BOLOGNA 2019 | MUSIC ABROAD | 15/3/19

Happy Friday everyone! Last weekend I went to Bologna for the weekend to visit one of my best friends in the world and it was one of the most needed breaks I've ever had. I hadn't left the country for two and a half years and really needed a holiday, not gonna lie. 21 degrees and sunshine in the park in Italy all weekend really gave me the rest I was asking for. Bologna has a completely different atmosphere to London, and at first I even felt anxious at the thought of coming back to the rapid pace of my life here, even though I love it. Everything was relaxed, we'd get a coffee and meet some people, then some others have lunch, go to a bar. Obviously I was on holiday, but you still got a sense that the ambience was safe and slower for everyone. Obviously, I listened to a lot of music, and I noticed that the way I responded to music was also affected by the setting that surrounded me. 

I'm gonna try to explain this in the least contorted way I can. If you think about how your music taste is multi-faceted, with highs and lows of interests in different genres. You have your favourites songs, styles, artists at that time and of all time, what you listen to for certain effects and how you live your life musically. While I was in Bologna, I noticed that these levels shifted in order to suit my lifestyle, albeit just for the weekend. Of course I still loved all the same music, but different genres sprung to mind or released the good feelings I wanted. I was so happy to be relaxing that the vibe the music was creating reflected my feelings in that, and so my music taste essentially adapted to curate this balance. I have a playlist for my friend which I'll link here, but some of the highlights of this were Stay Flo and Binz from the new Solange album, both fantastic, Monsoon by Amber Mark, Loved Ones by Armando Young and Grave by Summer Walker. R&B has always been a favourite of mine, but it has never felt more right than it did this weekend. 

Of course, we did get some clubbing in as well... what did you expect. Peggy Gou happened to be playing in Bologna that weekend, not planned at all, so obviously I was GASSED. We saw her at this club called Link which is outside the city, we had to get a bus which was packed to the brim with everyone going to the same place, shouting and being jarring, it was so jokes. The queue had absolutely no organisation and for half of it I was just being carried between people, my feet weren't even touching the ground. I'm sure that's some people's idea of hell but in the excitement I was creaasinggg. I also had to fill in a form for membership at the front and got given a membership card for 'Loris' lol. Once we got in I was really impressed by the club itself. We were obviously in the middle of nowhere so this old factory building just had all the doors and windows open and the techno was just pulsing from the inside. Anticipation was building. We walk in and it's packed with people, there's not many clubs in London that can carry that kind of capacity, and we squeeze into the crowd and enjoy the vibes. 

I really rate Peggy Gou, it was my first time getting a glimpse of her live work and she can definitely DJ. Track crossovers were sick, and the way she was bringing the bass in and out as it shook the ground really got you into the rhythm. Anyway, maybe ten minutes into us being there she dropped her 'At Night' remix. Absolutely. F***ing. Lost it. What a TUNE, I'm sorry but it just needs no explanation. When it drops into a silence halfway through the song and the whole of Bologna sang the line back at her, the crowd mentality vibes were unreal. My night was already made. We didn't get to stay for more than about an hour and a half unfortunately, so didn't catch any of her 'Once' EP which I was disappointed by but I know I'm going to see her again ASAP so not worried. What I more came out thinking about was how interesting it is experiencing the different clubbing cultures in different cities and countries. I've never been anywhere in England where you have to travel so far to the middle of nowhere just for this kind of night out. But the adventure of it was so exciting, and the insulation of the area almost made it feel like a festival, I found it really exhilarating. 10/10 would definitely go again, although getting home was a mission and it could have been even worse, let's not talk about it. 

Also worth mentioning that this made me wonder if Peggy Gou alters her set to fit her audience. You could tell the Italian crowd absolutely lived for techno, and the section of the set I saw was almost entirely this. I thought about how most sets I see in London there's usually more variety. Of course taste in dance music changes wherever you go, but I just find the details of diversity as you travel around so fascinating. It's in the music, the club layout, the culture inside and outside. When we were on the bus, everyone was shouting crap but not one other person was giving any 'oi oi's. Heartbreaking to be honest, but we move on. Anyway, just thought that was quite cool.

Leaving Bologna was pretty hard. I'm actually seeing my friend in a few weeks for my birthday anyway but it was knowing how special that weekend and the period of time we purely got to spend together in that specific setting was. I appreciated it so much and at first it was hard to accept it was over. Cried at the airport a bit, not gonna lie, and just played those songs I mentioned above on repeat. This kind of brings me back to the point I made in my post last time about music nostalgia. I said I was excited for the music I was listening to now to become a peng memory, and this is that in action. All those beautiful songs are now going to be inextricably connected to my memories of that weekend away, of the sun, the city, the chills, the vibes. If I want to feel that warm content that that weekend gave me, I can re-echo it in the music. She has a window sill in her apartment that looks over the tiled rooves of the buildings nearby, because we were on the top floor, and we spent so much time just sitting on it, looking out, and that image is exactly what comes to mind as soon as I press play. 

Just wanna mention my favourite song at the moment too - Redstripe Rhapsody, LAUSSE THE CAT - layers, genius, listen to it. x x 

Nostalgia in Music | 27/2/19

Nostalgia comes from the Greek νόστος (nóstos), meaning "homecoming", a Homeric word, and ἄλγος (álgos), meaning "pain" or "ache" essentially meaning yearning for home or the familiar. That's something I wrote in about half of my essays at uni and it's something I've always been quite satisfied by. It really treads the line between feelings of happiness and pain in an almost addictive way. Nostalgia can hurt, but once you start to feel it you seek to increase it, like when you're cleaning out your room and you find an old photo or wristband from some event, and then you forget about what you're doing and just look for more old stuff. Sometimes, it's just a feel-good thing, if you're in the right mood for it, and I feel like music can encapsulate all sides of that in quite a lot of different ways. I was thinking about it last week so thought I'd talk about it a bit.

First and foremost, there's the fundamental concept that songs can remind you of certain people or times in your life. You can hear the first few notes and be brought way back to exactly how you were feeling years ago. I think music is part of the process of getting over a break up; you have certain songs that are securely tied to that person, and the first time you are able to listen to them is always painful. Some more than others, but as you get past that first listen each time it always gets better and is ultimately therapeutic. You can remember who you once were in the patterns of the melodies and sometimes it can really help you recognise who you are now. Whooaaaaa, so deep man, but it's true. The way memory responds emotionally to sounds means you can store information in music that you won't be able to hold on to any other way. I hear a song, and thoughts flood back to me that I couldn't have conceived before. The same applies to smell and old photos, revisiting old places etc., but music is the hardest hitting for me.

Then there's intentional use of nostalgia in music which I LOVE. This is obviously all over the place, from classical musicians making references to one another to the culture of sampling that defines the electronic sound. Artists can use the unique bittersweetness to give their music character and have it make a special connection with its audience. 'Love Got Me' by Ted Jasper is a stunning reconceptualisation of 'Crazy In Love' by Beyonce; the two songs have completely different tones, intentions, and so on, but by sampling it it automatically makes me nostalgic for the way the original song made me feel. One of the things that excites me the most about Burial's music is that the obscure samples he uses and distorts I have my own personal connections with, and so I somehow am made to feel intimacy with tracks that call back on my memories. In particular, he samples this laugh from a video game called Majora's Mask in both 'Indoors' and 'Young Death'. It wasn't just a game I played as a child, but I was actually really fascinated/obsessed with the sound effect myself, so hearing it incorporated into someone else's creative output is exciting. 

I've started to be aware of everything I'm hearing now, every song I get obsessed with for two weeks, every album that me and my friends play on repeat, being memories in the future. It's something that used to scare me, trying to hold on to the 'now' so much but as I've realised how powerful nostalgia is, I realise that once I've felt the emotions the music gives me, I can replay them every time I hear those tunes again. If anything, music will act as a time capsule so that I'll never forget these memories. I guess I'm just gassed on life at the moment, and even though this peng February is probably just global warming, it just feels like a time to remember. This weekend, I went to Boiler Room on Friday and Manara - who was absolutely sick - dropped this song 'Soltiero' by DJ Lycox, which I love, but wouldn't expect to hear out generally anyway and definitely not from her set. That's almost like memory inception; I got gassed at a song I knew and then now I'll remember that night because of it. Boiler Room was sick generally, and then Feel My Bicep had a charity fundraiser too on Sunday, a lil' Italo Disco party at EArtH, and Jamie XX was dancing next to me in the club. Not relevant, fine, but I just had to mention it because I. Was. QUAKING. Don't really get being starstruck but just felt so sick to be enjoying the same event as someone I admire like that. All will be music memories in the future I'm sure. x x 

The last thing I wanted to mention on this topic was something I was made aware of in the last couple of days. My friend showed me this song, 'Pearl Song' by Onra, and it's from one of three albums he created while travelling China, incorporating the sounds and music he heard into his tracks. This track is fantastic, but it stands as a work as a whole as quite brilliant to me. I keep thinking how much the music must bring back nostalgia of his travels to him, and the album almost functions as a diary of his journeys. In a way, as listeners, we are getting insight into his own nostalgia and experience of China. It's really cool, so at least check the track out if you don't have time for the whole album(s). 

So this was more of a stream of consciousness than I normally write in but was just really feeling it today. Here's another great song to listen to I found this week - 'Keep It Real' - Loure. Hope you enjoyed, and don't wear backpacks in the club x

Discover My Weekly #4 | Tourist Album | New Playlists | 17/2/19

Happy Sunday everybody! I've been craving to write something for ages but work has been crazy and finding time has been difficult, so feels good to have a lazy day in bed and just talk about some tunes. I'm gonna do a Discover list as I had a nice, eclectic mix of new finds this week, but there's a few other bits and bobs to mention. The sun has been coming up before I leave the flat in the mornings, which is one of my favourite things as summer starts to come around the corner. I'm always rushing out last minute, so I untangle my earphones as I'm walking and think about what the first song I want to play is. When it's bright and the world is awake, I always seem to want some hype tunes on first thing, whereas when I left in the dark I'd want some gloomy, echo-y beats so I felt like I melted into the scene around me. Summary - summer's coming and I'm excited. New music?

#1 - Nyako - Daisho Remix - Makadem, Behr

Soooooo glad I've discovered this song and it's in my life. It's from 2017, and the original is by South African producer 'Behr' together with Makadem, produced during a 'Santuri Safari' session at Sondeka Festival in Kenya - pretty cool. The whole EP contains three different remixes and is fantastic as a work as a whole - this remix is by Indian producer Daisho, and the global fusion of musical minds has created quite the banger. Instrumentation and vocals are beautiful, I really like the bird noise in the background (remember this for later actually), and the track is brought into a standard house rhythm, letting you dance into a trance with it. The bassline moves in two-note patterns, keeping the song moving but not too rapidly. I also really like the level of electronic sound in the song; it's not overdoing it, but there's some real repeating frequencies which would make it fit in a club setting and gives it more character. Also, the album art is beautiful!

#2 - Feel Infinite - Jacques Greene

I think I actually already knew this song but it came up in my Discover Weekly and Jacques Greene is great so I wanted to include it anyway! Great wind chime effects, funky-jumpy synths, exciting hi-hats, lead up to a drop with great held bass notes and a simple but effective drum beat. It really gives me an image of some expensive car driving down an empty motorway suspended in the sky, camera angles changing, intensity building, all peng. It's reminded me that I need to listen to the whole 'Feel Infinite' album properly, and so should you! His most famous song 'Another Girl' is amazing as well, so give that a listen if you haven't already.

#3 - Lullaby, For J - salute

Simple and beautiful. Cut up vocals is obviously a very much saturated market at this point but when it's done right it's stunning how they can carry just as much meaning as real words. The distorted 'ooo's also remind me of something from an N64 Zelda game which is amusing. I really like the juxtaposition of these sounds and the unaltered piano and strings chords. I haven't got loads to say here, but I think it's very much a nice and wholesome track. It rides a nice line between relaxing and energetic, and also reminds me of this song by Hayden James for some reason.

#4 - Night Flight - Arthur Miles

When I mentioned songs that help me fit the gloomy atmosphere in the dark first thing in the morning - this could not be more fitting, and the album art depicts it too. It's everything I love about ambient electronic music. It gives me real Floating Points vibes and the two sections of the song that intertwine throughout are both beautiful. The beat almost sounds like water rapidly dropping from a drain, the synths are like wind whistling past city blocks, the waves of the song rise and fall and the textures of it mesh so well together. I've also recently decided that 8 minutes is my favourite song length (lol) so this checks that criteria too. Arthur Miles is Adelaide, South Australia, but that's about all I can find out :(. Check him out, because more people should hear his sound. Up the ambience.

#5 - Inkoleko - Goldie, James Davidson, Subjective

Subjective is the collaborative effort of Goldie and Ulterior Motive's James Davidson. Although this song was released as a single about half a year ago, the album is pretty recent, and the sound is fresh. It's fantastic to see the bar held so high when stepping out from drum and bass. In fact, when they've been asked about the album, they say not being restricted by BPM etc. has been exciting for them, and it shows. The bass still thumps and the energy is still definitely high, but it doesn't get restricted to a genre at all. Just another reason for 2019 to be a great year for music, and I want to try and sit down and listen to the rest of the album now it's out. So, I started off the list with some African influence, and we're rounding it off with the same.

That about does it for Spotify songs, I also heard this cool cover of Gabriel, but didn't feel I wanted to write a whole paragraph on it. Tourist released his new album a couple of days ago, Everyday, and I would rate it a strong 8/10. I noticed how consistent the tone is throughout the album as I let it play on repeat at work and it created a consistent atmosphere rather than just feeling like dull repetition. 'Emily' is incredible, a stand out tune, and I also really enjoy 'Love Theme'. The album utilises warm vibrations and optimistic melodies that are able to encapsulate both joy and melancholy simultaneously. I hear Burial influences in a few of the tracks which I always love to hear, but Tourist really has managed to establish his own sound which I believe is really becoming recognisable. He's not trying to be too complex, and a lot of his music is easy listening, but that by no means would ever make it not good or worthy of merit. Unified sound is what I'd say makes the album a success, and at 42 minutes it isn't too long either.

Finally, I just wanted to mention some new playlists I've started working on that you should totally follow :^). They're named after some of our solar system's planets, Mercury, Venus, Mars, Jupiter, Saturn, Neptune and Pluto (whether it counts or not), and I've tried to incorporate the sounds that enter my head when I think of both the planets themselves and the gods of their namesakes when putting them together. Pretty proud of the results, and they're seven very different moods. Also, they're very much ongoing, so join the interplanetary music journey. EDIT - I forgot to mention that Four Tet released a new remix of Dave's '18HUNNA' this week and it's a JAM. As I mentioned earlier, bird noise can be brilliantly atmospheric in songs and playing it over a grime song creates a collision of the serene and the harshness of reality that is really effective - love. Thanks for reading, have a great week xxx

ODESZA | BRIXTON ACADEMY | 24/1/19

As mentioned at the end of the last post, I saw Odesza last week and I have been so excited to have the time to write up my thoughts. I've loved their music for years without getting the chance to see them, and to be honest I think my taste in electronic music has completely changed from when I first found interest in their sound, so I was intrigued to see what I was going to think. That being said, they were always a classic to me, and certain songs have aged very well, Sundara particularly. I didn't just enjoy the concert, it completely regenerated my love for the niche of sound they embody. What they're able to do with each song live is phenomenal, it really was a show, there's absolutely no denying that. The visuals, the connection with the audience, I have a lot to talk about so let's get into it.

It all starts before they even come on stage. 'A Moment Apart' comes in to satellites and other space imagery onscreen. The movement of the song between dense, grand textures and solo piano starts the set on a majestic note right away; how can you not be excited for the entrance of the musicians themselves? Already the idea of 'out of this world' is placed in our minds. As the song draws to a close, they come out with arms up in the air, drumsticks to the sky, everyone is cheering. The intensity builds up until they bring down the sticks hard on the drums and we move into the next number. 'Bloom' is one of my favourite tracks, and although its appearance is short-lived, it maintains the grandeur already set up while bringing in the euphoric ambience and blending of genres I associate with Odesza, with the Bollywood sample and heavily reverbed, single note vocals in the chorus. 

After this, it's time to bring in a crowdpleaser. 'White Lies' becomes the first track where everyone can sing along, and we sure did. I really noticed how heightened that sense of joint happiness you get at gigs was that night; everyone would feel the drop together, dance on each other, feeling the joy. The drop in this song is soothingly emotive, it's not a heavy transition or bass kick-in, but the chords are lovely and the stutter effects add to it. 'All We Need' and 'Show Me' hold up the happy vibes, Harrison and Clayton keep it up with the drums, emphasising the live performance aspect. 'Say My Name' gets the crowd going again, as if we've had a moment to rest, and the visuals here centred around an ink blot drawing, shimmering and melting between various pastel colourings as the song continued. It was beautiful and drew your attention into centre stage, as if the music wasn't enough for this.

After this initial barrage of some of their best work, they dropped in some kind of remix of the 1960's 'Locomotion' which was so random I'm still not quite sure how it worked, but it definitely did. It was a nice retreat from the overall ethereal sound, but mixed in nicely enough that it didn't just sound wrong. This is what I meant when I went to see Bicep about dropping in just a track or two that no-one could expect, it just refreshes the atmosphere. Anyway, this was followed by 'Late Night', without a doubt one of my favourite moments. This song live is just amazing, all I could think was that I had to see it again already. It has grandeur, but you dance shamelessly like no one is watching, it's got joy and melancholy, and the visuals were incredible. These deep purple shots of city-scapes and streets rushed by as if we were all flying on some ship. Here's a jokes clip of me going 'WHEYYY' at one of the drops - despite trying to get a clear clip for the archive, I just couldn't stop myself.

'IPlayYouListen' brought some classic vibes from their older work. It makes me realise that I always think 'In Return' surpasses everything else by far, but I'm totally wrong, all of their work stays consistently brilliant and on brand. More fantastic visuals here, with chaotic, crimson fire bursting out of the screens. I should say, their use of block colours in the light show was key to the performance; they use it to transition between the different tones of the set and most of the songs fit into a set colour scheme. 'Show Me' had deep blues, 'Late Night' of course had this futuristic purple, and red was held through from this track straight into their 'One Day They'll Know' remix, with the images turning into darker, thicker magma explosions.

After 'Boy' came 'Higher Ground' and I've said it already but it's just pure euphoria. The instrumentation is so uplifting you just feel like this sonic cloud is carrying you up in the sky. We move into the bright warmth summer-lit oranges and the iconic Odesza silhouettes appear on stage. I really like the transition visually from this to the next song, 'La Ciudad'. From this first human image, we then see these giant, anthropoid creatures stepping over vast stretches of land. We effortlessly move back to grandeur, and with flashes of strobes as the heavy, slow drum beats strike down, I remember the hairs on the back of my neck standing on end, particularly towards the end where the intensity reaches climax. As usual, there's not even any time to take it all in, and the lavender bubbles of 'Divide' passes us into a remix of 'Divinity' by Porter Robinson. It's nice to see another cover, and I  a d o r e  this song. I believe Odesza have two different styles for their own music and when they produce a remix of another artist, and it was great to see both in direct comparison in concert.

Following this, then, with 'Line of Sight' was a perfect lead up to another huge hit. There was a noticeable mood shift here, with the screens playing dark, drifting waves, and much of the song taking a slower tone of quiet reflection. The ending really left me silent and I think I cried here (lol), as the 'help me out, don't let me down, I can learn from you' section starts. Powerful, bringing back loads of old emotions, it felt like an acute session of catharsis. Afterwards, they played a VIP remix of 'Memories That You Call' which for some reason I've never heard before, but it takes quite a marching tone at some points, which was magnified by the incredible onstage brass. This futuristic car played on the screens and it had this bizarreness to it that mirrored the intermingling of genres and sounds in the music. Next was 'Keep Her Close', 'If There's Time' had a mad drop, and the brass was great again, this time to create a warm orange ambience, and 'Across The Room' incorporated Roman imagery with some grand marble pillars and statues. It also had a nice singalong back and forth moment with the crowd and Odesza with the opening hook.

Then came 'Loyal' which you could tell was highly anticipated. Right, I was really disappointed when this came out, for their first release in a long time I just thought it could have been made by someone else, it was missing their unique flair, but my friend and I both agreed that it had a lot of live potential. We weren't wrong. The theme here was RED, as you'd expect, and with live drums it was just incredible. With so much anticipation for it as well, it was a jokes over-the-top reaction in the crowd and it made the hype so dramatic, I was creasing at how many people were going mental. It's still not high on my list of their work, but I rate it a lot more now, and as it reminds me of the live show I have great associations. They followed this with 'Don't Stop' and 'Falls' - both peng. 

They let us know that we've reached the last song of the set and I can't believe it's almost over. Scrap that, I can't believe I didn't realise this song hadn't played yet. As the first few bouncing chords of 'Sun Models' rolled in, my body flooded with excitement, I was gassed, trying to sing the high-pitched and heavily altered vocal line, with no words, probably annoying everyone around me. They gave us a live edit, with a fantastic drop and it was so fun to dance to. Sun spells shimmered across the stage, bringing us into yellow final moments. Of course, it wasn't the final moments, and the encore they gave us absolutely changed everything. I don't know if you've ever seen a live performance of the VIP remix of 'It's Only', online or in person, but you've got to. I feel lucky that I got to witness it in person. Two more drums came onstage to form four (in America I'm pretty sure they have a whole drumline), and the colour focus becomes a dramatic white. The beginning of the song is lovely and sets the ambience, but the second half just blew my mind. As the 'it's only love' sample plays every four bars, the chords rise up gradually in this elated euphony, higher and higher, it's like the heavens opening up; the stage flashes white and white and white, the drums reecho all around the hall, and in my head all of Brixton. I couldn't even dance, I just had to stand there, mouth open. If I felt the hairs on the back of my head before, every inch of my skin was in awe at this. All dramatic, I know, but I don't care, it was that good.

So, I was impressed already at how much they managed to pack into the gig. The setlist is huge, but the songs were mixed together well and the order was thought out well that it prevented it from feeling rushed. I haven't been able to stop feeling like I need to see them again which I think is the ultimate sign of a good concert. Honestly, 10/10, I was blown away.

Printworks Beat Horizon | Some New Music | 24/1/19

Gooooooooooooooooooooooood morning everyone! How are the tunes treating you this week? Are you craving more mellow beats or looking to go crazy? I like a balance of both, usually I reckon I'd say I lean more towards the more ambient side but this last week has been h y p e to say the least. On the weekend I went to Printworks for the 'Beat Horizon' day festival and I. Am. Still. Gassed. I haven't been to anything like this in what seems like forever and it was sensationally refreshing. 

As I'm sure you know if you've seen any promotion for it, the line-up was insane, and while the bits and bobs of everybody I caught were consistently exciting, I was mainly there for DJ Marky and Calibre. Drum and bass at its finest, I will happily say, with the two representing the two sides of the genre - almost like light and dark. So, Marky came first and the press hall was literally heaving with people jumping up and down, going further and further back like that herd coming down the slope in the Lion King. I know I've said it before, but Printworks just blows my mind as a venue, it's this huge, mechanical maze, like the laboratory you try to escape from in Portal... it was a bit cold, though. 

But not in the crowd. DJ Marky has the ability to make you feel like you're on a beach even as you look around the dark, old warehouse - it's fast-paced, euphonic, the drops are mad, you just want to dance the whole time. Tune after tune was coming through, I really enjoyed hearing 'Roll The Dice' out for the first time - Shy FX brilliant as ever, Stamina MC reminding me of Marky as we'll see later, and Lily Allen's silky-smooth vocals sound so peng over the gritty 172 BPM drums. Sooo buff man, and it wasn't long before we got Marky's remix of Fatboy Slim's 'Praise You' - mate. MATE. I can't tell you how gassed I was for all of this set, but this song really hit hard. The feel-good lyrics still hold their place, but the wobbling bass and DnB beat give it some darker inflections that stops the twenty-year-old track from being just a throwback. He also picked up the decks at one point to do his signature move, scratching the turntable upside down, which is more jokes but does add to the set.

The hype just kept growing as we approach the end of the set though. By this point, we'd made it to the front of the crowd and the speakers were right in my ears. Your whole body is just pulsating with the rhythm, the DJ and MC are right there, you look back on the Lion King herd and you just realise the real power of music. I actually found myself on the Printworks instagram story at the front at this point which was a nice lil' bonus. They stop the music before the last track and MC GQ gives us a little reminder that it's only about 6 o'clock in the evening by this point (lol), and he can go get himself a kebab on the way home - relatable without being cringe. Anyway, this gave them time to build up the excitement for the last track of the set, and what could have been better than 'LK'. Summer VIBES. Everyone forgot the freezing cold outside, what an utterly wholesome moment. Perfect way to end the set, for an hour and a half I hadn't been bored for a second. I've seen Marky once before but this set really showed me what he's capable of.

Calibre provided a totally different experience. This was in the Dark Room which was absolutely pack out, took about five minutes to get into, was sweaty af but as a result held onto real rave atmosphere. It's weird to think how big the whole venue was and hundreds of people were packed in the tiniest area. Calibre's set centred around more sparse tracks, moving away from the crowd pleasers but it provided a continuous atmosphere. The interplay of the percussive rhythms and angular basslines was good-weird, and I did begin to lose awareness of how sardined we were in there from getting distracted by the complexities of his DJing. The mixing was intelligent I guess I'd say, and so it was enjoyable to analyse more than gas over. All in all, Printworks was worth every penny, just wish I had heard 'Yellow Shoes', don't know if I just missed it or it didn't play.

A lot of music stuff happened this week too. James Blake's new album 'Assume Form' came out - thoughts? I like it, it hasn't blown me away but I don't deny it's good. It manages to keep his authentic sound and vocal style up and you of course know it's him, some of the chord progressions are dazzling - 'Lullaby For My Insomniac' comes to mind - but I wasn't crazy about every single song. Highlights were 'Into The Red' and 'Don't Miss It' for me, and I thought 'Tell Them' was unexpected but works for him brilliantly. It's subtly different, the trap beat isn't too much, and the melody of the hook is hypnotising.

However, the real new release that has stolen the show for me is Bonobo's 'Ibrik'. It's part of the upcoming album compilation he's making for Fabric, which is being celebrated with a 4-hour DJ set at the club itself in February. It's got everything you need from a Bonobo track, it's chilled out and upbeat simultaneously, and the main melody that recurs throughout is made up of just four notes but it gets in your head as if it's addictive. 5:50 is a solid length for a track of this style in my opinion, and the drop at 3:57 is beauuuuuutiful. With earphones on I have to listen at least two or three times. Check it out if you haven't already; I also really like the album art and fabric released this little 30-second clip with it that's wavey too.

That's all for this week - I have tickets to an Odesza concert today which I'm VERY hyped for so I will try and write up my thoughts on it in the next week or so. Hope you enjoyed xxx

Discover My Weekly #3 | 9/1/2019

The sun was out properly for the first time in forever yesterday and I saw three guys out together in sunglasses - so England lol. It wasn't even bright in the slightest and it's still freezing, although it's London Fashion Week and this was in Shoreditch so maybe they were trying to make some sort of (weak) statement. It's a symbol of the days starting to get longer anyway, so let's cheers to that. I've got quite a few exciting gigs coming up this month that I can't wait to talk about, but so far this year I've just been taking it easy post-new year and focusing on work. I'm going to take this post to share some Discover music as it'll probably be a while before I do it again. Good news is, it's all great stuff. Most of the songs are quite summer vibes-y, so maybe I'm not any better than those three guys in trying to force it...

#1 - Flowers - Sampa The Great, REMI

First of all, I have a special place in my heart for the flute trill at the opening. The instrumentation is generally very varied, classical instruments, wind chimes and different percussion, it modifies and stays fresh throughout. There's a lot going on but that doesn't prevent the song from maintaining a soothing, carefree atmosphere. Born in Zambia, Sampa The Great came through Botswana, LA and San Francisco to Sydney in Australia - maybe this is a factor in why her accent when she sings is so mesmerisingly unique. When she sings the descending patterns on 'free' her voice is like a whistling breeze, it's stunning. Against this, REMI's verse provides a moment to take you out of the trance, which is refreshing in itself. The melodies have this strange quality to them that paired with the rhyming pattern makes it sound like some sort of spell. The drum beat is nice and chilled, but the shaking tambourine leading up to a cymbal crash allow points of climax in the texture which stops it from getting boring and too clearly repetitive.

#2 - Akanamali - Sun-El Musician, Samthing Soweto

Feel good music! It's a South African pop song, it's straightforward to listen to, and it's very enjoyable. The production isn't trying too hard but there's a few little things I really like. The outro solo on the synth from about 4:26 brings a nice resolution to the song. The bassline made from a vocal pitch-shifted down a few octaves is wavey on its own, but next to Samthing Soweto's transcendental and effortless voice, there's a beautiful collision of the high and low. The lyrics are quite standard pop love song in meaning, but to my easily-pleased English ears they sound so poetic. All in all, both singer and producer seem to be on the same wavelength, which results in pleasant vibes achieved through effective simplicity (aka good pop music).

#3 - Do It, Try It - The Blaze Remix - M83

I'm a big fan of The Blaze - their album 'DANCEHALL' was one of my favourites last year - but I had never heard this remix before. It's totally different to the original, and you really can tell its their version just by hearing those distorted and reverbed vocal samples - so it's peng to see totally different interpretations from two French electronic artists. In the opening, the piano chords remind me of Eric Satie's 'Gymnopedies', then one minute the tension begins to build, to 1:21, and the heavy beat allows the electronic side to take precedence. The suspense and texture falls and rises through the next few minutes until we ultimately return to those 'Gymnopedie' chords - genius. It tells such a story, even when the vocals are distorted beyond understanding. The high-pitched synth chords and techno kicks keep the intense moments alive, and at times there's an exhilaration in the lack of warning we're given before they come in. Also, bass is present and important, but it isn't too heavy which I think is vital in allowing the two sections of the song to be able to gel together and fluidly cross over. I really enjoyed the original too, so check that one out also!

#4 - Pineapple - Blue Lab Beats, Moses Boyd, Nérija

Quite the sick little jazztronic number. Blue Lab Beats are a duo from London, Golders Green to be exact. Their style seems to rely quite a bit on experimentation, which is cool, and I appreciate how much they talk about the process on their website, you don't often get that with a lot of musicians. The structure seems something along the lines of intro, A, sax solo, A, B, A, and the melodies are all gorgeous. The solo is balanced and explores a range without going over the top, and whereas the melody in A almost glides through the bars seamlessly, in B it almost struts across, making the section distinct and breaks up the song agreeably. It all comes together to make a great chillout tune, and the more modern/electronic jazz I see the better to be honest.

That's all for today, not quite my average selection and I guess not my most usual genres, but I'm quite gassed for myself to add these to my playlists. Can't stop listening to 'Tin' - Daphni at the moment either, but that's not a new discovery. Hope you enjoy them, and don't wear sunglasses in January. xxx

2018?? I don't know her x

Hello hello lovely people! Welcome to my last post of the year, the last ramblings that rattle through my brain before 2019 hits and we're back and ready to do it all over again (10 points if you know the meme). Ramblings is actually very accurate, as I just want to chat about bits and bobs rather than have a specific theme. Let's look back over the year and enjoy some nostalgic vibes.

I hope you all had lovely Christmases by the way. I haven't stayed at home for over a week in a long time; it was a really needed break and peng to have some proper family time, fights included. I was actually given a vinyl player, amp and speakers by my rents, something I've wanted for a couple years now and I'm majorly hyped for. I've been shopping about to start to build up a collection. Peggy Gou's 'Once' EP I felt was a good start, then I found Burial's 'Untrue' and Basement Jaxx's 'Rooty' for some throwback feels. A nice mix, but it's really made me think about the logistics of album content; there's been an ongoing discussion for a while of whether it's a dying art form, but I really don't think it's going anywhere. There's such a beauty to how you have to consider the general atmosphere an album will create if you pop a vinyl on rather than just picking the best songs to queue. It's a different experience but the outcome can be even more effective, especially when that one song does come on halfway through and everyone gets gassed together. I think albums define the direction an artist is going in when they release their latest music, and even as playlists are becoming ever more popular, I don't reckon they're going anywhere.

On that note, how do you build a playlist? I always used to just base everything off the first song I put in it and then over time it wouldn't make much sense - everything would somehow link to that first song in a way, but as a whole it wouldn't really gel. To break out of that cycle I've done two things; I've started playlists based on a few of my friends, so that way I know what I need to share with them and people with similar taste, and also I get this peng side effect where if I miss them, I can just listen to it and feel closer to them!! Awww, cringe I know, but it does work. Anyway, the other thing I've started doing is giving playlists names that in my head I really relate to a certain feeling music might give me. For example 'oi oi' for when a tune is pure YES no matter where/when it comes on, or I have one called 'boo' for those songs that are cool and interesting but always seem to be a bit spooky or west to put on in most contexts. Honestly, it genuinely seems to be forming more cohesive sets as a whole, so by all means follow my (slightly west) lead.

Spotify's 'Wrapped' playlists have been interesting too. I'm baffled by how much my music taste changes over the year - not just from beginning to end, but even each couple of months, and so the 'most listened to' playlist has been jokes. My top song is 'Let Me Go' by Branko which will come as a surprise to absolutely no one who knows me, I don't think I'm ever going to get over that banger. I've even gotten into the remixes of it again recently, and then re-listened to the original and it's like it's fresh and new again once more. Looking back over it, it's weird to see so many memories that I'd sort of forgotten because I had stopped listening to those songs after a while. In some ways, you can really define who you were at points in your life by what you were listening to, but I didn't realise the accuracy of that could come down to different sections of a year. How certain songs are perfect in just the right moment is something else that struck me scrolling through. Shy FX's 'Gold Dust' edit was the absolute faultless choice at the point it came on during Rudimental's Bestival set and I haven't been able to forget it since. 'Flowers' is always the perfect moment at a house party, no matter what, and nothing bangs better than Jamie XX's 'All Under One Roof Raving' during a long, rainy bus ride, trust me. On a similar train of thought, 'Evening Side' works best in the morning and 'Morning Side' at the end of the night, in my humble opinion.

So, there's just a quick few things I wanted to spill before the clock strikes twelve. Have fun tonight everyone! Be safe and dance well - by your own standards, not other people's. Oh, by the way, I've been listening to my Discover Weekly during this, so check out Misty Cold, Endless, Lit, Soak It Up and Induction when you get the chance. Lots of love xx