Direct Current - February 2, 2010

Almost Everything I Wish I'd Said The Last Time I Saw You,

tagged

Mike Grubbs,

Wakey Wakey

Friday

29Jan2010

Toro Y Moi - Causers Of This

One of 2009's dubious legacies was the introduction of "chillwave" to the musical lexicon. The sound we actually rather enjoy, but such an off-putting appellation seems to dull its otherwise promising potential. Gotta call it something, though. Not really a subgenre, it exists in the venn-diagram-like space formed by the overlap of several genres including lo-fi rock, Italo disco, post-autotune RnB, Animal Collective-style "freak folk," and chopped and screwed hip-hop. A "chillwave" release can often be identified by a combination of samples and live instrumentation, atmospheric textures, sluggish tempo, megatons of reverb and delay, and blurry photographs. South Carolina's one-man band Toro Y Moi fits the bill perfectly right down to his blurry blog, and his forthcoming debut Causers Of This joins critically lauded releases by Neon Indian and fellow South Carolinian Washed Out as one of the chillest and waviest.

The album release/bio cites Animal Collective, My Bloody Valentine and late hip-hop producer J Dilla as influences, and much about the album can be deduced from that trifecta. Many of the tracks sound like Dilla's stuttering, pitch-bending beats processed through a string of guitar pedals, and Chaz Bundick's high tenor delivery is a close cousin of Animal Collective's, repleat with "whoop"s. But it is unfair to a good album to be so reductive. Causers of This deserves to stand/sit/swim on its own and be appreciated for the lush, trippy haze-scapes it comprises. Video for lead single "Blessa" after the jump.

Artist Site MySpace Carpark Records

Toro Y Moi - Minors (From Causers Of This)

tagged

Carpark Records,

Electronic,

Indie,

Pop,

Toro Y Moi

Monday

18Jan2010

The Album Leaf - A Chorus of Storytellers

To get a sense of what's new with the upcoming album from Jimmy Lavalle and his band The Album Leaf you only need to look at the title: A Chorus of Storytellers (Sub Pop). After a decade (and four fine albums) of the San Diego composer/multi-instrumentalist's singular D.I.Y. process of holing up in a studio and creating music on his own, Chorus signals a group effort at work -- and, as Lavalle serving as "conductor" -- an entirely new perspective and approach. "I wanted to name it according to what happened with the whole process," he explains. "It took two-and-a-half, close to three years to make. There were so many different things that went into it and there's a lot of storytelling behind it."

The result is yet another outstanding album of cinematic, often instrumentally-focused music that fuses ambient electronica with floating indie pop dreamscapes, progressive themes of exceptional scope and vision but without a hint of pompous pretense. Tracks such as the stagger-stepped rhythmic instrumental "Stand Still", rich with a ringing keyboard/guitar riff and delicate synth washings, and the finely tuned, sweeping vocal track "Falling From the Sun" herald an album of big, ambitious ideas executed with elegant style and remarkable musicianship. Highly recommended.

Myspace Artist Site

The Album Leaf - "Stand Still" (from the album A Chorus of Storytellers)

The Album Leaf - "Falling From the Sun" (from the album A Chorus of Storytellers)

Monday

21Dec2009

Midlake - The Courage of Others

Denton, Texas' favorite sons Midlake have (finally!) completed their third album The Courage of Others (Bella Union) for a February 2 release. And yes, we're pretty excited about it. The new eleven-track project, originally scheduled for release last year, comes on the heels of their breakout 2006 album The Trials of Van Occupanther, an album that seemed to be a long lost 70's folk/rock epic filed somewhere between Fleetwood Mac's Rumours and Neil Young's Harvest. It was, as you can probably guess, one of our most favorite releases of the year.

The Courage of Others is said to be reflective of a "slightly earlier, and definitely British, trad-tainted folk sound," according to the label. "It may share the same gorgeously analogue-warm electro-acoustic template as Van Occupanther but it’s a slower, darker and more carved record, both eerier and dreamier."Says Midlake mainman Tim Smith, “I don’t feel I’m looking at the songs through someone else’s eyes. I’ve tried to keep it as true to myself as I could.”

Myspace Artist Site

Midlake - "Acts of Man" (from the album The Courage of Others)

Midlake - "Roscoe" (from the album The Trials of Van Occupanther)