AS18

Dear readers it has been far too long. Fear not, as we haven’t forgotten about you. You see, the money treadmill is a harsh mistress and has been cracking the whip these last few months. With spring finally here and end of lockdown in sight, we have finally managed to break free and come up for air. The resulting playlist has been one of the most difficult we’ve ever had to curate and may just be one of our best.

2021 seems like it’ll be a good year for longtime Snob favorite Nicolas Jaar. January marked the 10-year anniversary of his critically acclaimed debut album Space Is Only Noise. It was during the tour for this album that he formed the short-lived side project with collaborator Dave Harrington. After a nearly seven-year hiatus, the boys are back in full force, having gifted us with a true banger of track in the form of Liberty Bell, the first single off July’s upcoming album Spiral. You can bet that the Snobs will be travelling wherever necessary to see Darkside play live when they eventually do.

Next up is a song that came completely out of left field. Peter Cat Recording Co.’s Memory Box is 8 minutes of pure, contagious joy. With a buttery soft voice that wouldn’t be out of place in the 1960s alongside crooners such as Frank Sinatra or Dean Martin, it’s simply mind blowing to find out that the group is an indie band hailing from Delhi, India. Do yourself a favor, grab a loved one, a blanket, a bottle of wine, queue up this album and head to your nearest park for 50 minutes of pure unadulterated bliss.

Elsewhere, Cuzomano and Otacon have been truly reveling in the post-punk revival as of late with likes of Idles and Black Midi gracing the last few playlists. 2021 is already shaping up to be quite the year for the genre what with releases from Shame and Black Country, New Road. AS18 has been graced with the presence of Shame’s Snow Day and up-and-coming Snob favorite Black Country, New Road’s Track X. Watch out for upcoming reviews for both in the coming weeks.

When our own Easy C first shared Love and Hate in a Different Time by LA-based Gabriels, we were all quickly hooked. While the soulful ballad sounds like it came straight out of the peak era of Motown, it was in fact released just last year in 2020. Despite its “older” sound, it is truly a song of the times as the band stated that it is “about how we appear to be losing the ability to peacefully be together in a space and express ourselves. Together.”

Despite the world being on lockdown, 2020 was an extremely busy year for longtime duo Trent Reznor and Atticus Ross. In addition to two new Nine Inch Nails albums, they added another David Fincher film score under their belt. This combo has slowly become the modern-day equivalent of the Spielberg-Williams partnership. In addition to all the other ‘you couldn’t make this up’ events of 2020, you can add a Disney-Reznor collaboration in the form of the movie Soul and the track The Great Before / U Seminar.

As always dear readers, we encourage you to explore the playlist for yourselves.

With love, as ever,
The Snobs

The Snobs' Top Tracks

Darkside – Liberty Bell
Peter Cat Recording Co. – Memory Box
Black Country, New Road – Track X
David Bowie – Waiting For The Man
Paul McCartney – Deep Deep Feeling