El Michels Affair - Murkit Gem
- NICK DUTFIELD
- Feb 18, 2021
- 3 min read
One proper musical shock of 2018 was discovering that Gazelle Twin lives in rural Leicestershire. Her album was called Pastoral, so that was a clue, less so the crunchy beats and bass aggro. Convention demands that crunchy aggro people live in cities. London, for example, or occasionally Sheffield. It was a sign that modern creativity, succumbing to waves of sofa surfing and food banks, might truly get washed out to the provinces, looking just for wifi instead of urbanity.
This week’s subject, El Michels Affair, are the opposite, they’re here to really hammer home the advantages of city living. They basically sound like New York. Not that this implies hi-tech crunch, they call their genre Cinematic Soul, although that sounds too polite for me. Gleaming Dredge Funk would be another option.
People are really the key here. Leon Michels is the leader and his Affair is not a laptop, it’s a band of players. A good reason why this would be tough in the sticks. Finding fellow dredge-friendly funkateers is not easy, and it’s probably impossible if you’re doing your seeking in Lutterworth (for example). Also, there’s audiences. El Michels Affair started life with an album of Wu Tang covers, which may have been a hit on L’Worth’s east side but really it’s cities that throw up niche business like that. After following that up with another Wu Tang tribute, the Affair took a sideways lurch, ending up with their recent albums, Adult Themes, the soundtrack to an imaginary (mucky?) movie and now Yeti Season. Which is about Yetis, a species much disregarded in Leicestershire.
The Yeti sessions saw the arrival of the fabulous singer, Piya Malik, who came to New York via London, and used to be in a group called Chicano Batman. That has to be the city at work right there, not just Malik turning up but all the other singers too, the ones who didn’t get the job. The ones from Chicana Wonderwoman or Bulgar Penfold or whatever. I’m talking about options. Last week’s hero, Madlib, is a self-confessed hermit, which is great, but this looks like so much more fun, and check out the mad paths you can wander off along. Like true city dwellers prefer, there now drops a casual mention of a few others who Michels has bumped into professionally, Beyoncé, Adele and Lana Del Rey head the list.
Switching to the song, Malik’s vocals really turns the whole thing magic, doing a great trick where she follows the grumbling majesty of the bassline, then hints at a change, then suddenly soars away with all our hearts under her wing. It really is beautiful. The gleaming part of Gleaming Dredge Funk. It’s all in Hindi so you don’t need to worry about catching her drift. Maybe it’s Yeti talk, but I wouldn’t bet on it. What I would say is that playing it 10 times a day might not be enough.
While we’re in New York, I’m just going to add on a quick shout to Psymon Spine, who have also summoned city spirits for their energetic leap-along, Jumprope. What genre is it? Not Quite Punk Nor Funk Nor Pop sums it up, or maybe they’re just a New Wave band, but that sounds so old school (1978). They’re not Nightbus, they could be Bearded Bifta Guy On A Fixie, but that sounds so old school (2014).
Some kind of skipping revival is probably springing forth in the wake of this tune. Even Big Apple ignoramuses like me know it’s impressive when it reaches 110th street, simple maths tells us that. But a proper craze makes it’s mark when it reaches Thurnby, picture them now, the three local skippers following the NYC trend. Similar clothes, the same devotion, and a brand new slogan – Skiprope counts double when you do it in a field.
THIS WEEK
El Michels Affair – Murkit Gem
66,023 views since 24th Jan Weekly Average Views – 2,508
LAST WEEK
Madlib – Dirtknock
Weekly Average Views – 25, 676 Blog Week Views – 3,280
EXTRAS
Psymon Spine – Jumprope
El Michels Affair – Ala Vida
El Michels Affair – Tearz
El Michels Affair – Wu Tang Ain’t Nuthin To F**k With
Gazelle Twin – Hobby Horse
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