March 2023 - In Which I Give Up Yelling at a Cloud
Leenalchi - Sugungga
One of the interesting things about listening to music from other countries is that I’m never really sure whether it sounds weird to me because I’m an ignorant American or if it’s just that this is their equivalent of Bjork and everyone over there is just as confused as I am.
In the case of Leenalchi, I suspect that it’s a little of both. There’s a lot to say about them, but I’ll limit myself to saying that that this album recounts a traditional Korean folktale of the same name, about a dragon king from the Southern Sea, a softshell turtle and a wily rabbit. Also that this music is sometimes categorized as K-Pop, which is just ridiculous.
As far as listening to this goes, my friend KKV told me that it sounded like a collaboration between Ethel Merman and Yoko Ono, which I think captures it pretty well, if you throw in a dance-rock beat. There’s some wild, abrupt vocal stuff happening and some people talking over each other, and… I do a lot of wide-eyed blinking.
It’s even more mesmerizing to watch it happen live
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=LCZPF0eg9UA
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=3P1CnWI62Ik&list=RDLVLCZPF0eg9UA&start_radio=1&rv=LCZPF0eg9UA
BONES UK - s/t
BONES UK are a very 1970’s idea of what a rock band should sound like: loud, lewd, stridently on-the-nose lyrically, and - to my great surprise - full of awesome guitar riffs.
For a long time, guitars haven’t been the driving force in rock music. It’s been all about synths, drum machines, and screaming. Guitars have been relegated to instrumentation and rhythm elements, and in the rare cases where the guitars take a little solo, they tend to kind of blend in with the rest of the track (the exception that proves the rule being Jack White). Not so in BONES UK. Here, Carmen Vandenberg’s solos tear violently out of the instrumentation and thrash around for a few bars. It’s exhilarating. I can’t wait to see this happen live.
There’s a thing that happens sometimes where a rock band will put their most radio-ready tracks right at the beginning of the album (in this case, imo, the worst songs), so I’d advise starting with track 3: “Pretty Waste.” I actually kinda like “Filthy Freaks,” but I think it’ll be better to get a taste for them before going back to it. I also tend to skip the ballads, but I imagine that has more to do with my proclivities than with their quality.
At any rate, I probably listened to this album 7 times in a single weekend. Happy headbanging, everybody.
Albums
lo-fi_house.zip
This isn’t really an album, per-say, it’s a compilation, but nonetheless, I’ve been listening to it a lot lately, and I wanted to put it here to give my dear readers a break from all the rock stuff (and honestly, to give myself a break too). It’s a lovely little journey through a calm spring day, lying around in a field with friends or someone you love. I like to put it on when I’m on my way back from something and need to wind down a bit. Just chillaxing.
I’m going to take a little moment here to go off. I’ve always hated the way people are using the term “low-fi” now. The “fi” part is supposed to mean “fidelity,” right? Well this is plenty high-fidelity imo. Now, I get it. The term developed because it came from “low-fi hip-hop,” in which the vocals are mixed down and kind of indistinct. Fine. And I get it, the damage was done a long time ago and “low-fi” means what it means and there’s nothing I can do about it. Fine. So, this paragraph is my last tilt against the windmill of musical subgenre naming conventions. I officially accept the new meaning of “low-fi.” You win, English language.
Anyway, this little mix is great.
Slowthai - UGLY
Slowthai is not an easy listen. His themes are extremely personal and painful - anger management issues, drug addiction and suicidal ideation - and the beats he chooses are appropriate to them. He paints a picture of himself as erratic, hostile, out of control. It feels like he’s trying to let his listeners experience what it’s like to be Slowthai. Art-from-the-artist and all that, but it seems like it might be true. And if it is, well, being Slowthai sounds tough.
All that aside, he’s taking us on a wild ride here. It’s heavy, abrasive, and difficult at one moment, and then a 2000s-era pop-punk track a few short tracks later. It took me a couple tries to get through the whole thing, but I’m glad I finally did.
100gecs - 10,000 gecs
I’ve been told by probably 6 or 7 different people that hearing 100gecs for the first time was a watershed moment for them. It was the moment that they realized that they no longer understood the kids’ music.
Which is fair. Hyperpop is not for the faint of ears. It abruptly leaps from genre to genre and places so much ludicrous autotune on the vocals that you can barely keep your headphones on.
Well, if you’re in that camp, I suspect that 10,000 gecs won’t entirely change your mind, but for those who are new to the 100gecs sound, it’s probably a good place to start. They’ve reigned things in a little since their earlier work, and created some stuff that sounds a little more akin to what would normally be called “songs.” Nonetheless, it’s uh… a lot. Brilliant, but… a lot.
Tracks
Oumou Sangaré - Wassulu Don
Oumou Sangaré is a Malian singer, famous for her Wassoulou music - a traditional genre to that region, usually sung by women about childbearing, fertility, and polygamy. For me, this track recalls some badass blues songs. I’m sure just that’s the American perspective, though.
Crazy P - Is This All It Seems
I love me some quiet menace, especially when its spun out as long as this, providing lots of opportunity to gradually introduce some other subconscious elements like beeps and boops, some delayed vocals in the background, and some… what is that… wind chimes maybe? I also love how they make you wait and wait for a drop that never quite comes.
Apparently Crazy P has been around since 1995, but only really made a splash in Australia. You can hear the 90s in here when it’s pointed out, but it’s so modernized that I might not have thought of it. Also, their name used to be Crazy Penis. Just wanted to mention that.
If you like this, I’d also recommend “SOS” from the same album.
The Sponges - Gotta Move On (Sgt. Slick’s Melbourne ReCut)
I recently found myself at Flask Lounge in Portland, ME, listening to a really phenomenal set by one DJ Froggy (or anyway I think it was DJ Froggy. There wasn’t really a lot of useful promotional material around). It was a disco-house set, a genre which often suffers from being too smooth, and DJ Froggy kind of blew me away by how hard he made it. Froggy will be represented more than once in this blog post.
This track is, obviously, a remix of “Funky Town.” In my experience, “Funky Town” is a divisive track. People either love it, and every remix thereof, or they hate it (and also every remix thereof). I lean toward the former camp, but this is a particularly great one nonetheless.
Klangstof - Blank Page
It isn’t always easy to find cinematic dance music like this that really works. It kind of reminds me of some of the early Chromatics stuff. Great driving music.
Sault - Monsters
This is a nice chill track that recalls some of what was happening in 60’s psychedelia, like reverby vocals and organ vamps that signal that you’re in the chorus now, but with the innovations of a hip-hop beat and some modern production techniques. This album is pretty fantastic. There’s a lot on it that isn’t my genre, but well worth a listen.
BbyMutha - Rules
Don’t get involved with someone who isn’t going to respect your privacy. She doesn’t frame it quite that way, but I think that’s the general point that BbyMutha is getting at here. Just plain good advice, really.
This is an interesting track in that it marries the sort of pleasant, laid-back beats and lyrical repetition you hear in hi-fi hip-hop with the clear lyrics and slow tempo of trap music (the hip-hop kind, not the EDM kind).
АИГЕЛ - 1190
If it’s not in a language you understand, hip-hop can suffer, for obvious reasons, but not if it’s as fast-paced, heavy, and exhilerating as this.
Derun & DakhaBrakha - Alambari
Long-form, cinematic tracks like this make fantastic driving music. It settles into a groove and evolves gradually, using a vocal line to float in and out in a traditional Ukranian scale. It’s a slow-burn, and I love it.
HÄWK - September
Here’s Froggy again, once again updating an iconic disco-era song with a build/drop structure and a much, much sweetened bassline.
Kudusaibeats - tired eyes
In case the low-fi house music above wasn’t enough chill for you, here’s another lovely track that incorporates some jazzy guitar samples and swirling misty synths.
Black Honey - I Like the Way You Die
Done well, there’s nothing wrong with a little straight-ahead rock music, especially when the guitars are as buzzy as this. It’s also super sticky.
Matroda, Bleu Claire, OOTORO - Disco Tool (OOTORO Remix)
Here’s the last bit of Froggy for this post. Throwing this into a disco-house set is kind of brillant because it has those huge dubstep-esque drops contrasted with the groovy vocals.
Ho99o9 & Bun B - SLO BREAD
Normally, Ho99o9 is something akin to hip-hop as metal, and pretty abrasive and difficult. In this case, as a collaboration with Bun B, it becomes a laid-back, haunting hip-hop mantra.