Richardine Bartee
Animal Hands – Tip of the Quill (Submission)
Wake up, wake up. The first week of the month is over. It is a Monday. Whatever you did over the weekend doesn’t matter. You have to climb the new era mountain. Do you need a motivational song to get you on your way? There’s a band called Animal Hands, who is known for making high-energy tunes. It isn’t like high fructose syrup, though. It is more like slow-cooked molasses. As someone who dreamt of being a drummer as a young girl, seeing women in bands excite me. Animal Hands, an Australian Hard Rock band, has a female vocalist-guitarist whose voice can get anyone in line.
During my college days, I would listen to bands like 7 Year Bitch, Babes In Toyland, and Dickless when doing homework. I went to art school, so my homework consisted of drawing and designing. What a sweet life! Honestly, the music that Animal Hands makes reminds me of the boisterous strength I’d get from that riveting feminine energy.
‘Tip of the Quill’ is an official video clip from the band’s debut album called, Tonic Clonic. Clever wording from songwriting isn’t high on the list, here, like Trap music, it is about the feeling you get when you hear all elements together. It is about the robust vibe and pronunciation.
ho99o9 and 3TEETH – Time’s Up (Submission)
Two of my favourite bands (New Jersey-natives ho99o9 and Los Angeles-based 3TEETH) came together to make an epic song! In line with the launch of the ‘Me Too’ movement, comes ‘Time’s Up’, an explosive record about payback/karmic returns. There are many elements compiled to get you the **** up like the hook on Pharoahe Monch’s standout ‘Simon Says’ suggests, but the takeaway for me is the well-mixed guttural singing evenly placed on the record.
SLANDER & WAVEDASH – Move Back (Submission)
The start of SLANDER and WAVEDASH’s joint record feels like the opening of a blockbuster action movie or an intense video game. The voice at the beginning asks an unknown person to show him what they’ve got. In my mind, he has challenged the producers. ‘Move Back’ is their way of showing what they’ve got. Everything that I enjoy about modern Electronic Dance Music (like the bass that comes in around 1:15), dating back to the early and mid-2000s is in ‘Move Back’. Does it feel like I am receding into a time before now when I listen to it? No, but I do want to get out of the space I am in, and get something accomplished. Like Ludacris’ ‘Get Back’ from 2004, the Insomniac Records release has playback value.
Tom Tyger & FaderX – Rave Me (Submission)
‘Rave Me’ puts me in Ibiza. I’m sipping on cold water because hydration is key. People with standard bodies are walking about. Everyone is half naked. The sun is shining. The air is warm. The hook comes in. Suddenly, I have the power to stand and return to the dancefloor. Listen to ‘Rave Me’, the outstanding new record by French producers Tom Tyger and FaderX—out now on Protocol.
TIMI TEMPLE – Monster In the Mirror (Submission)
Discovering that you are the cause of your problems isn’t always the easiest realization. Thankfully, TIMI TEMPLE made a song about being the monster in the mirror. As the opening lyrics of the song suggests, the singer-songwriter wasn’t always the monster. He was gentle once. Like most things in life, we evolve or wither away. I believe the record is about a transition, dealing with the differences and fighting the adjustment. Temple shared that as he gets older, he has less patience. Subsequently, he becomes more angry. He recalls it coming from ‘growing creative rejections’. The longer I look at his statement, and listen to the words of the song, I guess you do have to become a monster to survive—especially in such a competitive circuit.
BLVTH x TAIIME – Tokyo Run (Submission)
A while ago, one of our favourite musical trios shared a mellow track about losing control titled, ‘Tokyo Run’. Its sped up dubstep chorus gets the adrenaline pumping. At some points, it slows down—making you feel like you’re in a daze. If you’re a dancer, you’d be able to do the ‘shoot’ dance, famously known by Blocboy JB, from about 2:11 until 2:23. Stream the atmospheric record below.
