musics Archives

I think it’s time for another Mayhem singles round-up, don’t you? Here coming the fourth for 2023, it includes a baker’s dozen of tunes that have been passed on to me or recommended during the previous few weeks and months, there are some rather spiffing tracks.

It features many artists and bands that have appeared on Mayhem’s pages before. There are also four great cover versions in this collection. There are new tracks from Avalanche Party, Apollo Junction, Vaquelin and Liz Davinci who I think all have new albums coming out sometime this year. Judging from their latest offerings, choosing Mayhem’s album of the year for 2023 will be very difficult! Let me know what you think of this great collection of tunes!

You will find a YouTube link to each song in the title (or a link to the audio of the track) and a link to the artist’s website or one of their social media pages when you click the artist’s name. You can also find the link to a Spotify playlist of all these songs by clicking here.

“Serious Dance Music” – Avalanche Party

Ain’t no party like an Avalanche Party and the AP boys are back with what is most definitely a tune for partying to. You probably wouldn’t play this at a work event! I sense an Amazing Snakeheads influence in this fast-paced, frenzied, frenetic, funky, feral, fest of a song. The band all seem to be in top form, especially Kane’s drumming. This is the first single from their upcoming sophomore album, ‘Der Traum Über Alles’. The video is very classy indeed.

“History” – Apollo Junction

The Apollo Junction boys are back with another offering that will feature on their third album, due out later this year. For the first minute, it is soft, acoustic, mellow and pensive. Then the sound continues to build with an almost drone-like guitar sound underpinning it. It finally builds to an immense orchestral-sounding, epic finish. The harmonies are superb and I can imagine this sound echoing across festival fields for years to come. Possibly my favorite Apollo Junction song so far.

“The Grayston Boogie” – Hazy Janes

This is a fine slab of fuzzy, dirty, electric blues. If you are not doing the Grayston Boogie by the end of the track then you should frankly seek medical help. The video has a few fleeting tips as to how to boogie in a Grayston way!

“Back To Black” – The Palava

A brave choice to cover this one. No one could ever hope to emulate the original Amy Winehouse, so the Palava chose to take the song in a different direction. An immaculate blues rock vocal and some gritty, scuzzy garage rock style guitars. I have seen the band play this live and they do it well, but this recording is so much better than that! I bloody love it!

“FKN H8 U 2” – Sad Like You

This bunch is from Adelaide, Australia and this track is reminiscent of the softer side of Blink 182. It is a close-to-perfect amalgam of great pop punk and emo. A heartfelt tale of heartbreak. I am looking forward to hearing more from Sad Like You.

“Pain Reliever” – Liz Davinci

Is Liz Davinci descended from Leonardo? I don’t know, but she is certainly an incredibly talented artist. Vocally there are elements of Kate Bush, Suzanne Vega, and Marcella Detroit here. This tune is beautiful and almost baroque in its construction. I love the way that Liz is not afraid to use the space between the notes. This augers well for her forthcoming album ‘Fata Morgana’.

“Five Years” – Easy All Stars/ Steel Pulse

This is the second cover in this singles selection (there will be more) and it does what I think makes a perfect cover in that it isn’t a simple facsimile of the original. This is the first track to be released from the Easy All Stars forthcoming album of a reggae reimagining of Bowie’s ‘The Rise And Fall Of Ziggy Stardust And The Spiders From Mars’ album. This one works perfectly and bodes well for the album. The Dame’s rarely touched reggae, and when he did it was never particularly good in my opinion. But Easy All Stars with Steel Pulse show with absolute certainty that Bowie can work in a reggae style.

“Feelin’ Good” – The Black Skies Ft. Hellbound Glory

We have another cover in the singles round up. This time it was a smoky, heavy, swampy, garage rock version on Nina Simone’s iconic classic “Feelin’ Good”. For me this version takes back ownership of the song from Muse after Matt Bellamy’s somewhat histrionic and over-the-top take on the tune from a few years ago.

“Tell Me With Your Eyes” – Witch Of The East

Witch Of The East returns with a fabulous new song. This is punk, post punk, electro, dance with a goth icing and a pinch of New Order. Based on this, if there is another Witch Of The East album in development it will be bloody wonderful.

“Back-Alley Barn Dance” – I Tell Lies

Get into this band now, then when they break big you can impress your friends by saying you were there at the start. This song is full on rock with large shots of Yard Act and Sleaford Mods and a shady undercurrent of mounting anger. Go see them live as soon as you can!

“Wicked Game” – JW Paris

Gemma, Danny and Aaron returned with a stonking cover of Chris Isaak’s “Wicked Game”. It feels like the Velvet Underground made the song originally back in the 60s and then Isaak covered it in 1989. OK, I know that isn’t true, right? This must be top of the list to be on the Twin Peaks soundtrack if there is ever another remake, prequel or sequel. I love that in the blurb to the video on YouTube the band state “Dear lovers, snoggers and nighttime doggers. We’ve recorded a cover of one of our favorites in light of the smoochin’ season” that cracked me up, well the nighttime doggers bit anyway!

“The Bona Fide Money Laundering Society” – Vaquelin

Another banging tune from Vaquelin, it kicks off like Led Zeppelin on Quaaludes and the vocals are classic 70s rock style with a dash of Bowie’s Tin Machine Style. The screaming lead guitar, particularly in the last part of the track is something Mick Ronson would be proud of. The second album from Vaquelin looks like it will be better than the first based on this tune!

“Greed” – The Undercover Hippy

The Undercover Hippy is an expert at protest tunes, because it’s done in a very clever and subtle way. The reggae backing has shades of another great band, Captain Ska. This song questions the greed and or incompetence of our less than industrial leaders. We need more artists like this calling out the scummy liars in government.

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It’s easy to forget how many hit songs Drake created in his nearly 15-year musical career. But he presented an emphatic reminder with an intimate concert at Harlem’s Apollo Theater on Saturday, his first-ever show at the legendary venue.

During the performance, the four-time Grammy winner teased that new music could be on the way, despite releasing two albums last year.

“I thought about a bunch of things in life, but at this moment in time, none of those things are stopping you from making music,” Drake told the doting crowd. “I hope I can strike up some more emotions for you, maybe this year — I might get bored and make another one.”

The first night of two Apollo weekend shows presented by SiriusXM, featured the 36-year-old ripping off songs at a frantic pace — most with just a verse and chorus — satisfying day-one fans with fan-favorite, deep non-radio cuts as well as those only familiar with his No. 1 hits. The recorded performances will air on Drake’s SiriusXM Sound 42 channel in the coming weeks.

Noting this was his first show in about five years and later stating “I’ll be out and about on the road a lot this year,” Spotify’s most-streamed artist in the US last year told his captivated audience the show was about gratefulness.

“I wanted to make this a show about gratitude,” Drake said. “This is a little story we put together: my deep love for my family, for my dear friends and each and every one of you who have been supporting me for a long time.”

Donning cornrows while wearing baggy jeans and a blue and yellow Jimmy Brooks basketball jersey — a nod to his days as an actor on the teen drama series “Degrassi” — Drake opened the performance with “Over My Dead Body” as celebrity guests such as Justin and Hailey Bieber, former NBA MVP and current Brooklyn Nets star Kevin Durant, NFL star Odell Beckham Jr., rappers A$AP Ferg and A Boogie wit da Hoodie watched.

Sitting on a bed positioned stage-right, modeled after his bedroom in his mom’s Toronto basement where he said he wrote songs, Drake belted out many of his down-tempo, B-side hits such as “Wu-Tang Forever,” “Trust Issues,” “Practice” and “Feel No Ways.”

He also sang his most popular deep cut, “Marvin’s Room,” as the standing-room only crowd joined him word-for-word before transitioning into his hook from Timbaland’s “Say Something” as the “Marvin’s Room” beat continued.

As the bedroom set dimmed and the light shifted to the left side of the stage, revealing a board room, Drake changed into a black leather hoodie with his OVO owl symbol. The rapper stood in front of a performer playing a record label exec who skeptically noted it was “interesting” he was a rapper from Canada, before saying, “Alright, let’s see what you got.” (Drake would later remind the crowd how every major record label in New York passed on him.)

Starting with “Best I Ever Had,” the R&B smash that jump-started his career, he continued his musical journey with early Young Money-era hits such as Headlines, “HYFR,” “Started From the Bottom” and “I’m on One.” The crowd also two-stepped to his more danceable records like “Massive” from last year’s “Honestly, Nevermind” project, as well as “Hold On, We’re Going Home,” “One Dance,” “Passionfruit” and “In My Feelings.”

The final leg of the 90-minute set opened with a surprise performance by the popular early 2000s Harlem rap collective, The Diplomats, which featured Drake wearing Cam’ron’s signature pink hoodie and headband. He was then joined by 21 Savage to perform songs such as “Rich Flex,” “Spin Bout You” and “Knife Talk” from their joint project, “Her Loss,” released in November.

The longtime tagline for the Apollo is “Where Stars are Born and Legends are Made!” So it was either strategic or serendipity that he ended the show with “Legend.” While it might be too soon to drape him with the legendary moniker in the manner that Apollo Walk of Fame icons such as Michael Jackson, Prince, Aretha Franklin, James Brown carried, he left no doubt that he is well on his way.

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Follow Associated Press entertainment journalist Gary Gerard Hamilton at: @GaryGHamilton on all his social media platforms.

Gary Gerard Hamilton, The Associated Press

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Tag: musics

Mayhem Singles Round Up Part 4 2023

Drake delivers nostalgia, teases new music at the Apollo show

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