Listen: Mr Twin Sister – “Polvo” [2021]

Posted on September 3, 2021 by Very Warm

A little late on posting this “on time” but you know I would never just dismiss posting about a Mr Twin Sister song. You already know it’s good. Press play and click buy.

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Listen: Ryuichi Sakamoto – “Thousand Knives” [1978]

Posted on August 31, 2021 by Very Warm

Even though I like to think I know a good bit of “classic” Japanese music (I don’t), I’m always slapped across the face with even more classics that I’ve been too ignorant to check out. Case in point: the title track of this Ryuichi Sakamoto album, “Thousand Knives”. I heard it for the first time the other night while waiting for Jessy Lanza to come on and it totally blew my brain apart. It was the first time in a while I had to shazam (caveat – when have we been out to hear songs in the wild? I do not know every song).

It’s one of those great songs too that totally make you forget about its near 10-minute length. A robotized spoken intro makes way for a carbonated, peppy groove that makes up the base for the rest of the song. Just beautiful textures and sounds creaking and dripping out of every little nook of this song’s production – like a well-oiled machine (but one having a good time). Once this groove is established, different instruments take the lead and offer a different solo on the song, each with its own flair. Some marching-band like tom drums rattle in, an ominous, obviously very-influential-to-video game-composers synth tone, and of course an absolutely ripping guitar solo. I was bobbing my head like crazy hearing this for the first time. Each following part had me shaking my head and muttering “god damn!” to myself.

If you haven’t, you should.

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Listen: Natalie Jane Hill – “Orb Weaver” [2021]

Posted on August 30, 2021 by Very Warm

Get to know Austin-based singer/songwriter Natalie Jane Hill ahead of the release of her sophomore album, Solely, coming October 29 via Dear Life Records, with this new track “Orb Weaver”, which has some of the hottest finger-picked guitar I’ve heard in some time. Hill’s intricate playing is what first hooked me into the track, but more subtle flourishes emerge as it develops, like gentle slide guitar + strings, deepening the atmosphere. Hill’s voice too is pretty unique, with a nostalgic vibrato and sharpness in certain deliveries that brings me thoughts of Joan Shelley, Jessica Pratt or Aldous Harding on her first, more folk-forward debut. Comparisons aside, I think if you dig any of those names, guitar playing of any nature, and just getting lost in a wistful but steady tune – check this out.

Solely is out October 29 via Dear Life – preorder the album HERE.

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Listen: TOMÁ – “Green” [2021]

Posted on August 30, 2021 by Very Warm

Start off your week with a little funk goodness. Austro-Bulgarian producer TOMÁ (aka Tomá Ivanov) just dropped his debut LP ATOM at the end of June (yes – on the paradigm-shifting 6/30 release date – it must be fate), which features plenty of dynamic compositions of electronic-shaded jazz, complete with funky key solos, booming synthetic bass, solid vocal features and more. This song I’ve pulled was by and far my favorite, rustling up remembrance to some of Brainfeeder’s more recent output like Brandon Coleman and other funky labels like Tru Thoughts. Stay tuned til the end of “Green” to hear a wailing solo that ends far too soon – extended version please!

ATOM is out NOW – buy it HERE.

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Listen: Innovations – “Seabird” [1977]

Posted on August 27, 2021 by Very Warm

Walked into a club last night to see Lightning Bug and this was the song that was playing for me. What a gift. I discovered this song purely via Spotify’s “Suggested Additions” while making my playlist Rose Garden 2AM all the way back in 2019, which I honestly find hard to believe. Also disclaimer – I’m gonna hand my discovery to other crate diggers more skilled than I including it in their own collections and the tech giant noticing. I’m not going to give Spotify any credit. Thanks crate diggers. I should note that the song didn’t make the cut in Rose Garden (which has 75 songs – I’m a dumbass) but it IS in my playlist Sand Dollar Jukebox, which I highly recommend.

Anyways, this is a cover of an Alessi Brothers song from the year prior, 1976. Not much is known about Innovations, except they were a Peruvian band that released at least one seven inch, the one pictured in the YouTube video above. The original song is a good song – the melody and hook are insane, but Innovations give it an extra summer edge with a bit of added instrumentation, a bit more natural bounce, and a cinematic, warbly early synthesizer backing. An ultimate yacht rock classic that was partially buried in the sands of time. What a beautiful thing. I just checked out the b-side to this single and it’s also fantastic.

But back to hearing this song in a club. I’m gonna go out on a limb (just based on the amount of views on the various YT uploads, as well as the high-but-not-outrageous streams) and say that most people didn’t know the song. Nevertheless, I saw multiple couples and groups of people already singing along to the chorus on the second time around, people were dancing, whipping out their phones to figure out what the song was. It has an otherworldly, magical feeling. Before this song starts to show up in every schmuck’s DJ set (which isn’t a bad thing), make sure you give it a spin or 30 on your own, especially as the summer starts to simmer down. But remember – yacht rock never dies.

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Listen: alexalone – “Unpacking My Feelings” [2021]

Posted on August 25, 2021 by Very Warm

Been seeing a lot of hype from friends about this project outta Austin, TX, alexalone, who recently signed to Polyvinyl for their new album ALEXALONEWORLD. The hype is warranted. Lead by Alex Peterson (who also plays/played in Lomelda and Hovvdy live bands), alexalone switches between slowcore rumbles to full on head-pounding sheets of rock noise on most songs, providing a great palette of instrumental and timbre variety. No homogenous indie rock here folks – thank god. I think we all need a break from that. 

The song I’ve been coming back to again and again on ALEXALONEWORLD is “Unpacking My Feelings”, maybe the best and most succinct example on the album of the band’s skill to pivot between loud and quiet moments. The last minute or so of the track are some of the noisiest I’ve heard all year (disclaimer – I haven’t listened to much noise rock this year, because I don’t need any more stress in my life) but damn it goes hard. Seems like the perfect song to go crazy for live. “Can’t Sleep” is another favorite and “Let It Go” has a guitar texture that reminds me of a Rush song (this is a compliment), but in all seriousness I keep returning to this album and finding new favorite moments to crush my skull to. In my opinion this is the best record Polyvinyl has put out in some time. Shout out to alexalone and all the homies from TX.

ALEXALONEWORLD is out NOW via Polyvinyl. Buy it HERE.

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Listen: Shannon & The Clams – “Vanishing” [2021]

Posted on August 25, 2021 by Very Warm

Realizing now that even after being a fan of Shannon & The Clams for nearly a decade, I’ve never posted about them on Warm Visions. I guess it’s always been in the realm of something I played on my college radio music show in the “golden years” of modern garage + surf rock (which in my mind was 2012-2016, but that’s obviously up for debate).

The band just dropped a new record Year of the Spider via Easy Eye Sound (their second for Dan Auerbach’s label) and it may be their best yet. I’ve always been partial to their 2013 LP Dreams In The Rat House, but that record doesn’t have absolute classic rippers like “Vanishing” on it, where Shannon Shaw’s vocals are really let loose, granting us some fantastic belts that are pretty unrivaled in their discography. It follows many of the genres musical tropes, but at this point hearing a song like this is pretty refreshing, especially since it feels like there’s so much soul in it to begin with. It’s a great album closer as well, drifting in unassumingly at the end and blowing the socks off listeners, leaving them scrambling for both their clothing and the replay button.

Year of the Spider is out NOW via Easy Eye Sound. Buy it HERE.

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Listen: caroline – “Everything for everyone” [2021]

Posted on August 24, 2021 by Very Warm

Continuing the trend of exciting young rock bands coming out of London, relative newcomers caroline bring the simmering energy of midwestern indie + post rock of the late 90s / early 00s with discordant guitars and percussion combining with alternatively blissful moments of harmony and light. They have four songs out total, all via Rough Trade (how’d they get that sweet deal?) and they’re opening a few dates for The Microphones here in the US, so I recommend you check them out before literally everyone you know that likes this kind of music starts talking about them.

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Listen: Braids – “Taste” [2015]

Posted on August 23, 2021 by Very Warm

Was revisiting Braids’ immaculate 2015 synth pop opus Deep In The Iris tonight and was reminded that 1. this record kicks ass and 2. not enough people know about it. “Taste” feels like the lead single despite its five-minute length. It’s got a soaring melody, propulsive synths and surrounding instrumentals and fantastic production overall. If you’re a general fan of synth pop and haven’t heard this album yet, please rectify that ASAP.

Not to reference a YouTuber, but Dunkey recently made a video about video game prices and brought up the argument asking why people consistently buy and play new games even thought they’re terrible, when there are so many classic games (that you haven’t played yet) that you could instead play for much cheaper. Now this comparison doesn’t exactly directly crossover to the music world due to streaming, but I feel like people are always taking in the deluge of new records and then casting them aside the next week. Take some time to go back and find something from the past that you’ve never listened to, or revisit one of your old favorites that isn’t automatically recommended via an algorithm or something. Deep In The Iris has always been one I return to and I think it should be for you as well. Tons of depth and variety on here. “Sore Eyes” is my personal favorite track, but I’ve talked about that song enough on here.

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10 Best Songs: Gorillaz

Posted on August 23, 2021 by Very Warm

Keeping the 10 Best Songs train rolling here with another super obvious choice for an artist and even more obvious choices for my 10 Favorite Songs. Gorillaz were my top favorite group in middle school with the release of Demon Days and the fandom held pretty strong to today, despite a few middling to annoying albums in the late 10s. I gotta hand it to Damon Albarn for consistently getting cool people involved in this understandably cool project. I also realized while making this that 2021 marks 20 years since Gorillaz’s debut was released so – take this as a 20 year anniversary special. Hope you enjoy.

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