been a while since i felt the urge to drop some words re singles, so today its time to catch up on a few in the pile.
the brookes brothers – hard knocks/mistakes
released on breakbeat kaos, hard knock is a hugely melodic slab of drum-n-bass, (not a genre i have ever been a big fan of to be honest) and is perfect to lift the autumnal blues. the vocal sample hook sits well amongst the typically fast beats adding a level of sunset ambience to proceedings, the synthetic strings make it all sound very radio (or advert) friendly, and generally this track is a very pleasant way to spend 5 minutes. flip over for more, proving that the team behind this debur have an ear for melody and some nice production tricks.
of course there is still the issue as to whether drum-n-bass is relevant in 2006 – but i am not one to comment on such concerns.
to celebrate the release, there is a freebie mp3 available from the breakbeat site dogs on acid, enjoy.
more detail : here
new rhodes – the history of britain
admittedly this 3 track ep has been out for a while, in fact the album, songs from the lodge, might have even hit the shelves by now, but still.
a couple of years ago, this bristol band were releasing beautifully packaged records via moshi moshi, getting some relatively high profile press, selling out large venues and such, and then all went quiet, perhaps too quiet as the momentum seemed to falter.
that is, until now. the single and album are coming out on their own salty cat records label and to prove their status are sending out promos with individual digital stamps (i’m number 93 in case your interested). now that’s a first for this site for sucb an indie band.
the music is as before, rather wonderful guitars are strummed, sometimes stepping over into a shoegazing level of effects, but kept within strict limits, the vocals are typical shy-n-innocent boy meets girl stuff (lets pretend like we were 13 again) under which drums and bass hold the structure of the verse-chorus-verse pattern songs.
while there is nothing particulary unique or fresh about the bands brand of modern indie, it’s a comfortable, polished spin on the guitar pop world, the songs are hook heavy and given their deserved bedsit regular spins could find many many fresh faced students falling for new rhodes in a big way.
there i didn’t mention the smiths once.
more detail : here
idc – stomp
third proper release from the man who loves a lawyer unfriendly bootleg known as idc. available in a 4 minut edit, or a slightly longer in/out version, this slab of noise is computer machine music for the sweaty dancefloor. straight up jack hammer big beats, looped siren-esque noises and layers of analogue dirt are pushed into the red with little regard for subtleness making this one for the wired senses as opposed to the emotions.
recently nme featured a mix cd and named it dancefloor distortion and if that were a genre, then such a tagline could be applied to this beast.
fantastic basically.
out on corsair records – sometime.
more detail (and a few bootlegs) : here
paul hartnoll – patchwork guilt/gloopy
another man with his machines, but making a very different style of electronic music to idc. paul in case you forget, used to be part of the duo that took ambient techno to the masses via orbital. the way that the hartnoll brothers matched their sonics to delicious melodies was very special, and it pleases me greatly to hear that paul has decided to retread the path of rhythm and melody again with his debut solo release on limited 12″ via the kids label.
during patchwork guilt, (never shy to use cringesome puns were orbital were they !) the trademarked use of bleeps and epic ambience are still very apparent in the opening minute before the beat kicks in – of course anyone who heard the orbital albums are going to nod and smile, as the track both looks to the glories of the past but still steps forward into new territories, and gloopy even reminds me of certain sections of previous classic the box, but let’s sod the pretence and waffle – i love this stuff like it was still 94.
let’s just get to the album.
more detail : here
ty – closer (featuring maceo)
to be honest, this year is the year that me and the big dada label have drifted apart. i can’t quite put my finger on it, has the label had a bad year, or is it that i have changed my take on hip hop based music, i’d go with the latter. both the spank rock sex-rap thing, that has been the main focus recently, and new flesh kind of went over the top of me.
never has this distance been more apparent with label superstar ty. his previous album, upward, would rarely be played to completion, and yet a lot of influential folks loved it. when his new one, closer, dropped, i gave it a few spins trying hard, but still it ended up being left in the pile.
the album neither rubbed me up in a bad way, nor did it make me smile, it just is there. and, being honest, i don’t think this single going to push ty into higher levels of commercial success like this years uk hip hop hero sway. the production is more of that easy, light but pleasantly funky sunshine friendly hip hop groove that jurassic 5 are famous for, and so doesn’t really stand out as anything fresh and dynamic.
still for those of you who like your hip hop thug free, intelligent, with meticulously produced loops, then ty could indeed impress you more than me.
more detail : here