Been a hectic month or so, so haven’t been able to stop in with any recs recently — and since I have to return to my personal Chernobyl this week wanted to make sure to at least drop a couple on folks to tide you over (cuz one never knows what that place has in store for me and whether I’ll be able to escape in one piece again…) In the midst of all the running around I’ve been staying sane listening to the two albums from Austin five piece Sun June, last year’s Somewhere and their equally lovely 2018 debut Years.
These guys are another spillover special, a band that came on the Spots after listening to some of the Ocie Elliott EPs recently and they’re another really good find. (Hats off again to the nerds and their magic algorithm over there… #respect) They’ve got a similar vibe to the aforementioned band — lovely melodies, suuuuuper chill and relaxing — but the lyrics here tip more towards the cinematic than the romantic. The band conjures a series of intimate, atmospheric encounters often centered around very specific locations — Johnson City or Los Angeles (twice), driving to New Orleans or down the 405, a basement in Brooklyn or an apartment in Manhattan — plus a host of unnamed cabs, cars, and apartments in between. In my mind it’s always nighttime, the buzz of a couple cocktails creating a warm, boozy blear while the smoke swirls through the dark, disturbed only by the movement of the vehicles or the hushed, confessional lyrics.
Saying the songs tip towards the cinematic is not to insinuate this is without its amorous elements — lead singer Laura Colwell’s gauzy, ethereal voice flirts with guitarists Michael Bain’s and Stephen Salisbury’s lush, plinked riffs like strangers eying each other at the bar — but this is the sultry, seductive dance that hopefully leads to the established relationship Ocie often sings about. (And boy what a dance it is — this is some slinky, sexy sh#$, equal parts the XX, Mazzy Star, Beth Orton, and Sade.) Songs like “Everything I Had,” “Bad Girl,” and “Karen O” are smoldering, luscious affairs from the album’s front half, while “Once in a While” and “Seasons” keep things burning on the back half. (Tracks like “Records,” “Apartments,” and “I’ve Been” are equally torrid temptations off the debut.) My current fave is still the one that hooked me in the first place, the dreamy gem “Everywhere,” which showcases all the aforementioned beauty before kicking into another gear at the end and really driving it into the stratosphere. Great song off a really solid pair of albums — dim the lights and give em a spin, starting with this one:
I’ve got a few more offerings for the eight of you, starting with the previously mentioned Ms Orton who has a new album coming out next week, Weather Alive. It’s her first in six years and so far sounds like a solid return — she’s released a couple singles so far (“Fractals” and the title track), but I’ve been really enjoying the second single, “Friday Night.” According to Orton, the song is the internal dialogue of someone reflecting on “what to give up or what to surrender to. Passion or ambivalence? Whether to “bleed or rust in the rain…” What is futile and what is worth fighting for, and trying to do as little damage along the way.” It’s a simple, stately little thing, one that showcases Orton’s increasingly weathered (but still lovely) voice nicely. Give it a spin here:
Next comes another somewhat surprising return, that of DJ Muggs. (I know Cypress released a new album this year, the mostly underwhelming Back in Black, but this finds him returning to the Soul Assassins banner for the first time in 22 years(!), which is exciting news to old school head bobbers such as myself.) For those unfamiliar with the previous iterations, it’s basically Muggs producing his traditionally killer beats for a murderer’s row of guest emcees — the first edition had B-Real, Dre, RZA, GZA, KRS, Mobb Deep, and Goodie Mob, while the second had several of those plus Kool G Rap, Dilated Peoples, Kurupt, and Everlast. We don’t know much about the third version, but so far we’ve seen appearances from Freddie Gibbs, Scarface, Method Man, and Slick Rick — and that’s just on two singles! Both are good, but it’s the Meth/Rick one that really has me excited for what’s to come — check it out while we wait here:
Last up comes a track from the much awaited team-up of Roots frontman Black Thought and cool kid producer Danger Mouse, who recently dropped their album Cheat Codes. Similar to the previous album there’s an eclectic mix of guest stars who show up to round out the duo’s core delivery — everyone from traditional rappers like Raekwon and MF DOOM (“traditional” in that they are rappers, not that they are in any way “traditional rappers”) to less expected folks like singer/songwriter Michael Kiwanuke. Despite the indisputable pedigree of the folks involved, this one left me a little underwhelmed (similar to the aforementioned Cypress outing), but there are a couple highlights where the beats match the verses in their excellence. The track with Joey Bada$$ (“Because”) is one such example, but nothing tops this one, a true banger featuring A$AP Rocky and RTJ (and a sample the latter lads used on their latest, which serves as a nice callback to that excellent album). Wish more of this album could have hit as hard as this one (or RTJ’s for that matter) — enjoy this one in the meantime, though:
That’s it for now — hopefully I’ll be back from Chernobyl soon. Until then, amici…
–BS