I initially shrugged off Junior Boys’ 2016 album Big Black Coat after my first listen after failing to get anything out of it. I was foolish. Returning to it this year helped me realize that there are some true slammers on there, like the title track capping off the end of the record. Love some twitchy, hyperactive electronic that isn’t too in your face. Killer groove too!
“I Want To Thank You” by Alicia Myers is a classic summer jam by any metric, but this edit done by Earl Jeffers back in 2014 takes the tune to another level. I’m sure it’s on its way to being an equally-recognized classic on the dance floors of clubs across the world.
A friend of mine recently put me onto this brand new album from newcomer Erika de Casier, which almost perfectly aligns with some of my all-time favorite artists like Smerz, SASSY 009 and Jessy Lanza. It’s not as intense and hard as those other projects, but de Casier’s tunes are smooth as all hell and sound like they were pulled right from the golden era of night time R&B.
Essentials is only streaming right now, as far as I know. So either stream it on your preferred provider or buy it on vinyl from her website!
I’ve been following Spanish musician NOIA since her debut EP back in 2016. Her song “Nostalgia del Futuro” is still on constant rotation for me – listen to that HERE. I actually saw her open for El Guincho in 2017 and that combo was seriously one of the best shows I’ve seen all decade. Keep that in your head as BEST OF THE DECADE lists roll around.
NOIA just released a new EP CRISÀLIDA via Cascine and it’s fire. It drifts slightly away from her straightforward pop approach on her previous EP, but cements her songwriting and arrangement ability with innovative and engaging tunes with lots of sounds and textures I haven’t heard anywhere else. This song above was the second single, so you know it’s good.
For the uninitiated, one of the best songs of the decade, regardless if it’s a remix or not. A PEAK of Soundcloud house remixes. The original song is great, but the early Disclosure magic is THICK on this track. Marvelous production and dynamics. An eternal favorite.
I have tons of pleasant nostalgic feelings towards this time period of 2010-2013 trawling Soundcloud, Hype Machine, etc. trying to find the best new songs. Was the advent of streaming services the death of these hunts? Was it the further integration of social media in our lives overall? A bubble definitely burst, anyways. Going to be searching for what happened in the weird period from 2014-2017. A Bermuda Triangle of music industry discourse for sure.
I made this playlist for a friend who had been looking for songs that were similar to the stuff played on a certain late night CBC Radio 3 show. I’m blanking on the name of the DJ, but the friend described it as electronic-leaning pop, pretty downtempo and most importantly, it made them feel very cool while listening. I made this mix for them and I think they forgot to download the WeTransfer before it deleted itself. A year later, a Spotify playlist was born.
This was made in early 2018, so my brain was still dunked in 2017’s juices. Overall playlist focuses on music from the 10s. Most of these songs are also just songs I greatly enjoy, and you’ll probably see them in many of my other playlists I’ve made.
Again – this is sequenced! Feel free to shuffle it, but I tried to make everything flow nicely. There were a few tracks that I had in the original playlist that aren’t on Spotify, so you can find those songs linked below the following track list. Cheers!
Read more to find the full track list:
For this month’s edition of Recommended Albums, I had a bit of trouble bringing my list to 10. There were a few albums that came out this month that I was really excited to listen to leading up to their release, but ended up disappointing me. However, current WV 2019 Top 5 records, Aldous Harding and Weyes Blood, were both gifted to the world, so that’s worth something, right? We’ve really got it all in the bunch I’ve pulled, though – I think you’ll like it a lot, just as I have: bossa nova hybrid, synth pop, Japanese hardcore, sludge metal, Swedish house, Iranian experimental, Irish post punk, and a whole mess of other tunes in the Spotify playlist. Hope you enjoy!
Aldous Harding – Designer [4AD]
Having an existential crisis after meeting an ersatz version of yourself on vacation.
Claude Fontaine – Claude Fontaine [Innovative Leisure]
A widow waits on a tropical island for their partner to return from the watery depths.
Fontaines D.C. – Dogrel [Partisan]
A low rumbling turns to cacophonous buzzing that echoes through cold city streets.
Grace Ives – 2nd [Dots Per Inch]
Feeling extremely ready to party all night long but likewise ready to sit on the couch at said party and play video games.
Inter Arma – Sulphur English [Relapse]
A remote, midwestern town being slowly pulled into the center of the Earth.
Kornél Kovács – Stockholm Marathon [Studio Barnhus]
A free roaming, momentum-based 3D platformer video game modeled after Sega Dreamcast classics, with bright floating cubes to jumps on.
Lowly – Hifalutin [Bella Union]
Finding divine comfort in caressing the smooth, rubbery surfaces of houseplants at a socially uncomfortable house party.
Otoboke Beaver – ITEKOMA HITS [Damnably]
Rage building from your unfulfilling daily routine violently bubbles over at the workplace.
Sote – Parallel Persia [Diagonal]
A mad scientist deconstructed various stringed instruments from around the world to create a furious creature cast of wood, steel and wires.
Weyes Blood – Titanic Rising [Sub Pop]
Actors on soap operas being forced to act minute before the sun explodes rewrite their lines as messages to their loved ones.
Best of 2019 Spotify Playlist HERE!
Somehow, someway, I was able to anticipate that the electronic music genius (and certified doctor!) Holly Herndon was going to be deriving great inspiration from the assaulting and euphoric harmonies of Sacred Harp singing. I mean, it makes sense. Her music has always examined the balance between the human voice and computer speak, why not engage one of the most intriguing and beautiful examples of the human voice coming together as one giant chorus, but also as standalone entities, finding ways to work within and without each other.
Not to focus on me, but you may remember I posted about Alan Lomax’s Sacred Harp recordings earlier this year. I then listened to this song, finding great similarities between the two. THEN I read the press release and was affirmed. What a great feeling, combined with the fact that her experience in the hollow Sacred Harp square sounds incredible:
“I went to an international Sacred Harp Meetup in Berlin where I live, which was jointly led by Evelyn Saylor (an ensemble collaborator who helped to arrange “Frontier” to more accurately reflect the tradition), and people gathered in a square to sing facing each other. When I stood in the middle the power of the voices brought me to tears. It was partly pure sonics and the beauty of the songs, but also the sight of witnessing people from all different backgrounds come together under such a simple and elegant premise. There were visitors from afar for whom the experience clearly had some deep religious significance. There were even more visitors clearly drawn to the event for other reasons, albeit the nature of the communion itself, or just to nerd out on the music. It felt like a rare union.”
This is a meeting of the waters kind of thing for me. Deeply significant, rich traditional music merging with the absolute cutting edge of technology. Can anything be better than this? I honestly don’t think so. The song is gorgeous, terrifying and cathartic. I cannot wait for the rest of the album and her live performance at Pioneer Works in a few weeks.
PROTO is out May 10 via 4AD.
Top hype band of 2019 black midi are putting their money where their mouth is by following up their outrageously tight, glorious live shows with studio recordings that actually do justice to their live energy. “Talking Heads” is one of the more straightforward songs in their set, its backbone being a rigid, hyperactive guitar line and flourished by flashes of virtuosic drums.
Of course it’s fair to reference an influence in the song title’s subject matter, Talking Heads, and all the bands that were in turn inspired by them, filtering down into this one track in 2019. But Black Midi are really sounding like nothing besides Black Midi right now, and that’s exciting.
Warm Visions 