John Barera & Will Martin – ‘Awake’

John Twells: Trax on da Rocks Vol.3? (7)

Josh Hall: Dusty percussion, staccato guitars, string swoops – should be a recipe for something lovely, but this is a weirdly aimless mess. (5)

Chris Kelly: Nothing fancy, but disco done right. Such a jam that I had to tear my shirt off while writing this blurb. (6)

Joe Muggs: Filter disco DJ tool.  Very nice, could do with a bit more late nineties opening-and-closing-the-door filtering just for fun, but yeah, does the job. (5)

Kristan Caryl: I’m going to be a wanker and quote my own column here: “[Awake is] like mainlining sunshine straight into your veins, it has a similar impact to Andres’s ‘New 4 U’ but is, frankly, even better.” Barera and his Supply label have got it locked the fuck down right now.  (10)

6.6

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Ill Blu – ‘Blu Magic’

Josh Hall: ‘Summer anthem’ by A&R politburo central committee. (4)

Chris Kelly: I guess it’s inevitable at this point, but reworking the UKF original into pop-house is like ironing your t-shirts. (4)

John Twells: The “Disclosure effect” hits the UK funky community eh? Gotta give a couple thumbs for the ‘Night’-style synth but I’ve reached saturation point with the rest. Way too polite. (5)

Kristan Caryl: So UK, so sunny, so hooky = totally destined to soundtrack a million and one BBC festival coverage adverts this summer. (7)

Joe Muggs: OK, given who it is, it’s really hard to judge this on what it is rather than what it isn’t… but as a chart-aimed, heavily major-label-workshopped bit of pop dance it’s really very good.  There IS quite a bit of funky still hidden in its innards too, which is nice.  I hope they do well. (7)

6

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Young Thug – ‘Treasure’ (feat. Zuse & DunDeal)

Chris Kelly: Shockingly, there are people still not sold on Young Thug, but the way he reels off “how the hell that n*gga leave the treasure when the treasure bring the bezels and the bezels worth a foreign home?” should convert any non-believers. Zuse’s dancehall growl is a great counterweight on one of Dun Deal’s best beats yet. (9)

John Twells: Zuse’s Bullet is a fine statement of intent (don’t sleep!), but he goes full patois here and leaves Thugger wheezing. He’s exactly what Atlanta needs right now, and injects a welcome dose of dancehall into Dun’s spooky, filtered production masterclass. “Smoke you like you a hookah” – bodied. (9)

Josh Hall: Young Thug and Dun Deal is still a disgracefully enjoyable combination. Zuse sounds particularly great here, but this is brilliantly deranged start to finish. (8)

Joe Muggs: Absolutely tremendous. Almost every element of this is barking mad, which is as it should be. “Dip dip dip like a scuba” is probably my favourite line of the week. (8)

8.5

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Drake – ‘Days in the East’

Josh Hall: Please, tell me more about your crisis of over-confidence. (3)

Kristan Caryl: The first time I ever heard anyone mentioned Drake was when I was interviewing Nicholas Jaar. “Who’s that?” I asked him. “Some Canadian reversing culture with his shitty rap music,” he said, and he was pretty right. (3)

Chris Kelly: For the first three minutes, this sounds like a not-particularly-interesting NWTS offcut. And then he’s having tea with Erykah and ending every line with “the boy” which is just so “Drake The Type Of…” that I can’t take it seriously. (3)

John Twells: Unimpeachable hazy production from PARTYNEXTDOOR, but Drake sounds a bit bored to be quite honest. Plus his bit about having tea with Erykah Badu might just be the clunkiest line he’s ever penned, even if it is a rare glimmer of mundane honesty. (6)

Joe Muggs: Oh honestly just piss off. Go and make a record with Chris Martin. I like the hi-hats though. (2)

3.4

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Strict Face – ‘Fountains’

John Twells: Who needs beats – Strict Face manages absolutely fine with the sparest of palettes, conjuring up a druggy slow-burner without resorting to the usual tropes. It’s also unashamedly beautiful – the soundtrack to having a little cry in the club bathroom. (8)

Chris Kelly: So lush. The grime soundtrack for purifying yourself in Lake Minnetonka. (8)

Joe Muggs: Emotional. Mitch and Gobstopper are both so consistent, it’s pretty much a buy-on-sight label. This one really transcends any discussion about grime categories and sub-categories because its impact is gut level and… well… emotional. (8)

Josh Hall: The strung-out-neon-haze mode suits Strict Face down to the ground. This seems to be the perfect representation of urban dysphoria. Absolutely beautiful. (8)

Kristan Caryl: Pretty good as a bit of curious, mind absorbing sound design. Kinda like what I imagine dying might sound like if you were a character in Final Fantasy VII.  (9)

8.2

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Nightwave feat. DJ Deeon – ‘Hit It’ 

Chris Kelly: It’s great to see some of the Dance Mania originals getting their due, but I’m not sure if Deeon’s throwback talk-rap works here (no matter how charming) over Nightwave’s latest banger. (5)

Joe Muggs: That’s three for three with Nightwave’s releases on Hekatrax then. It’s got a bit less individuality than the mental orientalist rave-ups on the first two, but even so you can’t argue with this, really. Banger. (8)

Kristan Caryl: Sleazier than if Berlusconi had a virgins-only bunga-bunga party at the Playboy Mansion. (8)

7

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Final scores:
Young Thug feat. Zuse & DunDeal – ‘Treasure’ (8.5)
Strict Face – ‘Fountains’ (8.2)
Nightwave feat. DJ Deeon – ‘Hit It’ (7)
John Barera & Will Martin – ‘Awake’ (6.6)
Ill Blu – ‘Blu Magic’ (6)
Drake – ‘Days in the East’ (3.4)

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