THE REPORT: 10/4/24
BRAIN BLOMERTH’S BABY MIX BONANZA
D4M $loan & Lay Bankz “Da Da Da”
I want to apologize to everyone for the double email last Tuesday. I was in Bloomington searching for the true meaning of John Cougar Mellencamp and clearly something went wrong. Thank you all for rocking with John’s Music Blog… Despite the glitches, despite the insanity. To kick off this week’s edition, here is some new back-and-forth American club rap.
I remember when all the math rock kids heard The Rapture and then started dance bands. That’s how old I am. Kassie Krut features a member of the band Palm and their new single “Reckless” feels inspired by, among other things, their peers in Water From Your Eyes, whose 2023 song “Barley” remains one of the sickest indie dance songs of the 2020s. Plus it comes with a video by Guy Kozak? OK!
More indie dance: Safe Mind is a new collaboration between Augustus Muller of Boy Harsher and the incomparable Lucy (Cooper B. Handy). Their first single has been out for a few weeks, and it’s been growing on me… Big time. It hits like a time-lapse drive through Manchester—Cooper is in a bit of a Shaun Ryder mode. Real Western Mass Disco. (I just realized that both Kassie Krut and Safe Mind are playing a show tonight in at TV Eye in Ridgewood, Queens. Cube is also on the show.)
4NT (Feat. Chicken P) “Print (Remix)”
Released in April, “Print” by 4NT is a slow-burn microhit. The Dallas rapper squeezes extra juice out of well-worn cadences and fretless bass. He’s locked in like Davis Clarke hammering out a spreadsheet. Look, if SportsCenter anchors can drop 20-year-old Will Ferrell references, I can crack a Davis Clarke joke. Milwaukee legend Chicken P previously made a video counting money to the song. Now he gives it extra legs.
Venus Twins “I Just Can’t Get Enough!”
Will 2025 finally deliver the spock rock revival that all of us at John’s Music Blog have been praying for? Venus Twins are identical twins from Idaho. Their new EP is out on Three One G, as it should be. Let me keep it 100: the song is probably more digi-grind, or MIDI-grind, or cyber-grind than it is pure spock, but I’m rocking with it anyway.
MIX OF THE WEEK: Brian Blomerth “BLOODY BUCKET BABY DAYCARE”
American comics master Brian Blomerth is now a father, and he made a mix to listen to while he feeds his baby. If you are familiar with the tenor of Brian’s work, the contents of this mix will probably not come as a total shock. It’s true Wolfman Jack chaos, real rock and roll for newborns and aging hipsters alike. You can only listen to the mix by downloading an MP3. It’s worth it.
Bonus Weekend Reading: Last May, T: The New York Times Style Magazine sent me to Ohio to report on the singular art/waterpark compound that Ryan Trecartin and Lizzie Fitch have been building. It was an honor to spend some time with two true legends of the game. The article is now online.