Colleen – “Everyone Alive Wants Answers” [2003]

Posted on February 7, 2017 by Very Warm

Achingly beautiful in its uniqueness. Surely very few things in 2003 sounded like this. Even now Colleen is making beautiful outsider music. If you like this song, you’ll undoubtedly like the rest of the album. I suggest you check it all out regardless.

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Grouper – “Water People” [2011]

Posted on February 4, 2017 by Very Warm

Another Grouper post because it’s worth it. Grouper released this Water People 7″ back in 2011 – as far as I know it was vinyl only/no mass digital release. Yesterday, Feb. 3rd 2017, she re-released it to the benefit of the ACLU and NoDAPL. It’s already become one of my all-time favorite Grouper songs and I’m so thankful that it’s in my life.

On the Bandcamp page, someone who bought this reviewed it as: “ten minutes of a friend, sitting quietly beside you. no cheap answers and one liners. thanks for understanding.” What a perfect explanation. Melancholy warmth.

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Support the ACLU – Bandcamp Picks For You

Posted on February 3, 2017 by Very Warm

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UPDATE: Buying these albums no longer benefits the ACLU, since it was a one day only thing! However, these are still great albums to buy and support the artist. Enjoy!

Quick post so I get it out in time for people to react – these are a few favorite albums of mine that you can buy on Bandcamp to support the ACLU. This is ONLY for Friday, February 3rd, so if you buy them on any other day the money will go to the band. Which is still good obviously, but this is even better! Spend money, get music, support AMERICA. Fun times! Donate, donate, donate. As we’ve already learned through the winning politics, money saves the world. Why can’t art too?

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Hatsune Miku + Laurel Halo – “As You Wish”

Posted on February 1, 2017 by Very Warm

It doesn’t feel right that Hatsune Miku has made possibly my favorite song of the year so far, but stranger things have happened. That’s the attitude I’m going to approach all things with from now on: nothing is weird, because everything from here on out is not normal.

If you’re unfamiliar, Hatsune Miku is a massively popular digital pop star from Japan. An eternal “16-year old idol with turquoise, thigh-length ponytails” with computer-generated vocals, performing as a hologram with a huge backing band behind her in the darkness. I’ve never gotten onto the Miku train. It has always seemed much too culty, too overwhelmingly weeb for my taste. Just look at what the live shows look like. Very, very spirited.

In the past other artists I enjoy, like Anamanaguchi, have collaborated with the Miku team to make music. This time, experimental electronic technician Laurel Halo joins in to add her disorienting touch to the usually saccharine, fired up pop music. Her influence is probably why I like it so much. There are some other party members at play in this song, but I’ll just chalk it up to LH. It’s dark, disorienting and doesn’t sound like anything I’ve heard from her before. More robotic than usual & carries an inhuman warmth, much like Laurel Halo’s music.

I’d go into more detail on why this combination took place, but instead you should check out a great synopsis on what Hatsune Miku exactly is HERE, as well as the project that this song came from. Has a lot to say about all phases of life for a “pop star” or a “hit song.” Really interesting stuff for pop culture researchers.

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Kidkanevil & Daisuke Tanabe – Kidsuke [Album, 2012]

Posted on January 26, 2017 by Very Warm

Wanted to put up a quick post about an album I’ve somehow never talked about on my blog that deserves a ton of attention. This is Kidsuke, a great glitchy electronic project from Kidkanevil & Daisuke Tanabe. I discovered it at the tail end of 2012. Still an album I return to regularly.

Every sound here is micro-sized, so to make up for lost space, the two pack in as many sounds as coherently possible. Lots of chimes, tight drums, high-pitched computer squeaks, etc. Not a lot of reverb on here. Occasionally there’s some powerful bass, but nothing that gets your face. It’s just a heavy presence.

It has a weird nostalgic feeling to it as well, like you’re seeing the world from the eyes of a child exploring a forest. This feeling is helped along by the numerous childish vocal samples littered through the album, acting as a central motif to move the album from point A to B.

I’ll let you listen to it and enjoy – and I really do hope you enjoy it. Not many people I know know of this album, so I need someone to talk with about it!

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Ice Choir – “Comfortable” [2016]

Posted on January 25, 2017 by Very Warm

This song has one of the all-time best choruses. Couldn’t care about the lyrics on this one, to be honest. It’s like this infectious song was made for a commercial or something or short film shown to elementary schoolers.

I can picture it now: a fast-moving game show marathon rips through a grocery store. Frantic participants throttle others and use goofy gadgets to get the upper hand. The prize? An all-expenses paid cruise to the Bahamas. Everyone has their own reasons for wanting the cruise. But only one will win. But who wins in the end? Well, it’s the silly kid that played it safe the whole time, treating others with kindness and having a true heart. All the other self-centered runners look deep inside themselves and find a cruise within their hearts. Everyone has a big laugh at the end and the camera zooms way out the roof into space. An astronaut gives a thumbs up. Credits roll. A fun, family friendly film for everyone, chock full of lessons we can apply in the workplace, academia, & at home.

Yeah let me know if you think that fits with this. An amazing song regardless of conjured wholesome imagery.

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Major Lazer – “Get Free” (ft. Amber Coffman) [2012]

Posted on January 22, 2017 by Very Warm

I love reminding people of Major Lazer’s humble beginnings, if you can call them that, from the late 00s and early 10s. They used to make weird dance music that blogs ate up and was mostly powered by Diplo’s cult of personality. Now they’re the creators of some of the world’s biggest songs and racking up over a billion views on a single Youtube video. This song was definitely in the middle of their transition, embodying a traditional pop song but still keeping things a bit weird, like having Dirty Projectors’ singer Amber Coffman. I think it’s real charming.

This was one of my favorite songs of 2012 and was reminded of it this weekend at the Women’s March on Washington, where Amber Coffman performed it to half a million people. I remember putting it on one of the first mix CDs I made for my girlfriend. Really good feelings already associated with this song, really happy to have more with the march.

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2016 Retrospective: 100 Songs, Listening Stats & Concert Recaps

Posted on January 6, 2017 by Very Warm

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This is my final list regarding music in 2016 and boy is it a doozy. Think of it as a giant funeral pyre – burning all the oil left in the can to exorcise my demons and start anew, with only shallow memories to remind me of times past, give or take a few albums I hang onto into 2017 and beyond.

I’ve done something like this for the past two years: a collection of 100 songs that made this year’s listening unique from other years, listed in chronological order from January 1, 2016 to December 31, 2016. But this year I thought I’d add some new features to get my list-making/data-mining brain all revved up on the dopamine it constantly craves. Below the 100 songs you’ll find my overall 2016 listening statistics (per my Last.FM) and a roundup of my favorite 15 concerts I attended in 2016. How cute! Read 2015 and 2014 to see how they stack up to this one.

My 2016 as a whole: not super great. Sure I did a few cool things here and there: traveled outside the US for the first time to see my girlfriend in Paris, I moved to NYC, I rode the train back to CT and the bus to DC a bunch of times. Visited Philly. Drove up to Cape Cod. I went through with posting at least 10 recommended albums per month on this blog. I saw a few friends sometimes, I guess. Finished THREE TV shows, a new record for me (granted, two of them were one-season anime). Watched around 10 new movies, another new high score. I am now a TV/movie person, of course. Played a bunch of Pokemon, too. Pretty modest overall.

But I don’t need to be another person to tell you that 2016 was “bad” because it was so aggressively bad that it needs no further explanation. You know this. The media especially knows this. Even your mom knows this. Like everything else in 2016, the badness of the year became a meme. A bad meme at that. Despite this badness, a lot of people said that the music was especially good this year compared to years previous. Gotta disagree with that one. There were a few records that were like “oh hell yeah” in parts, but for the mostly it was like “ok this is fine, I guess.” I had a bad 2015 and music that year was so good. But whatever. In one final flaming, grotesque burst, here are 2016’s 100 songs:

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Grouper – “Headache” & “I’m Clean Now” [2016]

Posted on December 21, 2016 by Very Warm

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A splendid holiday surprise from Liz Harris came today as a new Grouper 7″ entitled Paradise Valley, comprised of songs “Headache” and “I’m Clean Now.” It’s by far the most happy-go-lucky name she’s put on a project title & picture as an album cover. Along with that may be the most upbeat sound she’s put on record. For good reason, since the 7″ was released to celebrate the winter solstice. Party time.

Sound wise, “Headache” lands at a happy medium between Harris’ lo-fi rock project Helen from last year and her usual haunting Grouper sound, to great effect, whereas “I’m Clean Now” is more The Man Who Died In His Boat era. The signature drenching reverb and solemn drone in the background are there in both as always, but her guitar playing and vocals seem more present than ever, reaching more forward in the mix than I’ve heard from her in a while.

But I mean, let’s be real: one can never go wrong with Grouper in whatever phase she’s in. Full on drone, more singer songwriter, a mixture of both – it’ll always be good. In this case, the simple finger-picked guitar along with layers of voice and other angelic noise create a halo of warmth for the listener. A perfect way to usher in one of the worst times of the year – ultimate sonic comfort. Thank you Liz! Hope everyone has a comfortable holiday and new year.

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Recommended Albums: November & December 2016

Posted on December 19, 2016 by Very Warm

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I thought I’d just combine the two slowest months of the year into one post because why not? It’s my dang blog and I can do whatever the heck I want. I also want to leave 2016 behind when 2017 starts – so no December post in 2017. That’d be even more annoying than the regular posts. Either way, here they are:

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