An Avalanche of Content

Hello all and welcome to another edition of the Spins. If it has not already in your local area, the fall has come in full force. The colors have changed, the weather has cooled, and many are in spooky mode, despite the best efforts of the Christmas Creep. The Recommendations will probably reflect the season more than in other ones, but that isn’t necessarily a bad thing. But before we get to those, let me get a few things out of my mind first.

The Obsessions

Avalanche

While watching The Lowdown, the new Ethan Hawke show on FX created by Starlin Harjo (Reservoir Dogs) that I cannot recommend highly enough, there was some incidental music that caught my attention. As Hawke and Peter Dinklage are talking through their character’s history, I heard the following song in the background:

This is “Loch Ness” by Some Velvet Sidewalk, a lo-fi band based in Olympia, Washington. It is from their third album Avalanche, a 33-minute maelstrom of absurdity, amateurism, and extremely loud guitars. I bought this on CD back in my late teens, but have listened to it sporadically since then. This isn’t to say that I don’t think about it a lot, because I do. The tragedy for me is that it is not available to stream on Tidal, my regular service. If I want to listen to it, I have to do a bunch of steps that I often don’t feel like going through.

When I finally went through these steps and listened to the album for the first time in a while, and I cannot tell you how much I enjoyed the experience. Between the screamed chorus of “Loch Ness,” the weird psych jam of “Deep Sea Green,” and the Beat Happening-style pop jam of “Peaches,” I was excited by how many lyrics I remembered from this album and how much I like this album. If you would like to listen to this album yourself, this is a link to a YouTube upload of the album.

“No Way Out”

The Mid-2000s were a great time to be a post-punk band. The revival was in full swing. Bands like The Rapture were out there, making ample use of cowbell and guitar effects. A lot of the revival was centered in the States and the UK, but there was a band from Australia that had caught my attention. It is a trio called Love of Diagrams.

In 2004, they released an EP called We Got Communication. It fit into the movement very well. It had the same sort of nervy guitar work and tense vocals as well as a deep reverence for the post-punk outfits that preceded. While two of the tracks were pretty standard, there was one that stood out: “No Way Out.” Using call-and-response vocals between bassist Antonia Sellbach and guitarist Luke Horton, the song differentiates itself from the pack by being this warped, serpentine song that hangs on a razor’s edge. The rhythm is forward in the track, and the guitar, with static excellence, fills the space and provides a fantastic counterpoint. It’s a song that has been firmly lodged in my head for, now, decades.

“Dragons II”

Austin-based Being Dead is a great weirdo/kitchen-sink-pop band that put out an excellent album last year called Eels. On that release, full of raucous songs that cover dark lyrics of malaise, there is this quiet song called “Dragons II.” An acoustic guitar accompanies Juli Keller and Cody Dosier as they sing a lovely song about failed fairy tale heroes. A great song on a fantastic album.

The Scourge of Spotify Pop

So, as one might suspect, I listen to a lot of music in an effort to generate ideas and thoughts to discuss in this here newsletter. With the advent of streaming services, the amount of music in the marketplace has increased immensely. This is a generally good thing. If you are willing to put in a little bit of time, you can find really great music. But, as has become something of a trend with the younger generations, they are not interested in putting in the legwork of looking through all of the music. They would rather have the music chosen for them. This is essentially recreating radio, so I can only take so much offense to it. The problem becomes that many of these young people are streaming through Spotify.

While I have a number of political problems with Spotify (I support the artists pulling their music) and how they pay out artist royalties, they have done something far, far worse to music: they have turned it into content. Turn on a random playlist (let’s say Indie Mix), and you’ll experience a phenomenon that is unique to Spotify. Sure, all of the songs will fall into the general overarching idea. However, it’s nigh on impossible to tell them apart. They all have similar instrumentation, vocals, and vibes. If the artists were not different (according to the metadata at least), you would think that they were all from the same band because they sound so similar.

The rise of Spotify has led to music being seen as aural wallpaper by a growing number of people, and I, as a person who likes music, find this to be very sad. This is not a particularly new argument. Liz Pelly wrote an entire book about it, and there have been multiple columns about the idea of “Spotifycore.” Here’s the thing though: I, notoriously and probably much to the detriment of many readers of this newsletter, do not use Spotify. This idea came to me when I was listening on Tidal.

As I was combing through the new releases as I’m wont to do, I listened to this album, Girl Violence by King Princess. The album itself was the pinnacle of Spotifycore. It was absolutely fine. It was dreamy, moody, poppy, (insert sound adjective here and it will work). The mastermind of the band, Mikaela Strauss, is a perfectly good singer with a pleasant voice. But, as soon as that album ended, I didn’t remember a note of it. It had no texture, no depth. It was music that insisted upon sitting in the background. It was music made for a Spotify playlist.

The number of albums that I come across that work in this manner is growing higher and higher, especially among the younger artists. I don’t know if they are getting bad advice from their A&Rs or if this is the music they really want to make. If the former, that makes sense: labels need to recoup on their investment, and getting onto a Spotify playlist with millions of listeners is a quick way of doing that. Throw that artist on the road for a while, and you might even be able to pay the artist at some point in the next decade if you didn’t put in too much money for their development. If it’s the latter, it’s sad that they want to make such anodyne music. In either case, it bodes poorly for music’s future if everyone’s idea of success is ending up as a track on an algorithm-based playlist that has less dynamic interest than a mall Muzak soundtrack.

On that note, let’s talk about some music that isn’t anodyne.

The Recommendations

Black Eyes, Hostile Design

I saw this band ages ago as a young person in Oberlin (I believe it was in the basement of a house called Poland, but don’t quote me on that). There were two things that stood out for me. The first was that there were two drummers. The second was that their sound was urgent, pulsing with righteous fury as one might expect from a band signed to Dischord Records. After a 22-year interval, the band has released new music and it is excellent. It is multilingual and multi-grooved. There’s some no wave skronk, references to bands like A Certain Ratio and Liquid Liquid, and the social incisiveness that is required of a band signed to Dischord Records. An excellent return.

Geese, Getting Killed

A truly strange album. Geese used to be a more by-the-numbers post-punk outfit, but they decided to throw that out, and this was the result. The songs are kind of all over the place, but the connecting link are the funny, sad, poignant lyrics and interesting voice of leadman Cameron Winter. A truly unique—and deeply interesting—listening experience. I’ve listened to this thing a couple of times, and I keep finding new ways through it.

Snõõper, Worldwide

The band Snõõper has been gaining traction over the past few years with their raucous sound. Even though it is more serious than their previous release, Worldwide is a 28-minute whirlwind of a dual guitar attack, synthesizers, furious drum patterns, and deadpan lyrics from Blair Tramel. It’s a part of a movement called egg punk, which was originally called Devo-core. The evidence of that influence is clear on the band’s cover of The Beatles’ “Come Together,” a highlight on an album full of them.

Estee Nack, Al.Divino & Grubby Pawz, Coldest Combo Ever

The title of this 40-minute LP holds. Estee Nack is one of the coldest emcees in the Griselda Records camp, and that becomes clear from the first track on this album. His style is dense with rhymes but still firmly connected to the street. Al.Divino is an excellent partner as his raspy-voiced style fits Nack’s extremely well. The duo’s impact is increased by the psychedelic boom-bap of Grubby Pawz. Estee Nack, with this release, continues to establish himself as one of the best street emcees working right now.

good flying birds, Talulah’s tape

Take a group of kids, give them the entire history of indie pop, and tell them to make a record. That is what this record is. But, if you think that this is just paint-by-numbers pastiche, you are completely wrong. They’ve taken all of those strains of indie pop—the power pop of Teenage Fanclub, the ringing guitars of Talulah Gosh and Felt, and the noise pop of Alvvays, to name some elements—and made something new and dynamic. It is an album of music that understands the past and uses it to create the future. Most importantly, it’s really fun.

Faten Kanaan, Diary of a Candle

Faten Kanaan is a master of creating worlds within her synthesizer-based music. This album is no exception. This album teems with quiet detail as repetitions grow and tones change. Diary of a Candle, for its brief 28-minute runtime, transports the listener to a world full of romance, danger, and beauty. It’s genuinely enchanting. If you’ve never heard of her before, nevermind that. Put this on and go about a task. You’ll be sucked into its vortex before you know it.

Sudan Archives, THE BPM

This year, all of the alternative/progressive-R&B ladies have gone to the club. There is FKA Twigs’ EUSEXUA, Amaarae’s BLACK STAR, and Rochelle Jordan’s Through The Wall. Add this Sudan Archives album to the mix. Brittney Parks’ entry to the club is like a easier-going version of Amaarae’s album. In short, her tracks thump with house intensity, and her lyrics are very horny. If you are out and want to get turnt up, this album will get you through the twilight until the night truly falls and Amaarae can make it bump.

They Are Gutting A Body Of Water, LOTTO

While their name is somewhat ridiculous, their music is not a joke. TAGABOW is on the absolute cutting edge of the new shoegaze movement, but the band’s music can be somewhat inaccessible on record because it is so dense with sounds and samples. In a change from their previous work, this album was recorded live to tape, and, due to the lack of overdubbing and studio wizardry, it is an easier way to get into one of the most adventurous shoegaze bands operating right now.

Mozart Estate, Tower Block in a Jam Jar

Mozart Estate is the current project of Lawrence, the founder of seminal indie pop Felt. Unlike that band, with its placid, hypnotic sound, Mozart Estate is more upbeat, using junky electronics and jangling guitars. This album is a re-recording of some earlier Go-Kart Mozart material, but you don’t need to know that. The fun music provides a bed for Lawrence’s critiques of British society, which are sharp and pointed. Four decades into his career, Lawrence still knows his way around lyrics.

Genevieve Artadi & Real Bad Man, Everything Is Under Control.

Genevieve Artadi is a pop/jazz singer based in Los Angeles. Real Bad Man is a hip-hop producer who is also based in Los Angeles. The two of them combined to make something that is out of both of their wheelhouses. Artadi’s voice floats through a world of synths and elegant drum patterns. Real Bad Man’s beats, in comparison to his rap work, are more spacious, less tethered to Earth. The two of them work off of each other well, making this a lovely collaboration album.

Yasmine Hamdan, I Remember I Forget

Yasmine Hamdan has been a fixture of the Middle Eastern underground for quite a while, but you might know her better from her appearance in Jim Jarmusch’s vampire movie Only Lovers Left Alive. Her music is political and rooted in a style that merges electronics with various folk traditions. The best description that I could think of while listening to her is Arooj Aftab goes electronic. They both share this very cool swag. Their vocals are quietly commanding, and you can feel how much of them there is in the music. It’s an absorbing listen from front to back.

Flock of Dimes, The Life You Save

Jenn Wasner of Wye Oak is a very busy lady. When she’s not working on Wye Oak, she is in the studio with artists such as Bon Iver, Tune-Yards, Sharon Van Etten, and Hand Habits. Somewhere during this, she found time to record her own music under the name Flock of Dimes. Unlike her previous outing, the electronics have been pushed a little to the back so that the acoustic guitar can shine in front. This is a folkier set than one might expect from her, but it still hits very hard. Wasner’s dealing with some serious things on this album, but the music does have some lightness so that the album does not become a miserable listen. It is the excellence that I expected from her.

S.G. Goodman, Planting by the Signs

S.G. Goodman is a singer-songwriter working in the Americana space. The first thing you noticed about her is the voice. It is raw and raspy, and it conveys so much emotion. It’s really great. Next, Goodman is an excellent storyteller, able to create great images with an economy of words. If you listen to artists like Waxahatchee, Goodman will be right up your alley. Furthermore, there is an amazing duet with Goodman and Bonnie “Prince” Billy on this album called “Nature’s Child.” It makes you pause and listen, that’s how good it is.

Modern Nature, The Heat Warps

Modern Nature are a London-based quartet that play a fusion of psych, jazz, and folk. While this reads kind of strange, the result is enrapturing. Listening to The Heat Warps is like having an extremely mellow day. Everything is effortless. You can just intuit your way through things. That’s a good word for this album: intuitive. The construction is tight and complex, but it feels very natural, like it has always gone together.

The Golden Dregs, Godspeed

I won’t front: I listened to this album ages ago, and didn’t put it in a Spins because it did not stand out to me in a real way. I couldn’t fully wrap my head around it. I sat on it for a while, and it kept popping back up into my mind. I listened to it again, and it was better, but I was also distracted. The songs still stuck in my head though, so it stayed nearby. A couple more months pass, and I came back to listen to this record. I understood why I was hesitant. Benjamin Woods’s lyrics are slippery, and the instrumentation is tricky. But, when I gave myself to the record, I found it to be a rewarding listen. Woods tells small stories with his lyrics, and the band has a rich, full sound, pulling from various strains of pop and art rock as well as the catalogue of Tom Waits. If you don’t get it the first time, give it another go; it will eventually settle in.

Lorelle Meets The Obsolete, Corporal

I did not know that this album was being dropped, so it was quite a surprise to me to find new material from one of my favorite psych bands. The previous album, Datura, was this dark, menacing synth album that was good but intense. It seemed like the band had lost some of the psych energy that they previously had. They had felt that too. As I was reading about this release, the duo at the core of the project, Lorena Quintanilla and Alberto Gonzàlez, were on the verge of shutting the band down. However, they instead decided to do a hard reset. The resulting album, Corporal, splits the difference between the noisy psych of their earlier releases and the more synth-based music they have been doing on their last two releases. It is trippy, menacing, disorienting, and groovy, sometimes all at the same time. It is an excellent start to the band’s new era. I can only recommend that you listen to this as loudly as possible.

I have finally finished writing this thing. I did not think when I started that I had 16 albums worth of recommendations. I thought I had maybe ten. The wilder part is that I listened to a bunch of other albums that didn’t even come close to getting a mention here.

Two closing things. First, I don’t know what next week will hold. Might it be spooky? Will it be normal? I don’t know, but there will probably be a reference to “Werewolf Bar Mitzvah.” Second, the world is actively terrible. I know this. You know this. You know what’s not terrible? Fela Kuti.

Until next week, take care of yourselves and each other. And, as always, pet a dog or cat if they will let you. Don’t just go reaching your hand in there like a jabroni.