Fluxblog Weekly #98: Jay Som, Karriem Riggins, Matt Martians, Laura Marling, Laetitia Sadier Source Ensemble
I strongly recommend checking out Tegan O'Neil's Let's Talk About What We Talk About When We Talk About Teaching Let's Talk About Love three-part essay series, which is mainly about exposing college students to Carl Wilson's book about taste and music but also spends a lot of time unpacking Interpol's body of work. Tegan says I said something or other to inspire the second essay in particular, but honestly, I only ever remember encouraging them to keep writing about Interpol after posting some interesting tweets about them a little while back. It's very intelligent and engaging writing, and part of a larger series that started with Tegan coming out as trans.
March 6th, 2017
Just Like A Kid
Jay Som “1 Billion Dogs”
Melina Duterte’s voice blurs slightly into the treble haze of her guitar on “1 Billion Dogs” – not enough to obliterate its character or totally obscure her words, but just enough to make the sounds feel like they’ve merged into one big wave. The song begins in a state of acceleration and never really lets up for nearly three minutes. The only real break is a solo near the end, but that has a broken, shambling quality that sounds as though Duterte is scrambling to get the notes out before the weight of all the guitar distortion comes crashing down on her. It’s always nice when a rock song feels like a chase sequence in a film.
Buy it from Amazon.
March 7th, 2017
Rhyme Schemes Overseas
Karriem Riggins “Bahia Dreamin'”
Instrumental hip-hop is such an odd space – a logical and satisfying presentation for a lot of musical ideas that might otherwise need to compete with a rapper for your attention, but also vaguely unsatisfying as your ear is trained to expect to hear a rapper rapping. For every DJ Shadow or Prefuse 73 track that stands out as a powerful and thoughtfully composed piece of music, there’s a bunch of interesting beats that make you nod and go “huh, [some rapper you like] would sound great over this.”
Karriem Riggins’ Headnod Suite can sometimes veer into the latter category, but his best compositions have a rhythmic and harmonic density that’s emotionally resonant and a bit too busy to pair with vocals. The main hook in “Bahia Dreamin’” is a call-and-response between a slightly clipped up keyboard riff and wordless vocals, but within two minutes the rhythmic thread holding it all together is unraveled, tangled, and unwound again while some odd bass notes and unexpectedly lovely piano melodies fill in the more chaotic moments. It’s just barely over two minutes, but it’s a flood of good ideas.
Buy it from Amazon.
Matt Martians “Alotta Women/Useless”
Speaking of instrumental hip-hop, this song by Matt Martians could just be a loop of the beat and that slightly distorted keyboard hook and I would be perfectly happy. But Martians keeps the track moving through two minutes of he said/she raid rap verses and a couple runs through a chorus before flipping the beat entirely. The “Useless” section is more overtly funky and melodic, spinning through busier keyboard parts and vocal melodies while the “Alotta Women” section was mostly static on an instrumental level. I like this diptych structure – this could easily be cut up into discrete tracks, but keeping it this way deepens either side by suggesting a parallel narrative and a more complicated set of emotions.
Buy it from Amazon.
Note: I’m posting these two songs together because I sorta accidentally discovered that they sound fantastic back to back, as if the Riggins track was always meant to transition into the Martians tune. Try it yourself.
March 8th, 2017
A Half-Remembered Dream
Laura Marling “Nothing Not Nearly”
Laura Marling always sounds so certain, and since so many of her songs are reflecting on something in the past, her records sound like the product of months – or even years – of quiet contemplation. “Nothing Not Nearly” is essentially a report on a romantic relationship gone right. She’s recalling shared moments and little displays of affection, and coming to the conclusion that, in an otherwise dark time for her, this love was necessary and crucial. This being a clear-eyed Laura Marling song, there is a catch: She’s already concerned that the “afterglow” is fading, and she can’t help but imply that this person not being “afraid of trees or bears or anything with tendencies to wanna hurt you good” extends to her too. Even the way she sings the song suggests she’s trying to enjoy this while it lasts, as packs as many words as she can into the meter of the verses, and sings the chorus with a bit of a melancholy sigh.
Buy it from Amazon.
March 9th, 2017
Why Lock Me In Your Arms?
Laetitia Sadier Source Ensemble featuring Alexis Taylor “Love Captive”
“Love Captive” begins with Laetitia Sadier and Alexis Taylor from Hot Chip repeating a line that is about as Laetitia Sadier as it gets: “Like so many other things, love has to be reinvented.” It’s the syntax, it’s the succinct statement, it’s the way she makes revolutionary ideas seem both urgent and sensible. This could easily be something she would have sung in Stereolab, but I don’t think the sentiment would have suited that band’s aesthetic as well as this loose, gently swaying arrangement. Stereolab songs were so tight and geometric; they don’t feel much like the sort of free love Sadier is proselytizing here. Sadier is encouraging freedom, kindness, and generosity, not a lack of responsibility. She’s imagining a world with fewer hang-ups, less destructive jealousy, fluid sexuality, and abundant love for all. It’s a vision of utopia, and the music helps make her argument by feeling so incredibly relaxed and vaguely spiritual.
Buy it from Amazon.