Fluxblog #265: 1969 survey mix • Owen Pallett • Vero • Carly Rae Jepsen
I've made a survey mix for 1969! I'm not doing all of the 60s at once, I will be doing them as one-offs when I feel like it, and in reverse chronology. As you can imagine, 1969 is an absolute BEAST of a year with lots of all-time classics and wild creativity. Check it out, and pass it on to people you think might be into it. (Surely you know some Boomers, right?)
May 26th, 2020
In The Hollow Distance
Owen Pallett “Paragon of Order (Version)”
The connecting thread in all of the Owen Pallett songs I like the most is this feeling of being small and powerless in the face of uncaring gods and other forces that keep you trapped and limited by circumstances. This is a lyrical theme in his songs, but also something suggested by the music itself, particularly when he contrasts minimalist sections of his arrangements with a sort of futile grace and grandeur. “Paragon of Order” sounds like a character gradually escaping a prison suggested by a steady single piano chord, but by the time we’ve made it through the more soaring and triumphant parts of the song, it doesn’t feel like they’ve actually made it out of anything.
Buy it from Bandcamp.
May 27th, 2020
Fast Cars And Jetsetters
Vero “Waves of Love”
“Waves of Love” reminds me a lot of late ’80s/very early ’90s pop rock aesthetics – think the Divinyls, or Roxette, or Alannah Myles – but with a deliberately retro drum machine beat and the wry playfulness of Elastica. All of that is a great recipe for a song, but the real draw here is the craft more than the particulars of the execution. The melody is terrific and the vocal nails a sultriness that doesn’t tip over into camp, and the arrangement has that sprezzatura thing of being very tidy and well put together while retaining a deliberate casual, quasi-tossed off feel.
Buy it from Bandcamp.
May 28th, 2020
Supposed To Feel Like
Carly Rae Jepsen “This Is What They Say”
I wish that Carly Rae Jepsen would or could give her new album a distinct title rather than call it Dedicated Side B, which bashfully suggests the material is not as strong as the music on Dedicated and not worthy of being considered as a record in its own right despite being of roughly equal quality and all her music being relentlessly consistent in style and theme to the point of monomania. This is probably to a large extent a record company decision that allows her to release multiple albums within a particular production and promotion budget, and given the way she talks about her prolific nature might also speak to how she does not differentiate her output beyond “eras” of writing and recording. And while this approach plays into the underdog narrative that drives her career – “her b-sides are better than most pop stars’ album tracks!!!” – I think it is ultimately something that undermines her as an artist. Why not own it more? It’s not as though Radiohead felt compelled to call Amnesiac “Kid A Side B” despite it essentially being outtakes from the sessions for that record released as an album a year later.
“This Is What They Say” certainly fits into the “her b-sides are better than most album tracks” narrative in that it’s definitely in the top percentile of all her work and yet has been lumped in with the supposedly second rate tunes. That said, with Jepsen’s music being so uniform lyrically and musically all matters of differentiation are extremely subjective. How do I actually make a convincing case that this boppy, joyful pop tune about having a mind-consuming crush is better than all her other boppy, joyful pop tunes about having a mind-consuming crush? Her level of craft is always solid but a lot of them do nothing for me, yet I think this one is excellent. You’re just going to have to take my word for it, I guess.
Buy it from Amazon.