Tag Archives: funk

Best of Afrobeat 2021

by Dæv Tremblay

Welcome to the first of this year’s best of lists, curated by yours truly! As you might have noticed by now, this year is going to be separated by genre, or style, or attribute… it’s rather inconsistent between categories! On top of that, some categories are rather spread-out within themselves! I mean, there’s more than one kind of “hardcore” music out there for example, and I’m trying my best to keep my categories straight, but it’s often difficult to decide in which category such and such album should go, especially with the miscegenous music I usually listen to! Nevertheless, in … Read more

Opposite Day – Divide by Nothing

by Dæv Tremblay

The Music

The Words

Opposite Day are no newcomers to me: I’ve enjoyed my fair share of I Calculate Great and Space Taste Race, Part Zero, their two 2017 releases, but today marks the release of Divide by Nothing, their latest EP, and their best yet.

Art rock, progressive rock, math rock: those are the terms with which you’d best describe the songs here, even though the band has already dabbled in other genres. Here, however, the Texan trio pushes things farther into art territory, especially on “The Only Way to Travel”, a real upbeat, funky, and creative … Read more

Art the Band – Snacks

by Dæv Tremblay

I’ve written a line or two about Toronto’s Art the Band, last year, when I found out about their full-length, Boost Unavailable. I was impressed and awed by it, so it’s with great anticipation and matching expectations that I’ve approached their most recent release, the Snacks EP. I wasn’t aware that it was coming, so I was surprised, and, upon listening to it, was once again surprised. I have to say that I didn’t exactly recall what Art the Band was about, but Snacks quickly corrected this. The first and “Big Track” is a pretty standard jazz … Read more

Anomalie – Métropole

by Dæv Tremblay

From the Montréal metropolis comes yet another jaw-dropping album. Anomalie is the alias of musician and producer Nicolas Dupuis, and Métropole is their debut EP. The strong grooves and heavy electronic funk are what will immediately jump to you upon listening, and you can’t help but be caught by the flow. This EP oozes of Snarky Puppy and Tigran Hamasyan, among many others, but with a definitely more electronic music edge to the jazz artists mentioned. Amidst all the keyboard and piano virtuosity lie beats in various feels, like the swing feel and other shuffles – among which some … Read more

Candy – Candy Meatworks

by Dæv Tremblay

Candy is a one-man project from Czechia, and they’ve just released Candy Meatworks, which appears to be their third opus. The project is one of bass guitar-centric experimental rock. The Czech lyrics are sung in an eccentric fashion, not unlike many other avant-garde bands like Mr. Bungle, to name but one, and the rhythm beneath them is heavily driven by the bass guitar. That makes their sound very funky and almost dancey. As mentioned in their bandcamp description, there’s a special place for dissonance, which emphasize the unique character of the project. The programmed drums are, for the most … Read more