Picks Of The Week (22.04.23

0. Burr Oak - Somewhere We Belong [Eatbrain]

Recommended if you like: Merikan, Mefjus, Magnetude

In case you missed the big boi review on friday!

TL;DR: My Album of the year.

Other Neurofunk from this week:

Saint Riders - Wave EP
TRCD - Machine Code EP (formerly known as Traced)
Alakazam - Umbra | Terabyte 💎
Cyntax - Your Time Is Now / Darkness Surrounding
Double Medley - Canis Major EP 💎

1. MYKOOL - Aura [YANA Music]

Recommended if you like: Metrik, Delta Heavy, The Prototypes

I always try to spread myself out a bit when it comes to choosing what and who I'm writing about. Not just because always talking about the same kinda tunes and the same 4-5 people probably gets a bit boring, but also because I like to think of these reviews as entries into an ever-growing (pun-filled) encyclopedia about all the artists and labels DnB has to offer. Obviously, I want to fill it up as much as possible, I wanna catch 'em all. However, after spending the better part of the last few weeks delving deep into the aforementioned majestic frenchmen, I thought, hey, why not talk about someone you already covered on here? So, let's talk about MYKOOL and what he has MYKOOKED up for his debut album Aura on mister Broken's, first name Toronto Is, label YANA Music! He might not have recognized me when I said Hi in the queue at Let It Roll Printworks, but I don't hold a grudge. I'm (MY)cool like that! Anyway.

With the extended intro Premonition, Michael Cebreiro, as he is known in some circles, showcases what wonderfully soulful vocal performances he is capable of nowadays, while providing a beautifully smooth upward ramp into the first "real" tune of the album, Higher. While the instrumental pushes us skyward, or higher, as you will, Michael first drops a couple octaves, showing off the full range of his vocals, before moving further and further up until we are flung into a cleanly-crafted, heavy-hitting, competitively-catchy and seriously-synthy Dancefloor number. We move over to something special: A collaboration with fellow YANA Dancefloor craftsmen Lateral and legendary Foreign Beggars member and Blue Man Group substitute PAV4N! While its title is Fiction, this furiously fire tune certainly isn't. With the 4NC¥ label owner delivering one of his signature rapid-fire verses and the MATEROOL trio having crafted a dangerously bouncy, bumblebee-featuring instrumental, this one is not to be missed.

After this unruly excursion into the heavier sonics, MYKOOL strikes a softer, dare I say lighter tone with the upliftingly funky Breaking Through The Light, once again featuring his own, delightfully soulful vocals. Expanding on this good-mood-inducing portion of the album, Michael then takes us on a calming journey down a ski hill, with the extra-thick blanket of synths that is I Don't Need You. I advise you to not get too comfy and keep your eyes open for danger though, as the heaviness is swiftly approaching, in the form of the incredibly weighty, police vocal sample laden and all-around mean Dancefloor smasher Step Back. Luckily, we manage to escape from the popo though, by travelling to a place Far From Home with regular collaborator Lost Child. With soul-soothing Asian string instruments (sorry, no time for accuracy today!), beautiful fountain splattering in the background, a heart-warming bassline and another heavenly vocal performance by our main man over here, it is basically the perfect counterpart to the french neurofunk name cousin I have featured in the other review.

After showing us the melancholically homesick side of travelling far away, Michael lifts us out of the deep well of sadness with the musical equivalent of serotonin, the incredibly fun Your Love. Seriously, I can't help but smile when hearing this perfect combination of uplifting synths, pianos and, the most important part of it all, trumpets. We're halfway through this rather large 16-track showcase, so let's take a step back, catch our breath, with the interlude Intuition. However, halfway through this a bit more than a minute long intermission, the tension actually begins to rise, with a rather majestic war drum and brass instrumentalisation, preparing us for the interstellar journey to come. Before our space ship radar bleeps can take a proper hold of the rhythm, we are already slammed in our faces with a humongous, menacing bass, as our interplanetary destination comes into view. With furiously strumming electronic guitars and all sorts of environmental sound effects, we finally Enter Orbit. After this honestly epic buildup, MYKOOL launches into an intensely powerful Dancefloor banger of a drop, taking no alien prisoners, while still working in some properly serene atmospheric work in the breakdown.

With some intensely catchy and emotionally hard-hitting vocals by MYKOOL Jackson, a vastly vibey atmosphere and a simple yet infectiously captivating synth melody, Talk About It kicks off the emotional banger mini-section of the album. Continuing the tragic relationship theme, I Miss You tackles the conflicting emotions of saudade (learnt a new word today), with heavily wobbling, emotionally-charged basses, ruthlessly rolling drums and straight-up gorgeous xylophone-esque melodies. I should really learn to properly recognise instruments at some point. As we have all learned from Star Wars, from grief also comes immense power, in this case unleashed by Street Fighter character Akuma. With drums that can only be described as positively punchy (he is the supreme master of the fist, after all), relentlessly heavy bass stabs and a delightfully dark Dimension-esque switchup, this one is definitely belongs on the slapper side of the album.

Speaking of slapping, next we move to Horizon, a collaborative effort with YANA boss man, Toronto Is Broken, himself. You probably don't even need me to tell you that though, as you can feel the Metal-DnB influence of Mr. Hoffmann in every pore of its sound, even before the heavy guitars and the screamo vocal layer become more prominent in the second half. The whole structural arrangement of it all, the pounding rhythm switchups and the little pauses, even MYKOOL's vocals are sung in a subtly different way, resulting in a really unique fusion of both of their styles. At track number 15, we are now Closing In on the finale, taking one more rather relaxed trip through the galaxy of synths with an extra gentle vocal performance. Lastly, we complete the trilogy of -ition suffixed tunes with the thing that I hope this album and MYKOOL in general receives, Recognition. Once more, he reaches deep into his box of catchy melodies, this time delivering some real stunners, placed gently on top of an extra heavily bouncing dancefloor igniter of a beat.

A large, diverse package of pure Dancefloor goodness that proves MYKOOL can keep up with the big bois of the scene. Incredibly clean, weighty production all-around, with one gorgeous vocal after another. Just a wonderful LP!

Other Dancefloor from this week:

Sub Focus, Kelli-Leigh - Calling For A Sign
Prank Sinatra, VÏKÆ - Answers 💎
Natty Lou, Lottie Jones - Alpenglow 💎
Grafix, Lenn - Say It Now
Killer Hertz - Apollo
OneFuryBar - T 0 X 1 C 💎
Sound In Noise - Stalker