41, Kyle Richh, Jenn Carter, TaTa “Runn That!”
Found via Finals, this posse cut is an instant entry into the John’s Music Blog cannon. It’s M.O.P. flipped into a brick-solid club track; it’s crazed rap energy over sub-blasted kicks and “Ante Up” horns—always an occasion for mosh pit gymnastics. I don’t know. I finally drank a Panera “charged” lemonade a few days ago.
I’ve been a fan of the artist and musician Flannery Silva for a minute now. Hell, I even put out a record for her old band. We continue to collaborate on projects to this day. Her most recent single is a barnburner. It’s contemporary country that’s a go for fans of both Lana and Dean Blunt. You wanna talk hooks? You wanna talk world building? Talk F.G.S.
FARO, Eagle Syndrome (Feat. Niontay) “PAVEMENT”
I suspect “PAVEMENT” got on my radar thanks to a feature from the pan-regional buzzbin mushmouth Niontay. The music has a crushed, nutty Florida feel, not unlike 454’s Fast Trax 3 mixtape. Music for playing a corrupted ROM of Cruis'n USA on a Dell laptop in the backseat of a Mazda Miata convertible, driving to go eat at a Texas Roadhouse in suburban Tampa.
PinkPantheress (Feat. Central Cee) “Nice To Meet You (Florentino Remix)”
Here we have a bit of contempo UK dance excellence in the form of a remix of two of the bigger names on the island currently. In his track description, British hitter Florentino speaks of programming Baile funk drum patterns using chopped jungle breakbeats. If that’s not enough genre signifiers for you, there’s also grime bass and trance synths. Exciting stuff. Thankfully, the underlying song is spared.
Nicholas Craven & Boldy James “No Pun Intended”
Two people who know a little something about subzero temps (a Quebecois producer and a Detroit rapper) come together for a bit of chilly chipmunk soul. Another moodboard: I’m walking over salted ice; the night wind is whipping my earbuds. Grease wafts from a nearby bistro. Warm up the car. I’ll be there soon.
MIX OF THE WEEK: “figure it out | A Midwest Emo mix to send to your equally depressed friends”
During the pandemic, I was obsessed with these weird emo revival mixes on YouTube. The thing about them that really “worked” for me at the time was not exactly the emo—which was fine, especially in aggregate—but each video’s combination of music and imagery. They all seemed to be using that one American Football album cover as an aesthetic North Star, creating a visual language around photos of “liminal” suburban streets and rickety college towns. Good names, too: we should go up on my roof, for sure; Whelp, Another Shitty Season Over; Wanna Stop At The Gas Station Before We Head Back… Whoever made this new one went above and beyond. There’s movie dialogue and more than one photo of a highway. Listen: I’m a simple person. I don’t need prestige TV; just show me a photo of a rainy Midwestern cul-de-sac and pair it with a middling emo song. I can fill in the gaps.