ON REPEAT: Water From Your Eyes, Madeline Goldstein, Clairo, Wire, Raisa K & Coby Sey, INTERWORLD, Sweet Trip, DJ Jeeh FDC & DJ Biel Divulga, Erika de Casier
FRANCIS IS TAKIN' HIS BATH!
Rounding up some of my end-of-summer jams—damn this summer flew by!
Water From Your Eyes “Life Signs”
Usually I let songs gestate for a month before I write about them here to avoid posting something that I’m only briefly excited about but I’ve made some exceptions this week, particularly this song which made me go “OH FUCK YES” when I was listening to it this week for the first time.
Water From Your Eyes put out one of my favorite records of 2023—it was a revelation. I can’t say it was like nothing I had heard before, but instead it was such a different presentation of things I have heard before. If you listen to Nate and Rachel’s solo projects (This is Lorelei, Thanks For Coming) you’ll hear those sounds in slightly more conventional ways.
I got to book them on The Best Show and there was a long discussion of KoЯn, which I think at least was in their mind when making the last record—they even made a stop in Bakersfield on their tour. They’re a bit of a punchline now but they probably sounded pretty wild when they came on the scene. Listening to this record, and keeping that inspiration in mind—I’m once again hearing familiar sounds in new ways. Elements of This is Lorelei’s country tinge, Rachel’s unique indie rock voice and a little bit of nu-metal cacophony.
Madeline Goldstein “1996 Expectations”
I’ve written at length about Madeline Goldstein who is so good at this sincere Annie Lennox-esque look, vibe and performance style. All I really have to say is I think this is really “rad” (but I thought a lot about what word I’d use to describe it and settled on that). This video? Also rad.
Kilo Kish “Reprogram”
Kilo Kish continues her office culture saga with this music video.
Look, did I intentionally put two music videos featuring the artist dance-posing in a black business suit together on this list? Yes, only because at first I did it unintentionally and I didn’t want people to think it’s a weird thing I have but maybe that ship has sailed. [Sadly deletes “Me Against The Music” from the list.]
Devin Morrison “Ayako”
I heard about this slow jam for weebs from this video by Derrick Gee and the DJ Jyoty, two names I’m fans of.
Derrick Gee is a fun music vlogger, who also has a fun interview with Erika de Casier…
…which leads me to another jam from her new record:
Erika de Casier “December”
INTERWORLD “RAPTURE”
Dark Hungarian phonk.
DJ Jeeh FDC, DJ Biel Divulga “VOU SARRAR A PUTA NA MARCONE - QUEM TA DE LACOSTE FORTE”
Brazilian phonk from at least 4 DJs, and at least one with braces. At least twice, I’ve played this for people and they get mad and go “STOP.”
Sweet Trip “Air Supply”
This song has been on repeat all summer.
Clairo “Amoeba”
I am not being a performative male!
I’m on another walking kick, trying to do 10,000 steps a day. I live in a very “city” part of LA, and before that I lived in Bushwick. I’ve been walking late in the evening since it’s been so hot during the day, but my area (Hollywood/Koreatown) is totally fine—I’m surrounded by cafes and art galleries, but it isn’t the nicest late at night, so into Larchmont Village and Hancock Park.
The houses there are wild, I literally walked by Francis Buxton’s house (he was takin’ his bath) last night. Despite being in a giant city, I’m walking on completely empty streets getting glimpses of lifestyles I’ve never known. And Clairo, I’ve found, is an appropriate soundtrack for this activity.
Raisa K & Coby Sey “Stay”
This is another record perfect for nighttime walks, as evidenced by this video!
THE GOLD STANDARD
Wire “On Returning”
Wire is not my favorite band but I have always credited them as my ideal band. It all comes down to two simple things: they wrote short songs and they were always experimenting.
My broken brain loves a short song. It gets to the point. When I’ve got a giant playlist of music that balloons a bit to big, I just sort by length and delete anything over 5 minutes. Is this why I’m never getting into jazz? Or prog? Perhaps. But it’s probably why I always revisit Wire.
They get an idea across and then they're done. There’s no long, boring solos, no long intros or outros. This approach allowed them to try out tons of different sounds without getting stuck. They went from the speedy punk of their first record to the moodier, more complex sounds of Chairs Missing and 154 in just a couple of years.