Kanye has released an album about his love of God. On first listen it’s pretty solid I must admit. Is this another Kanye chapter or will he do for God Rap what MC Hammer couldn’t?
*Bonus album* Holding on to a Dream – sir Was
While we’re a-waiting for FKA to drop, I thought I’d share an album that has really got under my skin. sir Was is a dude from a remote Swedish village and this is his 2nd album.
It was this collaboration with Little Dragon on the album that first caught my attention. You might have heard it, 6 Music have been rinsing it, and I put it on that recent comp I posted on here:
So then I checked the album out. First couple of times I listened, I thought – yeah, this is quite cool. But it’s pretty downbeat and quite minor, and maybe I won’t stick with it for long. But I did. I really did. I keep coming back to it and playing it, and it has totally got me.
So here’s the thing – it is one of the most undefinable sounds I think I’ve ever heard. It’s not dance music really, not at all, but it feels like it’s made my someone with those sensibilities. But his voice and the production also sounds like lush 70s West Coast pop. And then there are other really interesting tracks that sound like – yes, really – This Mortal Coil and Cocteau Twins. In fact, this album could easily be on 4AD.
It really is the most beguiling mix of stuff. And the three tracks I’ve posted on here (the only ones on YouTube) are the more obvious end of the album. But I’d be really interested in what you think when you immerse yourself in it. It’s not a long album and it’s very easy and enjoayable listen. But what I love is how it’s opened itself up, the more I’ve listened to it. It had hidden depths. I flipping LOVE it when music is like that.
So there you. An October bonus. Check him out.
Michael Kiwanuka – Hero
So it seems that he keeps on getting better.
Rapsody – Nina
Rapsody has become over the last few years one of my favourite MC’s. Her track Nina is ace. Get involved!
Apollo Brown – The Backbone (feat. Guilty Simpson, Fat Ray, Melanie Rutherford)
Hands down one of my favourite hip hop Apollo Brown producers is about to release a new album, this is the lead single and it’s ace!
Caribou – Home
He’s back and ever evolving!
‘Dirty Laundry’ Danny Brown
What the fuck is this? I love it.
‘Toast’ by Koffee
I am head over heels in love with this track. It makes me happy. It makes me big-smile. Little Sammy does awesome dancing to it. The whole EP is worth getting to know. David, I can see this making its way to one of your mixes?
October Mixtape
Enjoy, brothers, and let me know what you’re enjoying (or not!)…
SEPTEMBER: Metronomy Forever
So, after a month of for summer hi-jinx – getting married! moving house! raising kids! Listening to music! – we’re back, back, back!
So here’s the long-awaited new offering from a band that are very beloved of this parish. Off the back of a pretty sweltering run of belting singles leading up to the album, the question on everyone’s lips (well, mine anyway): have they finally made an album that can stand up to their masterpiece, THE ENGLISH RIVIERA.
But then it’s never easy with Metronomy, so even answering that question is quite tricky. Joe Mount is such a wilful bastard, and clearly likes doing whatever the fuck he wants, and never more than on this 17 track album that features 6 instrumentals. Chasing the Rock n Roll Hall of Fame is not top of Mount’s aims in life.
The answer is YES and NO at the same time, and because it’s Metronomy, I think you probably know what I mean. It is undeniably the band’s strongest offering in years, and thought Summer 08 had a couple of belting tunes on it, I personally don’t think they’ve made a properly cohesive album since Riviera. For the record, I thought Love Letters was a steaming pile of crap.
Forever has two very very big things going for it. Firstly, it has a really wonderful set of songs on it. From Lately to Salted Caramel Ice Cream to Insecurity to The Light to Sex Emoji (yes, even Sex Emoji), this is an album overflowing with funky, fresh ideas and the kind of Metronomy songs you long for – the kind you’d end up adding to a Best of Spotify compilation.
The second thing I love about this album is that it really does feel like a complete piece of work. Songs flow into each other, and even some of the instrumentals, which I initially found indulgent and overly-long, really start to come alive (a work trip with a lot of walking around London with my headphones changed my view on these). You can hear Morodor and early Daft Punk and even some kind of freak folk influences on some of these, and I think it’s quite brave of Mount to go for it, when you could have just have made a very tight 9 track belter.
However, let’s not kid ourselves. Any 17 track album has superfluous filler. Hell, even The White Album’s got Bungalow Bill and Wild Honey Pie. The second half of the album is perhaps lighter on the really strongest stuff, and it starts to sag a little. And there are moments when Mount’s use of repetition – which he uses SO cleverly in his songs – is just too self-indulged. Mount himself jokingly said the album was pretentious and too long when he was asked about it. Or maybe he wasn’t joking. Who knows?
So sure, in time I’ll probably flick past the odd track or two. And there are moments that are a lot less than necessary. But mostly, it feels vital and fresh and 20 times more interesting than anything most artists are doing, let alone after nearly two decades (yup!) of making music.
Metronomy Forever? You betcha.
