Artists featured this week include Knower, grouptherapy., Thundercat & Tame Impala, Michael Hamilton, Lucky Thief and Rita Ora.
THE BEST:
‘I’m the President’ – Knower
This may well be the most fun song I’ve heard all year. Instrumentally,
it sounds like Stevie Wonder on crack, with a surprise piano solo from Paul
Cornish thrown in and a gong at the end (because why not?). Its comical lyrics
about being the president are delivered in a mouse-like tone from Genevieve and they somehow fit the boisterous instrumental. Combined with the goofy and
charmingly low-budget video, the whole track had me beaming from ear to ear. Why
has it taken me this long to discover these guys? I’m so looking forward to
delving into their back catalogue.
‘FUNKFEST’ – grouptherapy.
‘FUNKFEST’ is a fusion of quite a few genres – ‘funk’
ironically not being one of them. The
instrumentation is largely made up of fuzzy punkish guitar. This is topped with
a catchy lightly-autotuned hook and some aggressive rap verses that have a
JPEGMAFIA energy. Like ‘I’m the President’, it’s accompanied by a charmingly low-budget
video ($358 to be exact).
‘No More Lies’ – Thundercat & Tame Impala
A Thundercat/Tame Impala collab isn’t something I had on the
cards, but it makes perfect sense. The jazz/funk singer-bassist and psych pop singer/multi-instrumentalist
both possess a shared love for experimentation, groove and falsettos – and ‘No
More Lies’ is certainly experimental, groovy and falsetto-laden. Kevin Parker’s
punchy drums go so well with Stephen Lee Bruner’s squelchy bass and their voices
almost blend at points. The synth chords
at the end are also spine-tinglingly gorgeous.
‘Glimmer’ – Michael Hamilton
Talking of spine-tinglingly gorgeous chords, this track
‘Glimmer’ by Glasgow producer Michael Hamilton almost made me slip a disc. It
opens with some ambient cinematic strings and then transitions into beautiful
pianos topped with skittering aggressive percussion. The whole track has an
eerie suspenseful beauty to it that reminds me of Machinedrum’s ‘Infinite Us’ or
John Barry’s ‘Space March’.
‘Silencer’ – Lucky Thief
This new rock single from Bristol-based multi-instrumentalist
Lucky Thief is very fun. The groovy mean guitar riffs hooked me straight away,
and so well with the dark lyrics that are full of grisly metaphors about biting
one’s tongue off and picking shards of mirror out of one’s fingers.
THE WORST:
‘Praising You’ – Rita Ora ft. Fatboy Slim
Are there any 90s hits that haven’t been ruined with shitty covers and reworks yet? I guess they’ll have to start covering 00s hits now.