ON REPEAT: Jim Legxacy, NEW YORK, Lauren Duffus, Not For Radio, Amaarae, ear, Gut Health, KNEECAP & Paul Hartnoll, PinkPantheress + JT, Geese, Acopia, Shai
blank CD with 'SEX JAMZ' written on it
Nearing the end of the year and I’m about to drop my best of the year list but wanted to get a few more tracks I loved in there under the wire. They’re all collected here on S*****y.
Jim Legxacy “father”
I saw this one from London-based Jim Legxacy (I will definitely pronounce it the way it’s spelled in conversation until someone tells me the ‘x’ is silent) pop up on a few end-of-year lists and it instantly hooked me. Sounds nostalgic and futuristic at the same time. And it’s as short as a Wire song! It makes you wanna just play it again. I love the frutiger aero vibes of the video too. I also love "on the block, I was listening to Mitski." And I never had a father either!
Amaarae “Girlie-Pop!”
I previously talked about Amaarae’s “this feels like a hit from 2003” song “Counterfeit” before, but this one feels like a Janet Jackson song that with a Jersey Club bounce and afrobeat drums. It’s all over the place, which is fitting from someone who lived both in Jersey and Ghana. Song moment of the year is the way it literally switches genres when she says, quite literally, “switching genres til we make it pop—POP POP POP POP POP POP POP POP.”
Lauren Duffus “Riser Brummm”
I feel like NTS fave Lauren Duffus (from Lewisham, UK) and her “dystopian club tracks” perfectly capture how I’ve felt this year: a little down, a little spaced out, a little "chopped-n-stretched," but not completely grooveless.
NEW YORK “you”
I was really looking forward to seeing electronica duo NEW YORK when I was in Chicago but I waited too long and wasted a night waiting to get into their show with Smerz and well, I never got into that show. It was sold out and I waited around for tickets to open up that just never did. This is frustrating for me, someone whose years of experience doing comedy and skipping lines and confidently walking into places, coupled with many instances of being “on the list” (yes, I am bragging) was thwarted by The Empty Bottle’s judicious door people.
I’m still trying to wrap my head around the project known as NEW YORK after writing about it a year ago. It’s from an American, Coumba Samba, and Estonian artist Gretchen Lawrence, based in London.
There’s more of their music out there but with them coming from the art world, I’m drawn to how conceptual it is. It’s all very Y2K, intentionally amateurish at times, and feels a bit impenetrable at times. The sound it’s recreating reminds me of being 14, in high school in New Jersey, and finding new leftfield music like this for the first time. Maybe I’m projecting and taking the title too literally, but it reminds me of looking at New York from an aspirational perspective. It felt worlds away even though there was a train that went there in my town that woke me up every morning. The fact that this band is from London (despite it also being a Metropolis) maybe speaks to this feeling—or again, I’m just projecting.
In fact, I was literally just on the outside looking in once again in a new city, and they were frustratingly out of reach. I’ll figure it out!
ear “Real Life”
ear is Yaelle Avtan and Jonah Paz, who are from London and upstate New York and maybe even make their music like that. Here’s a bit about the making of this song from an interview they did with No Bells:
I was playing the melody on the MacBook keyboard over and over again and I was like, “That’s lowkey fire.”
I wish I could say things like “lowkey fire” with more confidence idk.
PinkPantheress “Noises + JT”
what da fuckuz dat
KNEECAP & Paul Hartnoll “Sayonara”
Speaking of acts I’m still wrapping my head around, this song from Ireland’s KNEECAP is a collab with Paul Hartnoll from Orbital. This one reminded me of The KLF’s “3am Eternal” which I mean in a complimentary way.
Also I’m feeling this killer video hard as I currently write this mildly hungover from a karaoke birthday party for my friend Katie in Koreatown (HBD), which is a slightly different vibe than say, a rave in Belfast. I wasn’t raging, per say, but I had two of those big-ass Cass bottles at JJAN (apparently Lisa hung out there once, I’m told and then sang my heart out at R Bar after—more on that later. I love party! I hate day after party!!!
Gut Health “Beat to Beat”
I’ve talked about my love of Gut Health (the band and the concept) a lot before. The Melbourne/Naarm group’s lead singer Athina Uh-oh is super fun to watch onstage. But I recently read something comparing her voice to Sue Tompkins of Life Without Buildings, and this is totally what that band would sound like if they rocked a bit more.
Geese “Bow Down”
[Brett walks onto platform, walks up to lectern, taps mic to test audio, pulls out notes, puts on readers, clears throat, begins.] NOW IS THE TIME I FINALLY TALK ABOUT GEESE.
I actually don’t have a lot to say about them right now for the same reason I still haven’t watched Succession. You guys are being annoying about it!
I don’t know some of it isn’t for me, but I like this song though.
Acopia “Last Word”
Here’s another track from Acopia, also from Melbourne/Naarm ( I just learned they call it Naarm too idk if I’m doing it right), who make music specifically for introspective, aimless late night drives.
Not For Radio “Puddles”
I was like, this sounds like The Marias and then I was like oh duh it’s Maria. I’ve compared the band to The Cardigans before and this is a bit more like Broadcast so it’s exactly my shit.
THE GOLD STANDARD
Shai “If I Ever Fall In Love”
I wanted to do this at karaoke but it’s not quite a “fun song” and generally that feels like a party foul. Also, I’m only one person. and can’t guarantee their version has all the other voices. Also, I only like the acapella version (can’t guarantee they play the right version). The one with music is fine but it’s too “blank CD with ‘SEX JAMZ’ written on it” for me. Also, I’m not really a good singer as evidenced when I tried to sing Boyz II Men and did just ok.
But I tell you this…
I’d kill it.