We’ve hooked up with the good folk at The Doctor’s Orders to give away a pair of tickets to their next night – which, typically, features some of hip-hop’s finest luminaries in The Beatnuts, Jeru The Damaja and Afu-Ra. Going down at The Garage in London on Saturday 25th May, be sure to save the date for some guaranteed neck-snapping fun times.

To win the tickets, just hit us up at info@brainermagazine.com with the answer to the following question:

What city do The Beatnuts hail from?

The winner will be chosen and notified by email on Friday 24th May. Good luck!

The Doc’s Orders and Main Squeeze will also be putting on the fourth Sampled event in Brick Lane on 1st and 2nd June – click here for more info.

Of course you’ve heard about it. Everyone’s heard about it. From the Tibetan Monks perched in their monastery in the Himalayas, to that fella who just recorded ‘Space Oddity’ in actual outer space, and even that bloke in the shop ’round the corner that always nods at you but never says hello – they’ve all heard about it. Daft Punk have released a new album. And not just released it like, say, Calvin Harris would release a record, either. They released it with the aplomb you’d expect from these pioneering Punks: a launch party in the Shard (leading to all kinds of analogies being made between the building and the music – “it’s a HUGE album” etc.); and a promotional campaign that slowly filtered lead single ‘Get Lucky’ into the subconscious of the global community to such a degree that even the pensioners at the bus stop were humming it.

Usually when things like this happen it’s always a bit of an anti-climax. But then Daft Punk have never been ones to bother themselves with normality. From the initial chords of suitably bombastic opener ‘Give Life Back To Music’, you can hear the inevitable rumbling of the record’s impact. As the album leads into ‘Contact’, the track that exhibits the most quintessential of Daft Punk trademarks (with the use of what sounds like an electronic organ combined with some virtuoso tribal drumming reminiscent of what I’d imagine DJ Shadow to sound like if he’d been influenced by the Pet Shop Boys rather than, say, the Beastie Boys), it is clear to see that these chaps haven’t succumbed to the complacency that became integral to the work of fellow beat scientists the Chemical Brothers.

The numerous collaborators – Nile Rogers, Pharrell Williams, Julian Casablancas, Todd Edwards and Panda Bear are just a selection of these – are reasons for this renewed freshness. Instead of trying to recreate anthems like ‘One More Time’ and ‘Around the World’ that peppered previous releases – something that perhaps preoccupied the relatively-underwhelming LP Human After All in 2006 – songs like ‘Doing It Right’ and  ‘Fragments of Time’ show that to move forward these Punks have had to look back.

American audiences have taken to calling dance music ‘EDM’ (Electronic Dance Music – how imaginative); this LP feels like an homage to DM before it relied heavily upon E. The duo have allowed the influences of others to expand the sound that they defined themselves, and in doing so have managed to formulate what may in five years be considered another masterpiece. Of course, we’ll all be sick to bleeding death of ‘Get Lucky’ by then, but I can guarantee we won’t be a step closer to discrediting it.

What can be accused of lacking, however, is consistency – the most overtly prog tune on the album, ‘Giorgio by Moroder’, is sandwiched in between two of its most tender moments (‘Within’ and ‘The Game of Love’), for instance – and the transitions between the more disco-orientated sections of the record with those that feature synthetic robotics as their vocal centrepieces do tend to detract from the album’s coherency. Entitled Random Access Memories, it was never going to be a straightforward piece of Homework.

Let’s not get it twisted, though, because if I were being completely honest, these are criticisms concocted by someone who feels obliged to find at least one flaw in the album because he feels so guilty for enjoying it so much. I mean for goodness sake, Daft Punk are back. They could have released anything and the world would have gone mad for it. They could have released the most middle-of-the-road, most inoffensive bag of electro-wank (see Justice’s last release), but they didn’t. While they may not have recreated the storming, stomping heavyweight tracks they were shitting out for fun 15 years ago, they have managed to piece together – however illogically – an album that is as refreshing as it is radiant. Don’t expect anything better than this this year. If we manage to find something to top it, we’d have to Get (seriously) Lucky.

Words: Laurie Roxby

Random Access Memories is out on 20^th May through Columbia.

Last Friday Steve, Karen, Leo and I moseyed along to the second instalment of the Earnest Endeavours homies’ series of events – which took place at London’s Village Underground. Now I don’t know about you, but there’s no-one doing the do quite like the Earnest Endeavours boys are at the moment. Seriously, if you’re into beat music and visual arts, these guys are creating experiences that can’t be had anywhere else in London.

On the bill was Darkhouse Fam and their new labelmate Pomrad (who, with the exception of a faulty keyboard and a slight lack of set-planning, stunned the crowd with his manual dexterity), along with Kutmah and joint headliners Rustie and Gaslamp Killer. Not bad for a Friday night, eh?

Without a doubt, the highlight was Rustie. I caught the Warp/Numbers producer a while back at Koko, and whilst that was a perfectly good show, this time he tore the place apart. Must have been the perfect coalescence of venue, sound, audience and atmosphere. The crowd was in suitable throes of ecstasy as the Scotsman played banger after banger – ‘Triadzz/Slasherr’ and Kendrick’s ‘Backstreet Freestyle’ proving particularly popular as the venue exploded with each drop.

And Gaslamp? Well, it was Gaslamp – enough said. Check out some pictures from the night:

Coat Hanger Guy. To each his own.

Photos courtesy of Teddy Fitzhugh.

Brass bands are cool, everyone knows this. The Hot 8 Brass Band are also cool, everyone knows this from their reworking of ‘Sexual Healing’ alone. However, although new record Tombstone is cool and an undeniably fun fusion of all things jazz, hip-hop and funk, it lacks the straight up tunes of the Hypnotic Brass Ensemble or the devastating grooves of The Youngblood Brass Band.

Where Youngblood tread the line between keeping it catchy and expressing their musicianship, Hot 8 find themselves in something of a no-man’s land. Across the album’s eleven tracks only on occasion does it reach out, grab you by the balls and drag you to the dancefloor. The musicianship, impressive as it is, too often overlooks the importance of an infectious melody or an ear-catching hook. This is not to say this is a bad record, it’s more the frustration that there’s potential for it to be much, much more. ‘Wolf Burger’ is a street party condensed into five-minutes and the prime example of how good Hot 8 can be. It is loose and dripping in samba influences with a trumpet solo that is one of the album’s best. If it doesn’t bring a smile to your face then there’s almost definitely something wrong with you. Another highlight comes during ‘Homies’ where out of nowhere the band launch into a refrain of KC & The Sunshine Band’s ‘That’s The Way I Like It’. An inspired move as this may be, it does make you wonder whether their forte comes in re-imagining classic melodies.

Shortcomings aside, what Tombstone boils down to is fun. Although it may not work as well as a body of work as some of their contemporaries’ efforts, if you take it for what it is, you’d be hard-pressed not to enjoy it. This being said, after track five, the brilliant ‘Shot Gun Joe’, it all seems to blend into one big jam with nothing that could be described as a tune. By no means a bad thing, it is simply the difference between this and the likes of Youngblood’s incredible Word On The Street. Where Word On The Street is rife with tempo changes, twists and turns, Tombstone runs very much at one speed throughout. In the latter stages of the album, ‘Hot 8 Shit’ again shows glimpses of that potential to write a big, brash melody. Its presence seems a bit uncomfortable amidst the relatively unstructured jamming either side of it.

Tombstone is a good record, of this there is little doubt. There’s also little denying that it’s a lot of fun. It is however, a disappointing record because of what it could be. Put on loud through speakers or at a party it would be ideal, but when it comes to headphone listening, that special something is amiss. This being said, the Hot 8 Brass band probably didn’t make this for thoughtful listening. The constant background chatter throughout the tracks portrays a band having a great time making music, and it’s fair to say they just want us to have a great time listening to it. Nothing more, nothing less.

Words: Edd Clibbens

Tombstone is out 20th May through Tru Thoughts. 

A short while back I managed to catch Light Show at the Hayward Gallery just before it closed a few weeks ago. Should have gotten my ass into gear earlier. Anyway, an exhibition of work from 22 artists, nearly every single sculpture or installation used artificial light to explore the effect of light on the perception of our surroundings.

A few pieces really stood out for me – including Leo Villareal’s Cylinder II, Carlos Cruz-Diez’s Chromosaturation and Olafur Eliasson’s mind-boggling Model for a timeless garden. A few I could take or leave, but the installation that I couldn’t peel myself away from was Jim Campbell’s Exploded View (Commuters). At first glance this series of dangling LEDs seemed to flicker on and off at random intervals, but once you focused, you could make out silhouettes of people flitting eerily across the 2D wall of light.

Except that when you got even closer, you realised that it was actually a 3D piece of work – made from over a thousand suspended LED bulbs acting as pixels (together drawing less power than a toaster) and controlled by customised electronic circuit boards. A piece of art that was as unique as it was beautiful from all perspectives.

I couldn’t take photos without risk of getting dismembered by suspicious gallery staff (the above were lifted off the internets), but have a look at the video below of Campbell explaining the genesis of Exploded View (which also showed at San Francisco’s MoMA in 2011), as well as a glimpse of the installation in movement.

I’ll take one please, Jim.

For more on Jim Campbell and his art, head over to his website.

This coming Friday sees the Earnest Endeavours boys return to London’s Village Underground for the second instalment of their event series. As expected, the lineup is, well, huge. Willie the Motherfucking Gaslamp Killer gets behind the ones and twos for the first time since the release of his debut album on Brainfeeder, and Rustie – the Warp/Numbers beat monster – will be sharing the stage. Expect the roof to be suitably raised.

Add to that Kutmah, new Earnest Endeavours signing Pomrad (his live show is something else, we hear) and labelmates Darkhouse Fam on the support – this is another not-to-be-missed show from the EE camp. Oh, did I mention series 2 of their new film series ‘Screen Tests’? Yeah, there’s that too. And the Hit+Run crew doing the do.

Tickets here. Peep the new video for Gaslamp’s ‘In The Dark’ below.

Incredibly, it’s been over two years – two years – since Obaro Ejimiwe (AKA Ghostpoet) first wooed us with his debut LP, Peanut Butter Blues & Melancholy Jam.  With nary a sign of his phantasm since, I was beginning to doubt the very existence of this choice first sighting.  If anything, muted comparisons were drawn before with Roots Manuva and, potentially, could be here at times in relation to the transition from Run/Dub Come Save Me to Awfully Deep; but that’s no less of a compliment and only bears credence to his increasingly esteemed position in whatever genre he deems himself to be a part of.  Which is exactly it: on that auspicious debut, Ejimiwe cut a devilishly Houdini-esque figure – one impossible to pin down or ascribe to conventional genre.  The pigeonhole-police were not happy; everyone else was markedly delighted.  There was much to laud then and, consequently, much to look forward to now from Some Say I So I Say Light.

Well, I say ‘camera, action’.

‘Cold Win’ feels indicative of this Manuva-affinity without aping his forebear: there’s much, much more to it than that and it would be obtuse to suggest otherwise.  Ominous horns layered on top give Ghostpoet’s languid sputterings on the opener a grandiose leaning, as if emerging from the inner-workings of a John Barry Bond theme – a sombre one at that.  Overall, the polished nature of the production on the LP feels more Neptunes than constructed-from-a-second-hand-copy-of-Cubase in scale.  Such a whimsical remark is most definitely not a knock on his prior LP but more a reflection of how Ejimiwe has taken things up a level with the help of producer, Richard Formby.

More evidence of such development is found on ‘Them Waters’, which melds an industrial thunderclap with Ejimiwe’s musings about how “I can hear those voices, calling me again.”  Is this a fear of descent into madness or simply a cry for help against wave after wave of mundanity?  Choosing not to clarify whether there really is a light at the end of this tunnel, he hauntingly lays bare the frustration and discontent of normal life.  This terse lyrical ability – seen elsewhere on the pensive ‘Thymethymethyme’ – is a key strength.  Whether assessing the ability of dim sum noodles to make him feel all right or adjudging the world to have turned its back on him… without seeing it as a tragedy, his is an uncanny ability to laconically encapsulate latent thoughts.

The choice of support vocalists and artists throughout the album is fitting.  Woodpecker Williams duly shines on ‘Meltdown’, sounding like The xx’s Romy Madley Croft, set in delicate contrast against Ejimiwe’s overwrought break-up rhymes.  Moreover, Lucy Rose is enchanting on rueful ode ‘Dial Tones’, where sparse piano keys act as desperate snippets of positivity amidst the rudimentary telephone static.  The busy ‘Plastic Bag Brain’ – with accompanying pulsing drumbeat and Afro Beat guitar – shows a playful desire to let fly.  And that it does, like a paean to the eternal daydreamer: a daydreamer that threatens to reawaken at the end of subtly optimistic closer ‘Comatose’.

In short, there’s not only light at the end of this tunnel but also littered throughout.  Having royally put to bed my doubts as to Ghostpoet’s existence, Ejimiwe’s sophomore effort reinforces his rightful place as the prince of a genre of his own making.  The developments in production along with the reliably rich vein of songwriting ability help to produce an album that soars.  His more caustic observations seldom stray from their target, yet his positivity shines.  He says light, and I say how bright – on this evidence, very bright indeed.

Words: Ben Nicholas

Some Say I So I Say Light is out on 6th May through Play It Again Sam. Peep the video for ‘Meltdown’ below, and for live dates, click here.

It’s Spring! Kind of. Okay not really. We had a sporadic few days of sunshine in London lately that sent us a little crazy at Brainer, and we thought it’d be an amazing idea to have Spring as the theme for our next Brainer Sounds. Just so you know, it’s cold, cloudy and raining right now.

Whatever. In this month’s playlist we’ve got an eclectic mix of uplifting music from the likes of Mala, DJ Day, The Internet and T.I., and new tracks from Lapalux, Pomrad (read our review of the man’s new EP here) and yep – that Daft Punk song. You can listen to it over at Spotify.

Here’s the tracklist:

01. Introduction – Mala
02. Mas Pan (DJ Day Remix) – Quantic and his Combo Barbaro
03. Midnite – B. Bravo
04. Pomslap – Pomrad
05. What’s My Name – Papoose
06. The Beat – C2C
07. Juice – Ces Cru
08. Good Morning feat. Electric – Insight
09. Always – Para One
10. Swallowing Smoke – Lapalux
11. Fair Weather Friends – Daedelus
12. Get Lucky feat. Pharrell – Daft Punk
13. My Cloud – Gil Scott Heron & Jamie xx
14. Spaceship Coupe – Justin Timberlake
15. You Can – Body Language
16. Freak Though feat. Pharrell – T.I.
17. They Say feat. Tay Walker – The Internet
18. The Wonder Years – The O’My’s