Four Track Friday
Episode 14

Hi Friends,

I'm trying something different with the images this week. Instead of album art, I included images of the artists. Let me know what you think!

As usual, several Four Track veterans recently released new music. Fergus James, the to-be-Australian-pop-star that many of you loved, came out with a new track called "Mistakes." J.B. Boone also released a new one, as did Moon Loves Honey. As the number of artists sent out on Four Track grows, this is getting harder for me to keep up with! This, however, is a good problem to have 🙂

Let's get into this week's tracks!

Dream pop — Something Good by San Mei

After listening to this one right when it released in July this year, I've waited a long time to send it out.

Emily Hamilton is the daughter of Chinese-Malaysian and New Zealand born parents, who moved to Australia when she was very young. Always encouraged to be creative, Hamilton birthed San Mei years later, when she took her MIDI-keyboard and Macbook pairing and turned out a few tunes.

This one is her most recent. She recently reflected on it saying, "I wrote Something Good when I had a sort of revelation about a situation in my life where I was fully taking things for granted and not recognising that I had something really special in front of me. It's about the beauty of hindsight and hoping that I'd woken up in time to rescue this thing and let it grow into something beautiful."

On tour now in Australia, I can't wait for her to come to the States.

Surf Folk - Northern Rivers by Jack Botts

Yes, this is what this genre is getting called and it's splendid.

Botts' sound is delightfully light, wonderfully heartfelt. You can tell he's singing about someone really dear to him. It's like you know her, and him, by the end.

You might notice that I've posted a link to Botts playing a different song above. That's because there isn't a video of him playing this one, but this gives me the opportunity to tell all of you about Sofar Sounds.

I started going to Sofar shows last year, and I'd like to go to one with all of you (or, at least as many as we can get!). Sofar stands for Songs From A Room and, as you can see in the video, is all about the music. You sit with strangers in a small room, quietly imbibing the sounds of an artist playing right in front of you.

If you're interested in attending a Sofar show with other Four Track readers in Seattle, email me back and I'll get the group togther.

Electronica — Moon by TSHA

Teisha Matthews cites Bonobo, Jon Hopkins, and Four Tet as her biggest influences and if you're a fan of those, you're in for a treat.

In what must've been a dream-like night, Matthews' first performance as TSHA was, in fact, as an opener for Bonobo at Fabric. (If you haven't heard Bonobo's recently recorded set there, you can do so here or on your favorite streaming service by looking up "Fabric Presents Bonobo.")

I first heard this track at Seattle Bouldering Project, on a particularly lucky day during one of their electronica-fueled mornings.

I'm not sure which employee is responsible for the morning music, but they're the best.

Live Jazz — Shofukan by Snarky Puppy

Please, please, please watch the video. The song and the video are the same live recording, but the video is something special.

Sam sent me this song earlier this week when I was having a particularly bad day saying, "Listen to some Snarky Puppy and turn your day around." How welcome the recommendation was.

Snarky Puppy recorded this album live with an 18-piece band. Melting so many different musical instruments and elements together, this is some of the most raw, funky, and enjoyable jazz I've ever heard.

AND THE DRUM SOLO AT 5:20 😱

Catch me learning how to play trumpet again.

As always, this week’s tracks are added to the collectors for all weeks' tracks, also on Spotify and Apple Music.

Of course, don’t forget to reply with what you liked, didn’t like, and what you’ve been listening to.

Cheers,

Tanner