Hello Music Club, 2020 July
Hello Music Club! Another post another month of lockdown. This month there have been a bunch of new releases that have tickled my fancy and also a few older albums that have been on heavy repeat.
So without further adieu, here is… 2020 July
SAULT
Untitled (Black Is)
2020
Lordy. Tom sent me a link to this and… wow! This is timely, strong and important. SAULT is a thought to be a collective made of Laurette Josiah, Inflo and Michael Kiwanuka but seems no one really knows who is in the collective, which is kinda cool. Untitled (Black Is) was released on Juneteenth with a message from the group…
Listen, learn, care and make change.
Thundercat
It Is What It Is
2020
If you don’t know Thundercat you have been living under a rock for the last 20 years. His influence has spanned metal (he was the bass player for Suicidal Tendencies) to Mac Miller and Kendrick Lamar.
I got SUPER lucky to be a huge Turntable.fm fan and was introduced to his 2011 solo album “Golden Age of Apocalypse”, by Tessa I think, just as it was released.
Ever since then anything Thundercat has released I have EATEN UP! This album is no different. I didn’t even know it was dropping until I got a text from Tori and I jumped outta bed and put it on… lordy, it is good. It is everything I could have wished for, a mix of sounds and genres all mashed together to make the perfect Neu-JazzFunkAcidSoul album of gold.
Blackbyrds
Action
1977
This is another random Guney Yufsa find. Super funky and super fun. The more I learn about these guys the more I see how many bands and artists they have influenced. Really rad album - put it on and groove away.
Yo Gotti
Untrapped
2020
I am that person that looks at the “Friend Activity” sidebar on Spotify. Anjarae listened to this album, I was shocked because she is usually listening to the Hamilton soundtrack, so I decided to give it a shot.
I really like this! I didn’t know Yo Gotti, hadn’t heard his music before, but I wish I had. This is his 10th album. I have a lot to catch up on. Untrapped makes me want to dance, it is super fun to bop around the house to (do we bop anywhere else anymore? Thanks Corona!) but also rich with lyrics and beats that make this a really strong album. This is a big album… it is golden.
The Streets & Donae’o (feat Greentea Peng)
I Wish You Loved You As Much As You Love Him
2020
I was so excited to see something new from The Streets. I was also excited by how sh|t this music video is. It is GOLDEN!!! It is hard to do bad videos this well. Anyway, this is just fun and I LOVE Greentea Peng’s voice! Put it on and dance. Summer BANGER!!!
Pop Smoke
Shoot For The Stars Aim For The Moon
2020
This is Pop Smoke’s posthumous release. I heard Pop Smoke first on JACKBOYS EP. The next day, I heard he was shot dead. Super sad and a life cut short just as it was taking off. This album was to be his debut. He had really found his place and his voice. It is such a bummer it was cut short.
Tom Misch & Yussef Dayes
What Kinda Music
2020
This brings me back to a lot of the early 2000’s bands finding their feet with amazing drums and symphonic sounds. It is really the drums that pulls this album together for me. It is like (but nothing like) Bloc Party’s debut album. I remember just sitting back and listening to the drums and being blown away. Put on some headphones and enjoy this.
Bibio
Sleep on the Wing
2020
I have no idea where this came from. This record reminds me of making little ditties with my mates back in Brisbane. The repetitive fingerpicking and flowing layered guitars are just fun to listen to. Super chill record.
Jonah Yano
souvenir
2020
Innovative Leisure is one of my favourite labels. They have had Nick Waterhouse, Allah-Las, Hanni El Khatib and many many others who have made me very happy. I check the roster every so often to see anyone new that they have signed and this record jumped out at me. Mostly because of this music video…
He made this song with his Dad on a trip to Japan. He hadn’t seen his Dad for 15 years. It is pretty beautiful.
Zsa Zsa Roboto
Kapoho Bay
2020
Sometimes you get super lucky. Sometimes the people that move next door are golden and sometimes they are more than pure gold, they are Kasper & Marcy. The raddest couple in the world. Now we could do a whole post on these two being rad, but let’s just stay with this album.
Kasper is Zsa Zsa Roboto. He is a true artist, constantly making and creating beautiful art. From paintings and rugs to music, Kasper is truly prolific.
This EP was started at the beginning of the lockdown in early March 2020. He stumbled upon a folder of old field recordings he had done in March 2010 on the Big Island of Hawaii. Most of them were recorded between the rainforest and the jagged cliffs at the edge of the ocean at a place called Kapoho Bay which no longer exists. It was reclaimed by the lava flow of the Kilauea volcano during its last eruption in 2018.
This EP transports you to this place that has gone forever. It is minimalist, meditative and repetitive. Something that will carry you away. Put it on, close your eyes and let it carry you away, then let your thoughts take off and wander by themselves.
This is a perfect way to end Hello Music Club for July 2020. Stay well all and listen to rad music.
Yours in rock and/or roll
Waxamillion
