Many years ago, I reached out to a band via Twitter to ask if they had flipped a particular obscure soul song. They blocked me. And that’s when I learned an important lesson about “sample snitching,” I guess. On AyooLii’s “PLANE JANE,” producers People take an indie rock tune that I haven’t seen anyone name, so I won’t be the first to do it, and they turn it into a thrashing Milwaukee rap cut. Is even calling attention to an unnamed sample itself a form of sample snitching? Look, I just want to write about music. It’s a confusing world out there.
Been banging the new LP from Mexico City’s Malcría on repeat. It’s an excellent hardcore record driven by the band’s rhythm section and some winning compositional choices. Here, they swap between the upper end of mid-tempo and the kind of blast that kept New England punks warm in the early ‘80s.
Gupi (Feat. Ruby Bell) “Hibachi”
The fact that I found this tune on the IG story of rave warrior Lexxy Jax is fitting. It’s internet pop with candy bracelets on. The intro reminds me of “We R Who We R” by Kesha. It’s bright, like the overhead lighting at Circuit City. A hit’s a hit.
In my interview with JER, they mention that for a time they played in a band called Gouge Away. As it happens, a day or so after the piece went live, a brand new Gouge Away song popped up on my YouTube homepage. I clicked, because that’s what I do (I click on links, I say yes to music), and I was down. It sounds like these contemporary hardcore kids have a few actual Sonic Youth records in their collection, which is rare—most just own the $200 deadstock Mike Kelley tee.
Been seeing a new cut from this Danny Brown associate going around. There’s a lot to like about Bruiser Wolf. The guy’s slick soul slam poetry is some of the most captivating hyper-enunciation this side of Remble. Can bars have the ability to strut?
MIX OF THE WEEK: XXHARDBIT3S “Guest Mix for Extasy Overnight”
The producer behind my favorite rave tune of 2023 throws down a stonking mix, one I can imagine that British raver on TikTok—you know the one, the middle-aged bald guy with the record collection and the disconcerting gurning motions—doing a little dance to. An unidentifiable jungle track towards the end of the mix twisted my melon just right. I suspect it’s unreleased HARDBIT3S. And we haven’t even gotten into UNITED JUMP FRONT, the producer’s jumpstyle revival label. That’s for another day.