Quick Note: There will be no Tuesday blog next week. I will be “enjoying my summer.” In the meantime, why not dip into the John’s Music Blog archive? Alright, here comes The Report…
Mclusky “unpopular parts of a pig”
There is too much music in the world, and I am just one idiot wobbling through it all. Case in point: This week, when I learned that the great 2000s-era British band Mclusky were reuniting for a new record, I also found out that they released a four song EP almost a year ago. That was news to me, so I cued up the Bandcamp and started headbanging. Mclusky still hits like Mark E. Smith doing In Utero. Grunge, in other words.
Keeping things in 2K mode with a little contemporary Auto-Tune warble over “1901” by Phoenix. Why not? Rest in peace to the late, great Philippe Zdar. I would like to think that he would be rocking with it. Drop it at your new school electroclash party and see what happens. An addictive shmacker.
A few weeks ago, we posted not one, but two ‘90s covers in a single episode of the Report: Water From Your Eyes doing Chumbawamba’s “The Good Ship Lifestyle” and WEBB’s version of “Hand in My Pocket” by Alanis Morissette. Well, it’s looking like three is a trend, because earlier this week, former JMB interviewee Tricky Youth released a scorching lo-fi nü-metal Jewel cover. That trip-hop “Semi-Charmed Life” redo is there for the taking.
idilaedyournumber “The Home We Built Is Gone”
Halifax, Nova Scotia is definitely in the building! Triumphant Casio pop with screamo vocals. Tip!
DJ ADHD and Papa Nugs (Feat. Blapps Posse) “Buss It”
Blapps Posse were a groundbreaking British rap rave crew whose music was particularly influential on the nascent Baltimore club movement. Here, they get sampled by Papa Nugs and DJ ADHD, the latter the producer behind the bonkers Nikki Nair collaboration “Fidget Spinner.” The result? A timeless hip-acid scorcher. For those looking for more psycho-style technopoprap, I recommend the tune “Let’s go” by the Japanese duo DONGURIZU. It’s been on repeat over at John’s Music Hobby HQ.
One more rock and roll song for the road. Graham Hunt tipped me off to Pittsburgh’s Ex Pilots; “Motel” sounds like the midpoint between GBV-style pop damage and something closer to the shoegaze paradigm. I’m feeling the song’s EQ moves, like when the mix thins out and gets interrupted by patches of distortion. Teleport me to a rest stop in Ohio on a Wednesday afternoon.
MIX OF THE WEEK: SURF GANG RADIO w/ Sub9k 23rd July 2024
I thought Sub9k’s newest single, for Surf Gang The Record Label, was a pretty good chunk of low-key throwback mixtape rap. His forthcoming project is called Avirex Music. Here, he guests on Surf Gang The Radio Show and plays an hour of his own music. The rapper, a former member of Philadelphia crew Five Finger Posse, works with a multi-generational bag of styles, from the Philly-incepted trap variant known as tread to freestyles over “Can I Have It Like That” by Pharrell and Gwen Stefani. If they ever reboot Abel Ferrara’s King of New York, Sub9k’s songs would be a fitting replacement for fellow Philadelphian Schoolly D. He makes proper East Coast music, claustrophobic and droll.