AURAL WES WEEKLY TRACK ROUNDUP #3
Tracks on tracks on tracks! Every week, each member of the AW team chooses and reviews a song they've been playing on repeat. Contributions span different genres and eras, from early R&B classics to the latest lo-fi rock, from spaced-out-and-based-out beats to the most cutting-edge underground club. Read this week's latest installment after the jump.
SUNDRUGS - Moving Borders
It's always great when you come across atmospheric music that does more than lull you to sleep. This is that kind of music - layered and intricate, with careful intent, full of melancholia and momentum. Off an April 25th release "Hidden Scenes" from BLWBCK, a French electronic/avant-garde/ambient/et plus label.
- Elijah
Uzimon - Champion Sound
Interesting subject matter from Uzimon. It's kind of hard not to enjoy yourself with these one-liners.
- Anton
The Three O' Clock - With a Cantaloupe Girlfriend
Formed in 1981 as part of the Los Angeles Paisley Underground, The Three O' Clock really just wanted to do one thing: write pop songs. In contrast to the (equally fucking great) LA hardcore movement of the same period, bands like The Bangles and The Plimsouls didn't particularly care for overt themes of political injustice (like the Minutemen) or even snide anthems to television culture (i.e. Black Flag's "TV Party"). They just loved psychedelia and Big Star and jangly fucking pop songs. History aside, The Three O' Clock just reunited for a few shows, including a recent appearance on Conan, and are set to release Live at the Old Waldorf on Burger Records in about a week. New or old, these power pop jams are for the ages.
- Ethan
The-Dream - IV Play
This dude comes back with another slapper, with the same beat as his other sexual-activity-encouraging hit, "Falsetto." I'm a sucker for R&B so, naturally, I've been blasting this on the daily.
- Chelsie
METZ - The Mule
No more jingly-jangly pop songs! No more etherial glitch-hop soundscape bleepy-bloopy shit! More guitars going "e-R/e-R/e-R/e-R"! More headache-inducing primal drumming! More scream-along choruses!
- Matt
Great Valley - Maybe When I'm Dead
When Oneohtrix Point Never came in the fall, we started talking about the music he was into and he turned me onto the Brattleboro, Vermont music scene, where bands like Blanche Blanche Blanche, Happy Jawbone Family Band (playing Zonker!), and Great Valley are making pop music that sounds like it's from outer space. "Maybe When I'm Dead" is my most played track of the last few months. The song radiates a carnival like madness. Its sounds spin, jangle, and scream you into a wonderful pop oblivion. Do yourself a favor and explore their releases.
- Calhoun
Touch My Body (Remix) - Sweater Beats
Sweaters Beats took Psi U by storm last friday and I need to give him some more love. An elegant and bouncy rework of a classic Mariah Carey song, Sweater Beats makes my 9th grade self feel touched all over again. Antonio Cuna sat down with me and you can check out our intimate moment on Youtube.
- Eric
Kruisemode - Love Like This (Rework)
Kruisemode is a relatively new producer based in New York. His sound is incredibly unique blending heavy R&B with 80's-esque grooves, which can be heard on nearly all the tracks he's done thus far. The tunes can be described as "Riding cotton cloud over the soothing space waves of the time-lapse consortium". The majority of the tracks he's released feature a vocal from some R&B jam, this one in particular from Donell Jones. He is currently part of the Cadence Collective.
