Julia Holter - Loud City Song

I am so glad I gave this album a second chance.

People are always so high on Julia Holter's work, and I was just about ready to dismiss it as another "I guess I just don't get it" thing. Julia released Ekstasis last year, and I gave it one or two spins and each time I was terribly bored by it. I wasn't excited for her new album, but again, people were raving about it so I figured "why not".

On my first listen... nothing.

I don't know why I came back to it, but I am glad I did.

Julia's brand of pop music is what some are calling "ambient pop". (Which is kind of a silly genre name, but then what genre name isn't?) While it did sound unstructured and very "background music only" on my first listen, it is strange to call this "ambient" once you are familiar with it.

As the hokey genre would suggest, Julia's music is very full sounding. Where there's not a drum beat, there are ethereal synths and strings layered on top of Julia's reverbed-out vocals. Where there is a drum beat, however, there is excellent motion in the music with a seductiveness akin to the recent Rhye album from this year.

As I learned today, it may take two listens for this one to sink in. Enjoy:

Death Grips - Birds

So, if you've been following the news, Death Grips are being dicks again. They didn't show up to one of their concerts, and instead had someone play their mp3's off an ipod. Fans were pissed because everyone (including the venue) thought Death Grips were just late and they were stalling. The fans revolted and destroyed Zach Hill's drum kit. As it turns out, Death Grips was on the other side of the country, not on their way to the venue, and they claimed that "that was the show".

So deep bro.

Anyways, I kind of assumed (hoped) that their no shows to concerts meant they were recording new music, and yesterday they uploaded a new song to their youtube channel! So, obviously I think we can safely assume a new self-released Death Grips album will be out next week.

This new song reflects yet another new direction for the band, showing kind of a creepy vibe but still keeping an aggressive feel. Now we just count the days until this magically shows up on the interwebz...

Holden - The Inheritors

I am three tracks in to The Inheritors by James Holden, and it is freaking incredible. It sounds so organic and yet so electronic all at the same time. I can't say too much since I am currently in the middle of being wowed, so check out the track below to see what I mean.

Candy Claws - Ceres & Calypso in the Deep Time

What can I say, I'm a sucker for sugar-coated dream pop. Ever since I heard -Feedbacker- by Boris, I've been listening to a lot of intense stuff. Everything from Drone Metal, to Black Metal, to Swans' Public Castration is a Good Idea (which is just as brutal as it sounds). And here I am, going from Altar of Plagues to the sweetest, catchiest music I've heard all year.

Candy Claws sounds as if Cults took heavy inspiration from My Bloody Valentine, and also hired that Winnie the Pooh illustrator to do their cover (which, by the way, is awesome).

Some of my favorite music is that where the artist's voice is indiscernible to the point where it feels more like another instrument in the mix. The vocals on Ceres & Calypso in the Deep Time are whisper-sung, but it never sounds like she is holding back anything. Typically, I feel like the whisper-singing aesthetic is left only to those shoegaze acts who are immeasurably sad about the leaves changing colors or some other shit. Candy Claws is instead extremely playful and cheery. For all I know, through the buzz and fuzz, they may be singing about killing themselves, but at least they sound extremely optimistic about it.

As of late, I've been listening to a lot of different things, many of which probably don't fall into my readers' demographic (all two of you). So if the blog has bored you, fear not! I bring variety! This is an album everyone should be able to enjoy. It's like "Orange is the New Black": at it's core, it's chick music. But I'll be damned if we all don't enjoy it anyway.

Boris - At Last -Feedbacker-

I have been meaning to write about a few things on here, but I am on my first listen through Boris' At Last -Feedbacker- and the second track just floored me. I literally had to stop everything I was doing for the entire 14 minute duration as this song played out. It's truly incredible. The album (what little I've heard of it so far) is also very good.

This may be the beginning of a week-long excursion into drone metal...