No sleep ’til Brooklyn. We continue the party
1. Molly Nilsson – Hey Moon
I heard the John Maus version of this and thought that he had written it and thought phoawww this guy has a lot going on. Turns out he didn’t write it but his version is beautiful too.
2. Of Montreal – The Pat Is A Grotesque Animal
This is one of those extremely layered songs that has so much going on musically and lyrically that every time you come back to it there’s something new. The perfect balance of electronics and live playing too.
3. Peter Richard – For You For Only You
House Party staple- I’ve seen minor skirmishes erupt around the laptop with people trying to put this song on.
4. Everybody Needs a Theme Tune – Julio Bashmore
Modern Electronics in 6/8 does it for me every time.
5. Gotta Get You Into My Life – Earth Wind & Fire
Earth Wind and Fire covering The Beatles in 6/8 does it for me every time.
6. Folsom Prison Blues – Gil Trythrall
My friend showed me this so I take no selection credit but when it came on I was like ‘Waoooooooaahhh.’ I love weird loose electronic sounds.
7. Thick – D.I.T.C.
Best Xylophone plinking ever. And Big L
8. 20 Years – Cassius
Perfect Squelched bass, chippy drum machines and and processed vocals. Actually a touching song too.
9. Sensational – Freaky Alert
For when you want to impress/unsettle everyone in the room. A unique rapper who sounds like he’s rapping from the inside of your head.
10. The Floaters – Float On
Another House Party Staple for the beginning the middle and the end of the night.
Amateur Best is the alias of Birmingham-based “personal pop” musician, songwriter, and producer Joe Flory. His second album The Gleaners will be released on October 2nd via Brille Records (The Knife, Gwilym Gold, John Wizards).
He now shares the video for new single ‘They Know’, directed by Effie Pappa – watch here. Due for release on the same day as The Gleaners, ‘They Know’ is “inspired by the warmth and paranoia of John Carpenter’s best horror movies” and builds up to the foreboding chorus refrain: “It’s like they know what’s coming next, it’s like there’s not point running. It’s like we’re hanging on the edge of the end, it’s like we never had a chance to run.”
‘They Know’ follows the release of single ‘Marzipan’ which picked up radio support from Radio 1’s Annie Mac and Huw Stephens and Xfm’s John Kennedy and Eddy Temple Morris.
Flory has come a long way since his beginnings making major label pop music as Primary 1. Following the release of No Thrills and tours of Europe playing drums with Chilly Gonzales & the Kaiser Quartett, Flory made a move from the bustle of London to his current home in Birmingham in order to hone his songwriting and production talents, perfecting a melodic, crystal clear style of vocal pop. It’s a style that draws on the electronica of Cassius’s Au Reve, the soundtrack work of Michael Nyman, the intricate layering of The Avalanches, and the experimental pop of David Sylvian and Ryuchi Sakamoto.
The result of three years writing and recording, the 10 tracks that make up The Gleaners straddle the fine line between outright ecstasy and muted melancholy. Initially envisioned as a concept album about a charity shop-bought doll’s house, it mutated into a full-on dance record. “In the end, I realised that I just wanted to write songs about my own life set to the most exciting music and production I could come up with,” Flory says.
Where No Thrills – the debut from Amateur Best – drew its influences from the warm, pastoral techno of artists like James Holden and his Border Community label, The Gleaners feels like more of a step into the unknown. Produced and mixed entirely by Flory, the album uses a huge array of instrumentation and hardware to arrive at its unique and varied sound. Flory would buy old drum machines and synthesizers, make a song, and then sell it to buy the next piece of kit. “Mixing it myself made me slightly crazy, but I love the sound of something that has been entirely directed by one person.”
Like all the most personal albums, The Gleaners is a record that reveals itself to the deeper listener. Urgent and immediate moments like ‘Marzipan’ contrast with the luscious, slower grooves of ‘No Sleep’, while pristine electronic pop belters like ‘They Know’ sit alongside rawer songs like album opener ‘Rely’ (which was recorded completely live, with keyboards from Spencer Zahn and strings from the Kaiser Quartett). Additionally, Chilly Gonzales – who guested on No Thrills – returns for more on The Gleaners and laid down the piano on ‘19’. The Gleaners is testament both to Flory’s commitment to making music on his own terms, and to the sheer joys of making music full stop.
www.amateurbest.co.uk
Facebook@AmateurBest
