Jay-Z’s The Volume series, Kanye’s College series and Lil Wayne’s The Carter series. Some of the most iconic album series in hip-hop history and today’s song comes from the latter. Lil Wayne has dropped some huge tunes in his five albums under the Carter moniker, including A Milli, 6 Foot 7 Foot and Go DJ, but today’s comes from Wayne’s latest release in the series, 2018s The Carter V.
Last New Music Friday of March, which I think means it’s basically summer right? Right??? Either way, a third of the way through the year and we’ve had some amazing new music. New Tame Impala for the first time since 2015, J. Cole, Ariana and Khalid all teasing new projects since January 1st, and of course the utterly insane debut album by Billie Eilish that dropped today. I’ve already covered Billie on New Music Friday with her February single bury a friend, so didn’t want to revisit her work so soon. But please, for the love of god, listen to her album, when we all fall asleep, where do we go?. It is emotive in ways I didn’t think music could be and will solidify her as a global megastar. At 17 years old.
Today’s song is a different flavour altogether. Col3trane is a half American half Egyptian RnB/soul artist from North London (I know, great combination), and he has joined forces with GoldLink for Superpowers. A simple guitar riff, that sounds weirdly like TLC’s No Scrubs, leads into some catchy, modern rapping from Col3trane, with trap drums taking over and adding the spark. I actually think it would make for an amazing acoustic version, but I don’t think that’s what rappers do nowadays.
GoldLink delivers a short but sweet verse that switches vibe completely, but in a good way. The original sound is doused in a trap beat that washes off when Col3trane comes back and battles with his relationship with women.
A good, good day for new music. Get listening folks, there’s a world of tracks waiting for you out there.
Spotify Playlist Link: https://spoti.fi/2CKuVex
An absolute classic on the cards for you today, with arguably Basement Jaxx’s best song. Romeo is a funky blend of sirens and carnival vocals, provided by Kele Le Roc, that swirls into a pop elixir that stans the test of time. Personally, I’d erupt in a club if this came on.
Basement Jaxx consist of South Londoners Simon Ratcliffe and Felix Buxton. They met in the 90s, on a riverboat party on the Thames hosted by the latter, and blended their influences from Latin funk and Chicago house to create a truly unique sound that helped drive the growing UK house sound throughout the 90s. After enjoying a great deal of success throughout the 90s, releasing EPs and albums, and enjoying radio plays both sides of the Atlantic, 2001 saw the duo release Rooty, their second studio album. It released on XL Recordings in the UK and on Astralwerks in the USA. Track number one? Romeo.
Basement Jaxx are sonically pioneering, exquisite producers of music, yet their work often gets criticised for its lack of vision. Pitchfork, in particular, had scathing reviews of this album and this song, but I disagree. It’s fun and upbeat, and may also act as an easy segway for young fans to discover electronic music and UK house. The lyrics aren’t groundbreaking, but what house song lyrics are? If it gets you dancing then it’s heading in the right direction, and the blend of carnival soul into their signature house production was a fresh take back in 2001.
Personally, I think music can sometimes be over-analysed. In fact, it is the same for all art forms. If you enjoy something, be that a song, album, painting, building, film or even a cupboard, then that’s all that matters. In the case of Basement Jaxx’s Romeo, the funky sound washes me with nostalgia and I for one am here for some old school UK house. Bring on the weekend
It’s been a long day today, but I’m pleased to end it with yet another banger, as April and 100 days of the blog approaches. “Matrix & Futurebound” is not just a funky name for a solo DJ, they are two juggernauts of the UK drum and bass scene in the 90’s with a rich tapestry of rave culture behind them. The two veterans combined forces in 2005 and they released a full-length project, Universal Truth, two years later. With hints of pop-centric production and songwriting, the collaborative duo decided to lean into a bit more and give the charts an injection of the drum and bass sound that defined an era.
Control came along in late 2013, and it brought with it a wave of credits for the pair. BBC Radio 1 loved it, and it got as high as seven in the UK Top 40. Max Marshall is on vocals duty, and it is quite a task as the track is vocal heavy, especially for two stalwarts of the underground dance club culture. It is anthemic in its grandeur, with an immense drop that seems most at home in a club. However it is more subtle than more pure forms of drum and bass, feeling quite melodic and something that, maybe, even your parents wouldn’t mind if they ventured out of a weekend.
That sounds like I’m diminishing the track, but actually, I am impressed by the fine tuning on the production end that has transformed this record into a delicate balancing act between affording the respect and acknowledgment of the roots of drum and bass whilst pioneering its movement towards the masses. I’m fairly sure no one has ever referred to this song, or in fact any drum and bass, as delicate. First time for anything.
Spotify Playlist Link: https://spoti.fi/2CKuVex
Previously featured Vic Mensa collides with Pusha T on OMG, a song erected purely to flaunt lyrical prowess. I’d argue that this song tops, Camilla Cabello & Quavo’s, Usher & will.i.am’s, Little Mix’s and The Streets previous attempts at a song titled OMG, and I think most people would agree (ok The Streets song slaps, and Little Mix have never released a bad song. You get my point).
Coming from the very end of Vic Mensa’s 2017 album, The Autobiography, the song kicks off with an infectious hook. Pitchfork‘s review said it all, “Some rap songs exist solely to showcase a rapper’s skill in space—how well they construct verses; how easy they can make the process seem” and OMG is a prime example. The production is good, the hook is catchy, but the verses are a lyrical bicep flex that tick all the rap boxes; bitches, pop culture references and, when Pusha T takes the mic, drugs. Specifically cocaine. Never has a rapper made such a colourful career on dealing crack.
Kendrick Lamar and J. Cole are experts at making clever hip-hop. Drake knows how to make a hit. But sometimes you need a song that just has you pulling a stank face from start to finish. A song that has you shaking your head on the bus and periodically shouting “JHEEEEEEEZ” and regretting it immediately. A song that you want to work out to. OMG is that, something that has very little substance or story. This is far from a bad thing, as it never pretends to be more than it claims to be. It knows it’s lane and does it really well. A bit like Pusha T. And exclusively rapping about crack.
Spotify Playlist Link: https://spoti.fi/2CKuVex
London singer-songwriter with an above average voice, to put it extremely mildly, is the subject of today’s blog. Nao takes centre stage with the stand-out single from her sophomore studio project, Curiosity.
Having worked with the likes of previously featured 6LACK and Nile Rodgers & Chic, she is a truly unique vocalist, blending jazz elements from her days in education with her personal penchant for soul and RnB. Her days of Soundcloud uploading led to her boldly rejecting label advances to establish Little Tokyo, her own label. On Little Tokyo, she dropped her first EP, So Good EP, and if we fast forward to 2018, she has garnered critical acclaim for her debut album, For All We Know, and there is huge delirium for her second project.
Drive And Disconnect was a huge single, followed closely by Curiosity. Both were exquisite depictions of Nao’s extraordinary voice. RnB heavy and more restrained than some of the more prominent songs on the album, Curiosity starts with Nao’s warbling vocals delicately dancing around the subject of intimacy and passion. It is a raw, unfiltered love song that has lustful passion burning through it’s very fabric. This is balanced perfectly with production from GRADES and LOXE, the former of which collaborated with Nao on her previous smash hit, Bad Blood. Twinkling pianos blend into an upbeat cacophony of synths that breathe life into the sexual intimacy that Nao paints with her vocal chords.
One of my favourite singers of recent times, Nao astounds me every time I hear her voice on a new record. For someone like myself, who can’t sing for toffee, her talents blow me away and surround me in a blissful cocoon of harmonies. There are certainly worse places to be.
Spotify Playlist Link: https://spoti.fi/2CKuVex
Another banger that I used to revise to and another banger to add to your early morning balcony playlist! Philippe Aubin-Dionne started making house music under the pseudonym Hovatron, before the Montreal based DJ and producer settled on Jacques Greene.
Making his name by being featured on the cult classic Night Slugs All Stars Vol. 1 (a compilation album by the Night Slugs record label) with his 2010 hit, (Baby I Don’t Know) What You Want, his star quickly began to rise. Today, we are taking a look at one of the rungs on his ascension, 2011’s Another Girl.
He released a five track EP entitled Another Girl, with the opening track taking the same name. It dropped on LuckyMe label and turned out to be one of 2011’s brightest sparks in the indie-dance scene. The main selling point on the track is the Ciara sampled vocals that Greene uses to set the mood of the track. Whirring synths and rhythmic, syncopated snares drift away, with Ciara’s echoey, haunting vocals floating through the air. It’s a long track, sitting at nearly 7 minutes, yet it’s repetitiveness only serves to heighten its hypnotic qualities. It is easy to shut down listening to this track and just immerse yourself in an audio bubble, turning yourself off from all the problems and issues in your life.
It’s not an ostentatious track, yet it has shimmerings of dubstep in it. Greene led the way for post-dubstep dance music and implemented a lot of RnB in his records, yet there are the remnants of the dubstep sound, especially on the pensive, dramatic drop as the vocals dip out and Greene’s production takes the spotlight. It is patient and melodic, and perfect for a Sunday evening to unwind.
Spotify Playlist Link: https://spoti.fi/2CKuVex
Coming out of Denver is Lane 8, aka Daniel Goldstein. The DJ and producer is known for his hypnotic house melodies that slowly work their magic, and Stir Me Up is no different. It comes from his second album, Little By Little, that he released in 2018 under his own label, This Never Happened. The track, ironically, feels like it is running in 2 lanes. One is fast paced, with the underlying beat resembling a dubstep rhythm, whilst the slower lane takes centre stage. This is the ebbing and flowing synths that balance the beautiful vocals above them.
Stir Me Up dropped as a surprise single, just a week before Little By Little. The album’s fourth single, it came out of left field for a lot of fans, though they were appreciative nonetheless to experience this record prior to Lane 8’s sophomore project. He has confessed this is one of his favourites off the album, and in a post on his Facebook page when he dropped the single, he talked about how the album format allows songs like this to exist. Speaking of his love for the format, he is appreciative of how it allows artists to divert from their usual sound and experiment with creating a new experience for the listener.
Stir Me Up is a wonderful change of pace in the album as a whole, though it is a strikingly beautiful song that transports you away from wherever you are. If this is what comes from experimentation, maybe Goldstein should think about doing it more often.
Spotify Playlist Link: https://spoti.fi/2CKuVex
It’s a big day in new music, with Kevin Parker’s immense psychedelic behemoth Tame Impala dropping new music. An essential of festival junkies and arts students in Doc Martens, Tame Impala are a unique band that have produced some of the best modern indie bangers of recent times (I don’t own Docs but I still consider myself a stalwart fan).
Known for blending disco, psychedelic, grunge and house into an indie forward dish, Parker is a visionary with the music he produces. His last release under the Tame Impala moniker was in 2015, with the critically acclaimed Currents. Featuring hits such as The Less I Know The Better, it earned a second Grammy nomination and put Tame Impala on the global map.
Hailing from Perth in Australia, they have achieved a lot. I saw them play Glastonbury Pyramid Stage a few years back an they were incredible, both acoustically and visually, as they take pride in trippy visuals to compliment the psychedelic ambience of their discography. On top of this, as if proof were needed of their disruptive approach to music genres, you need only look at their list of collaborations. Travis Scott, A$AP Rocky, Lady Gaga and Kanye West just start to scratch the surface, and I think it is this diversity that draws me to them as a band so much. I am a big advocate of adventurous, bold records that don’t accept what has gone before and push boundaries, and a lot of those records and bands have been featured on this blog.
The track itself deserves a break down (obviously, that is what the blog is for). Subdued and classy is how I’d describe it, with a warm mixture of synths, drums and bass riffs sewn together with a beautiful piano piece. It has flecks of disco and 90s house that make for a wonderfully nostalgic feel that, in emphatic Tame Impala style, is modernised and makes you wonder how on earth you survived this long without this precise blend of sounds. The verses and chorus roll into on another on a bed of zingy phasers, which will be no surprise to those still bumping Currents loud and proud.
Four years away, and as Kevin Parker asks “Has it been even that long” as the song blossoms into life, it feels as though they haven’t gone anywhere. Bring on the new album.
Spotify Playlist Link: https://spoti.fi/2CKuVex
The ultimate montage song of ever you’ve one today. Recently, we featured Jay Prince on the blog, today it’s Jay Pryor. Two very good, but very different artists.
Jay Pryor is an Irish producer that can thank One Direction for his meteoric rise to fame. Born and bred in the broader dance music culture, his big break came in 2017 when he co-produced Louis Tomlinson’s track with everyone’s favourite pie-throwing Ibiza/Las Vegas veteran; Steve Aoki. Just Hold On has over 500 million streams, and allowed him to release successful remixes of Niall Horan’s Slow Hands and Zayn and Snakehip’s collaboration, Cruel. Harry and Liam need to keep an eye on Pryor (although a dance version of Kiwi would be an amazing smash-up of energy).
Teenage Crime is as summery as it gets. A lazy, chilled out electronic beat patterns along, with very high, almost ghostly, vocals thinking back wistfully to the days of reckless youth. The electronic foundation is built on with cymbals and what’s sound like glockenspiels. I could be wrong, but it wouldn’t be out of place on a Kygo album. Young and vibrant, it’s a dance track that could hold it’s own in a club set as well as it could poolside. The transitions between the repeated lyrics get a bit more boisterous, a heavier vibe and allow for this flexibility. The song moves elegantly (or as elegantly as you can) from Kygo to David Guetta.
It’s clearly a track that has been made with fun in mind. Pryor is a young producer, very keen to experiment with his sound on remixes and his own music equally. He’s gonna do well I think, and if you have a montage you need some music for, I’d get enquiringly about royalties if I were you.
Spotify Playlist Link: https://spoti.fi/2CKuVex
A Song A Day 