Helloooo welcome back to a more semi-normal Unskippables!
We’re getting back into the groove – yes we’re a day late – and I’m behind on a few larger essays, so we’ll get right into it with some extra EXTRA Good Links this week:
Chat DDT – Benn Jordan’s 25 minute+ YouTube video on how to poison AI audio models with inaudible musical data is fascinating. Even if you’re pro-GenAI, this is a great watch to understand how models can be shaped, and how our devices can be controlled by signals we mere humans can’t hear.
Dining Becomes Eclectic –Jacqui Devaney’s Dinner Music playlist features the best of Zamrock this week. Her Substack shares weekly dinner playlists (obv) with food pairings and continued reading for the week’s theme. Dig in!
Pitchforktrombone – I loved Mark Richardson writing about the background and distinctive sonics of Tom Waits’ Rain Dogs for the Pitchfork Sunday Review
From The Fender To The Sea – Salma Mousa writes about the Flintstones, who smuggled guitars into Jerusalem to become the first rock band in Palestine
Anyways here’s the best of the week. As always, you can follow along on our playlists on Spotify and Apple Music, which update (usually) every Tuesday along with the newsletter. Enjoy!
The Convenience – Target Offer
I feel like I’ve loved bands like the Convenience my entire life. Angular guitars, memorable but abstract choruses, so much Mixolydian – if you’ve ever haunted a record store as a teen, it’s the stuff dreams are made of. The band’s second LP Like Cartoon Vampires stomps through the full checklist of Cool Guitar Band references (Wire, Spoon, Can – if it’s a household object, they’re influenced by it!) with exceedingly good taste, and more importantly, great playing and killer hooks.
Addison Rae – Headphones On
Like FKA Twigs’ Eusexua, “Headphones On” mines late 90s electronica for the sound of searching, erudite cool and the positivity of late-Clinton America. I can’t tell if nostalgia is working on me here – the song can occasionally still feel more like a Pinterest board than a genuine pop hit – but on repeat listens, everything adds to just more than the sum of its parts on “Headphones On,” even if the lyric itself seems to give up on a larger revelation. Maybe it’s smart to take all the parts of Ray of Light except the faux spiritual awakening?
Sault – L.U.
I will always give every Sault release a spin, but I was particularly excited to see bass legend Pino Palladino on the credits for 10. On “L.U.” his loping, snake-like playing is particularly prominent – he has a co-write on this as well – and his behind-the-pocket part is spot-on from his Voodoo playing.
Panda Bear (Live at Tiny Desk) – Ferry Lady
This Tiny Desk session is a fascinating listen, if only to hear Noah Lenox’s vocals bone-dry and centered in a way his recorded output never has. The opening track “Ferry Lady” takes on an almost rocksteady vibe in its plainfaced presentation, sounding almost more like a cover of a classic 60’s gem than an album cut from his latest LP Sinister Grift.
Annie-Claude Deschênes – Main De Fer
“Main De Fer” delivers two minutes of punishing techno and then suddenly opens up to dubby, spiky electropop. A swirling arp lurches in like a Wario “I Feel Love” and Deschênes’ echoed vocals almost crescendo into a pop song, only to devolve back to distorted bass and slicing hats.
throwback
Dumbo Gets Mad – Makes You Fly
When I heard this at my local coffee shop I could have SWORN I was catching an Arthur Russell deep cut I hadn’t heard of – the easy groove, the roomy sax noodles, the post-disco lasers – but no, as the track exploded into full form, it opened into new and exciting post-punk forms! The track is from Italy-based Dumbo Gets Mad, an experimental pop duo who crafted a track that felt equal parts Patrick Adams and No New York. There are curveballs, yes, but there’s a lush heartbreak that sits under the track’s elbows and edges.