THE BEST:
'All the
Rest is Noise' - Formation
South London brotherly duo, Formation, drop this groovy pop number punctuated by bright chord stabs, fat synth-bass and cowbells. It’s just the kind of track needed to brighten up these grey October days.
'Rewind' - Kelela
Breathy vocals ride a futuristic 808-heavy beat on this new
glittery pop song from US singer Kelela. Fans of FKA Twigs may dig it – imagine
her style made danceable.
'Dead to Me' - God Damn
‘YOU’RE DEEEEAD! DEEEAD! DEEEAD! DEAD TO ME!’ screams frontman, Thom, his vocal cords at tearing point. This new loud and angry track from Wolverhampton rock duo God Damn has all the subtlety of a punch in the face. All you Coldplay-loving softies can fuck off. This is rock with ten ton testicles. This is rock for beating your chest to. This is rock for beating your wife to (whoah! Maybe that’s taking things a bit far! And, to be honest, I don’t mind Coldplay.)
'Forbidden
Knowledge' - Raury ft. Big KRIT
Do we have too much access to information in the internet
age? Are we using it to better ourselves instead of bettering everyone around
us? Atlanta hip hop/folk musician, Raury, seems to think so in this thinking
man’s rap piece, delivered in a pensive flow that clearly takes influence from
Andre 3000. Speedy Mississippi emcee, Big KRIT, also contributes a verse
towards the end. The instrumental’s also pretty sweet.
'Painted White' - Woozy
‘Sadgaze/Bummercore’ – that’s the genre that these guys label themselves under. I couldn’t describe this New Orleans group’s sound better myself. Beginning as a fuzzy and garish riff fest, this track slowly dissipates into a soft hypnotic lull – the vocals shifting from punky yelling to stoner groaning to breezy sigh-singing. For three minutes, it’s quite a journey.
THE WORST:
'Hen and Cookies' – OJ Da Juiceman & Benzino
‘Hen’ is short for ‘Hennessey’ and ‘Cookies’ is slang for weed (I looked it up on Urban Dictionary – I was curious). Otherwise there’s nothing interesting to report on this track. Just another generic party rap tune. Move along.