How My Day Go

John Carroll Kirby “Blueberry Beads”

“Blueberry Beads” is tightly composed but heavily atmospheric, with John Carroll Kirby leaning hard on sustained piano chords and a constant patter of cymbal hits to evoke a misty haze in the negative space between lower pitched riffs. The feeling of it reminds me a lot of Herbie Hancock on his Sextant record, which aimed for a fusion of spiritual jazz and hard funk. It’s a very cosmic vibe, but there’s also a heavy earthiness to the arrangement, mostly in the way Kirby keeps a very deep and lurching low end. This only ends up exaggerating the brightness of the high notes he plays, so the lead accents pop like lights on a dark skyline.

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Lil Mosey “Blueberry Faygo”

“Blueberry Faygo” sounds about as colorful and fizzy as its title suggests. Lil Mosey’s chorus is so catchy it borders on sounding like a jingle, and Callan’s track has the bright and joyful sound of early Kanye West productions. This largely comes down to Callan’s very clever use of a sped-up sample from Johnny Gill’s early 90s hit “My My My,” which was produced by LA Reid and Babyface. It’s interesting to hear a Babyface track get the “Chipmunk soul” treatment – it’s not tremendously different in effect from a 60s or 70s R&B cut through this filter, but his particular slickness and smooth chords hits differently. The track feels extra breezy.

Buy it from Amazon.