Fresh Tracks: 6/8/23
New music from Buck Meek, Cola, The Japanese House, + 5 more
I snatched these tracks out of their holes just for you.
This week we’ve I’ve got a cycle of songs worthy of being a playlist on repeat. Enjoy as such below or peruse track by track as you read along. Whatever suits your fancy.
The Japanese House - “Sunshine Baby”
When I first heard Amber Mary Bain (aka. The Japanese House), I immediately recognized her distinct perspective. In most cases in music, that kind of comment refers to lyrics, but Bain’s most unique quality is harder to achieve—she has a way with melody that’s all her own.
That melodic approach is on full display in “Sunshine Baby,” the second of four tracks on her recently released EP One for sorrow, two for Joni Jones1. It also pairs well with Bain’s lyrics here, offering a tone-equivalent to the melancholy summer-time story that fits in well with the smoggy beginning to the season we’re in.
Sam Evian - “Life Go Low”
Sam Evian knows how to create an atmosphere. From his vocal delivery to the mixing choices in the studio, his end-products always place you somewhere, even if that somewhere is purely in your head.
“Life Go Slow” gets a little help from its album art2, but the way its summer-breeze tempo, echo-chamber horns, and dolphin-call keyboard bridge deliver Evian’s lyrics bring me to the sort of anxiety I can sometimes get while on holiday. You know—the “Man, it’s beautiful it is here. Should I move? What am I doing with my life?” kind of inner dialogue. Not that I want to encourage that kind of thinking for you. But it’s nice to have Sam in your ears saying, in his own way, that he gets it.
Buck Meek - “Haunted Mountain”
If you ever wondered where Big Thief’s country influences come from, Buck Meek is here to let you know. “Haunted Mountain,” his latest single, drops all the other genres associated with the band. From the lapsteel dancing partner to his bluegrass-ready voice, the song shows off Meek’s Texas roots unabashedly. But don’t worry, he keeps enough of the weird to ensure you never hear him on your local country radio station.
Kassa Overall, Lil B, Shabazz Palaces, Francis and the Lights - “Going Up”
More mid-tempo vibes, but from a different corner of music, “Going Up” combines the forces of two favourites (Shabazz Palaces, Francis and the Lights) with two acts I’m less familiar with.
I know, I know: I’m showing my blindspots not knowing Lil B. Kassa, on the other hand, is relatively new to the scene, and judging by his latest album ANIMALS, I’ll be a returning customer. “Going Up” acts as a comforting album closer, but the whole record keeps you on your toes with its tape cuts, jazz samples, and vocal effects. It’s the kind of thing I could see The Flaming Lips’ Wayne Coyne enjoying.
Cisco Swank - “Until” (feat. Malaya & Morgan Guerin)
Speaking of the meeting place between hip hop, jazz, and psychedelica, Cisco Swank’s debut album More Better lives in the middle of that Venn diagram with confidence. From hysterical crowd samples to rap verses flowing over straight-up jazz club jams, the record shows off the chops Swank (born Francisco Haye) developed while completing his degree at Berklee College of Music without coming off as “academic.”
With “Until,” Swank (born Francisco Haye) more or less opens the record by combining clips of Martin Luther King, Jr. with collaborator Malaya’s silky voice and instrumental support from Morgan Guerin. It’s as good a starting point as any.
John Carroll Kirby - “Sun Go Down”
John Carroll Kirby keeps the tempo of the playlist up with “Sun Go Down” while shifting the geography east. You can always count on Kirby to bring the quirk, and he does so by the ton here, blending a China-influenced flute lead with an island beat in a way that almost makes you wonder if we can redeem the term “world music.”
What do you think? Can we?
Wye Oak - “I Learned It From You”
I haven’t kept proper tabs on Wye Oak since first hearing them more than a decade ago, but judging by “I Learned It From You,” the first single from their forthcoming album Every Day Like the Last, the Durham-based duo’s still got it.
Fresh off her excellent solo project Flock of Dimes, Jenn Wasner does what she does best here—offering the kind of vocal track you wish you could imitate. Together with Andy Stack’s hand-on-heart rhythm and a sweeping horn section, the song harkens back to past years when alternative music seemed designed for the emotional climaxes in those postmodern coming-of-age movies we all loved in college. Let the tears fall where they may.
Cola - “Keys Down If You Stay”
I’ve got to thank Ponytail reader Kaleb Motz for this one. When he mentioned the Montreal-based band in the same breath as London’s current post punk pillar Dry Cleaning (a past recommendation from your internet farm cat), I knew I had to have a listen. Cola did not disappoint.
Born out of the more established but now defunct Ought, Cola holds onto the Television influences for “Keys Down If You Stay” while tightening up their sound and turning down the reverb to keep things more grounded. But don’t you worry—Tim Darcy, Ben Stidworthy, and Evan Cartwright have a few left turns to keep your attention on the song.
Yes, that actually equals three, but a closer look at the tracklist will explain the mathematical mistep.
The sign of successful album art perhaps?