Fluxblog #323: 1965 Survey | 95 Bulls • Alicia Walter • PinkPantheress • Colleen Green
Plus - DANPILLED III: DANPILLED SUMMER!
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There’s no regular Fluxpod episode this week, but I did record a new installment of the DANPILLED series that you can find on Jesse Hawkens’ Junk Filter podcast! This time around it’s DANPILLED SUMMER and we talk about some of the more summery Steely Dan classics from all over the catalog, including hits like “Kid Charlemagne,” “Do It Again,” “I.G.Y.,” “Bad Sneakers,” and “Babylon Sisters.” You can find the episode by searching for Junk Filter on all the podcast platforms, and you can look out for DANPILLED 4 coming later this summer on Fluxpod.
Also, the Sonic Youth audio essay series on the Fluxpod Patreon is hitting the home stretch this weekend with an episode covering the Jim O’Rourke era – NYC Ghosts & Flowers, Murray Street, and Sonic Nurse! The next free Fluxpod episode will be on Wednesday and will feature Sadie Dupuis of Speedy Ortiz and Sad13.
This week’s playlist is the 1965 SURVEY MIX, which provides a panoramic view of what was happening across genres in this pivotal year for British Invasion rock, Jamaican ska, Motown, salsa, and much more. [Spotify | Apple]
I’ve been very slowly working through the 1960s, and you can find the previous installments of this series here…
1966 [Spotify | Apple]
1967 [Spotify | Apple]
1968 [Spotify | Apple]
1969 [Spotify | Apple]
Here’s the regular Fluxblog posts for this week – apologies in advance for how much I went in on “this sounds x” this week, I try to keep that to a minimum usually.
Tell Me How You Want To Begin
95 Bulls “Young Love”
“Young Love” starts by introducing two key musical hooks – a dirty guitar riff and a Farfisa part straight out of ’60s garage rock – that take up almost the first full minute of the song, as if to formally herald the arrival Em Ash’s vocal performance. Ash has a huge voice and holds nothing back, like Kathleen Hanna in her ferocious Bikini Kill prime but with the power and range of Beth Ditto. It’s a voice so wild and forceful that some of the words get lost in the din, so while I feel confident saying that this is a song about romantic and sexual confusion, I’m not so sure about the exact scenario. But this is the kind of song where you don’t need lyrics to get what it’s about – all the feeling you could need is right there in that vocal blast, the raunchiness of the groove, and the way the keyboard part is both shrill treble and an element of cuteness that contrasts sharply with the wild intensity of everything else around it.
Buy it from Amazon.
To Seek Is To Be Found
Alicia Walter “Prelude”
The thing that startled me about this Alicia Walter song – yes, startled! – is when the song moves into the chorus and it’s suddenly firmly in Animal Collective territory, with the hook accurately simulating one of their signature moves. You know that thing when they do that staccato bashing, a little like a whole bunch of people clapping together metal garbage can lids, and a lot like robots jumping on a trampoline? It’s abrasive but also whimsical and childlike. It’s that thing, but in the context of a song that’s sung with an elegance and grace that’s closer to, say, Anohni or Regina Spektor. (Though when she wilds out a bit, it’s more Tune-Yards.) Walter is combining a lot of sounds that were fashionable in the late ‘00s and arriving at something that sounds fresh and new, as though she only ever heard the similarities in these things but not the differences. And the shared spirit she’s tapping into here is really about a boldness of sound and a refusal to hold back overwhelming emotions. It’s full expression without restraint, and a willingness to get colorful and ridiculous in the service of the feeling.
Buy it from Bandcamp.
Was This Before Or After
PinkPantheress “Pain”
PinkPantheress’ arrangement for “Pain” contrasts a very ‘90s sort of breakbeat programming with a very chill keyboard part, which makes the song feel like a very caffeinated version of trip-hop. Her vocal cadence is more contemporary, falling into that nebulous zone between vaguely indie and vaguely R&B/pop – somehow vulnerable and aloof and casual and intensely emotional all at once as she sings about a relationship that seems similarly ambiguous. The lyrics are very plainly stated but it’s still hard to parse exactly what’s going on between these two people, but that’s definitely the point. When she just gets to the “la la la la” chorus, it’s like she’s just trying to shrug this all off.
Buy it from Amazon.
Barking At A Closed Door
Colleen Green “I Wanna Be A Dog”
“I Wanna Be A Dog” could’ve simply been a Weird Al style parody of the Iggy and the Stooges classic “I Wanna Be Your Dog,” but Colleen Green really goes all the way with the conceit, essentially using that simple joke as the starting point for an extended metaphor for discussing her neuroses. Green has always been at her best when approaching anxieties and hang-ups with a bit of self-effacing humor, resulting in songs that are open about issues without the sort of ultra-earnest seriousness that pushes so much contemporary “let me tell you about my psychological issues” music into full-on cringe territory. Green’s song craft here is excellent too, piling on simple breezy hooks with a casual ease. The crisp production keeps it light and clean, and also has the benefit of calling attention to her similarities to like-minded ‘90s alt-rockers Juliana Hatfield, That Dog, and Belly.
Buy it from Bandcamp.
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• Here’s Rebecca Alter at Vulture on Pluto TV, the free streaming service that replicates the old vibe of channel surfing through a thousand cable channels.
• I’ve been enjoying Lizzy Goodman’s new interview podcast Difficult Artist, I particularly recommend the episodes featuring Trent Reznor and Liz Phair.