Posted in Album of the Month

JANUARY – Assume Form by James Blake

Posted on by GuyHornsby

 

So, I wasn’t really sure what I’d do for January AOTM. It’s been stressful and difficult few months and my best intentions of getting January finished by early new year came up short of nothing more than inspiration. I just didn’t see much interesting around, and I wasn’t listening to much new stuff either: even 6 Music wasn’t on much any more. The travails of a young family, brutal work and no downtime left me delving back into the past (Eno, mostly) trying to find some tranquility in the modern noise.

But then this arrived, almost serendipitously, out of the mist. And of course, James Blake was both a great option and an album that would server as a hopeful antidote to the current messy modern world. It’s only a bonus that I’ve been a big fan of his, but the question I wondered was: could another album of his songs do anything new? Perhaps it didn’t have to. His music was mostly only even in a genre of its own that – while he gained many imitators – he seemed to have his very own dubby, falsetto, reverb-heavy, then four-four slices of music that was both rich and warm then desolate and icy.

So what did I expect of this? Nothing, as I’d had no advance warning or visibility, and that’s sometimes no bad thing. In my first few listens here – a week or rotation has already been hugely enjoyable if embryonic in my opinions of this as a review at arm’s length – I’ve enjoyed much of what I’ve heard. For a songwriter and sonic experimentalist that has carved out such strange spaces over his previous albums, he’s also managed to take in emotional lyrics, albeit some that so feel wrapped up in his musical ambition that that skill is lost.

Some of his previous work is staggering – Digital Lion, Overgrown, Radio Silence – tracks that only get better with time, and so this has a high standard to follow. I’m not sure all of the LP hits those heights. Some of it is pretty cold, perhaps it’ll warm up over time, but there are some gems. It seems obvious but Where’s The Catch (above) with Andre 3000 at last breaks some of the constrictions of its companions that sometimes feels too forced and deliberately restrained. When beats are as crisp, and warmth flecks the darkness, you do wonder why he doesn’t want to break free as much elsewhere. I’d love to see more of that. However, the title track is wonderful, and while I am not part of the auto-tune crowd, Blake’s collaborations are inventive and interesting.

In short, it’s a work in progress, but I’m hugely enjoying having new James Blake in my life, and it’s just the sort of music to shut out the noise, the angst, the anger, the stress and the discord. I can, at least, salute that.

Posted in Mixtapes

Nolan Kane – Summer Sounded

Posted on by nolankane706

I did a mix a while back with the tracks I was feeling last summer; but I forgot to post it. Hope you enjoy it brothers!

Tracklist:

Life On Planets – Apollo
Daphni – Face To Face
LCD Soundsystem – I Used Tp (Dixon Edit)
Crazy P – One True Light
Peggy Gou – It Makes You Forget
Aleksandir – Yamaha
Ebo Taylor, Pat Thomas & Henrik Schwarz -Eye Nyam Nam ‘A’ Mensuro (Henrik Schwarz Blend)
Krystal Klear – Neutron Dance
Kink – Perth
Maribou State – Turnmills

Posted in Uncategorized

2018 – Was It All You Wished For?

Posted on by nolankane706

As 2018 draws to a close I present to you my yearly round up. First and foremost we have been picking music for each other for over 6 years which is crazy; all of our lives have gone through changes but month after month we present each other with fantastic music. On that note I really struggled this year with albums on a whole; not only what we each brought to the table on a monthly basis but also finding end to end albums that I loved. There was some fantastic music in 2018 but more from a singles aspect than albums in my opinion. Amongst allot of drab albums there were some fantastic stand outs for me though. Here are my favourite albums and singles of 2018 in no particular order.

Albums

Royce 5’9 – Book of Ryan

Evidence – Weather Or Not

Leon Bridges – Good Thing

Sean Price – Imperious Rex

Dan Mangan – More Or Less

Maribou – Kingdoms In Colour

Tunng – Songs You Make At Night

Masta Ace & Marco Polo – A Breukelen Story

Jon Hopkins – Singularity

Nas – Nasir

Singles

Moses Sumney – Rank & File

Childish Gambino – This Is America

DJ Koze – Pick Up

MorMor – Waiting For The Warmth

Aesop Rock – klutz

Maribor State – Nervous Ticks

Little Dragon – Lover Chanting

Planningtorock – Beula Loves Dancing

Defari – It’s Like I’m You

Smif N Wesson – Let It Go

Marlow – Lost Arts

Eminem – Killshot

 

Over to you brothers…

 

 

 

Posted in Album of the Month, New Tunes

DECEMBER: Be The Cowboy by MITSKI

Posted on by David Allison

So just as we chose this for December, then comes along old Pitchfork to make this their #1 album of the whole year:

https://pitchfork.com/features/lists-and-guides/the-50-best-albums-of-2018/?page=5

Let’s get one thing straight. I don’t think this is the album of the year. I think it is VERY good. But I’m not sure I would go as far as Pitchfork. I always get the impression Pitchfork is so painfully curated as to hit its demographic, it’s hard to take their lists seriously. Mitski certainly hits all the right 2018 buttons – strong female voice, big leap forward musically with new album, touching on angst and loneliness and anger. You can see why they chose it.

I’ve been aware of Mitski for a while, and thought I’ve liked what I’ve heard, I’ve maybe not loved it. She’s certainly an interesting voice, but I’ve found her songs a little bit too indie and angular and maybe I’m searching for a touch more from them. But that is based on not spending a lot of time with them, so that could be hugely unfair.

And then I heard NOBODY. Oh boy. What a song. WHAT a song. It might be a late entry into my song of the year. Hell, it might even just knock GIRLFRIEND off the top spot. Aching, painful, searing loneliness that starts off plaintive and then turns into a bloody grandstanding DISCO song, complete with two key changes that take my breath away every time I hear them.

So maybe now I get Mitski.

NOBODY is probably an outlier on the album – it’s not choc-a-block with similar tracks – but there is something really interesting going on here. The album starts off with a song that I could take or leave, GEYSER, that suggests something generically indie, but it quickly picks up after that. WHY DIDN’T YOU STOP ME? is a stomping slab of St Vincent-style wonky pop. And off the album goes in all kinds of fabulous directions. Other highlights: include ME AND MY HUSBAND – a piano led belter of a pop song, PINK IN THE NIGHT – huge, emotional indie torch tune, LONESOME LOVE, which goes proper alt-country. And finally, closer TWO SLOW DANCERS is a lovely, electronic ballad that’s a fitting closer.

Another wonderful plus: song length! I love that so many of these songs don’t outstay their welcome. Thanks you Mitski for writing 2 minute songs that are exactly the right length. Please please God can some bloated rock dudes take note. You don’t need 2 guitar solos, a middle eight and a lengthy outro every time, got it?

However, those brief song lengths can occasionally be a hindrance – there are some songs that feel half-formed or don’t quite earn their place on what is a very good album. And that’s, for me, why it isn’t quite album of the year material.

Still, a strong end to a pretty strong year, I thought. Over to you…

———-

FINALLY: As a side discussion, shall we have an albums of the year chat, Brothers? Oh yes, I think we should!