THE BEST:
'Temple' - Sam Gellaitry
The sheer diversity of musical ideas being thrown down in this electronic instrumental is dizzying. There are bongos. There are filthy trap 808s. There are some FlyLo-esque arpeggiated synths towards the end. There's even a funky breakdown nestled in the middle. It's like being served a pizza loaded with every topping. This 18-year-old Scottish producer has a promising future ahead of him.
'Rain
or Shine' - Young Fathers
I was disappointed that my bae Twigs didn't steal the Mercury Prize last year (almost as disappointed as I am with myself for just using the word 'bae'). Still, Scottish experimental hip hoppers Young Fathers were worthy winners - even if most people I know including myself hadn't listened to them at the time. I've since delved into their discography and educated myself on the matter. This new track seems to be a move into exciting new territory. Layers of vocals, sung and spoken, dance over a fierce chugging bassline. It's barely hip hop. In fact, it barely fits into any genre.
'Feral' - Audego
Melbourne experimental duo, Audego, have some pretty creative instrumentals and a unique female vocal tone that is as hypnotic as watching that old windows pipes screensaver. I'm reminded of a less squeaky AlunaGeorge. There's also a certain sultriness to it. This electropop slowjam showcases it in particular.
'HY-TOP' - GLOVES
I don't know what I was expecting from a bunch of dudes dressed in black turtlenecks and gold chains, but it wasn't this. Texan indie rockers, GLOVES, boast their own distinctive style of rock n roll in this brand new track, which you can stream over on Dingus. It's funky but refreshingly non-retro. The writers at Dingus do a better job of describing this concept than me.
'Awful Things' – From
Indian Lakes
Musically, this new track from Cali indie rock band, From Indian Lakes, is pretty straightforward. The singer has a fairly bog-standard indie voice and the guitar chords certainly aren't Allan Holdsworth. Instead, what makes this song special is the lashings of ghostly reverb and atmospheric doo-doo-da-doo chants chucked into the mix. The accompanying video definitely amps up the spookiness. Don't you just hate it when cloaked wraiths stand all over your house like this?
PS: I like how the title of this entry altogether reads 'Awful things from Indian lakes'.
THE WORST:
'Rhymes' - Hannah Wants &
Chris Lorenzo
I find minimalist house anthems like this incredibly monotonous. The sample is what's attracting people to this track I guess, but quite frankly 'Technologic' has never been my favourite Daft Punk song. Also, I'm confused about the credits. I've heard rumours that Chris Lorenzo wrote and produced the whole thing and that Hannah Wants's name is just there because she paid for it to be there. If true, what's that all about?
I find minimalist house anthems like this incredibly monotonous. The sample is what's attracting people to this track I guess, but quite frankly 'Technologic' has never been my favourite Daft Punk song. Also, I'm confused about the credits. I've heard rumours that Chris Lorenzo wrote and produced the whole thing and that Hannah Wants's name is just there because she paid for it to be there. If true, what's that all about?