Here are some notes about the tracks on my "Global Snapshot" mix for the UCSB Theater and Dance Department's "Global Snapshot of Performance" 2022 Graduate Symposium. Listen to the mix above, if you haven't already!
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1. Bussifame- Dawn Richard -New Orleans
This track comes from Dawn Richard’s 2021 LP, Second Line, an Electro Revival. On this record, veteran pop singer Dawn Richard aims to set off an “Electro Revival” of New Orleans culture: that is, to inspire new ways of imagining and preserving a proud regional heritage and identity. This track starts off with Richard’s mother’s thoughts on second line, a native New Orleans marching band dance tradition and musical genre. Both the instrumentation and structure of Bussifame call out second line music, and Dawn Richard’s music video for the song stages an actual second line performance.
2. Brotherman- Dam Swindle - Amsterdam
This track was originally released under the artist name “Detroit Swindle”, a name that the Dutch producer duo decided to change when they realized that the cool-sounding name unintentionally capitalized on (i.e., swindled) a connection to the Detroit music scene that they didn’t have. Instead, they switched to their roots, and now go by Dam Swindle, from a shortened version of “Amsterdam”. I first heard this track in my favorite club of yore, the dearly departed U St. Music Hall of U Street, Washington DC.
3. Brown Girl, Yellow Girl - Maggie Tra - Australia
On her project U.L.A. (U Look Asian), Maggie Tra integrates samples from Vietnamese and Cambodian music to
4. High - Skalpel - Wrocław, Poland
Skalpel’s smoky jazz is shifty, dynamic, and expertly mastered. Love the hand percussion in this piece in particular.
5. The Beat - Trouble Funk - Washington, DC
I couldn’t do a playlist of global performance cultures without securing some recognition for my hometown, Washington, DC. Trouble Funk is one of the great bands of the early days of go-go, a percussion-centered genre of music that originated in the Washington DC area in the 1970s and remains an important part of the regional music scene. Go-go is often recognizable from its prominent use of congas, bongos, tuned tom drums (rototoms), and cowbells, which form a “pocket” (or “socket”) of syncopated rhythm with the drum set to keep the beat going. You’ve got a perfect example of a pocket here, along with some of the spacey synth work characteristic of Trouble Funk’s ‘80s sound.
6. Simon Peacefull (Clap! Clap! Remix) - Moresounds - Paris [Moresounds], Italy [Clap! Clap!]
Moresounds is already known for his eclectic and technically impeccable combinations of dub, dancehall, and drum-and-bass. Clap! Clap!’s remix adds a frantic extra element, that sped-up sample of what sounds like a few seconds of a South Asian film score.
7. The Chants - J-E-T-S - Detroit/Chicago/Berlin/LA
J-E-T-S stands for Jimmy Edgar and Travis Stewart (a.k.a. Machinedrum), two excellent electronic musicians whose collaborations are always innovative and interesting. This track is the title track of J-E-T-S’s second EP.
8. Larry - GotSome - UK
The sample on this track tells a colorful story about the disco underground scene. Like samples in most great house songs, this sample points you towards your experience as a listener, in this track by evoking the shared experience that you have with the dancers that have come before you.
9. Pandi Naatu Kodi - Andony Dasan, Karuvaayan, Santhosh Narayanan - Chennai
This track is from the soundtrack to Jigarthanda (2012), a tremendous Tamil-language film about a big-city director who links up with a real-life gangster to film a blockbuster action movie. This song is based on the style of kuthu, a genre of percussion and vocal music associated with Tamil Dalit street culture. The danceability and swagger of kuthu songs has made them a popular inclusion in Tamil film soundtracks. The music director of this film, Santhosh Narayanan, has an impeccable sense for how to weave influences from various styles of Western music into Tamil film music conventions.
10. Slim Trak - DJ Paypal - Raleigh, NC/Berlin
DJ PayPal’s jaunty percussion groove comes off his debut LP, Sold Out. Here he samples Afro-Cuban jazz to lay down multiple frenetic layers of percussion and vocals.
11. Sing (Mosca Remix) - Four Tet - Berlin (Four Tet), London (Mosca)
Another song not quite like anything I’d heard before. The full-tilt rhythm of this song samples a Latin jazz percussion ensemble alongside the processed, moan-like vocals.
12. South Beach Theme (Richard Grey Vocal Mix) - DJ Ionic - Miami (DJ Ionic), Cannes/Ibiza (Richard Grey)
This track offers another example of the house music convention of celebrating the listening experience through the vocals. By “filter”, the vocalist on the sample is referring to a cutoff filter, the audio device responsible for the sweeping broadening and narrowing of tone so important to the structure of house music.
13. Kerpow - XXXY - London
This track merges influences from breakbeat and house, styles of electronic music not necessarily always associated with each other. The result is a thumping groove with more rhythmic space than your average four-on-the-floor house track.
14. Supernatural (Pomo Remix) - AlunaGeorge - London [AlunaGeorge], Vancouver/Montréal [Pomo]
Vancouver native Pomo’s remix of UK electro pop duo AlunaGeorge lays down some of his signature electric bass riffs on top of the group’s vocals to give the piece a rolling, funky tone.
15. Escape the Matrix - Seven Davis, Jr. - Oakland
Seven Davis, Jr. is a veteran of the independent electronic music scene, and his strong artistic personality shines through in all of his projects. Seven Davis Jr. sings his own vocals on this song, as usual.
16. LITE SPOTS - Kaytranada - Montréal
Montréal-based producer Kaytranada has become internationally famous for his buoyant balance of samples and analog synths. Here he uses a vocal sample from Brazilian jazz to anchor his piece.
17. Arcada - Silkie - London
Silkie is trained in the original dubstep tradition, a genre of music closer to the genres of garage and grime than the electro house-influenced genre that had its moment in the 2010s. On this album, Fractals, Silkie plays with more complex rhythms and melodies, such as the interweaving organ and saw-wave groove that drives this track forward.
18. Signals In My Head - DJ Manny - Chicago
Footwork, also known as juke, is a genre of music that originated in south side Chicago in the 1990s. Footwork doyen DJ Manny’s track here shows the rhythmic range characteristic of many modern footwork artists: we hear three distinct styles of rhythmic backing in the relatively brief time we’re tuned into this track.
19. Bust - Greazus - Montréal
Greazus, a drum-and-bass artist from Montréal, draws heavily from hip-hop instrumentation to form this complex, layered groove. This song is perfect for rolling up to a stoplight.
20. Me dê Amor - Sango - Seattle
Once again, we see a Brazilian jazz sample at the centerpiece of a composition. This time, it’s Seattle-based producer Sango with an ambling rhythm inspired by hip-hop and mid-2010s vocal pop.
21. Rubies - Roger Buster - Washington, DC/Santa Barbara
Hey, it’s me! In this track, I sample and distort a few short breaks from jazz pianist Thelonious Monk, to which I add my own instrumentation. If you like this track, check out the other songs on my debut LP, Refuge.
22. Watch a Man Die - Drew Lustman - New Haven, CT
Drew Lustman (a.k.a. FaltyDL) juxtaposes the track’s vocal sample with complex, drum-and-bass-inspired percussive layering and rich reverb for space. Simultaneously a haunting and kickin’ track.
23. Boys feat. David Douglas - Applescal - Netherlands
This track shows David Douglas’s characteristic ear for using analog rhythmic pulses to extend and amplify a groove.
24. AWAKEN - Kartell - Paris
This languid, jazzy tune reflects both Kartell’s compositional style and the laid-back, R&B-adjacent style associated with the French record label Roche Musique.
25. Four-Eighteen - Dorian Concept, The Clonious, Cid Rim - Vienna
Our closing track is a rousing, jazz trio-style collaboration between three independent artists. Both Dorian Concept and The Clonious appeared on last year’s mix, and this is a way of bring things full circle.