A new album of the year contender and other fresh jams
Oliver Sim! Brent Faiyaz! Beaunoise! Wet Leg! Social Union!
Finally we’re back on schedule for Tuesdays! Nothing but hits this week (AS ALWAYS).
But first, as always, please enjoy the week’s Good Links
Solo Soul Summit - Matthew Schnipper put together a mix to dance outdoors to for his Deep Voices newsletter, inspired by Brooklyn’s Soul Summit dance party
Dress Like You’re Ready For The Floor - Blackbird Spyplane interviewed Alexis Taylor about his favorite things and how his stage style became his street style
No Microgenre Too Small - Bandcamp’s roundup of the best club music on the platform from May/June is a delight by Gabe Meier
And now, on to this week’s tracks - as always, you can follow along on our playlist on Spotify and Apple Music, which update every Tuesday along with the newsletter.
THE UNSKIPPABLES #44
Oliver Sim - GMT
Every single from the upcoming Oliver Sim record Hideous Bastard has surprised me with how weird, left-field choices are matched with elegant, memorable melodies, and it’s quickly become my most anticipated album of the year. The songs never feel like an overreach, more like a bizarre-yet-obvious combination like when sweet is mixed with savory. In “GMT,” a Brian Wilson sample is chopped but Sim leans into an unexpected chord change with his vocal line, giving the chorus an uneasy balance that takes a few listens to anticipate. A pitch-shifted vocal and clipped beat in the verse bring a jostling friction to the song that reminiscent of the best of producer Jamie XX, but never opening up into a full dance song. Every choice feels like an attempt to subvert what their main band would do, with a Matthew Herbert-like interest in unusual textures - but the song’s boldness is made is never less than thrilling, from the french horn-like countermelody in the chorus to the dawning sub-bass that shows up in the last 30 seconds to send the track off.
Wet Leg - Too Late Now (Soulwax Remix)
Soulwax throw out “Too Late Now’s” sweet and simple verses in favor of the song’s deadpan bridge to build a hulking RoboCop of a remix. Pointillistic synth leads, stammering bass and chopped vocal samples make a perfect pairing with the spoken refrain, sounding like a Nite Versions outtake. The remix doesn’t go running up that hill as much as it slowly pours down a clogged drain, more slowly degrading down the drain as it closes on “I’m not sure if this is a song” over and over again over distorted claps and toms.
Brent Faiyaz - ROLE MODEL
This album took a while for me to warm up to; amidst a glut of Spotify “ambient listening” forgettable R&B, Faiyaz’s plain-faced production on WASTELAND could trick you into missing its tuneful, memorable writing. The strutting “ROLE MODEL” takes the DNA of Kanye’s “Flashing Lights” and twists it into a new flex, shouting out Audemars, which I had to look up (sorry watch heads). The album’s closer “ANGEL” is another highlight, but “ROLE MODEL” showcases the low-key strength of Wasteland best - a sneak-attack R&B killer that I predict will sneak on to your Best of 2022 lists.
Social Union - Fall Into Me
If Metric’s new album reminded you you’re a bit too old for pristine dance-punk, Social Union’s reverbed, bleak New Wave rock might be for you. The New Zealand duo hide substantial pop chops under harsh textures, but the choruses on “Fall Into Me” and “Choke” would be right at home even if it were shined up for the Coachella main stage.
Beaunoise - Panoramic II
“Panoramic II” is taken from Berkeley musician Beau Sorensen’s third album of compositions solely using Buchla synthesizers Buchlaworks, this time drawing from a single 42 minute improvisation over seven tracks. The second track opens with an insistent arpeggio that slowly fades into the background as resonant, searing countermelodies take over, before settling into a pool of ambient tones at the end.
THROWBACK CORNER
Suraiya & Shyam - Tu Mera Chand
I heard this in the opening sequence of Ms. Marvel, the charming Marvel series about Kamala Khan, a Muslim teenage girl from Jersey City who finds herself with brand-new superpowers, leading her back to Karachi and her grandmother to understand why she suddenly can punch through walls. This 1949 gem opens a throwback episode to the partition of India in 1947, a breezy and charming song from the Bollywood hit Dillagi. The tiny arpeggiated counterpart in the intro hooked me, but the back-and-forth vocals are just as beautiful.
And that’s all for this week, folks! Please subscribe if you’d like these opinions straight in your inbox. See you next week!