Fluxblog 434: Summer 97
Plus new songs by Miguel, Jamila Woods, and Serebii
This week’s playlist is THIS WAS SUMMER 1997, taking you back to the summer when we were all bad, bad girls being careless with delicate men. I think this set makes a decent case for 1997 being the most 90s year of the 90s, at least in that it’s the point where the Proper 90s blends and blurs together with the later Shiny 90s. This is the last “this was summer” I’ll do this year, but you can find a lot of them in my streaming profiles now. [Spotify | Apple | YouTube]
Feel Your Deep-Rooted Emotions
Miguel featuring Lil Yachty “Number 9”
“Number 9” basically sounds like if Timbaland had produced Animal Collective’s Merriweather Post Pavilion, which is a bold but not at all illogical musical stunt. Miguel’s arrangement hinges on a very Panda Bear type of choral melody but removes the dense layers of sound you’d expect to hear on an Animal Collective record in favor of a stark beat and simple deep bass line. The emphasis on syncopation and minimalism casts the vocal hook in sharp relief, resulting in a very striking and alien sound that’s also more than a little churchy. Lil Yachty’s part has the structural utility of a guest rap verse but is just as melodically and harmonically interesting as Miguel’s layers of vocals, particularly as the song elegantly slides out of that verse into another round of the chorus. This is a stunning piece of music, something that simultaneously sounds like it’s from the future and the distant past. Miguel and Yachty both have reputations as adventurous genre-bending artists but this is pushing into very exciting uncharted territory so I’m dying to hear what else Miguel has cooked up for his fifth record.
Buy it from Amazon.
Butterflies Or Fireworks
Jamila Woods featuring Duendita “Tiny Garden”
One of the things that has become most annoying to me writing this site over the years is that I don’t have the skill to hear music and explain exactly what’s happening on a musical level, so I have to always write around that. A lot of the time that’s fine, and writing more descriptively or poetically gets closer to what I like about the music anyway. But in the case of a song like “Tiny Garden” I’m left very frustrated because one of the things I find most refreshing and appealing about it musically is that something about it feels very mid 90s to me, but I can’t identify what I’m recognizing. Like, would I say this song feels something like Dionne Farris’ mid 90s hits? Yes, but I don’t know why. I’m just glad to have that feeling back again. Maybe you can tell me what I’m hearing here.
“Tiny Garden” is a very thoughtful love song. Jamila Woods is singing about a sustainable kind of love that goes beyond the sort of initial infatuation that is the standard muse of pop music. The title metaphor is lovely – it’s humble, it’s natural, it’s something that takes time and steady attention, it’s something potentially beautiful and useful. There’s a deep patience and generosity of spirit in this song that I find very moving, along with the implication that Woods isn’t wasting her time on just anyone. The love feels reciprocal, she’s just trying to keep it alive and thriving.
Buy it from Bandcamp.
Take Me For A Ride
Serebii “±”
Every time I hear “±” I’m a little surprised when the lead vocals come in about two thirds of the way through a piece of music that seems pretty comfortable as a fairly zoned-out instrumental piece. It feels a little like walking around a place you’re pretty sure is completely empty but eventually finding someone who barely notices you. Serebii’s vocal is lovely and plaintive but it’s not nearly as evocative as what he does with keyboards and what sounds like rhythmic breathing on this track. The atmosphere is thick and humid, every sound feels a little wet or dripping. But there’s also a cool current in it, like catching a little bit of stray air conditioning on an oppressively hot day.
Buy it from Bandcamp.
LINKS LINKS LINKS LINKS LINKS
• R.I.P. Gary Young, Pavement’s original drummer who played on all the early EPs, Slanted & Enchanted, and Watery, Domestic. Gary was a genuine character and highly distinctive player, and Pavement’s collective tribute to him on Instagram did a wonderful job of capturing what was special about him and what he gave to the band.
• Speaking of Pavement, there’s a pretty interesting interview with Stephen Malkmus in this week’s episode of Andy Richter’s podcast.
• Grayson Haver Currin of NPR put together a cool oral history of the last proper Sonic Youth show in NYC, which I was lucky enough to attend and was just recently issued as an official album.
• Julissa James wrote an intriguing profile of Miguel for the LA Times.