Idles deliver a new vicious track, Hiatus Kaiyote embrace Halloween, Big Sean covers himself in bees for his latest banger, plus new killer tracks from underground artists Darkroom Data and Oog Bogo.
THE BEST:
‘Car Crash’ – Idles
IS THIS DEATH GRIPS? The latest track from Bristol post-punk
outfit Idles features frontman Joe Talbot semi-rapping over noisy abrasive
guitars. Inspired by a real-life road accident that Joe was involved in, the song
succeeds in capturing the intensity of a car crash. I particularly love the chilling
bit where it careens off into screams before stopping dead: ‘smash’. There’s
a brief slither of grungy melodicism towards the end, but otherwise it’s uncompromisingly
dissonant. It has me pretty excited for their upcoming album Crawler.
‘Canopic Jar’ – Hiatus Kaiyote
Jazz-funk band Hiatus Kaiyote were the last group I expected
to release a creepy Halloween single. Their music is usually sweet and pretty,
and, well, this isn’t. While the track is still very jazzy, it features
semi-distorted vocals and lurching instrumentation in order to give it an
unsettling spooky feel. The ghost-train-themed music video is a fun campy touch.
‘What A Life’ – Big Sean
Big Sean is back and he’s no longer releasing music under
Kanye’s label G.O.O.D Music (beef alert!). This first new single sees him
partnering up with record producer Hit-Boy – and it’s a banger. I’m loving the
hi-octane beat and the relentless delivery of his rapping. The music video is
also pretty wild. He literally covered himself in 65,000 bees
while shooting it.
‘Fall With You’ – Darkroom Data
The last track I featured from electropop duo Darkroom Data,
‘Groovata’, was an experimental psychedelic journey. This new track is a lot
more straightforward, but still just as captivating. The breathy delivery of ‘faaaall
with you’ and the swirling synth pads give it a haunting feel, and yet it
still delivers a lot of energy with its driving beat.
‘Disappear’ – Oog Bogo
You can thank Aquarium Drunkard for this find. Apparently,
it was ‘excavated from a box of tapes during lockdown’. With its lo-fi sound
and distant vocals, it seems just like the type of track you might uncover on a
dusty cassette tape. It saddens me to think of how many gems like this are
lying on dusty cassette tapes going unheard, doomed to ‘disappear’ into the
void of time.
THE WORST:
‘I Don’t Really Care’ – French Montana
The elongated off-key delivery of ‘I don’t really
cuuuuuuur’ towards the end is one of the worst things I’ve heard all year.
I also find the line ‘I make trends’ hilarious. Mate, you haven’t started
a trend in your life. You’ve been copying other rappers since day 1.