Non-Hostile Environment

I've heard this Janet Kay reggae track at various times over the last few weeks.  It's popped up on mixes, on radio shows.  When I heard it, I assumed it was some obscure dusty thing that's been rediscovered somehow. I mean, it does sound a bit off, and Tom Ravenscroft is playing it on 6 Music.  Then I looked it up and it turns out it was #2 in the UK in 1979!  #2!!  A hit, in other words, and Janet Kay, the singer, was on Top of the Pops. 

This wouldn't be a very big deal, but given everything that's in the news these days, the hostility and anger, and how important identity, race, background, has seemingly become (at least online), it's kind of cool to go back to 1979 and a time when things were probably pretty bad, race-wise, and yet this slightly strange track made it all the way to #2 in the UK (it was apparently a hit around Europe too).  What does it mean?  I don't know to be honest... maybe that it doesn't have to be this way, that there are better parts of our nature we should be tapping into?  Or maybe it just means that a good pop song can transcend boundaries -- or at least it used to be able to.  Is pop culture the answer to our troubles?  It's possible (as an aside, when I looked up #TopBoy on Twitter, I came across quite a few users with England flag emojis in their name who'd enjoyed the show...). 

It also reminds me of just how important Black music is to pop music in general.  Especially in the US and UK, one could argue that without Black music there'd be no pop music, no rock music, no dance music, nothing; we'd be listening to skiffle boards, country (maybe?), folk, and who knows what else.  It'd be pretty shit.  So check out this video -- I hope it makes you smile. 



Also, on Tom Ravenscroft, I heard Metronomy do a live track and I have to say it sounded like... something from Flight of the Conchords.  And I like Metronomy.  I wonder if it's meant to be funny?  The official version actually sounds pretty good:

White Hot Funk

I've written about the band Metronomy on this blog a couple of times before (here and here).  They're one of these bands that seem to improve with time as the ideas flow and their creativity and skill increases.  The second album was better reviewed than the first, and their third is the best reviewed so far.  I think it's rather good (it's called Love Letters by the way) and so when I heard they were coming to the 930 Club I knew it would be well worth checking them out.

Things started off at a bit of a low, as the sound was way too loud for my ears.  It seemed like the club's sound people noted that too though, and after the first couple of songs either my ears adjusted or the sound was lowered; either way, it was better, and clearer.  The place was about 60% full, which doesn't sound too great, but all it really meant was that the balcony was quite empty as most people filled the main floor to dance.  Yes, dance, cos Metronomy are pretty funky and they put on a good show too!  From matching white suits to a few synchronized moves here and there, they seem like a band who know they're in the entertainment business and don't mind embracing that too much, even if it may be in a somewhat ironic way.  I like that -- definitely prefer it to po-faced bands who want to pretend they're normal people who just happen to be in front of a paying crowd playing music.  It reminded me a bit of seeing Peter, Bjorn, and John at 930 a few years ago -- a really happy and joyous show that went on til it seemed they'd played their entire catalogue!  This wasn't as up there as that, possibly because of the smaller crowd, but the people who attended were definitely enjoying themselves and seemed to know Metronomy's songs well.  It was a diverse crowd too, especially for an act who could probably still be categorised as UK indie pretty easily.  Overall it was a good show -- highlights included three keyboards, the afore-mentioned white suits, on-stage dancing and funkiness, a singing female drummer, and the fact that main Metronomy man Joseph Mount reminds me a bit of Nick Frost.  I don't mean that in a bad way.  Bassist Olugbenga Adelekan (pictured above) really stood out to me too -- the basslines are really prominent in most Metronomy songs, but add to that his lively demeanour, cool look, and classic funky bass-player moves (how do they move their heads like that without getting a pain in the neck??).  He would've stolen the show if it weren't for the fact that almost all the other four members of the band were working it too.  I just found out that he also works solo, under his first name, so will definitely be checking out more of him.  I learned that dancing in Birkenstocks is bit tricky.  Oh, and the stage set-up -- they actually put some effort into that too.  Check out the live video below, it's pretty much what I saw last night, just on a different stage.  The Upsetter is one of my favourite tracks from Love Letters:



Couple of other quick things:  First off, it's weird how different the area around the 930 Club is now!  I haven't been to a show there in a while and the change is pretty astounding.  It used seem that 930 was the one place to go to in a pretty grotty (and dangerous-seeming) area of warehouses and surface parking lots.  But now all that's gone and it's being surrounded by new apartments/condos!  Literally!  There's one being built next door and one right across the street.  I'm not saying it's good or bad, but it'll definitely change the atmosphere around the club once the changes are complete.  I guess, for me, part of the appeal of going to a concert is also going to a part of town that I wouldn't normally go to.  That's probably because almost all of my concert experiences have been in slightly shitty areas!  Downtown Detroit and Pontiac in the late 90's, then DC in the early and mid-00's...  So in my mind, concerts are associated with the illicit thrill of being in a "bad" area. I suppose it doesn't have to be that way though.

Second, one of my earlier Metronomy posts is also about the rapper Oddisee.  There was a nice write-up about him, the trio he's a part of, Diamond District, and their new record, in last week's DC City Paper. It's a good long read so check it out.

Oddonomy

I take the subway to work here in DC and, most mornings, I pick up the free rag that's handed out at the stations, the Express.  The paper has a music column on Tuesdays, written by Christopher Porter.  Almost every week I find myself shaking my head at whatever he's written about -- usually some obscure 90s local hardcore, which I'm pretty sure almost no DC commuter cares about -- yet somehow he still retains his column!  Last week was different though, and I found myself slightly intrigued.  The column was about a young local MC/producer who goes by the name of Oddisee.  What intrigued me was his real name, Amir Mohammed el Khalifa -- a Muslim, like me!  Or at least that's what his name implies.  The column went on to detail some of Oddisee's work, which only intrigued me further, as it sounded like he had some pretty eclectic tastes.  So I looked him up, and found out that as well as being a local artist, he spends a lot of time in London!  After that I ended up listening to some of his music, reading some articles, and even checking out his thoughts on gentrification.  I was well impressed all round . One of his tunes really stood out to me, and I'm going to stick it in below.  It's off the "Odd Renditions" EP, which can be downloaded for free at bandcamp, and it samples a Metronomy song I hadn't heard before: 


I really like the way he uses the Metronomy sample in this track -- it sounds more like a collaboration than a sample.  The original Metronomy song, which I heard after the Oddisee version, now sounds like something's missing from it to me:



Oddisee has already put out a lot of work, as a solo artist, a producer, and as part of local hip-hop trio Diamond District.  He seems to be one of those artists who's a lot bigger abroad then he is even in his hometown, let alone the States as a whole -- in my experience that usually equals quality.  He's just put out a new solo album, People Hear What They See, and is currently on tour in Europe. 

Gratitude

Couple of new things to highlight.  First up is a new remix by Gold Panda.  It's a little different from what I've heard from him in the past, a little more uptempo, dark, and glitchy.  The remix is of a track by Night Works, a new outfit started by the former bassist of Metronomy.  They sound quite intriguing themselves, so I'll try and check out more by them and hopefully do a post. 



Next is a new(ish?) track by Burial and Four Tet.  I saw Four Tet in DC recently (I don't think I posted about it, but my memory isn't what it used to be), at U Street Music Hall.  I was in two minds about going but it turned out to be a good decision.  It always seems like a bit of a gamble going to a live dance music event but it almost always pays off.  Thoughts of "it's just a bloke with a laptop" evaporate when the music starts, mostly cos the soundsystems make such a massive difference, as does the experience of being with a crowd of dancing people.  But the fact that the musician is there, playing the music in one form or another (Four Tet was definitely not just pressing play on a laptop), does make a difference -- and it definitely makes a difference from a DJ'ed show, a difference that to me is positive.  The DJ has his place too, but there's something about listening to a live set that appeals to me more.  Anyway, enough of that; the collaborated track is called 'Nova', and here it is:



Finally, RIP MCA.  I can't say I was ever a massive Beastie Boys fan, but I did like them and enjoyed having my life punctuated by a new Beasties track every few years.  The singles from Ill Communication will always remind me of my teenagerhood, as will the amazing videos.  Adam Yauch seemed like a decent person, and 47 is very young. 

tune-age

Who knew that Jarvis Cocker had made a collab dance track? Not me, but I'm glad I heard about it as it's quite good. Jarv's voice is well suited to loungey crooning -- he could be a good Bryan Ferry if he tried a bit harder. His collaborators here are a French duo called Discodeine. I'm just hoping Jarv tries more of this kind of thing:



While I'm at it I'll put up some other dancey tunes I've heard and liked, some recent and one from a while back. First up is the recent Gorillaz single that wasn't on Plastic Beach, in case you missed it:



If you're in the mood, you can look up the official video for 'Doncamatic' and reflect on how much of a difference to the listening experience it makes to be able to see the artist -- perhaps just listening is better? I had similar feelings after watching a DVD about Belle and Sebastian -- I liked them better when I couldn't picture them. Same goes for the XX -- hard to take seriously when you realise they're almost still pimply teenagers. Perhaps Gorillaz had it right when they stuck to just being cartoons (though their guest artists have always seemed to appear as themselves). Ok, moving on, next is a remix of a Caribou track. I posted about Caribou not too long ago; this is a remix of the track Sun by UK-based artist Midland. It's quite tasty:



Last up is a song by Metronomy, who I heard a couple of years ago. I was reminded of them again while looking up Discodeine so here's a track by them. I've included the video here as I found it to be rather charming (it doesn't hurt that it features England with mostly nice weather):

Metronomy - Heartbreaker