you should really know a guy
new music from fka twigs, dutch interiors, sasami, mogwai, and nadia reid
Hello, welcome to the Unskippables, where we sift through all the weird new music so you don’t have to. You’re welcome!
Let’s talk about having guys. You got to have guys. I don’t mean this in the drug dealer way, I mean this as having a mental rolodex of guys for specific, but very useful, tasks – “oh yeah, I know a guy.” It may be as simple as a plumber and/or repair guy, or a friend who went to med school you can call about weird health shit, or a door guy at a bar. You may also be someone’s guy right now – I know people who have been a truffle guy, the soft-rock expert, or just coffee guy. Guys can be gals, of course – “I got a guy” knows and respects no gender binary.
A few days before I got married to my now-wife we went to dinner with her dad and her Uncle Jim. Uncle Jim is a farmer in central California – shout out Winters! – and he had a salad with endives. He asked to meet the chef just to confirm that his endive guy is the same as the restaurants endive guy, because the endive guy for North America. An all-time “I have a guy” flex.
The more obscure the guy, the better. I have a flugelhorn guy, and I truly can’t wait until that knowledge comes in handy. Sometimes you are collecting guys and you don't even know it – but then the moment comes and oh shit, I’ve got a guy.
Part of why I think there’s a weird obsession with bodega culture is it is one of the few times in life your average Millennial white dude has a guy. That guy is his sandwich guy – a deeply personal guy to have – but too many basic white-collar fellas live a life without having any other guys. Stop using TaskRabbit and get some guys!!
I bring all this up because Garth Hudson of the Band died last week, a top tier guy from a band of “I know a guy” players. I know Bob Dylan has been in the zeitgeist because of A Complete Unknown, but I've always been more fascinated about his years with the Hawks aka the Band, not his journey to “going electric.” Bob hiring the Band was a critical “I know a guy” moment in musical history, starting with Bob’s 1966 electric tour which sucked ass so hard Levon Helm bailed after two shows. If the Band were legendary guys, then the Band’s guy was Garth Hudson. Synths, organ, the first use of funk clavinet, saxophone – he was so good that when he got recruited by the Band/Hawks in 1961 he had them pay him $10 extra a week for him to give everyone music lessons. Even the guys sometimes need a guy. RIP.
There’s Gas In the GPT – Expanding Dan details the ways AI is impacting the Steely Dan-o-verse, including fake Michael McDonald, the quest to finish “The Second Arrangement,” and adding Donald Fagen vocals to a bunch of weird shit
A Sound Salvation – Mike Monteiro on the value of starting your day with college radio and not (gestures wildly at our burning planet) all this
Favorite burn on Spotify of the week – I’m still working through Liz Pelly’s Mood Machine (more on that later, maybe) but Tavi Gevinson’s “This feature is for jocks!” is an incredible summation of the analytics-izing of the Spotify listening experience
A zine of zines – Abby Schleifer launched Zine-O-Sphere, where she’ll track everything happening in the world of zines. If you’re looking to spend less time looking at a screen, this is a no-brainer follow.
As always, you can follow along on our playlists on Spotify and Apple Music, which update every Tuesday (or, uh , Wednesday) along with the newsletter. Enjoy!
FKA Twigs – Girl Feels Good
FKA Twigs Eusexua is easily the most robust pop offering in her career and you it looks really really good on her. To me, often her music feels like just another output of a highly thought-out moodboard; here the conceptual always defers to the physical. While her ethereal voice remains the focus, the palate she draws from feels alive, fun, and dumb in the right way to let her more interesting choices shine through. For example, on “Girl Feels Good” she draws deeply from the Madonna Ray Of Light sonics, and the 1997 palette totally works for what she's trying to say – same with the Kylie bass bounce of “Perfect Stranger.” Lesson: never let the artist statement be sharper than the singalong chorus.
Mogwai – 18 Volcanoes
Weirdly my favorite Mogwai song is the one with vote is one of their first with vocals “Hunted by a Freak” from Happy Songs for Happy People, so I don't feel that weird that “18 Volcanoes” opens up into layered, shoegaze-y vocals to drive the song inevitably into explosion. Yes you come for the guitars, but ultimately you stay for the melodic drama and the way Mogwai is able to build massive moments while always sitting in an uncomfortable, anxious uncanny valley.
Sasami ft. Clairo – In Love With A Memory
Sesame's new track “In Love With A Memory” is a slightly off-kilter synthpop gem. Produced by Rostam with backup vocals from Montero karaoke-goer Clairo, “In Love With A Memory” pulls its sonic punches just enough to draw your ear in, avoiding radio sheen for crispy, fun detail. There are so many delightful textures, from the double-time arpeggiator, the slightly too-small drums and searing guitar solo – it’s greater than the sum of its strange parts.
Dutch Interior – Fourth Street
Dutch Interiors evidently call themselves “Freak Americana,” which is admittedly a cool tag but “Fourth Street” mostly reminds me of the sprawl of major label alt-rock, in a good way. Yes, there’s a cozy Americana-ish arrangement with pedal steel and B bent guitar, but there’s a papery languor that reminds me of a deep cut off the debut from an indie band signed to Geffen in 1996 that feels downright luxurious. The Hail Mary end move is also a shambling delight, a needed chromatic curveball to the song’s otherwise chill demeanor.
Nadia Reid – Hold It Up
Sometimes it just takes a single small moment to draw you deeper into a song, especially when scanning new releases every week. “Hold It Up” didn’t catch my attention at first, but Nadia Reid’s “I can be kind to anyone” pre-chorus refrain had a crisp openness to it that put the song on repeat for me.
throwback
Donny Hathaway – A Song For You
I was lucky enough to catch the Alvin Ailey exhibit at the Whitney before it closes next week, and I was blown away by the whole exhibition. The blood red walls, the found notes from Ailey’s process, the looping documentary, and most importantly, the music. I haven't been in an art installation like this where the soundtrack of the documentary played such a powerful role in how the installation felt. A particularly heartbreaking moment came with this Donny Hathaway song accompanied by a montage of Ailey's solo dancing, which seemed extra spacious and heavy with the grainy footage on loop across the exhibit.
you're my 'what the kids are listening to' guy.