It's beats galore here, a deft command of lounge-feeling groove, continues with this tumbling beat and then drops into a deeper gorge of sound, heavier, pummelling with punches of bass, percussion strewn about, some of it woody and scuttling, some jangling, crunching. A distant feel with soft tropical sounds playing sweet glittering melodies over breaths of synth, and awkwardly slanted with metallic cutting sounds. It's as wonky and robust as it is light and spacey, and it's fascinating how much slugabed can put into one track without it transitioning into complete difference.
Later in the song its title becomes clear. 'I love you... and I miss you... and I really want you to call me back' spoken over the phone, despairing and crooning like an aching ghost in the dead blank loneliness of night. The faraway exotica of the broken beat echoes this distance, this bobbling mantra of beats and reflecting the unease and sadness of whoever might be saying these words and feeling these things. At the same time, the seeming disconnect between the vocal sample and the sometimes happy-go-lucky sounds breathing throughout might be illustrative of someone who, upon hearing the words, doesn't care all that much. It's open to interpretation.
This track is a free download, which is lovely isn't it.
Also, you know slugabed right? If you don't, he is called Greg I think, he's been making music for five maybe more years, he's from London, and he runs a fun label by the name of Activia Benz.
Man I don't know a lot about baseball or anything like that but this track by Jonah Baseball sure is really cool. It's called 'World Series' and it I guess effuses the same final boss / colosseum tournament at Dressrosa in One Piece that the World Series must have. Actually it's more of a journey of sound that I suppose is inspired by the World Series, the romance and the history of it all, the uninterrupted majesty of legacies made and broken.
See, I don't know anything about it but I got a bit of borrowed nostalgia for something I've never experienced from this track. It must be a good track. An electronic symphony to baseball in like five parts, it begins with the ominous mystery and nervous tension that stepping up to the plate must produce. Wiggly chords and synth vox make misty atmospheres over a snappy, jangling beat, with each snare hit like a baseball being hit out the park.
Then the track rears up on its hind legs and goes nuts, destructed almost brassy bass swaggering like a giant, descending into super-crunch distortion after a sweeping, almost cosmic breakdown. Then we talk a relaxed walk to the rhythm of a beautifully skittering beat with accented hi-hats, emerging from the previous crunchy madness into a refreshing world of soft, jazzy chords, joined by thin mists of synth and a playful squelchy lead melody, a reminder that it's not all drama in sport but it's fun and romantic, too. A many-tens-of-thousand-strong crowd cheers at the end.
Jonah Baseball, who is from America and basically makes music + loves baseball, has worked some real magic with his music, leaping into conceptual storytelling and producing a mini symphony with distinct movements containing their own energies and moods.
I've not heard something quite like this song before. And I like that. Difference and variation is a very nice part of life - without it, where would we be? Listening to Capital FM all day and struggling to stray from the conventional, and quite annoying, pop that populates (see what I did there?) some of the tackier radio stations in the UK - and probably in the whole world. Yeah, without difference we'd be a pretty boring bunch. Even that kind of samey pop has its own merits - it is different to the things that are different from it.
Don't get me wrong, though: some difference is just too extreme. Can't handle it. Too silly/too much/horrible/etc. - it's not ALL good stuff. However, the unique vibe in Slugabed's new song 'Bombok' is something that, while a little bizarre (perhaps I'm just swayed using that word because of the strange video), should be celebrated wholeheartedly.
Seriously though, be warned: the video is mighty weird - trippy and even a little gross.
You get me? It's strange. So strange. Who is that... monstrosity? Haha. So weird.
In any case, it's the song that I'm more interested in. With a triumphal feel, it whacks you in the face - or more in the gut, or perhaps even more aptly right in the ears - with bombastic bass kicks that reverberate all around while hi-hats flutter above like shredded metal. But the most noticeable thing at first is this great vocal of "Bombok" which is twisted from high to low, jumbled up and chucked into the air like popping candy.
The style is of big bass, of a kind of dirty dancehall style yet with a radical edge that throws in loopy synth sounds and even mixes in a little saxophone for a surprise ska (mmmm and maybe a little jazz) vibe - that saxophone comes courtesy of Dan Berry. In any case, this strange mix of jazz, ska, bass, dancehall is a very British mix. Nearly two years ago I wrote about Slugabed's 'Depth Perception', and it seems that his sound has changed rather a lot, but in a very good way: dynamism and attitude now blasts through his already established experimental urban roots.
Who is Slugabed? I wasn't too sure until about a week ago. But since then I have had the bass sounds from his wonderful song 'Depth Perception' echo in my bones, shaking like brittle china in the wake of the earthquake beats.
This comes from his new EP, Sun Too Bright Turn It Off, which was released 24th October. It's being released on label Ninja Tune, Slugabed - real name Gregory Feldwick (Slugabed is something his mum used to call him) - having moved around from label to label, like Planet Mu and Ramp Recordings, to settle down earlier this year with the label.
And what a song 'Depth Perception' is. It's chilled to the core, exuding a strong heart-kicking beat flows through you, the various underwater modulated synth streaming through like blurs of light. Dancehall rhythm with a warm surrounding all-surmounting window shaking vibe as it drizzles glitch bleeps.
The progression of the beat from start to finish is supremely well done. Two thirds of the way through this song, the melodic high frequency solo, 80s in soul 80s in spirit, is pretty much divine. The whole thing comes on like an intense dream. This guy can really pull some moves. Heavenly producer. He's also from Kingston.
