Tag: experimental music

Song of the Week: “Stay On It” by wild Up

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wild Up – “Stay On It”

A little something different for Song of the Week from the Los Angeles experimental classical music ensemble.  “Stay On It” is an interpretation of a work by minimalist composer Julius Eastman, originally performed in 1973.

Song of the Week 2022

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Song of the Week: “This Is A Life” by Son Lux with Mitski and David Byrne

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Son Lux with Mitski and David Byrne – “This Is A Life”

I don’t know much about Son Lux, but the band created an engaging soundtrack for the excellent movie Everything Everywhere All At Once. “This Is A Life” plays over the closing credits and features two of my all-time favorite artists, Mitski and David Byrne.

 

Song of the Week 2022

January

February

March

April

Album of the Week: Came by Tran Uy Duc

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Album: Came
Artist: Tran Uy Duc
Release Date: December 20, 2021
Label: Self-Released
Favorite Tracks:

  • Three
  • Banal (feat. Pilgrim Raid)
  • Catwalk

Thoughts: Every so often when I listen to music too much everything starts to sound the same.  That’s why it’s refreshing to listen to this album by Tran Uy Duc, and 18-year-old artist from Vietnam, of what is basically a bunch of vignettes of machine-metal sounds.  Every so often it sounds a little bit like music and it sounds wonderful.  Check out Pitchfork for a more in-depth review.
Rating: ***1/2

Album Review: Structure by Water From Your Eyes

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Album: Structure
Artist: Water From Your Eyes
Release Date: August 27, 2021
Label: Wharf Cat Records
Favorite Tracks:

  • “When You’re Around”
  • “Track Five”
  • “”Quotations””

Thoughts: This album from the Brooklyn electro-pop duo Water From Your Eyes documents a break-up.  Specifically the end of the romantic relationship between band members Rachel Brown and Nate Amos, although they remain together as a band and as friends.  There’s a lot of variety to hear: Beatles-esque harmonies, shoegaze guitar, ghostly vocals, relentless industrial noise…  It changes from track to track and sometimes within the song.  But there is, er, structure here as the album is broken into two sets of four songs symmetrical to the other four.
Rating: ***1/2

Album Review: Menneskekollektivet by Lost Girls

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Album: Menneskekollektivet
Artist: Lost Girls
Release Date: March 26, 2021
Label: Smalltown Supersound
Favorite Tracks:

  • “Menneskekollektivet”
  • “Carried by Invisible Bodies”
  • “Love, Lovers”

Thoughts: This debut album from a Norwegian duo consisting of singer-songwriter Jenny Hval and multi-instrumentalist Håvard Volden is one of the most remarkable things I’ve rested my ears on in some time.  It sounds like ambient music layered on Laurie Anderson avant-garde styles, layered on 90s techno, layered on 70s disco.  Maybe it won’t sound that way to you but the best way to describe it is as layered and rich.  The lyrics focus on feelings and capture emotions in their sound and repetition as much as in their words.  Their is a lot of improvisation and exploration in this music. I expect this will be on my favorite albums list at the end of 2021.

Rating: ****1/2

Album Review: American Head by Flaming Lips

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Album: American Head
Artist: Flaming Lips
Release Date: September 11, 2020
Label: Warner
Favorite Tracks:

  • Dinosaurs on the Mountain
  • Mother Please Don’t Be Sad
  • Assasins of Youth

Thoughts:

The Flaming Lips enter their fifth decade as recording artists with this trippy new album. This seems weird to me even though I first heard the band in the 1990s, and began listening to them avidly with their legendary releases of the 2000s. The album is a loose concept album drawn from band leader Wayne Coyne’s childhood in Oklahoma City. Musically, the Flaming Lips aren’t breaking new ground and the lyrics are full of gratuitous drug references. But the melodies are gorgeous in this collection of mostly ballads awash in rich instrumentation. Kacey Musgraves provides counterpoint vocals on a few tracks.


Rating: ***1/2

Album Review: National Freedom by Lonnie Holley

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Album: National Freedom
Artist: Lonnie Holley
Release Date: July 3, 2020
Label:Jagjaguwar
Favorite Tracks:

  • Like Hell Broke Away
  • Do T Rocker

Thoughts:

Lonnie Holley of Alabama works in many art disciplines, visual media and sculpture, as well as experimental blues music.  This album collects music recorded in a 2014 session. His music is rooted in blues with his gravelly vocals reminiscent of Howlin’ Wolf but his performance draws on the improvisation of jazz (particularly on the 11-minute final track “So Many Rivers (The First Time)”).  The result is oft-time weird, but not inscrutable, and evocative of deep human emotions.

Rating: ****

Album Review: Fetch the Bolt Cutters by Fiona Apple

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Album: Fetch the Bolt Cutters
Artist: Fiona Apple
Release Date: April 17, 2020
Label: Epic
Favorite Tracks:

  • Shameika
  • Under the Table
  • Relay
  • Rack of His
  • Cosmonauts
  • For Her

Thoughts:

I remember Fiona Apple as the tiny woman with the big, bold voice who had a hit with the song “Criminal” (and its unsettling video) back in the 1990s. I’ve heard whispers that Apple continued to have a great career, and I should’ve listened to them since this new album is absolutely brilliant.  In a way, it’s surprising that Apple has returned to widespread acclaim with this album because it’s very experimental with a heavy emphasis on percussion, only holding onto vestiges of pop music around the edges. Apple sings repetitive lyrics in a variety of chants, using her voice like Yoko Ono to become another percussion instrument.  As the title implies, this album is about release, and there’s anger there, but there’s also catharsis and humor.  It has to be heard to be believed.

Rating: ****1/2

Album Review: Fongola by Kokoko!

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Album: Fongola
Artist: Kokoko!
Release Date: July 5, 2019
Favorite Tracks:

  • Likolo
  • Azo Toke
  • Singa

Thoughts:

Kokoko! is a collective of artists from Kinshasa, capital of the Democratic Republic of Congo.  They use instruments fashioned from trash to create sounds for a musical style that blends electronica with dance punk.  The synths layered on by their French producer Débruit also gives it an 80s freestyle dance pop sound.  Kokoko! makes refreshing music that functions equally well at a dance club or a political protest.

Rating: ****

Monthly Mixtape: May 2019

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The Monthly Mixtape for May will take you on a journey!

Sarah Pagé :: Ephemeris Data
Kick it off with some experimental harp music.

The Silver Lake Chorus :: Tabu
Follow up with some tight choral harmonies and hot rhythms.

Black Pumas :: Colors
Then slide into some classic psychedelic soul.

 

Sass :: Spoiled by Rotten
Nex, some aural time travel to 1991.

Sleater-Kinney :: Hurry on Home
And while you’re in the 90s, pick up Sleater-Kinney and bring them to the present to work with St. Vincent!

Is there any great new music I missed along this journey?  Let me know in the comments!

Previous Mixtapes: