@@@ Squirrel Flower: Hurt a Fly (Polyvinyl, 2021) Oh man I screwed the pooch, I thought this band was called Squirrel Power not Squirrel Flower and I much prefer through no fault of the band the name Squirrel Power. It opens as piano rock with a big beat and a faded female voice. The production is pretty mainstream and it’s reminiscent of late George Harrison stuff but with George Harrison. Obviously no George Harrison. What do I like here? I like the beat, I don’t like the vocal delivery and I think it’s a bit in conflict with the rest of the track. It takes the energy of the track down while other components are quite poppy and upbeat. Meh, more confusion than dislike as I listen.
@@@ Brixx: 2nd Warning (NSM/Brixidust, 2021) Jamaican flavored hip hop out of the UK. She sounds like she picks most British male MCs out of her stool in the morning, she has an ominous and tough flow. Lots of bloodclots floating around. Bloodclot is a Jamaican slur you can look up and it’s not a particularly flattering slur. There’s a gauzy synth slowly oscillating in the background and the star here is the bass synth — melodic and wicked in its rhythm it’s the star of the tune as far as I’m concerned. I wish that trippy synth was turned down or replaced so I could hear more of the bass synth.
@@@ Iglooghost: Big Protector (Gloo, 2021) Updated electronic music with strong classical and New Age feels. The sounds are absolutely pimped, rich and lush and arranged in a beautiful space. Little flourishes of percussion, metallic mostly but also marimba-esque sounding ones to go with the violin which is the lead melodic instrument here. I do appreciate the inclusion of a super fat floor shaking bass and I wish there was more of it. I’m guessing this took the arranger hours to put this together, this is some Mandalorian level of special effects, super manicured and combed for your listening pleasure. It ticks almost all the boxes except for the New Age feels. I’m checking a couple of other tracks to see if there are any that don’t traffic as heavily in New Age feels but thus far no go. Excellent sonic work.
The Cross Pollinator 