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Baker's Dozen

By The Numbers: Loraine James' Favourite Music
Jennifer Lucy Allan , June 9th, 2021 08:31

Loraine James tells Jennifer Lucy Allan about her favourite albums, digging into math rock and Mid west emo, as well as slept-on electronica

Toe_-_the_book_about_my_idle_plot_on_a_vague_anxiety_1623082317_resize_460x400

toe – the book about my idle plot on a vague anxiety
I've always wanted to see toe, they're a Japanese math rock band.

Why did you pick this record?

It's hard because I really like all their albums, but I think I just found it on YouTube – when you type in math rock they're one of the first bands you come across. The drummer is absolutely amazing. I was endlessly watching live videos of them on YouTube, hoping to see them announce a UK tour but it just never happened. I think they played this math rock festival a couple years before I got into math rock, but since then they never came to England. They have very complex rhythms, I love the use of acoustic guitar, I love the rawness and the DIY sound. They probably are the number one band I'd want to see, still to this day.

Do you think the complexity of those rhythms has had an influence on the way you build rhythms?

Oh yeah, I definitely like to complicate things. My music was definitely more math rock influenced when I started making music on Logic and Ableton, because I was trying to use the crap-sounding midi guitar, but it's in the back of my mind still – you know, the way I play piano keys is inspired by the rhythms of how they play the guitar, or even the drums.