TOTW: Big Thief_ Not

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Big Thief took quite a while for me to get into, but I’ve found their past two albums (both released last year) to be real growers with time. The first track to really grab me was “Not” and it’s the reason I came back to their work and give it the chance it deserved to show it’s qualities.

The most instantly recognisable sound from big thief is the distinctive vocals of Adrianne Lenker who’s rasping voice portrays a raw emotion that can easily go missing in folk rock. It’s always backed up with great lyrics that are often full of powerful symbolism.

“Not” adds to this with its structure that slowly builds to the choruses feeling more and more restrictive. heavily distorting guitar provides drone sounds that create a feeling of descent and increasing pressure. The only respite offered in the track is in small sections when the instrumentation strips away to just the percussion.

The second half of the track concludes with a rip roaring guitar solo that continues to get more raucous and less structured as it collapses in on itself on the tracks conclusion. It’s a powerful and emotional track who’s lyrics, vocal delivery and instrumentation all unify into a truly great piece of music:

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TOTW_NÉRIJA-EU (Emotionally Unavailable)

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The seven piece band NÉRIJA make some smooth jazz on their record “Blume.”

It’s a great record, with many fantastic tracks. EU stood out on my first listen though due to its composition.

Once over the halfway mark, the track completely changes. Instrumentation falls away to the percussion, which then takes a more forward role in the track with a heavy reverb on the snare and shuffling ghostnotes that slowly crescendo until they become the main driving force for the flute solo.

It’s a bold direction that you rarely hear in jazz, but it really works well on this track. A great demonstration of what makes their music so good; fantastic musicianship, and interesting composition and production decisions that make this track and the album a must listen:

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TOTW: Caribou_ Never Come Back

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Caribou has always impressed me with his sweet and sour mix of light, clean electronic production, which belies darker subject matter in the vocals. His latest album “suddenly” follows the same formula, but goes even further with its overall sound.

“Never Come Back” came out earlier in the year, but I tend to wait until albums are released before listening to the preview tracks; they always skew my opinion of the album. It’s the clear single from the track listing and instantly stood out with its strong dance structure.

Opening solidly, with looped vocal samples and sawtooth synth stabs, which are slowly built on to form a fairly traditional house track; it is elevated to something exciting and fresh by his personal creative flourishes. Noteworthy examples include the de-tuning synth accompanying melodies and changing drum samples/machines in each section:

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TOTW- Gil Scott-Heron, Makaya McCraven- Where Did the Night Go

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On album “We’re new again” jazz drummer and band leader Makaya McCavern re-imagines the final album of poet and performer Gil Scott-Heron. Turning an album that’s more experimental in its sound design into a jazz infused Hip hop style that works extremely well on many of the tracks.

“Where Did the Night Go” is a great example. The looping industrial sound from the original version is replaced with flute and drums that suit both the words and delivery of Gil Scott-Heron but slightly adjusts their context into something a bit lighter and more dreamlike.

Once the original poem is finished the track then takes samples from the vocals and structures them into a more rigid style. This is then accompanied by a looping flute line and a hiphop drum beat that shifts the context of the original again. It’s achievable due to the outstanding quality of Gil Scott-Herons poetry, how it can both be very personal and at the same time omnipresent. This fluidity in both the text and its delivery gives a gravitas to the piece and still allows for the instrumentation to go in its own direction.

At times The album manages to elevate the original tracks into something even greater than the original recordings and when it doesn’t they’re shifted In directions that makes you see them in a different light. This makes the album well worth a listen wether your new to Gil Scott-Herron or you’ve heard his work before:

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TOTW: Nujabes_Feather

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Every year on the week of his death I dedicate my Track Of The Week to Japanese Hip-Hop producer Nujabes.

A decade after His death, his production still feels fresh, blending jazz samples with hip hop groves, which a collection of collaborators to rap over. Its a blend of genre that has been prevalent throughout the history of Hip-Hop, but Nujabes still stands out as one of the true masters of the form.

Feather is the opening track to his second album “modal soul,” and follows his winning formula of musical looping sections; filtered to allow space for Cise Starr & Akin to rap over.

Its a great place to start with its catchy piano hook and thoughtful lyrics, but it should’t be the place to stop. His work (especially on his first two albums) is a pure joy and has never left me since I first heard it nearly fifteen years ago.

It is a shame that we will never hear more from Jun Seba but I will cherish the music he did release for the rest of my life. Although there is a fairly limited amount of music, the quality of the tracks throughout his career mean that I will be able to continue this section for years to come:

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TOTW- Against All Logic_Fantasy

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Nicholas Jaar has really impressed me over the past few years underneath the “Against All Logic” pseudonym. His 2018 album “2012-2017” was a fresh and invigorating surprise, quickly making its way into my end of year list.

It’s success has resulted in a clear sequel “2017-2019”, which continues with what makes “Against All Logic” so exciting to me. Taking the structured formula of dance music genre (mostly house), and then flavoring it with experimentation to create new and explosive music, it breaks tradition and keeps you permanently guessing.

The album opens with “Fantasy.” The opening synthesizer plucked style sound is clearly teenage engineering’s OP-1; one of my favorite and most loved synths. I don’t know what it is about it’s digital sound but it does something for me personally that has meant I would never part with my own. This synth continues to be used on the whole track along with the chopped up vocals of Beyoncé to create a collection of grooves that hook you in instantly and keep you locked in, even whilst he pulls them apart with stuttering drums and a minimalist breakdown.

This track to me is like a dream come true. One of my favorite electronic acts using one of my favorite synthesizers to create a track that demonstrates both his skills and the sounds that I have grown to love from years of personal use of the instrument. What more could I ask for?

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TOTW: Akasha System- Echo Earth

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Listening through a collection of electronic music from last year, the “Akasha System” album “Echo Earth” really stood out to me.

The title track “Echo Earth” is a good representation of the album as a whole. Fairly traditional sounds are used in its instrumentation, but its a formula that has stood the test of time and has always been a favorite of mine. Polyphonic synth pads provide a base for the shimmering lead lines to twinkle over. The bottom end is filled with rhythmic bass lines, and the percussion ties the whole thing together to create a blissful experience.

It may be a tried and tested formula but Akasha System proves that there’s still legs in a now classic electronic sound:

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TOTW: Anunaku-Temples

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On EP “Whites 024” Anunaku focuses on percussion to make three great dance tracks.

Its opening track “Temples” features a break beat mixed with elements of “world” percussion which adds flair to an already strong formula.

A dark and brooding reese style Bass line gives the track an edge and the use of eastern scales in the melody adds further excitement and verity taking the track in a different direction from its more traditional roots:  

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TOTW: Uboa- An Angel of Great and Terrible Light

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This track is from the Uboa album “The Origin of My Depression” which on the most part is an intense and relentless listen. It blends styles and experimental walls of sound to create a tracks that at times can feel almost suffocating.

“An Angel of Great and Terrible Light” starts in a lighter direction with the darker elements bubbling under the track like feelings of self doubt. As the track continues they try to take over and derail the track by the 5 five minute mark they stop being sporadic and the distortion works it way into guitars that are not only aggressive but also regimented. They don’t just take over the track but also take control of it driving it forward. By the end even they can’t keep control or order. The track falls into chaos as static and distortion drowns out all melody before finally subsiding to a synth/vibraphone melody.

This Track condenses the albums entire theme into its run time and is a great place to start with it because if you like what you hear you’ll definitely like the rest. A bold and provocative piece of work that encapsulates is subject matter almost perfectly:

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TOTW: Bjarki_ Sprinq 3-2

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A good friend Jon Taylor recommended I listen to the Bjarki ablum “Happy Earthday,” and I’m glad I did.

There’s clear influences of the warp acts Boards Of Canada and Aphex Twin throughout the album, but its the more experimental flourishes on the tracks that take the music away from imitation and towards a sound uniquely identifiable as this artist.

This type of sound is right in my wheelhouse anyway, so I was always going to enjoy it, but I’ve listened to it repeatedly due to its unique eccentricities. A stand out among these is my track of the week “sprinq 3-2”.

The track only hints at the percussion that’s in the majority of the album. Instead, it builds and releases tension with large synth pad swells. These layer over elements that sound close to organised radio static to create a wistful, emotive piece that works on its own and as part of the album flow.

So thanks Jon for a great recommendation and I hope by passing it on you’ll get the same enjoyment out of the album as I have:

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