Outta Nowhere

I had long given up hope of this exact track appearing. I recall mentioning it on the podcast and being doubtful as it was old then and Carpenter Brut had even put out another album without this track on. Fast forward to 2020 and Brut has put out another album and there was still no sign of the now 4 year old track that so far only appeared on the efficiently named CARPENTERBRUTLIVE album.

Well colour me surprised when apropos of nothing, he finally drops it as a one track single. I would have maybe liked a full EP but I'll take it, to my further surprise, even though it's not a completley different mix than the live one, something about it does feel different: I didn't feel like the crowd noise was *that* intrusive on the live recording but now having heard the studio one I can see that's not true. It's been a while since I talked about Carpenter Brut, if this is your first time seeing anything by them, imagine synthwave versions of retro slasher flick soundtracks and you're most of the way there. I'm not huge on synthwave, but Brut is one of my favourites and the aesthetic is a big part of that, the cover art for this one should tell you all you need to know.



I've been very much out of touch with Gorillaz since Humanz. I wasn't thrilled by that album (but then again I wasn't super thrilled with Plastic Beach when it came out and now I adore it). I'd heard a bit of the follow up, The Now Now and made note to check it out at some point. They're doing a neat thing this year with an 'Episodic' release called Song Machine, kinda like Röyksopp's Lost Tapes (both of which I hope get a proper compiled release once they're done!). One that caught my ear was Aries, featuring Peter Hook of New Order fame. Which is fitting because methinks it has more than a smidgen of New Wave influence here, it's intersting to hear Gorillaz get increasingly more electronic between The Fall and now, but I am very much here for it, obvious bias aside. Damon Albarn's vocals shine as always, and twin very well with that new wavy sound, which if you'd told me I'd be sceptical. Here's hoping that the trend continues.