Fluxblog Weekly #117: FKJ, This Is The Kit, Tricky, Tyler the Creator, Sudan Archives
July 17th, 2017
Do Everything With Our Heart
FKJ “Joy”
FKJ’s debut is remarkably slick and sophisticated in its composition, effortlessly sliding between funk, soul, jazz, and house without ever feeling like a series of forced juxtapositions. “Joy” is the climax of the record, and ties together many of the musical threads through the set, while leaning hard on jazz elements in particular. The electric keyboard holds down the groove and sets the tone for soloing, but the horn parts are fabulously emotive as they swing between delicate, pensive phrases and bold, expressive soloing. I know some people have trouble with saxophones and jazz in general, and associate it with either cheesiness or inaccessible meandering, but this track is a particularly good ambassador for both. FKJ sugars the pill of jazz a bit by situating it in this elegant dance track, but lets the solos unfurl with incredible feeling and melodic grace. The vocals in “Joy” are all chopped up samples, and while they’re quite expressive and joyful, it’s just there to accent the beat and frame the leads. Words can just get in the way of a big feeling like this.
Buy it from Amazon.
July 18th, 2017
The Natural Order Of Things
This Is The Kit “Moonshine Freeze”
“Moonshine Freeze” has a witchy feeling to it – some of it is in the odd, foreboding atmosphere of it and its melodic roots in English folk, but it’s mainly in the lyrics, which seem as though they’re outlining some sort of ritual. There’s not that many words to the song, but what’s there is very evocative, and for me suggest a collapse in the perception of time. On one hand you have the chorus, a clapping game for children that Kate Stables recalls from her youth in England, and on the other, you have her speaking about cycles and change and the natural order of things as though she’s looking on her life from the outside. The music moves in circles, but vocal parts begin to overlap, and it’s as though you’re watching cycles of behavior and feelings loop and stack in a time lapse.
Buy it from Amazon.
July 19th, 2017
Easy Like The Dream
Tricky featuring Martina Topley-Bird “When We Die”
The very fact that this song exists feels like a miracle. This is the first song Tricky has released featuring Martina Topley-Bird in nearly 20 years, and I think most everyone had just come to assume they simply were never going to work together again. Sure, they played a few shows together to celebrate the anniversary of Maxinquaye, but that seemed to be mostly motivated by money and they have a kid to raise. If you don’t understand why this pairing is special and important, you should read this post from ten years ago in which I wrote about their unique chemistry on Tricky’s first two albums.
The classic Tricky/Martina songs foregrounded their intimacy and let their uncomfortable power dynamic play out on the track. “When We Die” does that too, I suppose, but for a very different effect. They sound very removed from one another, and their voices barely overlap. Tricky’s lyrics suggest that he’s trying to make sense of why their relationship fell apart and figure out what they are meant to be to each other now, but Martina just sounds sad and resigned. There’s no catharsis in this song, and it ends somewhat abruptly with a sense that there’s no resolution to be had here. I’m not sure if they really have more they can do together after this – it feels less like a new beginning and more like the epilogue to a story that ended a long time ago.
Buy it from Amazon.
July 20th, 2017
Flowers, Rainbows, And Posies
Tyler, the Creator featuring Rex Orange County “Foreword”
Part of what makes Tyler, the Creator so interesting to listen to on his new record Flower Boy is that he seems like he’s settled into his adult self but is uncertain of who he’s supposed to be in the world. He’s moved away from the trolling antics of his early music, but has replaced that with a sort of “fuck you” vulnerability that serves a similar purpose of weeding out anyone who isn’t ready to accept him exactly as he is. “Foreword” opens the record with Tyler at a crossroads. He seems unsure of how he fits into his culture, and ambivalent about his level of success – rich enough to be removed from some elements of black life, but not wealthy enough to embrace all the usual clichés of a rap star. I like the way this song falls into a space between introspection and indecision, and how it’s like he’s almost figured out who he wants to be but can’t quite shake some insecurities. He’s right on the edge of fully realizing something Stephen Malkmus articulated succinctly on the first Pavement album: “Between here and there is better than either here or there.”
Buy it from Amazon.
July 21st, 2017
Until Time Ends, Yes
Sudan Archives “Come Meh Way”
Brittney Denise Parks, who records as Sudan Archives, is an untrained violinist and plays her instrument in a way that sidesteps a lot of conventions. It’s a naive approach, but also focused and inventive – she’s using a complex and tonally rich instrument to approximate the style of West African music typically played on one string. “Come Meh Way,” with its sawing violin melody, skipping beats, and rhythmic vocal hooks, is immediately fascinating and attention-grabbing. Its roots in the past are apparent, but it feels very modern in the way it tilts toward rap without necessarily being a hip-hop track. It sounds like a combination of ideas that are ripe for exploration.
Buy it from Amazon.