With our beloved flow of new releases almost trickling to a frustrating halt, welcome to the final proper This Week In Records column of 2016. With the final throes of The X Factor hitting screens this weekend and a stagnant chart system that relies upon prolonged streaming growth to deliver results, next week we will begin a series of specials by evaluating all the primary contenders for the once-coveted Christmas number 1 slot (and, if last year’s effort is anything to go by, don’t count on Honey G’s former workplace proximity acquaintances to count amongst it) before turning our attentions to 2016’s (currently sparse) legion of truly festive offerings in a fortnight’s time. We’ll then wrap up with somewhat of an epic in which I will cast the often jaded outlook I bring to these release roundups upon everything mildly interesting from the year in music both popular and bland. If you’ve got any topics that, for whatever reason, you’d like to read my rambles about before we kick back into life with what looks like a rocky punch on January 6th, do email us at [email protected].
Post Malone – Stoney
Meet Post Malone, a chap from Syracuse/Dallas who sings and raps and pops up on The Life Of Pablo and delicately makes “vibey” hip-hop-type things that has caused Wikipedia’s community to list one of his occupations as “Guy who makes white girl turn up music not a rapper producer.” One of those projects was a mixtape in May titled August 26th for the intended release date of his debut album. “Are you even a rapper if your album’s pre-determined release day slips by without a new project appearing?” we asked two weeks later when Justin Bieber joined him for ‘Deja Vu,’ a little ‘Hotline Bling’ tribute with breathy hooks. Fortunately, it’s taken him a while – I like to think he timed Stoney‘s eventual drop simply for This Week In Records purposes and there’s nothing you can do to take this away from me. Regardless, here he is looking pensive and apologetic.
Here he is eating chicken and wearing glasses that perplex me.
Here he is crouching in front of a car, saucing on you, and making noises about basketball.
DJ Fresh vs. Diplo feat. R. City, Selah Sue & Craig David – ‘Bang Bang’
When news of this collaboration slipped out midway through last week, I was perhaps far too hasty in putting Following My Intuition to the back of my mind. Certainly, 2016 has been a silky escalation from the doldrums for Craig David that has seen him produce some of the most adhesive music of his career and market it to everyone and their dogs, however ending it with ‘Bang Bang’ – a flash of scattered lyrics, a tedious string of names that add very little, and nothing even as annoyingly catchy as ‘Earthquake,’ DJ Fresh’s last track with Diplo – brings it all to a finale more accurately described as a damp squib than a memorable explosion.
HONNE – Warm On A Cold Night Remixed
While we’re HONNE the topic of This Week In Records favourites who happ-HONNE-d to release albums in 2016 that I reviewed, if you’ve had a HONNE-versation with me at any point over the last 12 m-HONNE-ths, you may be familiar with my penc-HONNE-t for the alluring electro-soul music of Andy Clutterbuck and James Hatcher as exhibited on July’s Warm On A Cold Night. In fact, since chatting to and watching them in Brighton at the end of October, you could even suggest that I’ve HONNE a little bit mad for the whole t-HONNE-g. Anyway, it’s been a grand year, and not just because they, like Craig David, have giv-HONNE me endless HONNE-tent opportunities to write words HONNE the internet. Now their touring has finally come to an end, nine tracks fr-HONNE that record have been given HONNE-joyable edits from the likes of Pat Lok, Rit-HONNE, and Joe Goddard, closing with Kill J’s haunting contribut-HONNE to ‘FHKD.’
PS: Thank you all for your HONNE-tinued support of my puns. 2017 will get so much words, I pr-HONNE-ise.
Jax Jones feat. RAYE – ‘You Don’t Know Me’
In addition to the traditional album of the year chatter that has sprung up in Edge-y circles this week, soon we shall also be bringing you our predictions for who we think will hit it big next year. One name likely to figure – and the BBC and Vevo seem to agree – is RAYE, the Croydon R&B-leaning teen whose SECOND EP in August provided a great ‘Distraction’ all autumn long. With her voice currently to be found across all the radios on Jonas Blue’s latest, ‘You Don’t Know Me’ sees her team up with Jax Jones, the regular Duke Dumont collaborator who now seems to specialise in infectious house numbers with cover art that takes inspiration from the mundane everyday – listen closely beyond the cereal box and you can hear MNEK’s squeaky-clean ‘House Work’ ad-libs on this one too.
Selected Other Releases
Albums
Hodgy – Fireplace: TheNotTheOtherSide
J. Cole – 4 Your Eyez Only
Lloyd – Tru EP
Neil Young – Peace Trail
Sing OST
Star Slinger – We Could Be More EP
TĀLĀ – Zal EP
The Colorist & Emiliana Torrini – The Colorist & Emiliana Torrini
Singles
Bear’s Den – ‘Berlin’
Billie Marten – ‘White Christmas’
Bonobo feat. Rhye – ‘Break Apart’
Elbow – ‘Magnificent (She Says)’
Electric Mantis – ‘Flips And Flops, Drips And Drops’
Elkka – ‘Try’
G.R.L. – ‘Are We Good’
Izzy Bizu – ‘Talking To You’
J. Cole – ‘Everybody Dies’
J. Cole – ‘False Prophets’
Jacob Banks feat. Boogie – ‘Monster 2.0’
Jodie Abacus – ‘Keep Your Head Down’
Krewella – ‘Team’
Liam Bailey – ‘Love My Neighbour’
M.O feat. Kent Jones – ‘Not In Love’
Marian Hill feat. Lauren Jauregui – ‘Back To Me’
Matoma & Gia – ‘Heart Won’t Forget’
Nadia Rose feat. Red Rat – ‘Tight Up’
Rationale – ‘Vessels’
Ryan Adams – ‘Do You Still Love Me?’
The M Machine – ‘The Warehouse’
Whethan feat. Flux Pavilion & MAX – ‘Savage’
