Welcome to yet another Loosies Of The Week, a wrap-up of this weeks singles, throwaways, leaks, and any other loose tracks I find. A wide range of genres this week, with a well-rounded level of quality. There's sure to be something you enjoy.
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Many people besides myself have stated that Young Fathers has failed, through four projects, to make a bad song. Their genre-branching held within certain parameters allows for an aesthetic to stew while diversity and greatness prevails. Unfortunately, 'Toy' poses a problem. By no means bad, it may be Young Fathers' closest track to that bottom. Not for any one, clear-cut reason mind you, but by the worrying factor that 'Toy' sounds precomposed of a myriad of Young Fathers elements. This causes the track to sound cliched. Nimble, progressive percussion and restless verses scamper like White Men Are Black Men Too's Indietronica. Couple that with the trio's unifying singing towards the end, and a profuse number of comparisons can be drawn to 'Shame.' Only if that hit were produced functionally and not artistically. Point being, in the long run, 'Toy' doesn't have any discernible facets that'll allow the track its own time to shine. This stands in stark contrast to Cocoa Sugar's two previous singles; 'In My View' and 'Lord,' one set on elegant, UK-based Alternative R&B, the other pure, experimental Noise gush.
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If 'American Guilt' and 'Not In Love We're Just High' tell us anything, it's that Unknown Mortal Orchestra's upcoming LP Sex & Food might be their most expansive in sound yet. While their career has seen its fair share of reinvention, on an album-by-album basis, the ideas, whether Lo-Fi or Neo-Psychedelia or Garage Rock, were consistent. Here though, genres clash. 'American Guilt' stripped any psychedelic image left by the band in favor of the distorted and amateur manners of Punk. However, 'Not In Love' does everything in its power to convince listeners of the opposite. Here, Unknown Mortal Orchestra lives in a purely psychedelic state, inspired by their non-linear sound collage series SB. R&B lives at the heart of Ruban Nielson's singing, bearing similarities to How To Dress Well's early Lo-Fi stages, despite teasing with quick and quaint melody moments. The minimal production not only helps to ease listeners into Nielson's mind trip, but also startle them when noisier elements, namely the drums, come rampaging in. I can't deny it. Coupled with 'American Guilt,' this sent my hype for Sex & Food up a few notches.
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If there was ever a single source of Experimental Hip-Hop distilled down to the barest of essentials, the form would take that of JPEGMAFIA. Every artist in the sub-genre's modern age who influenced his music, from Death Grips to Danny Brown to clipping. to Brockhampton to Childish Gambino to Lil Ugly Mane, represents a specialized facet of the entire puzzle, pushing the extremes in their selective corner. As seen on Veteran, JPEGMAFIA borrowed veins of energy from each source, making sure to stay grounded in the roughneck roots of Hip-Hop. If that was a distillation in album form, 'Does This Ski Mask Make Me Look Fat?' is so in song form. Combative lyrics contesting fake rappers shoehorning name brands and touting drug culture as a way to feed off a trend, all the while a screwy, glitch-infused Trap beat contorts the perspective of the streets. Alongside Peggy is Heno, D.C. based rapper who supports the superior motives, but, whether intentionally or not, sounds far too similar to the bandwagon rappers they both alienate. Nonetheless, 'Does This Ski Mask' is another effort from JPEGMAFIA, this time more composed than previous ones, that showcases his Hip-Hop versatility.
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It's been a while since I've ventured into Yo La Tengo's storied discography. They're on the brink of releasing their 15th record, There's A Riot Going On, so forgive me for not listening to them all (or any since 2000's And Then Nothing Turned Itself Inside-Out). Which, in some sense, is a shame considering I Can Hear The Heart Beating As One has cracked my top 100 albums of all-time, 'Sugarcube' my top 200 songs. There's just something about noise-based Dream Pop that makes living in such a confined world for so long exhausting. Unfortunately so, 'For You Too' attained every expectation I had for it, which, after visiting a band 18 years later to hear what new offerings they have, is not a good thing. By no means is the song bad; quite the contrary. Ira Kaplan's quiet vocals are just as effective as they were in Yo La Tengo's heyday, an admirable feat given his 61 years of age (wow!). When his voice breaks in the verses a rush of 90's-centric nostalgia hits with naivety and childlike wonderment. The production continues to masquerade his weaknesses well, but fail to make any sort of name for themselves, merely drudging along as if rhythm is some sort of chore. Finding vitality's tough after living in a perpetual dream state, but it's also necessary to keeping ideas imaginative.
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Two years ago the most perplexing project in modern Trap dropped; Lil Boat. Those times won't soon be forgotten, as Lil Yachty forced me to question everything I knew about music as art. His clearly wasn't, but I enjoyed it nonetheless. Newfound appreciation of nursery rhymes, humor in Rap, and adolescent triviality were just some of what Lil Boat offered. However, despite the intoxicating bangers of 'Wanna Be Us' and 'Minnesota,' it was clear Yachty, much like the majority of Trap rappers nowadays, was a flash in the pan. An upstart with an identity that won't soon be mimicked, even by the aging artist himself. Summer Songs 2 showed signs, whereas his debut album Teenage Emotions fell off a cliff. Entitling his next project Lil Boat 2 sets a definitive precedent, one that's reliant on a return to what made Yachty lovable. Unfortunately 'Most Wanted' doesn't accomplish that. An argument could be made that it scurries closer to his mixtape year rather than his album one, but the marks are scarce and ultimately meaningless. As a deep cut, 'Most Wanted' wouldn't be remembered, yet alone as a lead single. On it, Yachty simultaneously flexes while saluting his fans, two mannerisms that are nothing new for the Atlanta rapper. This, over regurgitated production by EarlThePearll that lacks any of the nutty flavor sprouting up all over Lil Boat, including the producer's own with the outlandish 'Run / Running.'
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Ever since their debut LP The Bones Of What You Believe, the writing was on the wall that Chvrches would lose their alternative Synthpop touch in place of something more streamlined and less unique. The regression was felt on Every Open Eye, and in full bloom for Love Is Dead's first single; 'Get Out,' a paltry attempt at maximalist Pop with an uninspired hook to boot. 'My Enemy' purposely corrects that, showing that Chvrches' third LP won't be all color and no melancholy. However, the sappy anti-love song continues to paint using Lauren Mayberry's tactless emotional palate, treating relationships like an adolescent struggling to see between extremes. Duality is present throughout the song, not only in Mayberry's synth-ridden chorus (calling someone her enemy a line before declaring them her remedy), but also her back-and-forth with The National's Matt Berninger who represents the antithesis opinion in the verses. I will say the inclusion of such a singer is intriguing, but the two voices do not intermingle whatsoever. Mayberry's entire persona is based on childish naivety, whereas The National's approach has always been aged and sophisticated.
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