Fluxblog Weekly #220: Grave Ives, Brijean, Ol Burger Beats, Erin Durant, Ann Marie
Please check out my guest appearance on my friends Molly and Chris' podcast And Introducing, which was recorded and released this week. This episode flips the premise of the show somewhat – typically Molly is the one who reads a musician's memoir and reports on it to Chris and another guest, but this time I was the one who read a book and presented it, allowing Molly a chance to react. (Which is great, as she is always hilarious.) The book in question was Eminent Hipsters, written by Steely Dan's Donald Fagen. He is an extremely cranky and snobbish man, and we have a lot of fun with that. Definitely check out older And Introducing episodes, there's a LOT of great ones at this point. Go on and subscribe!
July 15th, 2019
Looking For A Fight
Grace Ives “Mansion”
“Mansion” is one of those songs that arrives at entirely fresh aesthetic territory by building a bridge between two sounds no one had bothered to connect before – in this case, the twitchy minimalist synth-punk of Le Tigre and the throbbing disco sensuality of Donna Summer. Grace Ives’ arrangement is sparse but carefully calibrated so moments of tension and release overlap in a way that keeps the overall feeling ambiguous and the cathartic bits from feeling obviously signaled. Ives’ voice is terrific too, shifting between a spunky defiance in the verses to a gorgeous wordless moan in the refrain that resembles the elegant timbre of Alison Goldfrapp.
Buy it from Bandcamp.
July 16th, 2019
When The Feeling’s So Lovely
Brijean “Show and Tell”
I did not realize until I’d heard this song several times that Brijean Murphy, the primary performer and namesake of this project, is mostly a percussionist. But that certainly makes sense of this music, which is very much built around rhythm in terms of both structure and texture. “Show and Tell” is a tropical disco tune driven largely by Murphy’s congas. The percussion is busy but there’s no clutter in the arrangement – it all feels loose and airy, and the polyrhythms are more about signaling movement than keeping you consciously aware of the beat. The textural emphasis is more on Murphy’s breathy voice as she entices you to relax and enjoy the feeling, and on the synth melodies that seem to crisscross the track like laser light effects.
Buy it from Bandcamp.
July 17th, 2019
Asleep On A Sunbeam
Ol’ Burger Beats “Come Sunday”
Ol’ Burger Beats makes instrumental hip-hop that calls back to a mid-to-late ‘90s “turntablism” aesthetic – think DJ Shadow or DJ Premier, or a bit later, J Dilla – but pushes further into the realm of jazz. The majority of songs on the Norwegian producer’s new record Daybreaks sound like mellow keyboard-led jazz knocked slightly off balance or out of phase. Familiar sounds, like smooth sax leads, float in but abruptly cut out like a thought that’s suddenly interrupted by nothing in particular. Most of the elements and vocal fragments seem as though they’re presented as quotes and the music has an overall loose and airy feel, but still, it all sounds rather organic and grounded.
Buy it from Bandcamp.
July 18th, 2019
We Made It To The Canyon
Erin Durant “Good Ol’ Night”
“Good Ol’ Night” somewhat resembles Joanna Newsom’s classic “Good Intentions Paving Company” in both tone and style, as Erin Durant sings a lovely, delicate melody around low-key piano and percussion that’s so light and casual that it sounds as though it could be entirely improvised. This is high praise – I believe that particular Newsom song to be her very best, and it’s the kind of song that makes me wish there were more like it. Durant has a similar gift for evocative lyrics and sets a very vivid scene in old bars, casinos, cities, rivers, deserts, and the open road. The song is something of a travelogue and moves in tangents, but the emphasis is always on Durant’s voice and her charting a deep connection between two people as they move closer and further away from each other.
Buy it from Bandcamp.
July 19th, 2019
That Splash
Ann Marie featuring Jeremih “Drip”
The most immediately striking thing about “Drip” is that slow metronomic two-note motif that opens the song and carries through it like a literal drip from a faucet. The particular metallic tone is quite lovely, and the steady hypnotic quality of it contrasts nicely with Ann Marie and Jeremih’s far more sophisticated melodies, which seem to tangle around the center of it like vines climbing up a pole. This is an EXTREMELY horny and explicit song – it really is nothing more than two people singing about wanting to fuck each other – and while that sort of thing is fairly common now, there’s a gravity and resonance to this track that makes it all feel quite vivid, intimate, and romantically sincere.
Buy it from Amazon.