Today we have not one but two songs so good they don’t need something as feeble as language to convey the vibe. Check out the lates from Under The Reefs Orchestra and Morus after the jump.
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June 29, 2022
Wordless Wednesdays
June 22, 2022
Wordless Wednesdays – Yellow Sam
Ok, so there are words on “Early Ernest Humans” by Yellow Sam, but only a few and they’re in the form of samples that are cut up and re-contextualized so we’re going to let it slide. Otherwise you’d have to wait another day or two for this track to show up on the blog and frankly we don’t want to deprive you. From a starting repetitive, almost droning, synth keys pattern the song soon kicks into a subdued yet catchy euro funk stepper. The progression has a lo-fi charm to it and stays simple and steady, allowing different flavors and layers to pop in and out to give the song a sense of shape and movement. It takes confidence to trust the vibe without overdoing it with unnecessary change ups and big drops and Yellow Sam has that confidence.
June 15, 2022
Wordless Wednesdays – As Clouds Form
It’s quite the trick to convey both a sense of gravity and of weightlessness and of both movement and stillness, but As Clouds Form pull just that off with “Inside the Simulation.” A darker synth line churns like an undertow, swirling the lighter notes above it into an arhythmic dance. Some circle back around again and some slip through and escape the pull of this space between spaces.
June 10, 2022
Friday 5×5
Five by five isn’t just how many tissues per hour we’re going through thanks to allergies, it’s also short short reviews of brand new tracks by Tunnel, Sadboisam, Beggars Bold, AJ Lambert and Kristian Moller-Munar that are perfect for a Benadryl haze.
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June 8, 2022
Wordless Wednesdays
Short and sweet, slinky and sublime, “Movement 2” by Paul Cortese finds his viola dancing through the space where traditional folk melodies meet the sophistication of classical. A piece that would be just as natural on the stage of a concert hall as it would be in village pub, it does what all great art should do; scratches a previously unknown itch and leaves you wanting more.
April 13, 2022
Wordless Wednesdays – Prospector Sound
Wordless Wednesdays is our column where we spotlight the best new instrumental tracks.
Instrumental tracks come in all shapes and sizes, speeds and vibes, intensity and intentions. “Empty Spaces (The Ambient Zone)” by Prospector Sound is a slow and immersive soundscape well suited for grounding one’s self in an increasingly chaotic world of full volume TikToks played in public by the thoughtless and indignant. Patience is at the core of the track, with new aural shades revealing themselves languidly and more than a decent amount of silence and breath to help you find your own internal silence. If you only have 6:18 to center yourself today, this track will help get you there.
April 6, 2022
Wordless Wednesdays – The Still Point
Fun fact about Postcard Elba – 75% of the staff are musicians, so it is with great authority that we say that The Still Point are a bunch of real jerks. Coming in here playing beyond our wildest dreams with licks that are so clean and tasty and adventurous and tight and precise and it’s like, ugh, we get it already – you fucking rip. Landing somewhere between jazz and math rock “Landspeed” is a masterclass in subtle shredding. Guitarist and bandleader Hayes Cummings grabs the ears first with runs that give us hand cramps just thinking about, but dig deeper and notice that the rhythm section is also so good it’ll make drummers and bassists want to list their gear on Reverb too. This is, quite simply, as good as musicianship gets.
March 30, 2022
Wordless Wednesdays
This week we keep everyone’s name out of our mouths with instrumental tracks from Aagtive, A Reason to Travel and Scott Wade. Slap that “read more” to check them out.
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March 23, 2022
Wordless Wednesdays
Easily the winner for best song title in a while, “E.T Rides a Delorean” by INCA has an appropriately 80’s synthwave throw back vibe to it, but with more under the hood than is immediately apparent. Underneath the percolating keys and glassy synth pads is a slinky live band laying down a groove that moves from expected pulsating futuristic rhythms to sections that push the song into jam band territory. The end result feels a bit like Kraftwerk jamming with Parliament Funkadelic and that’s something I think both E.T. and Doc Brown could get down with.
March 14, 2022
Mike’s Monday Muse – Rick Holmstrom
Rick Holmstrom has been playing guitar in Mavis Staples’ band for 15 years. His new killer solo record of instrumentals, Get It, is out now on his label, LuEllie Records. Man I dig this video.