Charli XCX – “5 In The Morning” [2018]

Posted on June 12, 2018 by Very Warm

Charli really cannot stop her hot streak she started back in 2017 with Number 1 Angel and Pop 2. This is what she’s calling the start of a series of releases from her for the year – count me as excited, especially if they’re all this good.

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Playlist – Ecstatic Affluence: A City Pop Odyssey

Posted on June 11, 2018 by Very Warm

ECSTATIC AFFLUENCE: A CITY POP ODYSSEY is perhaps the thing I hold the most pride in from all my days as a “music curator”, if you can call me that. It’s a 50-song playlist of exclusively Japanese music centering around the 80s and dipping a bit into the 70s near the end. It is likely the most nerdy thing I have ever made, but also potentially the most fun and free of irony, which is something we all need nowadays.

This brand of music featured here, usually labeled as “city pop”, was usually paired with flashy urban experiences, primarily listening to fun, summer music in newly-invented car CD stereos. Sonically, it’s a mix of  jazz fusion, adult contemporary rock, R&B, maximalist synth pop, slap bass, epic horns & string sections, experiments in electronics, and a fine mist of romance and adventure. Think big, bright synth pop and cheesy, smile-inducing grooves.

The playlist starts with the bombastic and unforgettable “Les Aventures de TINTIN” by Taeko Ohnuki, a song I found through a tweet from musician and fellow city pop scholar Skylar Spence. It flies by at a million miles per minute and sets the mood for the first half of the playlist. Following that is potentially the most popular city pop song, Hiroshi Sato’s “Say Goodbye”, which I think was popularized in indie circles by Toro Y Moi? Unsure on that one, but it’s a massive banger. Haven’t found someone who doesn’t like it.

Now this playlist doesn’t just center on pop, despite its name. In the back half, I threw in some ambient/new age-leaning songs, folk-rock from the late 70s, and a few more weirdo cuts that I thought were too good to be left out. However, it’s mostly centered around the pop experience. Think of the other parts as excursions from the norm – going into places previously unexplored. It ends with Yoshiko Sai’s “Fuyu No Chikado”, an epic piano ballad I’ve posted about on here before. Very reminiscent of the last Weyes Blood record.

Over the past five years or so, city pop has exploded into a cult phenomenon, as fans, collectors and curators rush to find the hottest, buried groove. Strangely enough, many of these songs became uncovered through the YouTube Suggested Videos algorithm. This tool has led to a few records (to my knowledge) being issued for the first time internationally and bringing new attention to the genre. In addition to that, blogs like Listen To This (one of my major influences in blogging. Seriously check it out!) and other “4th World Japan” forums help dig up this stuff and bring it all to light, offering free downloads and streams on every post. The vaporwave craze too, along with the (personally much-maligned) genres of “future-funk” and “lo-fi study beats” had major hands in bringing all of this into the sphere of many internet-dwelling citizens.

I usually make Spotify playlists for everything I post on the blog, but since many of these songs’ rights are all split up everywhere / groups & labels have no interest in putting their stuff up on US Spotify, I thought it would be easiest to make a YT playlist. They’re all up there already. You can also find each individual song (except for one white whale) linked down below in the “read more” section because I didn’t think of the playlist idea until I already linked everything. I hope you enjoy! Listen to this on the move for best results.

LASTLY – I have made a download for this playlist and have sent it around to a few friends to test its “fun” potential. If you’re interested in getting a DL of this… lemme know. I can hook you up.

“ECSTATIC AFFLUENCE” – THE YOUTUBE PLAYLIST

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Playlist – It Felt Good To Be Alone

Posted on June 7, 2018 by Very Warm

The second playlist I’ve made for Warm Visions takes a severe turn from the last one I made, Beach Ball Hell – A Summer Playlist. This one is not nearly as accessible and I don’t really recommend going into it while you’re cheery.

TW: This is a post and playlist about depression! If you’re dealing with depression and need help, you can go to Crisis Text Line to talk to someone right away. You can get through this!

There was a good portion of time recently where I was really struggling. I was existing in an extremely dark place with seemingly no end in sight. I felt as though I was a smear on a lens: faded, oily, unintelligible, susceptible to further smudging and hard to completely erase.

Thankfully I emerged from the tunnel, but like in all times in my life, a scrapbook of memories, feelings and sensations associated with songs and albums I consumed during that time was ultimately produced and chained to me, with most of its contents forever tainted by the heavy tar I bogged myself down with. Some of the songs that became infected were neutral upon their creation, but I wilted them to fit into my headspace. Others came to me naturally. The songs that were made to be listened to by someone living in a darkened, alternate dimension. Sadboy songs. I was indeed a sad boy, so it worked out perfectly. My cocoon was well-padded with depressing fodder.

This is a playlist of the songs that encapsulates how I experienced my life (for the most part) from late 2014 to mid 2017. It’s named after the second line of Slint’s “Don, Aman”, a song with a scenario I lived out in real time at a New Year’s Eve 2015/2016 party. It’s by and far the most indulgent thing I’ve ever put up on this site, which is saying a lot. I wanted to post this to make it real and to acknowledge it. If you don’t want to be sad or engage in my previous selfish, poisonous and sadsack behavior, then don’t listen! Yeehaw, folks. Find the link to the Spotify playlist below.

Note: two of the songs listed here are not on Spotify, so I linked them in the list below.

“IT FELT GOOD TO BE ALONE” – THE SPOTIFY PLAYLIST

  1. Slint – “Don, Aman”
  2. Mount Eerie – “The Mouth Of Sky”
  3. Codeine – “Cigarette Machine”
  4. Duster – “Topical Solution”
  5. PJ Harvey – “Horses In My Dreams”
  6. Red House Painters – “Katy Song”
  7. Wild Beasts – “Invisible”
  8. Sergei Rachmaninoff – “Lilacs, Op. 21, No.5”
  9. Tim Hecker – “In The Air III”
  10. Eluvium – “Under The Water It Glowed”
  11. Broadcast – “You And Me In Time”
  12. Colleen – “Goodbye Sunshine”
  13. Majical Cloudz – “Heavy”
  14. Mica Levi – “Love”
  15. Dntel – “Anywhere Anyone”
  16. Dntel – “Pillowcase”
  17. Dntel – “Fear Of Corners”
  18. Mister Lies – “I Walk”
  19. Elite Gymnastics – “h e r e , i n  h e a v e n  2”
  20. 2814 – “恢复”
  21. Drake & Future – “Diamonds Dancing”
  22. Portishead – “Sour Times”
  23. Holly Herndon – “An Exit (feat. Amnesia Scanner)”
  24. Oneohtrix Point Never – “Zebra”
  25. The Smiths – “Well I Wonder”
  26. Grouper – “Headache”
  27. The Microphones – “The Moon”
  28. Hundred Waters – “Forgive Me For Giving Up”
  29. Sarah Neufeld – “Where The Light Comes In”
  30. Sun Kil Moon – “Duk Koo Kim”
  31. Radiator Hospital – “Fireworks”
  32. Waxahatchee – “Noccalula”
  33. Alex G – “Hollow”
  34. My Bloody Valentine – “Sometimes”
  35. Neil Young – “On The Beach”
  36. Grouper – “Stuck”
  37. Nick Cave & The Bad Seeds – “Magneto”
  38. Mirroring – “Fell Sound”
  39. Aphex Twin – “Blue Calx”
  40. Oneohtrix Point Never – “No Good”

If you have any requests on other themes to base some playlists around, I’m all ears! I’ve got a few that I’m still tweaking, but always got room for more. Hope you enjoy.

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Recommended Albums: May 2018

Posted on June 4, 2018 by Very Warm

May was likely the biggest month of music in 2018. It seemed like every “major” record in my sphere was released. You’ll see that massive list of everything I listened to this month in addition to the ten records listed here down at the bottom of the post.

My top favorites of the bunch are definitely the two most electronic records, Skee Mask & DJ Koze. I encourage anyone not usually versed in the arts of house or dance to check both of these out. They’re truly great and will likely hold great spots on my final list at the end of the year.

For everything else, May was a big win for folks who like pop on the dreamier, hazier side – Beach House, Bernice, Hatchie, Jess Williamson and Pinkshinyultrablast have got you covered. Simian Mobile Disco, Lucrecia Dalt and Mary Lattimore are unique listens that don’t have anything similar close to them this year. All in all, pretty satisfying blend of great records. Hope you enjoy.

Beach House – 7 [Sub Pop]
Laying below dozens of printers and getting covered in delicately falling Rorschach tests.

Bernice – Puff LP: In the air without a shape [Arts & Crafts]
A conductor stands atop a tall hill and directs the graceful movement of passing clouds.

DJ Koze – Knock Knock [Pampa Records]
Laying in the bed of a pickup truck, you watch the skies change hue, listen to different sounds coming out of passing cars, and feel the terrain changing around you as you make your way across the country to visit an old friend.

Hatchie – Sugar & Spice [Double Double Whammy]
Like acquiring the Midas Touch but instead of gold, everything you touch turns to Valentine’s Day heart candies.

Jess Williamson – Cosmic Wink [Mexican Summer]
In a dusty, Southwestern town, you, as a nomadic soothsayer, sit on the porch of an old, gothic house and tell folks fortunes with a crystal ball and a smoke machine.

Lucrecia Dalt – Anticlines [RVNG Intl.]
While hiking a remote canyon, you yell out for potential human contact. A dissonant chorus of inhuman voices yell back.

Mary Lattimore – Hundreds Of Days [Ghostly International]
At a sacred spot deep in the forest, hundreds of little butterflies will peacefully roost upon your tired frame.

Pinkshinyultrablast – Miserable Miracles [Club AC30]
On a secluded beach, thousands of glass shards wash ashore and refract the powerful sunset’s rays into bright, rainbow prisms of light across the sky.

Simian Mobile Disco – Murmurations [Wichita]
Watching in awe as floating debris, arcs of lightning, torrential rain and ripping winds churn the surrounding landscape within the eye of a storm.

Skee Mask – Compro [Ilian Tape]
Like being strapped inside a metal box that has one small window to look out of and being pushed down a large, snowy mountain.

GR8 SONGS OF MAY::

Listen to all of these and more on my Best of 2018 Spotify Playlist.

  • A$AP Rocky – “Buck Shots”
  • Aïsha Devi – “Dislocation Of The Alpha”
  • Basement Revolver – “Baby”
  • Beach House – “Dark Spring”
  • Bernice – “Passenger Plane”
  • Black Moth Super Rainbow – “Mr. No One”
  • Carla Bozulich – “Glass House”
  • Childish Gambino – “This Is America”
  • Chromatics – “Black Walls”
  • Deeper – “Should Be”
  • DJDS – “Why Don’t You Come On (feat. Khalid & Empress Of)”
  • DJ Koze – “Illumination (feat. Roisin Murphy)”
  • DJ Koze – “Moving In A Liquid (feat. Eddie Fummler)”
  • G Flip – “Killing My Time”
  • Hatchie – “Sleep”
  • IDLES – “Colossus”
  • Jenny Hval – “Spells”
  • Jess Williamson – “Dream State”
  • John Maus – “Episode”
  • Jon Hopkins – “Everything Connected”
  • Kevin Krauter – “Keep Falling In Love”
  • Mary Lattimore – “Hello From The Edge Of The Earth”
  • Middle Kids – “Mistake”
  • Mitski – “Geyser”
  • Ocean Hope – “Americana Nights”
  • Parquet Courts – “Almost Had To Start A Fight/In And Out Of Patience”
  • Pinkshinyultrablast – “Dance AM”
  • Playboi Carti – “Lean 4 Real (feat. Skepta)”
  • Pllush – “Big Train”
  • Pusha T – “If You Know You Know”
  • serpentwithfeet – “Cherubim”
  • Simian Mobile Disco – “Caught In A Wave”
  • Skee Mask – “Flyby VFR”
  • Skee Mask – “Kozmic Flush”
  • Stephen Malkmus & The Jicks – “Middle America”
  • Tanukichan – “Perfect”
  • Tirzah – “Gladly”

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G Flip – “Killing My Time” [2018]

Posted on May 16, 2018 by Very Warm

I unfortunately neglected getting a post out about my time at SXSW 2018, but I can safely say that one of the best acts I saw was Australian pop artist G Flip, who I got the chance to see twice. Those at the festival were her first-ever live performances, riding the hype of her one single, “About You” (which I’ve already posted about on here).

She’s following up this massive wave of hype with “Killing My Time,” a huge crowd-pleaser. I’d say it’s more straight-up pop than “About You” and it scratches all my poptimist itches. Can’t wait til she plays more US dates – if she comes to your area, don’t slack! Get to it!

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Recommended Albums: April 2018

Posted on May 13, 2018 by Very Warm

I had a bit of difficulty in creating this batch of records this time around. There was no surplus of good albums to choose from, but rather not many that really connected with me. The undeniable favorite from this month (and the year so far), is Hop Along. An easy choice for me. One favorite that I think doesn’t need to be featured here per se is the Cardi B album. Surprisingly solid pretty much throughout. Don’t really see too many HUGE budget albums like that stay consistently upright across its length. Really love the Half Waif record, the Grouper record, Young Galaxy… it’s good. All good. Hope you enjoy.

Air Waves – Warrior [Western Vinyl]
Upon finding a collection of old photos wedged in a library book, you trace their lineage to uncover the story about a town hero of yonder year.

Anemone – Baby Only You And I [Luminelle]
The billowing, flower-patterned pants you bought at a thrift store keeps throwing you surprise parties when you come back from work.

Elysia Crampton – Elysia Crampton [Break World]
The God of Sand feasts on the natural chaos brought from constant bloody parades and pirate radio broadcasts polluting the airwaves.

Grouper – Grid Of Points [Kranky]
After a hard, summer rain, steam rises from a clearing that’s been ravaged by wildfires.

Half Waif – Lavender [Cascine]
For three weeks, pale purple feathers fall from the sky onto a small village in the swamp.

Hop Along – Bark Your Head Off, Dog [Saddle Creek]
Getting so deeply invested in your family’s old, nostalgic stories that you begin to interact with corporeal visions of times long past.

Janelle Monae – Dirty Computer [Bad Boy Records]
A deliciously funky sexual revolution to get all this bogus business balanced.

Kali Uchis – Isolation [Virgin EMI]
Sitting by a pool in a plush robe while the neighborhood burns behind you.

Speedy Ortiz – Twerp Verse [Carpark Records]
A fleet of empty shopping carts is pushed down a long, cement driveway and crashes into an employee’s 2003 Ford Focus.

Young Galaxy – Down Time [self-released]
In a town where the skies eternally threaten thunderstorms yet never strike, two friends develop a telepathic mode of communication to keep each other company in the darkness.

GR8 SONGS OF APRIL ::

Listen to all of my favorite songs of 2018 on my Spotify playlist!

  • Air Waves – “Tangerine”
  • Anemone – “Bout De Toi”
  • Cardi B – “Drip (ft. Migos)”
  • Cardi B – “I Do (ft. SZA)”
  • Chrome Sparks – “All Or Nothing (ft. Angelica Bess)”
  • Daniel Avery – “Projector”
  • Elysia Crampton – “Oscollo”
  • First Hate – “Fallen”
  • Forth Wanderers – “Company”
  • Friendly Fires – “Love Like Waves”
  • Grouper – “Driving”
  • Half Waif – “Silt”
  • Half Waif – “Torches”
  • Hatchie – “Sleep”
  • Hop Along – “How Simple”
  • Hop Along – “The Fox In Motion”
  • Hop Along – “What The Writer Meant”
  • Janelle Monae – “Take A Byte”
  • Kali Uchis – “Feel Like A Fool”
  • Kali Uchis – “Tyrant (ft. Jorja Smith)”
  • Kadhja Bonet – “Delphine”
  • Mind Over Mirrors – “Oculate Beings”
  • Natalie Prass – “Short Court Style”
  • Project Pablo – “Napoletana”
  • Speedy Ortiz – “Sport Death”
  • Unknown Mortal Orchestra – “Everyone Acts Crazy Nowadays”
  • Wye Oak – “Lifer”
  • Young Galaxy – “River”
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Playlist – Beach Ball Hell

Posted on May 5, 2018 by Very Warm

Nice weather is finally upon us in 2018, so I thought I’d celebrate the occasion by starting off what will hopefully be a consistent stream of playlists, curated by yours truly. I’ve got a few works in progress right now, hopefully will start churning them out soon.

The main theme here is of course enjoying the nice, warm weather. For some reason the past few years, when the spring starts to shift into summer, I think of the times I had in 2009-2011, back when I was ending high school and starting college. Perhaps because those were the last few “free” summers I had. It was also the height of the chillwave phenomenon. A lot of folks like to post on the Internet now about how they look back at that time and scoff – how juvenile to enjoy pop music that’s been dumbed down to such lengths of being just “chill” and jacking a bunch of 70s and 80s samples / vibes.

Unlike those folks, I cherish that chillwave period and still indulge in its lavish, beach-friendly rhythms. I did, however, find that the genre was overwhelmingly dominated by male creators, which is a total drag. For this playlist, I mined that fertile period of 2009-2011 for the best and brightest chillwave bops I could find, while also bringing in some fringe cuts and some modern twists to the genre.

Listen to the whole thing HERE.

  1. Delorean – “Stay Close” [2010]
  2. Lemonade – “Lifted” [2010]
  3. Beat Connection – “In The Water” [2011]
  4. Tanlines – “Real Life” [2010]
  5. Anemone – “Bout De Toi” [2018]
  6. JJ – “From Africa To Malaga” [2009]
  7. Korallreven – “Honey Mine” [2011]
  8. Kisses – “Bermuda” [2010]
  9. Chad Valley – “Ensoniq Funk” [2010]
  10. The Radio Dept. – “David” [2010]
  11. Casa Del Mirto – “The Haste” [2011]
  12. Blackbird Blackbird – “Hawaii” [2010]
  13. Memory Cassette – “Asleep At A Party” [2009]
  14. White Hinterland – “Icarus” [2010]
  15. Antena – “Camino Del Sol” [1982/2004]
  16. Domenique Dumont – “L’esprit de l’escalier” [2015]
  17. Air France – “June Evenings” [2008]
  18. Southern Shores – “Antibo” [2012]
  19. Clive Tanaka y su orquesta – “Neu Chicago” [2010]
  20. CEO – “Come With Me” [2010]
  21. Boat Club – “Always Away” (listed as “Warmer Climes”) [2007]
  22. Washed Out – “Feel It All Around” [2009]
  23. Teen Daze – “Gone For The Summer” [2010]
  24. Taken By Trees – “Dreams” [2012]
  25. Mr. Twin Sister – “All Around And Away We Go” [2010]
  26. Men I Trust – “Tailwhip” [2017]
  27. Selebrities – “Time” [2011]
  28. Craft Spells – “Scandinavian Crush” [2011]
  29. Moss Of Aura – “Sweat” [2011]
  30. Cole M.G.N. – “If U Let Me” [2016]
  31. Ford & Lopatin – “Joey Rogers” [2011]
  32. Small Black – “Despicable Dogs (Washed Out Remix)” [2010]
  33. Teams – “Love Distance” [2012]
  34. Javelin – “Vibrationz” [2009]
  35. The Tough Alliance – “Miami” [2007]
  36. Neon Indian – “Deadbeat Summer” [2009]
  37. Toro y Moi – “Thanks Vision” [2010]
  38. Brothertiger – “Lovers” [2011]
  39. El Guincho – “Bombay” [2010]
  40. Keepaway – “Yellow Wings” [2010]

Hope you enjoy! If you have any requests for abstract ideas you want a playlist based around, feel free to message me.

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Simian Mobile Disco – “Defender” [2018]

Posted on May 5, 2018 by Very Warm

If you’ve been reading this blog for a while, you know that there’s little I love more than organic and synthetic textures coming together into one seamless fusion. One example I bring up often is the 2015 Holly Herndon record, as she mixes sounds from household objects and human voice with ultra-digitized computer electronics, making for an overwhelming and uncanny listening experience. Another more recent example would be the Jacaszek album from last year, KWIATY, which featured vocalists navigating a decaying landscape of broken electronics and spectral dust, eventually yielding to the decrepit landscape and merging like ghosts into the fog.

We find a very similar meld happening on the upcoming Simian Mobile Disco record, Murmurations, out May 11 via Wichita, only to a much larger scale. The duo collaborated with vocal group Deep Throat Choir for this album, fusing the group’s complex layers of voice with their own pulsating electronics and murky percussion to make a dynamic, amorphous web of sound that the listener can get easily lost in. The power of propulsive electronics that SMD bring to the table, taking the choral group out of their traditional setting and into some sort of space-time black hole where cosmic energy careens all around the listener, creates an auditory experience like nothing else I’ve ever heard.

“Defender”, the one you can listen to here, is my favorite out of the first few singles from the record. It blurs the lines between the two entities best, with vocal lines shifting and skittering in conjunction with the production, along with accompanying synthesizers mimicking the timbres of the singers. These two voices occasionally come together, making for a really cool mirror effect. It also has a lot of elements that help push the whole thing along a high-speed track, like booming timpanis, a forceful, memorable melody, and epic dissonance amongst verses. I think that blurring between human and computer is definitely the point behind this project and SMD & DTC execute it brilliantly.

DISCLAIMER – I am promoting this album to college radio stations. I am biased in my take of this album. This makes it no less incredible though, so you should listen/buy when its released. Find more about the record HERE.

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Lemonade – “Lifted” [2010]

Posted on May 3, 2018 by Very Warm

It’s the first really, really nice day here in NYC so I’m in the mood for big vacation music. This has been a mainstay for eight years now. It looks and feels like a timewarp to 2010. Life was dang easier back then, eh?

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Hop Along – “The Fox In Motion” [2018]

Posted on April 11, 2018 by Very Warm

The new Hop Along record is something really, really special. They’ve done it again, the absolute madman. Back half of this track is just transcendent, especially Frances’ vocal delivery AKA the saving grace for all of music.

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