THE REPORT: 8/23/24
WARNING: “NEW MUSIC DISCOVERY” INSIDE
Quick Note: No Tuesday blog next week. I am continuing to “enjoy my summer.” The blog’s standard twice-weekly cadence returns in full force in September. As always, completely free of charge. Thank you for rocking with America’s Number One Music Blog.
Last winter, while listening to Tim Reaper’s NTS show, I made note of a particularly fine ragga jungle song: “Gorgon Donnetes” by Cheetah, which at the time was unreleased (it’s a flip of a tune by Princess D and Sister Wingie). I completely forgot about it until a few days ago, when I found the track by accident during an extended SoundCloud stroll. It took me a bit of time to process that what I was listening to was indeed a tune I had heard and liked before. My sense of musical recall is flawed at best.
Mariboy Mula Mar “Head Splitter”
Off of his forthcoming No Auto Mar 4 tape, here the Milwaukee vet trades his trademark Auto-Tune croon—if you haven’t heard that in action, I recommend “David Gruber,” a 2020 track named after a legendary local lawyer—for a few minutes of non-stop slick talking. Next week, I’m flying back to Milwaukee for a single day. I’m going to see ESG at Cactus Club, and then I’m going to write about it for the blog.
Breakdancing is clearly in the air. In the middle of watching it on the Olympics a few weeks ago, I mentioned to my girlfriend that if Fcukers really wanted to go full big beat, they would put a breakdancer in a music video. Well, the NYC trio stepped up to the plate and did just that. “Tommy” is the third single off of their forthcoming record; I would be lying if I said that they haven’t gone three for three, in both the audio and visual department.
Look, if you tap Guy Kozak to make a video for you, I’m not only going to watch that video—I’m going to give your song some serious consideration. A lot of music video talk this week… Anyway: “Oh Well” is one of the best drop-tuned pop tunes I have heard all year. Matt Talbott at his poppiest with a little zoomer fairy dust sprinkled on top? Don’t mind if I do.
The new Chuckyy album is pretty unrelenting. I gave it a listen yesterday and I came to the conclusion that I had to throw a song on The Report. The project combines contempo Chicago reality rap with the kind of eerie, skeletal beats that have been coming out of Philly lately. Ominous choral samples make imagery of a drug-ravaged landscape feel like a struggle on a holy battlefield. I’ve been waffling over whether that last sentence is stupid or not. I guess what I’m trying to say is that there is juggalo appeal here. The record is called Tweak Till The End.
NOISE TOUR DOC OF THE WEEK: Many many girls tour comp chop fest
Nothing hits quite like a chaotic, quick-cut noise tour doc. Many Many Girls are (were?) a trio featuring Anina Ivry-Block of Palberta and Shimmer. It’s a classic messy performo-blast: contact-mic’d rubber bands stretch and tangle; trash metal clangs. Many Many Girls rock with that full stumble confusion style, which is only heightened when chopped up and not slopped up over 20 minutes of geography-stretching carnage. In a mostly empty room, an amp feeds back.