365 ELECTRONIC MUSIC ALBUMS IN 365 DAYS

Day 109: KAYTRANADA — BUBBA

Genres: House / Funk / R&B / Neo-Soul
Year: 2019
Country: Canada

(This is a personal opinion; I have no formal knowledge of music theory, but I love electronic music. Please keep that in mind while reading.)

I had to stay home sick today, so between resting, drinking tea and doing a little Bitwig practice, I put on KAYTRANADA's BUBBA.

And honestly, few albums fit that situation better.

Kaytranada has this strange ability to make House without making it feel like you're necessarily listening to “House.” There's Funk, R&B, Hip-Hop, Soul and drums that always seem to sit slightly behind the beat...

yet somehow never lose the groove.

From DO IT, the album moves smoothly without ever screaming at you to dance. 10%, featuring Kali Uchis, is probably its most famous track for a reason: huge bass, dry drums and vocals sliding over everything like butter.

Need It, with Masego, keeps things sensual and jazzy, while Vex Oh brings one of the album's most playful grooves. The Worst in Me, featuring Tinashe, moves into darker, late-night R&B territory.

Then Midsection, with Pharrell Williams, closes things out like someone turned the lights on at 4 AM...

but nobody really wants to leave yet.

The best thing about BUBBA is that it never feels like it's trying too hard.

It just has groove.

A ridiculous amount of groove.

And while listening, I inevitably remembered that legendary Kaytranada Boiler Room set: people dancing behind him, getting way too close to the decks, the entire room becoming chaos while he somehow keeps the music going.

Probably the perfect visual representation of his sound:

everything around you can be a mess, but the groove keeps moving.

PERSONAL CONCLUSIONS:

I listened to this record while stuck at home practicing in Bitwig, and maybe because of that I paid much more attention to the drums.

Kaytranada reminds me that you don't need twenty different elements playing at once to make somebody move.

Sometimes all you need is:

a good kick.

a bassline.

a little sample.

and knowing exactly where to leave space.

I wasn't exactly in shape to go out today.

Or even dance much.

But BUBBA still managed to make me nod my head in front of the computer.

And while sick...

I'll happily take that.

DAY 109 — BUBBA

My Favorite Boiler Room ever!...

[ LISTEN TO THE ALBUM ]