Los Campesinos- Whole Damn Body

There was a point when Los Campesinos appeared ready to be the next big thing, a run of three exceptional albums (We are Beautiful We are Doomed, Romance is Boring and Hello Sadness) had them well positioned critically and as a cult band. But then it all kind of….petered out.

Despite the decline in popularity the band have never really lost what made them such a wonderful emo-indie-punk act in the first place. The emotional sensibility, the humour, the ability to apply meaning to the mundane, the confessional and political have always remained a part of the band’s cannon and continue to do so to this day.

The Whole Damn Body is a brand new short album of previously recorded material from around the time of the Hello Sadness album, and it wonderfully captures the sound and whip smart lyrics which made the band such an underground success during this period.

The sound of the record is typical of Los Camp of that period part 2nd wave emo band, part indie band- a beautiful racket. And they have always possessed an ear for a melody. And such merits remain in tact or are rather recalled on Whole Damn Body.

Albums of offcuts never really bode well for a band and are often associated with bands on a downswing but the material is so good here you really hope that Whole Damn Body injects new life into the career of Los Campesinos because if any band deserve it they do. They work hard, have their hearts in the right place and wear their politics on their sleeve.

If you didn’t get into the band around their prime you could do worse than listening to Whole Damn Body and using it as a launch pad to enjoy those 3 hugely wonderful albums. Romance is Boring is an all time favourite album of mine but this release had me going back and exploring Hello Sadness further and that in itself was well worth it.

Give Whole Damn Body a listen and may be you’ll fall in love with Los Campesinos all over again.

Squarepusher- Feed Me Weird Things

Very few re-releases get recommended on this blog. The re-issue market is often one which is swamped with artist cash-ins and very rarely merits attention. But every so often something special gets re-issued which is more than worth the recommendation and Squarepusher’s Feed Me Weird Things falls into that category.

Originally released on Aphex Twin’s Rephlex Records the album had, like much of Rephlex’s back catalogue, been out of print and unavailable for download or streaming for many years. Which given the quality of the record has been a crying shame.

Feed Me Weird Things is the debut studio album of Jazz, IDM, breakcore and jungle mad scientist Carl Jenkinson a.k.a Squarepusher. In the years since its release the album has gone on to gain mythical and sort after status and there is little wonder as to why, the quality is outstanding. As a record it would be fair to call Feed Me Weird Things one of Squarepusher’s more straightforward releases, though in true 90s IDM fashion nothing here is straightforward. The drums are complex and the production is heavily layered with the end results resembling the musical equivalent of a Jackson Pollock painting. However, compared to some of his later releases this is Jenkinson at his most mainstream and marvellous.

The influence of this album has shone through the ages, inspiring musicians as diverse as Radiohead, Venetian Snares, Bjork and more. It’s impact forced other artist’s to literally change their careers and the fact it has now been re-issued and is yours to stream, download and listen to is a joy worth embracing. 90s nostalgia is alive and well and where better to engage in a bit of backward gazing than with one of the decade’s most influential esoteric albums.

Tigers Jaw- I Won’t Care How You Remember Me

As I was saying in the last blog on Origami Angel, this year has been full of quality emo/punk releases and as if to underline that further here’s another recommendation. This time it’s the new album from 4th wave emo originators Tigers Jaw who are now 6 albums and a major line up change into their career.

From the scrappy start of their much acclaimed debut, their sound has moved a little more towards the indie sound of bands like the Hold Steady. However, they still remain full grounded in an emo background just with a little old age behind them.

Opening and title track I won’t care How you Remember Me is perhaps one of the strongest things the band have ever recorded whilst Heaven Apart and Anniversary are also stand outs.

Produced by cult producer Will Yip everything here sounds clear, crisp and balanced, something which could certainly not be said of Tigers Jaw’s debut album all those years ago. But whereas that record was a landmark, this record merely serves a purpose and as good as it is, it’s probably not going to bring the band many new fans or break any new ground.

An all round solid album but if you’re limited on time go with Origami Angel’s latest over this.

Origami Angel- Gami Gang

Ok let’s get the obvious thing out of the way straight away- crap name for an album. There I’ve said it, we can now move on.

This double album release from the DC Emo Punk duo is everything fans of Origami Angel will know and love but extended. Nostalgia, tick. Fast Food references, tick. Gaming references, tick. Cartoons, tick. Broken heart teen romance, tick. If you loved Origami Angel before this release the chances are you’ll still be happily in love after listening to Gami Gang. However, if you didn’t already know Origami Angel before this album chances are it might warm your heart to them. Compared to everything else in their back catalogue things are more polished and clean here, the sound improved and everything flowing just a little tighter. It’s noticeable that overall production quality has been improved to expand their listener base. On the strength of things here it was a right move and they deserve some extra streams for effort, as everything here sounds fresh.

Double albums often feel far too long and nearly always full of fat however on Gami Gang this rarely feels like the case as Origami Angel blow through the album’s 20 tracks at breakneck speed. No song is longer than 3.24 and most come in under 3mins, many below 2mins.The hooks and choruses are catchy as hell and nothing ever over stays its welcome and on a double album that’s one hell of a compliment.

In a year where quality emo/punk releases are coming along thick and fast Gami Gang really stands out as one of the best, well worth a listen, just ignore the dumb album title.

April 23rd 2021- Blunted Breaks Vol 2

As any long term reader of this blog will know I am a huge fan of jungle. Not that modern jumped up repetitive sound or that Hospital Records chart friendly stuff but real old stool 1994 sounding jungle and luckily for me that sound is very much en vogue at the moment. Blunted Breaks Vol 2 represents fantastically well where the current crop of jungle producers are, many of the scenes big names including Dead Man’s Chest, Double O, Thugwidow and Tim Reaper are represented here. The compilation is as the name suggests the second released in a series following on from the equally fantastic Vol 1 released in 2018. As a series the quality and diversity of jungle sound on offer from Blunted Breaks reminds me of the much loved and much heralded Earth series released by LTJ Bukem’s label in the 90s. If you were a fan of that series, just enjoy quality jungle music or you’re a drum and bass fan who wants something a bit rougher and more creative you won’t be disappointed by what you find on Blunted Breaks Vol 2, there are no dud tracks, no filler and the album flys past before you can catch you breath. The resurgence of the jungle sound continues.

April 16th- Lycoriscoris- Chiyu

Tokyo based trance producer Lycoriscoris specialises in the kind of trance that has the emotional effective, spine tingling, goose bumping provoking nature that those who were fans of the genre in the 90s have always believed that much mocked (yet incredibly popular) music style should reflect. It is therefore fitting that his album Chiyu has been released by perhaps the great bastion of Trance perfection Anjunadeep.

For those not in the know Anjunadeep is the more meditative and underground sister label to Anjunabeats and was founded and is run by Trance stalwarts Above & Beyond. Over the years Anjunadeep has really shown what Trance could and should be by releasing classic compilation after classic compilation and putting out stellar tune after stellar tune and this is no different when it comes to Lycoriscoris’ album Chiyu.

Chiyu falls on the meditative side of Trance beautifully crafted for relaxed listening its sound falls somewhere between the Anjunadeep catalogue and the works of the musicians found on the Erased Tapes label. As an album it has been crafted to soundtrack Ibizian and Goan sunsets and whilst the world is a long way away from enjoying those sticking this album on, relaxing and closing your eyes at least gives you the sense of being at Benirrás Beach or on a boat in the middle of San Antonio bay watching and waiting for the sunlight to fade.

The current East Asian electronic music scene is one which has deservedly come into recent spotlight and on the strength of the music on Chiyu Lycoriscoris deserves a place as being noted as being one of the most promising and talented musicians working within that scene.

April 9th 2021- Brockhampton- Road Runner, New Light, New Machine

Hip Hop’s first (?) boyband return with their new album New Light, New Machine and a vow that this will be their penultimate release as a group. Whilst, the threat of dissolution remains to be seen this new album is one which is a record of two halves. The first contains the often overwhelming but always intriguing hip hop Brockhampton have become closely associated with. It contains all the usual touch points you associate with the group- Outkast, trap, southern hip hop and the 1990s. The second half of the album is one of 90s inspired slow R&B slow jamz and is greatly influenced by nu jack swing. It’s the sort of album you’ve come to expect from Brockhampton but that isn’t in anyway a bad thing.

The strongest track here is the open track Buzzcut which has a feature from the always identifiable and ever irrepressible Danny Brown, the track opens the album at hurricane speed and whilst being the strongest here it’s worth bearing in mind that nothing on the record comes close to the group’s single 1999 Wildfire, which easily stands as one of the best hip hop tracks of the last decade.

Perhaps most interesting on this album are the 90s samples thrown about at various points during the course of the earlier hip hop tracks they act as an insight into where the members of Brockhampton take their various influences from. Although some may argue that this was always glaringly obvious.

The nu jack swing later stages of the album might not be to everyone’s taste but personally I’ve always been a nu jack fan, as a style of R&B it remains 10 tens more interesting than anything released during the current age. And as such makes for a fun though not vital end to the album.

Overall, Road Runner, New Light, New Machine doesn’t break new ground but is an enjoyable listen.

March 26th- For Those I Love- For Those I Love

There’s a dichotomy to being male, that of; the need to hide all emotion whilst being crippled by the impact of covering all emotion. It’s a dichotomy which is literally killing males and leads to 70 per cent of all suicides being committed by males. It’s this dichotomy and its tragic results which directly inspired David Balfe, the Irish producer, lyricist and musician behind For Those I Love to make this record. Tragically Balfe’s childhood friend and musical partner took his own life and in response Balfe locked himself in his shed and produced what may well be the standout album of 2021.

Male producers and song writers have always been at their very best when they are expressing the genuine confusion and difficulty of emotional expression which comes with being male, swerving the usual machismo for something more genuine and real, lifting a veil. It’s seen on The Clash’s Lost in the Supermarket, Burial’s Rival Dealer or The Streets Blinded by the Lights. And it’s this genuine expression of emotion, of sensitivity, of loss, of the dichotomy at the heart of maleness that makes For Those I Love such a special record.

Touching on influences ranging from the aforementioned Streets, Mount Kimbie, Burial, Bicep, 90s rave, classic house and vintage punk the sound of the record is one made for dusky streets and next day comedowns when the weight of the world seems a little too much. Each production influence is overlaid with lyrics which are part Dylan Thomas, part Kate Tempest and Part Mike Skinner. And are at times guttural and heart wrenching. It’s a beautiful and honest expression.

Between each track are short field recordings and movie samples which bring a real human quality to the record as well as a kind of ambience which places the listener in the Dublin streets which Balfe and his mates inhabit. This is also a record which could only have been made by a millennial with its mix of musical influences across the decades, its cultural touch points such as old social media pages (myspace) and its genuine expressions of emotional sensitivity which often evade old generations of males.

There is little doubt that this is a very special record, one of those records that like the Arctic Money’s debut record, The Streets Original Pirate Material or Burial’s Untrue will resonate for years to come and captures something of a moment in time. A moment where emotional expression for males is changing and changing to a point where perhaps not only great records can be made but lives can be saved.

I have a love and it never fades.

March 12th 2021- Danny L Harle- Harlecore

PC Music regular and Carly Rae Jepsen finally releases his long awaited debut album and to anyone familiar with the sounds of Eurodance and Happy Hardcore of the 1990s everything here will seem warm and familiar. Harle essentially mashes together trance, euro dance and happy hardcore to create something which yes is exceptionally cheesy but is also incredibly fun and addictive. It is the sound of a 90s candy kid, drinking alcopops and popping pills and having it large to their favourite 90s euro dance chart hits.

The album flies by with Harle adopting various aliases based upon the sound of each track and whilst their are shorter chilled moments it’s the giant cheesestring pop smashes which really shine with Shining Stars and On A Mountain being particular standouts.

Sure it’s daft, it’s fast, it’s cheesy as hell but in these dark days when there’s light at the end of the tunnel this is the sound of exactly what you need to get over the year that has just gone.

March 5th- Jazz Spastiks- Camera of Sound

A long time ago in a galaxy far far away.

There was hip hop.

And hip hop expressed things

It was structured using samples and decks

And it was good.

Then came autotune

And things were very very different.

The DJ and the sampler were replaced

With studio techniques

And meaning was all but lost

In favour of bragging lyrics

distorted and mumbled.

However a small separatist movement held on

Jazz Spastiks were just one of the rebels

Who produced real beats

And rapped about things other than

Gucci.

The future of hip hop remains uncertain

Unrest is likely to continue as long as Pitchfork exists

But Camera of Sound will do all it can to defeat the empire

And return real hip hop to the galaxy.