Baker's Dozen: Control Top, Seth Bogart, Yves Tumor, and New Music Aging Poorly
Baker’s Dozen is a weekly thing for paid subscribers where I share a playlist and some thoughts on the music I’ve been listening to.
Rudoh, "Mo Money"
Another one from the More Rice comp, love the breakbeat here. Buy it on Bandcamp! Lot of good tunes.
Kings of Convenience, "Rumours"
Kings of Convenience have sporadically gotten shit throughout their careers for simply being pleasant to hear, which seems ridiculous to me but hey, you're the ones out there writing that shit, not me. This is an instant classic from them, sounds like dust caught in the light on the windowsill. I interviewed Erlend Øye a few weeks back if you want to check that out.
Control Top, "Black Hole"
Listen to this track on Bandcamp.
Another band I wish I saw before the pandemic. Oh well. Good thing everything seems to be going really well in the reopening-everything-again department and we'll all be going to shows again regularly with no worries or consequence, right?
A$AP Ferg, "In It" [ft. Latto]
Now that we've comfortably settled into the fact that A$AP Mob are more stylists than artists, it's easier than ever to appreciate brash and hilarious strokes of himbo-ness from the crew's resident himbo Ferg. "We listen to punk rock while she give me top in the main kitchen" is basically poetry. Is he referencing Bossa Nova Civic Club in the lyrics? Probably! He is a hipster, after all. Ignore Latto here, as we all constantly do.
Lizzo, "Tempo" [ft. Missy Elliott]
Sat down and really listened to the Lizzo album recently and despite being, like, two years old it's aged like milk. (Hearing the phrase "Time's up, motherfuckers!" shouted as a rallying cry is peak cringe.) "Tempo" is her only good song, as I've always said, and there will absolutely be some serious critical buyer's remorse in the future as people struggle to name what, musically, they actually enjoyed about the album as a whole. (Remember when this album was seriously included on a best-of-the-year hip-hop list? Granted, the list itself wasn't to be taken very seriously, which is precisely why I'm not linking to it here.) Anyway I thought this recent interview with her was really interesting, I think the corporate co-opting of "body positivity" as a buzzword has been ineffective and meaningless and it sure seems like she does too.
SOB X RBE and Hit-Boy, "WYO"
Have these guys broken up? Too lazy to look it up, I'm a music writer, not a journalist. Have I posted about these guys before, or even asked this question? See my first response.
Scallops Hotel, "Whereareewe"
Love the beat on this, sounds woozy and dreamy, in general he's in the zone over production like this.
cupcakKe, "Duck Duck Goose"
Every time I see cupcakKe on the TL she's fighting with people or trying to explain something she previously said. Who can relate! Feels like no one cares about her anymore after her getting a level of media attention which is weird and bad possibly, as well as how it all works. Oh well. She's very talented! Still her Big Song here although if you pick anything she does it's at least interesting.
Seth Bogart, "Othersiders"
Sad song. I've been iffy on what Bogart's done in the past but Men on the Verge of Nothing sounds like a real breakthrough sonically, has that rolling Dunedin Sound style going for it with his more punk-ish impulses. Great rock record from last year.
Doja Cat, "Payday" [ft. Young Thug]
Pulling off a capable hyperpop ripoff is the trolliest thing Doja's ever done, and we're talking about a literal COVID denier here. I love Planet Her but I think she actually whiffs on this, whereas Thug practically floats. He's such a legend.
Yves Tumor, "Jackie"
Best thing they've done since Safe in the Hands of Love. The last album's grown on me a bit but I still think Safe—one of my favorite albums of the last ten years, period—blows my mind in a way that the more recent stuff doesn't. Looking forward to listening to the new EP when I get around to it though, incredible artist in general.
Hen Ogledd, "Remains"
This album kind of drove me nuts but I also really appreciated its ingenuity. I love this song though, the way it ends is like some sort of sci-fi Fairport Convention thing.
Bfb Da Packman, "Honey Pack"
Recently played the whole Packman album on a drive back from a drive-in movie theater where we saw Peter Rabbit 2: The Runaway, the car was laughing the entire time. Incredible song, I love the album in general, I also saw him make a rape joke on the timeline last night that was ill-advised. You're very funny but don't take it too far!