Fluxblog 467: more Other Music, 2002-2003
Plus new music by Schoolboy Q, Cindy Lee, Khruangbin, and Brittany Howard
This week’s playlist is OTHER MUSIC RECOMMENDS 2002-2003, a selection of featured new releases at the iconic highly curated NYC record store Other Music at the start of the 21st century. This is all sourced from Other Music’s archive of weekly newsletters, which is full of very good writing about music. I originally wanted to do 2000-2003 all together, but it was way too many songs for one playlist and the vibe shift between 2000-2001 and 2002-2003 is very noticeable. This is another treasure trove of excellent music, dipping into electronic music, experimental music, indie rock, the garage rock revival of that moment, underground hip-hop, jazz, and more.
[Spotify | Apple Music | YouTube]
As you can see, it opens with a very strong 02/03 vibe.
It’s A Hook Right Here
Schoolboy Q featuring Freddie Gibbs “Ohio”
“Ohio” has three distinct sections and ten credited producers, so I have no idea who did what or which producer(s) may have been responsible for making this collection of beats flow so seamlessly. But the whole crew deserves a lot of credit for building up an incredible tension and heavy atmosphere, particularly in the moody and lightly jazzy first and third sections. I especially like the slow-mo funk of the bass line in the first part and how it flatters the warmth and grit in Schoolboy Q’s voice, and the dreary piano chords and plaintive sax in the final minute that complement the mournful quality of Freddie Gibbs’ vocal tone. There’s a heavy feeling through the whole track, and even if Q is spends a lot of the song flexing he still sounds like he’s passing through some dark cloud.
Buy it from Amazon.
Someone To Believe In
Cindy Lee “Lockstepp”
Cindy Lee’s Diamond Jubilee, a 32 track album split across two imaginary CDs and only available as a single stream on YouTube or a download from the band’s Geocities page, is kinda like getting the entire discography of a really cool lost psychedelic band in one lump sum. Even with the existence of previous Cindy Lee records, this feels like a complete body of work documenting a series of related musical phases. It also sounds like a world unto itself, with a very “live” feel and some of the most beautifully recorded guitar parts I’ve heard in a while. It’s not a hi-fi sound, but it’s not really lo-fi either – it’s more like naturalism with a flattering soft focus. I have no idea what the Cindy Lee working process was like, but the recording and mixing gives the impression of listening in on a rehearsal when the band is in the zone and every improvisational flourish is inspired.
If you go along with the “entire discography” notion, “Lockstepp” is like a mid-career shift into a darker vibe. It’s like a zonked-out glam song with a severe krautrock groove and a goth tonal palette. The lyrics are sung from the POV of someone who seems to come out of some kind of literal or metaphorical cult, a lament about needing someone to believe in and figuring out you probably chose the wrong person or institution. There’s a sick hollow feeling at the core of this song, like you’re in this person’s head and you can’t help but feel the pull of this void they’re trying to fill.
Buy it from Cindy Lee.
To Laugh All Night
Khruangbin “Ada Jean”
Khruangbin is a trio with no weak link, but I find that I mainly connect to their music through Marko Speer’s guitar. He typically plays with a plaintive, understated tone and lets his melodies flow very casually, like an impressionistic story gradually unfolding through his notes. There’s a tendency for a lot of listeners, particularly writers, to think of lyrics as the meat of a song, but music like this is basically telling you words are inadequate, that you have to play a guitar to express certain things. In other words, there’s an elegance and eloquence to Speer’s playing that I think is beyond a lot of the most thoughtful and clever lyricists’ capacity.
Buy it from Bandcamp.
Brittany Howard “I Don’t”
I had to look up and verify that Brittany Howard is indeed the sole author of this song because the atmosphere and the pitch of the vocal hook suggested that it was built around the kind of vintage R&B sample that you’d expect to be the center of a Ghostface Killah song. The whole song is in 60s soul mode but I love how the more traditional aspects of the arrangement mesh with the “chipmunk soul” aesthetic, like she’s collapsing down the eras and pushing the sound out of either nostalgia or DJ quotation. The timeline collapse also suits the lyrical conceit – she’s singing about being too overworked and exhausted to have fun, and that’s as evergreen a sentiment as you’re going to get.
Buy it from Amazon.
LINKS LINKS LINKS LINKS LINKS
• Here’s Andrew Unterberger of Billboard on the Olivia Rodrigo/The Breeders run at Madison Square Garden, he saw the show before the one I caught. I can cosign a lot of what he’s saying here! This was the loudest, most consistently energetic audience I’ve ever been in. Maybe 70% girls under 20? Any time Rodrigo asked people to scream it was louder than My Bloody Valentine. She’s a true star, see her show if you get a chance.
• Jenn Pelly also wrote a profile of The Breeders for the New York Times pegged to these shows. The band seemed really happy on stage and very honored to be opening a lot of young people’s very first rock show.
• I had a good time watching Jake Shears of Scissor Sisters interview Annie Clark of St Vincent on his new show Queer the Music. Some great details about how she thinks and works, but also some unexpected bits like finding out she was living with Jenny Lewis in Los Angeles not long ago.
• We used to dream of a 8 Minute Cape Cod, but as of last night we now have a 33 minute Cape Cod!
And a 13 minute Gold Rush? We didn’t even know to ask for that.
• Here’s Elise Soutar on the Cindy Lee album over at Paste.
• Someone made a YouTube channel that’s all accessible best-of clips from Bryan Quinby’s Guys: A Podcast About Guys, one of my favorite shows.
• Another kind person has made a 24/7 shuffle of Matt Christman’s streams, which could get quite profound. This is a godsend to those who need a Christman fix while he’s still recovering from a stroke.
• New Pavement meme just dropped! “Utah Boy Fit Check” sounds like a Malkmus title, right?
I saw you in the chat during Cocaine Cowboys and became the Leo pointing at the screen meme. What a fun show