Quick Note: The newest edition of my column for the music platform Nina is up now. In case you forgot, the column is called New Musical Express with John’s Music Blog. In this edition, I talk about the time I got flown to Austria to perform inside of a castle. I also check in on the state of contemporary jumpstyle and chat with Margot DeMarco, who just finished doing an art residency inside of an Ace Hotel in Brooklyn. And a bunch of other shit, too. Alright, let’s get on to The Report…
“Brodie said the whole summer, he just snatchin' souls / Damn, that's my whole life goal.” There’s something a bit juggalo about some of these newer East Coast drill artists. Is there not? Is this thing on? With its sacred samples and 808 drops, I could see a Tech N9ne fan blasting “Words from Osun” while driving around the I-435 loop. Let’s call it what it is: contemporary horrorcore. I’m writing this a little tweaked off some expired DayQuil, so take what I’m saying with a grain of salt…
Nia Archives “Silence Is Loud”
British jungalist Nia Archives might’ve unlocked a magic combination of breakbeat rave rush and indie pop swirl here. It sounds like what I wish “Ready to Go” by Republica sounded like, or maybe it sounds like what Bowie was attempting to sound like after he discovered the Amen break. It’s a fully realized version of a thing that could’ve happened in the ‘90s, but I’m not sure if it did, or at least not exactly like “Silence Is Loud”—if I’m wrong, sound off in the comments—and it’s John’s Pick of the Week.
Pitbull x Dolly Parton “Powerful Woman”
Only the facts: “Powerful Woman" is a collaboration between Pitbull and Dolly Parton, made for the “Daytona 500 Edition'' of the Pitbull album Trackhouse. It’s also an EDM interpolation of “9 to 5.” Anything other than that, I’ll leave to a graduate student to unpack. The way Pitbull says “Dolly” is worth at least 2,000 words alone.
The whole noise techno era sort of passed me by. If that music hit me at a different point in my life, though, I would’ve probably been all-in. That’s often how these things work, if we are being honest with ourselves. But I’ve always kept up with London-via-Providence legend Container. The way he works his gear is fully rockist; it sounds like there’s a noise drummer living inside of his Groovebox, trying hard to break free. It’s just sick music. I rarely quote from a press release, but here goes: “Think Lollapalooza 1996 held at Berghain 2006.” On “Eraser,” the synths hit like a whippet during a head cold.
Nikki Nair, DJ ADHD “Fidget Spinner”
Is it retro to call a track “Fidget Spinner” in 2024? If you are currently in your 20s, I could understand, I guess, how you could feel some nostalgia for eight years ago... Anyway, I’m not posting “Fidget Spinner” because of the title—I found it on a Jacob Ciocci playlist, by the way; the long-awaited Extreme Animals interview comes out next week—I’m posting it because it sounded “downright revelatory” to me on headphones, all jacking and squiggly and dumb, but when revisited on computer speakers, the whole track fell flat. Listen loud!
MIX OF THE WEEK: Crimedawgbylaw “Milwaukee Rap Vol. 1: Welcome to the Slap Zone”
The Milwaukee slap rap story continues to unfold at a rapid clip. As always, I’m happy there are heads out there doing the necessary sifting. One of those heads is Crimedawgbylaw, who put together a mix for the junkiesRpeople Substack. It’s a little over 20 minutes, and it’s only good songs; it’s bursting with energy and melody and handclaps and autotune and all the other shit that makes this music some of the most vital stuff going. One standout is Gucci’s “Tipping Cars,” which riffs, Milwaukee-style, on a Snow Patrol classic. Music sounds better in the mix.