Top 10 Tracks of March 2013.

10

"Ice.Moon"

SZA

GivePopAChance said...

"On new track "Ice.Moon", SZA's gentle, silky tones float over a thick bass drone and menacing trap beat... Equally suggestive and threatening, just like it should be." READ MORE.

9

"Yung Rapunxel"

Azealia Banks

GivePopAChance said...

"Yung Rapunxel" feels like Azealia Banks' true second single, her first real showstopper since she first dropped "212" about a year and a half ago." READ MORE.

8

"Lay Down in Swimming Pools"

MKS (Mutya Keisha Siobhan)

Although the original Sugababes line-up have flaunted clips of a somewhat lacklustre track called "Boys", this reinterpretation of Kendrick Lamar's modern classic "Swimming Pools" feels like the trio's proper, and indeed appropriate comeback. Bringing the Compton anthem to South London, Mutya's husky murmurs, Siobhan's haunting vibrato and Keisha's trademark vocal flourishes fit together better than ever, and the harmonies are spellbinding. 13 years down the line, it feels like the girls, young and ambitious when they began, now world-wise and seasoned, are only finally beginning their career together the way it was meant to be.

7

"We Can Be Ghosts Now" (feat. Shura)

Hiatus

GivePopAChance said...

"...(Shura) opens up her vocal chords just enough to let the gorgeous melody bounce charmingly against Hiatus' warm, glossy backdrop." READ MORE.

6

"Shallows"

Daughter

A fragile, haunting and very impressive debut record from London band Daughter dropped this month, one of the years best records of 2013 so far, one track stands out in particular, album closer "Shallows". Bringing to mind Explosions in the Sky, it has a tender, post-rock touch that eludes many similar acts (and there are many), and singer Elena's tender Romi-esque (xx) voice trembles with emotion but resides itself to defeat when she utters the words "if you leave" as the guitars melancholically arpeggiate her loss. It's a heartbreaking moment, and one that the song revolves around.

5

"Imagine It Was Us"

Jessie Ware

GivePopAChance said...

"...(Julio) Bashmore surrounds Jessie's warm tones with familiar warm synths and an almost european dance beat that ensures the track pushes every guilty pleasure button whilst still being utterly irresistible." READ MORE.

4

"Digital Lion"

James Blake & Brian Eno

GivePopAChance said...

"Eno can be heard in the shimmering, warm, 70s-flecked pads, but Blake's voice steals the show as it breaks through the fuzzy atmosphere like a ray of sunshine, rather than hiding his gorgeous jazzy croon beneath it." READ MORE.

3

"Borderline"

Classixx

GivePopAChance said...

"The new wave synth chords of "Borderline" pulse along purposefully through a typically gorgeous, balearic chord sequence, and the melt-in-your-mouth vocals of Jesse Kivel from the similarly sunny synthpop band Kisses float thoughtfully up into falsetto." READ MORE.

Also check out a more euphorically inclined remix courtesy of London producer lostchild.

2

"3 Days"

Rhye

Rhye's debut record "Woman" is so far my favourite record of 2013. A true frontrunner in the gradually growing 80s soul revival brought about by Julio Bashmore and Jessie Ware et al, Rhye's Mike Milosh (yes, that voice that drew so many comparisons to Sade comes from a man) has a voice that mesmerizes and warms, and the band's arrangements are, whilst on paper cheesy and dated, in reality tasteful and perfectly underplayed. 

"3 Days" comes out as a personal favourite from the record because their choice of arrangement, one they do not even attempt to recreate live (they slow it down to a jazzy shuffle), is one that ticks every cliched 80s chillout box, but comes out with something that suspends any comparison in our minds, and just sounds like Rhye. And that's the sign of a band with a fruitful and much coveted career ahead of them.

1

"Me"

The 1975

For a band so well known for their gutsy, anthemic singles, on their EPs, The 1975 paint from a much more varied palette. For those not willing to give themselves to the band, but only to their popular songs like "Sex" and "Chocolate", are shooting themselves in the feet. On their EPs, The 1975 prove themselves as a thoroughly complex, beautiful act. Their catalogue thus far is practically musically bipolar; the singles show them as rebels, hedonists and teenagers. And then there are songs like "Me".

"Me" is the band's darkest song, lyrically and musically. The words are apologetic, full of self-loathing and disturbingly blunt, but musically synths wail in the distance as bass rumbles quietly in the foreground. The music is beautiful, and every line ends with the shy, residing phrase "don't you mind", but the statements and confessions that precede are harsher. Singer Matthew Healy confesses he's "put you all through hell", "hurt your brother as well" and, most overwhelmingly, "I thought about killing myself". It's heartbreakingly confessional. If "The City", "Sex" and "Chocolate" are the party, "Me" is a hell of a comedown. I don't actually know which I'd prefer, both sound enticing to me.

Azealia Banks - Yung Rapunxel.

"Yung Rapunxel" feels like Azealia Banks' true second single, her first real showstopper since she first dropped "212" about a year and a half ago. It is miles less commercial than that track, but it is also miles more ambitious, and although it's taken 18 months, it makes sense to have taken that long, given the massive controversy that she has largely put herself through. Because "Yung Rapunxel" wouldn't exist without it.

It's worth remembering that "212" stopped the underground in its tracks because it was a crossover record that didn't sound like a crossover; it was already a great dance track thanks to Lazy Jay who produced it, but Azealia Banks turned it from that, into what simply was an Azealia Banks track. Sure the notorious and frequent use of the c-word probably helped hype it up, but what was really exciting was her sheer disregard for genre. She knew what beats she liked, and she knew how to spit over them. A rapper - yes; a hip hop artist - not really.

But whilst it was hard to categorize "212", it seemed totally unnecessary. It was a total mindblowing rave track, who wanted to ask questions? Through 2012, we saw Azealia Banks lean more towards certain genres, on her House-heavy "1991" EP and then regress a bit more into Hip Hop on her impressive "Fantasea" mixtape. 

But there was no denying she had placed the bar impossibly high for herself after the sheer effortlessness of her performance on "212". How many of us were quick to wonder who actually produced "212"? Not many. Yet how many of us were instantly aware of her collaborations with Diplo and Munchi? Her good taste in beats were beginning to overshadow her talent, simply because we were all expected a crazy flow on par with her breakthrough hit.

Well now we've got it. She hyped it up, boy did she hype it up, but now we see why. First off, she's chosen low profile producer Lil Internet to provide the beat, which is a vicious variant on his own "Rhinoceropolis Anthem". Hints of old school Prodigy and 90s hardcore rave (no housey pianos here), led by a Tyrannosaurs Rex stomp of a heavily distorted kick drum, as distant screams, thunderclaps and Araabmusik-esque euro-trance leads scuttle round. It's a mindfuck of a listen, and a totally perfect choice for the category-evading Banks.

But above all this, we finally have that epic follow-up performance from Azealia herself that we've been waiting for for 18 months. When a voice warns "Danger!" at the beginning of the track, it sets the tone quite accurately. On "212" she was playful, self-assured, cocky; on "Yung Rapunxel" the 18 months of hype, drama, endless "beef" have clearly turned into a more aggressive player in the game. In a way that was first hinted with her hastily-brought-out but delicious Angel-Haze response "No Problems", "Yung Rapunxel" showcases a genuinely threatening tone to Banks' verses.

Whilst she previously taunted "you do like to slumber don't you... I'ma ruin you c**t", she now seethes "Bitch nigga, you could get bent, remov-ed and spent" and "I'ma rip your n***as head off", not to mention the utterly arresting climax, where Azealia screams "What the fuck? Dare you ta, dare you ta! Brrrrp-brrrp-brrp-brrp!" Sure, she yelled a bit on "212", but here she genuinely sounds unhinged, and dare-I-say dangerous.

And maybe she is. She seems to repel high profile artists and producers left, right and center, seemingly on purpose, and maybe that's the point. The underground is where she feels most at home, and if you have any form of ego or sell-out tendency, beware, because Ms Banks will come for you. So you could say it's a blessing that the mainstream won't touch her right now. Many artists have tried to do it over the years, but maybe Azealia Banks really is the one who's going to represent the underground in a chart-music-blinded world. She certainly seems to have no desire to sell-out any time soon, and with a fanbase growing by the second, who says she needs to?

FOR FANS OF: Who the hell cares?