Fluxblog Weekly #65: Jamila Woods, No Joy, Anderson Paak, Schoolboy Q, Car Seat Headrest
I forgot to share this in the newsletter last week, but here's a feature interview I did with Will Toledo of Car Seat Headrest for BuzzFeed. There's a LOT I cut out of this, and I might get around to posting a lightly edited recording of the full interview down the line.
July 18th, 2016
Guess We Better Find A New Planet
Jamila Woods featuring Donnie Trumpet “Breadcrumbs”
This song seems to make two arguments: First, that memory is a flawed and fragile thing that could slip away from us at any time. Second, that memories are only tether to our shared past and must be considered precious things. Jamila Woods’ perspective skips around a timeline through the song, but the one thought that’s fixed to a future point is the request to leave her a trail of breadcrumbs to guide her back. Back to this moment, back to this feeling, back to this time and place. Back to this very well used Stereolab sample. Back to these lovely trumpet solos from Donnie Trumpet. Back to this feeling of connection with someone new that somehow seems to extend back to the start of her life. Back to a heartbreaking memory of her grandparents that is also so beautiful and kind and pure that it makes you believe in love.
Get the album for free from Jamila Woods’ Soundcloud page.
July 19th, 2016
Just Let Me Be
No Joy “XO (Adam’s Getting Married)”
One of my favorite things about No Joy is the way they imply dimension in their music. Sounds overlap and move apart like objects moving through space, and the lack of fixed position is disorienting and vaguely frightening. The vocals in “XO” are sometimes buried just behind a wall of distortion, or wailing just out of reach, or incredibly close and intimate. The song has the urgency and dynamics of rock, but the way the textures are cut together reminds me more of film editing than a live band performance. The cutting doesn’t distract from the main melodies – some of the strongest of No Joy’s career, by the way – but it does obscure and abstract the vocals in a way that’s more impressionistic than straightforwardly musical.
Buy it from Amazon.
July 20th, 2016
The Sweetness Of A Honeycomb Tree
Anderson Paak “The Bird”
“The Bird” has a relaxed feel, but it’s not exactly chill. At ease, maybe, but not chill. This is way too focused to be chill, and a bit too earnest in its desire to introduce the singer and an album full of songs. Anderson Paak is laying out the details of his past like an origin story – interesting stuff, for sure, but not the meat of the plot. Outside of the album context, “The Bird” is a confident expression of “this is who I am.” The music sounds as lived-in as the details of Paak’s lyrics – the melodies are outstanding, but played with the laid back grace of a band that’s smart enough to give the song some space to move, but bold enough that the piano, guitar, and trumpet players all get their moments in the spotlight. I love the piano solo in particular: It’s an ideal complement to the low key charms of Paak’s voice.
Buy it from Amazon.
July 21st, 2016
The Punch You Shouldn’t Feel
Schoolboy Q featuring Lance Skiiiwalker “Kno Ya Wrong”
“Kno Ya Wrong” has a diptych structure with a shift in tone so strong that it’s easy to forget the first half was in the same song once you’re deep into the second half. I favor the first part, actually – I’m a sucker for piano loops in hip-hop songs, and I like the feel of Schoolboy Q’s raspy semi-sung verse. But that shift is well-executed and the second half has a strange resonance that lifts the entire composition out of fairly conventional rap into a zone that feels less explored. There’s a really bleak sort of funk in that phase, like George Clinton music that’s a bit dilapidated and knocked slightly out of synch. I like the way it feels like entering a place that’s unfamiliar and alien, but totally familiar to the vocalists on the track.
Buy it from Amazon.