#7 on the 2023 Bacon Top 31 — Jungle

January 25, 2024 by Royal Stuart in Top 31

Volcano by Jungle

I had no expectation that when I first heard Jungle in 2018 (For Ever, #28 in 2018) that they’d have the staying power to not only kick out another, even better album (Loving in Stereo, #15 last year), but they still had another notch on the dial to turn to. Volcano, Jungle’s fourth album, is by far their best yet. They keep growing, keep surprising the listener.

Jungle are two London-based producers, Josh Lloyd-Watson (“J”), and Tom McFarland (“T”), backed by a sea of singers and musicians who are in turn backed by a sea of fans who can’t possibly sit still while Jungle are playing music. Since their first self-titled album in 2014, the band has been making the most consistently good dance music out there. Volcano was released two days shy of a year after their previous album — by far the fastest the band has ever written, recorded, and released a record. They actually wrote the album while touring for the previous album. It’s exciting to think when I saw the band perform as one of the headliners at Thing in 2022, they were busy writing an even better album in the in-between times.

In addition to releasing phenomenal music, the band tends to create videos heavy with choreographed groups of dancers performing feats no normal human should be capable of. For Volcano, J & T teamed up with choreographer Shay Latukolan to create a video for each song from the albumL: Volcano – A Motion Picture. The videos string together to show the 50-minute broadcast of a local television station (which has J & T in the broadcast booth, naturally) showing different formations of dance and rhythm and loose storytelling. The songs are each single, long takes, with 18 dancers playing off each other and moving with the camera. Nothing is ever resting or standing still, and it’s all so closely orchestrated. It’s mesmerizing. Dancers Will West and Mette Linturi most often take the leads in the short stories shown in each video, but the other 16 dancers are every bit as good as they are. The amount of work that must have gone into planning, rehearsing, (dancers and stage production) and then filming these one-long-take videos is mind-blowing.

I’ve said it before, and I guess I’ll keep saying it well into the future: Jungle makes you move. Watch the video above, for the great song “Back on 74,” or better yet, just watch the full movie, and dance along.

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#15 on the 2021 Bacon Top 31 — Jungle

January 17, 2022 by Royal Stuart

Loving In Stereo by Jungle

Jungle, the London-based electronic dance combination of childhood friends Tom McFarland and Josh Lloyd-Watson, cannot make a bad song. Loving In Stereo, the third full-length they’ve created in their short 8 years, is a dancer’s dream. Song after song of music to move by. Picking up exactly where they left off with For Ever, (#28 in 2018), Loving has the duo growing, stretching, and flexing their muscles in all the right ways. They’ve fully taken over the mantle once adorned by acts like Jamiroquai, creating poppy, beat-heavy grooves that are impossible to sit still to.

Loving In Stereo is on YouTube in full, and like Wolf Alice earlier in this countdown, the band has produced a unique music video for (nearly) every song:

“Keep Moving”
“All of the Time”
“Romeo, feat. Bas” (shown above)
“Lifting You” and “Bonnie Hill”
“Fire”
“Talk About It”
“Truth”
“What D’You Know About Me”
“Just Fly, Don’t Worry,” “Goodbye, My Love feat. Priya Ragu,” and “Can’t Stop the Stars”

The duo does not make an appearance in these videos. Lloyd-Watson is actually behind the camera, directing every single one of them with Charlie Di Placido, creative director of the video design house JFC Worldwide. Each video is a single shot, start to finish. The band works with an amazing dance troupe choreographed by Nathaniel Williams and Cece Nama. Together they create these compelling and complex dance scenes set in the interior and grounds of an abandoned building.

If you’ve not yet gotten on the Jungle train, now’s your chance. Loving in Stereo is sure to be loved by anyone who listens to it. So get on – it’s going to be a good ride.

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16. Flying Dream 1 by Elbow
17. Screen Violence by Chvrches
18. Blue Weekend by Wolf Alice
19. Mainly Gestalt Pornography by Pearly Gate Music
20. Peace Or Love by Kings of Convenience
21. These 13 by Jimbo Mathus & Andrew Bird
22. Mr. Corman: Season 1 by Nathan Johnson
23. Home Video by Lucy Dacus
24. I’ll Be Your Mirror: A Tribute to The Velvet Underground & Nico by Various Artists
25. Siamese Dream by Fruit Bats
26. NINE by Sault
27. Observatory by Aeon Station
28. The Monster Who Hated Pennsylvania by Damien Jurado
29. A Beginner’s Mind by Sufjan Stevens and Angelo De Augustine
30. Where the End Begins by Knathan Ryan
31. Private Space by Durand Jones & The Indications

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#28 on the 2018 Bacon Top 31 — Jungle

January 04, 2019 by Royal Stuart

For Ever by Jungle

Disco is most certainly not dead. Or maybe there’s just a long, drawn-out resurgence happening, as indicated by last year’s #3 album, Everything Now by Arcade Fire. Tom McFarland and Josh Lloyd-Watson, otherwise known as Jungle, are carrying the disco torch, dancing their way onto the Top 31 here at #28.

Josh and Tom, friends since they were nine and living next door to each other in London, have been making music as Jungle since 2013. While their self-titled debut album didn’t make the 2014 Top 31, their video for “Time” did make an appearance on the Bacon Review. Fast forward a few years and the duo has been able to put together solid collection of fantastically danceable songs that you need to hear.

The duo is known for putting themselves in the background, letting the music and dancers take the fore whenever possible. This makes the band feel more “alive” to me, as the music doesn’t sound like the result of two men pecking away at their laptops.

For Ever is solid from start to finish. Be sure to watch and pay attention to the above video, for the song “Cherry”. I don’t want to give anything away, but you really need to watch the video — it’s brilliant. “Cherry” is less disco than a lot of the other songs on the album, but it was the best video, and therefore it gets featured. The band has put out four other videos from this album, and they all fall in the same, pleasing genre: well-choreographed dancers moving to the sounds of the band. Simple and elegant. You should watch and enjoy them all:

“House in LA”
“Happy Man” and “Happy Man” (Director’s Cut) where the dancer shown briefly on the TV in the first video takes center stange and dances throughout the entire video.
“Heavy, California”

And really, watch the video featured above closely. You won’t be disappointed.

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29. Twerp Verse by Speedy Ortiz
30. Remain in Light by Angélique Kidjo
31. This One’s for the Dancer & This One’s for the Dancer’s Bouquet by Moonface

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Jungle — Time

August 13, 2014 by Royal Stuart

This week has been less than stellar, and this video from English modern electronic soul band Jungle was perfect for lifting me out of the funk. I tried to figure out who the dancers in the video are, to no avail. They’re fun, regardless.

Jungle is also the name of the band’s debut album, and it was released last month. I’m only now starting to listen to it, but it’s making me bounce in my seat, so that’s something, espicially today of all days.