Fluxblog 418: music for the late 90s sophisticate
Plus new songs by Squid, Cornershop, Dijon, and Avey Tare
This week’s playlist is THE LATE 90s SOPHISTICATE, a collection of upscale cosmopolitan sounds for the discerning pre-millennium listener. In a lot of ways this one is a tribute to the early days of Other Music in Manhattan, and this period when eclecticism was one of the highest virtues, and people were eager to embrace chill yet slightly grimy vibes as an aspirational statement. [Spotify | Apple | YouTube]
SUPPORT FLUXBLOG ON KO-FI OR PATREON
I saw The Walkmen on Tuesday night for the first time since…. maybe 2006 or so?… and it was so nice to be reminded how distinct their aesthetic is. I love how they use mid-20th century equipment to get this very quaint old ambiance which they either scuff up or apply to post-punk songs, like they're always finding a cool use for antiques. A good example of their magic is how in their most famous song "The Rat" you could absolutely do it without that crazy organ part and end up closer to Bloc Party or TV on the Radio, but that old-sounding blown out tone is like a movie scene shot in a very authentic and evocative location. It’s another layer of context that elevates the material.
Ergonomic For The Rest Of My Days
Squid “Undergrowth”
Squid songs always seem like they’re moving through space, traveling across some implied distance through sound. This makes sense for a band led by a drummer, since if a band is a car they’re usually the driver. Many of the songs on Squid’s first proper album felt like long distance journeys, and not necessarily because they were on the long side. The imaginary space on that record felt like zooming on long highway miles of nothing in particular, whereas the new song “Undergrowth” sounds like a more eventful journey as a fairly steady central groove is the connecting thread through a few changes of scenery. It’s a musically adventurous song that feels like an actual adventure, with moments of tension and danger balanced out by thrilling dynamic shifts and a playful spirit.
Buy it from Bandcamp.
Ever Since
Cornershop featuring Pinky Ann Rihal “Disco’s Main Squeeze”
“Disco’s Main Squeeze” is essentially a radical remix of the London band Pinky Ann Rihal’s “Jabse Dekha Hai,” a peculiar South Asian country/new wave hybrid from 1985 that was reissued by Naya Beat last year. Cornershop take the melodic core of the song and give it a disco makeover complete with cheeky laser sounds and ample groovy drum fills. This is an impeccable vibe – super laid back and joyful, crisp yet loose. It’s a perfect spring/summer sort of song, the kind of thing I promise if you play it in a group setting at least one person will stop and be like “what is THAT?”
Buy it from Amazon.
A Magnet Inside
Dijon “Coogie”
Dijon has an extremely raspy but soulful voice, the kind where I think part of what makes it so appealing is feeling like they’re pushing hard through limitations to sound as expressive as they can. Little details in inflection and tone seem even more intentional with a voice like this, and the weathered and gravelly sound of it implies a lot of hard living. “Coogie” is a well built showcase for Dijon’s voice – it feels a little loose and impromptu, and there’s plenty of negative space that allows your ear to focus in on the nuances of his phrasing. The minimalism also makes the hook, in which Dijon vows “I’ll do my best to bear it,” hit a bit harder as there’s nothing to get in the way of his rising and emphatic voice, but enough to support and underline it.
Buy it from Amazon.
Many Different Frames Of Mind
Avey Tare “The Musical”
“The Musical” is a song in which Avey Tare reflects on his life as a musician, with the emphasis placed on the act of creation and singing, but zooming out to consider his role as part of a band, and his relationship with an audience. It sounds more like he’s trying to understand his own life rather than explain it to someone else, like he’s hoping to reconnect with something innocent and pure in making music. The lyrics are fairly literal first person, but he’s mostly fixated on the ways music allows him to express things beyond words: “Do you know how it feels, and not what it means, this song?” The song itself is one of the most warm and melodic pieces of music he’s ever written, mostly built around a gorgeous bass line that conveys a serene vibe as it circles through the track. There’s also a guitar solo about two thirds of the way in that’s a surprise in how rarely such a thing comes up in Avey Tare or Animal Collective music, but makes total sense in how he channels Robert Fripp in its pinched electronic tone.
Buy it from Bandcamp.
LINKS LINKS LINKS LINKS LINKS
• The new episode of Black Bubblegum about Ice Spice is excellent - Jasmine’s analysis of the rapper’s persona and context is very sharp, and also pretty fun.
• I quite enjoyed New York Magazine’s package about the history of the “it girl,” but most especially these breakout articles in which rising it girl Annie Hamilton interviewed Alexa Chung, they caught up with what Cory Kennedy is up to these days, and they talk to Chloe Sevigny, always and forever one of my favorite actors/cultural figures.
• I don’t love how the editors at Pitchfork framed this around “nostalgia” in a sort of snide way but I like Jayson Greene’s article about the private equity-style vampires who are buying up catalogs by famous artists and trying to flip it in as many ways as possible, including creating new hits out of their source material.