I haven't got anything to say in this week's intro others than R.I.P Daft Punk.
THE BEST:
‘Telephone (All Alone) -
Kazaizen
I’m not sure what’s going on in the video (what’s BB-8 doing
there?), but I absolutely love what I’m hearing. Fuzzed-out bass, spacey
guitars, dreamy vibraphones and reverb-soaked vocals all come together to create
an intensely psychedelic pop/rock track. It floats along, propelled by some funky
drums that inventively stall every four bars as if the track is about to drift off. It then
ends with some noisy looping before abruptly cutting out (I felt like I’d
sharply woken up from a dream). The Minnesota singer and multi-instrumentalist produced
the entire track in his home studio. It comes off of his debut album Cyclops Dragon Light Switch
(fantastic album title), which I’ll be checking out.
‘The City’ – Ansatz (Dora Noszkay remix)
Electronic producer Ansatz takes choppy vocal editing to new
extremes with this thrillingly creative remix. It takes the beguiling vocals from Dora Noszkay’s folk song ‘The City’ and dices them to create a frenetic, stuttering sonic
assault (imagine breakcore, but with chopped up vocals instead of percussion). I’ve heard plenty of songs that use chopped-up
vocals like this, but I’ve never heard them carry a song like this before at
such an intense speed. It’s left me hungry for more.
‘Twice’ – Gilan
‘Twice’ is the work of singer-songwriter Gilan. It’s a
haunting guitar ballad accompanied by creative thumping percussion about meeting
people with toxic behavioural traits that you’ve experienced before. The
arpeggiated chord progressions are entrancing and there’s a lot of raw emotion in
the vocals. Definitely an artist to watch.
‘Perseid 45’ – Jango Flash
Jango Flash - Perseid 45 from Matthew Willson on Vimeo.
Jango Flash has dubbed his sound ‘kamikaze pop’ – it sounds
like a mix of Tame-Impala-esque psych rock and Klaxons-esque indie-dance, and I’m
seriously digging it. Shimmering synths and fuzzy guitars play out over a
stomping beat with some infectious vocals over the top. It’s accompanied by a
charming video in which Jango pursues his childhood dream of going to space in
a carboard spaceship with a blow-up doll.
‘adhd’ – Slowthai
This latest single from UK rapper Slowthai comes off his new
record TYRON. It shows off a more subdued side of the rapper that we
rarely get to hear (aside from the angry shouting at the end) and sees him discussing what
it’s like to live with ADHD. The beat is magnificent and the visual are very glossy.
THE WORST:
‘Toxic’ – Pussy Riot ft. Dorian Grey (produced by 100
Gecs)
WARNING: THIS IS NOT A BRITNEY SPEARS COVER. Pussy Riot,
Dorian Grey and 100 Gecs have set out to create the most repulsive song
conceivable here and they’ve succeeded. That chorus with its industrial
clunking and glitched-out screeching is utterly ghastly. Even the video is
gross. This is hyperpop at its most obnoxious. Will I ever listen to it again? Absolutely
not.