November, you're here! I've welcomed in the month by eating too much sushi (is there ever such a thing?), visiting a photobooth made famous by Jarvis Cocker, listening to the new Foals track repeatedly and extended cab rides in minus temperatures on bonfire night. This month is going to be quick, exciting, stressful and straight-up peachy continued by a Death Grips and Wet Nuns show tonight! Oh yeah, and my new (second to last ever, SOB) playlist is now up here on Freedom Spark featuring Jai Paul, Danny Brown, Churches, Metz, Holy Other and the return of Chad Valley...
October's (belated) playlist for Freedom Spark is now up! I got a bit carried away and so there is seven songs this month (including, Death Grips, Kwes, Dan Deacon, Shigeto, Shinies, Swim Deep & How To Dress Well) of which are all corkers- enjoy! Speaking of which, Kwes whom I also included, is playing WHP tonight and, like, guess who is going?! Seriously, how fucking AMAZING is this line-up?! I think a sweaty rave in Room two whilst gidd-ily dancing to Pariah with some fantastic faces new and old sounds like a perfect Saturday to me! I'm off to drink all the Beechams in the flat in order to get on top form seeing as illness is well and truly still striking :( Have a rad weekend! Like I said in my last post, interviews' arriving soon!
I'm finally back in my adopted city! Bramall has been renovated and is, for once, not looking like an abandoned mental asylum which was the best surprise ever. I've been reunited with my uni girls, scaring possible future flatmates off during a viewing by way of awkward introductions and blasting Death Grips throughout the flat (I'm the only person here at the moment!), receiving Reeses Pieces upon arrival and almost crying at the Katy Perry film where she is all depressed in Sao Paulo- don't judge me! I was also sent an advanced copy of the new How To Dress Well record this week which is beautifully fantastic, I reviewed it for Freedom Spark here and you can enjoy it below, too! The Guardian are also streaming it in advance here, isn't that nice? Happy 'lets all avoid the influx of Freshers' week!
How To Dress Well- 'Total Loss'
Tom Krell is a man inundated with emotions and a soft spot
for hip-hop. There I said it- although you’d never expect it off the bat with a
name like ‘How To Dress Well’ now, would you? These points were evident on the
strikingly touching ‘Love Remains’ back in 2010 and it sure has been a long
two-year wait for those in the know, now finally, follow-up ‘Total Loss’ is
released on Weird World/ Acéphale come
September 18th. The questions upon everyone’s lips have been along
the likes of “Will HTDW flounder from awful-second-album-syndrome?” and “Will
he fail to capture what ‘Love Remains’ did so individually well?”. Shame on you
ponderers’! Never doubt a man’s craft, especially when it’s as marvellously
idiosyncratic as this release is.
‘When I was In Trouble’ commences
with what appears to be samples of train
tracks underneath humble keys and Krell’s distinctive falsetto of ‘You were
there for me when life was a struggle’, making for a straightforward yet desirable
combination that fundamentally sets the affectional atmosphere for the rest of
the record, although, it doesn’t really feel
like an opener - which is precisely where ‘Cold Nites’ steps in. At first, Krell’s
vocals come across more Andrew Wyatt back on Miike Snow’s debut rather than
containing his so-called usual Bon Iver tones but either way, when lead up with
enticing strings and simmering percussion, a whole other dimension is introduced.
The track almost seems, well, sexy for a piece that is so based around (as the
title evidently suggests) loss, specifically thanks to frets of “Tell me what I wanna do/ Tell me what
I gotta do, baby” sounding deliciously
slick. ‘Cold Nites’ above all presents to listeners old and new exactly why
HTDW is one of the few electronic/ r&b crossover artists outriding the wave
to the very end and beyond.
‘Say My Name Say Whatever’ delivers itself as a standout
track thanks to an introduction taken from 80’s documentary ‘Streetwise’ and a pairing
of soothingly gorgeous vocals underlaid by radiant keys, echoing a pattern throughout
the album that less can definitely be more. ‘&it was u’ plays like a 90s
R&B track that has been re-discovered and remixed to a modern day
adaptation, except its recognisably original, as luscious layered vocals and
instrumental additions in the form of various drum cadences reflect that this
is the thing about HTDW; nothing is full-throttle and at break-neck speed, it is
all about building layers of suspense, sentiment and brilliance.
‘World I need you,
won’t be without you’ is an instrumental track of pianos, glockenspiels and
literally the most heart-wrenching viola sections that I’ve heard by a modern
day artist ion a long time; the piece literally sounds like it should have
played on the titanic at moment of sinking, just incase you thought you were
out of the red and into the black on the previous track, that is. Struggle’ is
the first sign of anything that isn’t simplistic instrumental wise, as this remix
of ‘When I Was In Trouble’ shows vocals becoming distorted and warped- piercings
of electronica be carried on through bending overlaps of which should affect
the quality of the track (as was the case on ‘Love Remains’) but, in fact, acts
as a metaphorical aid for the struggles of which Krell delivers to us so profoundly.
‘Set It Right’ really is the tip of the stirringly despairing iceberg, as Krell
sorrowfully lists fifteen people he has loved and lost before reaching a dazzlingly
cataclysmic explosion at its peak.
‘Total Loss’ doesn’t make me want to jump out of my 12th
floor flat window, it does the opposite of depress the listener and instead
offers hope, renewal and also shows the audience a little segment of his
inner-most workings. The only person who is also as bravely emotional in his
music today would be that of Perfume Genius, plain and simple. After listening
to this record non-stop for the past few days, there have been tears of
condolence on my behalf and all I want to do is sit him down with a large glass
of red and a shoulder to cry on- but it appears that he already has it all
figured out- ‘Total Loss’ is his therapy to share with the world and a magnificent
piece of art sure to stand the test of time.
9/10
Words by Yours Truly X
I hope all you beautiful readers have been doing well, I certainly have, after numerous revision lunches, sleepless nights and painstaking library sessions, I can finally say that I've finished uni for Summer! I've been celebrating deadline day by eating the best Eggs Benedict I'd ever had in Sugar Junction, watching repeats of Grimes and Lone's Boiler Room sets (I'm FINALLY going to catch her live tonight, talk about girl crush), getting a new piercing and reading this; cue over-emotional sobbing all around the flat :( Apart from that, I've been customizing everything with Nirvana patches and trying not to cry over the fact that Death Grips have cancelled their tour whilst falling in love with Meredith Lyon's debut collection, whatever, you win some you lose some! I have to work tonight and tomorrow so come Saturday I'm totally going to be in need of a Caprihina or tenwhen I'm off to see the Jarmans!
Speaking of which, I had a lovely little email in my inbox informing me that I won tickets to this too (OMG #Cribsforummassive), which is going to be streamed live on the Jack Daniels website if you can't make it to the show, which is pretty bloody good if you ask me- so basically, twice in five days? Why the hell not! Also, I don't even need to say how fabulous ITBOTBB is, just don't even go there. Now that I have no educational stresses in the world, I'm going to finally watch Donnie Darko, eat Chinese food with my flatmates and listen obsessively to everything I can find by Alt-J- oh, and I'll have a Vice-related post and a Tribes review up for your very eyes before the weekend is over, good luck with all your deadlines boys and girrrls! X
