Tracks of the Week 4: 29/2 - 6/3

Yo! I got some more choice cuts from new music released over the past seven days. Just as last week, I was really impressed with the quality of new music that I've been hearing recently. If you liked/hated any of these selections, let me know with a comment. That being said, here are my five favourite new tracks.

case/lang/veirs – “Atomic Number”

Teaser single for the upcoming project by Neko Case from The New Pornographers, country/pop superstar k.d. lang & singer-songwriter Laura Veirs. Although I do particularly like the backing instrumentation of acoustic guitar, light percussion and string sections, what really struck me was the trio of female voices weaving in and out through the piece, each distinct in their own way. Makes for a captivating concoction of pop, country & indie pop aesthetics. 4/5

JMSN – “Cruel Intentions”

Smooooooooth soul. Feels like a classic D’Angelo joint from the Brown Sugar era. Featuring some bluesy guitars, punchy horns & laid-back grooves, it’s the quintessential slow jam. JMSN croons as if he was born to dish out heavy doses of soul. 3.5/5

Kendrick Lamar – “untitled 06”

 

Okay, so I had a tough decision to make here. Kendrick’s untitled unmastered. has several standout tracks, and I’ve been noticing a lot of hype around 02, 05, 07 and of course 08 a.k.a. “Blue Faces”. But as a massive fan of OutKast, it was 06 that stood out to me the most. It plays like something out of Aquemini (is it a coincidence that Kendrick muses about his star sign – Gemini – on the intro?) with Cee-Lo singing the hook, and production handled by Ali Shaheed Muhammad & Adrian Younge. It’s definitely added a LOT of hype for me in regards to his upcoming performance at Auckland City Limits. 4.5/5

Yeasayer – “Silly Me” 

Brooklyn-based psychedelic/electronic quartet Yeasayer aren’t a group that I’m all that familiar with, but after hearing this track ahead of their fourth album Amen & Goodbye due out on April 1, I might have to start diving into their discography. It’s surprisingly catchy considering how odd and heavily layered the instrumentation is, and the vocals really give me vibes of Andy Bell from 1980s synthpop duo Erasure. 3.5/5

Your Old Droog – “Hip-Hop Head”

Had a good laugh while listening to this. Your Old Droog delivers a couple of funny verses about a girl he meets that really loves hip hop, hence the title. There are some fairly clever humorous lines, for example “Fuck with Bun B, then she givin up the Buns, B”. It’s produced by Alchemist, who gives it an old-school style beat with some druggy horns and a steady backbeat. It’s the kind of comedy rap that I don’t hear very often in modern hip hop, akin to what Biz Markie was doing during the 1980s. 3.5/5

- Karl

Anniversary Albums: Edition Four - Gil Scott-Heron "Pieces of a Man"

This week on Anniversary Albums we are taking a look at the debut studio album from the amazing New York singer and poet Gil Scott-Heron, "Pieces of a Man".

Released in 1971, Pieces of a Man was a new musical direction for Scott-Heron whose previous work was largely spoken word.

The songs on this album, apart from a couple of exceptions were recorded largely in a more conventional song structure.

It was also his first collaboration with multi-instrumentalist Brian Jackson who he would form a long-standing musical partnership with.

Musically, the material for this album is very much rooted in jazz, soul, and blues. The songs are characterized by quite a mellow instrumentation with electric piano and guitar the driving forces, while on occasion some free jazz arrangements and solos appear.

The songs also tend to feature quite soulful vocals from Scott-Heron as he showcases his singing ability, pushing his vocals to the fore.

Pieces of a Man was not a commercial success and received very little critical attention at the time. However, it has since gone on to become a universally acclaimed record. It has garnered massive retrospective critical praise, with many acknowledging its influence on fusing difference genres together such as jazz, soul, funk and proto-rap.

It also inevitably had a massive influence on genres such as hip hop and neo-soul, something that was largely due to the fusing of different genres in the music, as well as Scott-Herons lyrical artistry and political and social awareness across the album.

The albums legacy was also undoubtedly enhanced by the opening track “The Revolution Will Not Be Televised”, a political spoken word track that some say was the first ever rap song.

However, Scott-Heron himself was critical of the over-inflation of “Revolution” compared to the other tracks on the record . He said “Revolution” ended up overshadowing the other material on the album leading to other songs being heard less as a result.

- Sam 

Tracks of the Week 3: 22/2 - 28/2

Three for three! Back again with some selections of my favourite music from the past week. Even though this is a new series for the blog, I was blown away with the quality of great music this week, definitely give these tracks a listen if you haven't already. As always, let me know of any other new songs from the past week which I might have missed.

Iggy Pop – “Sunday”

Post Pop Depression, the collaborative project between Iggy Pop & Josh Homme (from Queens of the Stone Age) isn’t out until March but the album leaked online a few weeks ago, and Iggy’s official youtube channel dropped this track from the album yesterday. Apart from the already released “Gardenia”, I think this is the strongest offering from the album – I love the backing vocal harmonies, driving guitars and thumping rhythm sections. (I’m always a sucker for good handclaps too) The sickly-sweet string outro is a bit strange, but it’s not an unpleasant aftertaste. 4/5

Joey Bada$$ - “Ready”

When I picked Joey’s debut LP B4.DA.$$ as one of my favourites from 2015, I mused about the need for him to demonstrate a bit of versatility for whatever he channels himself into next – don’t get me wrong, I love old-school sounding hip hop, jazz rap in particular, but staying fresh in the game is paramount! That freshness is exactly the vibe I’m getting from his latest offering, produced by Statik Selektah. He seems to be leaning more towards a tougher, harder style of delivery, and clever wordplay like this “And if you really break a leg, I hope they still will cheer you” is dynamite. 4/5

Macklemore & Ryan Lewis ft. Chance The Rapper – “Need to Know”

Chalk up another slam dunk for Chance, the hype is definitely getting substantial towards his third mixtape project. A recurring theme in This Unruly Mess I’ve Made is reflection and self-evaluation, focusing on Macklemore in particular in the years following his controversial Grammy win for Best Rap Album in 2014. I think the two play around the subject matter brilliantly, Chance even looks back on when he used to open shows for Macklemore, and how things have changed since then. The piano, horn & flute segments make for a great beat too. 3.5/5

Miguel – “Waves (Tame Impala Remix)”

Kevin Parker can literally do no wrong – everything he touches turns to spectacular, lush psychedelic goodness. This is one of several remixes featured in Miguel’s Rogue Waves EP, and stands miles apart from the rest – even eclipsing Miguel’s original. The additional backing vocal, “Gonna riiiiiiiide that waaaaaaaaave” is glorious, sung by Parker himself (I’m assuming?) and the extra instrumentation provided by Tame Impala that we all know and love transforms this into an addictive, trippy, R&B doozy. 4.5/5

Santigold – “Rendezvous Girl”

During my listen of Santigold’s new album 99¢ I had to double-check that I hadn’t accidentally swapped over to an 80s playlist when this came on. “Rendezvous Girl” is a straight mesh of new wave & electropop aesthetics, something I’d expect to hear from Duran Duran or New Gold Dream-era Simple Minds. The terrific driving beat, pulsating synth melodies and Santigold’s airy vocals all combine perfectly. It’s impossible to sit still while listening to this – I challenge anyone to do so. This is the banger of the week, right here. 4.5/5

- Karl

Podcast Episode #2 "David Bowie Tribute"

In this episode of our monthly podcast series we pay tribute to the late David Bowie by going through his remarkable and transformative life and career as artist and musician. We also reflect on his influence across art and culture, briefly review his final album Blackstar and present our 5 favourite Bowie albums.

Songs featured:

• "Uncle Arthur" (David Bowie)
• "The Man Who Sold the World" (The Man Who Sold the World)
• "Quicksand" (Hunky Dory)
• "Ziggy Stardust", "Moonage Daydream", "Rock & Roll Suicide" (Ziggy Stardust)
• "Watch that Man" (Aladdin Sane)
• "Young Americans" (Young Americans)
• "Stay" (Station to Station)
• "Sound & Vision", "Subterraneans" (Low)
• "Heroes" ("Heroes")
• "Ashes to Ashes" (Scary Monsters)
• "China Girl" (Let's Dance)
• "Magic Dance" (Labyrinth Soundtrack)
• "I Know It's Gonna Happen Someday" (Black Tie White Noise)
• "Strangers When We Meet" (1. Outside)
• "Thursday's Child" ('Hours...')
• "Slow Burn" (Heathen)
• "Where Are We Now?" (The Next Day)
• "Blackstar", "Lazarus", "I Can't Give Everything Away" (Blackstar)

Thanks for listening! Stay tuned for Episode 3 coming next month.

- Karl

Anniversary Albums: Edition Three - Gang Starr "Step In the Arena"

This weeks Anniversary Album is Step In the Arena by East Coast hip hop duo Gang Starr.

Celebrating 25 years this year, Step In the Arena was released in 1991 and was the duo's second studio album.

Gang Starr of course is made up of MC Guru and the influential DJ Premier.

The nineteen track album was influenced by jazz, while there is also quite a strong emphasis on the beats. On this record, Guru's delivery in his raps was quite deadpan, something which in itself was unique compared with a lot of the other aggressive rapping of the period.

The album also contains a lot of samples during a period where sampling was in full swing in hip hop. Over 40 samples appear on the record including samples from LL Cool J, The Meters and Curtis Mayfield.

Step Into the Arena made it into the top 20 on the Billboard rap charts and is generally considered to be Gang Starr's first critically acclaimed album, receiving a 4.5 star rating from Rolling Stone magazine.

It would also help launch the duo as one of the leading hip hop acts of the underground scene at the time.

In 1998 The Source selected Step In the Arena in their list of the top 100 greatest hip hop albums.

A true early-90's underground classic.

- Sam