forkcast tracks

Thursday, June 4, 2009

"Love the Nite Away (Tiedye Mix)"

DJ Kaos
"Love the Nite Away (Tiedye Mix)"

[Rong/DFA]

9
 

Is there a greater joy in life than total immersion of feeling, losing yourself completely and pushing aside all cynicism and self-consciousness? It's why you drink, dance, and throw yourself into a vast, unknowable nightlife despite the uncertainty, the possibility of failure and of heartbreak; it's why we love the night away. Tiedye, a duo known for a nearly flawless string of gorgeous tropical-inflected tracks on the Italians Do It Better label, have taken on the task of remixing DJ Kaos' already-excellent "Love the Nite Away," and effortlessly re-framed the striking vocals into a shimmering pop masterpiece. The bongos are pure Balearic disco, and the gruff, assertive, and sincere vocals firmly in the tradition of Italo classics. But the end result is a passionate dancefloor slow burn of intense beauty, an incomparable summer soundtrack.

"Love the Nite Away (Tiedye Remix)" represents a timeless, universally recognized, frequently-chased, and seldom-realized intangible feeling. Uninterested in merely being the sum of its influences, it aims for transcendence with such confidence, and for the pop jugular so unabashedly, that you start drawing up dream collaborations for comparison-- perhaps the Avalanches remixing the New Radicals. Tiedye's keys and marimbas, guitars, and beach-party FX are a slow-motion head rush, all tonal colors, swirling musical flower petals dancing behind your eyelids, each chord teasing resolution as if to imitate the uncertainty and instability of that weightless moment of love at first sight. The lyrics invoke the optimism and confusion of possibility ("Will it last? Or is it gonna be a one-time love affair?"), and the song is about these questions, not the answers. The vocals reject the reflective in favor of the immediate, tactile sensations ("I'm touching you, you're touching me!") and anticipation. After the torrential guitar solo showers down upon the dancefloor, and when all the harmonic elements swirl in concert, and the driving one-note "Your Love"-style bassline hits for the final chorus, the song entirely overwhelms. "Love the Nite Away (Tiedye Remix)" is a perfect embodiment of that instant blend of lust and hope and potential, the timeless, youthful search for sensation, visceral feeling and social unity and love, even if it's only real for that one night, or even that one moment; it's about losing yourself to another person, when joyful emotion overpowers everything else, neuroses ignored in the wake of unconcerned bliss. How pure and simple life can be.

MP3:> DJ Kaos: "Love the Nite Away (Tiedye Mix)"

— David Drake

"The Countess"

Jacuzzi Boys
"The Countess"

[Needless]

6

Just for giggles, Google "greatest Florida bands -wedding -marching" and a couple of variations thereof. Aside from AOR-radio staples Lynyrd Skynyrd and the Allman Brothers Band, results are skimpy. Live music doesn't seem to fare much better in the Sunshine State: Weak ticket sales KO'ed this year's Langerado Music Festival and most indie bands on a budget tour no farther south than Atlanta. So what's a young Florida band to do? Miami's Jacuzzi Boys revive the sounds of the state's fertile 1960s garage-rock scene-- or scenes. While the Nightcrawlers' "Little Black Egg" may be that era's most famous export, towns from Jacksonville to Orlando to Sarasota boasted a band a block back in the day and recorded hundreds of local-hit singles that never got anywhere near a Nuggets comp.

Jacuzzi Boys list lost natives like the Everglades as influences, but their live sets probably segue pretty smoothly into those of garage-eclectics and sometime-tourmates King Khan and the Shrines. Still, there's something warm and swampy and, at the same time, slick and air-conditioned, about the Boys-- something distinctly Florida. On single "The Countess" (a split 7" with Woven Bones), singer Gabriel employs both hot n' bothered Mick Jaggerisms and Lou Reed's cooler-than-thou tics to bemoan an imperious, noblesse-obliging girlfriend. A bass drum drives the song straight and steady, but heavy reverb makes the beats sound like they're volleying off damp dungeon walls at unpredictable angles, a sultry and sinister atmosphere enhanced by ghostly surf guitar lines. Jacuzzi Boys do the grimy, gutter-sniping psychedelic-garage thing really well. I just wish they'd rethink a name that (Floridian as it might be) sounds like some kind of electro-clash parody.

— Amy Granzin

"Sideways"

Playboy Tre
"Sideways"

[Georgia Dirt]

7

"Sometimes I wake up and be like, 'Man, fuck you even wake up for?'" Playboy Tre grumbles at the beginning of "Sideways". To call this sentiment "vintage Playboy Tre" would be disorienting to the 90% of the world that has never heard of him, so introductions are in order: Tre is a 30-something Atlanta vet with a history of almost-made-its in his past (ran with Bohagon when he was a Lil Jon signee; writes occasional hooks for T.I. and others) and a penchant for the kind of grown-ass-man introspection that almost nobody outside of Scarface bothers with anymore. (For the record, whiny navel-gazing doesn't count as introspection.) "Sideways", a deep cut off of his new mixtape Liquor Store Mascot, deals with pretty conventional stuff on the surface: it's the "struggles of an underground artist," list-of-grievances type record that is obligatory on every rapper's debut album. The difference is that most rappers keep these songs safely in the past tense, whereas Playboy's is happening right now, and he takes us right to his sofa. It's 4 a.m.: cable and internet's cut; an instrumental is flowing through the speakers, and Tre's drinking and writing, with "bills on my mind and bills on the table." (In case the mixtape title didn't make it clear, Playboy does a lot of drinking and rhyming about drinking.) "If something don't change and change quick/ Man, I hate when I'm feelin like this," he sighs on the hook-- no bluster, no bullshit, just a beautifully rendered, honest, and human-sized moment of doubt.



— Jayson Greene

Wednesday, June 3, 2009

"Asleep at a Party"

Memory Cassette
"Asleep at a Party"

[Acéphale/Sincerely Yours]

7

As evocative band names go, Memory Cassette is up there. You get an image of the sound just from seeing those two words next to each other. And what do you know: the music delivers it precisely. As you might suspect, details on the project are hard to come by. We know that it includes at least one contributor to the modest homebrew recording outfit Weird Tapes and there might be a connection to Hail Social. The Nexus is somewhere in the greater Philadelphia area, maybe including parts of New Jersey. A blog, We're Tapes, features a steady stream of new music and ephemera, including lots of bent remixes, a fair percentage of which are interesting.

This track was posted there a number of months ago, and has made its way around; later this month, it'll come out on a 7" EP co-released by simpatico imprints Acéphale (who put out SALEM) and Sincerely Yours (you know them for the Tough Alliance and Air France). Which is good: it belongs on a turntable. During the early days of computing, back when tape players engaged in recording a new kind of memory, digital data, this is what music sounded like when it leaked out of cheap radios. "Asleep at a Party" is lush but flecked with static, heavily orchestrated but with an off-hand charm, kinda celebratory but still consumed with longing. "Sleep with one eye open," a voice sings on the chorus, but there's certainly nothing to be afraid of; I think it's more about not wanting to miss whatever happens next.

— Mark Richardson

"Beach House"

The Cave Singers
"Beach House"

[Matador]

6

On the Cave Singers' 2007 debut, Pete Quirk sang in a sharp, nasal twang that suggested an affinity for Dock Boggs and evoked an old-time sensibility in their dusty spirituals. If "Beach House" is any indication, then he has cleared his throat mightily for their forthcoming follow-up, Welcome Joy. Singing about moving to the shore or to safer neighborhoods, his voice takes on the texture of worn leather, somewhere between Robin Pecknold and Ryan Adams, retaining its out-of-time quality but sounding less like a put-on. "Beach House" sets his performance against the kind of austere arrangement that makes a hook seem immodest; Marty Lund keeps time and little else on high-hat and tambourine, while Derek Fudesco's rolling-river guitar never settles on a riff and never repeats itself. This is Pacific Northwest folk at its most refined and rustic, yet it's Quirk's voice that brings it back to the present day.

MP3:> The Cave Singers: "Beach House"

— Stephen M. Deusner

"Issues"

Finale
"Issues"

[Interdependent]

6

Taking a look at current hip-hop, it's pretty apparent that most rappers have developed an aversion to negative space. Beatscapes have become increasingly more opulent, leaving me to wonder who has the chops to tackle something that isn't drowning in synths and 808s. Detroit MC Finale may be up to the task-- just take a look at "Issues", which features an eerie blend of backwards samples and high-register snare snaps (and pretty much nothing else). Finale's dexterous wit and tongue compliment that ambient suite nearly perfectly-- he's like a lost prophet rambling through the streets of Motor City as it slowly crumbles. My issue with "Issues" is the way the issues at hand are rendered, especially during the lengthy spoken coda, which ultimately turn a ghostly tone poem into something rather bland. Finale goes on at length about a troubled childhood and the "issues" that resulted, but aside from the fact that it's pretty sad stuff, it's hard to get behind a cut that's so earnest without being artful. If it weren't for the fact that Finale comes over as balls-out talented, it'd be easy forgive such filler material. The rest of the MC's debut, A Pipe Dream and a Promise, might find him righting the ship.

— Zach Kelly

Tuesday, June 2, 2009

"Down Down Da Drain"

Black Pus
"Down Down Da Drain"

[Corleone]

6

Working as Black Pus, Lightning Bolt drummer Brian Chippendale doesn't really care what you think about his music. A testimonial from a casual observer posted on the project's MySpace describes it as such: "That was like the musical equivalent of ripping your toenails off one by one. It was the worst thing I've ever heard." It's tough to disagree with the former. The music's distorted pulsating bass drone, shrill, incomprehensible vocals, and bone-snapping percussion are not particularly pedestrian, and to the unconditioned ear, sound like, well, much like I assume ripping your toenails out would feel. But Chippendale thrives on this kind of deconstruction, harnessing all of the carnage and managing it into something vaguely resembling song structure.

Never is that more traditionally handled than on Black Pus' recent single "Down Down Da Drain". A track that more closely resembles Einstürzende Neubauten and Liars circa Drum's Not Dead than spazzcore groups like Locusts that Lightning Bolt typically engender, "Down Down Da Drain" is as close to verse-chorus-verse as Chippendale will likely ever produce in this context. The screeching distortion that announces the song and military percussion march that devolves into a swirling bass cacophony would beg to differ, but even at the track's seven-minute–plus run time, it feels almost structured. Consider it more like pulling teeth.

— Chris Gaerig

"America"

8Ball
"America"

[8 Way]

7

Earlier this year, the veteran Southern MC 8Ball released Memphis All-Stars, a low-stakes underground solo album, jammed with budget beats and hometown guests, the sort of thing that's great if you love raspy bass-heavy shit-talk and very easy to ignore if you don't. But buried at the end of the album, there's a nine-minute left turn of a song called "Love Spoken".

Rescued from its album and stripped of its endless preacher intro, "Love Spoken" becomes "America", a great example of why this guy is revered in certain circles. The beat is a spare, eerie rhythm, a perfect foil for Ball's wizened tough-guy routine: "Raw when I spit it, take a minute 'fore you really get it/ Straight gutter lyrics like my motherfucking mouth shitted." When the third verse kicks in, though, he launches into some unexpectedly moving real talk: "I come from Memphis, Tennessee, whether you know it or not/ The city where Martin Luther King got shot/ My folks picked cotton, got no education/ Fought and made it easier for my generation/ And how we pay them back? We kill our own kind/ Murder innocent niggas who grind for they little shine."

When 8Ball says stuff like this, it carries weight. He's just spent two verses (or, really, 20 years) telling you about the gun in his waistband and his bulletproof car. He doesn't preach. He doesn't hector. His tone of voice doesn't change. He just lets out an inaudible sigh and tells you how he sees the world. He doesn't see a way out. He has no advice. It's some powerful shit.

— Tom Breihan

"Psychic City (Voodoo City)"

YACHT
"Psychic City (Voodoo City)"

[DFA]

9
 

With Memorial Day behind us, time is ticking away on the search for the jam of the summer-- the song that will soundtrack a thousand sunburns while blaring from open car windows and backyard BBQs. It's a track that requires a delicate balance, needing to be easy to sing along to, but with a beat heavy enough that, even though sweat is dripping down the backs of your knees, you can't help but dance. It needs to be fun and immediately catchy, but able to withstand repeated plays without wearing out its welcome too soon (after all, we've got a long, hot few months ahead of us).

Here's another contender: YACHT's "Psychic City (Voodoo City)". Never before has the Portland electro duo sounded so joyous. Anything that bordered on pop this playful got muddled before with a slightly off-kilter melodic choice or some noisy electronic flourishes. But there is nothing to get in the way of this track's giddy bubble-popping effects, insistent yet rubbery groove, or big, summery chorus. Like Tom Tom Club's "Genius of Love", another great summer jam, it melds dispassionate, girlish talk-singing with squishy, bass-y synths and an infectious rhythmic drive. With lyrics snagged from a track on an old Rich Jensen K Records tape and a keyboard melody inspired by Althea and Donna's 70s reggae hit "Uptown Top Ranking", perhaps the specificity of its influences freed up Jona Bechtolt and Claire L. Evans to embrace a buoyant cohesion. And when YACHT sounds this good, it makes it easy to sail through the season.

MP3:> YACHT: "Psychic City (Voodoo City)"

— Rebecca Raber

Monday, June 1, 2009

"Floor to Floor"

Teengirl Fantasy
"Floor to Floor"

[Self-Released]

7

Oh, get your mind out of the gutter. Teengirl Fantasy's name has nothing to with fantasies about teen girls, but rather the fantasies of them-- cute boys, baby animals, and rainbows that taste like mint chocolate chip ice cream, according to one "fan's" site. It's an appropriate handle. The dorm room project of Ohio students Logan Takahashi and Nick Weiss, Teengirl Fantasy's music is nothing but dreamy-- warm and ethereal like the pastel waterscape that decorates the cover of recent single "Floor to Floor". Pulling a classic bait and switch, the song opens with some garden-variety 8-bit glitch tinkering before a belching synth lets things loose at the one-minute mark. From there, it's straight coasting. Like a washing machine set to "gentle," the track's heavy bass bleeds into lush, aquatic synths, and stirred-in vocal samples (including jubilant cries of "do it, do it!"). The result is something akin to High Places' post-pop at its most buoyant, but informed more by house music and beat-heavy Top 40 hip-hop, and rather accomplished for two very young dudes working out of their bedrooms.

— Joe Colly

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