2013 Retrospective

Posted on March 1, 2021 by Very Warm

After many, many months, I’ve finally wrapped up my Retrospective series for the 2010s. By Retrospective, I mean collecting 100 songs that essential were the soundtrack to the year as it happened to me. Songs that I listen to and immediately a memory or two from that period of time comes flooding back.

In the case of 2013, it was a real year of “growing up”. I got my first smartphone, I moved out of the dorms, I got my first “real” jobs (at my college radio station + archival library), I celebrated one year of my relationship, and my taste continued to balloon. The header photo I make for each one ideally is made from pictures I took from that year. I found that I either didn’t take many pictures in 2013, or I’ve deleted most of them. Instead, it’s made from a shot in the stacks of the archive library, a shot out the window of Bug House, and a cool picture I took on a foggy day on campus. Then I put it into a grid, because 2013 was also the year I discovered the app that I use to make all the art for the blog. Eight years of using this dang app! Crazy!

You can see the full suite of Retrospective posts HERE.

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10 Best Songs: Daft Punk

Posted on February 28, 2021 by Very Warm

Daft Punk may be over, but their music lives on. Hearing the news of their break up wasn’t a shocking, terrible surprise. They hadn’t toured or put out any music since 2013, only working on production for a few things (most of which were very good – go back and listen to that 2017 Charlotte Gainsbourg album again if you haven’t). After every festival lineup since 2013 failed to have them as the headliner, the thought of them never playing another show felt more and more like a reality. Maybe they were planning something in 2020, it got derailed, and rather than put it off they just said “eh, it’s not worth it”.  At least at this point a reunion show series will pull them in massive bank. 

With me and Daft Punk, there was a period of time when they were my “favorite artist” from mid-2011 to probably mid-2013 (the loss of their fav status had nothing to do with the release of Random Access Memories, it had everything to do with listening to Boards of Canada every day for a few months). RAM was even my #1 album of 2013. Eventually I drifted away from that record, with it not even making my Top 200 Albums of the 2010s list. I would still lose myself in Homework, Discovery and Alive 2007, the albums that I essentially hooked into my veins and would blast out of my car while still living in Michigan, worrying my friends riding in the backseat. They left a massive imprint on my taste, essentially getting me into house music and techno before I really knew what they were. Heck, Discovery‘s 20th anniversary was just a few days ago. I thought I’d collect my 10 favorite Daft Punk tunes and write a bit about them. I hope people power past the memes and embrace the fact that the duo made some purely joyous, inventive, exciting and euphoric music during their run. Thanks Daft Punk!

Also – they made an entire anime movie to Discovery. Teenage Warm V. thanks you for your service.

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Listen: Mouse On Mars – “Artificial Authentic” [2021]

Posted on February 26, 2021 by Very Warm

Been listening to a lot of new albums today, but one moment that stuck out to me was this song on the new Mouse On Mars album, AAI, out now on Thrill Jockey. The whole album is an exploration of artificial intelligence and humanity and it’s actually done pretty well. This song is super fun, jubilant and bouncy, an immediate standout for me.

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Listen: Mr Twin Sister – “Diary” b/w “Expressions” [2021]

Posted on February 26, 2021 by Very Warm

Mr Twin Sister is one of the best bands currently operating, point blank, period. Their luscious fusion of electronic, pop and lounge, among other luxurious, body-feeling sounds is virtually unmatched. Their 2014 self-titled album is one of my all-time favorites and one of my most-listened as well. Even their 2018 follow-up album Salt didn’t meet my insane expectations, but it’s still leagues beyond other music from the last decade. Oh and their live shows… forget it. Incredible. Essential.

In short, what I’m trying to say here is that Mr Twin Sister just dropped two new tracks on Bandcamp and that you should buy them. They’re just as jubilant and freeing as their previous material, with great basslines, great electronics, great percussion – it’s just a symphony of lusciousness. I’ve been feeling pretty garbage the last few weeks and this is giving me a sunbeam to bask in. Thanks, MTS!

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Listen: JIMMY EDGAR – “Be With You (feat. Millie Go Lightly)” [2021]

Posted on February 24, 2021 by Very Warm

This past December I was at my parents’ house helping my dad with a yard project. At a certain point we had to stretch out a large drainage pipe and the popping plastic sounds from pulling the tube longer inspired me to think “wow, that would sound really cool in a song, I bet no one has thought of this before.” But like anything in life, someone has likely thought of it before.

JIMMY EDGAR employs the stretchy, plastic-like tube sounds on the opener of his upcoming album CHEETAH BEND, out February 26 via Innovative Leisure. This track is full of delightful, vibrant and bouncy accents to provide a futuristic and playful space for vocalist Millie Go Lightly to cadence around in. It’s a wonderland plastic toy factory that can make anything your mind can dream up. The entire album similarly engages in fantastical and mechanical sounds, recalling mental images of real objects making these uncanny sounds, but with the song still existing in a purely dance, R&B, pop or hip hop experience. These genre lines are blurred of course, but the sentiment still stands. EDGAR is on another level with sound design and I do not recommend you miss CHEETAH BEND (not to mention with features from darling SOPHIE, Danny Brown, Hudson Mohawke, Rochelle Jordan and more), or his 2019 collab with Machinedrum as J-E-T-S either. Some truly mind bending sounds there.

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Listen: Satomimagae – “Numa” [2021]

Posted on February 24, 2021 by Very Warm

Love a good desolate tune! Japanese musician Satomimagae is releasing her fourth album and first for blog fav RVNG Intl. and Kikgaku Moyo-founded Guruguru Brain on April 23rd. I’ve had a chance to sit with it for a while and I heartily recommend it to anyone who’s a big Grouper head, especially those that favor her more guitar-focused work. Satomi crafts vast spaces of sound to plant stories and memories in, while musically the structures and textures pull from spacy blues, pastoral folk and bedroom noise. 

But back to my mention of a “desolate tune” to start this little post. I mean it in the way that there’s a lot of smoky space to breathe. The song is a stretch of land ravaged by a forest fire weeks earlier, steam and smoke rising into a greyscale sky. A beach in the winter drenched in solitude. During the last year embracing the ennui has been a hot and cold sale for me, but right now it’s really hitting the spot. The whole album is super varied though, so even if this song isn’t doing it for you, there are enough bright spots to check out regardless.

Satomimagae’s album Hanazono is out April 23rd via RVNG Intl. & Guruguru Brain. Pre-order HERE.

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Listen: Horsegirl – “Sea Life Sandwich Boy” [2021]

Posted on February 24, 2021 by Very Warm

Got tipped onto this new band outta Chicago called Horsegirl who only have a handful of tracks out in the world to their name, but they’re sounding mighty promising. The teen trio’s sound pulls from the era-defining coming-of-age records from years/decades past with great deftness and poise, with noisy, meteoric guitars steadily ramping up throughout the track alongside calm and mantra-like vocals. The final breakdown on this track features some truly caustic guitar work and a propulsive drum beat to keep everything from spilling out all over the place. The band’s bio mentioning their influence from 90s UK indie underground is well-founded. I’m getting big “band that grew up by a body of water” vibe too – bodies of water are big deals to me.

The song is being released in 7-inch form with newer track “Ballroom Dance Scene” on April 2nd via Sonic Cathedral, but you can listen to both tracks digitally now. Hopefully this puts you at the watchtower for anything else the group puts out in the future – they’re shaping up to have some heat coming!

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Listen: Floatie – “Catch a Good Worm” [2021]

Posted on February 20, 2021 by Very Warm

Have you ever thought “where oh where has all the good rock gone?” And when you say “good rock”, you specifically mean the darkness-flecked, math rock-shrapneled, post-hardcore-in-recovery rock that was booming in the mid 10s and mid 00s? Dang, you’re very specific, but I think I have what you’re looking for. This new song “Catch A Good Worm” from Chicago quartet Floatie is off their debut record from Exploding In Sound and if I’m not being cliche, I think this sound works perfectly for the label and instantly brings me back to college when I was listening to all of EIS’ records on repeat.

There’s a heavy emphasis on the agile repetitive rhythm of hard, dissonant guitars on this track. Compared to a lot of modern “post punk” with huge, hulking chunky guitars and screaming lyrics, Floatie opts to work on an agility build, steadily darting between enemy attacks and lunging at the perfect moments. Can’t wait to hear the rest of this LP!

Floatie’s debut LP Voyage Out is out March 26th via Exploding In Sound – pre-order HERE.

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Listen: Sloping – “Trail” [2021]

Posted on February 20, 2021 by Very Warm

Friend of the blog JJ Posway is about to release his first album as Sloping, Completed Songs, on February 26 via sound as language. You may be familiar with Posway’s work from ATL band Scooterbabe – if not, get familiar! I’ve heard a few songs off of this new record already with “Raft” and “Fitting Room”, but the most recent single “Trail” is really where I’m really feeling it. It’s just shy of two minutes, but Posway crafts a underhandedly smoldering rock cut on par with the slowcore + dream folk savants of the late 90s, complete with a great build from steady acoustic guitar to destructive electric guitar swaths to paint the backgrounds. There’s even some lovely banjo plinks near the end. Giving me big, glorious ennui-embracing vibes. Perfect! Can’t wait to dig into the whole album next Friday!

Completed Songs is out via sound as language on February 26 – pre-order HERE.

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Listen: Leon Vynehall – “Ecce! Ego!” [2021]

Posted on February 16, 2021 by Very Warm

Leon Vynehall is ready to submerge us in his lofty, cloud-built heavens on his upcoming album Rare, Forever coming April 30 on Ninja Tune. He dropped two new songs “Mothra” and this one, “Ecce! Ego!” and man I am so excited for this. Vynehall’s last album Nothing Is Still was one of my favorites of that year and his accompanying live show was just incredible. These new songs really point in a similar direction as the live show – so I’m stoked. Less straight up house/dance, more soundscapes of textured electronics. So sick.

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