TOTW: God Speed You! Black Emperor_ OUR SIDE HAS TO WIN (for D.H)

Post-rock legends Godspeed You! Black Emperor are back with a new album G_d’s Pee AT STATE’S END! It continues their now well established sound. Long instrumental pieces with several acts that trigger raw emotion in thier listeners.

The final track on the album OUR SIDE HAS TO WIN (for D.H) is something new for them. Almost sounding like a Requiem this mostly string led piece features a smattering of guitar and develops into a slow and positive, dear I say uplifitig chord progression at its conclusion. It results in a bitter sweet conclusion the the record that is well worth a listen to old fans and new alike.

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TOTW: Bicep_Apricots

I’ve just started listening to the excellent “Tape Notes” podcast where John Kennedy interviews artists and producers about the processes behind creating their albums. Based on the handful of episodes I have listened to so far, the podcast manages to balance both entertainment and more technical discussion. This allows for informative conversations that don’t end up sounding to stuffy.

One of the first episodes I wanted to listen to was “Bicep,” as I was interested in learning about the techniques they applied to create their music.

It’s great to hear so many musicians and producers willing to reveal what used to be called “trade secrets.” In the past I used to think that keeping your techniques to yourself made sense, as you built your own sound and protected it from others. But the longer I’ve spent working with audio, the less I find this to be the case.

Everyone has their own way of doing things, no matter how much knowledge we have as producers/musicians. So being informed of other peoples techniques will never end up creating the same thing, even if the desire is to emulate another artist. Listening to how different acts and producers create music shows that there is no correct answer for success, as each one handles it differently and yet still achieves great results.

After listening to the podcast, I went back to the Bicep album “Isles” and have listened to it several times this week. “Apricots” is a great example of their sound, which focuses on lush synthetic textures especially in their pad design. “Apricots” also shows that, with careful sound design, production and compositional structure, you can make music that remains rich and exciting, even when the melodic elements in the arrangement are fairly sparse:

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TOTW: Shout Out Louds_ You Are Dreaming

This week I’ve been going back to a few albums from my past. Shout Out Louds were one of the bands that I felt like I “found” myself, years ago. After hearing their first single “The Comeback” on internet radio, I got their first album “Howl Howl Gaff Gaff” and have been a fan ever since.

Looking back at the blog, I was surprised to see they have only made my TOTW twice. What is unsurprising though is that both their pervious entries and this week’s recommendation come from their second album “Our Ill Wills.”

Partly this is because the album came out at the very end of my teens; an impressionable time for anyone and for me the time I finally had enough money to be able to buy albums and go to gigs regularly. However, in hindsight my love for “Our Ill Wills” also stems from the production of Björn Yttling of Peter, Björn & John fame.

Although I didn’t become a fan of Peter, Björn & John until a few years after I’d first heard “Our Ill Wills,” it’s clear that the pop sensibilities heard on their records are also implemented on this one, taking some of the Lo-Fi edge of their previous record and giving it a shiny counterpoint that really helps the music pop.

Because of these factors, “Our Ill Wills” Is a record I will always love. It’s chock full of great and under appreciated Indy gems that make the whole record an easy recommendation in my book.

“You Are Dreaming” is a track that exemplifies what works so well about it. The deadpan vocal delivery underpinned with crisp instrumental production has and will always work for many artists. Shout Out Louds continue to pull this off with aplomb to this day.

It was on “Our Ill Wills” that a real production sheen was applied to their sound, and in many ways is when it worked best. The strings on “Are You Dreaming” are a perfect example, creating a weight and a quality to the piece that enhance further the bitter sweet style that Swedish bands like “Shout out Louds” and “Peter Bjorn & John” create so perfectly.

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TOTW: Cassandra Jenkins_ Hard Drive

Listening through to Cassandra Jenkins Album “An Overview On Phenomenal Nature” i was instantly attracted to the composition of the track “Hard Drive”.

It’s a collage of different moments delivered in spoken word over a bed of smokey saxophone and jangling guitars. “Hard Drive” creates a kaleidoscope of “slice of life” commentary backed up with musical romanticism.

Its structures feel fresh but also seeded in the traditions of american folk. Its been my most played song this week and an easy one to recommend:

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TOTW: Mary Lattimore_ Til A Mermaid Drags You Under

On her album “Silver Ladders” Harpist Mary Lattimore creates soft, shifting tracks that are rich in character.

It the way the Harp interacts with the other instruments throughout the tracks that really gives the pieces such an identifiable quality. Most of the instrumentation is made up of small repetitive motifs that are played with slight iterations each time. Each instrument doesn’t seem to stay locked into tempo instead they all seem to drift around each other and as they do they interplay with different notes from other instruments creating new textures and chords.

“Til A Mermaid Drags You Under” is a great example of this drifting style. Harp and electric guitar interweave with each other to create wide and beautiful ambiances that undulate over time resulting in a track that continues to change whilst holding a collection of simple melodic structures:

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TOTW: Daft Punk-Something About Us

Daft Punk are calling it a day. Who knows the future for the two musicians and producers behind the project. Whether that be working together or separately on something else, or if they’re just going to stop all together,

Whatever the outcome they leave behind a small yet great catalog of music that was released over their twenty eight year career. On the surface they were a group focused on dance music but their albums always went in a more varied set of directions.

Their singles were so ubiquitous that for a passing listener it would be easy to think they represented everything their music represented. I was the same until I listened to “Discovery” in my early teens. Their love for the music of the 70’s was evident when you listened to the whole record, Not just Disco but rock from the time period was a key element of their sound.

Discovery is a fantastic album from beginning to end but the track that was and still is my favorite Daft Punk track is “Something About Us”. Its arrangement has something of the Nile Rodgers about it years before they got to work with him on “Random Access Memories”. With synthesizers taking the parts that would usually be filled with guitar.

This is probably the first track I heard that made me think about Synthesizers as an instrument of interest. Before that point I had played Trombone and Bass Guitar, but hearing “Something About Us” made me think about the unique sounds the synthesizer can achieve. A sound I wanted to replicate.

Something About Us was a gateway and influence for me its sound and style ooze a coolness that still holds up to this day even with synthesis becoming dominant in modern pop music. I love and will continue to return to this track for the rest of my life. It’s a must listen for anyone:

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TOTW: Nujabes_ Light on the land

For the past four years I’ve posted a Nujabes track on the week of the artists untimely death. Partly to remember his work but also because it still resonates with me to this day. Jazz Infused Hip hop wasn’t unique when he was making this music over a decade ago and its a style that has continued to be popular and yet for me his work still reigns supreme.

His particular ability to mix samples that create strong emotions in the listener has enabled the work to remain relevant and still continue to grow a fan base of both listeners and musicians alike. Many have been influenced by his work and some have tried to imitate it to varying levels of success and yet none have been able to match the original work for feeling and repeatability.

Its a mark to the mans talent that his work is so hard to replicate when its sample based. Clearly Jun Seba had a unique ear for finding and working these elements together. Although we were only blessed with a small collection of albums and EP from his shot but productive career they continue to be some of the most listed to records in my collection many years after I first heard them. I can’t recommend them highly enough.

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TOTW: Ben Folds Five_Army

This week has been really busy for me. Moving Into a new house has left me with a lot of chores to do. Although I’ve been off work for the past couple of weeks I’ve spent most of that time on the house.

I’ve also not been listening to much music during this period instead choosing podcasts as I find them easier to drop in and out of than listening to new music with the attention it deserves.

However I have been going back to some of my favorite records and songs. Tracks I know so well I don’t have to focus on them in the same way I would a piece of music that is new to me. One of those records has been “The Unauthorized Biography Of Reinhold Messner” by “Ben Folds Five” an album I have loved since my teens.

The First Track I heard from the album was when this track “Army” was used underneath a rugby promo on the BBC. As a trombone player at the time I was instantly attracted to the Brass segment that was used on the track. These were pre-shazam days where finding tracks from small sections was hard to do, even with the internet. With some perseverance and the help from a message board I managed to find out the origins of the track and bought this album to hear what the rest of it was like.

Over the years It has grown into one of my favorite records and one I return to and is well worth delving into for anyone who hasn’t. “Army” was my first introduction to his music and a great place to start:

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TOTW: Protomartyr_ Processed By The Boys

I’ve come back to this track many times since hearing it on a “Spotify” missed list of 2020.

The composition really subverted my expectations. Its lyrics deal with an oppressive force taking control and at first the instrumentation seems to follow this style with building melodic darkness and aggression, and on first listen it was where I thought the track would continue to go. However, as “Processed By The Boys” gets to the chorus the chords become far more uplifting, almost subverting the lyrical context.

The track furthers this development as it comes to its conclusion. “Next time it will be different, So cool so nice,” Joe Casy delivers with a mix of apathy and acceptance, which is opposed by the crescendo of instrumentation escalating until is soars.

After this point things come crashing down and the track finishes with a whimper. The protagonist doesn’t go out with a blaze of glory and instead accepts defeat.

When I first heard the track I thought it would go in one direction but it turns down several other forks in the road and finishes somewhere else entirely. This both surprised and excited me as a listener. Those feelings haven’t died away as I have become more accustomed to the track, which is rare indeed.

“Processed By The Boys” by Protomartyr is well worth a listen:

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TOTW: Axel Boman_ Eyes Of My Mind

I loved the album “Talaboman” from a few years ago. A collaboration between John Talabot and Axel Boman a few years ago, which introduced me to Axel Boman.

“Eyes Of My Mind” is a great example of this stripped down House sound that Axel Boman does so well. Focused on a small repeating vocal, he manages to make a track with a strong driving force that also has a refined subtlety to it.

Its a difficult skill to create a track with drive and without aggression but “Eyes Of My Mind” does it perfectly. A track that’s right up my street and comes highly recommended:

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