Caribou – Our Love

Caribou’s newest album “Our Love” comes out with a celebration of a varied plethora of influences, emotions, feelings and sounds. The sixth studio album by the multi-talented Canadian who pays his taxes under the name Dan Snaith has been hyped up for many weeks now coupled by a leak which just made the official release more anticipated. “Our Love” is delightfully fantastic. It teases you along with a wonderful and changing mix of emotional synths, trickling drums (that are at times quite fierce) and the very Caribou-esque wispy vocals. Despite the polished sound, it does have an underlying vibe of bedroom/garage production. But the whole thing is a lot dancier, “fuller” and more beat-orientated than what you’d expect from Caribou.

According to an interview with Noisey, Snaith claims the inspiration for the album title and the album itself centers around the success of his last album “Swim” and the warm connections he’s built from that success.

“And so the primary impulse on this record was to make something that was generous in the sense that it was for everybody, not just for me locked in a studio by myself. It’s about making some kind of connection, thinking about all the people that have made my life wonderful the last few years by investing my music.” – Dan Snaith of Caribou w/Noisey

The result is a lot of fun, ranging from shoegaze to pop to techno to deep house. On it you will feel the need to dance, or to relax. You will feel alone, feel warm, feel loved, feel inquisitive, feel at home, or feel adventurous. It swings between complex and simple, much like a relationship, be it with a person, idea, or experience. It’s become one of my most loved records if just because many others wrongfully dismiss it so soon when comparing it to “Swim.” It’s worth your time, and like love or those you look to depend upon, chances are it will grow on you and all will be well.

BANKS’ Debut Album “Goddess”

It’s been a little while since BANKS released her debut album Goddess. Although she’s been making music for a long time, she didn’t get recognized until her first single “Before I Ever Met You” came out through the label Good Years Recordings. From then on, she’s been acclaimed by multiple media outlets for beautifully capturing the sadness in her songs with her husky yet soulful voice.

Goddess is a depressing album. It has a dark melody with subtle beats that can almost drag you down emotionally. Her music is heavily influenced by the indie-pop trend based on her quick fame that started just about a year ago. I can see her rising further up in the pop music scene and gaining general popularity like FKA Twigs or Lykke Li.

BANKS’ earlier yet recent experience with fame and professional connections clearly contribute to the complete sound of her first debut album. On the other hand, her lyrics are far from brilliant. Although she hints careful optimism, she does so in the most predictable words and expressions in her songs like Goddess.

I’ve been loving and enjoying Goddess for the past month. But to tell you the truth, I feel the end coming to my obsession over BANKS soon…just like how I did with FKA Twigs and Lykke Li.

Here is my favorite track off Goddess: “Warm Water.”

Check out her live performance, and watch how she manages to keep it elegant and hot at the same time.

-Stacy

Baths – Disorderly

Will Weisenfield (AKA Baths) has managed to recapture some of the bright, wistful sounds that had captivated music lovers from his 2010 album Cerulean.  The radiating electronic beats in the track Disorderly immediately envelopes the listener into a realm of careless tranquility, a breath of fresh air after the melancholic Obsidian.  Weisenfield’s vocals are the same modest falsetto that has been featured before on his other tracks, and you know what?  They totally work.  If the track was left simply as an instrumental, it could easily have served as a relaxing soundtrack to your evening daydreams.  Yet with the complementation of the vocals, the song becomes slightly more apprehensive and anxious.  The mixture of these emotive forces make Disorderly the interesting Baths single we have all been waiting for.  This track was made available through the Los Angeles label Friends of Friends most recent compilation, titled What’s Good Los Angeles?  You can download the entire compilation (featuring Jerome LOL and Hodgy Beats) for free on October 4^th and stream the single Disorderly below.

-Denali