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To start tonight, we went with a few vintage modern soul joints to help along vacation season and maybe give you a few ideas for some tunes to add to your road trip playlist this summer. Dan Lloyd joined us for hour 2 going over his favorites in the rock category for albums thus far in 2022.
"The Drop with Danno" on GFN 광주영어방송 98.7FM in Gwangju & 93.7FM in Yeosu, Korea. An eclectic radio curation of all things musical spanning the spectrum every week. Broadcasting 8-10pm KST nightly.
July 7, 2022
The Drop with Danno
Curtis Harding – Can’t Hide It
DeRobert & The Half-Truths – It’s All The Time
Raphael Saadiq – 100 Yard Dash
Cold Diamond & Mink – Love Our Love Affair (inst.)
Wahoo – Don’t Take It Personal (Georg Levin edit)
Fat Night – Sun Go Down
Young Gun Silver Fox – Baby Girl
Kowloon – The Sun
Holy Hive – Story Of My Life
Lee Fields & The Expressions – It Rains Love
Steely Dan – Deacon Blues
I.
It is 20 hours past midnight as Thursday clouds itself away, but it is time to start thinking about hitting the road a bit this summer if you haven’t already done so. It might still be rainy here, but vacation season is just around the corner as we mark this mini chapter in history as lucky July 7, 2022. This is Danno in case you’re unaware, making sure the destination is loaded in and making sure the tunes are just right tonight for our Sampled funk & soul first hour road trip, and as always your presence is a blessing with us this and any evening you care to tune in. Tonight with it being Thursday as mentioned we’ll take a soul road trip in hour 1, and our AMPED rock thing is in full effect after the first half buzzer sounds, with our rock guru Dan Lloyd going through some cuts off his favorite albums from the first half of 2022, so definitely keep it locked lots of quality going on after we hit the top of the clock again. As to what we’re starting with, we gotta get this motor running, so we’ll start fast and go from there with Curtis Harding then let you know the GPS data after we gas it. THIS is The Drop.
Curtis Harding – Can’t Hide It
Quarter one of The Drop on your Sampled and AMPED Thursday has started the car and we are on the road for our funk & soul first hour. (Korean) What’s up Drop Gangsters, Danno here taking us on a vintage soul road trip for the first hour, because it’s just about that time of year as summer starts to peak.
That was Curtis Harding to get us on the highway for the opener, and that cut is titled Can’t Hide It.
One of the lead singles to the Atlanta soul star’s third career LP called If Words Were Flowers. This record in a lot of ways is both expected and unexpected, past and present, looking both forward and back for the artist. While still informed by the vintage soul of the 60s and 70s, this album was Harding’s most experimental to date, adding some other genres and influences in a very thoughtful album that ruminates on the importance of love in tumultuous times. Great record if you haven’t given it a listen, do check If Words Were Flowers by Curtis Harding.
Just a quick reminder…#9870 (50/100)…stream
So, let’s stay at speed but maybe hit the brake a tad in the next block with another heater from last year by DeRobert & The Half Truths along with some older stuff from Raphael Saadiq along with an instrumental from Cold Diamond & Mink. We’ll discuss all three after the triangle is drawn in space, but for now THIS is The Drop with Danno on your Sampled modern vintage soul road trip.
____
Back on The Drop what is crackalackin tonight, Drop Gangsters (Korean)? Danno here on the mic in GFN HQ studio 2. Currently on a bit of a modern & vintage soul road trip for the first hour to help your own playlist along as it is about that time that we all take a break this summer, and Dan Lloyd will also be arming you with some good rock album ideas for hour 2 tonight, as our AMPED feature is a best of 2022 thus far. To recap what we just did, that was…
DeRobert & The Half Truths – It’s All The Time (…pound for pound, this was one of the strongest albums of the year in 2021, a real quick hitter called 100 Yard Dash. Seriously, give it a spin, all killer no filler. The band are out of Nashville, and this is their 4th career LP but first in six years’ time.)
Raphael Saadiq – 100 Yard Dash (…couldn’t help but think of this banger after playing something off an album of the same name. This tune appeared on Saadiq’s 2008 album The Way I See It, which was the artist’s career 3rd. Although not popular immediately upon release, it was a notable sleeper hit later.)
Cold Diamond & Mink – Love Our Love Affair (inst.) (…this one is the arrangement for a tune that appeared on Carlton Jumel Smith’s 2019 album 1634 Lexington Avenue, which is the address where Smith was born in NYC. Smith just released another EP in April called Devoted To You, so go check that out.)
Quick …#9870, social media.
Taking things to finality tonight for the first fourth, we’ll switch it up with a little bit of a soulful midtempo house long-player from Wahoo called Don’t Take It Personal, and this version we got lined up is the Georg Levin edit of the original. The tune was the opening salvo on the Gilles Peterson In The House double mix cd from 2008, and that came out courtesy of the House Music All Life Long people at Defected Records. THIS is The Drop on your Sampled funk & soul Thursday night.
Wahoo – Don’t Take It Personal (Georg Levin edit)
II.
The Drop commences quarter 2 of our nightly game of audio mirrors as the road trip continues aboard a yacht as the 2nd quarter begins. Danno here definitely ready to take a little road trip myself soon for a little break from the grind, on the mic for now from studio 2 GFN HQ, downtown Gwangju. Dan Lloyd joins us starting in part 3 for our AMPED rock hour and he’s got some of his favorite albums of 2022 to recommend in hour 2, so do pay attention if you need some jams for your vacation. As to what just went into the air, that was...
Fat Night – Sun Go Down (…a little joint off a great album from 2015 called Lazy Days, appropriately enough here in July. This is still proving to be the Chicago indie soul quartet’s most popular single on the streaming services, but do check this band out, they have a very unique style.)
Young Gun Silver Fox – Baby Girl (…this one appeared on the band’s debut album on Colemine Records from 2020, and the band just a couple weeks ago dropped a new single, their first since this LP. The band is the duo of UK legend Shawn Lee and Cali-based Andy Platts on the vox, and once again, that album is called Canyons.)
Moving to the next block, we continue down the road with cuts from Kowloon, Holy Hive and Lee Fields, all of which we’ll discuss after The Sun sets, the story of my life is complete, and the love has rained, but for now THIS is The Drop on your Sampled funk & soul Thursday.
__________
The Drop continues to move to the rhythm on our Sampled funk & soul road trip first hour for tonight. Danno here, doing my thing, and just maybe giving you a few vintage soul ideas for your own playlist as vacation season approaches here in July and the last rain drops come down. As to what we just did with the playlist in that last block, let’s explain ourselves a bit...
Kowloon – The Sun (…one of the best practitioners of the lo-fi retro soul sound right now is Kowloon, who’s also a photographer and film maker when not making music. This tune dropped last year as a standalone single via Roy Records, one of a long series of standalones put out by the LA-based artist.)
Holy Hive – Story Of My Life (…now, usually bands drop their debut albums with the record often being self-titled, but Holy Hive is not your average band, as this one is off their sophomore self-titled LP from Big Crown Records. Great band to check out if you like your soul with a bit of folk and a lot of falsetto in there.)
Lee Fields & The Expressions – It Rains Love (…the title track to the most well-dressed man out there’s Big Crown Records debut, produced by label head Leon Michels better known to you as El Michels Affair. Great album from 2019, do check if you haven’t given it a proper spin.)
Moving along to halftime, we haven’t really given the old-timers any due tonight, so we’ll close with a long player from Steely Dan’s 1977 classic Aja, and Deacon Blues will be the buzzer beater for tonight’s road trip playlist. Dan Lloyd arrives shortly with his best albums of 2022, but for now THIS is The Drop at time of arrival and it’s halftime.
Steely Dan – Deacon Blues
III & IV AMPED
PUP – Totally Fine
Wet Leg – Angelica
Foals – The Sound
PLOSIVS – Rose Waterfall
Gang of Youths – In the Wake of Your Leave
Yard Act – 100% Endurance (Elton John version)
Soul Glo - Thumbsucker
King Gizzard and the Lizard Wizard – Gaia
Horsegirl – Beautiful Song
Black Country, New Road – Good Will Hunting
Cave In – Waiting for Love
Big Thief – Simulation Swarm
PUP – Totally Fine
From The Unravelling of PuptheBand (April 1). An album that pushes the boundaries of PUP’s sound at both ends of the spectrum; ultimately it’s not as cohesive as previous album Morbid Stuff but it’s still light years ahead of most bands in their genre.
Wet Leg – Angelica
From Wet Leg (April 8). One of the most anticipated albums of the year from a band that just about managed to live up to the hype. There’s some filler on here but the majority of the songs on offer are on a par with the breakthrough singles, and there’s an impressive array of influences and musical styles on the record, which thoroughly debunks my initial worry that they’d be a novelty band and would disappear within the year.
Foals – The Sound
From Life is Yours (June 17). Not a career highlight but a definite return to form. It’s impressive in it’s vision and focus, and although I miss the more frantic and dynamic moments that were ever present on Foals’ earlier albums, this is a tight collection of breezy dance rock that’s almost impossible not to enjoy.
PLOSIVS – Rose Waterfall
From PLOSIVS (March 17th). A hugely impressive debut from the new project of Rocket From the Crypt’s Jon Reis and Pinback’s Rob Crow. It’s over in half an hour but it’s such a tightly performed, hook-laden and energetic collection of songs, I find myself pushing the repeat button as soon as the last track ends.
Gang of Youths – In the Wake of Your Leave
From Angel in Realtime (February 24th). The best Gang of Youths album to date. It’s a collection of songs written about the passing of lead singer David Le’Aupepe’s father, but manages to be hopeful and inspiring as well as mournful and melancholic. There are some terrific standouts on the album, none more so than this song, which manages to out-Killers the Killers by a considerable amount.
Yard Act – 100% Endurance (Elton John version)
Sir Elton John is just one of many who have hopped on the Yard Act bandwagon. The Rocket Man himself features on a new version of the UK band’s single from May, “100% Endurance.”
John sang praises for Yard Act while speaking to NME back in October, specifically complimenting frontman James Smith’s distinctive speak-singing: “I can’t do it but I love it and I wonder how they do it.” Yard Act thanked John in return a couple months later by covering “Tiny Dancer,” essentially confirming what would become a real-life friendship.
In a press release, Smith explains how a series of phone calls led him to giving John a spur-of-the-moment invitation to the studio with Yard Act: “Within our camp we have a saying: ‘Mad shit happens when you do art,'” Smith adds. “You make stuff because you want to make it, and you throw stuff you’ve made into the world because you’d rather share it than not.”
Smith goes on to explain how, after laying down his piano and vocal tracks, John gave him a piece of wisdom: “He said something very poignant to me — ‘I love playing on other people’s songs, especially these guys, because I started off as a session musician. The fascinating thing is you hear things so differently from other people, and when you hear what they hear, then it all makes sense.’ That insight, that curiosity and that approach to music is the reason he’s still standing after all this time.”
Soul Glo – Thumbsucker
From Diaspora Problems (March 30). A stunning, groundbreaking hardcore punk record with hip hop, jazz and many other elements thrown in too. Like last year’s Glow On, it pushes the boundaries of the genre, though it’s far more visceral and therefore unlikely to gain as much crossover success. Nevertheless, it’s an absolute must listen for any rock fan. It has the same energy and creativity that the early Bad Brains records had.
King Gizzard and the Lizard Wizard – Gaia
From Omnium Gatherum (April 22nd). It’s a great record that almost acts like a retrospective of the band’s career up to now, even though it’s composed of completely new material. There are elements of folk, garage, thrash, prog and electronica all mixed in there, which makes it an excellent place to start for newcomers to the KGATLW universe.
Horsegirl – Beautiful Song
From Versions of Modern Performance (June 2). This is one of the best, if not the best debut albums of the year, and it’s a record that could have come out 30 years ago and still sounded of the time. Despite the young age of the band members, the music comes straight from the golden age of alternative rock, and you can hear bands like Dinosaur Jr, My Bloody Valentine, Pavement and Sonic Youth (the record features 2 Sonic Youth members). As the Guardian puts it, “A debut album drawing on shoegaze, jangle, grunge and alt-rock is saved from nostalgia by the sheer quality of the music”.
Black Country, New Road – Good Will Hunting
From Ants From Up Here (February 4th). The debut BCNR album, released last year, received widespread acclaim, but I wasn’t really convinced. Like their friends and contemporaries black midi though, the second time’s the charm and this album is spectacular. The only cloud hanging over the record was the sudden split with frontman Isaac Wood around the time of the album’s release. It’s comforting to know the band is still going, but without their frontman, will future releases have the same impact?
Cave In – Waiting for Love
From Heavy Pendulum (May 20). This was a real welcome surprise, as it was expected that 2019’s Final Transmission would be the last anyone heard from Cave In. With the help of a couple members of Converge, the band returned in 2022 sounding as good as ever. This album is a really solid collection of tunes that explore all the styles in Cave In’s discography up until now, from the band’s metalcore roots to their brief flirtation with the mainstream to a compelling blend of post hardcore and prog.
Big Thief – Simulation Swarm
From Dragon New Warm Mountain I Believe in You (February 11). This is a huge album that I’m still getting to grips with; and one of the few double albums that as received such enormous critical acclaim. Helen Brown of The Independent gave the album a perfect five-star rating, writing, "In a market saturated with arty folk rockers, Big Thief stand out not by doing things weirder, but by doing them better."
Megadeth - We’ll Be Back
Megadeth have formerly announced their highly anticipated new album The Sick, the Dying… and the Dead!, arriving September 2nd. The thrash legends also shared the video for lead single “We’ll Be Back.”
Dave Mustaine and company bust out of the gates with an absolute ripper. Lightning fast riffs are bolstered by machine-gun drumming — appropriate given the song’s war-themed lyrical content. The hyper-realistic music video depicts those words quite literally, featuring close-quarter military gun battles (viewer discretion advised).
The release date announcement and new song come after months of hype and speculation. We’ve known the album title for some time now and heard snippets of audio, but fans can finally relish a full track. Bass on the single and album was played by Steve DiGiorgio following the ousting of David Ellefson (whose parts were subsequently removed); however, Megadeth-alum James LoMenzo has since stepped in as the band’s full-time bassist.
“For the first time in a long time, everything that we needed on this record is right in its place,” Mustaine said via a press release. “I can’t wait for the public to get hold of this!”
The album’s core tracklist features 12 songs, plus two additional bonus tracks on the digital version. As revealed in the press release, the lead title track is a “personal” one — possibly inspired by Mustaine’s battle with throat cancer. Other notable takeaways include an Ice-T feature on the song “Night Stalkers” and a guest appearance from Sammy Hagar on the final bonus track “This Planet’s on Fire (Burn In Hell).”
Ozzy Osbourne – Patient Number 9
Ozzy Osbourne has announced his new album, titled Patient Number 9. In advance of its September 9th release date, the Prince of Darkness has unveiled the title track, featuring guitar work by fellow rock legend Jeff Beck.
Along with Beck, the epic seven-minute song boasts an all-star cast of musicians that includes Red Hot Chili Peppers’ Chad Smith on drums, Metallica’s Robert Trujillo on bass, Zakk Wylde on guitars and keyboards, and producer Andrew Watt on backing vocals, guitars, and keyboards.
Regarding the single, Ozzy stated, “The song is about a mental institution. Having someone like Jeff Beck play on my album is just incredible, a total honor. There’s no other guitar player that plays like him and his solo on ‘Patient Number 9’ is just jaw-dropping.”
In addition to the above musicians, the album Patient Number 9 includes guest lead guitarists Eric Clapton, Black Sabbath’s Tony Iommi, and Pearl Jam’s Mike McCready, as well as session work from Guns N’ Roses’ Duff McKagan, Jane’s Addiction’s Chris Chaney, and late Foo Fighters drummer Taylor Hawkins.
Willow - it’s my fault
WILLOW dropped her confessional new single “ it’s my fault” on Friday, June 24th via MSFTSMusic/Roc Nation along with a performance video of the track.
In the visual, the Hollywood progeny finds herself staring out the window into the pouring rain before picking up her electric guitar and singing, “Met her at a party, I said, ‘She seems nice’/ Every time I thought about it I got butterflies/ And when it turned out we agree that she’s all right/ Never thought I’d be trippin’/ Off all the lost time/ That I said it was fine.”
“It’s all too often in tender emotional states we try to blame our hurts on other people,” the singer said in a statement. “Even though none of us are perfect, in some capacity it’s us who allow ourselves to get into situations that don’t serve our highest purpose. ‘it’s my fault’ explores what it’s like to hold ourselves equally accountable for the emotional pain we feel while also allowing ourselves to be human and fully process ALL of our feelings without shame.”
The single serves as the lead preview of WILLOW’s forthcoming follow-up to 2021’s lately I feel EVERYTHING, which is due out sometime later this summer.
Brutus - Dust
Belgium trio Brutus have returned with “Dust,” their first new song in two years.
The track hails from the band’s recording sessions for its forthcoming third studio album. Frenetic guitar playing entangles dissonance and melody as singer Stefanie Mannaerts delivers impassioned vocals. The abundance of lyrical content forces her to race through each verse, with the exasperation adding to the song’s manic effect.
“‘Dust’ was born out of the frustration of having friends with demands and expectations that were way too high,” the band remarked in a press release. “It’s a song about being at breaking point; pissed off about everything and everyone. ‘Dust’ is honest, direct and unfiltered. It’s a very special and personal song for us, which is why we wanted this to be the first new song for people to hear.”
Brutus composed the track at their rehearsal space in Ghent, where they’ve spent the last 18 months working on their new album off and on. The press release states that the “timeline was fractured” due to lockdown and “the band’s focus on simply enjoying the otherwise ordinary moments of their friendship.”
Osees - Perm Act
Last month, the ever-prolific John Dwyer announced a brand-new Osees album, A Foul Form, due out on August 12 via Castle Face Records. Along with the news came a lead single, “Funeral Solution.” Now, there’s a follow-up track, “Perm Act,” and it comes with a video directed and animated by John Harlow.
AD
Clattering and urgent, “Perm Act” is decidedly anti-cop. As Dwyer tells it:
Who likes a cop?
Other cops.
After years of having unpleasant to violent encounters with police, I had the thought that wouldn’t it be fun if they loved each other so much they ate each other…a sort of dark comedy contemporary and executive branch based “a modest proposal.”
Problem solved?
The violence would hit such a high pitch that they just frenzied like sharks with chum.
I saw with my own eyes two of the biggest knuckleheads i grew up with go on to have careers in law enforcement emulating the beatings they regularly took when they would mouth off to a cop.
These guys were most definitely not fit for gun ownership, let alone policing others.
Good luck out there.
Sam Fender – Seventeen Going Under (Glastonbury 2022)
Paul McCartney - I've Got a Feeling (feat. John Lennon) (Glastonbury 2022)
Paul McCartney and his late band mate John Lennon were reunited at Glastonbury Festival, singing the Beatles hit I've Got A Feeling, thanks to the magic of technology.
Sir Paul, who become the oldest solo act to headline at Glastonbury Festival, took to the Pyramid stage 18 years after his last appearance at the Worthy Farm five-day extravaganza.
The former Beatle celebrated his 80th birthday exactly a week ago.
Wearing a Mandarin collar navy jacket - a nod to the band's Sgt. Pepper's Lonely Hearts Club Band era - he stripped down to a waistcoat part way into the set.
Seemingly unshaven and with his hair looking neat, but long in the back, the Liverpool-born singer cut a relaxed figure and was at ease with the crowd throughout the lively performance.
In a set full of surprises, Sir Paul saved the best until last, telling the heaving crowd he would "play live with John on tour", thanking The Lord Of The Rings director Peter Jackson who he said had made it technically possible.
Calling it "so special", he went on: "I know it's virtual, but there I am singing with John again. We're back together."
Fontaines DC – I Love You (Glastonbury 2022)
Turnstile – Blackout (Glastonbury 2022)
The rumours were in place well before Glastonbury had even opened its gates. Alongside expected ‘surprise’ sets from Hertfordshire singer-songwriter George Ezra and White Stripes icon Jack White (they both happened), one bit of gossip being spread across the festival refused to die: Green Day were going to rock up to the tiny BBC Introducing Stage on Sunday evening.
Ultimately, it didn’t happen - the slot ends up belonging to a Yungblud DJ set - but those looking for a fix of punk rock in 2022 would have been far better served walking up the road to the John Peel tent, where hardcore’s most vital modern band Turnstile are busy tearing Glasto a new one.
Over a dizzying, propulsive, hour-long set that comes immediately after Amyl And The Sniffers kicked off the afternoon’s punk rock proceedings, the Baltimore five-piece turn a busy, thousands-strong tent into a swarming, moshing, jumping, crowdsurfing sea of bodies. Singer Brendan Yates remains as magnetic a presence as you’ll find in rock music today, strutting around the stage and jolting, bopping and jumping less like a man fronting a band and more like a human instrument plugged directly into the PA. He’s already in the crowd by the time fourth song Blackout is dropped, somehow emerging with a random acoustic guitar in his hand that he merrily strums before throwing it back to wherever the hell it came from.
Jack White – Seven Nation Army (Glastonbury 2022)
Noel Gallagher’s High Flying Birds – Half the World Away (Glastonbury 2022)
Four songs into an underpowered Pyramid set, Noel Gallagher comes clean. “I’m going to play a few more tunes that you don’t give a shit about. They’re for me. But if you stick around, after that there’s going to be a lot of very happy people in bucket hats.”
The relief is audible. Earlier, some particularly hopeful festivalgoers had been overheard speculating about whether this set was in fact a smokescreen for Glastonbury’s white whale, a Pyramid stage Oasis reunion. That was never a going concern, of course – indeed, if anything, the positioning of this set felt like Noel sticking two fingers up to his brother, after Liam’s own massive shows earlier this summer. “You’re going to headline Knebworth, are you? Well how about I play the Pyramid stage directly before our mutual musical hero Paul McCartney instead? Beat that.”
So hopes of an Oasis reunion dashed, the fear was that Noel, always the more obstinate Gallagher, would add insult to injury by glowering through a set of half-known High Flying Birds tracks, and everyone else would have to entertain themselves before the real crowd-pleaser arrived later that evening. Those early signs weren’t promising; the lone highlight among a succession of dour mid-tempo tracks was Noel’s beloved backing singer Charlotte Marionneau playing the scissors.
But Noel also has a pretty decent understanding of how the Pyramid works. “The main stage isn’t your crowd, it’s a Glastonbury crowd,” he said in an interview ahead of this set. And a Glastonbury crowd at 7.30pm on a Saturday wants a massive pre-Macca singalong. So Noel obliges in the second half of his set with what is essentially an Oasis starter kit. Supported by his High Flying Birds regulars Gem Archer, Mike Rowe and Chris Sharrock, as well as some soulful backing singers and a smattering of horns, he launches into his top-tier material.