placeholder – Hand Habits

A bit of a change of pace here – something to nurse your Sunday heads. Meg Duffy’s Hand Habits was my most-played band of 2019; I’m slightly hooked on their particular brand of wistful folk . Lead singer Meg Duffy’s vocals waver in a fragile kind of way that draws emotion right to the surface. It’s beautiful, it’s calming and feels real. I hope you like.

Bonus album: placeholder is her second album, but the first, Wildly Idle (Humble Before the Void), is just as nice. Enjoy.

There’s a lot more to say about Meg Duffy, but I don’t really feel qualified. If you want to read more about how her album is “staging queer stories against a wistful Americana backdrop” then read this Pitchfork review.

Radical (Feat. Totally Enormous Extinct Dinosaurs) – Amtrac

Radical combines Amtrac’s characteristically picturesque electronica grooves with the yearning vocals of Totally Enormous Extinct Dinosaurs’ Orlando. It’s a soft, sweeping number that really grows on each listen. Enjoy.

Amtrac is due to release his second album titled Oddyssey later this year, a full 9 years since his last album, Came Along. Keep your eyes open, the other singles have been on point.

More Totally Enormous Extinct Dinosaurs here.

Where Did The Night Go (A Reimagining by Makaya McCraven) – Gil Scott-Heron

Icon. Probably an overused word. But fully deserved in this case. Gil Scott-Heron’s instantly recognisable street poetry comes to the fore in this Makaya McCraven remix. It takes the brooding, sinister energy of the original and raises it onto a vaguely beautiful plain. Extra points for flute.

The original:

Bonus album: impossible to post about Gil and not get this out there. Jamie xx made a full remix album based on I’m New Here. The sound of 2011. Full taste.

 

Rain Dance – Roberto Rodriguez

I’ve been waiting for this for ages. It’s one of them where the physical release is a few months ago before the digital – but it finally dropped in December.

Finnish producer Roberto Rodriguez skates between the organic pulses of Harrison BDP and the sultry house samples of James Welsh and comes up with a very nice groove indeed.

Shout out to Ben Gomori for the tip. You can find more of Ben on his excellent Turned On podcast – he just did a really tasty wrap of 2019 featuring Rain Dance and whole host of other bangers. Find it here.

Kuar (Henrik Schwarz Remix) – Emmanuel Jal

Happy New Year crew.

Boy do I have a treat for you today. I actually cannot believe I haven’t posted this one before. It’s Henrik Schwarz remixing Emmanuel Jal’s Kuar and it’s a stonker. It was the first track I heard this decade, and I couldn’t have been happier about it. Shout out to Philou Louzolo for a big New Year’s set at De Marktkantine.

So this track is massive in its own right, but I just read a bit of the back story of Emmanuel Jal and it is nuts. He was a child soldier in Sudan before he was rescued and smuggled out into Kenya. He then went on to forge a successful career across music, film and social causes. Read about him here.

Finally, as an extra special New Year’s treat, here is a playlist I put together on a similar vibe.

Big love for the new decade.