Review
Genre and Mood
Brasstronaut were a six-piece band from Vancouver with roots in pop, rock and jazz, and Opportunity - Original Mix, as the streaming services title it, is the song that took them onto dance floors. Millionhands, the label that pressed it on vinyl, heard it channelling “the loose discoid funk of ESG & Hercules & Love Affair”, and Discogs files the record under house and nu-disco. The mood is groovy and playful: disco and funk made by an indie band.
Song Summary
The story of the record is told in the label’s notes. Tom Millionhands came across the track on the blog Feel My Bicep about two years before the 12-inch appeared, and Wikipedia’s discography of the band lists an Opportunity EP in 2011. The Millionhands release followed in 2013: a limited edition of 500 copies with a handstamped, numbered insert, the original on side A after a remix by Jacques Renault and OFFMSG’s revision on side B. The original mix runs 5:36, and the official upload credits Edo Van Breemen, the band’s pianist and singer, beside the band.
Musical Breakdown
No review we found walks through the original section by section; this page follows the label’s notes.
The Groove
Loose, discoid funk: the label’s words. Listen for a rhythm that leaves room between its parts rather than filling every beat.
The Band
Brasstronaut’s line-up was Bryan Davies on trumpet, Edo Van Breemen on piano and vocals, Sam Davidson on clarinet and EWI, Tariq Hussain on lap steel and electric guitar, Brennan Saul on drums and John Walsh on bass.
The Remixes
The two remixes show what the original offered other producers to work with.
Concepts in Focus
A groove is the felt quality of a rhythm, how the parts lock together and push against each other. Loose is the important word here: the label hears funk that breathes rather than a rhythm locked to the grid. Listen for what keeps the song moving.
The 12-inch is also a lesson in the remix. Jacques Renault’s version, the label wrote, hisses and crackles with tension, like a jam between wild-pitch-era DJ Pierre and Hercules & Love Affair. OFFMSG’s revision is “an analogue beast”, brimming with undulating Juno, loose piano and extra vocals from Hadi, in the spirit of early Marshall Jefferson. After the original, they pull the song towards the early house records the label names.
Artistic Context
Brasstronaut formed in 2007. Their EP Old World Lies came out in 2008, and the album Mount Chimaera, begun during a winter residency at the Banff Centre, followed in 2010 and was long-listed for the Polaris Music Prize. Mean Sun appeared in 2012 and a self-titled album in 2016. Members went on to music education and music therapy, and Van Breemen became a composer for film and television.
Impact and Reception
Beyond the label’s notes, we found no review of the song. It is here because a band with trumpet and clarinet made a record for DJs, and the DJs’ world answered with remixes. Play it beside Poni Hoax, Olga Kouklaki – Budapest, another band’s song that found its home in clubs.
