Welcome to the 15th installment of Deep Cuts, a new monthly segment highlighting standout tracks that weren't given a spotlight to blossom. All songs listed below have been released in the month of July on albums where they weren't previously released as a single. The only condition I've imposed upon myself is that no artist can have more than one song.
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Say what you will about Drake, Scorpion, and the mudslide of controversy surrounding each, but enshrouded within the excess of material were a handful of gems. One, 'Nice For What,' known to all. However, others like 'Emotionless,' 'Summer Games,' and 'Sandra's Rose' deserve praise as well. Granted, in each case production's what stole the show. For 'Sandra's Rose' it was Boom Bap legend DJ Premier flexing his muscles decades into his career, assembling his drums and bass line to a near-indecipherable Soul sample. Believe it or not, that peachy vocal sample lingering between Premier's foolproof percussion was not discovered while crate digging, but rather given to him directly by Drake. Partial credit then goes to Drizzy for bequeathing a sample to compliment Premier's classic trademarks, one that relies on the soothing street mannerisms of Pete Rock, Kanye West, and 9th Wonder. While Drake's lyrics fail to impress or confront a specific topic of choice, the nature by which 'Sandra's Rose' flows offers Drake a manageable airiness to recite his bars with purpose, passion, and conviction.
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Kamasi Washington - Ooh Child
The Choice | Spiritual Jazz
Only Kamasi Washington, purveyor of the notoriously long album, could conceal an extra vinyl within the manifold of his latest project; Heaven & Earth. Rather than lend listeners a hidden track - as countless artists did during the CD's heyday - Washington offered them The Choice, a five-track EP that approached 40 minutes. The debate of quality over quantity aside, Washington's ancillary material featured 'Ooh Child,' an elongated cover of The Five Stairsteps' 1970 Soul effort of the same name. As per usual with Washington's vocal-abiding tracks, Patrice Quinn offers her stalwart Soul. Not to the level of 'Testify' or 'The Rhythm Changes' (off The Epic), her performance still elevates the familial ardor rife in 'Ooh Child,' simultaneously forcing the hands of several multi-instrumentalists to follow her direction and necessity for structure. At its heart, 'Ooh Child's' positivity-poking lyrics clamor for a righteous snickering, reeking of the peace-wielding 70's era, but thanks to Washington's command of momentum, meaning, and spirituality, the once-derelict elementary passages find a welcoming embrace in Heaven & Earth.
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First impressions of The Now Now were perhaps the most flawed in Gorillaz's entire discography. As the majority of the singles represented the worst Humanz's follow-up had to offer, expectations veered unexpectedly when inviting efforts like 'Tranz,' 'Idaho,' and 'Souk Eye' appeared. The latter of which, an insouciant tropical binger, embraced the warmth and sublimeness of Plastic Beach's floating island. As Albarn reflects on a troubled Los Angeles, his love fleeting yet corporeally present, the bubbly synth grooves and nautical acoustics sway with the mild winds. Against the backdrop of Plastic Beach, removed from The Now Now's inconsistent modesty, 'Souk Eye' comfortably rests in the top five, alongside other standouts like 'Empire Ants' and 'On Melancholy Hill.' It bears that same rectitude, pleasing listeners while longing, lyrically, for something more. That comes in the form of a final, synth-abiding build-up, turning a calm weekend afternoon into a nighttime samba under moonlight.
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Denzel Curry - Black Metal Terrorist
TA13OO | Hardcore Hip-Hop
On TA13OO, Denzel Curry's long-awaited triple act, the Florida emcee further cemented himself as one of Rap's great antagonizers. Confronting everyone, whether it was on the topic of police brutality, systematic oppression, or daily inner-city drama, Curry riled up petulant listeners begging for riot-abiding energy akin to his deranged 13. While there were plenty of bangers to go around on TA13OO, none acted as that rallying cry better than 'Black Metal Terrorist.' On it, Curry embraces his alternate persona Zel, amplifying the delirium to levels well beyond comprehension, matching the madman, off-the-walls rhyme styles with gargantuan bass frantic hi-hats. As the hook indicates, 'Black Metal Terrorist' was created in the vein of an unhinged fatality you'd witness in Mortal Kombat, an accurate comparison to Curry's verbal destruction. Better yet, that Industrial lean we so briefly saw on 13 comes ricocheting in by song's end, losing Curry's metal screeches in a cacophony of sound. A brilliant end to an unperturbed album.
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Let's Eat Grandma - Donnie Darko
I'm All Ears | Progressive Pop
Rosa Walton and Jenny Hollingworth turned heads this year, first off their band name - a playful joke on the importance of comma placement - then off a collection of shrewd Electropop singles bridging the expansive gap between SOPHIE's futuristic shrill and Chvrches' bitingly simple Pop conservatism. While their sophomore release I'm All Ears spent the majority of time defacing Art Pop drudgery with a dash of vibrancy, it wasn't until the 11-minute finale 'Donnie Darko' where Let's Eat Grandma's potential for future-proof songwriting came into play. Unlike 'Cool & Collected,' another lengthy I'm All Ears effort which clung to inattentiveness with brazen strikes to awaken a drowsy listener, 'Donnie Darko' relishes in fluid pace appeal. Sullen guitars and an unbroken keyboard toot aim for an elongated lull, akin to Arcade Fire's Reflektor finale 'Supersymmetry,' only for drums, handclaps, and synth cascades from an 80's inspired club scene to spark life into 'Donnie Darko.' From there, Walton and Hollingworth incorporate incomplex Synthpop bounce sections to compliment the ambition of 'Donnie Darko's' journey, something rarely seen in the elementary genre.
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