ONLY NOISE: A Year In Song

Certain songs have a way of tangling themselves in our days, weeks, and months, eventually embedding themselves in our psyche, forever to be associated with the particular time and place in which they meant the most to us. Here, Madison looks back on 2017 by recounting the songs that dominated each month of the year – sometimes because of the anticipation of a live show, sometimes after crate-digging yielded a new discovery, and sometimes, maybe too often, because they helped mend a broken heart. – Ed.

January: Austra, “Future Politics”

This song represented two facets of optimism at the start of a bleak year. One was that my generation, once so blasé and apolitical, was finally mobilizing and becoming informed. The second was that pop music felt like it would be radicalized in 2017. Austra made me feel like dancing was an act of dissent, and while I know intellectually that is an illusion, it was a welcome notion after the election of Donald Trump. It’s difficult to resist this track’s rubbery drum pads and laser beam synths, qualities that made the title track from Future Politics seem like the anthem for an era of awareness when it came out. While I can’t say it solved anything, at least Austra’s lead single had us looking to the future in time when the present seemed unbearable.

February: Sam Cooke, “Get Yourself Another Fool”

Ah, February: a month synonymous with frigid weather, annual depression, and Valentine’s Day. The latter has always been the bane of my existence, though this past annum has been slightly less miserable now that I am no longer designing lingerie (a cruel profession as a single woman). In February 2017, I was feeling bitter and slighted, and so I nursed my wounds with Sam Cooke’s “Get Yourself Another Fool” from 1969’s Night Beat. Its dry piano and walking bass line provided the perfect poison for a biting break up song. Just what I needed to hear come February 14th.

March: Xiu Xiu, “Wondering”
Solomon Burke, “I’ll Be Doggone”

March was a bonkers month. I got laid off from a job that would rehire and fire me within the next two months. I met a dream man who would break my heart in the next three. I ate frankincense at a drag queen party. The freedom, romance, and fear of March 2017 can only be summed up with two songs, the first being the irresistible pop cacophony of Xiu Xiu’s “Wondering.” The lead single off of this year’s Forget LP was a perfect combination of wild fury and glittering disco melodies to get me through an unmoored month.

Mid-March I found myself jobless and smitten in the dream man’s dining room. He handed me a beer and cued up Solomon Burke’s 1969 recording of “I’ll Be Doggone,” a song that despite its age, followed me for the remainder of 2017. I played it while cooking, tidying, and getting ready for a night out. Sometimes I would blast it when no one was home just so I could sing along. It was without a doubt the best old song I discovered this year. The fact that its discovery can only be attributed to one person in my life is unfortunate, but that’s just the joy and danger of music and memory.

April : Happyness, “Falling Down”

I’d been anticipating Happyness’ sophomore LP ever since I heard their debut, so when this year’s Write In was more somber than expected, I wasn’t sure how to feel about it. After about a billion plays however, the record clearly fell under the “grower” category. Throughout Write In’s many rotations on my turntable this spring and summer, I fell in love with its opening track “Falling Down.”

“Falling Down” sounds like a late night observation, seen through too many layers of smoke and booze. Its hazy build of rhythm guitar is lulling, and remains so even when the drums finally kick in. It is a song that takes its time, and when bassist Jon EE Allan unleashes his half-awake croon and the squealing synths take over, the wait really pays off.

May: Blanck Mass, “Please”

“Please” is not only the sonic outlier on Blanck Mass’ third LP World Eater – it might just be Benjamin John Power’s magnum opus. This song dominated my May (and the remainder of 2017, truthfully) after I saw Power perform it at the Red Bull Music Academy for Sacred Bones’ 10-year anniversary gig. I was bewitched by his set, and though I loved the abrasive, blood-curdling songs in Power’s repertoire, “Please” was a dose of calm and beauty amidst the chaos – its gorgeous vocal melodies conflicting with shrapnel soundscapes and a choir of AI angels. “Please” is at once sorrowful, joyous, and frightening, which suited the state of 2017 all too well.

June: Steve Reich, Music for 18 Musicians

Summer is a strange time to seek out no wave compositions while everyone else is listening to “Despacito,” but I did so out of pure necessity. June was the beginning of a hellacious summer, one that commenced with heartbreak and culminated in underemployment and family catastrophe. I needed a break from evocative music, from songs that reminded me of a specific person, place, or time. I was on a quest for a song that made me feel nothing, and I found it in Steve Reich’s lauded hour-long piece. Its wash of polyrhythms and blips of human voice made a mosaic of sound – something that let me focus on every individual tile and the whole picture simultaneously, creating a calm that is the closest I’ve ever come to meditation.

July: Ocean Music, “When I Went to California”

This song was unfortunately stuck in my head for most of July. It isn’t unfortunate because it’s a bad song – it’s a good song – but one tied to an ill-fated evening. It was the kind of night typically reserved for rom-com screenplays, only with a far worse outcome.

It was a Tuesday. I thought it’d be nice to take myself out to a neighborhood club I’d never been to before. A date with myself, the sad last stab of a single lady nursing heartbreak. I wore lipstick. The headlining band was called Ocean Music, and their name sounded vaguely familiar, though I could not figure out why. I particularly enjoyed their sleepy ballad, “When I Went to California” as I listened to their Bandcamp offerings. It was enough to get me out of the house midweek.

I sidled up to the bar, ordered a Tecate, and before I could take a sip a man said my name. Only, it was my name with a question mark behind it, like, “Madison?” This is never a good sign. It was the man who’d just dumped me, and he was the opening act. I had, though accidentally, gone to his show, a mistake made even more comically tragic considering my profession. I stayed for the entire gig out of politeness and then left without saying goodbye. This song played as I walked out the door.

August: Leonard Cohen, “On the Level”

I spent most of August in the kitchen of my sister’s Washington farm. As reciprocity for feeding, housing, employing, and entertaining me all month, I thought it was only fair to do the goddamn dishes. The wooden shelving across from her kitchen sink is home to a Bose CD player, which has been occupied by Leonard Cohen’s final album You Want It Darker since he died in 2016. “On the Level” is one of my favorite songs on that record, and I now directly associate with my sister’s doublewide cast iron sink. When I was alone on dish duty I would crank the volume on the Bose and belt, “They oughta give my heart a medal, for lettin’ go of you,” scrubbing our coffee mugs to the beat.

September: Benjamin Clementine, “Phantom of Aleppoville”

This stirring piece of music was on heavy rotation during my late summer walks. The only problem with listening to Benjamin Clementine’s avant-pop-jazz masterpieces while shuffling around in public is that they inspire immense urges to dance. I cannot tell you how many spontaneous bursts of limb thrashing I resisted while listening to “Phantom of Aleppoville” beyond the walls of my apartment. It was difficult to remain disciplined, especially midway through the song when Clementine bursts into tango piano flair and spirited shouts. I managed to keep it together in public, but if you looked close enough you would see my hips twitching ever so slightly.

October: Diamanda Galás, “Pardon Me I’ve Got Someone to Kill”

I can’t imagine a better artist to listen to throughout October than the High Priestess of Darkness herself, Diamanda Galás. Before I even thought of naming her the Queen of Halloween, I was just excited to see Galás’ Halloween night set at Brooklyn’s Murmrr Theatre. In the lead-up to All Hallows Eve, “Pardon Me I’ve Got Someone to Kill“ was the perfect song to sing at the Weinsteins of the world – a kind of feminist power anthem cloaked in black magic.

November: Animal Collective, “Leaf House”

In the weeks before Animal Collective’s Avey Tare and Panda Bear reunited at Knockdown Center, I needed a refresher course on their 2004 record, Sung Tongs, which they would be playing in full for the first time live. I must have listened to opening track “Leaf House“ a hundred times in November, following its dizzying rhythms through subway tunnels and side streets en route to and from work. During the rush hour grind this song seemed to mirror and quell the chaos of the city simultaneously.

December: Bill Evans Trio, “Come Rain Or Come Shine”

I bought Bill Evans Trio’s Portrait In Jazz LP as a birthday present to myself in mid November, but I didn’t really get around to listening to it in full until late November and December, during which time it never left my turntable. It would seem from these blurbs that I am partial to opening tracks on albums, and the same applies to this record. Its first song, “Come Rain Or Come Shine” is exemplary of Evans’ diverse, elegant, and downright gorgeous playing. Watching this video of his trio performing the song in 1965, Evans’ facial expressions make it plain to see his immense passion for the music he so effortlessly makes.

ONLY NOISE: Leave The Party

Think about the last party you threw. Think about the beer bought and balloons inflated. Remember the quiche you labored over, only to realize no one wants to eat quiche at a party. Now consider the playlist you made. Don’t deny it – we all know you spent three lunch breaks compiling a shindig score entitled “Fiesta Mix.”

Now tell me – was your party (despite irrelevant quiche) a hit? Did “Fiesta Mix” incite a collective boogie? Did hips swing and booties shake, rattling the room with merriment? Well congratulations, my friend; you have accomplished something far beyond my abilities. You’re allowed to pick the music for the party.

“But, don’t you write about music…for a living?“ you ask.

I know. It doesn’t make any sense. You might assume that all these years of music fanaticism, self-dedicated mixtapes, and belabored op-eds would prime me for the simple task of DJing a party – and somehow, the opposite is true.

Proof of such failure lies in every birthday party I’ve thrown since 2012. Each year I, like you, spend hours crafting a party soundtrack featuring all of my favorite “happy” songs. As you can imagine, this is a fairly difficult task for someone whose self-described musical tastes are that of a 45-year-old divorced man. Nevertheless, I press on – crafting my little playlist for my little party with utmost care.

And yet each year like clockwork, usually smack in the middle of “Hit Me With Your Rhythm Stick” by Ian Dury and The Blockheads, someone pulls the plug on my tunes. Someone (usually my roommate) decides that a grubby punk with polio shouting “Two fat persons, click, click, click/Hit me, hit me, hit me!” is not party-worthy. I beg to differ, but that does no good. Within minutes my entire playlist is cast aside like an empty PBR can, and the bump n’ buzz of Top 40 hits crashes my b-day bash. I’ve gotten used to it, as well as the badge of honor I’ve earned in recent years: World’s Worst Party DJ. If I only had a sash embroidered with the accolade.

Fine then. If I can’t play my music at my own birthday party, I might as well take my talents to other soirees – clearing them out with the most un-danceable sounds. Embrace your strengths, am I right? Sure it takes some skill and intuition to boost the party the mood with music – but what about killing the mood? Doesn’t that take a certain aptitude for emotional sensitivity, too?

If you can’t join ‘em, beat ‘em. Trying to break up a party? Want to ruin a perfectly good game of beer pong? Looking to cock block Steve? Here are some tracks that will ensure record-scratching fun-terruption.

“Rhesus Negative” by Blanck Mass

Nine minutes of unrelenting, furious noise. Employ when the new Justin Bieber hit has begun its rotation, and everyone is dancing in unison. The room should begin to vacate around minute 4:35, when Blanck Mass’s Benjamin John Power starts screaming like a demon.

The entire Colors album by Ken Nordine

Nothing could be less conducive to partying than this 1966 spoken word jazz album by the eccentric Ken Nordine. Each song is dedicated to a color, to the point that it is supposed to sound like the color. Favorite cuts include, “Olive,” “Mauve” and “Fuchsia,” the latter of which contains the line, “we don’t wanna lose ya, Fuchsia.” It will derail any and all sexiness.

“Between The Bars” by Elliott Smith

If angry and awkward approaches don’t work, go with depressing. Who better to aid your mope attack than Mr. Misery himself, Elliott Smith? It will definitely kill the party vibe, but at least that guy slouching alone in the corner will appreciate it.

“Dear God, I Hate Myself” by Xiu Xiu

Pro tip: project the band’s music video (which is three minutes of Angela Seo making herself vomit while Jamie Stewart eats a chocolate bar) onto a nearby wall. Party over.

“Imagining My Man” by Aldous Harding

What says “party” more than a woeful folk singer? Just about anything. Funnily enough, this track comes from Harding’s most recent record, which is entitled Party.

“Japanese Banana” by Alvin & The Chipmunks

Think of this one as a little party favor – something to stick with the fleeing guests. There’s a reason my friend refers to this cut as “mind herpes;” it will be remembered long after it has ruined the festivities.

Pretty much anything by Tom Waits.

I personally like “What’s He Building In There” or “God’s Away On Business,” but let’s face it – no one’s going to be happy with gravelly voiced, vaudeville-inspired rock and if anyone is, marry that person immediately.

“Waking The Witch” by Kate Bush

From the dark side of Hounds Of Love, this number features chopper-like percussion and male vocals that literally sound like Satan. It’s impossible to dance to and sure to terrify everyone.

Whale Songs (various whales)

Any whale will do.

“Leave the Party” by Happyness

If all of your subtle sonic hints to GET THE FUCK OUT are for naught, perhaps a bit of direct lyric-messaging will do the trick. Happyness’ drowsy pop number literally says, “Leave the party, head right home” in the chorus. If guests refuse to hear that, then maybe the words, “kill everyone at the party” will be more audible.

ALBUM REVIEW: Happyness “Write In”

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photo by Emilla Orving

They’ve done it again. My favorite (contemporary) British trio is back with a follow up to their 2015 debut Weird Little Birthday. If Happyness have given me anything aside from ace interview material and two years of fabulous music, they have laid the groundwork for something very dear to me as a music journalist: the ability to follow a band’s career indefinitely.

Though I hope I’m not jinxing their livelihood, Happyness seem to possess a great potential for longevity. In this high turnover industry, sometimes all one can ask for is a band you can grow with.

The group’s sophomore LP Write In tells me these three Londoners won’t be disappearing any time soon. While this record certainly bears the Happyness stamp, it also conveys a breadth of growth and maturity when stacked up against their previous recordings. That maturity exists in song structure, yes, but also in lyrical content, which has become, to use bassist Jon EE Allan’s word of choice from a press release, more “earnest.”

If on Weird Little Birthday Happyness charmed us with their searing wit and irreverence, on Write In they move us with their sincerity and vulnerability. It seems that Allan, guitarist Benji Compston, and drummer Ash Cooper have become more whole as songwriters, and as people. It’s almost as if they’re, dare I say, growing up – and I’m fond of how gracefully they are doing so.

Write In’s opening number, “Falling Down” is immediate evidence of such grace. Its somber, slow build expands with layers of lush sound, culminating in shrieking synths. Somehow austere and glittering, morose and hopeful, it is the perfect song for a bedridden, rainy day…and that’s just the kind of day I’m having.

Highlights of the record are almost too numerous to mention, but I am going to do so regardless. “Anytime” is a downright masterful pop song, with its My Bloody Valentine-esque sludge and contrasting bright riffs (that keyboard! Those “oohs”!) That a gorgeous melody could peek its head through so much distortion and fog is a lovely thing.

“Through Windows” speaks to Happyness’ self-proclaimed love of Burt Bacharach, but also brings to mind the brilliance of Harry Nilsson and Blur at their finest. It is songs like this that establish these gents as stellar songwriters; their attention to detail defying their inattention to what t-shirts they happen to be wearing at any given moment.

“Bigger Glass Less Full” is Write In’s more aggressive outlier, much like “Refrigerate Her” on Weird Little Birthday. It doesn’t completely match, but it’s a welcome pop of color amidst the murky warmth of the surrounding tracks. On the opposite end of the spectrum, “This C Is A B A G” is particularly open and intimate, allowing you to really step into their cozy recording studio. The track concludes with tiny cries that register almost like sonar dolphin songs – I’ve said it before and I’ll say it again: these guys know how to write keyboard hooks that skewer you.

Toward the LP’s end, “Anna, Lisa Calls” stands out as a quintessential Happyness track…a poppy and thoughtful slice of indie rock. Just when you think they’ve outdone themselves, the album closes with “Tunnel Vision On Your Part” – the title track of Happyness’ 2016 EP. The sweeping, melancholy ballad bookends the record perfectly, evoking a similar sadness to “Falling Down.”

Despite their newly stoic approach, the band members haven’t snipped away their senses of humor. With song titles like “The Reel Start Again (Man As Ostrich)” and an endearingly funny music video for “Through Windows” featuring a clever microwave scene, Happyness aren’t taking themselves too seriously…but I hope they don’t mind if I do.

Write In is out now on Bar/None Records.[/fusion_builder_column][/fusion_builder_row][/fusion_builder_container]

Staff Picks – Madison Bloom: Under-heard/Under-sung Releases of 2016

The year-end list is a tricky politic.  You want to be fair, objective, and omnivorous.  You want to be unexpected, but not too unexpected.  Every December, Grammy nominations and Best Albums lists are released within weeks of each other, and while I’m no conspiracy theorist, I can’t help but suspect that the former informs the latter (along with sales figures, hype, etc.).  Just reading through the big names in music journalism, there is a pattern that would be silly to ignore.

This year, Lemonade, The Life of Pablo, 22, A Million, A Seat at the Table, Blonde, Anti, Coloring Book, Puberty 2, Blackstar and A Moon Shaped Pool have dominated the top slots.  I take no issue with this, as these are all great records worthy of praise.  But it does make me suspicious…while I do not conspire, I frequently suspect.  The big music pubs bear their differences, and vary in their positioning of said records.  But isn’t a different configuration of the same set of data kind of like…switching up the seating chart at a dinner party?

(I won’t pretend to understand the process editors and staff writers undergo when making their year end lists.  I’m sure it is far more complicated and arduous than I am alluding to.)

I am actually grateful for the big guns writing about the same records, because it means I don’t have to.  It’s done!  What I’d rather do is share with you some music that flew under the radar this year, despite its wonderful wingspan.  And with that, I give you the Under-heard/Under-sung Releases of 2016.       

LPs

Timber Remixed-Michael Gordon, Mantra Percussion, Various Artists

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When I reviewed this album in November I likened it to a vibratory massage – something you felt as much as heard.  For that fact alone this record is worthy of a listen…I’ve never heard anything like it.  What Michael Gordon began in 2009 with six 2x4s has been re-sculpted by Mantra Percussion and some of the most interesting contemporary musicians and producers out there.

Tim Hecker, Fennesz, Hauschka, and Oneohtrix Point Never are just a few names that can be found on this record, but despite the strong point of view each guest producer brings to the table, none of them overpower the original, resonant beauty of percussive wood.   

Open To Chance-Itasca

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Is there a sweeter songbird than Itasca’s Kaya Cohen?  Not that I’ve heard in a while.  But Cohen is no mere voice – she is also the core songwriter of the band, and that delicately plucked guitar gracing the LP is hers as well.  Open to Chance is an album in full – one that maintains a gorgeous sonic texture throughout.  Here you’ll find country drums, twanging guitars, and the shining cry of the pedal steel.  Favorite tracks include “Buddy,” “G.B.” and “Daylight Under My Wing,” the latter of which calls to mind the airy arrangements on Bill Callahan’s Dream River (think: flute).

Open to Chance is a seemingly fitting title for this record, as it is open to interpretation as well.  At times hopeful and others forlorn, the record floats in a lovely shade of grey. 

2013-Meilyr Jones

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2013 could be hastily summed up as a baroque pop love letter to Rome.  But it is so much more than that.  In 2013 Meilyr Jones left his moderately successful band Race Horses, went through a painful breakup, and in an attempt to revitalize himself, moved to Rome for several weeks.  He didn’t really have a plan, which often leads to the kind of open-mindedness necessary for creative catharsis to blossom.  And oh, it did.

Though released three years after Jones’ excursion, the majority of the songs on 2013 were written in the ancient city, later recorded in the U.K. with a ragtag team of Jones’ musician friends.  Given its dense and lovely instrumentation, one could easily think that this was an expensive record…but Jones is a resourceful man.  Five of the twelve songs were recorded live in a single day with his last minute, 30-piece orchestra.  And the songs aren’t only lush in arrangement – Jones covers lyrical ground that spans love lost, refugees, and the fallacy-ridden art world.  A beauty.   

Mirage Dreams-Breanna Barbara

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Oh, what a belter this woman is!  If you were to guess what Mirage Dreams sounded like by its wistful cover, you’d be real surprised when you pressed play.  Breanna Barbara has a voice that reaches the breathy low of Hope Sandoval, and the shaky soprano of country sirens.

Barbara’s music is whiskey soaked, revved up, lit-cigarette blues.  There is no shortage of pain on this record, especially on tracks like “Sailin’ Sailin’,” which seems to address the loss of a parent.  It’s heavy stuff from that soft, wheat-framed face on the cover.  That’s a contrast I welcome wholeheartedly.

The Gamble –Nonkeen

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Remember that line in Zoolander when Jerry Stiller’s character says that Mugatu “is so hot he can take a crap, wrap it in tin foil, put a couple fishhooks on it, and sell it to Queen Elizabeth as earrings”?  It’s a crass example, but that’s pretty much how I feel about Nils Frahm – though he’d never have to stoop so low to stoke intrigue.  But seeing as I will devour anything with the Nils Frahm stamp on it, I leapt at the chance to listen to The Gamble by Nonkeen, of which Frahm is 1/3. 

The other 2/3 are made up by Frahm’s childhood friends Frederic Gmeiner and Sebastian Singwald, who have been making music together on and off for decades.  That level of intimacy is palpable on The Gamble; you can certainly hear the Frahm touch, but the composition as a whole is collaborative and progressive.  There’s guitair, piano, synthesizer, tape loops and a whole host of sounds I love but sruggle to identify.  A gorgeous soundscape in which to lose yourself.

Suicide Songs –MONEY

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MONEY’s second LP entirely defied the sophomore slump, instead soaring upward to dizzying heights.  These Manchester-based lads, lead by singer/songwriter Jamie Lee, might be melodramatics, but in a world where things like “chill wave” exist, I’m sometimes in the mood for a grand overture.

And Suicide Songs is ripe with them.  Piano, strings, synths, guitar, drums, gospel choir…it is a BIG record, and I ain’t mad about it.  The dense arrangements could be too much at times, but they are undercut but Lee’s rakish, imperfect vocal performance, which often sounds like a drunken man on the brink of tears.  Perfect.     

Flames & Figures –The Seshen

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Don’t worry; I’m not going to just give you sad bastard music.  It’s time for a little homegrown soul, at least, homegrown in the Bay Area that is.  The Seshen is the musical marriage between singer/lyricist Lalin St. Juste and producer/bassist Akiyoshi Ehara.  St. Juste, Ehara, and five other band mates churn out the synth-pop, R&B soul jamz I’ve grown to love this year.

Flames & Figures is a syrupy, textural pop gem that doesn’t skimp on well-placed drum machines and synths – but nothing tasteless or in your face here.  Favorite tracks include “Spectacle,” “Periphery,” and the funky “Distant Heart.”  Pour it on.   

Along a Vanishing Plane –Christopher Tignor

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Christopher Tignor, the acclaimed violinist and composer behind Along a Vanishing Plane, achieves his unique sound through varying techniques with tuning forks and electronic manipulation.  His music is spacious, emotive and contemplative.  So when I learned he is also a software engineer, I was a bit surprised.

Then again, maybe it makes all the more sense.  There is something so deliberate and organized about Tignor’s music, despite its space.  “Artifacts of Longing Pt. 1” reminds me of a pared down Dirty Three number – awash in refined synths, that is.  Closing track “The Will and the Waiting” is closer to Tangerine Dream with glittering, atmospheric synth effects and the *ping!* of Tignor’s beloved tuning fork.  A striking record that would be best played when you have time to really sit and listen.

Changes –Charles Bradley

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Charles Bradley is a man that, like his late label mate Sharon Jones, has challenged industry ageism, starting his career at an age well past most.  Unfortunately, Bradley also bears a more frightening similarity to Jones: in October of this frustrating (dumpster fire?) year, he was diagnosed with cancer.  But that hasn’t stopped him from sharing his phenomenal, soul revival record Changes, which seems to embody all of the wisdom Bradley has amassed in his years outside of the spotlight.

The title track is tragic, even more so as it was released seven months prior to Bradley’s diagnosis.  “I’m goin’ through changes/It hurts so bad,” he wails.  It upsets the ear and the heart to hear, as the dramatic irony of the painful change to come is too intense.  A beautiful, soul-bearing effort from a man I hope will stick around a while. 

Love Yes –TEEN

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How could we resist a little local love for the ladies of TEEN?  If any of you have seen this adept foursome live (perhaps at an Audiofemme event), you will know what fabulous musicians they are.  But their prowess doesn’t end with musicianship; they are also exceptional performers and complex songwriters who understand as much about writing hooks as they do constructing dense music.

Love Yes did get some thumbs up this year from the likes of Nylon and Pitchfork (to name a few), but I would go so far as to say it is one of the under-noticed records of 2016, and it is definitely deserving of more praise.  This electro-pop opus nods at the ‘80s but doesn’t drown in references.  A favorite track is “Animal” for its grimy, Tubeway Army-esque synth riff that will surely stay stuck in your head until 2017.  

EPs

Eskota – Catch Prichard

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Watching the slow yet steady rise of Catch Prichard’s Sawyer Gebauer (FKA
Brittsommar) has been both gratifying and frustrating.  Having championed his music for the past two and a half years, it was rewarding to see his first EP as Catch Prichard accrue praise from publications other than ours alone.  NoiseyImpose, and American Songwriter were just a few who took note of his unique sound.  But despite Gebauer’s upward mobility this annum, the Wisconsin-born troubadour remains largely unknown.  And that’s a darn shame, because I’ve yet to find a soul unstirred upon hearing “Eskota,” the sorrow-washed meditation on love, loneliness and the impermanence of home.

  While Gebauer had largely looked to European influences in the past, he found his country-lovin’, Americana roots in “Eskota,” which was recorded in an abandoned general store in a west Texas ghost town.  Pedal steel, brushed snare, and late Springsteen era synths dance under Gebauer’s lead weight baritone throughout.  An under-sung stunner for sure. 

Tunnel Vision On Your Part – Happyness

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It’s no secret that I’m a massive fan of London trio Happyness.  So when they popped out a new EP this year, I was flat out thrilled.  I was slightly bummed it wasn’t an LP (which they are working on currently, by the way), but Tunnel Vision On Your Part doesn’t disappoint, despite its length.  Clocking in at a curt twenty minutes, Tunnel Vision reminds me that an EP can be a beautiful lesson in brevity.  Much like a short story or novella, ya gotta pack a lot more into 5 songs.  There’s no space, no meandering instrumental track, no filler.

If I had to be just as brief describing Happyness, I would say they are three things above all.  Subtle, understated, and catchy-as-all-hell.  I guess it’s no surprise that a band so understated would go under-noticed throughout the year, but it pains me, because sometimes the most interesting people at the party are the shy ones, hardly saying a word.  The most interesting person is rarely the loud guy dancing shirtless – but he seems to get all the attention anyway.    

Earrings Off! – Adult Jazz

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Earrings Off! is rife with difficult moments that fill me with unease.  Therefore: I love it!  And it seems as though I’m on the right track with that reaction.  As Adult Jazz’s vocalist Harry Burgess said to The Guardian in 2014, “When you come up with a part that’s pretty, you need some obstruction…technology is good for shifting things to a more awkward place.”

I find great comfort in that awkward place, so thank you Adult Jazz.  I have no idea where to shelve this little oddity, but that’s partially what I like about it.  This twisted cacophony from the Leeds foursome contains multitudes, and can be described with just as much. A pop assault.  Combat funk.  A no wave, free jazz, synth-psych freak out that marries Arthur Russel, tUnE-yArDs, Dirty Projectors, and Animal Collective, but puts them all on speed.  It’s a wild ride, and I suggest you hop on. 

Don’t Call Us We’ll Call You – Dickicker

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Don’t be fooled by the silly name (and album cover) – the nascent New York foursome may not have access to a gilded studio, but they certainly have the songs.  One might not expect a band called Dickicker to be capable of sophisticated lyrics, and yet the writing partnership between lead vocalist Jim Freeman and guitarist Gray Hurlburt is an alchemic one.  Often simple in their banal frustration, poetic truths drift in unexpectedly.  In the EP’s opening cut “Alibi,” Freeman strains his hoarse voice while ruminating on past ambitions shattered:

“Going to the place we know/To dig up everything we sowed/Turn the soil over, let the water boil over/And burn the precious things we’ve grown.” Freeman has a phlegmatic scream that amplifies the palpable devastation in tracks like “Old Soul” and “Black Wine.”  I’d hate to know how many cigarettes he’s smoked to acquire such a voice.  But I want one just listening to him.

Big Fugitive Life – Ezra Furman

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So far I have loved everything Ezra Furman has recorded.  No amendment to that love given his latest EP Big Fugitive Life.  This energetic collection of rock n’ roll tunes is a sweet seventeen minutes, packing in as much saxophone as possible.  Furman’s voice is lovably shabby as usual, and at times (see: track five, “Splash of Light”) it seems that the band opted for a less-produced effect intentionally.

But Big Fugitive’s ragged nature doesn’t demean the richness of its songs.  And that is a truth applicable to all music; that no matter the quality of the recording, you can’t rob a well-written song of its greatness.

EP REVIEW: Happyness “Tunnel Vision On Your Part”

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When you were a kid, did you ever play with cornstarch and water? Some of you will think that is the most backwoods bumfuck thing you’ve ever heard, and others will know what the hell I am talking about. The thing about cornstarch and water is, it denies an absolute form. When you grasp it between your hands in a bowl it is chalky and solid, but when you lift it up, rivers of viscous white fluid run between your fingers.

It is this very conundrum of physics that comes to mind when I listen to Happyness, the London trio who recently released five-song EP Tunnel Vision On Your Part via Moshi Moshi Records. This record, much like their debut LP Weird Little Birthday bludgeons me with immediate satisfaction. I can say instantaneously, without a scrap of doubt: “I like this. This is good. This is different.” It is solid opinion, fully formed between my hands and in the bowl. And yet the moment I pick it up for closer examination, everything dissolves in my palms. Why is it good?

A sound you can’t quite put your finger on is the best and the worst thing that can happen to a music journalist. Though Happyness have been basted with descriptions like “laid back,” “slacker,” and most abhorrently, “chill,” I really can’t agree. There is more complexity at work here…more thought. When I listen to Tunnel Vision I don’t hear three happy slackers, but rather a team of gifted songwriters who know their way around hooks, texture, and a killer synth line. I doubt that they cut their teeth by slacking off and copying Pavement.

There are a few lovely things I can point to on this record, one being its steady warmth. There is a consistent shade of rose tinting these tracks, and a fuzz quality that’s equally cozy – as if the boys wrapped their amps in angora sweaters. The opener, “Anna, Lisa Calls” is a melancholy pop cut that has me wondering if the Beach Boys, Blonde On Blonde, or Elvis Costello were on rotation while recording, especially with those swerving, heartsick synths that remind me of Steve Nieve or Al Kooper organ parts.

The record seems to hang its head lower than Weird Little Birthday, its tone far more heartbroken than the snotty and wry debut. “Surfer Girl,” is a sleepy-eyed sad song that turns my Beach Boys suspicion into a theory. It is a washed-out, doo-wop waltz, complete with shore-encroaching waves and forlorn vocals.

At Tunnel Vision’s center is the infectious “SB’s Truck” which was the EP’s leading single. It is a lush ear-worm, spinning out a continual closing phrase that is bound to remain lodged in your head: “I come ‘round here/no real damage/movin’ in around my home.” Or at least, that’s what they seem to be saying in their trademark mumble.

Signing off is the title track: a straightforward dazzler that gets me hung up on the keys again. Whoever is writing these keyboard lines should probably keep their distance from me, as they seem to understand the fine wiring of my heart and could potentially cause an electrical fire.

I don’t feel any closer to coming up with a bar graph of reasons why I dig this band. But maybe digging something and not knowing why is the ultimate kind of adoration. Blind faith so to speak. After all, art isn’t about logic – it’s about instinct.

LIVE REVIEW: 4Knots Festival Highlights

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While last year’s 4Knots was downtown and gratis, the updated version boasts an impressive list of food vendors, top notch sound quality, and a killer lineup. And though you have to shell out a lot more than nothing this time ‘round, rest assured that all proceeds go to benefit Hudson River Park itself.

Highlights:

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Heaters:

As you can see from our interview with the Grand Rapids trio, these boys are straightforward and approachable as human beings as well as musicians. They play psych rock straight up. Their set was incredibly tight and focused. It’s always interesting for a band’s sound to be so raucous and raw and their composure so stoic and professional. Guitarist/vocalist Andrew Tamlyn, drummer Joshua Korf, and bassist/vocalist Nolan Kreb all look like they could be in three different bands, but they sure as hell sound like one. Despite a little pestilence from a “Free Bird!” shouting audience member, the crowd loved them, and so did I.

 

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Meatbodies:

In my opinion the most surprising act of the evening, Los Angeles-based Meatbodies kicked ass. It’s a pedestrian description, but an accurate one. They’re a shambolic bunch whose stage banter is far from sophisticated and all the better for it. “We’re sorry we’re sick. We ate too much cheese last night. We’re sick on cheeeeeeeeeese!!!!!” they shout out phlegmy throats. Lead man Chad Ubovich is freakishly talented, and when you consider his resume it makes sense; he was long the lead guitarist for Mikal Cronin and currently plays bass in Fuzz. Each Meat Body has palpable chops, but Ubovich is a real showman and potentially a savant; his solos are wild and wailing, seeming at once impossible and effortless. As his guitar squeals his eyes roll back in his head and his mouth twitches in unembarrassed focus. The lot of them come off like your shithead little brother – that all your friends would rather hang out with.

 

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Happyness:

You may have noticed by now that we’re a bit hung up on Happyness, and that won’t be changing anytime soon. They play a familiar set-at least to someone who’s seen them three times in the past couple of months-but it never grows stale. The thing that continues to surprise and delight me about these boys is that despite their all-too-clever lyrics and flippant interview responses, they perform with an intense and joyous sincerity. Drummer Ash Cooper, though only in his early twenties, comes off like a seasoned jazz session man, mouthing each brush on the high hat, squinting and smiling in a surely unconscious way. Benji Compston and Jonny Allan do all the talking to the crowd, but as a trio they seem to be speaking to each other with a ease and professionalism that typically marks bands who’ve been together much longer than they.

 

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Stephen Malkmus and the Jicks:

I’ve been looking for Stephen Malkmus all night. Was he in the crow’s nest? Aboard the artists’ lounge? Catching some shade under that enormous prop Deep Eddy Vodka bottle tethered to the bow of the boat? He’d managed to escape my searching eyes until the moment he stepped out from behind the stage (I’m convinced I was the first person to see him). “Hello photographer people” he mutters and leans over the photo pit a bit self-consciously. The Jicks are on the edge of their first song when a resounding ferry horn honks. “Even ships fart,” Malkmus quips, proving he’s still the easily humored dude he’s always been. The band played the bulk of 2014’s Wig Out at Jagbags but no Pavement managed to creep into their set. (I can dream, can’t I?) A particular show high-point peaked during “Freeze The Saints” when Malkmus sauntered over to guitarist/keyboardist Mike Clark to join him on the keys. They plunked away side by side until Malkmus turned to Clark, stating dryly: “You’re stepping on me, bro.”

 

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Super Furry Animals:

It’s only fitting that the Super Furries would headline, seeing as they’ve been on hiatus for half a decade. I know that the stage set up won’t be demure (knowing them, and how long it takes for them to come onstage) but I have read the yeti costumes are destroyed, and will therefore not make an appearance this tour. They too find amusement in the ferry horns, pausing after the first and maniacally shouting back at it. SFA fans are not fainthearted, and there is a flock of them. They play all the favorites, mine being “Juxtaposed With You” simply for how much it stands away from their catalog. Their set is long and solid, but of course they deliver a generous encore. And despite all the talk, they play it in yeti suits after all.

INTERVIEW: Heaters

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“Play ‘Free Bird!’ Hey, play some Skynyrd!”

It’s surprising to think that after all these years, the above still gets shouted at rock bands who are just trying to finish their set. I personally stopped finding the line funny around age 14, but the same cannot be said for the sad twenty-somethings behind me whose idea of high art is probably the Fast and the Furious franchise.

I digress. The real victims of this sloppy heckle are not my ears, but rather the members of Heaters, a band who has come all the way from Grand Rapids, Michigan to play the annual Village Voice 4Knots Festival. Fortunately the vast majority of the crowd are brimming with enthusiasm for the group, who sound as tight live as they do on their recordings. They’ve recently released their Mean Green 7” on Beyond Beyond is Beyond records and will have a full length come September. Having played SXSW, and the Austin Psych Festival in the past couple of months, the band is still in a perpetual state of momentum. Fortunately for us at AudioFemme, they slowed down ever so slightly to give us an exclusive interview and chatted about the Grand Rapids music scene, playing bass on acid, and stealing other bands’ drummers.

AudioFemme: Welcome to New York!

Heaters: Thank you.

AF: Did you guys just get in this morning?

Nolan Krebs: (bass/vocals) We got in yesterday actually, we had the day off yesterday so we went out to the Rockaways and had a nice ass day.

AF: Are you in town for long?

NK: ‘Til Monday and then we play Boston.

AF: Do you have anything fun planned for the rest of the stay?

Andrew Tamlyn (guitar/vocals): We’re gonna go to Coney Island I think tomorrow.

NK: Yeah, we’ve never been.

AF: I love Coney Island. The Side Show is worth it if they still run it.

NK: Oh I’d be so down.

AF: It’s really good. Don’t go on the Cyclone.

NK: I feel like I would throw up. Is it intense?

AF: It’s not so much the motion sickness, it’s just that it’s made out of wood and it gives you whiplash. Every time you go around it feels like someone’s punching you in the back. So if you’re into that, go on it. So 4Knots! Your set was amazing, I really enjoyed it.

All: Thank you!

AF: Did you hear that guy yelling “play ‘Free Bird’” by any chance?

NK: Yeah, what a tacky, unoriginal thing to say.

AF: Do people still think that’s funny?

AT: I don’t know. It’s kind of like a “your mom” joke, you know?

AF: Who were you most excited to see at 4Knots?

AT: Meat Bodies.

AF: They’re great! I was just kinda like, oh, another band. But then they started playing and I immediately ran to the stage. Their guitarist is fantastic – so animated. I was very impressed by their set.

AT: Most of these bands I haven’t heard of, but I’m excited to see Happyness.

NK: Happyness are our friends.

AF: I LOVE Happyness.

NK: We met them at South by this year and they’re total sweethearts.

AF: Yeah I saw them in April and interviewed them in a tiny bathroom in a venue in Brooklyn, and they’re just adorable. They’re the sweetest guys. So, you guys are from Grand Rapids Michigan; what’s the music scene like over there?

AT: It’s weird, it’s kind of all over the place. There’s lots of metal and folk.

Joshua Korf (drums): There’s a lot of pop punk.

NK: They’re trying though. It’s a cool city and we moved there because we knew there would be places to play. Andrew and I were friends in high school and we kind of split up during college and shit, and then afterwards knew we wanted to try and do something with music so that is the best place in Michigan to try and start something. It’s young and looking for a foothold but it’s trying.

AF: Yeah I was going to ask why you were drawn to that city as opposed to other music hubs like New York…the big ones.

JK: It’s a cheap place to live.

NK: Yeah I feel like we had a little bit of space to breathe there and figure out what we wanted to do and what kind of music we wanted to make. Chicago isn’t very far away and we play there about once a month so sometimes we kind of feel like we’re a Chicago band.

AF: Well I think midwestern bands kind of get slumped into that one category a bit…Chicago and Minneapolis and such.

NK: Totally.

AF: I feel like you guys have recorded quite a lot in the small time that you’ve been a band. I know that the Mean Green 7” just came out in April- are you guys already working on anything new?

NK: We have our first full length coming out in September on Beyond Beyond is Beyond, which is a Brooklyn-based label. Our Mean Green record came out through them as well. When September rolls around we’ll be-we’re on a two month tour right now-but by then we’ll have some space to breathe and probably start working on something else.

AF: How far into the tour are you?

AT: Just like a week.

AF: You guys did another pretty long tour in March?

NK: Yeah, March through May we went down to Texas for South By Southwest and Austin Psych Fest so it was kind of like back and forth driving to and from Texas.

AF: Anything ridiculous happen? Any good tour stories?

(Josh starts laughing hysterically)

AF: Oh, something happened.

(Continual laughter)

NK: I took acid way too late in the night before we played at Austin Psych Fest because we were watching Tame Impala and someone politely asked if we wanted LSD, so I said yes and didn’t end up sleeping that night, which sucks. I had a great time but didn’t sleep before our set…

AF: Did you play while you were high?

NK: Um, I wasn’t really high by the time we played but I remember looking at my bass guitar and thinking, “this feels weird. Something’s weird.”

AF: I can’t imagine performing while on acid. That sounds terrifying.

NK: Yeah, some bands can totally pull it off but personally I get confused.

AF: So you two (Andrew and Nolan) moved to Grand Rapids together, and Josh, you were their next-door neighbor. How did that courtship work? Did you just see a drum kit in a window and bring him a Jell-O mold, or?

AT: Actually, he was playing in another band and after his set we were like, “dude, we really like you! Come play with us!” So we stole him and then we all moved in together and just started hammerin’ out tunes.

AF: So now all three of you live together?

NK: Yep. We’ve lived together for like two years.

JK: It’s really convenient for stuff like rehearsing and practicing and recording in general. Instead of having to go to a practice space we can all wake up in the morning, have coffee and go to the basement and play together.

AT: We’re all brothers.

AF: Yeah, it’s impressive. The dynamics must work so well for you to not get sick of each other.

NK: It’s weird because I actually hate them both, so…..

AF: I can tell. I can sense the steely reserve emanating from you.

(All laugh)

AF: I was reading an interview with you guys recently and I believe Andrew you said that a lot of new music consists of people doing a kind of karaoke vocal track over prerecorded music.

AT: In certain genres, yeah.

AF: Do you feel semi out-of-touch with contemporary music?

AT: I’d say so, yeah. I feel like we’re a little out of touch with most radio/contemporary music, but I mean when it comes to just playing with other rock n’ roll bands, not at all.

NK: Contemporary music is kind of funny for us to listen to as engineers of our own music. We listen to it and we’re like “oh my god, this is so different from what we try to do in our basement.” But, to each his own.

A: I still respect it all. I’m not hating on anything.

AF: Hate on some things.

(All shake heads)

AF: No? All right. Speaking of contemporary music, what are you listening to right now?

All: The Fat White Family, Vocaloid.

NK: They’re a Chilean Psych band.

AT: On Sacred Bones Records.

NK: Amen Dunes, Mystic Braves…honestly the bands we’ve toured with have come to be our favorite bands. Mystery Lights. Wand.

AF: So your contemporaries.

All: Yeah.

AF: What are your goals as a band currently? Are there festivals you’re dying to play, or venues you’re trying to get into or radio stations you want to be on?

AT: I think it’d be cool to play the Fillmore in San Francisco. That’s pretty iconic.

JK: My dream was always to play Psych Fest.

AF: You did it!

JK: Yeah, when we got that email it was so surreal.

AF: It sounds like such a blast.

JK: Yeah, it’s the perfect festival in my mind, because everyone that’s there is there to see music. There’s a hang-out-and-do-drugs thing, but I’ve been to so many other festivals where it’s just about how fucked up you can get and it’s not about the music, and everyone I talked to and encountered at that festival was there to see good music.

NK: It was like, record nerds.

AF: Your people.

NK: Yep, our people.

AF: So my last question is kind of a silly one: do you have any music that you love which is a guilty pleasure? And what is it? But un-ironically, like you truly love the band.

JK: The Strokes (who are currently playing on the boat)

AF: They’re playing this for you!

AT: Grizzly Bear????

AF: Oh, come on.

NK: They make beautiful music.

AF: That’s bullshit. They’re a hip band.

NK: I don’t feel bad about any music…

AF: Not bad but embarrassed. Mine’s The Wallflowers if that helps anyone.

NK: Oh, ok.

JK: Guns N’Roses.

NK: Andrew and I listened to a lot of hardcore music when we were teenagers, so now listening back to that it will make me blush.

AF: Like Alkaline Trio or something?

NK: Yeah that sort of bullshit, but whatever, that got us into a lot of guitar music so…

AF: Oh no, you don’t have to defend it.

NK: haha, thank you.

AF: The blushing part is what I mean. The fact that it makes you blush makes it that category.

Be sure to check out the title track off of Mean Green below:

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FESTIVAL PREVIEW: The 5th Annual 4Knots Music Festival – Our Top Picks

 

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The 5th annual 4Knots Music Festival approaches. Held Saturday, July 11 at Pier 84, this year brings performances from Welsh psych-stars Super Furry Animals and Portland rockers Stephen Malkmus and the Jicks along with: Twin Peaks, Mikal Cronin, Screaming Females, Happyness, Meatbodies, Heaters, Heaven, and Surfbort. Thankfully nothing overlaps so you can see them all ’cause they all rock. I just picked the top three to talk about that at this point in my existence made me feel something.

1. Surfbort

These Brooklyn stinkers make some fantastic garage punk rock. First up, they’ll hit you harder than a double expresso.

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2. Twin Peaks

I used to think this band’s name was just too obvious, but the Chicago rock ‘n’ rollers won me over with their haunting and heartbreaking guitars and melody.

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3. Happyness

You can’t miss these London boys, who also make the list of  one of our favorite AudioFemme interviews of all time. My favorite part of their songs is their lyrics, in particular the highly intelligent yet playful musings on love. They just make it sound so fun!

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