I’ve only just started listening to Dabyre’s Three trilogy, where he mixes hiphop and electronica together. Although better known for the second and now third parts of this series, due to collaboration with well known rappers such as MF Doom and Danny Brown, its the first from the trilogy that peaked my interest originally, with its focus on instrumentals.
Hyped-Up Plus Tax keeps things relatively simple computationally. There is a vocoded synth part providing the melody, and that’s accompanied by sub bass and drum sampling to give the track the swing found in Hip hop. It’s this swing that makes the track. Playing with a few elements in different ways throughout the track allows the natural swagger of the musicianship to come through. The track feels physically played rather than sequenced and that blend of the digital with the organic elements to the performance makes it a compelling listen:
Selected Ambient Works 85-92 is 26 years old and still holds its own as a classic of electronic music. It manages to carve its own path whilst also being a precursor to many other electronic music genre. Made with a limited collection of instruments and large chunks of it recorded to cassette tape, it has a lo-fi sound that really adds to the overall aesthetic by adding rough edges to the very straight sound of synthesis.
Although Ambient is in its title this doesn’t correlate to other artists in the genre with many percussion led tracks that fit more into a club sound than the sparse, slower evolving work of other acts. What it does demonstrate is Richard D James’s ability to do a lot with very little. A small handful of synthesizers and samplers are used to create the album and yet he always manages to make tracks that remain compelling. This shows a creative talent for composition and arranging at the very beginning of his career that has continued for the past quarter of a century.
Xtal opens the album with flair. The simple opening drum machine manages to take a 808 hi-hat sound that’s been used countless times and yet with processing and reverb turn it into something iconic. It provides a perfect summery to all the sounds on the track, which somehow manage to be both recognisable and yet unique. An understated piece that has stayed compelling this many years later.
Car Seat Headrest Has re-released a new version of his 2011 album Twin Fantasy. However, rather than just a re-mastering of the original recording done at 19 years old on Will Toledos home laptop, the whole project has be re-recorded in a studio environment. This brings the original seeds of creation into vivid clarity.
The original Twin Fantasy was a beloved album by a very dedicated fan base. By polishing the music up it manages to be more accessible and justify the avid reaction to the original. The album may clearly come from the sound of teen angst, when chemicals and emotions run high, but its compositional structure shows a creator with ambition and skills way above his age.
The second track Beach Life-In-Death is the first time you really notice something special is happening on this album. At just over 13 minutes the track goes through several pieces that all feed into each other, both in narrative and musicality. Its massively ambitious and way above what you usually hear in most garage rock.
By going back to earlier material Will Toledo has made me way more interested in his future. On The Twin Fantasy Remake he demonstrates not only his vast raw talent but also his ability to move this into a studio environment and make it more accessible:
The latest album by U.S. Girls, titled “In a Poem Unlimited,” has really grabbed me over the past week. It’s influences are vast and yet it manages to have them all working together fluidly. On the denouement, the track “Time” takes the art rock sound of the 70’s and early 80’s and finishes the album on a long jam session, with a dark brooding aesthetic achieved by a driving drum beat and eclectic instrumentation. Reminiscent of artists like Talking Heads and Roxy music in their heyday, U.S. Girls manage to provide a fresh take on a tried and tested sound that keeps me coming back for more.
8 Years ago this week we lost one of my favourite artists of all time. Jun Seba died in a traffic accident in Shibuya, Tokyo on the 26th of February 2010 with a burgeoning career ahead of him. A career that has continued to grow after his passing due to the quality of his three full albums and multiple mix-tapes and rarities.
Like many fans, I originally heard his work on the anime series Samurai Champloo. It was a sound that stood out in its own right among a collection of hip hop tracks made by great artists. Nujabes production shone through and resulted in me importing his first two albums at a great expense. These two albums have stood the test of time, blending jazz and hip hop to create a nostalgic atmosphere. Their mix of instrumentals, with collaborations from underground rappers from Japan and the USA, provides music that transcends its time period.
Up until recently his work has been hard to get hold of. He released most of his music on his own label “Hydeout Productions” and his sudden death obviously caused issues with the licensing and distribution of his music, outside of the few CD’s released purely in Japan. This made fans outside of japan either acquire the work illegally or at great cost via import/buying from japan personally.
Fortunately those days seem to be disappearing as most of his catalogue has started to appear on major streaming sites over the past few months. Hopefully this accessibility will allow more people to hear and become as enamoured with his music as much as I am.
I have highlighted his work almost yearly on this blog and will continue to do so on the week of his death and for years to come. His music is still as popular to me now as it was when I first heard it. All of his work is amazing with his first two albums “Metaphorical Music” and “Modal Soul” being the highlights.
The track “Reflection Eternal” comes from the latter and exemplifies his instrumental compositions. The use of small loops from limited instrumentation creates a sound that oozes atmosphere. A laid back world that hooks many people. I hope it hooks you too as you start the bittersweet journey of hearing music that will stick with you for years, yet knowing that there will never be more. Jun Suba may have died but Nujabes lives on through his work and his loyal fanbase, which finds an endless joy to the music he created.
MGMT seemed to surprise the music industry and themselves with the huge success of their first album “oracular spectacular” in 2007. It blended great pop melodies with lyrics of teen angst and the production style of Dave Fridmann to became an international hit.
Since then the band have shied away from that sound, instead focusing on the more psychedelic and less accessible music they’re personally interested in. But their fourth record marks a return towards the pop aesthetic of their earlier work, and in turn, a more enjoyable album on first listen.
Me and Michel is saturated with 80’s nostalgia and it does it superbly well. It manages to create a dreamlike soundscape of innocence that could be the soundtrack to any John Hughes movie from the time period. A throwback to the simpler time of youth, where most things are simple and the trivial is important; taking you on a pleasant journey that’s a joy to hear on repeat.
It was sad news to hear about the passing of Jóhann Jóhannsson last week at the early age of 48. His work will continue to live on through the films he’s scored and his own records, which showcase the talents of one of the greatest modern composers. His ability to blend orchestral and electronic instrumentation in an organic way that manages to both suit the style of the work and its requirements, whilst also having his distinct character, placed him with only a handful of others at the top of their game.
It’s at times like this that you really reflect on someone’s body of work and appreciate it as a whole. To give a specific track wouldn’t do justice to his career so instead I will leave my readers with this live performance and interview broadcast last year on KEXP. Hopefully his work will continue to grow after his death as more people recognise his talent. It’s sad to know that there won’t be more but what there is will keep his memory alive for many years to come.
I have been a Paul Thomas Anderson fan for many years and went to see Phantom Thread this week with high expectations that were more than met by another classic of modern cinema.
What stood out from the very beginning was the incredible score by Jonny Greenwood. The House of Woodcock is a highlight, with its muted piano that then blooms into lush tapestry of strings. It manages to be magnificent and intimate at the same time. It is a perfect accompaniment to the film that also holds its own as a piece of music.
Nils Frahm has always had a fascination with musical instruments. You can tell from the way he presents them in his music. The mechanics of the machines that create the sounds you hear are a problem to be mitigated for most producers, but in all of Frahm’s work they are celebrated.
His past couple of solo albums have focused on uniquely designed pianos and the music he could create with them. The way these pianos excelled in niches by design, guided the composition of the pieces in directions you wouldn’t usually take or hear. The skill in the songs creation came from a synergy between the musician and the instrument. You could hear the keys being pressed and the hammers hitting the strings in an organic and vivid way. It takes the listener into the performance and the sound of the room as much as the piece itself.
On his latest he adjusts his style of composition to a more traditional and broader collection of instruments, but his choice in recording techniques and microphone placement continues his characteristic approach to the organic sound of the instruments. You can hear every key press and breath on the woodwinds in the track Sunson becoming a backbone to the rhythm.
I think Frahms greatest achievement is how he blends very raw sounding organic instrumentation with electronic synthesis so they at times become indistinguishable from each other. Its a talent he showed on my favourite album of 2016 trance frendz, where he collaborated with Olafur Arnalds and he’s done it again here. Proving that synthesizers can be more than the harsh simple tones you hear on the charts but just as nuanced as any traditional instrument with the right experience of programming and playing.
It’s early days but I don’t want to say anymore about this record unless I need to do a full write up for my end of year list. Needless to say I’m very impressed with the whole thing. It’s well worth anyone’s time so give it a listen:
My Track of the week segment has been going for several years now and the one thing that still surprises me is how many of my favourite artists have never been placed on the list.
Peter Bjorn and John are a perfect example of a band that should have appeared on my list years ago. They were a key part to the soundtrack of my mid twenties and still have a close place in my heart. Best known for the track Yong Folks, many may have written them off as a one hit wonder but they have a large collection of music both as a band and as producers and musicians on other artists’ work.
The one thing that has always shone thorough is their ability to write a fantastic pop hook, even on their earlier work which I can’t recommend highly enough.
Their first, self titled album manages to tie a lofi garage rock sound with pop sensibilities and in doing so creates a personal favourite album of mine. There are many great tracks on the album but a few rank as some of my favourite tracks of all time. From Now On is one of these.
A simple but instantly recognisable melody starts the piece on piano, before we go into guitar and vocals. This melody slowly works its way into the vocals, becoming a motif that at the halfway point takes over the track again. The piano line is joined by swells of trumpet, guitar and strings, working their way into a fantastic crescendo of musical sweetness. It’s a pure joy to hear, no matter how many times I’ve played it and more than deserves its place on my TOTW playlist.
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TOTW Playlist:
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