I have been pensively waiting like a kid in a candy store to talk about the record Within and Without by Washed Out. And today is finally here, how great. To give a little background, Washed Out falls under the genre of chillwave, which intuitively is exactly as it sounds. It’s a type of music which has grown steadily over the past two years with groups such as Toro Y Moi and Neon Indian — to name a couple. As fellow eightonetuner Vanessa so aptly noticed last year, Washed Out’s ‘Feel It All Around’ is the theme song during the opening credits of the IFC show Portlandia. So, it’s very possible you’ve already heard an Ernest Greene creation without knowing it. This record, released in the UK and out tomorrow in the States, is his first full length album. Recorded initially at a lake house in Georgia, and then remastered a studio, it’s not hard to imagine Greene peering out across the water, indulging in the intangible respite of solitude, and then falling back into his music, to translate the experience. There is something ostensibly distant about this sound. And maybe that’s the point. To listen to chillwave, or to chill rather, could be defined as a way to shed the stream of consciousness of all stresses, fears, worries, etc.. To displace any semblance of discomfort. And seemingly without trying to, that’s exactly what this record does. This one, is called Echoes.
Well folks, Bon Iver has delivered another stunning record. It’s an album which does not shy away from modern technological advances, but still feels alive, and relentlessly vulnerable. Don’t be surprised to get excited for the next track while still reveling in the previous. Justin Vernon and his crew have become so adept at creating moments; stationary objects that remain with you. Much like backing away from an impressionist painting, at a certain distance you receive your grand reward. And whatever that thing is, it’s beautiful. This one is called Holocene.
Com Truise. An under the radar DJ who’s successfully mixed dub step and an authentic 80’s transient bliss. His album, Galactic Melt, was digitally released this month (out on vinyl in July). It’s a planetary exploration indeed. Technical and yet woefully abstract at times. I told my friend Steve last night that I thought it sounded like being inside a computer, only if the computer just so happened to be playing Com Truise. Such a feeling, one easily coaxed into the impulse of stepping outside of the microchips and megabits, to the dance floor, to shake away freely at the beat.
New Music: The Antlers - Burst Apart
I sampled this album last night and again on the train this morning, really enjoyed it. You can listen to the entire record here: (http://www.npr.org/2011/04/24/135572911/first-listen-the-antlers-burst-apart).
Albums: Don’t Mess With Texas - SXSW 2011 Sampler
This album is a collection of new music from the SXSW festival held last month. It’s really great, and it’s really free. Here.
