Fresh Tracks: 8/17/23
New music from Sufjan Stevens, Future Islands, Noname + 9 more
I got my claws on a pretty wild pile of tunes this week. Follow along track by track or commit fully with the playlist below.
Wild Nothing & Hatchie, “Headlights On”
There’s nothing like checking in on an artist you haven’t listened to in years and finding that they’re still killing it. That’s what happened to me this week with Wild Nothing, thanks to this song.
Jack Tatum’s held onto much of what originally worked for his project’s sound, adding just a touch more ‘80s disco/pop to the mix in a similar way as artists like Kevin Parker (aka Tame Impala) and his collaborator here, Hatchie. His introspective words on adult relationship struggles connect him to the relateability of Kevin Parker, too, making the song a bit of a choose-your-own-adventure:
a) let the groove wash over you, or
b) pay attention to the lyrics and enjoy the emotional rollercoaster.
Either way, it’s a joy.
Noname, Jay Electronica & Eryn Allen Kane, “balloons”
It’s still fresh, but Noname’s new album, Sundial, is a strong contender for album of the year according to this cat. The LP feels massive in a way that’s rare in this era of the lightspeed new-release pace and “single” domination.
Sundial has a lot of highlights; “balloons” stands out only because of the strength of the guests. Noname shows she belongs on the same tier as modern masters like Kendrick Lamar and fellow Chicago-native Chance the Rapper, but nothing slows down in Jay Electronica’s verse, and Eryn Allen Kane’s background vocal adds just the right pinch of R&B. The track might not bite quite like “namesake,” but it holds its own just fine.
Slowdive, “the slab”
Shoegaze pillars Slowdive started their second wind in 2017 after an 18-year hiatus, and so far, it couldn’t be going better. The word I would use to describe round-two: necessary. Not something can be said about every rock band reunion.
That necessity pours out of “the slab,” the final track of their upcoming album of the same name. Cyclical, drowned in reverb, and propelled by a giant drum beat, the song explodes with the kind of sublime energy you want from the genre. Keep your eye on the spedometer while listening to this one.
Sufjan Stevens, “So You Are Tired”
If you’ve been following along with this newsletter, it’s probably not a surprise that I’m a fan of Sufjan Stevens. It’s not that he’s flawless; I just feel like I get him as an artist. He makes me want to be creative, and his music reminds me that it’s possible.
“So You Are Tired” is anything but a left turn for Stevens. In fact, in a lot of ways, it’s a return to the orchestral folk-pop of his Illinois heyday, only with the production style of his more recent Carrie & Lowell era. It’s a welcome throwback—and that’s coming from someone who wrote a university paper titled “Forms for Unity: The Dionysian and the Apollonian in Sufjan Stevens’ The Age of Adz.”
Video Age, “Away From the Castle”
Found via fellow culture Substacker and former VICE writer
, “Away From the Castle” shows New Orleans band Video Age heading inland. The guitar-forward track fits into the current dust-covered alternative trend led by bands like Pinegrove that I’m falling more in love with by the week.If you’re looking for another A&C newsletter to follow, Terry’s
is worth the space in your inbox. For evidence, see the post below:
Ratboys, “Crossed That Line”
Want a new band that can shift genre-gears like the Beatles? Meet Ratboy. Four singles in, and the Chicago band’s upcoming album, Morning Zoo, already moves from country to folk to fuzzy punk rock, as heard here.
“Crossed that Line” will turn your car into a mosh pit in seconds. It’s a song for unwashed hair. It’s the one on the setlist you know the band is dying to play.
Open Mike Eagle, Video Dave, Eshu Tune & STILL RIFT, “WFLD 32”
I’ve made a concerted effort this year to expand my knowledge of rap. The Chicago-born Open Mike Eagle is my new favourite find from that rabbit hole. The multi-hatted artist came out of the rap-battle scene to start a solo career in 2010 and has been combining his comedy chops with his rhyming skills ever since.
For “WFLD 32” he teams up with well-established colleagues Video Dave, Eshu Tune, and STILL RIFT to make the kind of old school group-effort hip hop that makes us all nostalgic for the ‘90s. It’ll make you want to drive slow.
Daniel Villarreal, Jeff Parker & Anna Butterss, “Sunset Cliffs”
Yikes! A lot of music from Chicago this week. Did my profound love for season-two of The Bear subconsciously direct my ears or what?
This instrumental comes from jazz drummer Daniel Villarreal, in collaboration with new jazz god Jeff Parker and bass-master Anna Butterss. It’s smooth, kitch-less, and confident—everything you want jazz to be.
Turnstile, BADBADNOTGOOD & Blood Orange, “Alien Love Call”
In my wildest dreams, I could not have imagined these three groups releasing something together. But now that it’s here, it kind of makes sense. A surprising number of things fit in the middle of this punk/hip-hop jazz/indie R&B Venn diagram: tattoos, weed, high-contrast photography. Basically, this is the new music for skateboards.
Raw Poetic & Damu the Fudgemunk, “Dank Ish”
Another great new find from the rap rabbit hole. My affinity for Raw Poetic and Damu the Fudgemunk helps solidify that, when it comes to the genre, I clearly have a type. I think they call this boom-bap, but all I hear is that gorgeous jazz-guitar lick and two rappers that can make their rhymes sound equally chiseled and stream-of-conscious.
I fully acknowledge how inappropriate it is for me to put it this way, but I can’t think of a better way of putting it:
I dig.
Ora Cogan, “Katie Cruel (Formless)”
Sometimes, a playlist needs a shock to the system, a transition fully from left field. This is that.
Ora Cogan has a voice and style that sounds as if it grew out of the ground, like the tree grasping a coastal rock face that makes you wonder, how could such a thing possibly survive there? Since Fleet Foxes arrived in the late ‘00s, we’ve had more than a few artists be described as the female version. No one fits that bill better than Cogan, in my opinion, at least as she sounds on her new single, “Katie Cruel (Formless).”
With similarly direct roots to true, traditional folk music, she’s applied modern instrumentation and production quality with equal measure, too, providing the foggy, gothic, pacific northwest atmosphere that the last decade’s Robin Pecknold wannabes always seem to fail to replicate.
Future Islands, “Deep In the Night”
Few singers generate the level of love I have for Future Islands’ Samuel T. Herring. The texture of his voice claws at my soul like it’s a cat’s scratching post. It doesn’t matter what he’s doing with it, whether he’s howling his way through the much-beloved “Seasons” or delivering a moody ballad as if it’s theatre, as he does here. The man makes you feel it.
Talk to me.
What reached your ears recently that more people should hear? Share a link with your fellow ponytailers in the comments below.
New Wild Nothing (with Hatchie no less?!), Slowdive, and Future Islands bring me joy!
Recently I’ve been enjoying new albums by Art School Girlfriend, Big Blood and RVG.
But it’s been the compilation “Once Again We Are The Children of the Sun” compiled by Paul Hillary that’s dominated my listening over the last week.
Lots of great stuff here. Loving the new Future Islands and Noname, and as soon as I hit send, I'm checking out the Turnstile, BADBADNOTGOOD & Blood Orange, “Alien Love Call” tune. It's such an odd but massively intriguing pairing (trio-ing?). As a bit of a prog-head I'm super excited about The Fusion Syndicate's upcoming album in September.
If you aren't aware, Fusion Syndicate is Rick Wakeman, Jah Wobble and Chester Thompson, plus lots of guests such as Bootsy Collins, Al DiMeola, Steve Stevens and many more. Here's a link to one song.
https://youtu.be/91rHkNijd0I?feature=shared