ON REPEAT: Geordie Greep, Universal Togetherness Band, Blonde Redhead, illuminati hotties, Nick León & Erika de Casier
don't you know I'm HOOOOLLLLY?
This is the week where I talk about Geordie Greep.
Here is the thing in playlist form.
Geordie Greep “Holy Holy”
People have been talking about this song lately—I heard a snippet in an NTS reel and it was a head-turner. I clicked play and I had no idea what I was listening to. Immediately I was like “I don’t know if this is for me” but also I immediately wanted to listen to it again. I wanted to Portman-Braff it to people—and I have…here’s what my friend Jess said:
I have listened to it all week. I listened to it cold and suggest you do too. I’m waiting to finally hate it like I expected I might. What’s the deal…with this song?
I’ll begin by saying I’m pretty much fully unfamiliar with Geordie’s group Black Midi, I’ve sampled songs here and there and nothing caught for me. I learned from conversation with Andrew, the audio engineer on the Best Show that they’re “theatrical” and maybe a little bit “math-y” and yes, this is that kinda. this information is crucial, though.
But there’s also like a Ian Dury or Pere Ubu or Was (Not Was) or even Destroyer element going on. Buster Poindexter? He kinda looks like James Chance. I don’t know, man. Definite post-punk but also jazzy disco but also salsa? And it’s from the point of view of like, a lonely and delusional drunk trying to talk himself up to a SOPHISTICATED TART. I feel like a sommelier in over his head amongst peers, trying to describe a left-field wine.
I usually do some research about the songs I write about but I like not knowing what this is for a while. A quick wiki shows me that Geordie Greep is a real name and he’s part of something called the “windmill scene” related to a Brixton Pub. Again, I’m not digging in further yet!
I will however provide a live reaction to the music video:
Ok, yes! I like it even more now.
Nick León & Erika de Casier “Bikini”
I’m not too familiar with Nick Leon but you know I love Erika De Casier. I like her collabs because her music is so 90’s or Y2K coded and she usually gets out of that realm a bit more:
After flirting with edits and remixes, these two stalwarts of contemporary electronic music join forces to surf the biggest wave of the summer. ‘Bikini’ is a single, is the beginning of a new transcendental plan for us. In the meantime, dig deep into this lively and sexy fast dembowy—trance featuring Nick and Erika's prime.
Blonde Redhead “3 O’Clock”
I’ve been revisiting this 2017 EP by Blonde Redhead this week. This band always feels like the freshest thing going if the song is 7 years old or 30 years old. I met them once and had absolutely no idea what to say to them so I just kept quiet.
illuminati hotties “Can’t Be Still”
Just a nice song that has soundtracked my first week in a new home where I’ll go to lay down and see something that needs to be adjusted and then I’m up til 3am. You might see them on a certain show this week!
Andre Gibson & Universal Togetherness Band “Valentine Lover”
I don’t think I’ve talked about Andre Gibson’s Universal Togetherness Band a lot but they are a fun band to dive into. A band out of Chicago, who met in an experimental music project at Columbia College. Numero Group put out a compilation of their stuff and while this is simply just a nice song, they have some more exciting genre-blending stuff, highlighted in this lovely mini-doc:
THE GOLD STANDARD:
Universal Togetherness Band “Taken By Love”
More from the band to promote the general concept of “universal togetherness” to all.