Climate is what we expect, weather is what we get...

It's rainy and cool here in Wisconsin. Not surprising, seeing as it is late November, but the rain reminded me of a few tracks I wanted to put up for just such a day. So without anymore chitchat, here are some rainy day tracks straight from "The Vault"...

The first is a short feel-good instrumental from James Yancey, b.k.a. J Dilla. Off his stellar, final living release Donuts, this under two minute cut samples a Slyvers track, "Only One Can Win", to great effect. Lush, tender drums thump out Jackson 5 style under the spacey, hummable hook sung by a Michael Jackson soundalike. It's short, but it's sweet, definitely lovable, and super bubbly for an instrumental. But if you know Dilla, this is the norm, not the exception.



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Audion (a.k.a. Matthew Dear) is a force to be reckoned with when it comes to minimal. Releasing subtle bomb after bomb on his Ghostly/Spectral Sound labels, Audion's template runs ten minutes plush, with a much slower build-up than is generally normal for the genre. However, every track pays off in one form or another. In this case, it's a ghostly, haunting, very Middle Eastern-sounding four note dip, that, over the current soundscape of paper-thin drums and already sinister electronic hum, sounds not only creepy, but oddly entrancing, for it might be a shock at first, but it's a shock that works, and when played at night through huge speakers, you'd be sure that a ghost had just entered the room, hovered over to the dancefloor, and blarred its arrival with one of the most hypnotic synth lines I've ever heard.



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This last one starts off with one of the most uplifting piano riffs I've ever heard in my entire life. And sure, Bruce Hornsby might be getting old, but if ever there was a feel-good rainy day song, this would be it. Man, that piano warms my soul ever time I hear it. The rhythm isn't typical either, giving the song, a slow chugging-along flow that fits it perfectly. Songs like this aren't meant to be rushed. Hornsby's voice sounds right at home over the lush, warm pads, but you can absolutely not NOT love that riff!!! It's so damn catchy. The name of the song is Mandolin Rain, by the way. Sorry if that wasn't clear :P







Don't let the weather get you down, and try these songs next time the clouds start welling up. Until next time, keep those ears open.
-NL