Tag Archives: TOTW

TOTW: Peter Bjorn & John_From Now On

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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: Mount Eerie_Swims

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The Mount Eerie album A Crow Looked At Me is not an easy listen. Musician Phil Elverum lays bare his feelings over the loss of his wife Genevieve Castree, and his life since, with a mix of brutal, simplistic honesty and poetic artistry.

Musical arrangements are sparse in both structure and use of instrumentation but they focus the listener on the bitter sweet lyrics that vividly portray such an honest and painful loss. It’s this honesty that creates instant empathy for his character. The little nuances of daily life that suddenly become meaningful add such a weight to the EP that you can’t help but relate.

In the opening lines of the EP Mount Eerie states that death is “not for singing about, it’s not for making into art”. Despite this Phil Elverum is still an artist and his poetic nature shines through as his use of language takes you from the harsh reality to the profound.

The track Swims is a perfect example:

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TOTW: Kelela_Take Me Apart

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R&B has always been a vocal lead genre and that’s allowed the musical accompaniment to be varied and experimental without loosing its mainstream appeal.

The Album Take Me Apart manages to demonstrate this perfectly, with a collection of tracks that show modern forms of electronic production as a basis for great vocal delivery. On the title track deep low end kick drums and sub bass brood under de-tuning synth pads and harsh lead lines that without the vocals would be better suited to heavier forms of electronic composition. But once they’re added, the crystal clear vocals cut through the track, giving it a pop sensibility.

This mix of strong vocals and interesting sound design that allows the piece and the album as a whole to appeal to many listeners. Give it some of your time:

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TOTW: Iglooghost_White Gum

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Iglooghost is another act that is pushing the sounds of the computer as an instrument to a new and strange place. He manages to both reference the works of other acts and yet have his own identity within his sonic world that mixes saccharin pop elements with harder experimental electronic composition.

His unique sound allows him to take other genre and make them his own like in this track White Gum witch takes a Hiphop/Rap structure and applies it to his kaleidoscopic world of mystical instrumentation and fast cuts:

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TOTW: Steve Lacy_Dark Red

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Steve Lacy creates the majority of his music on an iPhone. It goes to show how far technology has come. That with enough talent you can create something as good as his first Demo using a recording device you can fit in your pocket.

The recording method gives the music a distinctive sound that suits the style of composition. Using layered instrumentation to create a laid back mix of funk and soul. The highlight of the short but sweet demo is the track Dark Red which blends great harmonies with soulful guitar and a Hip hop drumbeat to great effect:

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TOTW: Gaussian Curve- Dancing Rain

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As with my last TOTW artist Earthen Sea, Gaussian Curve focuses his sound on wide ambient textures but shows the listener just how different the genre can be. Creating a Yin to Earthen Seas Yang. The dark cold shadows of Earthen Seas’ sound pallet are replaced with bright crystalline structures shimmering in broad daylight. On Dancing Rain a rhythmic Synth pad sound and bass provide minimal but enticing melodies that keep you hooked through its playtime:

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TOTW: Earthen Sea_About That Time

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As the end of the year approaches and so does my end of year list I’ve been spending time listening to albums I’ve missed throughout the year and came across Earthen Sea.

The artist mixes ambient, house and techno to create a massively atmospheric sound. On the track About That Time he uses minimal percussion to drive wide synth pads and guitar to create a club track with a wide cold sound pallet. It’s a sound I have always been a huge fan of and Earthen Sea does it particularly well making it my track of the week and well worth your time:

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TOTW: Tinariwen_ Islegh Taghram Tifhamam

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I recently visited Morocco on holiday and during my travels was introduced to a collection of music from the region that I found captivating. Tinariwen were one of the first to grab my attention with a sound that manages to blend traditional folk and modern styles.

On Islegh Tagharm Tifhamam the guitars and percussion create a fluid almost hypnotic sound that provides the perfect background for the vocal harmonies to whisk you away:

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TOTW: Four Tet_LA Trance

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Four Tet does things differently. His take on dance music has always used sounds and structures outside of other artists in the mainstream. It’s a style that he has cultivated over the years and in different directions but always to great results and his latest album New Energy is no exception.

The focus of the album is a more minimal approach with lots off atmosphere which unifies all the tracks to create a complete piece of work. LA Trance with its lead synth Line with plenty of Swing was the first track to really get in my head and I’ve chosen it as my Track Of The Week.]

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TOTW: Bibio_PHANTOM BRICKWORKS III

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On his latest album PHANTOM BRICKWORKS Bibio creates large ambient soundscapes reminiscent of other luminaries in the genre. It’s a sound I’ve been developing myself over the past few weeks for a my live performances at Leigh’s ART Market on the 9th & 10th of December and in doing so you realise just how hard it is go keep things simple in structure. You constantly battle with the desire to add more but it’s the lack of this that creates the track.

By removing something easy to latch onto the listener has to find their own from the sounds that are available or even imagine sounds to give the track a feeling of competition. It creates a track with a unique feel that can be frustrating for some listeners but addictive to others. I fall into the second camp as these kind of tracks never get old for me, leaving space in the mix to constantly create my own ideas.

On PHANTOM BRICKWORKS III Bibio uses tried and tested techniques that are highly effective for the genre as loops of piano notes are played at very slightly different durations to create a melody that drifts gradually over time.

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