Best Of 2018 :: Live Experiences

Posted on December 18, 2018 by Very Warm

Over the past two years, I’ve made the arbitrary decision to rank the live shows I attended that year. It’s worked decently well, since I have gone to some shows in the past that just knocked my socks clean off into a waiting volcano, incinerating them and along with it any hope of having dry feet for the next 10,000 years. This year, however, was different. I feel like I was surrounded by volcanoes, each with a bigger desire for socks. There was no way I could rank which volcano was hungrier than the next: they’re volcanoes! Instead, I’ll write about the hungriest volcanoes instead. I feel like I’ve drifted away from the main point here. In short, here are the best and most memorable shows I attended this year, presented in chronological order. I thought that I wouldn’t see more shows in a year than in 2017, but I beat that in 2018. Two festivals helped, but even without them I still exceed last year’s ludicrous total. Make sure to scroll all the way down to see stats + every artist I saw.

(Notice – all the videos linked below are rando live videos, so in the future they might get taken down. For this, I apologize. I just want you to be exactly where my headspace was, yknow?)

29 FAVORITE SHOWS OF 2018:

  • Destroyer (+Mega Bog) @ Brooklyn Steel – 1/27/2018
    The famous show that inspired the Essential Oil Dimension. Setlist likely could not have been better, plus seeing the band just sync up in a dreamy, hazy, formless pocket like that was beyond my wildest dreams. Dan Bejar is one cool customer, let me tell ya.
  • The Radio Dept. (+SRiD & Psychic Twin) @ Warsaw – 2/3/2018
    This was just a wholesome good time. I ran into a good acquaintance at this show and hung together for most of it. Even though I was kinda dropped by another friend there, I had a sweet time talking and hanging. Plus the bands were great. Psychic Twin was killer – y’all should see her if you get the chance! Totally blew me away.
  • IDLES @ Hotel Vegas (SXSW) – 3/14/2018
    The christening show of SXSW 2018 was a doozy. IDLES really put the clamp down on 2018 with their run at SX, with good reason. The whole place was moshing, I saw the entire staff of a South Carolinian radio station get swallowed up right before my eyes. The guitarist climbed and promptly fell out of a tree while wearing only underwear. Glad to have gotten to see these lads on a small stage before they start smashing down arenas.
  • G Flip @ Lucille’s (SXSW) – 3/15/2018
    Felt a little like watching a star be born, especially since it was her second show EVER. Hasn’t quite taken off yet (how much can you do with only two songs in the world?) but G Flip is a natural born performer. The songs she has waiting in the chamber are pop perfection and a blast to see live. The kind of songs everyone was singing along to by the end of them, even though it was our first time hearing them. I was also standing behind her family from Australia, who were getting STUPID lit. Always fun to see a proud, lit fam for their super talented daughter. This is not to slight the second time I saw G Flip, which was with some music directors who got their mind blown when G Flip gets on drums during “About You” – I will never forget their faces.
  • Hop Along @ Cedar Street Courtyard (SXSW) – 3/16/2018
    First time seeing Hop Along. Just wanted to put this on here. Singing along to the hits was about as satisfying as you’d think it would be. Love this band to bits.
  • Four Tet @ National Sawdust – 3/22/2018
    I’ve never had a psychedelic experience through hallucinogenics, but I’d imagine that this came close to that feeling. Four Tet’s most recent live show included him playing in the center of a room amongst hanging, colored lightbulbs that were programmed to flow with the music. Watching Four Tet go through his songs live (it wasn’t just a DJ set, there was a ton of tech onstage with him) while the lights blinked and bobbed around in the audience and up into the ceiling was mind blowing. The stereo system itself was also surrounding the audience, so he would send sound to wrap around the room and move it around places, creating a multitude of hypnotic effects. I’ve already got my ticket to see him at Brooklyn Steel in February. I doubt it’ll capture the same magic as this did, but it’ll be another great, body-moving affair.
  • One Night, Three Shows – 4/13/2018
    I went to three shows in one night because I wanted to. It wasn’t even CMJ.

    • Waxahatchee @ Warsaw – Happy to finally see them! Didn’t play my fav songs, but regardless, another great one to check off my priority list. Sad to skip Hurray For The Riff Raff, but I had two other shows to hit that night.
    • Young Galaxy @ Knitting Factory – SO happy to finally see YG, on what would turn out to be their potential final tour. They played the hits (“We Have Everything”, “Pretty Boy”) and even came out for an encore, something that the lead singer said didn’t happen often. They seemed so grateful for everyone being there. After being a fan for seven years, it felt great to finally groove out to their songs in real time.
    • U.S. Girls (+Gold Dime) @ Baby’s All Right – Their third show of the night as well. Funny how we crossed paths like that. Like I wrote in my Top 50 Albums of 2018 post, U.S. Girls was the most impressive act I saw all year, packing wicked talent and grooves onto a small, small stage. This was at 1am, mind you. It was a delirious fever dream of a show and I feel lucky to have gotten the chance to see it.
  • Kevin Morby + Hand Habits @ Bowery Ballroom – 4/21/2018
    Another super wholesome show! I’ve love both Meg and Kevin so much, but seeing them play a show together was like heaven. New Hand Habits songs sounded amazing, and her old songs still shred like hell. As for Kev’s set: it was dope! The band is so in sync with each other. Also gotta love the moment when Meg jumps of Kevin’s back to rip a guitar solo while he sings. Just a sweet family outing.
  • serpentwithfeet @ The High Line Hotel – 5/6/2018
    Definitive proof that I have been in the same room as Björk, less than four feet away at one point. Thanks to some Red Bull money, serpentwithfeet put on an elaborate performance at an old meeting hall in a historic NYC hotel, complete with props and small dolls placed on every chair. As for the music, if you haven’t treated yourself to a serpent show yet, you better get the heck on it, cowboy! He’s hilarious, immensely talented and something so refreshing amongst many acts that try their hardest to not care. Because serpent definitely cares, and I am grateful for it.
  • Bombino @ Brooklyn Bowl – 5/9/2018
    Speaking of artists who care a lot, Bombino might just be the most skilled guitar player I’ve ever seen in my life. Whereas Meg Duffy (Hand Habits) is my favorite current guitarist, Bombino is the best shredder. My jaw was constantly left agape by the dude’s wicked shred skills, going off on multiple solos in non-Western modes, keys, what have you. Not to forget about his band, whom were also masterful in their own right and all stemmed from four or five different countries.
  • Fever Ray (+Bunny Michael) @ Brooklyn Hangar – 5/12/2018
    One of my longest-standing bucket list artists, Fever Ray, was finally checked off this year with a feverish, unabashed, brilliant and horny performance in a remote hangar in Brooklyn. It was great and all to hear the fiery new material, but hearing her superstar band incorporate her older, more somber songs into this jacked-up framework was a blast and a half. This was nearly a decade of anticipation, folks!
  • Midori Takada (+Huerco S.) @ Murmrr – 5/23/2018
    A master at work! Never thought I’d get the chance to see Midori Takada perform, but hey – New York, baby! Watching her do her thing on marimba, pseudo-taiko drums, cymbals and bells was amazing. The only detractor was the young boy sitting behind me, constantly fidgeting in his creaky seat and loud kid-whispering to his dad “daddy is that the lady?” and “daddy when is this over?” Why you would bring a little kid to a show like this I don’t know. Eventually they left, which was much appreciated. Thank you Midori!

Hit that read more for Oneohtrix, Yo La Tengo, Grouper, Nick Cave & more.

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Charli XCX’s ‘Pop 2’ is the Best Album of 2017, 2018 and Beyond

Posted on December 16, 2018 by Very Warm

Yesterday was the one-year anniversary of Charli XCX’s groundbreaking Pop 2 “mixtape”. It has dominated my listening rotation since its release, as its future pop folds are incredibly easy to get, for lack of a better word, addicted to. I’ve been so addicted, in fact, that for the week I was writing my Best 50 Albums of 2018 post, I had Pop 2 as my #1 album. It was only until I saw a fellow music fan rank it as their #1, which opened the floodgates for me. In the end though, I kept everything as it were. This was not before I wrote seven whopping paragraphs about Pop 2, which you can read below.

In summation, Pop 2 is a milestone for music as a whole, in my opinion. It was the best album of 2017, the best album of 2018, and will continue being a force until I can’t bear to listen to it anymore. Read my original manuscript for the album below.

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Best Of 2018 :: 50 Albums

Posted on December 14, 2018 by Very Warm

I wrote a lot in this post, so I’m gonna keep the intro brief. Thought music as a whole was pretty dang good this year. My top 20 records feel especially water tight. A good amount of pop-leaning stuff in there. Is that due to the traditionally indie publications that I read now putting a greater emphasis on pop coverage because it’s “cool”? Is it all being bought out by majors? Or am I just getting sucked into pop music more? I don’t like feeling like I’ve been brainwashed, so I’m gonna power through that. The bottom half is dominated by “experimental” records, which all kind of shuffled around throughout the year. Wish I liked that 0PN album more!  Anyways, I hope you enjoy + find things you love that you didn’t know about before. Love ya.

Honorable Mentions:

AKA these are overlooked albums that deserve at least a listen no matter who you are!

  • Confidence Man – Confident Music For Confident People
  • Eleventeen Eston – At The Water
  • Fire-Toolz – Skinless X-1
  • Gia Margaret – There’s Always A Glimmer
  • Hermit & The Recluse – Orpheus Vs. The Sirens
  • Holy Fawn – Death Spells
  • Kate NV – для FOR
  • møl – JORD
  • North Americans – Going Steady
  • Ovlov – TRU
  • Pariah – Here From Where We Are
  • Rezzett – Rezzett LP
  • Rosali – Trouble Anyway
  • The Samps – Breakfast
  • Young Galaxy – Down Time

— — — — —

TOP 50:

50. Wished Bone – Cellar Belly
49. Teyana Taylor – K.T.S.E.
48. Natalia Lafourcade – Musas: Un Homenaje al Folclore Latinoamericano en Manos de Los Macorinos, Vol. 2
47. Flasher – Constant Image
46. Oneohtrix Point Never – Age Of
45. Mary Lattimore – Hundreds Of Days
44. Young Jesus – The Whole Thing Is Just There
43. Kelly Moran – Ultraviolet
42. Leon Vynehall – Nothing Is Still 
41. Saintseneca – Pillar Of Na
40. Anenon – Tongue
39. Adrianne Lenker – abysskiss
38. Pusha T – DAYTONA
37. Camp Cope – How To Socialise And Make Friends
36. IDLES – Joy As An Act Of Resistance.
35. Daniel Bachman – The Morning Star
34. Natalie Prass – The Future And The Past
33. Kamasi Washington – Heaven & Earth
32. Caroline Says – No Fool Like An Old Fool
31. Bernice – Puff LP: In the air without a shape
30. Mountain Man – Magic Ship
29. Against All Logic – 2012-2017
28. Haley Heynderickx – I Need To Start A Garden
27. Kadhja Bonet – Childqueen
26. Denzel Curry – TA13OO
25. Julia Holter – Aviary
24. Palm – Rock Island
23. Renata Zeiguer – Old Ghost
22. Robyn – Honey
21. serpentwithfeet – soil

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Best Of 2018 :: 100 Songs

Posted on December 12, 2018 by Very Warm

Happened to be sleeping for all of 2018 due to a 2017-induced coma? Take a sabbatical from modern life due to the avalanche of hellfire raining down upon us on a daily basis? Miss literally all of the music from 2018 that myself and many other like-minded goofball individuals found enjoyable? Feeling left out and would like to catch up on all that? Then oh hell yeah pimp: I’ve got what you need.

Immediately below you’ll find 90 of my favorite songs of 2018, alphabetized. Below that, you’ll find my top 10 songs of the year, RANKED. Each artist is only represented once. My top 5 favorite songs were easy to pull from this group of 100. The second five are just as strong, but had to be put under a bit of deliberation to get there. A nice batch of tunes this year, definitely leaning more indie than electronic, but also sprinkling in some noise, pop and experimental. It was tough whittling this whole thing down to just 100 songs in general, so you can listen to all of these and almost 100 more favorites gathered as the year progressed on my Spotify playlist below. Hope you enjoy + let me know if there’s anything you’re peeved at me for missing!

—> BEST SONGS OF 2018 SPOTIFY PLAYLIST!

90 FAVORITE SONGS OF 2018 ::

  • ADRIANNE LENKER – “symbol”
  • AGAINST ALL LOGIC – “Some Kind Of Game”
  • BARRIE – “Canyons”
  • BERNICE – “Passenger Plane”
  • BOYGENIUS – “Souvenir”
  • CAMP COPE – “UFO Lighter”
  • CARDI B – “I Do (feat. SZA)”
  • CAROLINE ROSE – “Getting To Me”
  • CAROLINE SAYS – “Mea Culpa”
  • CAT POWER – “Wanderer”
  • CHANNEL TRES – “Topdown”
  • CHRISTINE & THE QUEENS – “Girlfriend (feat. Dam-Funk)”
  • CHROMATICS – “Black Walls”
  • CLARENCE CLARITY – “Adam & The Evil*”
  • CONNAN MOCKASIN – “Les Be Honest”
  • DANIEL BACHMAN – “Sycamore City”
  • DEAFHEAVEN – “Canary Yellow”
  • DENZEL CURRY – “CLOUT COBAIN”
  • DILLY DALLY – “Doom”
  • DIRTY PROJECTORS – “That’s A Lifestyle”
  • DJ KOZE – “Illumination (feat. Róisín Murphy)”
  • EARL SWEATSHIRT – “The Mint (feat. Navy Blue)”
  • ELEVENTEEN ESTON – “Where there is rain †”
  • EMPRESS OF – “When I’m With Him”
  • FLASHER – “Skim Milk”
  • FOODMAN – “Clock (feat. Machina)”
  • FORTH WANDERERS – “Company”
  • FRIENDLY FIRES – “Love Like Waves”
  • FUCKED UP – “House Of Keys”
  • G FLIP – “About You”
  • GANG GANG DANCE – “J-TREE”
  • GROUPER – “Driving”
  • HALEY HEYNDERICKX – “The Bug Collector”
  • HATCHIE – “Try”
  • HOLY NOW – “Tainted Heart”
  • HOP ALONG – “How Simple”
  • IDLES – “Colossus”
  • I’M WITH HER – “Pangaea”
  • JANELLE MONÁE – “Take A Byte”
  • JENNY HVAL – “Spells”
  • JERRY PAPER – “Baby”
  • JOJI – “SLOW DANCING IN THE DARK”
  • JULIA HOLTER – “Words I Heard”
  • KACEY MUSGRAVES – “Space Cowboy”
  • KADHJA BONET – “Mother Maybe”
  • KALI UCHIS – “Tyrant (feat. Jorja Smith)”
  • KEVIN KRAUTER – “Keep Falling In Love”
  • LET’S EAT GRANDMA – “Hot Pink”
  • LOMA – “Joy”
  • LYKKE LI– “deep end”
  • MARIE DAVIDSON – “Work It”
  • MGMT – “Me and Michael”
  • MITSKI – “Nobody”
  • MOUNTAIN MAN – “Slow Wake Up Sunday Morning”
  • MR TWIN SISTER – “Echo Arms”
  • MT. SI – “911”
  • NEGATIVE GEMINI – “Infin Path”
  • NO AGE – “Secret Swamp”
  • NORTH AMERICANS – “Grayling”
  • OCEAN HOPE – “Americana Nights”
  • PEGGY GOU – “It Makes You Forget (Itgehane)”
  • PLAYBOI CARTI – “Shoota (feat. Lil Uzi Vert)”
  • PLLUSH – “Big Train”
  • ROBYN – “Honey”
  • ROSALI – “I Wanna Know”
  • ROSS FROM FRIENDS – “Wear Me Down”
  • THE SAMPS – “Recovery”
  • SAM WILKES – “Hug”
  • SERPENTWITHFEET – “mourning song”
  • SHAME – “One Rizla”
  • SIMIAN MOBILE DISCO – “Caught In A Wave”
  • SKEE MASK – “Rev8617”
  • SMERZ – “Half Life”
  • SNAIL MAIL – “Heat Wave”
  • SOPHIE – “Immaterial”
  • SUPERORGANISM – “Everybody Wants To Be Famous”
  • TIRZAH – “Basic Need”
  • TRAVIS SCOTT – “SICKO MODE (feat. Drake)”
  • UNKNOWN MORTAL ORCHESTRA – “Everybody Acts Crazy Nowadays”
  • U.S. GIRLS – “Rosebud”
  • WISHED BONE – “Hubbub”
  • WYE OAK – “Lifer”
  • YAEJI – “One More”
  • YO LA TENGO – “For You Too”
  • YOUNG FATHERS – “In My View”
  • YOUNG GALAXY – “Seeing Eye Dog”
  • YUNO – “No Going Back”
  • YVES TUMOR – “Recognizing The Enemy”
  • 1010 BENJA SL – “Tragic X”
  • 700 BLISS – “Ring The Alarm”

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Best Of 2018 :: 10 EPs

Posted on December 10, 2018 by Very Warm

As the tradition goes, WARM VISIONS LIST WEEK gets kicked off with the EPs. The little appetizers to stimulate musical appetite, the accoutrements to dress the heavy-hitting long-players. Although, someone can be plenty satisfied by ordering just apps at a restaurant. This is essentially what’s happening here: we have a bunch of bite-sized packages that pack in flavor like no other, but exist on a separate section of the menu from the entrees. Quite a bit of flavor we have on deck here as well, from bouncing pseudo hip-house, to sugary sweet jangle pop, to experimental R&B, to interplanetary house bangers, to masochistic electronic. Let’s get it!

10. 700 Bliss – Spa 700

A bent metal baseball bat with golden bangles hanging from the handle is propped up in the corner of a concrete stairwell.
— — — — —
Fiery collab between warrior poet and exciting experimental producer/DJ, incorporating non-western melodies and instrumentation with deep bass and tough vocal deliveries.

9. 1010 Benja SL – Two Houses

One motivated youth trains flocks of birds to spread the message of rebellion through distinct flight patterns during the changing of the morning guard.
— — — — —
Experimental pop with a super unique voice, showing flashes of absolute brilliance among some inconsistencies. One to watch for 2019.

8. Helena Deland – From The Series Of Songs “Altogether Unaccompanied” Vol. I-IV

At the bottom of a whirlpool, beside the tattered remains of lost ships, lays a resting, powerful spirit.
— — — — —
Patient, well-arranged tunes with vocals and instrumentals that pour in a steady stream. Seemingly effortless, subtle grooves.

7. Peggy Gou – Once

A virus from outer space that makes everyone dance has floated into our atmosphere!!!
— — — — —
Three interplanetary party bangers, an instant burner for anyone’s DJ set. Insane boogie.

6. Ravyn Lenae – Crush EP

The soundtrack to one’s perspective of an overlapping network of online chat rooms between friends & potential lovers after being grounded on the night of the big dance.
— — — — —
Slick, psychedelic R&B pop songs from a quickly-ascending star, evidence that a traditionally stellar pop voice can succeed over weird, cosmic guitar instrumentals.

5. Yuno – Moodie

Every patch of dirt that you step on with bare feet, a palm tree seed is planted.
— — — — —
Every good trope in indie rock from the past decade distilled into six killer songs.

4. Channel Tres – Channel Tres

Driving to the club, down a palm-lined street at night in a very expensive car, but continuing to avoid reaching the club because the playlist you made is too good and you don’t want it to end so soon.
— — — — —
Elastic, Detroit-leaning techno with coolest-customer West Coast emcee delivery. The type of music that makes you feel cool no matter what. Appropriately from the same label that brought us Yaeji.

3. boygenius – boygenius

Going home for Thanksgiving to confront and repair years-old trauma and wafting embarrassment with assorted parties in your small town.
— — — — —
Three of this decade’s most important new songwriters combine their powers for a highly impactful set of tunes, further establishing their long-lasting legacies of emotional intelligence.

2. Hatchie – Sugar & Spice

Like acquiring the Midas Touch but instead of gold, everything you touch turns to Valentine’s Day heart candies.
— — — — —
Refreshing, overdriven jangle pop thrown into a tornado of reverb. An overdose of pop rock sweetness. Calls upon the immediate respect from the old masters.

1. Smerz – Have fun

Across a foggy, strobe-lit club, a dancer stares at you intimidatingly.
— — — — —
Tough, smoky, intimidating house-touched electronic. A balanced euphoria of abrasive, smooth and mysterious textures. Masochistically addictive; a dark carnal pleasure. Unsurprisingly, they’re friends with SASSY 009, the creators of my fav EP from 2017.

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Recommended Albums: November 2018

Posted on December 8, 2018 by Very Warm

Sliding right in before YEAR END LIST time comes my favorite releases from November, a cute little crew that had a slight impact on my YEAR END LIST, with Rosalía, Earl Sweatshirt and Kelly Moran all making appearances in my Top 50. Oops! I revealed too much – hopefully you’ll see that full product soon. Hope you enjoy this selection until then.

Earl Sweatshirt – Some Rap Songs [Tan Cressida / Columbia]
A HAM radio enthusiast plays multiple distorted frequencies at once at high volumes while reclining in an old oversized recliner.

Ellis – The Fuzz [Self-Released]
A small creek, choked with dead leaves, gurgles as melted snow refills its currents.

Foxwarren – Foxwarren [Anti-]
Any effort to try and relax and focus on yourself gets upended by thoughts of impending doom and fluttering daydreams of unrequited / out of reach crushes.

Kelly Moran – Ultraviolet [Warp]
An ice castle is constantly destroying and rebuilding itself into different prismatic formations of varying complexity.

Meg Baird & Mary Lattimore – Ghost Forests [Three Lobed]
At the base of a snowy mountain range, a breeze blows through a field of flowers surrounding a picturesque house.

Oneohtrix Point Never – Love In The Time Of Lexapro [Warp]
An old computer in a remote Nebraskan farmhouse just received a spam email.

Rosalía – El mal querer [Sony]
A radiant sunbeam follows you like a spotlight, putting both your daily successes & failures on center stage for everyone to see, magnifying their impact to dramatic degrees.

The Samps – Breakfast [Gloriette Records]
Three broken CRT TVs are given life after being injected with copious amounts of Re-Animator slime and decide to make a rock band out of distorted toy commercials, b-movie musical rock songs, screw tapes, and early corporate hip hop.

Vince Staples – FM! [Def Jam]
A sensationalist news broadcast is interrupted by a fleet of cars with bass-boosted speaker systems and a bunch of kids playing loud summer games in the street.

GR8 SONGS OF NOVEMBER::

You can listen to these + more of my favorite songs of the year on my SPOTIFY PLAYLIST.

  • Earl Sweatshirt – “Azucar”
  • Earl Sweatshirt – “Nowhere2go”
  • Earl Sweatshirt – “Peanut”
  • Ellis – “Frostbite”
  • Eyedress – “Be A Better Friend”
  • Foxwarren – “Lost In A Dream”
  • Kelly Moran – “Water Music”
  • Oneohtrix Point Never – “Last Known Image Of A Song (Ryuichi Sakamoto Rework)”
  • Rosalía – “Di Mi Nombre (Cap.8: Éxtasis)”
  • Rosalía – “Reniego (Cap.5: Lamento)”
  • The Samps – “Recovery”
  • Sharon Van Etten – “Jupiter 4”
  • Vince Staples – “FUN!”
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Tatsuro Yamashita – “Mirai No Theme” [2018]

Posted on December 7, 2018 by Very Warm

Haven’t posted a legit song in a while, but this **new** song from city pop icon Tatsuro Yamashita has been burning a hole in my brain for so many reasons. I unwittingly ran into it in the trailer for Mirai, the new anime film from Mamoru Hosoda (The Girl Who Leapt Through Time, Summer Wars, Wolf Children), AKA one of the most prominent filmmakers of the genre outside of Hayao Miyazaki and Makoto Shinkai.

I had been getting some pretty incessant instagram ads for the film, so I decided to finally watch the trailer. Seemed cute enough, but then I started paying attention to the theme music. Usually the themes and openings to anime films and TV shows aren’t my thing, but this one definitely grabbed me thanks to a familiar voice. Sure enough, the song was performed by Tatsuro Yamashita, one of the most recognizable voices and artists in the city pop realm. His album For You has some of the most memorable art in the genre, and his married status with j-pop queen Mariya Takeuchi gains him cred too.

What floors me the most about this song, aside from the fact that it’s a lovely, bright and bubbly piano pop ballad that soars high but has its feet planted firmly on the ground, is that this man Tatsuro has not missed a beat since his retroactively labeled hey-day. His voice sounds exactly the same, and this song would not feel out of place on one of his 80s albums; complete with a killer saxophone solo, chiming glockenspiel and charming overdubbed vocals & ad-libs. It’s incredibly easy to slip into this catatonic state of thinking that you’re enjoying something nostalgic and a piece of music from a better time while listening, but the contrary is true, at least for the latter. We are truly in hell times, but this magical creation has been bestowed upon us. In 2018! What have we done to deserve this?

Has he just been on his game for the past forty years and I haven’t given him the time of day yet? Is this a constant thing? Has he been making bangers for other animated works throughout the years? Is he a go-to guy in that field? Or has the anime studio that likely commissioned Yamashita caught on to the fact that city pop is THE THING right now? Did they call upon one of the deities of the genre himself to conjure up another bonafide city pop slapper, both as a nod to fans, but also to get saps like me to buy a ticket to a limited screening here in NYC to see the song in the film on the big screen? Honestly, it’s all up in the air at this point. Too many facts pointing in different directions. What we do have right now on the ground, though, is an incredible gift to any and all city pop fans in the year 2018. The artists are still out there churning out heat – it’s just a matter of how and when it will get to you. And yes, I bought a ticket to see the movie in theaters for this upcoming Saturday. That is for sure a thing.

In the mean time, do yourself a favor and listen to Yamashita’s 1982 album For You below. It’s been in my regular rotation for the better part of two years now, so you know it’s good.

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Recommended Albums: October 2018

Posted on November 15, 2018 by Very Warm

The theme of this month’s Recommended Albums post is “One Of These Things Is Not Like The Other”. You’ll find that the predominant mood or sound in this collection of ten albums is dreamy, pensive and euphoric. The one glaring omission is Daughters’ You Won’t Get Want You Want, a poison-dripping, splintering record that will leave your head pounding with agony (in a good way). There are definitely some HUGE albums in this crop here and I’m happy how the month went. Really looking forward to everyone seeing my favorites of the year already!

Adrianne Lenker – abysskiss [Saddle Creek]
A baby gradually gains cognitive function and starts to recognize its parents and stimuli surrounding it, like the smells of the kitchen to the color of the changing leaves outside.

boygenius – boygenius EP [Matador]
Going home for Thanksgiving to confront and repair years-old trauma and wafting embarrassment with assorted parties in your small town.

Cat Power – Wanderer [Domino]
A wizened traveler regales a forgotten desert bar crowd with tales from the eternal road.

Daughters – You Won’t Get What You Want [Ipecac]
Being trapped in a haunted house for 12 hours with intensely vengeful spirits, intent on constantly torturing you to the edge of consciousness until morning.

Domenique Dumont – Miniatures de auto rhythm [Antinote]
Being granted the ability to shrink, you evade responsibilities and create a wondrous paradise out of mundane objects now turned fantastical by your drastic size difference.

Julia Holter – Aviary [Domino]
A hidden passageway to an ancient wonderland opens up in the botanical gardens if you take care of your plants at home like you would a loved one.

Miya Folick – Premonitions [Interscope / Terrible]
A soundtrack for using other people’s soaps and conditioners at an absurdly fancy airbnb.

Robyn – Honey [Island]
Shooting personal audio messages into deep space to hopefully land human contact with a long-lost friend.

Yowler – Black Dog In My Path [Double Double Whammy]
Picking up musings of a wandering spirit on a remote radio frequency in the mountains.

1010 Benja SL – Two Houses [Young Turks]
One motivated youth trains flocks of birds to spread the message of rebellion across the city through distinct flight patterns during the changing of the morning guard.

–> Also want to give a shout out to Young Jesus – The Whole Thing Is Just There [Saddle Creek], which I discovered after writing all ten of these little blurbs and there’s no way I’m deleting any of them. This thing is good!! And ya I picked the 20-minute track as my favorite.

SINGLE SPOTLIGHT::

Jessica Pratt – “This Time Around”
In a moment of serious, gobsmacked musical admiration without a hint of irony (something that doesn’t happen often on this site), I have to highlight Jessica Pratt’s “This Time Around”, the first single from her upcoming album, Quiet Signs (out February 8th via Mexican Summer). Since its release, Pratt’s 2015 record On Your Own Love Again has been continuously creeping higher and higher into the upper echelons of my favorite records of the decade. Its sour, fuzzy, psychedelic-without-doing-too-much approach to folk music has continued to sprout new flowering growths of personal admiration, where some records in the same vein have wilted as time passed.

This formula of almighty not-doing-too-much is being used on this new song as well, as the song is purely a repetitive, ultra-simple guitar line, polite blushes of mellotron, and Pratt’s otherworldly, spindly voice, drenched in a good amount of reverb with occasional overdubs. The meditative, trance-like nature of the guitar pattern is easy to get locked into, which allows Pratt to twirl around the listener with smoky wisps of voice, at points passing through unnoticed, but at others conducting an intricate performance of web-spinning. Pretty remarkable that this song is so simple, yet I find new folds over multiple listens. Much like the Mountain Man record from this year, sometimes we just need moments of quiet introspection to right our heads. That’s definitely what’s happening here with me. Right now Quiet Signs is sitting high as my most-anticipated album of 2019.

GR8 SONGS OF OCTOBER::

Listen to all these songs and more on my Best of 2018 Playlist!

  • Adrianne Lenker – “symbol”
  • Beach House – “Alien”
  • boygenius – “Souvenir”
  • Cat Power – “Woman”
  • Clarence Clarity – “Naysayer, Magick Obeyer”
  • Connan Mockasin – “Les Be Honest”
  • Daughters – “Guest House”
  • Daughters – “Long Road, No Turns”
  • Daughters – “Satan In The Wait”
  • Empress Of – “Trust Me Baby”
  • Farao – “Truthsayer”
  • Fucked Up – “House Of Keys”
  • Graham Van Pelt – “Vanishing Point”
  • Harrison – “Atmosphere (feat. Daniela Andrade)”
  • Jamila Woods – “Giovanni”
  • Jerry Paper – “Baby”
  • Joji – “SLOW DANCING IN THE DARK”
  • Julia Holter – “Another Dream”
  • Julia Holter – “Words I Heard”
  • Kero Kero Bonito – “Flyway”
  • Kikagaku Moyo – “Gatherings”
  • Marie Davidson – “Work It”
  • Miya Folick – “Stop Talking”
  • Mr Twin Sister – “Alien FM”
  • Robyn – “Human Being”
  • The Samps – “Hit N Run”
  • Sam Wilkes – “Hug”
  • Sharon Van Etten – “Comeback Kid”
  • Sheck Wes – “Gmail”
  • Swearin’ – “Untitled (LA)”
  • Thundercat & BADBADNOTGOOD – “King Of The Hill”
  • Young Jesus – “Gulf”
  • Yowler – “WTFK”
  • 1010 Benja SL – “Tragic X”
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Nick Cave & The Bad Seeds – “Jubilee Street (Live In Copenhagen)” [2018]

Posted on November 1, 2018 by Very Warm

On October 26, 2018, I saw Nick Cave & The Bad Seeds perform at Barclays Center in Brooklyn. It was one of the best shows I’ve seen all year. I’m not even a massive fan of Nick Cave. I’m pretty familiar with Skeleton Tree and Let Love In, but it’s kind of fringe from there on out. Regardless of my inexperience with his full catalog, I was fully dazzled, playing the songs I did know (bless the hits), along with Push The Sky Away stand out “Jubilee Street”.

At this moment in the show is when I decided, “wow – I’m really here for something extraordinary”. Just watch the video above and witness the grand build up and euphoric pay off at the end. Talk about energy, talk about showmanship, talk about brilliance. Luckily, Nick Cave recently released an EP of live cuts from a recent show in Copenhagen, which the video above is from as well. I’ve been listening to it nonstop, telling everyone about it.

Now I’m telling you, dear reader. Even if you’re completely unfamiliar with Cave’s work, I think you’ll probably enjoy this song.

 

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The 100 Best Albums Of The 2000s (2018 Version)

Posted on October 29, 2018 by Very Warm

With the end of the 10s rapidly approaching and with it, an inevitable decade-recapping list, I felt a deep inspiration to look back at my previous effort to summarize a decade’s musical output. I made a list of The 100 Best Albums of the 2000s back in high school. In the year 2000, I was but a fresh 8 years old, listening to the Indigo Girls, smooth jazz and Enya my parents played in the house. Not an ideal way to keep track of releases.

Eventually I came around to classic rock and then dived into the dungeon of indie rock, thanks to discovering sites like Pitchfork, Stereogum and other music blogs. I had a lot of catching up to do in listening to albums that were released pre-2007 while making the list in 2010, but I’d say that it was a pretty decent mirror to my personal tastes at the time, with a few minor exceptions. Looking back on it now, there are a few albums in there I don’t remember ever listening to, along with a few things ranked suspiciously high.

As a fun little project that took far too much of my time, I recreated the list to accommodate all the records from the 00s I’ve listened to since I published the original list. This process served as an ample distraction while my life hurtles at an uncomfortable speed toward “adulthood”. The end product is a winning Warm Visions bingo card: my useless knack for list-making, navel-gazing circle-jerkery, music that no one on the planet would consider unique or interesting in 2018 and beyond, and being approximately 8 years irrelevant are all present. Enjoy!

* indicates a record newly added to the list.

100. HEALTH – Get Color *
99. Studio – West Coast *
98. The Postal Service – Give Up
97. Colleen – Everyone Alive Wants Answers *
96. Kanye West – Late Registration
95. The Thermals – The Body, The Blood, The Machine
94. The Tough Alliance – A New Chance
93. Lightning Bolt – Wonderful Rainbow
92. Beck – The Information *
91. Mount Eerie, Julie Doiron & Fred Squire – Lost Wisdom *
90. Arcade Fire – Neon Bible
89. The Unicorns – Who Will Cut Our Hair When We’re Gone?
88. The Killers – Hot Fuss
87. Life Without Buildings – Any Other City *
86. m83 – Dead Cities, Red Seas & Lost Ghosts
85. Sweet Trip – Velocity : Design : Comfort *
84. Smog – Dongs Of Sevotion *
83. Yeah Yeah Yeahs – Fever To Tell
82. Boris – Pink *
81. Wilco – Yankee Hotel Foxtrot
80. The Flaming Lips – Yoshimi Battles The Pink Robots
79. Beck – Modern Guilt
78. A Place To Bury Strangers – A Place To Bury Strangers *
77. Outkast – Stankonia
76. Jens Lekman – Night Falls Over Kortedala
75. The Books – Thought For Food *
74. Sun Araw – Beach Head *
73. Animal Collective – Feels *
72. Portishead – Third
71. Death Cab For Cutie – Transatlanticism
70. Grizzly Bear – Yellow House
69. Ghostface Killah – Supreme Clientele *
68. Animal Collective – Sung Tongs *
67. Sonic Youth – Rather Ripped *
66. Mount Eerie – Wind’s Poem *
65. The New Pornographers – Mass Romantic
64. Fleet Foxes – Fleet Foxes
63. Have A Nice Life – Deathconsciousness *
62. Midlake – The Trials Of Van Occupanther *
61. Fucked Up – The Chemistry Of Common Life *
60. Sleater-Kinney – One Beat *
59. Stars Of The Lid – The Tired Sounds Of Stars Of The Lid *
58. Arcade Fire – Funeral
57. Sufjan Stevens – Michigan
56. MF Doom – MM.. Food? *
55. Sam Amidon – All Is Well *
54. Songs: Ohia – Magnolia Electric Co. *
53. Flying Lotus – Los Angeles *
52. Broadcast – Haha Sound *
51. Sonic Youth – Murray Street *

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