Salutations! I'm back already, spurred on with my recent tide of enthusiasm, to again enlighten the souls of those who read this with (hopefully) decent music and lead them off the path of the opposite. Yippee! In this septet of songs I'll be going over the unfortunate fall from grace of one of my (former) favourite PBR&B songs, stepping into the unknown, unnerving world of electroswing and slamming arguably the brattiest song I've heard in a very extensive period of time. I invite you, my beloved readers, to a brief incite to the remote entity that is my music taste... 

 1. Occupy Your Mind by Villagers 

 To start off we have this rather creepy number by Mercury Prize nominees Villagers, imagine the quintessential haunted house. The song's decent enough with a guitar line reminiscent of one of Muse's best and a thumping drum beat. My only problem is the rather perverted lyrics, images of some unpleasant stalker are brought to mind as lead singer Conor J O'Brien whispers 'let's slip inside'.

2. Stay by Henry Krinkle

 The vacuous and atmospheric production by Henry Krinkle on this tune helps transport the listener to the dark, vibrant streets of London, full to the brim with fast black cars and neon signs, whilst being in some invisible bubble (that cuts you off completely from your surroundings) throughout. I hope that has some coherence. 

3. Break The Rules by Charli XCX

 Next, a rather insipid piece of drivel. This bratty and frankly rather irritating number of rock EDM (a horrific genre that should in general just be banned from life) includes Charli XCX removing all possibilities of becoming a responsible figure for her listeners as she desperately yells 'I don't wanna go to school I just wanna break the rules'. Desperately. Now I'm not all against Charli XCX at all, her early synthpop, retro style stood out (and still does) from this David Guetta dominated industry, but it seems she's now fallen into the crooked path followed by so many artists this year, that of a decent musician finding mainstream success by giving into the realms EDM and all it's associated trash. 

Charli XCX: Break the Rules
'a rather nsipid piece of drivel'

4. 6 by Elijah Blake

 Dedicated readers of this blog, if there are any, will perhaps remember my recent description of Elijah Blake of being some divine, holy being in the music industry and life in general (he has an incredible ability to sing expletives with such tranquility and control). That facade of admiration has sadly shattered dramatically as I've listened further into his discography. His fall from grace has been startling. The track, 6, starts off as a rather stolid R&B ballad, as Blake moans about how he behaves like a 6 year old. The halfway point of the song marks the spot of my mental rape, the disgusting screeches that ensued brought on genuine tears of pain, distress and torture. As one so-ever-alert listener so rightly said although he's singing about 6 year olds, Blake needn't sing like one.

Elijah Blake: 'a startling fall from grace'

5. Shelter by Years & Years

 
This beautiful piece combines bouncy, artistic production, a distant set of pipes and a rather conventional pop chorus to create shear ecstasy. This song is ideal for strolling down the street with a disturbingly cheerful expression (despite the fact that the topic at hand is rather grim). 

Years & Years: 'bouncy, artistic production'

6. Jamaica by Theme Park

 A jaunty number that takes the listener to a distant land of Hawaiian t-shirts and exotic cocktails, rather depressing though when you're shivering in a vacant room, in an ever more empty house, lamenting the woes of your life. 

7. Delight by Jamie Berry 

A last I have been properly pushed into the hostile ocean that is the world of electroswing. As you listen to this track, a sense of overwhelming joy and euphoria overcomes you and it's as if you're brainwashed for a few brief minutes of your life as some external force physically forces any possible part of your body to move, even your chin.

Jamie Berry, Delight: 'a sense of overwhelming joy and euphoria'

After a rather unexpected hiatus I have at last made the difficult decision to make this, the comeback of all comebacks, to a blog I left decaying and rotting to inevitable ruin. In this October issue I will be recommending a sextet of tracks that I've been enjoying over these past few bleak, sombre weeks.

1. Tinashe - All Hands On Deck
From her excellent recently released début album, Aquarius, comes perhaps one of the more generic hip-hop songs I've heard all year. Though don't assume my labelling as the song as being 'generic' as a necessarily bad thing, the production is slick, the tune is insanely catchy and the breakdown is perhaps the most unexpected breakdowns I've ever heard (there's a flute in it!!!). Tinashe has this incredible capacity to be 'cool', this is never clearer than on 'All Hands On Deck', she's the Bugatti Veyron whilst you're the Mini Cooper. I would usually have some extravagantly abstract metaphor for the song, but it's so generic that none sprang to mind.

2. Elijah Blake - Strange Fruit
A dark, brooding, seductive piece of R&B perfect for a bleak winter's night. Mr Blake's smooth vocals float delicately over subtle production and when listening the sexual tension is the song is almost palpable, even without the rather disturbing noises that occur throughout in the background. Stunning, despite the fact that death always seems to be on my mind once the song reaches it's minimalist conclusion.

3. Wookie & Zak Abel - Higher
A beautiful, jazzy little number set alight by the soulful vocals of Zak Abel. A little like Rudimental's Feel The Love, except toned down about a million times, this song sounds perfect for your average middle class dinner party. Whilst Elijah Blake's Strange Fruit would be a bottle of vodka (after which you would never live to drink again), 'Higher' would be a bottle of champagne, bursting from the seams with reticent saxophone melodies et al.

4. Autre Ne Veut - Counting
This number by the French musician whose stage name translates to 'I want no other', for me at least has all the entities required to make a perfect pop song. 1) a set of restrained, reflective vocals 2) a confused and irregular beat 3) a saccharine melody 4) the sound of doors creaking cropping up throughout so as to genuinely terrify the listener and 5) a singer with a very indie sounding name. When listening to the song, a warm bath rather obscurely crops into my mind. Just a passing thought.