TRC – ‘You & Me’ 

Josh Hall: All very proficient, but I just can’t find it in myself to care about this. Her voice is unconvincing, and the cut-up vocal chorus seems really made-by-numbers. The Rabit and Beneath remixes are well worth a listen though. (5)

Tam Gunn: There’s been plenty – probably too much – talk about the heavy techno of Blawan, Happa et al being a reaction to all the wimpy post-dubstep and Cassie house (to paraphrase Nick Catchdubs) around at the moment, but far more welcome to my ears has been the resurgence of propa garage that happened around the same time. The likes of DJ Q, Mike Delinquent, TS7 and TRC are currently making music that marries the songwriting of late ’90s/early ’00s garage with modern production standards and it’s really, really welcome. TRC should have blown up on the strength of ‘Oo Aa Ee’, let’s hope this makes up for it. Stomping remixes too, especially the El-B one. (8)

Laurent Fintoni: It works, pushes all the right buttons. I can see myself get tipsy in a club to it. (6)

6.3

Da Mafia 6ix – ‘Go Hard’

Brad Rose: I’m still looking forward to hearing more from the Three 6 Mafia remnants (sans Juicy), but ‘Go Hard’ is just alright. It’s got the basic feel of what I want from Three 6, but just isn’t quite there. HEAVY though. (5)

Josh Hall: I try to forget about Yelawolf’s existence as far as is possible, and I’m not sure his verse does much to change my mind. There is a bit of a feeling of ‘getting the old crew back together for one last gig’ here, but the hyper-claustrophobic production is satisfyingly unsettling. (6)

Laurent Fintoni: Considering how ubiquitous the sound these guys pioneered is today, sometimes it’s better to let the past be the past. (3)

4.7

James Holden – ‘Circle of Fifths’ (Tool Version)

Tam Gunn: Big fat Etnies trainers are usually enough to make me not listen to something out of sheer principle, but Holden’s sounding pretty fucked up and paranoid and good here. It’s not too fluffy, which has traditionally been a problem for him, and if you heard someone like Beautiful Swimmers or Ron Morelli play this between a pair of records from their labels, it would fit in just fine. Love the panned yelps. (8)

Josh Hall: I really like Holden’s DJ tool series for The Inheritors and it would be great to hear new versions of all the tracks, especially ‘The Caterpillar’s Intervention’. I can’t help but think this is more of a challenge than a tool, though; the breakdown around 4:20 suggests that wherever that DJ is playing, it certainly isn’t Kansas anymore. (8)

Chal Ravens: I don’t know if many DJs will listen to this and think, “what a great tool for my set”, unless they’re wont to spicing up a peak-time slot with an excerpt from My Life in the Bush of Ghosts. And certainly more DJs should be doing that sort of thing. Either way, you’ve got to admire the way Holden has flipped a fluid, beatless track into a club contender with those heat-warped hi-hats and thick, empty drums below. I love it, obviously. (7)

7.7

DJ Zinc – ‘King Kong’

Laurent Fintoni: Someone once joked to me that they’d played a set of early 00s Bingo Beats releases to a young crowd a couple years ago and no one realised the music was ten years old. If it ain’t broke don’t fix it. This might not be particularly clever but it works. (6)

Josh Hall: This often feels wilfully obtuse, and is all the better for it. The Fantasia keys lend it a cute haunted house vibe, but it really hits its stride towards the end, with the weaving in of what sound like Japanese public transport samples. (6)

Tam Gunn: The tumbling piano on the intro’s pretty lovely – it’s a bit Nothing Was The Same, in fact – but everything from the drop on is just a bit corny for me. Don’t get me wrong, I’m more into Zinc doing SA-style bleepy house than I am that whole crack house thing, but it’s not great is it? (4)

5.3

Odd Future – ‘Look’

Chal Ravens: This works chiefly because Tyler has been pushed up front to play the dunderheaded hype man, marking out territory for the OF posse to creep into later. Earl takes his verse to a different level, as per, but even he can become decidedly draining over a prolonged period, and as with anything OF-related, they’re both more palatable in smaller doses. Decent. (6)

Josh Hall: Hodgy and Domo sound kind of aimless here, but Tyler is on top form: “I’m in blackface for white America / A noose in my pocket” is a killer line. Nottz’s production is great too, particularly that little descending bass lick that appears a few times. (7)

Laurent Fintoni: Slowly but surely the “kids” are growing up and sounding the better for it.  (8) 

7

Sia ft. Diplo & The Weeknd – ‘Elastic Heart’ 

Brad Rose: The song is alright (the verses are way too Rihanna-esque to make a lasting impression, though), but massive downgrade for The Weeknd cameo. Seriously, fuck that guy. (4)

Josh Hall: Everything about this is embarrassing. Lauded feminist The Weeknd emoting everywhere; Sia’s affected faux-Scandi vowel sounds; the completely nothingy chorus; the appearance of what sounds like a suburban High Street panpipe band. Nope. (3)

Laurent Fintoni: I was ready to write something like “kill me now” before I loaded this. Instead I find myself actually liking it, in a sugar-sweet-pop-you-can-easily-hum-along-to-and-feel-good-about kind of way. Well played, Diplo. (6)

Tam Gunn: I like Sia’s half of this in the same way that I like the Rihanna ballads that never make single release – I can’t say anything bad about them while they’re on, but it’s all forgotten the minute it’s over. The Weeknd sounds terrible though, it might as well be George Michael on that verse. (4)

4.3

Danny Brown ft. Rustie – ‘Dope Song’ 

Josh Hall: I much prefer this to ‘Dip’, which the Singles Club covered a couple of weeks back, and in fact it might be my favourite track from Old (although Darq E Freaker’s production on ‘Handstand’ comes a close second) if only for the brazenness of it all. ‘Dope Song’ seems to perfectly straddle Old’s two sides, marrying the cautionary tales of the A with the amped-up party production of the B. (7)

Brad Rose: Look, pairing Danny Brown with Rustie productions is so in my wheelhouse it’s ridiculous. And you know what? It totally delivers. Old is shaping up to be one of the year’s best and this Rustie-produced cut is one of my favourites. It’s got those deliciously gross synth textures that Rustie has owned the last few years with some typically great bars from Brown – what more could a person want? (8)

Laurent Fintoni: Pulling off happy hardcore 808 beats like it ain’t no thang. The trick is in keeping it short and sweet. (7)

Tam Gunn: I’ve been caning the live version of this song for months, and now the album’s out it’s become my early favourite on Old. Could easily be twice as long, but so could a lot of Old – it works really well over the course of the record. We don’t need to talk about Rustie, because it’s just obvious how far ahead of the competition he is right now. The sample on the intro’s driving me nuts, too. (9)

7.8

Saada Bonaire – ‘The Facts’

Brad Rose: This is ridiculous and totally fucking great.  There’s no way this should be a real thing that someone did and the fact that it’s pulled off this well? I don’t even know. One of the most exciting reissues of 2013 for me. (9)

Josh Hall: This is absolutely fantastic. The flutes sound like a Middle Eastern Huey Lewis & The News, which is obviously great. It blossoms so easily into the chorus, and the counterpointing of the thwacking bass line against the summer-fug synths is really lovely. Plus: “Like a zombie / I take myself into the bathroom.” EMI didn’t know what they were doing – this should have been a smash. (8)

Tam Gunn: PSB sadness, industrial dread, electro muscle, id-blurt vocals. World peace is admirable and everything, but if I stumble upon a magic lamp, I’m making damn sure these guys get a much-deserved second punt at success. (9)

8.7

Final scores:

Saada Bonaire – ‘The Facts’ (8.7)
Danny Brown – ‘Dope Song’ (7.8)
James Holden – ‘Circle Of Fifths’ (7.7)
Odd Future – ‘Look’ (7.0)
TRC – ‘You & Me’ (6.3)
DJ Zinc – ‘King Kong’ (5.3)
Da Mafia 6ix – ‘Go Hard’ (4.7)
Sia – ‘Elastic Heart’ (4.3)