On the first Friday of every month since March 2020, local music platform Bandcamp has waived its fees to help support the many artists who have seen their livelihoods disrupted by the pandemic. Over that time, fans paid artists and labels more than $56 million dollars, helping cover rents, mortgages, groceries, medications, and much more. If you are one of the 800,000 fans who’ve participated, cheers to you for being human.
The next Bandcamp Friday is November 5, and 48hills will continue to make suggestions, reminding readers and fans of music that on the first Friday of every month for the rest of 2021, your help makes a significant difference.
Naytronix Other Possibilities (Overseas Artists Recordings)
So it seems in July of 2020 Nate Brenner, one half of the music project Tune-Yards and known for scoring films like Sorry to Bother You, had a serious running accident. He returned home with a broken collar bone and dread for how long he might be forced to rest, like an athlete with a torn ACL.
In the process of making the funky, psych-pop album Other Possibilities, Brenner, who records under Naytronix, just focused on being and not the extra weight of being prolific. And it seems that’s where the fun came in. Alongside co-producer Merrill Garbus (his Tune-Yards partner), Brenner penned songs like the floating spacey opener, “Indigo.” This track immediately grabs you with the loud drum breakbeat and Brenner’s cool vocal delivery and the arrangements of active quirks and inter-cuts. It’s an indication of where the energy is at for this release.
According to Brenner “The album was largely inspired by Rene Daumal’s Mount Analogue, a novel about the quest for something almost unrealistically out of reach, and how everything is connected. I know people say this a lot, ‘the journey is the thing,’ but that really is something I started thinking. Making this album wasn’t about finishing the album, because when the album is finished, you just make another one. So I’ve just been trying to enjoy the process of making it more than anything else.”
You can purchase Other Possibilities here.
Sis, “Double Rapture” from Gnani EP (Native Cat Recordings)
Sis is the project of multi-instrumentalist Jenny Gillespie Mason, founder of the Bay Area-based Native Cat Recordings. The imprint has released albums by Luke Temple, Brijean, John Vanderslice—and now a new EP called Gnani from Mason is arriving in early 2022.
“Double Rapture”, the lead single from the project, is a misty proggy universe infused by breakbeat stretches and warbling synth textures. With an ethereal voice, akin to Nite Jewel’s in some respects, Mason’s Gnani looks to be something very appealing to the ears and the senses.
Inspired by the uncompromising spiritual jazz of Alice Coltrane—plus the addition of Brijean Murphy on congas, bongos, percussion and Doug Stuart on bass, merged with Mason’s use of vintage keyboards such as clavinet, Phillicordia, Rhodes, B3 Hammond organ, Farfisa, and ARP Odyssey, it’s an EP that promises to be a trip. As noted in the press release as well, the project was made in Ableton, tapping the endless sound vaults of Omnisphere, and drawing on Mason’s longtime admiration of Four Tet’s synthesis of sampling, loops, and heart-centered compositions.
Purchase the single here.
“Who Is That Girl (XL Middleton Remix)” Moniquea (MoFunk Records)
Moniquea, the California-raised, Indiana-born vocalist, put in her on-stage reps at an early age. By 15, she’d already performed at The Rose Bowl. Few can make such factual claims. Ever since she’s been making earworms that are filled with her direct funk flow vibe. And somebody messed up by not adding her neck popping jams to the musical pastiche found on Insecure, Issa Rae’s HBO show chronicling the daily pings and pangs of young Black Los Angelenos.
XL Middleton, the producer-singer-rapper and label boss of MoFunk Records in Los Angeles, puts out projects that feel of another time, but speak of the culture today. From the crazed files of Zackey Force Funk to the multi-talented, soulful session musician I-Ced, Middleton has a touch and range beyond compare.
But when Moniquea and XL Middleton work together, such as his remix of “Who Is That Girl,” it’s always a real vibe that produces sturdy well-built arrangements that hit certain frequencies and remain accessible to everyone who wants to get their step on. With Moniquea letting the vocals fly in her trademark calm-blunt tone and Middleton adding a verse of real-talk while polishing the track with synths, vocoder effects, and 4/4 tempo? It’s straight mashin time.
DJ Kevin “Slow Jammin” James makes a cameo to contextualize the dual timestamp of the record. Purchase it here.
Dave Aju, X17 EP (Elbow Grease)
The Bay-Area-raised electronic artist Marc Barrite aka Dave Aju has started his own label.
Elbow Grease, centered in Los Angeles where Aju resides, will be an imprint where selections don’t have to fit into traditional dance music formats. The debut release is an EP called X17 courtesy of Aju himself. Due November 5th, it features three versions of one track that present multiple interpretations of club styles. House, electro, and breaks are the immediate signifiers but upon further listening, you can hear subtle accents that reference so much more.
The release, available on vinyl and digital, was recorded at G-Son Studios, a recording facility built by the Beastie Boys. You can purchase it here.
