up to Inspector Lyfrassir Edda to pick apart the black box recordings and discover what really happened. (Notably includes space revolutionary wives Loki and Sigyn, as well as a track where Jonny makes an invocation to Yog-Sothoth sound good somehow.)

and Frankenstein, a single telling the story of Victoria Frankenstein and the AI she built, and how it goes wrong.

In addition, the livestream of their final concert, Death to the Mechanisms, is viewable on their YouTube channel. Said concert also features the amazing Reesha Dyer, whose music can be found here. (As of Feb. 6, 2020, the available version of the livestream cuts out much of the second half of the show; apparently there are alternate versions coming soon.)

More Content Please?

The band’s official site contains profiles of crew members, lyrics for many of their songs, original fiction set in the Mechanisms universe, and other assorted goodies.

If you never had the chance to see them live, the TV Tropes page actually explains a lot of their live show content, as well as more about the crew and the stories.

And if that’s not enough, here’s a YT playlist of many live videos of their shows, including full performances! There’s a lot that doesn’t go on the albums (although I recommend listening to the proper recordings first). Well worth watching to see their antics in-character. (There is not, as far as I know, any full video of High Noon Over Camelot; there is a video of The Bifrost Incident, but as of writing this I don’t have a good link to it.)

& of course there’s the band’s official Twitter and Tumblr, the latter of which in particular contains many delicious and exclusive tidbits.

Related Media & Other Projects By The Crew

Having apparently survived her airlock accident, Dr. Carmilla also has her own music (and describes her musical style as “Retrospective Futuristic Visual Kei”).

The Toy Soldier (Jessica Law) has her own Bandcamp and a mailing list here!

Raphaella (R. L. Hughes) has her own Bandcamp.

Drumbot Brian releases music as Ben Below and Phonovoltaic.

Gunpowder Tim and Brian make music with the company Softwire.

Marius has his own Bandcamp.

Raphaella and the Drumbot have released some music about sad robots under the name Overclockwork.

Jonny D’Ville (Jonny Sims) co-runs a TTRPG company, MacGuffin & Co, whose settings and scenarios I can personally highly recommend. He also writes some kind of podcast.

#my posts #radio free ilium #bobbie recommends things

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airadam · 3 years

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Episode 144 : Multiples Of Twelve

"It ain't f-ing sensible."

- Strategy

I ended up completely changing the selection this month when, taking the lead from a few tracks I was considering, I decided to go with an all-downtempo selection - a continuous unbroken mix once the first lyric hits. That said, there's a serious mix of genres so you get a bunch of variety inside the hour-long show! Get yourself plugged in...

RIP to the legendary Chi Modu - the man responsible for some of the most iconic images in the culture.

Twitter : @airadam13

Twitch : @airadam13

Playlist/Notes

Duett : Video

An extremely short track to open things, just for the flavour! Duett, is a UK synthwave artist (only one person, despite the name) who has released some amazing records channeling that electronic 80s vibe. This one is drawn from the "O U T L I N E S" mini-album from last year - all tracks that were done in a day each - and is a bite-size motif that you could imagine as the sonic logo for a film company or TV station from the VHS era.

Meyhem Lauren ft. Hologram & Big Body Bes : Lexus In The Lobby

I was originally saving this for a future mix, but even though it would have fit perfectly thematically, it's so much slower than pretty much everything else that it may not have ultimately made the cut. This is an absolute gem from the original "Glass" EP, with Harry Fraud on production building an absolute vibe with a quality sample that may be familiar to German listeners and some heavy 808 action. Meyhem Lauren is of course the best MC on the cut but Hologram on the first verse definitely kicks a memorable opening quatrain!

Mikhail Chekalin : As If It Was Not From Here

Going super left-field early for this instrumental bed! Chekalin was a radically-innovative composer from Russia who was not embraced by the Soviet government - they felt his work was too "Western" and while his music was heard by some plugged-in people in the outside world, he wasn't able to tour internationally or release his music outside the USSR. Thankfully for music lovers, times have changed and the "ГАР001: Михаил Чекалин «Экзальтированная Колыбельная 1979 – 1987»" collection (don't even think about asking me to pronounce that) is now available on Bandcamp, and is a great collection of his electronic work - his own take on what could be done with the synths of the time. His sound is a worthy companion to the other greats who were also experimenting at the time, from Jan Hammer to Jean Michel Jarre.

TY ft. Rootz & Deborah Jordan : Eyes Open

It's been a year this month since TY passed and I was glad to find one of his tracks fitting into this pace perfectly, one from his excellent final LP "A Work Of Heart". He was always an excellent MC from the first to the last, and he does himself proud here, spitting thoughtful lyrics with a rapid sharp flow. OG Rootz (formerly Durrty Goodz) is a solid complement, and Deborah Jordan adds a vocal decoration that puts the whole self-produced track over the top. I do like the unexpected switch to French for the hook later in the song too, just *chef's kiss*.

Bumpy Knuckles : Step Up

If you're a real Hip-Hop geek, the highlight on this track might just be the brilliant cuts by DJ Rukas on the hook, not only sharp but incorporating a very clever manipulation of a line from the stone-cold classic "Top Billin'" by Audio Two. Bumpy Knuckles goes in with a quasi-double-time flow in typically rugged fashion over the production of BeatBanga, who gets his only Discogs credit in fine style. You can find this on the "Konexion" album, which is well worth having.

Flatbush Zombies : Laker Paper

It might not be the most conscious track in the world, but it does have the exact type of sonic energy to fit into this spot! Despite the production style (courtesy of Erick Arc Elliott) and the track title, the clue is in the name - this is a trio from Brooklyn who released this cut on their debut mixtape "D.R.U.G.S". They don't try to dazzle with a quick flow on this beat, they stick to their style and settle into it at its native speed.

Samantha James : Come Through

Even for those who might not be into a record like this most of the time, I thought that bassline and the underlying lazy drum break might draw you in! This track was one of the highlights of the 2007 "Rise" LP from LA-based Samantha James. If you like a varied electronic music album, it's one you should check out - a little house, a little broken beat, some singer-songwriter vibes, a showcase for a singer comfortable with working with different production types.

Jake One : Evelen Gravest

We bridge the first and second mixes with a beat from the man Jake One, taken from his free gospel-themed "#PrayerHandsEmoji" beat tape. It'd be worth a purchase, but for zero dinero it's a must-have!

Kano : Ps & Qs

Coming out of East Ham, London, this is one of the early breakthrough grime tracks from a pioneer of the scene. This 2004 debut 12" release was a bit hit on the underground and helped Kano build momentum into the release of his "Home Sweet Home" album. DaVinche's big bombastic beat is an iconic one - a perfect underscoring for Kano, and can still mash up a dance even today.

DJ Quik ft. Hi-C and James DeBarge : Ev'ryday

One of my favourite cuts from Quik's 2002 "Under Tha Influence" LP (which, being a relentless perfectionist, he probably hated the minute he finished it). At the time there really wasn't much, if anything, out that sounded like this, and it was interesting to hear a musician and engineer of his skill level bring that to that double-time style. That stuttering bass and the skipping drum pattern work together brilliantly, and James DeBarge coming through with that hook might just be the vocal highlight.

Strategy : LengBreak

Time flies, and it's already been ten years since the release of the "Pre-Season Training" mixtape from Salford's Strategy, who continued to build his skills in fine style. "Bleep Test" and "Kill 'Em" were the standout tracks for me, and this one kind of passed me - maybe it was my personal taste in beats, maybe it was that I just didn't smoke! I gave it another listen this month and very much deserves a proper airing. One question for those of you who partake - all these years later, how do those prices sound? 🙂

Tobe Nwigwe ft. Royce Da 5'9" and Black Thought : Father Figure

Easily one of the best and most unique MCs to emerge in years, you'll have heard Tobe on this podcast a few times before and his collective have continued to impress and to elevate their profile. This killer is from last year's "Cincoriginals" album, and it's a meeting of heavyweight MCs. The fact that Tobe holds his own against both Royce and Thought, who is widely regarded as the MC's MC, while maintaining his own style, shows that he deserves all the praise he's been getting and more. Nell on production, as always, with the heavy low end for your system.

9th Wonder : Black Album Rejects, Track 15

One more of the instrumentals that 9th Wonder brought to Jay-Z for "The Black Album" that was ditched in favour of the brand-new "Threats" beat that launched him into the consciousness of many. The "rejects" were still dope as anything though.

Children of Zeus : No Love Song

Brand new Zeus! If you know what's good for you you'll be going to place a pre-order for the upcoming "Balance" album, but we've got this as an appetiser for now. Beat Butcha provides the laid-back soulful groove on which Tyler and Konny emphatically don't give you the love song that most other artists would given the same production. If you've been following this podcast, you would have first heard CoZ in the SoundCloud days, and it's been amazing to see this Manchester crew continue to produce great music - and the rest of the world catch up!

Corinne Bailey Rae : Walk On

Representing the city of Leeds lovely, Corinne Bailey Rae is a fine musician who brings the quality every time out. Her third LP, "The Heart Speaks In Whispers", was a worthy follow up to "The Sea", and saw her pairing with Steve Brown on production. This starts with a jazz club reserve and builds from there as she offers inspiration to keep on pushing through difficult circumstances - a message certainly relevant to the current time.

Rae & Christian ft. Lisa Shaw : Should Have Known

I'd somehow forgetten I even had this one! Lisa Shaw is best known for her deep house career, but her sublime voice is a versatile one and she's also on some soulful/downtempo stuff like this Manchester production from the Grand Central Records founding duo. The "Central Heating 2" compilation might be worth owning for this alone.

Zero 7 : Spinning

We finish a coincidentally all-UK segment with a track that didn't make the cut for the original UK release of the "Simple Things" album (twenty years ago!), but I believe was on the US version (plus the recent special edition release) as well as on the B-side of the "I Have Seen" 12". Sophie Barker takes the vocal reins, and it's a beautiful song.

L'indécis x sad toï : Dog Days

For the final instrumental break, we go to the Chillhop label, which specialises in releasing this kind of material - in this case, on the "Chillhop Essentials - Fall 2018" compilation. This track is an all-French connection, with sad toï (sic) alongside Grenoble's L'indécis for a relaxed and partly-acoustic beat that suits a lazy summer day just as much as the autumn.

Scritti Politti : Brushed With Oil, Dusted With Powder

"The day began to decline" - I think many of us can relate to that feeling! One more UK track to close the episode, and this is the one that I think will divide listeners the most. Personally, I love this. It's one of those tunes where no-one seems to agree on the exact meaning of the lyrics, but when Green sings "...some keys they found there"...well, that could be read multiple ways! This was a great close to the "Anomie & Bonhomie" album, with a long instrumental outro to cool us all the way out at the very end of the episode.

Please remember to support the artists you like! The purpose of putting the podcast out and providing the full tracklist is to try and give some light, so do use the songs on each episode as a starting point to search out more material. If you have Spotify in your country it's a great way to explore, but otherwise there's always Youtube and the like. Seeing your favourite artists live is the best way to put money in their pockets, and buy the vinyl/CDs/downloads of the stuff you like the most!

Check out this episode!

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sinceileftyoublog · 4 years

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Landlady Interview: Landlady’s Fourth, Best Album

Photo by Adam Schatz

BY JORDAN MAINZER

Adam Schatz loves music. It seems like a basic statement to make about a musician, especially one who has led his most successful band for 10 years and played on a wide variety of records for much longer. But on Landlady’s upcoming self-titled, self-released record, out next Friday, their fourth and first in four years, Schatz pays tribute to all the songs and albums and bands he’s loved over the years, in the car and on the radio, as a consumer and appreciator of art, even if they didn’t directly inspire his music. Better yet, he doesn’t directly refer to any titles specifically in his lyrics or instrumentation, save for an offhand mention of a beloved Beach Boys song. Instead, Landlady is a testament to being in a band, anchored by the skill of Schatz and the three other prolific players in the band, drummer Ian Chang (Son Lux), guitarist Will Graefe (Okkervil River), and bassist Ryan Dugre (Eleanor Friedberger). For four people who live their lives surrounded by other musicians, even in non-music contexts, the creativity clearly wears off.

The basis for Landlady was when the current incarnation of the band, the first time they were a four-piece, were touring in Europe in 2019, and Schatz found a period of five days where they could hammer out songs by day and, in the true spirit of Landlady, listen to records at night. Fast-forward to a week long recording session in upstate New York, and Schatz had what he needed to finish off the record, every decision made with the intent of capturing a live band. The harmony is remarkable; voice, piano, and guitar fill the contours of “The Meteor”. Schatz’s warbling singing emulates the nervous tremolo guitars of “Take The Hint”. The instrumental falls out in the perfect moment in the chorus of pop ditty “Rule of Thumb”. And vibraphone-laden closer “Bulldozer” eventually morphs into a time-signature-complex fast-paced boogie. If there was a lot of post-production on Landlady, you wouldn’t know it. It exudes the type of second-nature looseness you’d expect from a live recording session from a band that oozes musical knowledge, both theoretical and popular.

The COVID-19 pandemic and absence of touring has given Schatz to really reflect on what it means to be a professional musician, and in conjunction with the release of Landlady, he’s been writing various informative, humorous and creative pieces in a variety of publications about his interactions with the biz. For one, his monthly income right now is in the form of his Patreon, where for a couple bucks he’s offered deeper insight into Landlady songs, including those so far released on the upcoming record. He’s also published a satirical Talkhouse piece on how to write your own artist bio and wrote a piece about learning to play a complex Randy Newman song on piano over the course of lockdown. (Newman approved.) Most notably, in an essay associated with the album, Schatz non-linearly recalls almost his entire life as a music fan and touring musician, reflecting on life on the road and the deaths of two dear friends, The Teenage Prayers’ Terrence Adams and Jessi Zazu of Those Darlins. (At one point in the essay, Landlady, driving straight from Seattle to San Francisco in the rain, spun out on the road perfectly synced with the climax of Harvey Danger’s “Flagpole Sitta”; death almost became them.) And Schatz is also donating 5 dollars of every digital sale of Landlady to The Okra Project, an organization “that seeks to address the global crisis faced by Black Trans people.” In essence, Schatz treats his relationship with his fans, the music listening public, his band, and the world at large as a symbiotic one, thriving on a collaboration of not just financial morality but mutual empathy.

I spoke with Schatz over the phone from his new home in East Dover, Vermont last month about Landlady, the associated essay, playing on others’ records, and The Okra Project. Read our conversation below, edited for length and clarity.

Since I Left You: What do you think is unique about this record as compared to anything else you’ve released in the past?

Adam Schatz: It’s hard to say. Each one feels better to me when we’re done with it. Each feels tighter than the last one. This one was a four-piece for the first time. We used to have two drummers, but one of them moved to the West Coast, and with the economy of touring, it was worth seeing how it felt [with four members when touring the last album]. It ended up being the version of the band that’s toured most consistently. So this is a document of a band getting to that place where we can read each other’s minds. A lot of the arrangements came together in the studio as opposed to in rehearsals beforehand. The older you get, the more you lose that luxury of everyone being around.

SILY: Was there anything new or specific that informed the lyric-writing process?

AS: You know...everything. Everything’s new. Everything’s specific. How’s that for a non-specific answer? [laughs]

I take pretty long breaks between doing this stuff. I’m sort of always recording little voice memos and nuggets of things that will eventually become songs. It always feels like a couple of years between concentrated songwriting sessions. On a personal level, it feels like, “Okay, you’ve got to get your shit together because you’re bringing this stuff to other people.” It’s funny, because I’m sort of gearing up for that again now. This took longer to come out than I wanted it to, and what else am I gonna do right now than get ready to make the next one if I can? There’s always a separate lyrical dump of a million thoughts and ideas I write down whenever I think of them, but 99% of those things never make them beyond that folder. It’s circumstance: what you think through, what you’re listening to at the time, what you allow yourself to be able to say, perspectives you feel comfortable portraying. It’s never conscious. All this stuff, I’m only able to think about when I go back and reexamine my work, which luckily isn’t a drag for me. I like the things I make, so it’s fun. I don’t love the sound of my voice, and I think most people don’t, but it’s an interesting thing. For my Patreon, I’ve been doing an in-depth song breakdown every month, and I’ve been doing it for songs on this record. It’s been lined up with every single that’s come out. I’ll put out the single and then do a couple pages of writing. I’ll sort of just bop around between the circumstances of writing, recording, and producing the songs, and then I’ve started including little stems from the record sessions, like isolated tracks and things you don’t necessarily hear when it’s all piled on to each other.

SILY: There seem to be a lot of lyrics about fire and heat. Is that something you noticed or intended?

AS: No, I didn’t. There’s "The Meteor”’s lyrics, but that song is about a meteor--sort of--as far as I know. That’s all real. That thing’s burning up. It’s an element. I’m watching snow melt right now. I don’t have the answer you’re looking for. I wish I did--that would have been great.

SILY: Why did you choose to release “Supernova” as the first single? And can you tell me about the video?

AS: I’m pretty bad at knowing which songs to put out. If more than one person tells me one is a good idea, I usually just go with it. It was also definitely the first song we got together for the record. It’s the oldest one on the album and has been kicking around for a while. It feels the most anchored where we’d even played it live. Most of this record, we haven’t yet. All other albums, we road-tested the material before tracking it. Probably a few people on my side of things suggested it would be a good one to put out there first. Usually, when I think about what to release as a single, I think about what’s gonna be good in the streaming world and all that crap. I sort of always have to check myself and see which songs have choruses, because it’s usually half or less than half depending on how well-behaved I am. I try to make a point to have everything I write be hooky in one way or another. It’s what I drift towards, so I’m never worried about that. But a chorus is a time-tested way to get someone to recognize a song. “Supernova” checked all those boxes: not too fast, not too slow, showcases the production range on the record. It felt like the best candidate.

SILY: On “Supernova”, you sing, “Why did my friend have to die?” Are you talking about either of the friends you write about in the essay?

AS: I am talking about either of the friends on the essay.

SILY: Did the thought process for releasing “Supernova” also apply to singling out “The Meteor”, “AM Radio”, and “Sunshine”?

AS: You’re trying to get people excited about what’s coming next. On the record, there are some songs that are quiet, some that are short, which I loved putting in there as connective tissue as things that work on their own but don’t make sense as singles, and others are a little long for being singles. It also changes every time we put out a record, what’s customary. Around the time of our first record, it was only 1 or 2 songs and then drop the record. People now put out, like, 5. It doesn’t matter. I try to not lament too hard about the state of things, because you can only help what you can help, and whatever’s happening with streaming, those are facts, and I can say what’s right or wrong about it, and I will, but I’m going to try to build a microeconomy of people who are going to give a shit about the record and buy it and remember that we’re human beings and this is a human exchange. At this point, for this record, it’s like, “Let’s put out a bunch of things,” and it’s nice to have a new song out for Bandcamp Fridays.

SILY: "Sunshine” is a slow-burning change of pace.

AS: It’s sort of the opposite [of the others]. That one, we’ve played live a bunch and I’ve been doing in my solo shows a lot. A lot of Landlady songs don’t feel right doing solo because the band arrangement is too important or they’re not conducive to what I love about playing solo, which is being able to improvise and change things pretty dramatically. “Sunshine” is such a good one for both. It’s the same chords over and over and over again. It’s either one verse or four verses, depending on what you call it, and they happen twice. It’s open-ended. We drew a contour of what we wanted to do in the studio. When we perform that song, the choices people make are different. It feels like a step in a new direction to us and for me as a songwriter. It’s near and dear to me and felt like a good one to put out there.

SILY: Is there an overall mood you’d describe the record as having?

AS: Is there one that you would?

SILY: Uneasy.

AS: Sure. That’s okay, I guess.

SILY: It’s definitely a good thing. Like on “Take The Hint”, any time there’s a tremolo guitar effect, and the relationship between the music, lyrics, and arrangement in general.

AS: It’s why we’re not on many playlists and played in many coffee shops. None of it’s really conscious other than me wanting to not be bored and make music I want to listen to and sound exciting. A byproduct of that is our records are active listening. When our fans find it and listen to it, it’s a great avenue for discovery. It’s not music to drink coffee to, though you can once you know the record. I was at a coffee shop one time with some friends and they were playing a Dirty Projectors record, and I was like, “This is the most distracting fucking thing.” That music is not built to be cruising above your head. It’s hit you in the face.��

I try to approach the production and arrangements with a bit more patience than we normally do, roping in our frenetic energy. I’m never worried about taming us. It’s never gonna go too far; if we try to be focused, solid, and patient whenever it feels right, it makes the crazier moments mean more, I think. A lot of really nice moments of that on the record.

SILY: This album’s very much inspired by all the formative music in your life you’ve listened to in cars, and on “Molly Pitcher”, you mention “God Only Knows” a couple times, which a lot of folks consider one of the greatest songs ever written. What’s your relationship to that song or Pet Sounds or The Beach Boys in general?

AS: Pretty late in life discovery of that stuff. Sort of a certain category of band where you hear one version of them, and the right person tells you, “No, they’re actually cool,” and you listen again and it reshapes everything you know. It happens with The Beach Boys. It happens with The Beatles for sure. It happens with The Kinks. I don’t think it happens with The Rolling Stones. I can appreciate them more and more also when I listen to them, but I’m never surprised by it. I always think it’s so weird they’re compared to The Beatles as a face-off situation. They’re such different beasts.

“God Only Knows”, I think in that song I picked because it was a good lyric for our song. [laughs] But the sentiment is nailed there. I want to paint this picture of us listening to a song loud in the car. That’s gonna do that, but it’s helpful from me from a wordplay perspective to pick a song with a title that could also mean something else.

I think “Molly Pitcher” had been written before we started doing this in the van to kill time but also find something pseudo engaging on social media without being totally soul sucking. Around 2017, we were doing these harmonies in the car, and one of the last ones at the end of the first tour we were pulling back into Brooklyn, under the BQE, which is always a really bad reentry when you live in New York. You’ve been on the road where things are hard but almost every other city is easier to reenter. You always hit traffic on the bridge, and you get off and there’s some horrible sound from a truck on the highway. It was dark at night, and we were singing that harmony, and it was a special moment. It makes the whole thing kind of double meta, where it’s a testament to my penchant for trying to hit on universal ideas in a way that doesn’t feel vague or general but, “This means something to me, I bet it means something to you too.” Then it can loop back around on my own life again and again. Driving in cars with friends growing up, and that’s still happening, and that’s kind of what the essay’s about, too.

SILY: There are some lines on “Nowhere to Hide” that make me think you’re talking about touring, where you sing about how your food’s gone bad and “give me a home here and there.” Were you feeling that: “Where do I live?”

AS: No, I forget. Some of that song’s about my grandfather who lived in Maine. Some of it’s about other stuff that I don’t know anymore. So, to that degree, sure, you could be right. That song isn’t really about tour. None of them are, really. “Molly Pitcher” is named after the Molly Pitcher Service Area in New Jersey, and “Bulldozer” sort of is about touring.

SILY: Do you think of some of the shorter instrumental tracks on here like “Western Divide” as interludes, or do they stand alone as full songs?

AS: I think they’re full songs that stand alone. That was sort of a fun challenge in putting them together. I knew I liked the idea of shorter songs living between longer songs, and in some ways, they function the way an interlude would function, but I wanted to have more meat on those bones. There were two more songs that up until pretty late in the process I was planning on finding a way to put in as that type of song. One of them we started playing live, and the loud band version is so good. But I was working too hard to make it fit where it wasn’t the best life it could live. It should just be on the next record as a better recorded version. The other one wasn’t feeling good enough on its own. It was feeling interludey. I had to tell myself, “You haven’t finished writing this song yet. There’s probably more coming after this ends. You’re psyched on the idea of doing cool, weird interludes, but it’s not good on its own.” So we cut it. “Western Divide” and “Take the Hint” are the ones that are really short. “Lights Out” is the in-between. It doesn’t really have traditional song form, but it’s longer. I love how that turns out, too. Short songs are something I tried on the first Landlady record, and it’s something I always loved about the Pixies, and the songs I had been writing since I was a kid were always too long.

SILY: How did you approach the order of the tracks in general on this album?

AS: I don’t know. The last two records we did with Hometapes, who are not a label anymore but dear friends, they sequenced. They put an order together, sent it to me, and I maybe had one question, but not much. It was cool to work with people whose input you might follow blindly. With this one, suddenly, it was me in charge of all of it, so I fooled around until I found an order that felt good. Some songs went where they had to go, like “The Meteor” had to go first. Ryan [Dugre], our bass player, even said that. Hearing our drum groove, it had to be the opener.

SILY: Was your decision to self-release this because Hometapes is no longer a label?

AS: By the time the last record came out, they knew it was gonna be the last record they put out, so we called it a co-release between Hometapes and Landladyland. This one we did a fair amount of trying to get someone else to want to put it out. When after a certain point it didn’t happen, I just wanted to put it out. I didn’t know the date until the election happened. After that, I was like, “I think I feel comfortable putting music out.”

SILY: Would have been a bleak alternative.

AS: It’s all bleak, but it’s a strange question. You ask yourself, “When’s a good time to put something out?” And your body’s telling you, “Never! It’s a good time to run a lumber mill and volunteer and learn things about yourself.” But building a microeconomy around what you’re doing and testing out the Bandcamp vinyl thing which was such a success but felt risky. You never know how many people actually care and how to make the thing work. I’m still very much in debt after this record, but we’ll see what happens!

SILY: Why did you decide to self-title this record?

AS: I didn’t have a better idea. I tried. Usually, I do it after a song name, and none of them felt right, and the ones that would have been right, I checked and they were other albums by other people with those titles. I thought “Tooth and Nail” would have been a good album title, but if there’s too many with the same name, it feels silly. For a while, I wanted to call it “Landlady’s Fourth Best Album.” I like it. It worked well for the album art. Everything fit the idea of what came after in a very spontaneous and accidental way. It was the benefit of deciding to do it myself last year and letting things take the time they took. I hired Case Jernigan to do the “Supernova” video last March or April, and he turned it in and we saw what it was and the band artwork at the end of it, which felt like a pretty ridiculous and compelling album cover. Also the band identity, making it clear this was a band record and performance. It was 6 days capturing this in the studio, and I spent many months toying with it on my own, but every choice I make is in service of communicating the energy of people in a room playing together.

SILY: So you don’t think this is your fourth best album? You actually think it’s your best?

AS: Yes, you misheard me. It’s “Landlady’s Fourth, comma, Best Album.”

SILY: In between this and your last Landlady record, you played on a lot of records, like Adia Victoria’s two records and last year’s This Is The Kit record. Did participating in those and others shape making this record?

AS: In the same way that everything shapes everything, where I’m a product of my experiences and am trying to always improve and get better and love working with people and producing. There are so many versions of that for me. It all ends up. I can’t point to any one thing and say, “This led to this.” I play on the Adia record, I’m up there for two hours, play a bunch of stuff, and it ends up on the record or it doesn’t. But there’s plenty of history with me and Adia who have played together and toured together and made music together. It’s funny, the documented recording is a small percentage a lot of the time of your relationship with someone and how everything connects.

This Is The Kit had done a U.S. tour in 2018 and were in New York and needed a sax player for a show, so I got called because we had some mutual friends, and we hit it off right away. A year later, they were doing another U.S. tour, and I offered to open solo and play in the band. It’s not something I ask to do that often, because it’s an incredible hassle to play in someone else’s band. There are plenty of fun moments, but you’re on tour. But they’re really incredible people, and Kate [Stables] and I became really close really fast. So it felt great to work on the new stuff with them. The drag was that we were scheduled to do it all in person last April, but then I had to record by myself. They tracked the band and I laid down a bunch of ideas for every song. The producer, Josh Kaufman, I know really well, and I knew to play ideas I thought they would enjoy and to bring my energy into their universe, which is what I think about when someone brings me in or I bully my way into a project. I think I have something to offer, with the sounds I have access to and the perspective I bring to the music that’s my own. That’s a joy for me to put into other people’s world. Landlady is my world with my people, and we don’t have to tiptoe. It’s the ultimate freedom to go for whatever we want to go for, and we see what comes out.

SILY: Why are you donating money to The Okra Project for this record?

AS: We need to find a better way for this thing to make sense. This thing meaning being a person on earth and finding what other people have done wrong. I want it to be built into the economy of the project. The price is gonna go up. It’s 20 dollars for digital, which is traditionally high, but I’m gonna donate 5 of those dollars every time to The Okra Project, and that’s an ongoing thing. It’s an organization I believe in, working with trans people of color. It’s such a bare minimum, but if it’s something everybody can work into their work, it’s a better support network.

SILY: Are you doing any live streams or socially distant shows?

AS: No. It’s such a hassle to think about. The simplest answer is we can’t afford it. You think about anyone you’ve seen that looks good, and you’re basically making a live record that exists only once. The people who did that, and I did one with Sylvan Esso last year that was totally wonderful, and the fans got it, and they had the means to produce it, but I don’t have the means to produce it on my end. If I’m getting together with my band somehow, I’d rather just be eating snacks because it’s been so long. The idea that the next time we see each other we have to dive into production mode for something that’s not going to be as good. I’d rather ask people to have patience, and when they can see us live, they’ll see us live.

SILY: Are you working on anything else at the moment?

AS: I’m slowly kicking around new songs. I’ve been going slow on those but want to step back on that gas pedal to see what comes out. I’m working on my third sample pack for Splice of loops and sound design. The first one was loops and synthy stuff, the second, bass clarinet, this one, lap steel guitar. It’s been nice to have something to work on steadily. It’s good. It’s jobby. I’m working on a Landladyland podcast, and another comedy fictional podcast.

SILY: Anything notable you’ve been listening to, watching, or reading lately?

AS: Since moving, I haven’t had internet, so I haven’t been streaming at all. I’d been away from my record collection for the past year, so it’s been amazing to listen to my records again. That’s been the best. Yesterday, I was listening to this Keith Jarrett live record that blew my mind. I hadn’t heard it quite that way before. There’s also a radio station in Northampton that our radio picks up, and they have this show called Funky Fridays that has been consistently awesome. One night was all James Brown features. The other was all New Orleans, like deep Meters and Allen Toussaint, which forced me to grab all those records from my collection and listen to those. I’m trying to read The Brothers Karamazov and a Marx Brothers biography at the same time. We’ve been watching The Larry Sanders Show. I have them all on DVD. The finale’s tonight, I think. It’s gonna be very sad.

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jezfletcher · 4 years

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1000 Albums, 2020: Top Tracks #25-1

Following on from Part 1 of my Top 50 tracks, here are the very top tracks I loved this year. It's been a terrible year, of course, but there has been some truly excellent music released. Read on. />

25. rook&nomie - soft atrocity (hyperpop)

me&you by rook&nomie

Once I fell in love with the music of Ada Rook earlier in the year, I sought out her other work—and being the prolific artist she is, there were several more releases that fell within the ambit of the 2020 music project. This is a beautiful bit of off-kilter pop, complete with synthpop bubblegum riffs and a combination of softly, sweetly sung lyrics and harsh screams. It’s a killer combination.

24. Will Joseph Cook - Something To Feel Good About (indie pop)

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Will Joseph Cook has a kind of effortless charm in writing enjoyable pop tracks, and this is the top effort from his (very late) 2020 effort. This is a pleasantly two-gear track, with almost a soft adult-contemporary verse, that somehow ratchets up the energy in the chorus to make you want to groove. It’s a catchy, very agreeable track.

23. Courteeners - Better Man (britpop)

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A beautiful piece of oldskool rock n roll, imbued with the melancholy of 90s and 00s indie rock. It makes it feel undeniably modern, despite the fact that all of its influences are at least 20 years old. Courteeners have provided some excellent music this year, but this track is the best. “I’m trying to be a better man/Whatever that is”. Aren’t we all?

22. MOBS - School’s Out (80s pastiche pop)

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A really fun bit of pop from Australian outfit MOBS, who are really leaning into the 80s-ness of modern synthpop. This has exactly the synth set you might expect from a 1988 boy band, delivered with a danceable energy that almost makes you visualise the terrible, terrible video clip that would accompany it. But it’s unashamed about what it is—and the energy it brings as a result is great. My only concern with this song (the better of the two MOBS songs on my wider list here) is that unlike Big World, it doesn’t have a horn section. And really, that’s a criminal oversight.

21. Luis Pestana - Sangra (experimental electronica)

Rosa Pano by Luis Pestana

A great, evocative and unnerving piece of music, working through highly edited plainchant, fuzzy noise and a repeated motif of chiming bells. This whole album from Luis Pestana was an outstanding collection of music, but this is the piece of music which first made me realise how momentous it was.

20. Hugo Kant - High Gravity (downtempo nu-jazz)

Far From Home by Hugo Kant

Hugo Kant is an artist that really came from nowhere for me this year (well, not nowhere: I found it on Bandcamp’s weekly “releases you might like” list), but his brim-filled November album was a clear stand-out, and took out my #4 Album of the Year. This is the top song from it, a plunderphonic downtempo soundscape that matches a complex syncopated rhythm to a menacing bassline with jazz flute twiddles over the top. Who doesn’t like that?

19. The Flaming Lips - Mother I’ve Taken LSD (psychedelic rock)

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The Flaming Lips’ 2020 album was the best of their music I think I’ve ever heard. This song nicely captures what was so good about it. It has an almost orchestral trajectory to it, evoking a sense of longing and disassociation perfectly for its psychedelic roots. But the overall effect is not mind-opening, but melancholy and introspective. It’s a great piece of music.

18. eleventyseven - Battlecats (synthpop punk)

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I really love this track, but it’s undeniably very stupid. As an exercise, it seems to be trying to cram in as many pop culture references as it can. The cynic in me would love to write it off in the way I wrote off Ready Player One, but there’s something undeniably playful and satirical about it. Couple this with a genuine punk energy—filtered through many layers of synths—and you get a song that’s genuinely a huge, huge amount of fun. It’s certainly enough for me to forget that eleventyseven used to be a purely Christian rock band. We all develop over time, don’t we?

17. Igorrr - Lost in Introspection (baroque breakcore)

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Igorrr is an absolutely ridiculous artist who in a perfect world would be shunned like a medieval circus freak. But somehow, his bizarre mix of baroque chamber music, thrashing breakcore beats and operatic vocal lines can absolutely take you on a musical journey. Never is this clearer in the jagged, unnerving Lost in Introspection, which pinballs between overdriven guitar, concert piano, tremolo-laden vocals, all with a constantly shifting meter. You can never predict where it’s going. Even as I’ve heard it about 20-30 times this year it still manages to surprise me.

16. Polly Scattergood - In This Moment (spoken word triphop)

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There’s something to this track which reminds me a lot of the great Kae Tempest. Scattergood doesn’t spit truth in the same way, but there’s definitely something poetic to her softly delivered spoken word lyrics, while an almost industrial triphop gives a dark synthwave atmosphere underneath. Even better is the way it builds across the track—it gets more urgent, darker, louder, more immediate. Excellent stuff and absolutely the standout from Scattergood’s album.

15. Dent May - Hotel Stationery (indie fuzzpop)

Late Checkout by Dent May

I don’t make up these genres by the way (a lie: I make up a huge number of these genres, but I didn’t make up “fuzzpop”). What is fuzzpop? I still don’t really know, but this is quite a folkish tune, downtempo and melodic, but incorporating some of the more atmospheric ideas of dreampop and folktronica. There’s something hauntingly beautiful about the melody here, coupled with some touchingly banal lines of lyrics (it opens “I’m writing you a note/On hotel stationery/Just to let you know/You’re extraordinary”, which requires some pleasingly acrobatic scansion). It’s definitely one of the melodies of this year’s music project which I get in my head a lot. That’s certainly the kind of thing which can propel a song quite high in this list.

14. Another Sky - Fell In Love With The City (indie prog rock)

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A hauntingly beautiful piece of rock, it’s atmospherically created with glissing guitar riff and lead singer Catrin Vincent’s ethereal vocals. She has a beautifully androgynous quality to her voice, jumping between upper tenor and soaring soprano, and it’s mesmerising instrument to put with this captivating piece of music. I love this piece of music and it absolutely elevated the whole album.

13. Lola Marsh - Like In The Movies (Israeli pop rock)

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Not the last Lola Marsh we’ll see in this list, which gives you an indication why this album ended up my #5 album of the year. This is a beautifully put together bit of soft, dreamy rock. Underneath everything it has this gently pulsating bass that grooves back and forward, end which eventually leads to a surprisingly exultant climax, perfectly matched with a swell of strings. It’s a great bit of music.

12. Ada Rook - Reverie (JH Ligation Experiment 1) (breakbeat electropop)

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There’s a shudder in this track everytime the overdriven bass thumps the first beat of each bar, it absolutely drives the music forward, but captures perfectly the anguish and anger of this song thematically. This is coupled with industrial synths, beautifully edited vocals which showcase both Rook’s vocal delicateness and her heartfelt screams (an absolute trademark of the artist). This was my favourite track from Rook’s 2,020 Knives, my #1 album of the year, and more than anything it encapsulates everything I loved about that extraordinary collection of music.

11. Trixie Mattel - Video Games (country folk cover)

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My favourite Drag Race alumna Trixie Mattel had a whole album of music this year, which included the excellent Malibu. But her top track was this surprise cover of Lana Del Rey, done with a wonderfully atmospheric outlaw country vibe. Trixie’s sweetly clear vocals reverberate beautifully over her ubiquitous autoharp, midnight dark whistling, and subtle tympanies drawing out a sense of dark drama from the song. As far as I’m concerned, this is now the canonical version of this song—it has more atmosphere and more emotion than the original.

10. KES - Na let go / (when ah) Jamdong / (with d) Boss Lady (soca)

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I’ve spent some amount of effort in the music project trying to find the particular brand of reggae that I like. It’s something that I feel should exist—upbeat, but still chilled, danceable with island rhythms. Dancehall gets a bit closer, but still isn’t quite in the sweet spot. It turns out, what I was looking for all this time was Trinidadian soca. This has calypso rhythms done with a punchy dancehall drive, and a Latin horn section to really exalt the mood. I realised when listening to KES’s album earlier in the year that this style of music is one of the reasons I so like Lin-Manuel Miranda’s In The Heights, musically often the superior of his shows (or at least certainly the more danceable and upbeat). This track is a medley of three tracks which blend really nicely into each other, and which give you a little journey that never loses its energy. It’s 7 minutes of pure fun.

9. Emerson Hart - Lucky One (heartland rock)

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If we’re talking anthemic songs, this has to just about take the prize for the year. This has the kind of song you just want to chant at the top of your lungs with your arm slung around the person next to you in the crowd. Of course, 2020 doesn’t allow for opportunities like that, but I’m glad that Emerson Hart is still providing songs for this purpose anyway. The rollicking 6/8 rhythms perfectly switch between a quietly building verse that smashes into an almost octave-higher swoop at the start of the chorus. The Americana-tinged instrumentation gives it an earthiness that grounds it as well. It’s a great bit of songwriting, and one that I’ll continue singing along to exuberantly. Even if that’s just alone in my room.

8. Uncanny Valley - Beautiful the World (AI dance pop)

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You’re forgiven if you’ve never heard of this band. This is in fact the Australian entry in this year’s Eurovision-style AI music competition. Melodically and lyrically, this was written by an AI, and this is absolutely and amusingly evident when you listen to it. But there’s something I absolutely love about this as a concept—how an AI parses and reinterprets music gives us fascinating insights into the patterns we find in music written by humans, and while there are moments of this song which are ridiculous, the input from the AI absolutely takes the music in places that it wouldn’t have gone. Of course, to call this a pure AI track is disingenuous, as it’s very much structured with human help, and part of the joy is the oddities nestling in what’s otherwise a very enjoyable bit of upbeat electropop. But so many of the elements just click for me—I certainly don’t think this is the last AI-augmented track that will end up on my end-of-year lists.

7. Villagers - Did You Know? (indie folk)

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Villagers are a band who I hold in very high esteem with regards to the music project. They were a band I came across very early in 2016, just as we’d started the very first music project, and they made me realise just what a valuable experience listening to so much music was going to be. Annoyingly, by our official guidelines for the project (which are that it runs from December to December), this is just outside the released dates, as the EP it came from was released in the last week of November 2019, which was the week after we’d stopped last year’s project. So by the rules, it’s ineligible, but by our own actions, there was literally not a year that it fit into. Anyway, I’m including it because it’s obviously a great song, haunting in melody with a pleasant acoustic backing track that still manages to evoke an eerie atmospheric quality. It’s Villagers back in form for sure, and this is an excellent song, well deserving of a high place in this list.

6. Chemtrails - Uncanny Valley (psychedelic garage pop)

The Peculiar Smell of the Inevitable [LP] by Chemtrails

A really fun track, which owes a lot of its schtick to finding more and more outlandish rhymes for “Uncanny Valley” (“we don’t dilly-dally”, "they don't get pally", “dark trash alley”). My favourite line though is “so I fell a few rungs on the social ladder/Things are bad, but they could be badder”, which is *chef’s kiss* to me. It’s beautifully rounded out with a competently driven surf/garage rock riff or two which provide a persistent bounce and almost a pop punk energy. It’s a catchy little tune that just has those little hooks—the humour, the riffs, the rhythmic push—that absolutely elevate it to song of the year status. It constantly puts a smile on my face no matter how many times I’ve heard it this year.

5. Andy Shauf - Try Again (indie pop)

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This is such a beautifully simple song. It has a storytelling element, as Shauf recounts a series of lightly amusing anecdotes in his relationship, all prefaced with “somewhere between drunkenness and chivalry/sincerity/honesty/etc…”. But there’s a beautiful light melody driving it forward, pleasantly augmented by a clarinet counterpoint, which also provides part of the iconic riff between chorus and verse (I still haven’t managed to tease out what else is part of that mix). It’s a simple, sweet bit of music which shows that tracks that capture something unique within a straightforward format can absolutely stand apart.

4. Lola Marsh - Echoes (Israeli pop rock)

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Here’s the second track from Lola Marsh in this list. These two tracks (this and Like At The Movies) were always high in my mind, and I thought they were likely to drag the album very close to being my Album of the Year. In the end, they stood out individually a bit more than they did in the album as a whole, but a top 5 finish for its top song provides a nice mirroring for the position of the album. This is melodically and harmonically great, and put together with a style that captures some Lana Del Rey style folk pop and a kind of dark country in the guitars. Best is the swirling harmonies of the chorus, which seem to develop modulations into deeper and darker minor tonalities before bursting out into an exultant burst of resolving suspended chords. It gives me shivers. There’s a different version of this track on the album performed as an outro without any percussion, and both versions work so well you can see why they included both.

3. Sea Girls - Do You Really Want To Know? (indie pop rock)

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Here’s possibly the best example of chunky, upbeat pop rock of the year. It follows the formula, sure, especially the split between verse and chorus. But there’s moments of truly exaltant fun—subtle steel drums in the chorus, bringing in an off-beat hihat for the chewy rich instrumental section after each chorus, the stomp-and-chant quality of the vocal line. I love it and it constantly provides a mood boost, no matter how many times I’ve heard it this year. It’s a perfectly constructed pop rock track as far as I’m concerned. I also got great joy earlier in the year watching the 4-year-old unabashedly dancing around the living room to this track. I’ll admit that that image promotes this somewhat in my mind.

2. Kishi Bashi - Never Ending Dream (indie pop)

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I am a tiny bit conflicted about this track. Because it’s a stunningly awesome bit of chamber pop—it’s a sound that Kishi Bashi has absolutely made his own over the past 5-10 years, and this is honestly probably the best track Kishi Bashi has ever made. That’s saying something for an artist who has made two albums in my top-of-the-year lists in the past 5 years. The conflict comes from the fact that this was written as the theme song for a children’s CG-animated TV show on Apple TV, called Stillwater, about three kids and their friendly neighbour who is an anthropomorphic panda. Obviously, it being a TV theme is not a disqualifier; I mean one of the greatest pieces of music ever written (“Theme to Ducktales”) was a kids’ TV theme. But part of me wants to believe that there’s a purity to the music that transcends the ties to the commercial. I’m probably being naive. And, I am willing to take this song on its own merits, because it has these in abundance. The chorus is exulaltant, filled with Bashi’s trademark pizzicati and delicate falsetto, and the moments of quiet are pierced by fierce percussive moments of syncopated rhythm. Let’s hope that Kishi Bashi is raking in the sweet, sweet TV theme dollars as a result. A song like this deserves it.

1. Dyble Longdon - Obedience (chamber folk)

Between A Breath And A Breath by Dyble Longdon

So we’ve had some instances in the past where I’ve been clearly wrong about a song, or an album, in the week that I’ve heard it. But this is perhaps the most egregious we’ve seen, because this took out neither Track of the Week, nor Runner Up in the week it came out. To some extent, this was because I’d already given Dyble Longdon an album award (I said at the time “I have a feeling that Obedience is actually the best song of the week”)—but it’s still unforgivable that what is now my Song of the Year couldn’t even win its week. This is a sullen song in some parts, with a melody that comes very much from the tradition of English folk music—it evokes thoughts of Scarborough Fair, perhaps—but multi-instrumentalist David Longdon brings an ecstatic crescendo to the music, with a full orchestral swell and complex almost tribal percussion in the second half of the track. It’s a blissful, absolutely thrilling moment when that full sound roars out. In a devastating stroke of cruelty, Julie Dyble, one half of the duo (and formerly of Fairport Convention), died not long before the album was released, meaning this is the one and only collaboration we’re going to have between the two. But let’s celebrate the moment that we get. There you have it. These Top 50 tracks are available as a sorted Spotify playlist if you're so incined. Later this week, when I post the longer list of tracks and albums, I'll post an even more comprehensive playlist of my favourite tracks, including tracks from all of my top albums, and at least my full 100 top tracks. Until then, enjoy your break. Now I have a magnum of Tripel Karmeliet with my name on it waiting for me.

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northcountryprimitive · 5 years

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North Country Primer #7: Raymond Morin, Pittsburgh. PA

Originally published at North Country Primitive in May 2015

The seventh installment in our North Country Primer series features Pittsburgh-based guitarist, Raymond Morin, who many of you may also know as the head honcho of the excellent fingerstyle blog, Work & Worry, a key inspiration for our own humble efforts. While Work & Worry has gone on the back burner for the time being, Raymond has been finding plenty more guitar-related activity to keep him busy - as well as repairing and building them as part of his day job, he is also organising regular gigs for like-minded musicians passing through Pittsburgh and, alongside David Leicht, playing as one half of acoustic duo Pairdown - more of which below.

Tell us a bit about yourself and the musical journey that took you to a place where you concluded that playing an acoustic guitar on your own was a good idea...

I grew up in an old mill town in northeast Connecticut, pretty removed from anything interesting. I initially started playing music just because it was something to do when the weather wasn’t conducive to skateboarding. My girlfriend at the time - now my wife - had a guitar sitting under her bed, and I asked her to show me some chords. Her dad jokes that because he originally taught her the chords that she passed on to me, he’s the one who basically taught me everything I know! I originally put down the pick back in my band days, when I played in a sort of chamber-pop group called The Higher Burning Fire. I guess my initial thought was that it would distinguish the sound of my playing if I picked with my fingers and came up with the most physically demanding chord shapes I could think of, stuff that I couldn’t imagine other guitarists going to the trouble to execute. As I developed as a “fingerstyle” player, I came to the logical conclusion that not only could I play somewhat orchestrally on my own, but there was a tradition of doing this thing on acoustic guitars, which had their own exotic appeal, and travelled a lot more easily than electrics plus amps. What has influenced your music and why? I loved alternative and college rock in high school, R.E.M., Morrissey and The Smiths, Jane’s Addiction etc, but I always had Simon & Garfunkel and Bob Dylan rattling around in my head, from when my parents used to listen to the oldies radio station on family trips. I got really into indie and post-rock for a few years after high school, stuff like Unwound, Fugazi, Tortoise, June of 44, Boys Life, etc. When I started playing acoustic guitar and fingerpicking more, I started digging deeper into the older stuff, in addition to writing my own songs, and naturally found my way to my longtime favorites: Bert, Davy, John Renbourn, Martin Carthy, that whole generation of players just never ceases to enthrall me. So in addition to the records that I was listening to, I was lucky enough to befriend a few players over the years that have continued to have a massive influence on the way I play and perceive music. The first is a great friend of mine named Matthew Goulet, who I met when I lived in Boston. I was a year or two into exploring British folk and blues music, and Matt had all of that stuff down cold, but was also an exceptional ragtime picker. As a guitarist, that was a big door to have someone open for you! Within a couple days of meeting Matt, I knew that I would never be happy until I learned to play like him, and I’ll be damned if I’m not still trying. The second biggest influence on the way that I think about guitar playing is probably Milo Jones, a criminally under-known guitarist from Boston and another good friend. I can’t begin to describe how deep Milo’s music goes, he’s a very accomplished player and singer who has a pretty unique vision, a harmonic sophistication that’s unrivaled in the “solo guitar dude” world. More rooted in jazz, I guess. His YouTube videos are great, and you can listen to a ton of his recorded music on his Bandcamp page. The biggest influence is my ongoing partnership with David Leicht. We play as a fingerstyle duo called Pairdown. When I first moved to Pittsburgh and met Dave, we were both plying our wares as solo singer/songwriter types, he was fingerpicking just a little bit… I think initially we both just liked each other's lyrics, and we just got on really well together. In the time I’ve known him, Dave has become a real master at composing for the acoustic guitar, and it’s a huge challenge for me coming up with parts that are worthy of being attached to his songs. He has also become a fantastic fingerpicker in his own right. He can play Ton Van Bergeyk’s Grizzly Bear for crying out loud. That ain’t easy. What have you been up to recently? Well, I have a young daughter who is at the top of the priority list these days. I manage and do repairs at a musical instrument shop called Acoustic Music Works here in Pittsburgh, so that’s the full-time gig. It’ll be three years ago this summer that I started learning to build acoustic guitars, so that takes up a lot of my time, just exploring that and honing that craft. I’m very fortunate to have access to a lot of insanely nice acoustics at my job, stuff like Collings and Bourgeois, some fancy luthier-built stuff and my share of old Martin and Gibsons, so I take a lot of notes. Since I started at AMW, I’ve also been presenting a lot of guitar-oriented concerts at the shop. When I was writing about guitar music for workandworry.com (still online, but kind of dormant these days, with everything else going on) I got to speak to a lot of these guys whenever they had a new record in the works, and now I’m able to give them a cool place to play when they’re on tour. Pittsburgh is not exactly known as a raging guitar soli town, you know? But we have a good time, and I’ve been able to get cash into everyone’s pockets, which I know wasn’t the case at a lot of the places that these guys and gals used to play when they passed through. If you’re reading this blog and are planning a tour that passes through Pittsburgh, feel free to hit me up about a gig at [email protected]. Other than that, we’re currently gearing up to record a new Pairdown LP, which is very exciting. Some of our best guitar-work so far, for sure, but also some of our coolest songs. We have a couple real epics on our hands, some real dynamic tunes that have lots of twists and turns… so we’ll probably record that starting this summer sometime, maybe early in the fall.

What are you listening to right now, old or new? Any recommendations you’d like to share with us? This would be a good time to score some cool points, but I’m afraid my music listening has no agenda, rhyme or reason behind it. Lately it’s lots of Mastodon, First Aid Kit, Sturgill Simpson, John Renbourn, Steve Gunn, Phil Ochs. I got to hear what I believe are the final mixes for the new James Elkington / Nathan Salsburg duet record, those guys are incredible. Their first one, Avos, is easily one of my favorites from the current generation of guitar players, and Nathan’s solo stuff is nothing short of breathtaking. I’d recommend that anyone who wants to hear great guitar playing listen to Milo Jones. I also love LOVE the ragtime playing of John James, and Stefan Grossman has been reissuing James’ Kicking Mule LPs on CD over the last couple years. The guitar nerd bit: what guitars do you play and what do you like about them? Is there anything out there you’re coveting? My main guitar is a custom by Trevor Healy, who builds acoustics and electrics in Easthampton, MA as Healy Guitars. It’s called his RM model, it’s a small jumbo (16” lower bout) and this particular one is 25” scale, with an Adirondack spruce top and Cuban mahogany back and sides. I’ve had this guitar for over three years now, it sounds wonderful and it just gets better and better, all the time. Your readers might now Trevor from the Beyond Berkeley Guitar CD that came out on Tompkins Square a few years ago, he’s a great fingerpicker in addition to being a great luthier. I also recently built myself a ladder-braced L-00 sized guitar, a copy of the new Waterloo WL-14 that Collings came up with. Those are based on the old Kalamazoo KG-14s that Gibson built for the catalog/department store market during the depression, something like a $15 guitar at the time. Mine is a really dry sounding guitar, with a very quick and immediate response. It’s great for the really snappy ragtime and country blues stuff, but honestly pretty much everything sounds awesome on it. It has a really chunky “V” neck, which scares off a lot of people, but I love it. I’m around hundreds of brilliant guitars all day at work, so a certain amount of self control is required. One day I’d like to build myself an OM-45 out of one of the sets of Brazilian rosewood that I have, or better yet, have Trevor build it! Banjos: yes or no? For sure! Corn Potato String Band from Detroit just played at my shop a few weeks ago, and they had a two-banjo version of “Nola” played in harmony… totally blew my socks off! What are you planning to do next? I’ve got a bunch of guitar building commissions and other projects lined up, pretty much through the end of the year, so between that and the new Pairdown record getting recorded, I’ve got my work cut out for me. What should we have asked you and didn’t? Nah, I’ve gone on plenty. Thanks, keep up the good work!

Pairdown have a Bandcamp page here. You can read Work & Worry here. Meanwhile, you can find out more about Acoustic Music Works here.

#raymond morin #pairdown #acoustic music works #work & worry #american primitive

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jeff-rosenstock-paper-blog · 7 years

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Jeff Rosenstock, Bandcamp, and “Pay-What-You-Want”: A Better Indicator Than In Rainbows

In Rainbows: A Retrospective

In 2007, Radiohead shook the music industry by releasing their new album In Rainbows as a free download on their website. Fans could still donate as much as they felt the album was worth, but this “pay-what-you-want” model was seen to be revolutionary in the face of piracy, label control, and the growing ideal of “free music.” For the first time, the majority of the music world was exposed to a new way for artists to deliver music in the digital age.

As the first major album to use the “pay-what-you-want” model, it’s easy to shape In Rainbows as a revolutionary release that helped predict our current scene where many independent bands do something similar via sites like Bandcamp. However, when discussing the viability of this model, In Rainbows is a poor case study for how well it would work for smaller bands. Although it was the first time many had heard of the concept, it’s hard to overlook that Radiohead is the kind of band that’s just too big to fail. Their past albums OK Computer and Kid A are widely regarded as two of the greatest albums of all time, while Amnesiac and Hail to the Thief, the albums that preceded In Rainbows, sold nearly a million copies each. They’re one of the most widely respected contemporary bands with a rabid fanbase – their albums are going to sell just fine regardless. Although In Rainbows outsold both these albums – 3 million sales after one year, 1.85 million of which were physical copies – it was unlikely to ever fail simply based on the band’s massive popularity.

This distance from the thousands and thousands of smaller bands didn’t go without criticism. Kim Gordon from Sonic Youth denounced it, noting that “It seemed really community-oriented, but it wasn’t catered towards their musician brothers and sisters, who don’t sell as many records as them. It makes everyone else look bad for not offering their music for whatever.” A similar editorial in The Guardian asks “But can [a smaller act] make a living from music in an age when music is free?” Even Thom Yorke, Radiohead’s frontman, admits this was just an experiment: “It’s not supposed to be a model for anything else…But it only works for us because of where we are.” He goes on to say that “If you’re an emerging artist, it must be frightening at the moment” to engage with the industry and major record labels. In contrast, those who have been in the industry for a while have a solid footing to work with.

A Better Case Study

With all this in mind, it’s clear that despite In Rainbows bringing the “pay-what-you-want” model to the mainstream attention, it is not the proper case study to consider how well it could work for smaller independent artists. Thankfully, there is someone else we can examine: someone who’s been releasing music for free through a digital label for years, even predating In Rainbows.

Meet Jeff Rosenstock, a punk musician from Long Island. Rosenstock was originally in the punk band Arrogant Sons of Bitches, but broke up the band after they started to face differences in their business ethics. He went on to form Bomb the Music Industry!, a punk collective that focused on keeping the music free and affordable for their fans. Most notably, the band released all their music for free online using Rosenstock’s new label Quote Unquote Records. Quote Unquote calls itself the “first ever donation based record label,” giving users the option to donate what they think the album is worth through Paypal. This model extended into their live performances, which were strictly all ages shows with ticket prices capped at $10 to keep them affordable. Fans could bring blank CDs and T-shirts to get free physical versions of albums and handmade shirts at concerts.

The recent documentary on Bomb the Music Industry!, Never Get Tired, traces the origins of this pay-what-you-want model through Rosenstock’s childhood. He discusses being a teenager during Napster’s peak and how having a mass collection of free music online helped him and other teenagers explore the music they otherwise wouldn’t be exposed to. He also cites Fugazi as an influence for this DIY (do it yourself) ethic, an older band who also fought for affordable ticket prices and relied on word-of-mouth promotion rather than turning to larger record labels. Together, these influences drove Rosenstock to release his music for free and limit merch sales at shows in favor of donations.

The influence of Napster seeps into the overall mission and goals of Quote Unquote Records – the idea is to get heard, not immediately sold. The label’s website says “We have simple goals which is to put out good music, put out fun music and help our artists get heard…While some people who are very uncomfortable with embracing a new technology swear that this is going to kill rock and roll, I have seen first hand that it helps bands increase their audience and allows fans to discover tons of great bands. Then, usually at a show, people will buy a CD or something if the band is really good.” This is very different from what Radiohead were doing. Quote Unquote Records is focused on small bands who need exposure getting found through the Internet. One band in Never Get Tired noted that no one was showing up to their shows until Rosenstock put their music online and advertised them. Suddenly, their shows had over a hundred kids who knew the words to their songs. Meanwhile, everyone’s heard of Radiohead. No one needs a reminder that they still exist and still write incredible music.

Amazingly, Quote Unquote Records worked, and Bomb the Music Industry! survived from 2006 until their farewell show in 2012. None of them ever made enough money to live solely off of the band – in Never Get Tired, Rosenstock talks about day jobs including driving trucks to deliver set pieces for a Nicki Minaj video – but it was enough to live off of during tours. They never became rock superstars, but they weren’t exactly wallowing in poverty, either. The point was always to just get the music out there. In a 2010 interview with Jewcy, Rosenstock reveals, “Most people don’t donate, but the people who do usually donate more than the asking price. People sometimes donate 50 or 100 bucks. At the same time 20,000 people downloaded [the album] Scrambles in the first month and we got 70 donations. But, I don’t really give a shit, because that means 20,000 people downloaded a record I wrote, and some of them might have liked it and that was the whole point.” So long as the music got out there and people showed up to shows (which they did), the band survived just fine.

In a 2015 Reddit AMA (“Ask Me Anything”), Rosenstock comments on this relative success: “…I could just record stuff for free, throw it on the Internet, and people would hear it. When I started Quote Unquote, I just wanted people to hear other bands…And luckily I’ve had a few bands (Cheap Girls, Laura Stevenson and The Riot Before…) who have gone on to be pretty successful after getting their music out there to anyone who wants to hear it. So if there’s some huge roadblock that people who don’t release music this way are AVOIDING, well, I just don’t know about it. This shit seems pretty rad to me.” Here, we see that not only is the pay-what-you-want model viable, but several of the artists who started with Quote Unquote went onto become well-known figures in the industry.

In addition to his business practices, Rosenstock’s views on the music industry have always played a prominent role in his art. Clearly, Bomb the Music Industry! takes its name from this ethos, but this theme sneaks up in his lyrics as well. “All Ages Shows” ends with the plea “My friends ain’t all that bad / We play all ages shows / And we’ll start on time if you decide to go,” emphasizing the moral value of all ages shows. Most prominently, his 2016 solo release WORRY. emphasizes his anxiety over corporations latching onto and monetizing the culture he helped to develop. “Festival Song” outlines this best with the scathing verse:

Take a long look at the billboards That smother the air ‘til you can’t ignore ‘em And glamorize department store crust-punk-chic ‘Cause Satan’s trending up and it’s fashion week But this is not a movement, it’s just careful entertainment For an easy demographic in our sweatshop denim jackets And we’ll wonder, “What just happened?!” When the world becomes Manhattan Where the banks steal the apartments just to render them abandoned

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When asked about “Festival Song,” Rosenstock claims he’s not “trying to call anybody a sell-out,” but rather is concerned with the modern mentality of accepting corporations’ roles in music: “I just feel like people, at this point, don’t think that you can do it another way anymore…Do something on your own and do something that you like. If you don’t want to be involved in that, don’t be involved in that.” Beyond skewering corporations for capitalizing on punk culture for the sake of money and popularity, the fact that this came out in 2016 emphasizes Rosenstock’s lifelong commitment to his views. WORRY. was, like everything else Rosenstock’s done, released for free on Quote Unquote Records (with additional distribution handled by label SideOneDummy). The fact that so little has changed in ten years in Rosenstock’s practices while he continues to fight for the little guy in his art lends him a perfect level of credibility for his fans to crowd around.

Rosenstock’s Model and Bandcamp Today

It’s clear that Jeff Rosenstock is a better model for examining the success of pay-what-you-want in the digital age, and the best place to see its viability for small acts is the website Bandcamp. Launched in 2008, this online music store allows any artist to upload their music for streaming and for purchasing at prices set by the artist, including a pay-what-you-want option. The pricing scheme is simple: Bandcamp takes a 15% cut of whatever fans donate, while the artist pockets the rest. No middle-man record labels are in the way here. Many budding artists will go for the pay-what-you-want model, focusing on getting their music heard rather than sold in the hopes of awareness and eventually live ticket and physical merch sales. Sound familiar? Whether or not the founders of Bandcamp were directly inspired by Rosenstock or Radiohead, it’s clear that the model is much more in line with what Quote Unquote Records was always doing with smaller bands versus the behemoth Radiohead trying out a little experiment.

Interestingly enough, Rosenstock commented on Bandcamp during their early years in 2010: “You have Bandcamp which is a website where anyone can put up anything, and it’s got more options than Quote Unquote does…I don’t know if I see it as something a major label could adopt as their idea for everything.” What’s amazing is that certain labels have ended up involved in Bandcamp. In 2014, the site launched Bandcamp for Labels, meaning full record labels have since adopted Bandcamp’s online store for distribution and promotion. Of course, you’re not going to find the big hitters like Atlantic on here, but many of the most notable independent labels take part in Bandcamp. This includes Sub-Pop, ANTI-, Epitaph, and more. None of these are slouches – they’re all very prominent in the independent music scene, and their adoption of Bandcamp proves even larger labels are interested in this type of platform.

There’s reason to believe Bandcamp is succeeding. When describing their sales for 2016, the site announced “Digital album sales grew 20%, tracks 23%, and merch 34%” compared to the last year, despite the record business only growing 3% in 2016. Obviously, Bandcamp’s numbers are inflated simply because more people became more aware of the site, leading to more sales, but it’s remarkable that their business practices are still able to thrive in the modern era. There are also claims that Bandcamp is reducing piracy. Back in 2012, the site wrote an editorial “Cheaper Than Free” which revealed that people who were Googling specifically for free torrents or Mediafire downloads would come across Bandcamp and purchase albums from there. The site views this “as proof that Bandcamp can effectively compete with filesharing and other free distribution platforms by a) giving fans a clear, easy way to directly support the artist, and b) offering them a better user experience.”

It seems that Bandcamp can do no wrong, but there is one possible criticism towards the site. Last summer, the site significantly expanded its editorial department to focus on “Bandcamp Daily,” which brings daily highlights to various acts and scenes around the site. This could be viewed as a double-edged sword. On the one hand, these acts are getting a level of exposure that otherwise wouldn’t be possible, which is wonderful for them. On the other hand, Ben Ratliff argued in a New York Times editorial that this could ruin the neutrality of the site: “People can use help navigating the riches of Bandcamp. But its estimable editorial project opens an interesting question: When does help turn into tastemaking?” Rosenstock’s Quote Unquote Records was meant to be a place where people could poke around and find the music they wanted for free, a promise Bandcamp certainly helps to deliver today, but the threat of tastemaking could ruin the perfect music democracy Rosenstock and Bandcamp both strive for.

This is still a very minor criticism, however. The current success of Bandcamp proves that artists and fans appreciate interacting with each other financially with as few middle-men in between as possible, especially when artists can set their own prices and release music for free if they wish. Fans can stream and search through archives of music and have shown to be willing to pay artists under this model. Rosenstock’s early dreams of free music using the Internet for exposure while giving fans more options to support their favorite artists are an actual reality today. That’s a much more significant parallel than anything Radiohead ever did for free music.

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noiseartists · 5 years

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POM POM SQUAD (Brooklyn): Beautiful & Powerful Indie Altrock

"Pom Pom Squad has been a staple in Brooklyn DIY scene for their modern grunge sound and raucous live shows (tour dates here), sharing the stage with indie-rock mainstays Soccer Mommy, Adult Mom, Wild Pink and Long Neck to name a few. Alongside frontwoman Mia Berrin, Pom Pom Squad features bassist Mari Alé Figeman, drummer Shelby Keller, and guitarist Ethan Sass. Hailing from a variety of different backgrounds -- whether Keller's jazz training or Berrin's classic hip-hop and new wave upbringing -- the group manages to be serious without taking themselves too seriously. It's that balance of solemnity and whimsy that allows punk aesthetics and emotional tenderness to live side by side: chunky, distorted guitar on some tracks, and near-whisper on others; brash yells or tame, wry wit." -- Mia Berrin

This intro is better than anything else I could have done. A big thank you to Mia Berrin from the band for her kindness and hard work on this collaboration.

When she's not making music, Mia works in music publicity and PR at Girlie Action

THE MUSIC

What Mia tells us about some of Pom Pom Squad’s songs

Most of the songs on “Ow” have a pretty interesting story, but I’ll give the liner notes versions:

I was taking a bath when I came up with the riff for “Heavy Heavy”-- I'm a pretty intuitive writer, (which just means that I don’t really know music theory) so if I come up with a melody or riff, I can usually pluck it out on guitar by ear.

I was in standard tuning, so I couldn’t quite find it-- I called my friend, and guitarist at the time, Alex Mercuri, and made him figure it out. After I put some clothes on, we sat on facetime for an hour or two and just recorded layers and layers of noise in Garageband.

That song structure-- which I’d describe as rolling-down-a-hill-of-anxiety--- came to me pretty immediately.

‘Cherry Blossom’ was the first song I wrote toward what I suspected would be an EP, at the time. I was in a pretty dark place mentally, and my best friend, Spencer Peppet who is in a phenomenal band called The Ophelias, came up with a writing prompt change to try and cheer me up-- we each came up with 20 songs titles for the other person, picked 10 out of a random # generator and challenged each other to write the song that would correspond with each title.

‘Cherry Blossom’ is the first and only song that came off of that list. I wrote it as an apology of sorts, but it’s a really bad apology if I’m being honest-- it’s not something I regret though.

Again is sort of a mystical song. I’m pretty obsessive about recording and writing things down for fear of losing them forever. The voice memos on my phone are full of strange little one-off ideas.

I came home from work one night last summer and just started noodling around on my guitar and recorded all of it. About a week later, I found “Again” fully written, lyrics, riffs, and all. About a month ago, I lost everything on my phone which means all of my original Ow voice memos are lost somewhere in cyberspace. Sad.

Music Work

The music work to date is:

2019: Ow, album

2017: Hate it here, EP

2015: Teenage Girls, demo single; Pharmacy, demo single

You can find their music on Bandcamp, Spotify, iTunes, Soundcloud.

INTERVIEW

Who are the group members?

Me (Mia Berrin- Hi!)

Mari Alé Figeman

Shelby Keller

And Ethan Sass

How did you meet?

When I met Shelby and Maria, they were playing in another band and I was playing by myself. I had broken up with someone that morning and was kind of wired and emotional. I ended up spilling all my guts to them in the dressing room and they were almost bizarrely receptive. I played them some demos and they watched about two songs in my set. Later that night they both separately, drunkenly came up to me and asked when we were going to start practicing together-- and they were serious! We met Ethan about six months later, and the first time we practiced with him we knew he was perfect.

How did you come up with your name?

The name comes from an image I saw once. I’d actually never heard the phrase “Pom Pom Squad” before and I fell in love with it immediately. It’s taken on a more multifaceted meaning since then, but I like the way it allows people to underestimate us. It’s also very fitting of the way that people fail to equate femininity with strength.

What is your music about?

Me! -- The songs I’ve put out have mostly centered around mental health, illness, healing, heartbreak, but the project grows as I do. I’m actually the happiest I’ve ever been in my life, which poses an interesting writing challenge...

What are your goals as an artist artistically/commercially?

My goals as an artist are to keep exploring. If I learn everything there is to know about myself, I’ll have no reason to ever write again. I try to write things that feel necessary for me to write. Commercially I just want to be the queen of #Rock and #Roll.

Tell us what you are looking for when trying to achieve your sounds. Do you experiment a lot or have a clear idea of what you want?

Usually, I write when I can’t find a song that feels the way I’m feeling. I experiment now more than I used to-- when you (I) tend to write about certain topics pretty frequently, you (I) come up with a pretty concrete process. Now, I have to learn to write about other stuff. Lately, that other stuff has been joy and love.

Explain your songwriting process.

I feel like I’m always writing. I get pretty obsessive about writing things down, so if something pops into my head that feels like a lyric, I write it down immediately on my phone or in my notebook. I do the same if I start humming a vocal line or guitar part. Then, eventually, when I get to sit down with a guitar, I try to go through all those notes and see if anything has a common theme or feeling. It keeps me from that horrible staring-at-a-blank-page “O-god-will-I-ever-write-again??” feeling.

If you could guest on someone else’s album, who would it be and why? What would you play?

Currently, I’d wanna feature on something by IDLES and I’d want to scream in harmony with Joe.

Which other musicians/artist would you date?

My girlfriend ;)

Is there a band that if they didn’t exist you wouldn’t be making the music you make?

Probably Hole. Or Bikini Kill. The Courtney/Kathleen dichotomy is a perfect metaphor for the devil and the angel doing battle inside of me

What are some places around the world that you hope to play with your band?

Basically any and everywhere! We’ve yet to leave Brooklyn and are itching to get to the West Coast of the US. We also want to go to Europe. I think my absolute dream though, would be to tour Japan.

Some artists you recommend.

The Ophelias! Also, Mannequin Pussy, Pronoun, Julia Jacklin, IDLES, Connie Converse, FKA Twigs, Miss June, I’m sure I could name 100,000 more…

POM POM SQUAD IN THE (SOCIAL) MEDIA

Some good music videos

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What some other have said

"'Quiet grrrl punk'...a cute descriptor that doesn't reveal nearly enough about the multitudes contained within..." - FADER

"['Heavy Heavy' is] one of the best songs of the week...a mess of tangled guitars and a snarling outlook" - Stereogum

"Pom-Pom Squad shares their whole heart with us and its resounding heartbeat

sticks with you long after its conclusion." - Lauren Rearick (Teen Vogue, The Grey Estates)

"Really hits you deep in the gut...Screaming in the face of chaos never felt better" - Highsnobiety

"A constant in the Brooklyn indie scene, here to ignite tearful fits in fans with their vulnerable, lashing punk" - Thrillist

"College rock blasts with a feel-good, righteous end" - DIY Mag

#USA #PostPunk #Altrock

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jezfletcher · 4 years

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1000 Albums, 2020: Top Tracks #50-26

Hey folks! After the fun and excitement of counting down my top albums of 2020, I'm launching straight into my top tracks. Today, we're counting down numbers 50-26, which will leave the Top 25 as a Christmas present from me to you tomorrow. I don't know exactly how many tracks I've listened to this year, but I conservatively estimate more than 12,000, which puts these tracks in the top 0.4% of all the music I've heard this year. YouTube versions of the songs are included where possible. I belatedly discovered that I can also embed Bandcamp links as well, which is probably a better option, from a "supporting artists" perspective. If you stumble upon something you like, go buy it on Bandcamp. Apologies if the video clips for any of these are wildly offensive—I have not at all vetted them before embedding them. Enjoy!

50. L.E.J. - Pas Peur (French chamber folk)

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I’m starting off this write-up with this excellent bit of folk—a sultry chanson, backed with low strings that develop into a full little chamber ensemble. I’m perhaps demoting this down to a fairly low position because I heard this track as a single, and was thrilling in excitement for the release of their album, which consisted of this song, and a whole bunch of songs that sounded nothing like this song. So it’s a standout, but it’s not necessarily a sign that L.E.J. is an artist I want to follow in general.

49. Avec Sans - Altitude (vapor pop)

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When I first heard this track, I loved it a lot, especially the contrast between the restrained, almost plinky verses, and the smash of drums and synths which mark the start of the chorus. The rolls of the hihat and the fuzzy synth bass are overt and intense and I love it. Overall, it ended up not quite being of the same depth and character as many of the tracks above it though.

48. Trixie Mattel - Malibu (pop rock)

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Trixie Mattel is such a fascinating artist, and she’s a genuinely great songwriter too—far outstripping most (all?) of her RuPaul’s Drag Race cohort. This is a great bit of pop rock, the kind of thing I absolutely groove along to and sing at the top of my lungs (at least until we get to the falsetto swoop in the chorus). I will absolutely keep following Trixie Mattel’s career as long as she’s producing music.

47. Beans on Toast - Logic Bomb (jazz folk)

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The top track from Beans on Toast this year is this jazzy number, performed with his new full band, and filled with pessimistic predictions about the fall of the world through the computers we depend on. I’m far more sanguine about the world he describes, so I’m left to enjoy the groove and the gentle horn riff which launches each new doomsaying verse.

46. Nelson Kempf - Family Dollar (art folk)

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A long, slightly meandering adventure in avant-garde folk, with Kempf’s conversational lyrics, found sound recordings like announcements at an airport, and the persistent presence of gently struck marimba or xylophone. It’s a great piece of music, although it’s also one which is hard to think about as a catchy tune—it’s certainly not something that gets in my head all that much, which is probably why it’s languishing a bit in the 40s. But every time I’m reminded of it, and listen to it, I do enjoy going through it again.

45. Marcelyn - Guilloteens (experimental folk rock)

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I switched from Google Play Music (shutting down, of course) to Spotify about half way through this year, and as a result, my Spotify end-of-year list was jank, missing anything from the first half of the year, and lacking much of my revision listening. I say all of this because of all the songs I’d heard since switching, this was apparently my most listened-to on Spotify. It’s certainly not a bad song, and it’s a song which won Track of the Week the week it came out—but it’s also languishing in the mid-40s on my end of the year list, so it’s not genuinely a standout. But it is very solid, especially the shifting vocal harmonies from an evocative chorus. It’s certainly a song which makes me keep an eye on Marcelyn in the future.

44. Little Big - Hypnodancer (funeral rave)

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It’s one of the great tragedies of 2020 (you know, along with all the sickness and dying) that there was no 2020 Eurovision Song Contest, because Little Big, progenitors of the hardstyle analog “funeral rave” were going to represent Russia. Which possibly would have been one of the only times I would have been cheering for that country come voting time. Anyway, the song they were taking to the competition was not this one, but another called UNO. But this is better, capturing the pop aesthetic into a hard 90s underground techno beat. Maybe we’ll get to see them again in 2021.

43. Walk Off The Earth feat. Harm & Ease - Toxic (eclectic pop cover)

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Prolific indie pop coverers Walk Off The Earth have seemingly come up with a neverending stream of singles this year, none of which seem to be obviously pointing to a new album—especially given that their last album (my #2 album of 2019) was released towards the end of last year. But I keep listening to and enjoying their fun cover versions. This one, done with philosophical stablemates Harm & Ease builds into a great, raucous singalong version of one of the millennium’s pop classics.

42. Stormzy feat. Aitch - Pop Boy (grime)

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I’m very conscious of the general lack of hip hop on my end of year list. It’s a genre that I think is ill-served by its most prominent examples currently. Kanye, Lil Uzi Vert, Drake—all have an extremely thin production quality and a drawly delivery that lacks the rhythm that really helps the style. But grime (and UK rap more generally) seems to get the point of what makes the style worthwhile. With a kicking beat, rhythmic delivery that lands its rhymes beautifully, Pop Boy is probably the best bit of grime this year. Stormzy and Aitch trading flows is genuinely fun to watch. I’m also glad that I have a new grime favourite after its Godfather outed himself as a raging anti-Semite earlier in the year. Stormzy seems pretty chill by comparison.

41. The Fratellis - Six Days in June (pop rock)

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The Fratellis are a band who are absolutely rocking the late era of their career. Their 2018 album In Your Own Sweet Time was an absolutely cracking set of music, and if this lead single is anything to go by, their 2021 album is going to be similar. Swinging in 6/8, and with a horn section to add something of an orchestral sound to their accessible pop rock, this is a great track.

40. MOBS - Big World (80s pastiche pop)

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These guys did an amazingly fun album this year, taking a broad kind of funky electropop and embracing all of the biggest 80s tropes. This one leans on the synth horns, and some working synths that you just know have the black and white keys reversed. It’s a jumpy, poppy, danceable track—one of the ones this year that’s most likely to get me grooving.

39. The Lemon Twigs - The One (alt rock)

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A great piece of music (albeit one from an even better album), this is almost a kind of throwback alt rock—it has elements of the 80s to it, more poppy than the Cure, but maybe containing a similar kind of theatricality to it. It’s very happy to swing between high tenor vocals and squealing guitars for its drama. But on top of everything, it’s just a great bit of pop rock.

38. The Cuckoos - Weekend Lover (glam rock)

There’s something that you’ll likely see over and over again in this list, especially if you listen to the tracks and look for similarities. And it’s a driving, perhaps slightly repetitive riff in a pop rock song. This has a great one, incorporating bass and synths, and working in counterpoint to the straight up percussion line. It’s something of a formula that works really well for me, and you’ll see it a number of times on this list.

37. MisterWives - It’s My Turn (indie pop)

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MisterWives are absolute stars of the music project. In 2017, the last time they really released much music, they had my #1 song of the year for Machine, and also took out #3 on my albums list. This year’s album didn’t do quite as well, but it’s hard to deny there are some pop bangers on it, like this one, their top entry this year. It’s a lot of fun, with manic, colourful energy. Sure, it’s not a #1 track of the year this time around, but I defy you not to have some fun with it.

36. Sammy Brue - Pendulum Thieves (alt country)

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A fabulous piece of country rock, about stealing a bit of time back—maybe you want an extra minute with a lover in a perfect moment, or maybe you want to take back a fight. It’s nicely done with an anthemic chorus and some harmonic slide guitar in the background. Great piece of music.

35. TheFatRat feat. Laura Brehm - We’ll Meet Again (pop EDM)

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Just a great piece of dance music. It has a great riff that evokes other classic dance numbers from the past 10 years like Clean Bandit’s Rather Be, throwing in a bit of grunty wobble bass for good measure. It’s short and sweet and catchy, and I like it for that.

34. Starbenders - Holy Mother (glam rock)

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A track that came out of nowhere the week it was released, because I didn’t overly love the album. But this is just a full-throated bit of stomping glam rock that I couldn’t go past it for song of the week. Incidentally, Sam liked the album a whole bunch more than me and we ended up both giving this particular song a nod. It’s just a raucous, fun bit of music with a singalong chorus I often find myself headbanging along with.

33. Minh Beta - Let’s Fight COVID! (Vietnamese coronavirus pop)

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Absolutely one of my iconic songs of 2020, this is a straight up pop banger released as a PSA by Minh Beta about the best ways to stop the spread of COVID-19 in his home country of Vietnam. It also has an excellent video clip[https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=tSiK7U46PfA] with anthropomorphised superhero versions of things like “Wear a Mask”, “Don’t spread Facebook conspiracy theories” and “Don’t share your ice cream cone with your mates”. It’s apparently a re-skin of Minh Beta’s previous track “Viet Nam Oi!”, but we’ll forgive it for being a timely readjustment for a good reason (personally, I credit about 90% of the success that Vietnam has had containing Covid to this song). And also, it just absolutely slaps.

32. Kiesza feat. Lick Drop, Cocanina & Shan Vincent De Paul - Dance With Your Best Friend (pop)

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You know this might be the highest track of pure unadulterated pop. There’s nothing subversive or quirky about this—this is just a catchy pop track. It’s helped along its path by some great rapping from Cocanina, and a bit of that laddish vocal quality from Shan Vincent De Paul with the London accent of Rat Boy and Yungblud. Just a fun bit of music.

31. Ultrahappyalarm - Messy Gyaru (happy hardcore)

CRITICAL DAYDREAM by ULTRA HAPPY ALARM

It has been so many years since I’ve heard a true bit of happy hardcore like this. It has all the things I loved about the style in the 90s, but it brings with it a complexity to the production which ensures that you can’t just immediately pick apart the tracks. This was the standout on a great set of variegated techno in Ultrahappyalarm’s EP Critical Daydream. More happy hardcore for 2021, please.

30. Saint Saviour - Taurus (chamber folk)

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Instrumentally, this is such a beautiful combination of piano and strings, with cello dominant, and a set of beautifully blending folk voices over the top. Later, it brings in some soft percussion to bring it home. Hauntingly though, the repeated piano ostinato is layered with a counterpoint of vocals in the final section. It gives me chills.

29. Kate Rusby - Love of the Common People (indie folk cover)

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I clearly love this song, originally a standard, but most famously recorded by Paul Young, because there were two separate covers this year which reached my end-of-the-week list of best tracks. This, however, is the better of the two. It has a soft kind of electronic folk quality to it, and Rusby’s sweet, unaffected vocals perfectly fit into the mix. I’ll admit that much of the credit for this being so high has to go to the original songwriters—the team that also wrote “Son of a Preacher Man”. TIL.

28. Seazoo - Honey Bee (indie pop rock)

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A lovely bit of pop rock, clearly a genre I like, especially when it has a catchy, slightly unusual riff to it. In this case, it’s a repeated rhythmic guitar stab that plays against the snare backbeat, creating this persistent sense of rocking back and forward. The rest of the song is solid enough to keep it moving, and a late guitar solo kicks it into another geat.

27. City Mouth - Sanity For Summer (indie pop rock)

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A fantastic bit of upbeat pop rock. It starts with a melodic theme, then absolutely blasts out a manic piano riff which becomes the energetic motor of the track. Mostly, it’s just catchy, energetic music that makes you want to get up and dance. We need tracks like that this year.

26. Cory Wong & Chris Thile - Bluebird (jazz-bluegrass crossover)

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Cory Wong has had a really strong year this year, releasing a full album, a live album, and two paired EPs. This comes from Dawn, the lighter, brighter of the EPs, and pairs his excellent guitar work with the sublime mandolin of every one’s favourite mandolinist. This is just exceptionally virtuosic work from both of these guys, and the combination just ratchets up the quality.

#1000albums #best of the year #albums #songs

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airadam · 4 years

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Episode 134 : Keeping Our Heads Up

"If you not at the table, then you on the menu."

- Jahi

This is not the summer we thought we were getting, but I'm going to at least partially overlook that and put some tracks in the mix that are perfect rolling music...even if we're only going to pick up essentials at the supermarket! There's some old(ish), some brand new, and plenty in-between. Oh yes - if your system has the bass turned up, turn it back down, or the third track up is going to destroy it...

The sad news came in after the music was already recorded, but Rest In Power to Malik B, best known for his work as a founding member of The Roots.

Twitter : @airadam13

Twitch : @airadam13

Playlist/Notes

Mistah F.A.B ft. Bun B, Slim Thug, Paul Wall, & Z-Ro : Commin' Down

From Oakland to Houston! The Bay Area veteran reaches down south for this driving anthem from "Son Of A Pimp, Part 2", and the respect is returned in spades. For me, Z-Ro steals the show right out of the gate on that first verse, with his trademark combination of humourous imagery, vocal range, and casual misanthropy! I expected the production to have come from a southern beatsmith too, but S.E. Trill is from Wichita in Kansas, firmly in the midwest.

Sitting Duck, otaam : Nights At The Beach

Bandcamp must have been reading my mind when it put "Chillhop Essentials Summer 2020" in my face, so I put a few quid in figuring that I'd like at least a few of the 25 tracks. That was definitely true, and this was one, produced by a duo that I've not yet found much info about...but I'll keep looking!

Le$ : Duckin'

Big tune out of Houston, with some of the most ridiculous bass I've heard in a while! Mr Rogers rolls together a classic R&B sample and as much low-end as he could find into a heavy backing for Le$ to work with. Not exactly a romantic anthem, but he does it well! The "Summer Madness" LP is well worth having a good listen to, it's almost like the more down-to-earth version of Curren$y's lifestyle content.

Beyonce ft. Jack White : Don't Hurt Yourself

Until trying to mix this, it wasn't obvious to me that the tempo wanders a little bit! It's low-speed but has sections highlighted by stripped-down double-time drums, followed by those heavy rocked-out segments - not the kind of sound many would associate with Beyonce, but she's always been versatile. The "Lemonade" LP is a great demonstration, with stuff ranging from this to straight R&B, to country! This is a great track with her clearly not here for the nonsense, taking her vocals to a really raw place.

Run The Jewels ft. Danny Brown : Hey Kids (Bumaye)

If you're looking for rappers to be jumping out there defending Elon Musk and the likes, you'd better look elsewhere! Killer Mike goes at the billionaire class in the first verse, and every MC keeps the intensity level up regardless of the specifics of their content. El-P on the beat, of course, on this selection from "Run The Jewels 3".

Mega Ran ft. Richie Branson & Storyville : O.P.

Mega Ran's career continues to grow, which is a testament to his skills and a karmic reward for how nice he is to everyone! That said, this track from 2015's "RNDM" has him and his crew going at the haters in fine style. His second verse is definitely the best of the three, and features one of the best breaks of the fourth wall I can remember in I don't know how long! Ran's longtime musical partner Lost Perception contributes the banging video game-inspired beat with crazy low end.

Agallah : Power Boats

Kind of grimy, despite the title making you think of open waters! Brooklyn's own Agallah produces the vast majority of the stuff you hear him rapping on (with good reason), and this particular beat is on "Propain Campaign Presents Agallah - The Instrumentals Vol.1".

OutKast ft. Cool Breeze and Big Gipp : Decatur Psalm

Taking it to what is still my favourite OutKast LP, "ATLiens", with the only track not to include Andre. Bracketing Big Boi's verse are two other members of the Dungeon Family, telling tales of the streets of the ATL. Organized Noize on production, of course.

State Property : It's Not Right

It's been a long time since the breakout days of Just Blaze and Kanye at Roc-A-Fella, and this track definitely brings back memories of that era. Just Blaze did a great job conjuring up the right level of melancholy for this track from the self-titled LP/soundtrack from this Philadelphia-centred crew. On the mic are Freeway, Young Chris, and Sparks, with Beanie Sigel bringing it home.

Meyhem Lauren & Harry Fraud ft. $bags : Brunch At The Breakers

The 2018 "Glass" EP had some great tracks on it, but left me wanting to hear more - clearly, they were holding out on us a little, because the recent "Glass 2.0" is built from tracks that didn't make the initial release! It was a tough choice between this and "Steamed Monkfish (Remix)" to see what made it onto the episode, but the gliding sample and overall feel of the beat ended up being the decider. I won't give away the sample, but as familiar as it seemed on listening here...I don't think I've ever heard the record before.

Above The Law : My World

The 1996 "Time Will Reveal" album was the fourth straight gem from Above The Law, and this track is one of my favourites. The late KMG takes the first verse, and Cold 187um the second, as well as showing out on the production in a major way. The female vocal on the hook is uncredited, but definitely adds onto the flavour. This is a track to roll slow to.

Massive Attack : Weather Storm

This nice instrumental cut from "Protection" is not one often talked about, but it's so good. Taking a great sample, letting it breathe, and working around it just enough is an art and one that this Bristol crew definitely mastered.

Matteo Getz & Termanology : Summer In The City

Massachusetts connection here with the producer and Lo-head Matteo Getz cooking up a beat for Lawrence's Termanology, an MC I feel is often underrated. This is taken from last year's release "The Getz Collection", which I think might have to be a pickup based on this.

Gang Starr ft. Jeru The Damaja : From A Distance

Still can't believe we got another Gang Starr LP last year, and to have Jeru as a guest takes it back to the "Daily Operation" days! Like most tracks on the album, this is fairly short, but both Guru and Jeru get the job done over a signature Preemo beat - check the contrast on alternating bars between the lush strings and the almost white-noise stabs.

Timeless Truth : Wavelength

Nothing but the raw boom-bap on this! Large Professor is responsible for the beat (the very sharp-eared would have picked that up without me even saying anything), while Solace and OPrime39 share mic duties, culminating in splitting the final verse down the middle. "Cold Wave" is an album for those who want the uncut.

Enemy Radio : 2020

If you hadn't heard, Enemy Radio is the stripped-down, sound system version of Public Enemy, with Chuck D joined on the mic by Jahi and long-time PE DJ Lord Aswod on the turntables. Their new LP "Loud Is Not Enough" is out in parallel with material from their original lineup, but allows a different emphasis. This year has often felt like the world is ending, and Chuck D is the #1 MC for that time! Notice how short the actual verses from he and Jahi are on this C-Doc-produced track - they not only paint a picture of the darkness of 2020 but do so with incredible lyrical efficiency.

[Kev Brown] DJ Jazzy Jeff : Da Rebirth (Instrumental)

It's been a long time (almost 100 episodes) since I played the vocal version, so here's the instrumental in case you forgot how ill the beat is :) Fairly early work by Kev Brown, in his days collaborating with the A Touch of Jazz camp - this is on "The Magnificent EP".

KinKai ft. Children of Zeus : Top Down

There hasn't been as much road trip time as we'd like in the COVID reality, but Mancunians are nothing if not appreciative of good weather when it comes! KinKai's new LP "A Few Pennies Worth" is a great release for the season, and this single was a hell of a way to precede it - bringing in Manchester's own Children of Zeus for a summer anthem produced beautifully by Paya.

Check out this episode!

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airadam · 6 years

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Episode 106 : Flavaful

"...I can't listen to it, 'cos all I hear is mistakes."

- Phonte

Ok, it's not the actual globe from the cover of "Flava In Ya Ear", but it's the closest thing I've ever shot - it reminded me of the man Craig Mack himself, who sadly passed away this month. That means that this month we pay homage to the twin pillars of Bad Boy Records (Craig and Biggie), as well as Phife and Eazy-E, while also showcasing some outstanding new releases and finishing with some soul classics.

Get yourself down to the Lords of the Underground show in April!

Twitter : @airadam13

Playlist/Notes

Pudgee ft. The Notorious B.I.G and Lord Tariq : Think B.I.G.

Only the first - and best - verse for you right here, but despite this track not getting an official release due to sample clearance problems, it shouldn't be too hard to find if you do a little digging. Biggie just blasts out pure disrespect in his inimitable style over a beat by Minnesota. I had to rewind this when I remembered playing this on a mixtape with DJ Mathmatics - the first line hadn't even finished before he was calling for the pull-up!

The Lox : New York City

I don't know if the bassline here is a sample or a replay, but either way it did get an official release! This 2014 single from the stalwart Yonkers crew also samples the hook from "Think B.I.G" directly, so it was a great opportunity to bring it in here.

[K-Def] Theodore Unit : Wicked With Lead (Instrumental)

I'm not sure what's up with some of the kick drums here sounding like there was an issue splicing the track together, but I promise you this is how the uncredited K-Def instrumental came off the vinyl!

Craig Mack : Get Down

RIP Craig! This was the second single from his debut "Project: Funk Da World" LP (following "Flava In Ya Ear"), and once again it was Easy Mo Bee doing the business on the beat - you can hear his style for sure. Craig commands the track ably, and you can tell why he was such a solid foundation stone for Bad Boy.

A Tribe Called Quest : The Pressure

Great tune from "Beats, Rhymes, and Life". I don't remember Tribe ever doing a DJ track but the section of this before Q-Tip comes in might be the closest - lots of cuts and scratches, much of which came from their own records! Phife goes off on the second verse, continuing the rampage that kicked off back on "The Low End Theory".

The Mouse Outfit ft. Sparkz : No Wonder (Tall Black Guy Remix)

I don't know how I've managed not to play you this one already! From the very nicely-priced "Mouse Outfit Remixed" collection, this is a shoulder-mover where Sparkz kicks Manchester rhymes over TBG's trademark boom-blap.

Phonte : Such Is Life

One of the best MCs in the artform, and one who has let us into his life from the beginning of his career. The "No News Is Good News" album comes seven years after Phonte's last solo release, and it's a powerful, concentrated album which is packed with real life experiences that we will all face. This particular track, produced by DJ Cozmos, is a standout on my strong purchase recommendation for the month!

Focus... : Beautiful & Beastly

I must have convinced you to pick up "Analog In A Digital World" by now? So many great beats on that project...

Simtraks ft. Camp Lo : Eternity Window

In a more reflective mode than many will know them for, Camp Lo take the mics for a deep cut in all senses of the phrase. This was a standout on the "Sputnik Sweetheart" album by Houston's Simtraks, and the samples of the astronomer Carl Sagan add to the cosmic vibe of the track. Not a well-known track, but an excellent one - if I could change just one thing though, it'd be that snare...

Guilty Simpson ft. Meyhem Lauren and Starving B : CO-OP

I'm not familiar with Cuns and Sine One, but they did a top job on the production here. Great new single from Detroit's Guilty Simpson alongside two Queens MCs, conjouring up images of the New Day Co-Op in "The Wire".

Tanya Morgan : Just Not True

AKA the Trump theme tune...a pick from the 2009 "Brooklynati" album that I hadn't heard in a while. Brick Beats on production, allowing the group to use all their energy on the mic.

PRhyme : Rock It

The second PRhyme album came out this month and I think it may well have surpassed the original! This single gave us the first peep at what to expect, and it's just a great beat, classic Premo cuts, and killer rhymes - not all of which you'll catch at first. Definitely some rewind lines on this one, and take some time to appreciate how DJ Premier breaks down the main hook/bridge phrase on the turntables - masterful.

J-Zone : The Art of Shit Talkin' (Instrumental)

I somehow don't have the vocal version of this (yet) but it's the expected excellent level of production from J-Zone - you can get this beat as part of his instrumentals collection on Bandcamp. Peep the technique.

G-Dep ft. Ghostface Killah, Keith Murray, and Craig Mack : Special Delivery (Remix)

A sparse, uptempo number from the Bad Boy camp, and a solid single for the currently-incarcerated G-Dep back in 2001. Every MC drops quotables, from the always-fire Ghostface through to the surprise appearance of Craig Mack, who'd last released a record four years previously and stepped back from the industry. In a kind of tribute to the incredible "Flava In Ya Ear (Remix)" video, this one was also shot in B&W but with a pace to match the EZ Elpee-produced beat. This MC lineup was just the thing needed to elevate the original track from "Child Of The Ghetto".

Camp Lo : Retro

Back to that slang-dense Lo flavour! One of the best tracks from their latest album ("The Get Down Brothers"), they channel some old-school flavour but keep a modern feel at the same time. I bought the digital release of this LP, so I'm still trying to find out who produced this cut!

Eazy-E : Eazy-er Said Than Dunn

It's been twenty-three years since the NWA founder's death, and he's too often forgotten. For this selection, we go back to his 1988 "Eazy-Duz-It" solo album for the only track clean enough for radio play - and intentionally written as such. Dr.Dre and Yella produced it, and Dre is also credited as the writer - which is interesting, as in later years he would be known as someone who would employ writers for his own lyrics! This song was tributed eleven years after its release by fellow Compton native DJ Quik on his "Quikker Said Than Dunn".

Black Moon : Who Got The Props?

The first time I heard this on the pirate station Supreme back in Leeds in the early 90s, they didn't announce the artist or the track title, which was frustrating - because I thought that this was one of the best records I had ever heard! Eventually I found out what it was and emptied my pockets to buy the import 12" single. A straight classic of Brooklyn rhymes over a jazz sample and some kicking drums, which gave us a preview of the quality to expect from the "Enta Da Stage" album.

[Hangmen 3] Benzino : Bang Ta Dis

Back in the days of the SOHH message boards, this beat was a popular one when it came out! Benzino's not the most heavyweight lyricist in the world, so searching out the vocal of this isn't a must necessarily, but he along with Johnny Bananas and Jeff Two Times kill it on the production here.

The Doobie Brothers : You Belong To Me

My assumption is that this is supposed to be a love song. However, it can't be just me that think it sounds a little...pimpish? This song was written in the late 70s by the Doobies' Michael McDonald and Carly Simon, who herself recorded a more popular version than this, one which got a Grammy nomination. Anita Baker, J-Lo, and others have recorded it as well, but this, the first recorded version (from "Livin' On The Fault Line") is my personal favourite. McDonald is one of the most unmistakable voices in music, and he does a top-notch job with this song.

Marvin Gaye : After The Dance (Instrumental)

An early track from Marvin Gaye's 1976 "I Want You" album, some of you will know this as the ending credit music on "American Pimp". While the vocal version is clearly a love ballad, the Gaye and Leon Ware-produced instrumental seems to take on a sadder character without Marvin's voice over the top. I love it.

Check out this episode!

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