#dc gore

Album & EP Recommendations

All These Things by DC Gore

Dot to Dot Festival that takes place here in Nottingham every May Bank Holiday has been a new artist goldmine in recent years. I don’t know who curates the line-up but in recent years I’ve discovered exceptional upcoming talent from all over the globe. Since being made aware of the festival in the mid-10s, I’ve been introduced to The Amazons, Oscar and the Wolf, Sundara Karma, Dua Lipa, Rag N Bone Man, Kyla La Grange, Holy Holy, Josef Salvat, Miya Folick, Day Wave, Nimmo, Bob Vylan and many more - some of those years before their big break into the mainstream too.

Now a few years ago, one of my favourite discoveries didn’t actually end up playing the festival. Although they would eventually cancel their appearance, just by having electronic trio Little Cub on their line-up, Dot to Dot had allowed me to unearth yet another gem. Producing one of my favourite albums of 2017 in Still Life, Little Cub’s unique mix of descriptive, often political lyrics and electronic music was something special to behold. Essentially, they would take a particular person, time or place and turn them into a vivid synth-driven tale – be it songs about sexual urges, fake news or the last days of late-great football manager Gary Speed.

Sadly after that incredible debut album, Little Cub would eventually split to follow new projects, but I’m pleased to say their legacy continues with this stunning debut album from one of the band’s former members - Dominic Gore. On his debut solo outing All These Things, Gore basically repackages the Little Cub formula to give us the sophomore record we never received. Here, Gore’s dark, wittily cutting and often brutally cynical lyrics are often contrasted with a jubilant mix of new wave, art and kraut-rock, meaning the songs often leave you dancing but deeply contemplating at the same time.

Quite poetically the album begins with the song that would be Little Cub’s final single, Millennium People, re-recorded to bring it slightly more in line with the DC Gore sound. The essence of the track remains though, which was brilliantly described on its original release as sounding like “Vangelis soundtracking a Cronenberg movie set in the Hacienda.” Follow-up Nietzsche on the Beach then finds Gore at his most nihilist as he tears into right wing nationalists with lyrics like “Mobile phone-shaped tan lines, the fascist weekender” all whilst a gleaming, sunny groove plays out in the background. If there’s one track that captions Gore’s brilliance in a nutshell, it’s this one.

From there, Gore just continues to bring inescapably hypnotic grooves aplenty, such as the shimmering late-night wonderment of Need You Tonight, which erupts into a soaring guitar solo at the song’s climax. Set You Free is then arguably even better, starting out as a soft piano-driven piece before quickly morphing into a rumbling club banger. I Like You is then a sparkling love song whilst California is the most heavily EDM-infused track on the record. The title track then plays out the record, a mostly acoustic and incredibly poignant track that leaves the listener to ponder lines like “Giving up so much for what you’re given, maybe it’s time to give in and start living.”

Overall, this is a near faultless debut from DC Gore and I’m so happy he’s carrying the flame of Little Cub going forward. If you are a fan of artists like Pulp, Nation of Language, Spector or Working Men’s Club and haven’t got this one on your radar, get it queued up.

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Renaissance by Beyoncé

There are arguably no two things that I love more from an album listening experience than eclecticism and narrative structure. If I’m going to spend 30 minutes to an hour listening to something, I want to be taken on an adventure – whether that’s a dazzling, genre-hopping sonic journey or a cohesively packaged collection of songs linked by a personal story or overriding theme. Typically, the albums that I enjoy the most will carry one of these traits but, occasionally, an album will emerge boasting both attributes. Back in 2016, Beyoncé’s Lemonade was very much that album.

Accompanied by a 60-minute artistically shot film, Lemonade was a towering work of commercial pop music that really was nothing short of extraordinary. Fuelled by Jay-Z’s much publicised affair, Beyoncé took her anger, frustration and sadness and moulded it into an immensely creative and liberating piece of art. Telling the story of the whole ordeal completely unfiltered, it also saw her perform some stunning sonic acrobatics throughout.

With help from musical heavyweights like Jack White, Kendrick Lamar, The Weeknd and James Blake, Beyoncé would effortlessly flick between genres depending on which worked best to enhance the emotion and feeling at the core of each track. From the rage-fuelled rock of Don’t Hurt Yourself, the laid-back country of Daddy Lessons to her devastating vocal performance on piano ballad Sandcastles, these dramatic style shifts shouldn’t have worked but they did because of the story being told. Although it would only finish 9th in my Albums of 2016 list due to an incredibly strong year, it has grown in stature for me in the years since, as few other records from mainstream stars on the level of Beyoncé have been able to match it.

Now six years later, Beyoncé has returned with her new album, Renaissance - and it’s already been hyped to the moon by both critics and the “Beyhive”. Due to the noise surrounding the record and my adoration for Lemonade, my expectations going in were high. Ultimately Beyoncé just couldn’t match up to that, but that’s not to say Renaissance is a bad record, in fact quite the opposite - this is another solid effort. All hype aside and analysing the record with that brushed off, Renaissance ends up being a mostly thrilling summer dance record that keeps the creative spirit of Lemonade alive.

Across the album’s hour-long runtime, Queen B once again packs in a mesmerising mix of different musical styles, this time drawing inspiration from house, techno, disco, garage and even afrobeat, as well as her staple blend of pop, R&B and soul. Thematically the record also follows on nicely from Lemonade’s triumphant finale of Formation, with Beyoncé celebrating freedom, self-love and unabashed confidence. The tracks seamlessly segue into each other too, playing out almost like a lively DJ set full of feel-good bangers and positive vibes.

That said, the album doesn’t get off to the best of starts with I’m That Girl and Cozy, which are probably the weakest tracks here. The former is a very muddled track that doesn’t quite find its footing, built on a grating sampled refrain of “These motherfuckers ain’t stopping me.” The latter also has its struggles, with Beyoncé’s positive message of being comfortable with who you are often getting lost in some clichéd and contrived lyrics.

However, once these two tracks are out the way, the album immediately picks up and rarely lets up going forward. Alien Superstar is like the sound of Hot Chip teaming up with Self-Esteem, with some joyous dance beats married to gospel vocals and an uplifting message to stay “unique.” The album then takes a disco-turn, with the inimitable sound of Nile Rodgers’ guitar soundtracking Beyoncé’s calls of “I feel like falling in love, I’m in the mood to fuck something up.” It's infectiously groovy and you’ll struggle to resist getting loose to this one.

As Energy draws to close, a short two-minute collab with Jamaican-American rapper BEAM, it transitions immaculately into Beyoncé’s monster summer hit, Break My Soul. Not that it needs any extra lift, but that added drop from the transition just helps it to hit even harder in the context of the album. Still a firm highlight, the house-inspired track channels the spirit of Robin S’ classic Show Me Love whilst Bey serves up a typically powerful vocal performance.

As you enter the second half, there’s plenty more highlights to be found too. Plastic Off The Sofa is a heartfelt and chilled R&B number whilst Virgo’s Groove is six-minutes of sexually-charged funk. Move then sees Bey team up with the legendary Grace Jones for a strutting feminist anthem, whilst Thique and All Up In Your Mind then present probably two of the filthiest beats you’ll hear all year. Bey then arguably saves one of the best for last, with Summer Renaissance sampling the Donna Summer and Giorgio Moroder classic I Feel Love for a colourful, modern take on the sun-kissed dance classic.

So, whilst I don’t think this hits the same dizzying heights of its predecessor as there are a few tracks here I don’t care for, this is still another accomplished and well-crafted outing from one of pop’s biggest giants. Beyoncé must’ve known she was never going to be able to match Lemonade’s emotional impact, so she made the right decision with Renaissance by going in a completely different direction and not attempting to replicate it. Instead, she carries over the eclectic nature of that record and uses it to explore different electronic textures, weaving it all together into a highly enjoyable summer listen.

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Also out, also great: Surrender by Maggie Rogers, They Fear Us by Ithaca

Tracks of the Week

Happiness by The 1975

A couple of weeks ago, Manchester indie-pop superstars The 1975 unveiled the first taste of their forthcoming new album, Being Funny In a Foreign Language. That track (titled Part of the Band) was a sharp left turn, serving up an artsy and quite understated single that you wouldn’t naturally associate with one of the planet’s biggest pop acts.

This week however they are back to The 1975 that we know and love, with new single Happiness sounding almost like an amalgamation of all their best previous singles. With that vintage 80s style guitar groove, some funky sax action and an instantly catchy chorus of “Show me your love”, it’s The 1975 at their absolute best.

Watch the video here

Boy by The Killers

Much like The 1975, the last release from Vegas indie heroes The Killers was a bit out of leftfield, with Brandon Flowers exploring the sights and sounds of his childhood hometown of Nephi, Utah on the band’s excellent lockdown record, Pressure Machine. Now on latest single Boy, he continues the nostalgic look back but this time with a sound more familiar to their fans. A joyous indie anthem, it even samples the iconic synth pattern from the Erasure classic A Little Respect to give it some added pop.

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Freakout / Release by Hot Chip

The third single to be taken from the electronic outfit’s upcoming new album is the record’s title track and easily the best taster from the album so far. With distorted robotic vocals reminiscent of their own track Huarache Lights, frontman Alexis Taylor sings “Music used to be an escape, now I can’t escape it” before the track breakouts into a barrage of reverbing rock guitars and hard synths. Just awesome!

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Acting Out by Bloc Party

Bloc Party also released the deluxe version of their latest album Alpha Games this week, including three brand new bonus tracks. The best of these is Acting Out, which sees the indie legends continue their return to their early Silent Alarm-era sound, with this one reminiscent of early single She’s Hearing Voices thanks to Russell’s signature jittering riffs and Kele’s stop-start shouty vocals.

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Smiley by Orbital

Taken from their new anniversary record 30 Something which is mostly reworks and remixes of their classic tracks, Smiley is one of the few original tracks on the project. An ode to the Acid House era of the late 80s/early 90s, it’s a seven-minute, nostalgia-soaked electronic odyssey that samples vox-pops from ITV documentary World In Action that covered the emerging rave scene 50 years ago.

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Summer Somewhere by LIES

And finally this week, the American Football side project featuring the Kinsella brothers continues to be one of my favourite musical diversions right now. Taking their Midwest emo roots and soaking them in glistening strings and electronics, this is another simply stunning track from the duo.

#DiscosNuevos para escuchar esta semana (4ta parte): Friendship, Chat Pile, orbital, Pretty Lightning, DC Gore

“Love the Stranger” de Friendship “God’s Country” de Chat Pile “30 something” de orbital “Dust Moves” de Pretty Lightning “All These Things” de DC Gore

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NEW SINGLE : DC Gore releases The KVB Remix of “Nietzsche On The Beach”

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NEW SINGLE : DC Gore invites you for a biting swim on new single “Nietzsche On The Beach”

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