As today will find many of you celebrating our nation’s independence, sweltering in the heat giving thanks for our many freedoms (such as seeing how much barbecue and Bud Light one patriot can consume in a single day), I thought I’d give you one more thing to be thankful for — thoughts and recommendations from yours truly. So without further ado, here’s how I’m making America greater today…
First up is a solid article from Pitchfork on the passing of indie artist Richard Swift, who while not being a household name likely has played in or produced bands who certainly are for you (including many who’ve shown up here over the years). He was a touring member of the Black Keys and the Shins in recent years, a member of the Arcs, and a producer/contributor for Hamilton Leithauser, Kevin Morby, Nathaniel Rateliff, and others. If that wasn’t enough, he also was a relatively prolific solo artist, releasing five albums of his own since his 2005 debut. The article does a good job mixing the latter offerings with his behind the scenes efforts, effectively introducing his wide-ranging talents to a mostly unknowing public. Sad to hear he passed so young…
Next we’ll honor the oeuvre of another and jarringly shift styles/mood in the manner he is so well known for, that of Fatboy Slim and his enormous, convulsive breaks. While Swift’s work is more introspective and subdued, Slim’s is pure, throbbing id, synonymous with sweaty masses of shirtless youth simultaneously losing their shit in some field or club to Slim’s sample-laden songs. Billboard is commemorating the 20th anniversary of his monster sophomore effort You’ve Come a Long Way Baby (exhibit #12493 I am O.A.F.) by running down the ten best songs from Slim’s career.
It seems like forever ago, but Slim was part of, if not the key driver, behind the tidal wave of electro that first hit the States in the late 90s. Along with Prodigy and the Chemical Brothers, these three dealt out wrecking ball after wrecking ball over that four/five year span, destroying the minds and inhibitions of the broods of beach bros on TRL and more reserved folks such as myself. That first wave eventually ebbed, with those three all but disappearing by the late 2000s (only the Chemicals still pop up with any regularity/quality), but you could hear their influences in the second wave that washed over the country at that time with acts like Diplo, Aoki, Afrojack, and others. The list does a good job capturing the hits, but does leave out one of my favorites (and his first true hit), “Going Out of my Head,” which harnessed the power of a classic Who riff (much like “Rockafeller Skank” did with the Stones) and makes you hear it in a whole new light. (While also shakin’ your ass and dancing.) Check it out here:
We’ll close with one more list, this one courtesy of Stereogum, and their reassembling the recent spate of offerings from Kanye into a single cohesive album. As you’re likely already aware unless you live under a rock (which if so, FYI Drake also released a double album this week — it’s been pretty hush hush so not surprising you’d miss it) Kanye recently completed his run of releasing five EPs-not-albums in as many weeks, items he either produced or starred on (or both). It started with Pusha T’s Daytona, was followed by the much ballyhooed one-two of Kanye’s solo Ye and his tandem affair with Kid Cudi, Kids See Ghosts, and then closed with offerings from Nas and Teyana Taylor. Five “albums” in five weeks sounds cool on paper and a good way to generate marketing buzz, but in reality is just another entry in the Stupid Human Olympics, dumb things we do for no reason other than we can. (Like taking the cinnamon challenge or running a marathon.)
Ever since week two I had been telling people “I wish he would have taken longer and just put out one really good album instead of (what would turn out to be) five mediocre mini-albums — sort of the follow up to Cruel Summer he’d been talking about doing for so long.” Well apparently I wasn’t alone, as Stereogum has gone and done just that, pulling the best two or three songs off each album (and aside from Taylor’s, which I didn’t really get into, each EP does have two or three really good songs worth listening to/downloading). They do a good job, too — aside from the three Taylor songs, which I can take or leave, they picked almost every other song from the five I would have selected. Only thing I would have also included was the opener from Ye (minus the three minute gibberish prelude), which has a pretty solid back end (just like yours truly). So give it a look and see what all the fuss is about.
And enjoy your day off! America loves you (and so do I…) –BS