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

Avey Tare’s Slasher Flicks

 

Since their 2009 breakout release Meriweather Post Pavillion, Animal Collective has served as a gateway group to usher casual music listeners into the realm of experimental psychedelic music.  In response to their mainstream success, AC released 2012’s Centipede Hz, which delved straight back into their deeply experimental roots, distressing many of their newfound fans with its inaccessibility.  The digestible melodies and glossy synths of “Meriweather” were replaced by the cacophonous abrasion that one would typically find in their earlier albums.

    Avey Tare’s Slasher Flicks serves as a kind of consolation prize for the confused fans lost in AC’s rekindled love affair with deep psychedelia.  Made up of AC founding member Avey Tare, former Dirty Projector Angel Deradoorian, and ex-Ponytail drummer Jeremy Hyman, the group manages to maintain the “poppiness” of Meriweather Post Pavillion while keeping to the experimental tendencies of Avey Tare.  As the name suggests, “Slasher Flicks” draws from the tongue-in-cheek eccentricity of classic cult horror films, harnessing its energy to produce a delightfully fun album.  Despite the accessibility of Enter the Slasher House, the album still has plenty of weird to go around.   Songs like Strange Colores and Little Fang feature alien-like vocal melodies accompanied by relentless synth beats which lock the listener into a hypnotic dancing abstraction.

The greatest challenge Avey Tare’s Slasher Flicks faces is defining its identity outside of the context of Animal Collective.  The comparisons between the bands are unavoidable for obvious reasons, but if Enter the Slasher House were experienced without the preconception of an AC piece, it is really quite good.  “Slasher Flicks” succeeds in meeting fans’ expectations while treading some new creative ground on its own.  Enter the Slasher House is out now, stream below and enjoy!

-Denali

 

Real Estate – “Atlas”

As an active surf-rock enthusiast, I was overjoyed upon hearing of the latest release by Real Estate, titled Atlas.  Coming off of their 2011 release, Days, Real Estate has enjoyed a fair amount of critical acclaim, even being listed as the best album of that year by our staff members.  With their memorable guitar strums and gentle, carefree vocals Real Estate has earned their rightful spot in anyone’s “Summer Jamz” playlist. On Atlas however, the band shifts its mood towards something slightly gloomier.  The playful haze of Days has cleared, giving rise to a sound that is more deliberate yet introspective.  Atlas manages to accomplish the daunting task that all bands face of maintaining their collective identity while simultaneously avoiding creative stagnation.  Keep in mind, this is still the same Real Estate that had us reaching in blind nostalgia back in 2008.  Their drifting melodies have only been refined to produce their most cohesive and enjoyable album yet.  The opening track for Atlas begins with a melancholy guitar riff, eventually building into the warm beachside sounds that lay the groundwork for the entire piece.  The band has always been able to push all the buttons for making catchy tunes and feel-good vibes, and their latest album is no exception.  Stream below and enjoy.

-Denali

 

Nothing – “Guilty of Everything”

 

 

Nothing’s debut album “Guilty of Everything” envelopes the listener in a thick blanket of shoegazy alt-rock, teleporting them into an ethereal realm of artful angst and fuzzy guitar riffs.  Hidden within the thunderous wall of sound is a spring of analgesic tranquility making the album near impossible to stop listening to.  The band’s heavily distorted guitars and spectral vocals provide a rich atmosphere which gives credence to critics’ comparisons to giants like My Bloody Valentine.  “Guilty of Everything” is set to release on March 4th.  Stream below and enjoy.

-Denali