Fluxblog #337: Vanishing Twin • Anaiis • Zilo • Hatchie
Plus a new playlist of soul, R&B, and funk from the early '70s
This week’s playlist is THE BEST OF GOOD LOVE GONE, a 90 minute mix of R&B, soul, and funk from the early to mid 1970s. This one is a little different from a lot of other playlists I’ve put out in that there’s no real concept here, it’s really just a good and consistent vibe. I know my more R&B-centric playlists usually don’t do as well, but I like this one a lot and hope you do too. [Spotify | Apple Music]
Zeptember has come to a close on the Fluxblog Patreon, which means you can now binge all four episodes of Sean T. Collins and I going deep on Led Zeppelin if you want to! Starting next weekend I’ll be launching Poptober, a new miniseries in which Chris Conroy and I discuss U2’s largely misunderstood 1997 flop Pop in great detail. I think where Chris and I go with this will be interesting whether or not you like U2!
Circles Chase Spirals
Vanishing Twin “Big Moonlight (Ookii Gekkou)”
There’s a lot of overlap in the aesthetics of Vanishing Twin and the late, great Broadcast – a certain 20th century futuristic style, a polite vocal style that signals intellectualism and introversion – but there’s a totally different sense of gravity to the music. “Big Moonlight” feels so light that parts of the arrangement seem to be floating away from the central bass line and jazzy beat. Every element in the song is crisp and clear but arranged in the stereo image in a way that feels a little uncanny, particularly when an organ part seems to teleport into the song about halfway through, a counterpart to the more distant chanted backup vocals. It’s not a jarring shift but it’s an unexpected texture that changes the atmosphere while keeping the song rooted in a dreamy sort of jazz.
Buy it from Bandcamp.
Lost In Backward Motion
Anaiis “Ultraviolet, Counts”
The music in “Ultraviolet, Counts” seems to move gracefully through some resistance, like a trained swimmer moving against a tide. This suits the lyrical theme perfectly as Anaiis attempts to talk someone, anyone out of suicidal ideation by appealing to rational thought – you don’t know everything, positive outcomes are as possible as negative outcomes, rebirth comes along with “research.” Her phrasing conveys equal measures of empathy and tough love, a little judgmental (“martyrdom is for cowards”) but mostly compassionate and respectful of this person’s intelligence. The arrangement contrasts a staccato organ part with more subtle and fluid counterpoints in vocal harmony, bass, and horns that seem to ripple out and around the blunt impact of the beat. Everything in the song backs up the central feeling: direct and firm, but thoughtful and flexible.
Buy it from Bandcamp.
Whatever It Is You Got It
Zilo & Austin Marc “Cherry Blossom”
“Cherry Blossom” is a rather pure expression of gratitude, with Zilo singing to someone whose love and support has changed her life for the better. The lyrics are direct and effusive in their praise, but the music and vocal performance are fairly low key. This sort of sentiment is very often paired with jubilant music, and there’s a logic in getting matchy-matchy with a euphoric tone. Zilo and producer Austin Marc dial it down and keep the emotional emphasis on warmth and intimacy, making the song feel like something sweet, gentle, and private. This has a nice effect of making Zilo’s more over-the-moon statements feel grounded and sincere, and not just some hyperbole.
Buy it from Amazon.
Run Away From The Echoes
Hatchie “This Enchanted”
I wish I could send this song back to around 1992 or so because I’d love to know what UK-oriented indie fans would make of this song that’s essentially merging girly chart pop, Madchester keyboard style, and shoegaze guitar. Would this seem like a bizarre and impossible future, or an artistic inevitability? I tend to think it’s the latter, that there’s no logical reason for these vibes to not click together and the way influence and flattened histories go it’s just natural that Hatchie and her collaborators would arrive at this simply by going with what they think sounds cool and fun.
And boy does it ever sound cool and fun – the particular aesthetic combination results in a boppy and hyper-romantic song that’s somewhat at odds with the more fraught relationship dynamics described by the verses. But the point of the song is the chorus – regardless of the messiness, she’s just overwhelmed by the more ecstatic emotions and raw attraction.
Buy it from Bandcamp.
I wrote about the first part of Inferno, the climax of Jonathan Hickman’s X-Men story, on my House of X site this week. It would be a terrible idea to read this unless you read the story though!
LINKS LINKS LINKS LINKS LINKS LINKS LINKS LINKS
• Here’s an excellent new interview with Donald Fagen of Steely Dan over on Tablet, with a particularly inspired answer to the question of why he doesn’t like reverb: “I just don’t want to be alienated from my labor.”
• At long last Tom Breihan has reached the debut of Mariah Carey in his The Number Ones column at Stereogum with a post about her first hit “Vision of Love,” which remains one of my top favorites in her body of work.