Quick Hits, Vol. 127 (Skepta, Jake Bugg, 21 Savage, Leopold & His Fiction)

Skepta - Konnichiwa.  I have now immersed myself so deeply into the UK grime scene, by listening to three different albums of this style of music, that I am without a doubt the world's foremost authority on UK grime.  I know everything there is to know about this topic.  Do not test me, as you will be embarrassed.  In all seriousness, this guy's tunes are actually freaking tight.  His bio says that he was one of the originators who was influential in getting grime into the mainstream.  Well, whatever that took, I'd have to say that some of these tracks ("Konnichiwa," "Crime Riddim," "That's Not Me") are solidly fun.  Like the last one I reviewed (what was that dude's name?  Stormzy!  That's right) he's got that thick British accent (I want to call it cockney, but that is probably wrong, as I don't really know what that means other than a Dickensian note or the way the kids talked in Bedknobs and Broomsticks) which makes this infinitely more interesting.  Oooh, and when the beat kicks in on "Detox," I want to go creep around Surrey in a low slung Vauxhall and brandish Walther PPKs at other gingers before robbing a bank with Jason Statham.  Here is the top song on Spotify, with 33.2 million streams, "Shutdown."

Tough guy, right there.  I won't say that track has the best beats on the album - those ones I mention earlier are significantly better on the beats.  But you still get the feeling for his sound there.  I like this guy.

Jake Bugg - On My One.  For whatever reason, this album has kicked around in my new music playlist for months, and always ends up being right after whatever I want to listen to.  So I've heard the first three or so songs about 3 billion times.  Usually I get about that far in and decide I want to hear something else instead.  If you remember this guy, he came out with an album as a teenager and everyone fawned over him with awards and adulation.  I like that first album (2012's LJake Bugg) well enough, and this one is also just fine, but I won't say that I'm in love with it.  The top track from the album is a kind of sappy one called "Love, Hope and Misery."  just over 3 million streams, so nothing nearly as popular as his older hits (which top 35 million).

Brings to mind a depressing ass Ryan Adams tune that someone remixed to add in too many strings for the chorus.  This is fine, but I'm going to let it go.

21 Savage - Savage Mode.  I'll give it up to Metro Boomin, his beats are super solid.  Every track on this album is made with a Metro Boomin beat (he's the guy with the song tag that sounds like someone saying something about a metronome - to me it sounds like it says "if you metronome trust me I'm go shoot you," as little as that makes sense).  This guy's rap flow is the most laid back and slow sounding thing I've heard since DJ Screw died.  He very rarely speeds up his flow past a turtle crawl (but see "Bad Guy," actually don't, that song is dumb), but it works.  But then there are some garbage tracks like "Feel It," which involves the guy saying that he can feel it in the air about 3,727 times and also talking about the demeaning ways he plans to bone his lady friend (and let her meet his momma).  The most popular track is the one featuring Future, which is pretty weak.  The "Ocean Drive" beat uses something that is familiar to me.  It's that flute (?) lilt with harpsichord in the background that starts at about 0:13 or 0:14 in the track.

What is that from?  Dammit!  I can't find anything about it on the Internets, but I know I've heard that sample before.  I feel like someone should be talking under it, like a movie clip, not singing or rapping. Daaaaaaammmnn. Whatever, this track is solid - the beat and the chilled rap too.  I like that one.  I'll dump the rest of the disc though.

AAAAAAAHHHHHHHH!!!  I figured it out!  That sample, or at least the sound for that flute lilt interpolation Metro Boomin' made, matches up to the sound in U2's "Never Let Me Go" from the Million Dollar Hotel soundtrack.

Listen right about 3:02 in when the sax/flute plays a little soft tune.  Oh man, it makes every synapse in my brain tingle and vibrate right now that I was able to come up with that little nugget of brain real estate and remember this.  I just literally grabbed my head and then pumped my fist.  I knew I knew that sound.

Leopold & His Fiction - Darling Destroyer.  I've seen these guys play live twice now, and I really enjoy the band.  During the last time I saw them, at the rain-shortened Sound on Sound Festival, I happened to get a good photo of them as the storm was rolling in over the back of the stage.  I put it up on Twitter and the band later re-tweeted my picture and followed me.  Since then, I've had some fun interactions with the band ( I keep assuming it is the lead singer, but it could be the sound guy for all I know), including one that made me laugh because after a little while the twitter account for the ice cream company that makes Drumsticks got involved in our jokes.  This is how Twitter can be fun.
Anyway, these dudes make legit, straight-forward rock and roll.  Kind of like a White Stripes-esque sound of bluesy rock and swagger.  "Waves (Golden)" is probably the closest to the Stripes sound I can hear on here.

This was the mustachioed Leopold from a few years ago, before he discovered the joys of hair bleach.  But the biggest tune on the album, I'm guessing it must be featured on a Spotify playlist somewhere, is "I'm Caving In," with just over 305k streams.

It is a great tune.  Not only am I a fan of their live show and the interactions I've had with the guy since then, this is a legitimately good album of rock and roll business.