A revolving cast of contributors showcase some of the best new music releases from the past week.
Team Dynamite – ‘Cosmos Re-Up’
Team Dynamite are one of a number of local artists who are producing the next generation of cultural artefacts for Aotearoa. Alongside contemporaries like Home Brew and @peace, their music and videos actively chronicle an important piece of New Zealand identity in a wholly unpretentious manner. There is no imitation or aspiration to be American hip-hop, which, had they been plying their trade 20 years ago, might have been the case. But in the here and now, fuelled by the collaborative nexus that is YGB, Team Dynamite have developed a sound and an aesthetic all their own. Haz Beats’ uncanny ability to summon the sound of sunshine, cold beer, and the various winding sub-urban roads of the North Island underpin it all; they are perennial summer.
‘Cosmos Re-Up’, taken from the forthcoming LP Never Again, is no exception to this rule. It’s the latest in a string of consistently solid tracks from Team Dynamite (they haven’t put a foot wrong in the last two years) where MCs Lucky Lance and Tony Tz deliver their quickfire rhymes over Haz Beats’ vibey production.
In the video, the trio cruise through the idyllic Northland coastal town of Russell on a UFO-themed-quasi-parade float, past a few well-placed familiar faces from the Auckland scene and what appear to be bewildered (but entertained) locals. The elderly Asian quartet sitting at beachfront tables fall into the latter category, rising from their seats to wave and dance along to a track they’ve presumably never heard and will never listen to again. Nobody can resist these guys.
That’s partly due to their infectious sound, but it’s also helped along by their attitude. Team Dynamite have, from their inception, brought a happy-go-lucky mentality to an often sombre hip-hop landscape. It’s essentially PMA, without being preachy or taking anyone - least of all themselves - too seriously. But when Tony Tz raps “We don’t wanna change the world, just the shit that they’re playin’ out ya speakers”, it’s hard to believe the two are mutually exclusive. – Sarin Moddle
Grimes feat. Aristophanes – ‘Scream’
With the simultaneous release last week of two new tracks, ‘Flesh Without blood’ and’ Life In The Vivid Dream’, talk of a more refined, mainstream Grimes had already commenced and one could be forgiven for assuming that Claire Boucher had embraced a more radio friendly pop sound for her alter ego. Yet just a week later ‘Scream’, a hard-edged, avant-garde collaboration with Taiwanese rapper Aristophanes, has changed the game entirely.
Having expressed uncertainty and dissatisfaction with her previous offerings, and even renouncing her most successful single ‘Oblivion’, ‘Scream’ appears to be the departure Boucher has been waiting for. While last week's releases were really just more accessible (and certainly improved) versions of her signature ethereal dream pop, ‘Scream’ is unexpectedly aggressive, frantic and, yes, screamy.
Though her work has always been a clash of sweet sounds and sinister subtext, Grimes is often known primarily for her wispy voice and cutesy lisp, so perhaps the masterstroke here is that Boucher herself steps back vocally. The dominant voice instead is that of Aristophanes who, in Mandarin no less, delivers a startling, rapid fire rap in which Boucher’s own screams and growls are interspersed.
Dropped just ahead of this Friday’s release of Art Angels, the long awaited follow up to 2012’s Visions, and with a set lined up for next year's Laneway festival, ‘Scream’ is like nothing we’ve heard from Grimes before. By raising the stakes, Boucher demonstrates an aptitude and canniness for production that should not be ignored. – Katie Parker
Tiny Ruins – ‘Hurtling Through’
New Zealand folk is mostly really boring. It’s aesthetically pleasing and hits all the right buzz-notes, but lacks any heart. The lyrics have all the right words, but don’t sink beneath the surface. Tiny Ruins doesn’t work in this tradition - if anything, she’s an inheritor to the word-heavy and pathos-heavy tradition Nina Nastasia is so good at.
Hamish Kilgour helped record and produce her new EP, and here his drumming is subtle and punctuates Fullbrook’s voice without declaring its presence at all. Neither does the slide guitar, which soars overtop, exactly how it should.
Even though this is quite a dense track – Lanois-like even and full of swampy fullness – it only becomes apparent on the second or third listen. It’s wistful. It feels like The Perfect Cup Of Tea, or how Faulkner is on a good day. Fullbrook’s guitar is the most prominent instrument. Again, it’s hard to stray away from my Nina Nastasia albums (say, Dogs or You Follow Me, which were also made in collaboration with a drummer, the great Jim White). It sounds hollow and rhythmic and somehow open – as if it is a wide field for the rest of the song to sit upon. Oh, and there’s bells, too. You’ll notice those on the eighth listen. – Eden Bradfield
Cass McCombs – ‘Evangeline’
Cass McCombs’ new/old track ‘Evangeline’ has just been released digitally ahead of his new album A Folk Set Apart: Rarities, B-Sides & Space Junk, Etc. The single was originally released as a split 7” that featured two originals by McCombs and two covers of songs by alt-rock heroes Meat Puppets.
‘Evangeline’ is a dreamy folk-rock number that sits a little heavier on the rock side of things with an upbeat, jaunty rhythm. The track seems to be a departure from the slower, folkier sound that marked McCombs’ previous releases, and is no doubt a taste test for the eclectic arrangement of tracks that will feature on A Folk Set Apart. The song is interrupted toward the end with a chaotic, psychedelic breakdown that seems to sonically capture McCombs being knocked out by the sight of the idolised Evangeline, only to be quickly picked back up by the lively guitar riff.
The album compiles 19 songs released on various formats throughout 2003-2014 and it features an array of supporting musicians such as Joe Russo of Furthur (who also drums on ‘Evangeline’) Mike Gordon of Phish, and many others. Look out for it on December 11. – Oscar Mein
What's your song of the week? Tell us about it in the comments section.
