THE BEST:
‘One Stop’ – A Number From The Ghost
Last Friday, I attended a VR Salvador Dali exhibition, which involved climbing into a trippy Salvador-Dali-inspired VR world complete
with melting clocks, giant lobsters and elephants with giraffe legs. It opened
my mind to the wonderful and equally scary future possibilities of VR. Will we
get virtual movies and virtual theatre performances? Will people book off
annual leave to go on virtual getaways? One thing I hadn’t considered until now
was the future of the music video. Cincinnati-based artist A Number From The
Ghost has given us a glimpse of that future. Accompanying his new single ‘One,
Stop’ is a ground-breaking VR music video which allows you to explore a lonely spacey
digital world for the duration of the song. It perfectly compliments the lonely
spacey digital song with its dreamy transitions and synthetic textures. I’ve
included just the song above – you can watch/experience the VR music video for ‘One, Stop’ here.
‘Vapor King/SubReal’ – George Clanton
Elvis Presley was the king of rock and roll. Michael Jackson
was the king of pop. But who is the king of vaporwave? According to this track,
it would seem that George Clanton has crowned himself ‘vapor king’. And I
personally couldn’t think of a better musician to claim that title – and not just
because I can’t name another vaporwave artist off the top of my head. ‘Vapor
King/SubReal’ proves that George Clanton is a master of his craft, sporting
some of his dreamiest and nostalgic production yet. The track is separated into
two halves (you could even argue that they’re two separate tracks), which are
connected by a gorgeous synth passage. I particularly like the breakbeat
percussion in the second half, which sounds like something from a drunken early
90s rave.
‘No Doubt’ – Isla Maria
Isla Maria is only 15 and already has a fantastically mature
pop voice. Her new soulful single ‘No Doubt’ is about standing up for oneself
in a relationship when you feel your partner has all the control. I particularly
love the production – it’s bouncy, skeletal and futuristic.
‘St Charles Square’ – Blur
Blur are back with a new song from their upcoming album The Ballad of Darren. It’s got some gritty dissonant guitars in it that at first I wasn’t sure whether I liked. After repeat listens, I’ve decided that I do indeed dig the track. It’s captivatingly sloppy and there’s something Bowie-esque about the composition and Albarn’s vocals.
‘Do It Again’ – BENEE ft. Mallrat
‘Do It’ is the official theme of the FIFA Women’s World Cup, which is being hosted in Australia and New Zealand. Aussie singer Mallrat and Kiwi singer BENEE are the perfect pair to represent this event - this is the second time they have collaborated and they’ve got a lot of chemistry. The result is a very fun pop-rock track with a catchy hook.
THE WORST:
‘We Didn’t Start The Fire’ – Fall Out Boy
While it’s interesting to hear a rework of this song with
modern cultural references, I can’t help but wish it had been performed
by anyone but Fall Out Boy.