Fluxblog Weekly #47: Salami Rose Joe Louis, TV Girl, Beach House, Kendrick Lamar
Fairly light week this time around! As a special bonus, here's something I made at BuzzFeed that may interest you: This Radiohead Quiz Will Reveal What Sort Of Sad Person You Are.
March 14th, 2016
For Days On End
Salami Rose Joe Louis “I Miss You So”
Everything about this is strange in the best way. The band name is totally confounding – like, are those the names of the members? Is one of them called “Salami”? Is Salami Rose Joe Louis actually one woman? Why would a woman call herself that, if she’s indeed a solo artist? Who can say!
“I Miss You So,” like the other tracks available in advance of the full record coming out in a couple weeks, is zonked-out low-key funk, and at times sounds like a record that’s been slightly warped by the sunlight. The singer shifts between breathy girlish whispers and restrained soul vocals, like some kind of severely stoned jazz singer child. The music reminds me a bit of the sort of stylish vaguely R&B-ish, trip-hop-ish stuff that was big in upscale bars and shops circa the late ‘90s and early ‘00s, but a lot more psychedelic and hazy. A lot of the time it sounds like an extremely drowsy funk/R&B band, and it totally works. This song sounds very romantic and intimate, like something being whispered in bed in the middle of the night.
Buy it from Bandcamp.
March 15th, 2016
Put Your Hands In Your Pockets And Look The Other Way
TV Girl “(Do The) Act Like You Never Met Me”
I guess it was about time that sad boy indie dance music came back into style, right? TV Girl is a guy named Brad Petering who making tracks that would’ve sounded very suave and urbane back in the late ‘90s, and singing like Ben Gibbard’s lovelorn little brother about the sort of hopeless, haphazard relationships people typically have in their early 20s. “(Do the) Act Like You’ve Never Met Me” is a sad sack tune about the frustration of having to pretend like you’ve never been intimate with someone and acting like total strangers, even though part of your brain is screaming “THIS IS ALL A LIE! DON’T YOU REMEMBER???” This could easily be awful “nice guy” stuff, but Petering has a sense of humor about it – he doesn’t undermine his own emotions, but does put them in proper perspective with a nod and a wink.
Buy it from Bandcamp.
March 16th, 2016
Fall Back Into Place
Beach House @ Webster Hall 3/15/2016
Beyond Love / Walk in the Park / PPP / The Hours / Silver Soul / Space Song / 10 Mile Stereo / One Thing / Wishes / Rough Song / Master of None / Bluebird / Take Care / Elegy to the Void / Myth // Sparks
Beach House “Space Song”
I spent a lot of this show focused on Alex Scally’s guitar playing and wishing I could get a better view of what exactly he’s doing with the instrument. His style is so distinct but also oddly understated – for one thing, I think most people think of the keyboard drones as the most notable thing about Beach House’s sound, despite his guitar being the actual focus of their compositions. But then, a lot of what makes their songs work is this sort of emotional equilibrium between Scally’s parts and Victoria Legrand’s vocals. They usually take turns playing the emotive or meditative parts, so there’s this sustained soul-searching quality to their music. Legrand’s voice grounds the music, but it’s Scally’s guitar that gives the tunes drama and grace, and a low key romanticism that few of their immediate peers can match.
Buy it from Amazon.
March 17th, 2016
Both Sides Of Me Are Evenly Odd
Kendrick Lamar “Untitled 06 (06.30.2014)”
I love the way Kendrick writes about being infatuated with women. He always seems so consumed by his fascination, like he wants to learn everything about them and take in every last detail, as if there was a way for him to crack the code of what makes them so beautiful and compelling. As smooth, clever, and laid back as Kendrick gets, he still sounds a bit flustered thinking of this woman, and he seems so eager to impress her. He’s putting her on a pedestal in some ways, but at the same time, this song is mainly a meditation on imperfection, and how closely someone’s strengths are connected to their flaws. The really sweet sentiment here isn’t so much the “you’re beautiful exactly as you are” thing, but more that he sees this woman as an equal, and is drawn to her because they both are a bit out of step with the rest of the world. It makes some sense of the intensity of his crush – he’s a guy who can have his pick of available women, but he’s only fixating on the one who’s attuned to the same odd frequency he’s on.
Ali Shaheed Muhammad and Adrian Younge’s track is gorgeous, and could stand on its own quite well as an instrumental with that lovely, lyrical flute part becoming the most expressive element of the arrangement. There’s a light, slick feeling to the track, and it suits the infatuated tone – in this context, Kendrick sounds flirty and cool, and the words flow like they’re carried on a cool breeze. Cee-Lo’s vocal is great too, rooting the track firmly in mid 20th century R&B without making it feel overly retro.
Buy it from Amazon.