A retro-sounding beat-heavy track faces an uphill battle from the start, as its very goal is somewhat of a paradox. Creating something new, that sounds as if it belongs in the past, whilst still reaching for the future; there’s a good reason an artist like J Dilla gets so much praise, as the margin for error to accomplish this is razor-thin. Radio Juicy’s newest compilation, The Smoking Section Vol. 1, has collected a group of artists that understand this dichotomy extremely well and push the genre into new and exciting places.
On my first listen through, I was particularly enamored with “Deeper”, digitalluc’s contribution to the compilation. What’s really impressive about “Deeper” is the use of horns on the track; such samples can become musical crutches and hold a track back from becoming something special. “Deeper” recognizes this, letting them sneak through in bits and pieces before overwhelming everything in its path near the end. Check out the entirety of The Smoking Section Vol. 1 on Bandcamp at your leisure and as always, enjoy.
There’s been a troubling trend in music in which artists believe honesty goes hand-in-hand with maliciousness, that it’s impossible to be emotionally open about someone without cutting them down at the same time. I first posted about TV Girl all the way back in 2010, and a main reason they’ve remained relevant after all these years is their ability to show that we can be just as culpable in our failed relationships as the other person. Tracks like “Song About Me” and “Not Allowed” turns the mirror around, showing how our pursuit of relationships can hollow us out to a perilous degree.
“Cigarettes Out The Window” details a relationship crippled by relentless addiction, but after listening through Who Really Cares a few more times, it becomes clear why the relationship came together quickly and fell apart just as fast. Pair these themes with some killer Frankie Cosmos samples and that late 60′s/early 70′s swing that’s become TV Girl’s signature, and you’ve got yourself one hell of an album. Listen to all of Who Really Cares on Bandcamp; as always, enjoy.
I think a big mistake some artists make when they are looking to blend guitar and electronic elements is they automatically put themselves in a creative box. They’ll think, “I’m a guitarist dabbling with electronics” or “I’m an electronic musician experimenting with the guitar”. Such an approach will only push the spotlight on one element more than the other, when both need to coexist in equal measure to succeed. Shintoe’s An Arbitrary Change of Weather is a good example of when things go right; by focusing more on the theme of the album than its components, the guitar and electronics fall into place quite easily. “Aviary” is an easy standout; with the electronics reminding the listener of thunder and rain, the gentle guitar work and the calming sound of birds in the background keeps everything on an even keel. Listen to all of An Arbitrary Change of Weather on Bandcamp via Babes in the Wood; as always, enjoy.
Synchronization has become so mind-numbingly easy over the past five to ten years that musically, it’s just not as impressive as it once was. This has pushed artists to bend time signatures, twisting audio to its limits while remaining musically sound. If you’re a fan of artists like Handbook and Vanilla, you’ll latch on pretty quick to Brightwin’s latest release, Sound Of A Different Color. However, that’s only part of the story. Listen closely to the samples in “By The Time”; they don’t necessarily fit into the standard 4x4 format, but that’s the point. It takes a steady hand to pull of what Brightwin does here, and I thoroughly encourage you to listen through all of Sound Of A Different Color for more time experimentation. As always, enjoy.
The idea of manipulating recorded laughter has always been fascinating to me. Assuming it’s not put on, it’s a capture of unbridled joy, one of the most liberated things in the world, but controlled by an unseen force. This dichotomy serves “vorrei far l’amore con te”, off the newest release from cabin coffee, extremely well, as it’s paired with crashing waves and a distinct Aphex buzz. Its soaring electronics blend perfectly with the track’s playful rise and fall, creating an experience you want to go on just a bit longer. You can listen to all of yg (reply) on Bandcamp; as always, enjoy.
I cannot believe the transformation REIGHNBEAU has gone through in just under two years. 2014′s HANDS was dirty, messy, but beautiful; last year’s GHOST exchanged gauzy introspection with a laser focus on song-writing and melody. This brings us to Sleep, REIGHNBEAU’s collaboration with BK Beats. The title track, released a few months ago, was a brave step forward, and Sleep follows through on that promise. “Pizza Supper” will skip around in your head a while, elusive enough that it takes a few listens to understand its form, which is something great tracks are known to do. Listen to all of Sleep on Bandcamp; as always, enjoy.
If It Weren’t For You does exactly what a good collaborative release should do: push both artists into a space they may not venture otherwise, and in doing so, reveal different shades of their vibrant creativity. ooiso spends each of the four tracks that comprise If It Weren’t For You with a different voice, the desire to understand themselves as artists serving as the connecting thread. Each track deserves attention, as Cavan Brady, Brother Mine, and Ian Lumsden make fantastic contributions. The one that stuck with me the most, though, was “Some Place Far Like Anne Sather”, ooiso’s collaboration with ELVIRA. Count how many times that gentle horn plays in your ear, deployed just enough to linger throughout the day. You can grab If It Weren’t For You via Left of Field Records. As always, enjoy.
What you’ll quickly learn about Stumbleine is that no matter how hard you try, you’ll never get everything that’s going on in any given track on the first listen. “Layered” isn’t descriptive enough; Stumbleine creates worlds, so deep, so detailed that a five-track release such as Echo Chamber is more involving than most albums. “Bowery” stretches out its arms for what seems like an eternity; vocal samples cascade as the track slowly revolves at a slow but deliberate pace. It’s been over a year since we’ve heard from them, but the passage of time has only made Stumbleine’s work stronger and more affecting. You can hear all of Echo Chamber on Bandcamp; as always, enjoy.
If you download a song by an artist, and the next time you visit their SoundCloud or Bandcamp and everything’s gone, it makes you wonder, if only for a brief moment, was it real? Some artists disappear without a trace, and the way everything is tracked and documented these days, it can be quite jarring. One of my favorite electronic artists over the last few years, Zaika, vanished a while back, but this week, arrives reborn as Delight. The Delight EP explores new sounds for the artist, striking as more personal and gripping than anything we’ve heard before. “Небеса”, otherwise known as Skies, is a standout; the listener feel submerged, drifting along just beneath the surface. Check out all of the Delight EP on Bandcamp; as always, enjoy.
Negative Space, the newest release from Sympathy Points, isn’t exactly what you’d call an “easy listen”. It’s an album that’s constantly looking inward; sounds crunch, twist, and invert whatever their original purpose may have been. The sound of children’s laughter, usually a hallmark of sunny, chill vibes, are viewed through a different lens here, more of a blip on the outreach of time. Sympathy Points could have easily ended Negative Space with the fuzzed-out bliss of “Height Width Depth” or the deep turning of “Lusthog”, but that would have been too easy. And so here lies “Up Close”, a transcendent affirmation that all the earlier experimentation was building to this moment. I implore you to listen through all of Negative Space before settling on “Up Close”; the experience is hard to put into words. As always, enjoy.
