In No Particular Order – January 17, 2020
Hello!
Welcome to the first INPO of 2020! The new decade is off to a hot start, with plenty of great artists dropping albums like it’s their job (good thing it is). The best part is there are so many more on their way this year, hopefully the music universe can save us all this year and keep things exciting and prosperous.
Fingers crossed.
For now, enjoy this week’s collection of my favourite albums and don’t forget to follow Dusty Organ on your favourite socials! Facebook, Twitter, and Instagram – so pick your fav. Or all 3, that’s probably better.
Holy Fuck – Deleter
Toronto electronic rock band Holy Fuck have been around for almost fifteen years, and with their fifth album Deleter finally hitting shelves, the band’s musical progression has continued to evolve. Swapping bright melodies and dance floor-chasing energy for heavier, hypnotic rhythms, Deleter explores the kinetic power of Kraut rock and combines it with the trance effects of deep house, moving to a more edgy, technologically progressive sound for the band.
The band’s use of instruments and miscellaneous tools to create electronic music gives them a slight edge to other electronic artists that use the more traditional route of software and splicing to create their sound. Even fifteen years later, you can still hear their organic production highlight the tracks. The raw sound of floor toms and bass kicks hit a little differently than a digitally created sound would, and this consistency is what takes the album to a higher place.
As with most of the tracks on the album, it is a slow build, but with some patience and the right speakers, the payoff is worth it. The opening few tracks on the album bleed together almost seamlessly. Lead single “Luxe” featuring Hot Chip frontman Alexis Taylor, starts the album off on a strong foot, as the song gradually builds to a dynamic deep house track that has the potential to fuel a 3am after-party. The momentum continues with “Deleter”, featuring Liars’ lead singer Angus Andrew, which almost blends together effortlessly with “Luxe”.
The second half of the album picks up, with more vintage Holy Fuck energy, circa Latin and even the 2007 LP LP. Pulsating tones criss-cross with melodic patterns, and tracks such as “Moments” and “No Error” slip out of the drone-Kraut sound and into something more colorful and effortless to bring the album to a close with the explosive 4-to-the-floor “Ruby”.
Find more music and information on their website.
Bombay Bicycle Club – Everything Else Has Gone Wrong
It’s been close to six years since London-based Bombay Bicycle Club released their last album, So Long, See You Tomorrow back in 2014. The British four-piece felt they had hit their peak after touring the album and playing their largest show at the London Earl Court in 2015, and decided to split.
Nevertheless, the band are back together and have put out their new album, Everything Else Has Gone Wrong. The 11-track effort encapsulates the band’s mutual understanding of finding solace and meaning in their music. As they head into their late 20’s, the boys of Bombay Bicycle Club have become more appreciative of their careers and understanding their personal relationships with each other, and more prominently, themselves.
Fortunate for us all, Bombay Bicycle Club are looking toward the future with a positive light. With six albums under their belts, Everything Else Has Gone Wrong may not end up being their most popular release, but it is definitely their most mature and well-rounded, with plenty of layers to unpack and appreciate as they continue to grow and find new ways to surprise their fans.
Head to their website for more information and music.
You can read the full album review here as well.
Mura Masa – R.Y.C.
Mura Masa released one of the best dance albums of 2017 at the age of 21. Fans of the young British producer patiently waited for new music to come out, and back in mid-2019, the silence was broken. Following up his successful 2017 self-titled LP, Alex Crossan has dropped his new record R.Y.C. – short for Raw Youth Collage, which also happens to be the opening track on the record. Although many may have been expecting Mura Masa to follow suit with a dance record, “R.Y.C.” opens the record up with a sense of its true purpose: being a youthful, pop-fuelled perspective leading the way for Gen Z.
Laden with nostalgia and bedroom pop instrumentation, his new album is rich with ’90s-kid energy, specifically on the lead single “No Hope Generation”. It’s drum machine-powered groove brings up the tempo before moving into the bass-pulsating “I Don’t Think I Can Do This Anymore” featuring singer-songwriter Cairo. Keeping the teenage-heart theme rolling, R.Y.C. shows its age with the story prelude track “a meeting at an oak tree” about sneaking in to a high school sweetheart’s bedroom.
Compared to his 2017 LP, R.Y.C. has much fewer features as well, giving himself more vocal responsibilities, and thus adding a more personal touch as he laments about the anxiety and stress of growing up in a world of exponential change. Of course, the songs with features are strong, such as the glossy “Teenage Headache Dreams” featuring Ellie Roswell & Wolf Alice, and aforementioned Cairo feature.
But even with these heavy themes running in the background, the album is still an anti-party party album. Grime-style “Deal Wiv It”, ’80s rock-pop “vicarious living anthem”, and “Live Like We’re Dancing” featuring UK electro-pop vocalist Georgia, give the album some red bull and vodka in a solo cup energy.
Mura Masa‘s new album shows that he can evolve and shift his focus from the dance floor to bedroom mixtapes almost effortlessly, while still holding onto the heart of someone looking forward into his early 20s (he is only 23 after all). R.Y.C. sounds like someone who grew up watching Skins and Freaks & Geeks, and transferred their memories and emotions of their expectations for their future-self onto a computer to splice into songs.
Head to his website for more music and information.
Mac Miller – Circles
It’s hard to believe the young Philadelphia hip-hop icon passed away in 2018 at the age of 26. Especially with the post-humous release of his final collection Circles, out today courtesy of his family on his behalf. The 12-track release is regarded as a sister album to his 2018 LP Swimming, and complements the more organic and intimate sound Miller had been working towards.
Naturally, Circles was not entirely completed before Miller’s passing, but producer Jon Brion, with whom Miller worked on Swimming, finished and filled in some of the gaps.
Opening with the title track, Miller eases in with a gentle guitar melody before quickly reminds listeners of the situation: “well, this is what it looks like right before you fall”. It’s a heartbreaking and delicate first track, and eerily prophetically fulfilling. A handful of other tracks, such as “Good News” and the soft album closer “Once A Day” follow a similar pattern, bringing out Miller’s introspective pain through lyrical foreshadowing and delicate instrumentation. But it’s not all sad: the upbeat track “Blue World”, and tube-amp distorted “Surf” give the album some fun flare.
Hopefully Circles will be act as a form of closure for fans, bringing his musical career to a close with a final showcase of his musical growth, maturity, and songwriting ability.
Stream the full album here and head to his website to buy a copy.
