And the Grammy for the most unskippable goes TO
Broadcast! Hrishikesh Hirway! Poliça! Marci! TheHouse!
It’s the Unskippables, where we’re all facing certain death.
I don’t have anything to say about the Grammys that Jon Caramanica didn’t say better in the paper of record:
There is no surer way for a young musician to acquire a quick coat of gravitas than an appearance on the Grammy Awards. And there is no surer way for a young musician to speed the way to the Grammys than by already appearing to be old.
Such is the chicken-egg conundrum bedeviling the awards, and also the pop music industry, which coexist in uneasy alliance, looking askance at each other while furtively holding hands. At the Grammys, maturity is rewarded, and often demanded, putting it at direct odds with a music business that continues to valorize youth.
Anyway, on to the week’s Goodest Links and the real critical darlings, the Unskippables of the week.
Who Else Called It Altered P’Zones - Ryan Schreiber recalls the rise of Grimes on Altered Zones and Pitchfork and the power of the “Oblivion” video
Hot Takes and Cobrasnakes - Meagan Garvey on indie sleaze and Carles
Our Band Could Be Your Strife - Zach Shonfeld discusses the viral thread from indie band Wednesday about the math of touring to SXSW.
On to the tracks! You can follow along on our playlist on Spotify and Apple Music, which update every Tuesday along with the newsletter.
THE UNSKIPPABLES #30
Broadcast - In Here The World Begins
Broadcast singer Trish Keenan’s death in 2011 was a huge loss, doubly so because of how much Trish’s work in Broadcast felt like she was channelling an astral grief that was suddenly gone from the world. In March the band re-released a handful of rare EPs, and it only underscores how special the group’s ability to gild the uncanny into something both ghostly and from a far-off future. “In Here The World Begins” buries Trish’s playground singalong vocal with a destroyed instrumental that sounds like a satellite picking up a mangled version of “Pet Sounds” - and it’s wonderful.
Poliça - Alive
"Alive" is a slice of dramatic, neon-lit noir from Minneapolis' Poliça off their upcoming sixth album, Madness, out June 3 via Memphis Industries. The song's driving synth pulse implies a backbeat that never comes, simmering alongside singer Channy Leaneagh's pleading vocal.
Hrishikesh Hirway, Baths - Seams
I knew Hrishikesh Hirway as the One AM Radio years before I made the connection that he was the host of Song Exploder. I saw him in basement venues, reviewed his music, but somehow missed that he was also the host of one of my favorite podcasts. So I felt I owed him to give proper attention to Rooms, his latest EP released under his own name. “Seams,” a collaboration with LA electronic producer Baths, anchors on a manipulated piano sample, his plaintive vocal mixed dry up the middle, surrounded by hisses and scratches for an extremely intimate performance. There’s a stateliness to the track’s arrangement, exuding a reserved solemnity as it marches through the hopeful, buoyant chorus.
Marci - Entertainment
The first solo single from Marta Cikojevic of TOPS, “Entertainment” hits the same late 70s’/early 80’s FM bounce of her main project - it’s produced by her bandmate David Carriere - but finds a sharp, coy pocket closer to the most recent Toro Y Moi singles. You don’t have to break the mold to write a track that’s erudite, smart, and seductive, and it’s an alluring tease for the rest of her solo tracks.
TheHouse feat. YGTUT, BIGG CUP, Chris P- Smoothe Recovery
I found this record through Philip Mlynar’s excellent roundup of the best new hip hop on Bandcamp in March - a compilation from TheHouse, a collective of rappers and producers out of Chattanooga, TN. The whole mixtape is filled with strong performances and jazzy samples laid over crisp beats, but “Smoothe Recovery” has a particularly syrupy drip thanks to a woozy bassline and cascading, dusty arpeggios.
THROWBACK CORNER
Shabadoo - Do It
Yes, it’s Shabadoo from Breakin’ and Breakin’ 2! Released when he was still just a regular Soul Train dancer, “Do It” is a sensual slab of disco, co-produced by engineer/writer Gerald Lee, perhaps best known for the soundtrack to “Black Shampoo,” also released in 1976. It’s a three-minute song that manages to include a horn AND string hook as well as an extended marimba solo, but it’s the brash bassline and seductive hi hat that make this a dancefloor killer. Chicago DJ Mark Grusane did a killer six-minute edit in 2018 as well, for those of you looking to fit it in your DJ sets.
That’s all for this week - thanks as always for reading, and if you haven’t please subscribe. I swear my writing is *even better* when it’s in your inbox.
Thehouseeeeeeee