45 RPM | 20 June 2024
Featuring Ezra Collective, NxWorries, Zara McFarlane, Daedelus and much, much more. Noisy. Even when it's quiet.
Anyone recognise this lad from the Scotland v Germany match at the Euros?
That’s right, in the week in which Scotland (OK, Irn Bru) got all excited about their country’s chances at the Euros, only to see them drop a bollock by half time in their first game, 45 RPM returns with 10 new Future Jazz tracks, all of which will keep you warm - even in places where there’s a slight breeze.
So don your kilt and knock back a can of the orange stuff as give you a quick run-down of what’s on the mixtape this week.
SIDE A
KNEECAP + Jelani Blackman: Harrow Road
Bearing in mind I listen to most of my music blind and just let Spotify’s algorithms do as they wish with me, I had an excellent time trying to work out what language ‘Harrow Road’ is in upon first listen. Further exploration has revealed that the self-styled West Belfast “punk rap” trio are, in fact, half rapping in my native tongue. Marvellous. Their new album, ‘Fine Art’ dropped this week.Dizraeli: I See Ghosts
Not to be confused with the olden-times politician Ben, Bristol-based multi-instrumentalist and MC Dizreali shares his namesake’s fondness for a gobbet or two. Aside from musings on the Ancient Greeks and slave trade, Rowan Alexander Sawday (as his Mum calls him when she’s angry at him) mixes in sax parts that sound suspiciously like Alabaster dePlume, more percussion than you throw a stick at (there may even be thrown sticks in the mix), moody guitars and electronic vocal gymnastics to create a refreshing statement within the modern jazz movement.Ezra Collective + Yazmin Lacey: God Gave Me Feet For Dancing
There is one golden rule of 45 RPM. If Ezra Collective have new music out, it gets featured. This collab with the honey-toned vocalist Yazmin Lacey will have you swaying and twerking (those of you who are not 40-year-old men who will put your back out doing it) while mowing the lawn on your Saturday afternoon.NxWorries + Earl Sweatshirt + Rae Khalil: WalkOnBy
There are two golden rules of 45 RPM. If Anderson .Paak has new music out, it gets featured. His long-awaited new album under the NxWorries moniker he shares with co-conspirator Knxwledge, ‘Why Lawd?’ was released this week. ‘WalkOnBy’, with the ever magnificent Earl Sweatshirt and Rae Khalil, will have you bumping and grinding with your Missus (those of you who are not 40-year-old men who will put your back out doing it) while, um, mowing the lawn on your Saturday afternoon?Zara McFarlane: The Mystery of Man
When you thought that nu-jazz phenomenon Zara McFarlane couldn’t have any more plaudits bestowed upon her noble brow, she releases the album ‘Sweet Whispers’ - a tribute to the brilliant Sarah Vaughn and the internet, predictably, melts (though Nigel Farage’s comical “contract” with the British public may also have had something to do with that). It takes a lot of guts to take on songs once sung by an artist nicknamed ‘The Divine One’ but McFarlane does it with gusto and brillo and possibly other words ending in ‘-o’. ‘The Mystery of Man’ was a particular highlight of mine.
SIDE B
El Michels Affair + Piya Malik: Lal Mahal
“Boy is a mayhem machine who's been training to assassinate the bloodthirsty Hilda Van Der Koy and avenge his family's murder”. So starts the review of the movie ‘Boy Kills World’. Somewhat interesting, therefore, that the ever-effervescent El Michels Affair chose to create a mash-up of Hindi music, Mariachi horns and Tarrantino-lite Western soundtrack all with an undoubted humour underpinning them as part of the soundtrack to it. But I guess that is what the sort of thing that Leon Michels (as his Mum calls him when she’s angry at him) does.Ibelisse Guardia Ferragutti + Frank Rosaly: DESTEJER
This song should come with a warning that it’s likely to put you into a trance. Brazilian / Bolivian songstress Ibelisse Guardia Ferragutti teams up with percussionist Frank Rosaly to create a track that is thoroughly hypnotic. But, in the supporting instrumentation, I also hear elements of The Doors, who are another band who should come with a trance warning.Daedalus: Gait
S’Daedelus, innit? So I don’t need to tell you that this is bananas. On ‘Gait’, imagine an entire Brazilian samba band was put into a blender and the resulting juice was used to feed an evil robot. Not for everyone.Mermaid Chunky: Céili (Edit)
If I was even 50/50 on whether to include Céili (I wasn’t) my mind was made up the minute I saw that the band was called Mermaid Chunky. Bravo, Freya Tate and Moina Moin (the audio visual duo responsible for this poetry). The eagle-eyed amongst you will realise I’ve featured the edited version of this track; if you’d like the swirling recorders, siren-like vocals and vaguely epic, sweeping chords to continue for essentially twice the amount of time, feel free to check out the original.John Grant: Marbles
John Grant is the proverbial Marmite, except that it’s entirely possible to love him and also hate him, depending on what part of his output you’re listening to. His 2013 full length ‘Pale Green Ghosts’ was wonderous and beautiful. Almost everything since has been more codpiece than masterpiece. ‘Marbles’ is emblematic of his freshly-released album ‘The Art of the Lie’ which is a startling return to sweeping, delicious songwriting form.
And on that note, I’m off to see the doctor about this issue I’ve been having with my arms (always seems to come on when I’m watching England play football), leaving you to enjoy this week’s collection…