Category Archives: Track Of The Week

Weekly selection of other artists music

TOTW: King Crimson_ 21st Century Schizoid Man

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It’s the 50th Anniversary of King Crimsons debut album “In The Court Of The Crimson King”. 50 years is a long time in music, and there may be many people who haven’t heard this record. To put it quite simply if you’re a fan of music, and haven’t heard this album, you owe it to yourself to give this your attention and time.

One of, if not the first “prog rock” record. “In The Court Of The Crimson King” manages to hold my attention more than many of the works in the genre that preceded it for the next two decades.

The genre went on to become bombastically bloated in complex solos from incredibly talented musicians. But what it gained in technique it lost in emotion. On the other hand King Crimson’s first record manages to be compiled of fantastic tracks that happen to have amazing solos in them. They serve a purpose rather then being the purpose, an important distinction.

The album opens with probably their most known track “21st Century Schizoid Man”. A track that works as a calling card for the record. Very few recordings have ever demonstrated a band this talented or tight. The syncopated harmony’s between each musician is a feat of dexterity and timing that can only come from incredible musicians with a near telepathic connection. When i first heard this track it was literally breathtaking.

I sat there, slack jawed and shaking my head in disbelief. There have been a handful of times in bands where I’ve felt truly “locked in”. Where every musician is working together as a whole and for a few minutes it no longer feels like your reciting music from your memory but a group consciousness.

King Crimson take this feeling an place it on record with a musicianship that elevates to a new plane entirely. It’s a pure joy to listen to and is one of the many reasons “In The Court Of The Crimson King” is so highly regarded. I’ll let you find out the other reasons in your own time:

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TOTW: Loscil_ Endless Falls

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Sam A good friend of mine recommended I give the album “Endless Falls” by Loscil a listen and I’m glad I did.

Minimal in style the album focuses on subtler elements to weave a patchwork of emotion throughout. The opening and title track “Endless Falls” starts with a field recording of rain. It sets a calming mood that the looping drones and pads enhance before a repeating collection of string instruments create a highly, emotionally charged melody.

The technique of mixing field recordings with instrumentation has interested me for many years and has been the center of much of my own music. The way a well selected piece of field recording can set tone is often faster and more direct than composition. But in it’s directness it removes some of the ability to stir up emotion in the listener. It takes a lot of skill to blend both melody and recordings together so they feel like a complete entity. Loscil demonstrates that skill throughout the record and on this track particularly:

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TOTW: Michael Kiwanuka_ You Ain’t The Problem

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I first heard “You Ain’t The Problem” on last week’s Later with Jools Holland and was blown away with its modern take on 60s rock/soul.

What was even more surprising is how different the version on the record was to the live performance. Many current performances rely heavily on recreating the album experience live, using samplers and playback machines to fill out the sound. But Michael Kiwanuka and his band didn’t take this approach.

Instead, they used their musicianship and talent to turn a track into something more organic, and closer to a more traditional live performance, which is refreshing to hear in a live show these days.

The album version of the track takes things in a more psychedelic rock direction, with distorted guitar, key stabs and bass lines. These subside for the verses, which musically go into soul, overlaid by Michaels vocal flow. His vocal is both fast, smooth and highly engaging.

The track clearly is based around a singer songwriter performance and its basis could easily be from a classic soul record, but the way the track flicks between multiple genres and blends elements of each shows the hip hop production heritage behind the record. This results in a track that straddles the line between modern and nostalgic styles, and mixes them both together to make a perfect cocktail.

As the opening track from his self titled record, “You ain’t the problem” sets a high bar that the rest of the album manages to uphold:

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TOTW: The National_ Runaway

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I’ve been listening to The National a lot this week and forgot just how much I loved their music and its overall high quality. My favorite album “High Violet” never puts a foot wrong throughout its entire playtime.

“Runaway” comes towards the end of the album and slows down its pace both in tempo and production by stripping down the percussion to its bare elements. It then extenuates the emotion in the lyrics with use of strings and brass orchestration that swell in and out of the piece. A great track on a now classic album that’s well worth your time:

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TOTW: lingua ignota_ MAY FAILURE BE YOUR NOOSE

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CALIGULA is a very impressive, complete work. Blending classical, noise and metal, it creates an album with a clear and powerful vision.

When an album works so well as a singular piece, picking a single track always seems a little silly. But if you were to condense the ideas and themes into a single track it would probably take the form of “MAY FAILURE BE YOUR NOOSE”.

The track starts with classical piano and vocals that portray an abusive and suffocating relationship. Apart from the content of the lyrics, the track initially appears to follow a fairly traditional sound, with large, lush reverb, similar to classical music. But that quickly changes with the tracks first left turn.

A massive distorted bass line rips and tears its way into the sound stage, as if a portal to hell is opening right in the middle of the performance. At the 2 minute mark, distorted screams push the bass away along with the large reverb, and we are offered a brief and intimate respite before hell opens up and takes the whole track with it under massive explosive percussion and distorted screams.

It’s a bold, brave and outlandish sound that pays off in every respect. “MAY FAILURE BE YOUR NOOSE” is a great place to start but it shouldn’t be the end of your journey.

CALIGULA is shaping up to be a must for my end of year list.

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TOTW: Daphni ft Paradise_ Sizzling

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Dan Snaith is best known for his project Caribou, which blends dance and Indy to create some of my favorite albums of the past decade.

However today we’re going to focus on his other pseudonym. Daphni makes music that aims squarely at the dance floor and DJ record collections. The title track on the latest EP remixes “sizzling hot” by Paradise. Increasing the BPM, cherry picking the breaks and adding drum machines to beef up the track. Bringing it back to the clubs for a modern era.

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TOTW: Nils Frahm_ All Armed

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I’ve talked repeatedly about my love of Nils Frahm and seeing him towards the end of last year was a great experience. “All Armed” perfectly demonstrates what he does best. Namely stripping down music to its rawest form melodically and instrumentally. But then giving each of those instruments a rich sound and deep sound stage to shine in.

The bass line in “All Armed” is a perfect example. It’s comprised of only three different notes and looping every 8 bars for almost the entirety of this 11 and a half minute track. However it never gets stale, as filters slightly open and close, varying the synth between softer and a more aggressive edge as it oozes with the warmth that you can only achieve from analogue circuitry.

The bass may be the front and center of this track, providing the foundation and permanent drive of the piece. But other organic eastern instruments pepper their way throughout, creating a world that sounds brooding dark and exiting.

Some tracks just come along at the right times, I first heard “All Armed” when driving to a night shift in work and the atmosphere of the track perfectly suits this experience. So why don’t you do the same. Drop it into a driving playlist and see just how great Nils Frahm is at setting a scene and a mood:

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TOTW: Cate le Bon_ Home to You

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I recently went on holiday spending a couple of weeks traveling around Sri Lanka and took a trusty Spotify playlist of music from this year I needed to catch up on.

Home to You was a track that stood out to me immediately with its catchy jolly melody backed up by interesting rhythmic vocal patterns in its second half. They kept me returning to it throughout the holiday and since then back in the UK.

Home to you Is Pop music at its finest and well worth a listen:

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TOTW: Clark_ Flask / Abyss

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Clark’s latest album “Kiri Variations” elaborates on and develops themes that he made for the British tv show Kiri. In parts it does sound more like an OST then a traditionally tailored album but this doesn’t stop Clark from showing his incredible qualities as a producer and sound designer.

As you may well know I’m a sucker for synth pads and “Flask / Abyss” doesn’t disappoint. Warm warbling synthesis with slow attack and releases drift into and out of the track like waves. Bobbing on top of these waves is the light melody that only lasts briefly before the mood of the piece plunges into deeper darker territory.

Clark continues to make music that sounds lush vibrant and unique. His production is some of the best in electronic music. Pushing elements of sound design to new places without sacrificing quality in composition and production. “Kiri Variations” takes this in a more minimal and ambient direction but if you want something more dance floor orientated I would highly recommend his self titled album:

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TOTW: Purple Mountains_ Darkness And Cold

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David Berman committed suicide this August and the outpouring from fans (many of whom musicians I admire) made me want to listen to his music.

I had never heard his music before but its easy to see why he has received so much love an adoration since his passing. His lyrics are full of poetic observations unique to his own world view and yet are easily relatable to any listener.

The track “Darkness And Cold” from his last and latest album is a perfect example. A sad subject matter about his ex lover going on a date with someone else is told with a wry sensitivity and poetic genius that elevates it above most alt-country. David Berman achieved this repeatedly on this album and his work in the band “Silver Jews” which I also highly recommend. His unique vision will be sorely missed.

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