lenny kravitz scarf > lenny kravitz songs???
plus mclusky, hadren, doja, duffy x uhlmann, and fever ray
Like a sexy Punxsatawney Phil, Lenny Kravitz graced us with his presence this weekend to announce the start of fall!
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Lenny has long haunted my musical life, from trying to learn “Fly” when I first bought a guitar at 13, to endlessly arguing if his music was any good as an adult. However, we can all agree that the man is the all-time coziness god. Be well, my pumpkin spice friends.
How about a sprinkling of Good Links?
Come For The Lopatin – …and stay for Amanda Petrusich dropping the best description of vaporwave put to paper. Bars.
Aging Bull (sorry) – Zach Baron wrote a wonderful profile of Martin Scorsese ahead of maybe his final film. A really wonderful read on the elastic nature of time, staring down the end of your life, and what, if anything, can your life’s work accomplish.
Stole three riffs for this – A song I produced/co-wrote with Kareem Rahma and our band Tiny Gun dropped today, including this excellent video featuring the only payphone in Manhattan
On to the best of the week! You can follow along on our playlists on Spotify and Apple Music, which update every Tuesday along with the newsletter. Enjoy.
Mclusky – Unpopular Parts Of A Pig
No thoughts, no critiques, just smooth brained butthead appreciation for new Mclusky. “Unpopular Parts of a Pig” is the ripper, but the rest of the single (EP?) is filled with nasty midtempo stompers that’ll have you mean mugging on your commute home.
Duffy x Uhlmann – Braid
“Braid” is a loping, hypnotic guitar duetsfrom Los Angeles’ Meg Duffy and Greg Uhlmann, who previously played together in Perfume Genius and make their debut as a duo on Doubles. Recorded on a borrowed tape recorder and relying almost exclusively on guitars, their debut album is woozy, warm and intimate, while remaining delicate, pointillistic, and fragile. It’s like Mogwai meets the third Velvet Underground record – peel back the noise of post-rock and all you find is hushed beauty.
Hadren – Un niñato en mi cama
I first heard Barcelona-based Hadren on his lurching, experimental track X P L CCC T from last year, and I was happy to hear his new single “Un niñato en mi cama” again shows off his ear for unusual sounds and dense, digital space. This time, he triumphantly rides a joyous reggaeton triplet feel, inching closer to pop music – but by the time the second verse dissolves into half time, the song shows his ability to defy expectations, even in a two minute dance track.
Fever Ray – Carbon Dioxide (Avalon Emerson Remix)
A no-brainer inclusion this week as the best song off of the new Fever Ray gets an afters-worthy rework from Avalon Emerson. Karin Dreijer's vocal is left more or less unchanged, as the remix It’s a light rework finds the light in the seams of the melody with a sleek arrangement, nimble subs and a flittering hi hat rhythm.
Doja Cat – Agora Hills
I spent this weekend hating on Doja's latest LP Scarlet, but then the Pitchfork 5.9 dropped and I suddenly flipped my POV. Why can’t Doja do a “heavy on the rap, light on radio tracks” weird record? She could have brought in Jack Antonoff, spent her time defining a new Era and probably moved units, but instead she took an abrupt turn into heel territory and left us to figure it out. The first half of the LP is a bit of a slog, a “for the heads” set of beats for the heads that don’t exist, but the back half is sprinkled with lighter R&B gems like “Agora Hills” that I have a feeling will find their way into radio airplay.
That Hadren track!