Music for 7/20/19!!! KinZie, Viagra Boys

@@@ KinZie: Dead Eyes (Self-released, 2019)  I got to this rock record via a music publicist email.  These guys hail from the fine state of Alabama — say hi to Roy Moore for me, I love that horny Christian dude, he’s awesome.  This is some old school R.E.M. style indie guitar music.  It’s got a bit of firehose mixed in there as well.  The record hasn’t been compressed a bunch so it could use a little volume to get that rocking vibe over to the listener’s ears more clearly.  It’s not really a style I can get excited about much anymore but it’s awfully difficult to shit on the singer as he’s just so earnest in his delivery.  I’m on the third song and Imma gonna tip now as I’ve seen this show and this is a show for other folks.

@@@ Viagra Boys: Street Worms (Year0001, 2018)  Trashy glam punk from the Line of Best Fit weekly email.  It’s part Prodigy and a dollop of Nine Inch Nails without the synth.  This first tune, Down in the Basement, is high energy with a quasi ranting singer who I kinda dig, a distorted bass and a blasting chorus when it hits.  It does straddle both straight rock and punk and it would be better served it was one or the other.  If it was some super dirty punk I could get with it more as I love that filth.

YTD recordings listened to: 366
Good music, not list worthy: 218
Not good music: 126

Best: 0
Honorable Mentions: 0

Possibles: Retox, Defeater, Jonwayne, Okkyung Lee, Slidhr, The Chewers, Susie Iberra/Roberto Rodriguez, The Coral, T.O.M.B., Lozen, Erase Errata, Mastery, Hartley C. White, Weed, Cold Water, Luther Dickinson, Graeme Barrett, Fast Asleep, Goldlink, Cavanaugh, Satoko Fuji, Moken, Juan Atkins, Lantern, Twin Peaks, Djelimady Tounkara, The Oh Sees, Denny Zeitlin, MILF, Unfun, De La Soul, Carl Sagan’s Skate Shoes, Noname, Klara Lewis, Krullur, The Lowest Form, Hard Proof, Yotoco, Jungle Fire, Sandoz, Oddisee, RAM, Fiver, Succumb Succumb, Gloom, Priests, Propaganda, This is the Kit, Roberto Gonzalez, Integrity, Tuba Skinny, The Expanders, Criolo, Billy Strings, Flowers of Sulphur, Portal, Lawaii, Etran De L’Air, Ruby Karinto, Elysia Crampton, Parquet Courts, Moskus, Kendl Winter, Tkay Maidza, Barro, Daniel Khan, Tallawit Timbouctou, Sumac, Tropical Fuck Storm, Harriet Tubman, Ammar 808, Anais Maviel, Chaka Khan, Pom Poko, Fried Egg, Horndal, Wyxz, Tarek Atoui, Hawktail, Saicobab, Shannon and the Clams, General Purv, Shipping News, Big Thief, Emma Louise, Andre Bratten, Nathan Corder/Tom Weeks

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Music for 7/16/19!!! Roisin Murphy, Lil Nas X, (Sandy) Alex G

@@@ Roisin Murphy: Incapable (Loaded/BMG, 2019)  I have not heard of this dancefloor diva til I peeped the Guardian’s songs of summer article that came yesterday.  This is some classic retro disco biscuitry with low key vocals — she’s not a 5 octave Mariah Carey kinda gal.  I don’t mind her vocal style but it would be more compelling if the sounds were less canned and fresher.  I’ve heard this track many many times and you have too without realizing it.  8:26 of white wedding dancing?  Perhaps.  Some people just want to get out their and wiggle their ass and there’s no shame in that but….c’mon there’s enough vanilla ice cream out there to fill many stadiums, naimsayin’?

@@@ Lil Nas X: Old Town Road (Sony, 2018) I’ve read tons about this song and Lil Nas X but I haven’t peeped it til now as I’m looking at the Guardian’s songs of the summer.  It’s a mildly country tune over a fat jeep bass and a trap beat.  It’s an unusual pairing sonically but it’s pretty simple like a popsicle and it comes and goes without making much more than noticing he black country drawled over some hip hop beats.  I don’t understand what all the fuss is about.  This smells a bit one hit wonder-y.

@@@ (Sandy) Alex G: Gretel (Domino, 2019)  A pre-release offkilter entry into the Guardian’s songs of the summer.  It gets into an indie groove with some Tim Hecker screaming types of drones in the back.  In come the shoegaze-y vocals and it’s the musical equivalent of an almost broke carnival.  At around 90 seconds the tune morphs into a strummed acoustic sing-a-long type of thing with what sound like calliope pipes.  Also gets garnished with shaker and mandolin it is both bright and dark at the same time.  Me personally I’m not feeling this as a summer track but that’s just me and it seems more like a music publicist’s successful crashing of a summer song list.

YTD recordings listened to: 355
Good music, not list worthy: 210
Not good music: 123

Best: 0
Honorable Mentions: 0

Possibles: Retox, Defeater, Jonwayne, Okkyung Lee, Slidhr, The Chewers, Susie Iberra/Roberto Rodriguez, The Coral, T.O.M.B., Lozen, Erase Errata, Mastery, Hartley C. White, Weed, Cold Water, Luther Dickinson, Graeme Barrett, Fast Asleep, Goldlink, Cavanaugh, Satoko Fuji, Moken, Juan Atkins, Lantern, Twin Peaks, Djelimady Tounkara, The Oh Sees, Denny Zeitlin, MILF, Unfun, De La Soul, Carl Sagan’s Skate Shoes, Noname, Klara Lewis, Krullur, The Lowest Form, Hard Proof, Yotoco, Jungle Fire, Sandoz, Oddisee, RAM, Fiver, Succumb Succumb, Gloom, Priests, Propaganda, This is the Kit, Roberto Gonzalez, Integrity, Tuba Skinny, The Expanders, Criolo, Billy Strings, Flowers of Sulphur, Portal, Lawaii, Etran De L’Air, Ruby Karinto, Elysia Crampton, Parquet Courts, Moskus, Kendl Winter, Tkay Maidza, Barro, Daniel Khan, Tallawit Timbouctou, Sumac, Tropical Fuck Storm, Harriet Tubman, Ammar 808, Anais Maviel, Chaka Khan, Pom Poko, Fried Egg, Horndal, Wyxz, Tarek Atoui, Hawktail, Saicobab, Shannon and the Clams, General Purv, Shipping News, Big Thief, Emma Louise, Andre Bratten, Nathan Corder/Tom Weeks

Music for 7/5/19!!! Trash Kit, Dumb, Venom Prison

@@@ Trash Kit: Horizon (Upset the Rhythm, 2019)  Some Brit indie business off a promo email from Line of Best Fit.  Retro ’90s guitar indie weirdness with what sounds like a synth horn, but might be a poorly recorded real horn.  Peppy, upbeat energy featuring active drumming that is higher quality than most indie bands.  The second tune, Dislocate, has a loping indie world music (specifically African) laidback guitar feel to it.  I like it more than the opener.  I think this record has some interesting ideas but I keep fast forwarding to the next track which is always not a great sign.

@@@ Dumb – Club Nites (Mint)  More indie rock, this time more muscular than the freak slant above.  The dude singer is energetic and off on a spoken word rant about something inconsequential.  I like the band they sound excited while rocking a pretty standard formula.  I’m on the fourth tune of this record and I dig this record.  The combination of a quasi ranting singer and a red bulled up band results in a quasi old school Minutemen kinda feel without the politics and with a distortion pedal.  If you’re an indie hipster peep this, it’s pretty happening.

@@@ Venom Prison – Samsara (Prosthetic)  Some metal off this week’s All Music notable release email.  Oh my, after a doomy intro these guys kick it off with all over you metal shitshow.  Lots of everything — threedling guitars, big power chords, jump cuts, and a singer that is pissed off but doesn’t sound like a fantasy goblin all the time.  With song titles like Uterine Industrialization you know what you’re in for on this record — a healthy blast of anti-social.  If you’re up for a post July 4th mosh these guys are there for the hookup.  They do a really god job of blending classic metal, thrash, doom and rolling it up into their own thing.

YTD recordings listened to: 336
Good music, not list worthy: 201
Not good music: 116

Best: 0
Honorable Mentions: 0

Possibles: Retox, Defeater, Jonwayne, Okkyung Lee, Slidhr, The Chewers, Susie Iberra/Roberto Rodriguez, The Coral, T.O.M.B., Lozen, Erase Errata, Mastery, Hartley C. White, Weed, Cold Water, Luther Dickinson, Graeme Barrett, Fast Asleep, Goldlink, Cavanaugh, Satoko Fuji, Moken, Juan Atkins, Lantern, Twin Peaks, Djelimady Tounkara, The Oh Sees, Denny Zeitlin, MILF, Unfun, De La Soul, Carl Sagan’s Skate Shoes, Noname, Klara Lewis, Krullur, The Lowest Form, Hard Proof, Yotoco, Jungle Fire, Sandoz, Oddisee, RAM, Fiver, Succumb Succumb, Gloom, Priests, Propaganda, This is the Kit, Roberto Gonzalez, Integrity, Tuba Skinny, The Expanders, Criolo, Billy Strings, Flowers of Sulphur, Portal, Lawaii, Etran De L’Air, Ruby Karinto, Elysia Crampton, Parquet Courts, Moskus, Kendl Winter, Tkay Maidza, Barro, Daniel Khan, Tallawit Timbouctou, Sumac, Tropical Fuck Storm, Harriet Tubman, Ammar 808, Anais Maviel, Chaka Khan, Pom Poko, Fried Egg, Horndal, Wyxz, Tarek Atoui, Hawktail, Saicobab, Shannon and the Clams, General Purv, Shipping News, Big Thief, Emma Louise, Andre Bratten

Music for 6/7/19!!! Palm Springsteen, Future, Kishi Bashi

@@@ Palm Springsteen: Sister Sister (TAG, 2019) Oh no, marketed in a music publicist email as this generation’s LCD Soundsystem!  Who needs that?  The tune opens up quite briskly with a half/half split between rock guitar and synth actions.  Rocking the mellow verse and the explosive chorus as thousands who have gone before.  It’s riding a fine line between a lot of energy and cheesy dance synth action.  Much like Nine Inch Nails but not nearly as dark.  Better than I thought it would be.

@@@ Future: Government Official (Epic/Sony, 2019)  #1 track up on the Apple Music hot tracks.  It’s unclear what he’s talking about as he’s got a loose spilled vibe to his rapping.  There’s a lot of international locations mentioned which could be international drug dealing as I guess Future has tendencies in that direction.  There’s also a repeated mention of getting her spurt spurt on her shirt shirt.  Hmmm….  I like the beats, trap business — nice and gritty and thick, super compressed bass over which he kinda rambles on regarding his issues and his business.

@@@ Kishi Bashi: Omoiyari (Joyful Noise, 2019)  Some super indie-fied folk indie rock with sweet, slightly melancholic vocals that I got to via last week’s All Music notable release email.  This is a soundtrack for a documentary about the internment of Japanese Americans during World War II so it’s part of a serious piece of history.  The spirit of the music is nowhere near the darkness associated with that classic move by F. Delano Roosevelt.  It’s actually quite happy and uplifting music which I find odd, but it’s not my thing.  I impressed by the arrangement of the third tune, Marigolds.  As regular readers know indie rock is not my favorite genre but this is a high quality specimen of that genre.  They’ve done a wise thing by keeping the production style straightforward and not going out of the way to overly prettify the prettiness because that would be too sickly sweet.

YTD recordings listened to: 288
Good music, not list worthy: 170
Not good music: 101

Best: 0
Honorable Mentions: 0

Possibles: Retox, Defeater, Jonwayne, Okkyung Lee, Slidhr, The Chewers, Susie Iberra/Roberto Rodriguez, The Coral, T.O.M.B., Lozen, Erase Errata, Mastery, Hartley C. White, Weed, Cold Water, Luther Dickinson, Graeme Barrett, Fast Asleep, Goldlink, Cavanaugh, Satoko Fuji, Moken, Juan Atkins, Lantern, Twin Peaks, Djelimady Tounkara, The Oh Sees, Denny Zeitlin, MILF, Unfun, De La Soul, Carl Sagan’s Skate Shoes, Noname, Klara Lewis, Krullur, The Lowest Form, Hard Proof, Yotoco, Jungle Fire, Sandoz, Oddisee, RAM, Fiver, Succumb Succumb, Gloom, Priests, Propaganda, This is the Kit, Roberto Gonzalez, Integrity, Tuba Skinny, The Expanders, Criolo, Billy Strings, Flowers of Sulphur, Portal, Lawaii, Etran De L’Air, Ruby Karinto, Elysia Crampton, Parquet Courts, Moskus, Kendl Winter, Tkay Maidza, Barro, Daniel Khan, Tallawit Timbouctou, Sumac, Tropical Fuck Storm, Harriet Tubman, Ammar 808, Anais Maviel, Chaka Khan, Pom Poko, Fried Egg, Horndal, Wyxz, Tarek Atoui, Hawktail, Saicobab, Shannon and the Clams, General Purv, Shipping News

Music for 6/6/19!!! Quinn Christopherson, Bodywash, Suge

@@@ Quinn Christopherson: Raedeen (Self-released, 2019)  A single I got to after a music publicist email about a NPR tiny desk concert.  The arrangement is pretty stripped down and the star here is Christopherson’s odd voice and his oddly detailed lyrics that unfold during this down on his luck/drug addiction song.  Raedeen was his gal and the drugs blew their life apart and he’s bummed about it.  Twangy guitar that sits between a rockabilly and a jangly indie tune.  I like the contrast of the straight arrangement and his spill-y vocal style.  I usually recoil at the sound of the tambourine in a tune but I like it here.  Some nice twisting delayed echoes ring out tastefully in the course of the tune.  Overall well done for an indie track — some solid, non detached emotion and well arranged.

@@@ Bodywash: Reverie (Luminelle, 2019) Some retro indie business I got to via one of the folks distributing it twatting it up on the Twatter.  Super floating cloud synths, reverbed vocals.  I guess everybody got their Cure records out recently because I hear strains of the Great Black Eyelinered One up heah in the indie tracks lately.  A little bit of the Feelies as well as many female indie women.  It’s more dreamy than sweet though there’s some sugar in there.  Not really my cup of indie but I’m just one dirty ape on the interwebz.  Pillows, it reminds me of pillows.

@@@ Da Baby: Suge (Interscope, 2019)  Occupying prime real estate on the Apple Music home page.  If you’re up for some standard trap business to kick off your summer, the Mr. Da or Mr. Baby is there for you.  Plenty of lyrics about how much money he’s making, a few lines about guns necessary to protect himself and plenty of bitches up in his grill.  It’s not often you hear ‘bitch’ as a background vocal but it’s here!  He’s a young CEO as he will remind you repeatedly over the course of the tune.  I like the beat, the keyboard/bass part is simple and some folks might say it lacks style and I would be one of those people.  He’s really good on the mic with standard lyrical themes that I’m somewhat not into.  I will continue to maintains that there is not a lot of sunlight between hip hop boasting about money, drugs, and women, and Trump’s behavior.  Which is ironical, right?  If it’s ill when the pumpkinheaded bitch hits it like that, isn’t it ill when it’s a young brother in the hood?  Naimsayin’?

YTD recordings listened to: 285
Good music, not list worthy: 168
Not good music: 99

Best: 0
Honorable Mentions: 0

Possibles: Retox, Defeater, Jonwayne, Okkyung Lee, Slidhr, The Chewers, Susie Iberra/Roberto Rodriguez, The Coral, T.O.M.B., Lozen, Erase Errata, Mastery, Hartley C. White, Weed, Cold Water, Luther Dickinson, Graeme Barrett, Fast Asleep, Goldlink, Cavanaugh, Satoko Fuji, Moken, Juan Atkins, Lantern, Twin Peaks, Djelimady Tounkara, The Oh Sees, Denny Zeitlin, MILF, Unfun, De La Soul, Carl Sagan’s Skate Shoes, Noname, Klara Lewis, Krullur, The Lowest Form, Hard Proof, Yotoco, Jungle Fire, Sandoz, Oddisee, RAM, Fiver, Succumb Succumb, Gloom, Priests, Propaganda, This is the Kit, Roberto Gonzalez, Integrity, Tuba Skinny, The Expanders, Criolo, Billy Strings, Flowers of Sulphur, Portal, Lawaii, Etran De L’Air, Ruby Karinto, Elysia Crampton, Parquet Courts, Moskus, Kendl Winter, Tkay Maidza, Barro, Daniel Khan, Tallawit Timbouctou, Sumac, Tropical Fuck Storm, Harriet Tubman, Ammar 808, Anais Maviel, Chaka Khan, Pom Poko, Fried Egg, Horndal, Wyxz, Tarek Atoui, Hawktail, Saicobab, Shannon and the Clams, General Purv, Shipping News

Music for 6/5/19!!! Anemone, Dilly Dally, Scott Helman

@@@ Anemone: She’s the One (N/A, 2019)  I saw on the Twatter that this tune had been nominated for a SOCAN songwriting prize.  It’s a mash of ’80s dreamy synth pop and Beach Boys type rock weirdness but with updated sounds.  It’s got a pretty straight white boy/white girl rock dance beat, rock bass, some jangly guitars and classic reverbed female vocals.  Tempo is a tad above medium and it peaks with some hand percussion to go with the poo poo platter of indie sounds.  Indie is a tough sell for me, I dig it all right, but check it for yourself.  The percussion is my favorite part of the song.

@@@ Dilly Dally: Bad Biology (N/A, 2019)  Not off the Twatter but off the same SOCAN songwriting nomination list.  The tune is an extreme version of quietude in the verse and then a Smashing Pumpkin type crush in the chorus.  The lyrics are gender related — bad being a boy, blah blah blah, bad being a girl…yadda yadda yadda.  The most notable component of the tune is the contrast of the sections and I dig how they stretched it as far as they could.  There’s not a lot of rocking with some of the youngsters today so it’s refreshing to hear a smackdown.  The female vocalist goes half orc in the second chorus to get pretty dark for indie business these days.

@@@ Scott Helman: Hang Ups (Scott Helman, 2019)  More mainstream with a pop guitar nugget here off that SOCAN songwriting nominations.  The lyrical hook revolves around his own personal hang ups and asking his gal/whoever to not hang up on him.  You can hear the Justin Bieber production influences going on here bigly.   A little funk, a wee pubic hair of rock, a lot of pop vocal actions and smooth porn star pelvis production shine.  The mix is pretty thick with percussion overlays, lots of vocal tracks and a generally soda pop vibe.  It’s a wee bit pop childish for my taste but whatevs.  To conclude, I don’t really know what the SOCAN songwriting awards are, I think it has to do with Canada but I don’t really know or care.

YTD recordings listened to: 282
Good music, not list worthy: 167
Not good music: 97

Best: 0
Honorable Mentions: 0

Possibles: Retox, Defeater, Jonwayne, Okkyung Lee, Slidhr, The Chewers, Susie Iberra/Roberto Rodriguez, The Coral, T.O.M.B., Lozen, Erase Errata, Mastery, Hartley C. White, Weed, Cold Water, Luther Dickinson, Graeme Barrett, Fast Asleep, Goldlink, Cavanaugh, Satoko Fuji, Moken, Juan Atkins, Lantern, Twin Peaks, Djelimady Tounkara, The Oh Sees, Denny Zeitlin, MILF, Unfun, De La Soul, Carl Sagan’s Skate Shoes, Noname, Klara Lewis, Krullur, The Lowest Form, Hard Proof, Yotoco, Jungle Fire, Sandoz, Oddisee, RAM, Fiver, Succumb Succumb, Gloom, Priests, Propaganda, This is the Kit, Roberto Gonzalez, Integrity, Tuba Skinny, The Expanders, Criolo, Billy Strings, Flowers of Sulphur, Portal, Lawaii, Etran De L’Air, Ruby Karinto, Elysia Crampton, Parquet Courts, Moskus, Kendl Winter, Tkay Maidza, Barro, Daniel Khan, Tallawit Timbouctou, Sumac, Tropical Fuck Storm, Harriet Tubman, Ammar 808, Anais Maviel, Chaka Khan, Pom Poko, Fried Egg, Horndal, Wyxz, Tarek Atoui, Hawktail, Saicobab, Shannon and the Clams, General Purv, Shipping News

Music for 6/4/19!!! Nine8 Collective, Sacred Paws

@@@ Nine8 Collective: No Smoke (N/A, 2019)  I saw this UK hip hop collective mentioned in a Line of Best Fit email.  Regular readers know I’m not a huge UK hip hop fan but this is better than most.  It’s more trippy than rough I’ve heard at least 4 MCs and I’m about halfway through the tune.  The arrangement is pretty interesting and funky with a highway squirty sound and a nice vocal hook centering around how she don’t need no smoke.  I guess I dig it as it’s closer to r&b/soul than straight hip hop.

@@@ Sacred Paws: Run Around the Sun (Merge, 2019)  Off the same Line of Best Fit email.  It has the great misfortune to be anchored in 1980’s rock sounds.  However, if you’re up for some super upbeat energy these guys will deliver it to you on a shiny platter.  It opens with the tune clipped below.  Oh my, they continue to pump the happy energy on the second tune, Almost It.  I do like the horns on this second track, it gives it an interesting feel but the philosophical question here is can something be too bouncy and too cheery?  I’m saying yes.  I want folks out there to know that I’m not on antidepressants nor have I ever been but this comes to me as just too upbeat.  Mental hospital upbeat, laughing gas upbeat.  I don’t hate it, I just wouldn’t choose it for myself.  I would love to lock the dude from the Cure in a room with this record and watch him shrivel up and disappear.  Fuck.

YTD recordings listened to: 279
Good music, not list worthy: 165
Not good music: 96

Best: 0
Honorable Mentions: 0

Possibles: Retox, Defeater, Jonwayne, Okkyung Lee, Slidhr, The Chewers, Susie Iberra/Roberto Rodriguez, The Coral, T.O.M.B., Lozen, Erase Errata, Mastery, Hartley C. White, Weed, Cold Water, Luther Dickinson, Graeme Barrett, Fast Asleep, Goldlink, Cavanaugh, Satoko Fuji, Moken, Juan Atkins, Lantern, Twin Peaks, Djelimady Tounkara, The Oh Sees, Denny Zeitlin, MILF, Unfun, De La Soul, Carl Sagan’s Skate Shoes, Noname, Klara Lewis, Krullur, The Lowest Form, Hard Proof, Yotoco, Jungle Fire, Sandoz, Oddisee, RAM, Fiver, Succumb Succumb, Gloom, Priests, Propaganda, This is the Kit, Roberto Gonzalez, Integrity, Tuba Skinny, The Expanders, Criolo, Billy Strings, Flowers of Sulphur, Portal, Lawaii, Etran De L’Air, Ruby Karinto, Elysia Crampton, Parquet Courts, Moskus, Kendl Winter, Tkay Maidza, Barro, Daniel Khan, Tallawit Timbouctou, Sumac, Tropical Fuck Storm, Harriet Tubman, Ammar 808, Anais Maviel, Chaka Khan, Pom Poko, Fried Egg, Horndal, Wyxz, Tarek Atoui, Hawktail, Saicobab, Shannon and the Clams, General Purv, Shipping News