Welcome to the first instalment of Honey on the Knife Radio. Every second Wednesday, we take a look at eleven songs, some of them new, some of them not as new, but all of them are good.
Listen to Episode 1 here:
If you’d prefer to read about the songs instead, keep reading below.
Bdrmm – “Is That What You Wanted to Hear?”
We open this week’s episode with the slow and lingering reverberations of “Is That What You Wanted To Hear?” by bdrmm. Jangly guitars ripple out through the verses, building tension before the crashing instrumental choruses. The UK band’s debut album, Bedroom, was released on July 3 and is yet another solid project in what has been a banner year for shoegaze and dream pop releases.
Backxwash (feat. Devi McCallion) – “Spells”
Backxwash is a Montreal-based rapper and producer who released her latest album God Has Nothing To Do With This Leave Him Out Of It on May 28th. Across its 22 minute runtime, she merges elements of horrorcore, trap metal, industrial, and goth together as her aggressive rapping style slices through sinister beats. One track that particularly stands out is the spine-tingling “Spells”, which features a haunting hook provided by Devi McCallion.
Shabazz Palaces (feat. Stas THEE Boss) – MEGA CHURCH
Experimental hip hop group Shabazz Palaces follows up their 2020 album, The Don of DIamond Dreams, with this latest single containing a super sticky vocoder chorus. The track features a verse from Stas THEE Boss, one half of the former neo-soul duo THEESatisfaction, who provides a super smooth flow over the track’s cosmic instrumentation.
Stereatypical – “This Week in Space”
Stereatypical is the solo project of Marty Wolf Leg, a musician from the Siksika nation. “This Week in Space” is the title track from an upcoming EP that arrives this Friday and is the follow-up to the Dark Wood EP that was released in 2017. In addition to Stereatypical, Marty also plays bass and sings in the stoner-rock band Iron Tusk and is the former bassist and vocalist of the punk group No More Moments. This Week In Space is a departure from the heavier sounds heard on those past releases, taking the form of an acoustic guitar-driven ballad with a passionate vocal performance.
The Radio Dept – “Could You Be The One”
Swedish dream pop legends The Radio Dept. have released the You’re Lookin’ at My Guy single, with the A-side being a cover of the original song by The Tri-Lites and the B-side being an original titled “Could You Be the One”. The band’s sound continues to evolve, straying away the dance-influenced Running Out of Love and the noisier stylings of releases such as 2003’s Lesser Matters, 2010’s Clinging to a Scheme, and the Pulling Our Weight EP, which is an essential piece of Honey on the Knife-core. Things have changed, but these new songs still have many of the signature characteristics of make the band so loveable. Johan Duncansson’s warm gentle vocals and the lo-fi recording add so much intimacy to their endearing sound that never fails to pull on the heartstrings. The little horn flourishes in the chorus are a nice touch too.
Blisters – “Are You Awake”
One of my favourite records from this year is Bleached Wavves by Zoon, also known as Zoongide-ewin. On the album, Daniel Monkman merges shoegaze and the traditional music of his Ojibway heritage, to create a massive and majestic sound he calls moccasingaze, all the while providing a compellingly truthful look into the experiences of himself and his people.
Something that I didn’t bring up in my original write-up on Bleached Wavves, is that Daniel Monkman has been making this style of music since 2007. His current project was called Bloom before he changed it to Zoongide-ewin a year ago. Before that he put out a few releases as Blisters, including the Insects EP in 2011 and the Are You Awake album in 2014. Monkman collaborated with a few other artists when making Are You Awake, those being Lyzie Burt, Skitty Popes, Kyle Loewan, and Danny Hacking. Lyzie sings on a number of songs and I especially love her performance on the incredibly dreamy title track. Daniel Monkman has been cooking up beautiful and blissed out odysseys of sound for quite some time, so if you enjoyed Bleached Wavves then you really ought to check out the rest of his catalogue.
Theodor Black – Had Enough (Dwyer Remix)
Theodor Black and Dwyer are London-based musicians who collaborated on “Had Enough”, released back in April, with Theodor on the vocals and Dwyer handling production. On Bandcamp, Black explains that “’Had Enough’ is the soundtrack to help you move on and be less afraid of not knowing what lays behind the doors of the future.”
After producing the original song, Dwyer then created a remix, which the two artists released on June 18th. When discussing the remix with Dummy Mag, Dwyer explained “I wanted to change the original song’s mostly positive and uplifting mood, and flip it into a more introspective and meditative track by using spaced-out, fuzzy keys that emphasise the sense of nostalgia in the lyrics.”
Karolinski – “i’m a supergirl 02”
Karolinski is a Norwegian producer with a full length release, titled for akasha arriving July 31, 2020. In addition to making music, she also runs the Fjordfjellodaller record label and is a skydiving instructor. She draws parallels between skydiving and the music she makes, explaining in an interview that “It’s about the long dub chords, the reverbs, the delay and the space that you can create…When I fly, I just hear a drone.” “i’m a supergirl 02” is a masterful display of that space creation, especially when the vocal sample kicks in like a voice calling out from the other side of the cold and snowy tundra.
TrippJones “AGUA”
Much has already been said about the Roland TR-808 drum machine in terms of its influence and relevancy in hip hop and electronic from its invention in the 80’s all the way to the current day. My favourite thing about the 808, and probably my favourite sound in the entire world, is its cowbell. Does it sound like a real cowbell? Not at all, but it’s just so…listen to this. Such a nice sound.
I love when producers employ extensive useful of the 808 cowbell in a song, whether uses it rhythmically or chopping it up to make melody. As an example, check out the hard yet atmospheric beat Nedarb produced on “AGUA”, the third track from Tripp Jones Invisible Tears EP, which was released a month ago.
By the way, Tripp Jones has the BIG FLOYD & DJ SCREW R.I.P. MIXTAPE up on his Bandcamp. It’s four songs produced by DJ SCREW that George Floyd rapped on, and all proceeds are going to the official Gianna Floyd Fund.
DORIAN – “Crossing State Lines”
There isn’t much information about Dorian available on the internet. Their Music To Save Your Life EP is a fantastic release, with explosive emotion-packed vocals and dynamic songs that leap into furies of guitars and drums. The raw energy and vulnerability harken back to late 90’s and early 2000’s emocore-tinged indie rock, which was surprising considering the June 15, 2020 release date. Needing to know more about the group, I sent an email to featherspines, the label that put out the EP. Dan Brigman runs the label and shared the following message about Dorian in response:
“So, they were a very short lived band from Albuquerque, NM. Released one EP “Music To Save Your Life” and then the track on the Deep Elm “Emo Diaries” comp. From memory, they did small regional tours and played a limited amount of local shows, active during a period in Albuquerque where Last Day Parade and Persona*Projector were present on most bills. Dorian’s members went on to play in bands like The Coma Recovery, The Rip Torn. Their vocalist was previously in a band called Evelyn that I have an EP posted for… his vocals are most recognizable on the last track of that EP.”
The compilation Dan mentioned is the seventh edition of Deep Elm Records “Emo Diaries” series, and was released in 2002. The Dorian track on the comp is “There Are Many Ways To and From Point A and Point B”, which is the title track on a previously unreleased album that was recorded in 2001 and is now available on the featherspines Bandcamp page.
Dorian may not have hit it big like other bands coming out of that scene at the time, but one of the beauties of the internet and archival labels like featherspines is that they prevent the music of days past from vanishing in the sands of time and keep it around for future generations to fans to discover.
Nailah Hunter – “Black Valhalla”
Nailah Hunter is a Los Angeles-based harpist and composer who earlier this year, released a stunning EP called Spells. As suggested by the name, instead of songs, she set out to create incantations of soothing ambient sounds that invoke visions of nighttime gardens in a fantasy world.
On Juneteenth, Hunter released “Black Valhalla” and with it she wrote the following message “Black people: imagine a place where you are safe and exalted” A portion of the proceeds from sales of the song go to the Loveland Foundation, which provides therapy support for Black women and girls.
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If you are a musician and you would like to submit your music to be featured in a future edition of Honey On The Knife Radio, send an email to contact@honeyontheknife.com