There’s all manner of crazy shit
going on this week. There’s Mongolian rock with throat singing. There’s Pitbull
rapping over a house remix of ‘Black Betty’. It's absolute mayhem.
THE BEST:
‘Blood of the Fang’ – Clipping.
Start running a bath before you hit
play, because you'll need it after. This is the filthiest beat that experimental rap group Clipping have come
out with yet. Lyrically, it’s an intense essay on racial violence, rapped so
fast that I could barely keep up with it (especially at the end when Daveed
Diggs goes hyperspeed). As for the video, they did surgery on a gun.
 |
| they did surgery on a gun |
‘The Gereg’ – The Hu
The Hu – not to be confused with
The Who – are a Mongolian ‘Hunnu Rock’ band that incorporate traditional Mongolian
instrumentation and throat singing into their sound. I’ve never been a big fan
of throat singing (in fact, I think most of it sounds horrible), but integrated
into this suspenseful track the primal vocal style sounds epic and atmospheric.
I could definitely see myself galloping across the vast Mongolian steppe to this
music, the wind rushing through my hair, screaming as I fall backwards and
shatter every bone in my body against the hard earth because I’ve never rode a
horse before.
‘Wake’ – MVNGOES ft. Afnan Prince
Most of the chilled-out dance
songs that have ended up in my inbox recently have been so dull they put me to
sleep, but ‘Wake’ is stimulatingly catchy. The smooth vocals come courtesy of UK
singer Afnan Prince and meld well with the dreamy production made up of effulgent synths and moody sub-bass.
‘Killer’s Mind’ – Portland
Dreampop/electrofolk band Portland
come from Belgium, which doesn’t make much sense given their name, but then
again Texas came from Scotland and Beirut comes from America. The song itself
is absolutely hypnotic, made up instrumentally of detuned synths and glistening guitars. The mix of male and female vocals meanwhile offers some extra dynamics.
‘Trouble Always Finds Me’ – FUR
Brighton band FUR combine the chords
and melodies of 60s pop rock with the choppy rhythms of 00s indie on
this new bittersweet track ‘Trouble Always Find Me’. It’s accompanied by a
colourful lyric video, which doesn’t actually display half of the lyrics, but it looks
cool nonetheless.
THE WORST:
‘Get Ready’ – Pitbull ft. Blake
Shelton
At worst, I was expecting a cheap ripoff of ‘Old Town Road’. What I wasn't expecting was a house remix of Ram Jam's 'Black Betty'. It's certainly an ambitious crossover, melding hip hop, dance music, rock and country. Unfortunately, it manages to combine the worst of each of those genres.