Here are my five six tracks to get you through February. What do you think?
- Amon Tobin – Natureland
Natureland by Amon Tobin will immediately send you into a dream-like state. Your troubles will float off into the distance and any weight bearing down on your shoulders will disappear. By no means is this a sleepy track though. Layers of instrumental intricacy over the top of a smooth jazz beat will result in the feeling you get after every nice dream; you won’t want it to end.
- Saje – Lost Tonight
Falling somewhere between Natureland above, and Am I Wrong below, Lost Tonight lulls you in with a slow, soft beat that gradually rises and falls, but will instinctively make you move your body, only so subtle as you sit at the back of that café on a rainy day, sipping your hot chocolate and watching the world go by. Saje recently released a five-track EP called ‘Freefallin’, and while this track isn’t on it, it does mean you can extend that café visit for a little while longer.
- Anderson .Paak – Am I Wrong
The beauty about music is that you never who you’ll find around the next corner. I’d never heard of Brandon Paak Anderson aka Anderson .Paak until I stumbled across his new album release mid-January. His latest offering ‘Malibu’ is an absolute breath of fresh air, effortlessly blending hip-hop, R&B, funk & soul. So, how would I describe the track ‘Am I wrong’? Kendrick Lamar meets Jamiroquai. One of the grooviest tracks I’ve heard in a long time, and the trumpet at the end is the icing on the cake. On a side note, I know it’s an early call but ‘Malibu’ is easily going to be one of the best albums of 2016.
- David Bowie – Let’s Dance
I’ve chosen this for no reason other than obvious sentimentality with David’s passing a few weeks back. I haven’t listened to his new album, and in all honesty I probably won’t. My awesome memories of Bowie came from growing up as a kid listening to my dad’s records. Let’s Dance is my all-time Bowie favourite, and be honest, hands up if you don’t like this track. Nope, no hands? Thought so!
- Ed Sheeran – Tenerife Sea
Surprised to see a pop/love song here? Yep, so am I. But a few weeks ago, my wonderful fiancée Sel played this for me and in all likelihood, it’s going to end up on our wedding playlist in 12-18 months time! How could I not add it here?
BONUS TRACK!
- Jose De Mara & Crusy – Kronos
This probably isn’t the easiest track to digest if you don’t like trance/electronic music however I’ve added it for a different reason than the five above. As of last week, I started contributing to an online EDM website (edmassassin.com) and this was the first track I reviewed. It’s the first time I’ve published an article (albeit a short one) on a website that wasn’t my own, which I’m pretty chuffed about!
Thanks for listening! And as always, let me know what you think, or if you have any recommendations you think I might like.
See previous months:
a coffee break with mike 
Really nice tune from Amon there, Smoky Jazz bar vibes I am getting that. Not heard that track before either. Lost Tonight is pretty good too, not totally taken but it has an 80s feel to me, I love that café visualization. Not too keen on Anderson Paak, reminded me a little of Jamiroqui although I liked a fair bit of his stuff. I think that is my Favourite Bowie tune too. Been years since I heard it. Everytime I hear Ed Sheeran I like his stuff, sadly, the visuals I get are of hot summer evenings, the person you want to be with and good fun. the link you put up only plays less than a minute for me before cutting off. I liked the bonus track too, good for the train journey into work, i generally prefer not so heavy mainly although have some stuff like this myself.
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