Here’s a fun theoretical argument for you and your coworkers to have around the water cooler – which is smoother: the jazz track Mike raps on top of in “To Infinity (A Way Home)” or his flow itself? Regardless of which side you fall on the track is smooth top to bottom, but Mike’s lyricism never gets lazy or complacent. Intricate rhyme structures appear throughout the track and work their way up to a double time sprint, like a drummer’s complex syncopated hi-hat work staying locked into the smoothness of the rest of the band while also dancing around it. The combination works really well and this track should have you easing into your work week on sexy sax tip while inspiring you to still bring that fire to your spreadsheets, Uber shift or whatever it is you have to tackle today.
Week Starter – Mike
Mike’s Monday Muse – Dallas Good
I’m still terribly saddened and shocked by the death of Dallas Good of The Sadies at the age of 48 last week. Dallas was a super-force of nature as the front man, guitarist, singer, and songwriter for The Sadies, the best rock-surf-country-punk band on the planet. You need more of The Sadies in your ears. Badass side note: I made a playlist of instrumentals by The Sadies and I found 34 of them! Dallas was a hero of heroes. He collaborated with Neil Young, Buffy Sainte-Marie, Kurt Vile, Neko Case, Garth Hudson, Jon Doe, and so many others. The 2003 self-titled release from The Unintended is a hidden gem.
Week Ender – Crossroad Crooks
Ooooooo doggie, does “In Waiting” by Crossroad Crooks scratch a very specific itch from our youth and it does so really, really well. Like when there’s just the right amount of fingernails in the scratching but not so much to leave a weird mark you have to explain later. That itch is a specific nexus of hard rock, heavy alternative and grunge with hints of metal and heaps of melody. Chuggy guitars and soaring vocals and delicate break downs place this somewhere between Living Colour (the vocals remind us a lot of Corey Glover) and Soundgarden. Some may feel this has a bit of a throwback vibe to it, but when it’s done this well it transcends throwback and moves on up to transcendent and timeless.
Friday 5×5
Today got five on it for new tracks from Battle Ave, Dreaming of Islands, Saloon Dion, Daisy Glaze and Nate Heller featuring King Isis after the jump.
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The B-Side: Loren Beri
It’s always exciting when Loren Berí (Met City, Gardendale & Berkley) has a new project and his latest solo release is no exception. “My Brooklyn” finds Berí trading in his former orchestrally influenced indie leanings for a decidedly more synth driven approach and to great effect, taking more than a few steps into a sound not unlike LCD Soundsystem. It’s hard not to make a comparison with that particular on again, off again, break up and then have a residency project as the lyrics of “My Brooklyn” focus on NYC and explore the same kind of juxtaposition of detached satire and vulnerable emotion that James Murphy built into a brand, but that is not to say that Berí doesn’t make it his own. While this song could very easily occupy the same art school dance party playlist as LCD, the sense of melody and composition is uniquely Berí, with his baroque pop DNA breathing between the electro beats and bubbling underneath the synth lines. It’s a catchy ode to Brooklyn that is both celebration and critique and has us excited for the rest of the debut release Stray Cat Kingdom coming out later this year.
My Favorite Neighbor
In today’s MFN, J.R. shows us the circuitous path from a high-school talent show to tune-yards.
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Wordless Wednesdays
With the world wide word shortage due to Wordle becoming “a whole thing,” we’re doing our part by presenting you with two new instrumental tracks from Captain Rico & The Ghost Band and John DiStase Music.
The Midweekly – Factor Chandelier
The first thing that really stands out are the drums, and when it comes to hip-hop and electronic music that shouldn’t be a surprise. But we’re not talking about your typical 808 or any other such synth. It’s got more of an organic feel, that dryness of a tightened snare, ringing off the studio walls. And it comes in the style of a marching band, shuffling it’s way toward you. That’s the foundation of “Sleep Upside Down,” the new single from producer Factor Chandelier, featuring one of the wittiest lyricists working today, Open Mike Eagle. The collaboration between this Canadian beat-maker and LA/Chicago rapper comes marching up from the underground in a short, but beautiful way that will lift your head up with confidence. After that initial opening it only gets better. The bass drum kicks in like a shot of endorphins, while a minimal melody floats above it, until a horn section is let loose to crash through the final build up. It’s all very orchestral. All the while OME delivers his signature word play of wisdom. Been a fan of Eagle for a long time, and I just might be a new fan of Factor as well.
Tuesday Tip-Off: Emma Ladji
When someone describes their song as “a tulip inside an orgy of bees” it successfully grabs the weary, heard-it-all-before music blogger’s attention. When the song actually lives up to such a unique pitch? Well that’s something special indeed. “Tulip” by Emma Ladji starts with a Laurie Anderson style minimalist electronica loop before blossoming (sorry, couldn’t resist) into a layered vocal sound bath, and eventually a slinky experimental jam not unlike FKA Twigs or Solange’s more esoteric work. It’s a different type of sexy than what we usually get in an r&b jam, more buzz and pollinate than bump and grind, but still steamy none the less.
Week Starter – Tree River
We probably would have made “Journey Proud” by Tree River our pick for the Week Starter / Week Ender series solely on its soaring Built to Spill meets Say Anything approach to guitar driven indie rock, but when you add in the damn near inspirational style lyrics its a no brainer. It’s a rare thing for a song (or a movie or other piece of art) to capture both the listless malaise of youth and the triumphant surge to escape the holding pattern of life as well as this does. Turn it up, take off that oversized comfort hoodie you’ve been wearing the last few months (or years) and make some moves to seize your own day.