ISSUE #35
Distance Will Not Divide Us
by Various Artists
It's been a fucking tumultuous year for more reasons than I can count - 2020 will go down in the history books as the year of the Great Quar - and while we continue to keep our distance and slowly forget what it feels like to be in the presence of others, we often turn to music to nourish and replenish us during these times. Distance Will Not Divide Us is an Italian COVID-19 charity project in the form of a 14-track compilation of Italian electronic music organized by art collective Monk and Manifesto delle Visioni Parallele (organizers of Rome's now-postponed Manifesto Fest). Including unreleased tracks from some of our favorites: Indian Wells, Clap! Clap!, and Populous, all proceeds will be donated to Lazzaro Spallanzani National Institute for Infectious Diseases in Rome.
Support the fight against COVID-19 and consider purchasing the compilation from Bandcamp here.
Check out the featured artists off the compilation below!
ckronoslesh.bandcamp.com
clapclap.bandcamp.com djkhalab.bandcamp.com
corgiat.bandcamp.com
delhikate.bandcamp.com
valeriodelphi.bandcamp.com
godugong.bandcamp.com
godblesscomputers.bandcamp.com
indianwells.bandcamp.com soulisland.bandcamp.com
lorenzo-bitw.bandcamp.com
www.instagram.com/machweo
www.facebook.com/MAKAISPACE
forevernorf.bandcamp.com
www.instagram.com/populousmusic
stefanostev.bandcamp.com
W
by Populous
"W" is for "women". Italian electronic music producer Populous has unveiled his latest album, W. It consists of 10 tracks of Populous' characteristic blend of electronica and Latin-American-inspired beats and timbres. Enlisting the collaboration of woman-identifying Italian, Latin-American, and Japanese electronic artists, the tracks coalesce to celebrate: queerness, movement, femininity, vulnerability, and the raw strength of women. We took a peek into the world of W over the past few months with the releases of the singles: Flores No Mar, Soy Lo Que Soy, and House of Keta, three uniquely distinct tracks that paradoxically melt into one another. They made us move, made us vogue, and most importantly, they made us feel. With the release of the 7 tracks found on W, Populous spoils us with a lush jungle of engaging, twerk-worthy beats while challenging the tropes and stereotypes of what it means to be a woman. It's fluid. Ever-evolving. Track-to-track, from Reggaeton, to cumbia, to techno, Populous subverts expectations while simultaneously introducing us to singers, writers, composers, and producers that deserve your undivided attention. Our favorite tracks include: Banda, Petalo, and Roma. But honestly, they're all going to be playing on repeat all weekend long.
Purchase W here, and check out the music from each featured artist on the album below!
Sobrenadar; Sotomayor; Emmanuelle; Kaleem; Kenjii; Barda; Weste; Cuushe; L I M; Lucia Manca; Matilde Davoli.
Notes on a Conditional Form
By The 1975
The new album from Manchester alt-pop group The 1975 perplexes me. Long avoided as a band for pour-over and PBR purists, I’ve dipped a toe into several of their albums and found beautiful, fleeting moments of forward-thinking production and composition surrounded by simpering, trite pop songwriting and insufferable Top40 vocals. I have a personal goal, however, to enjoy as much music as possible in this life, and so I gave the brand new Notes on a Conditional Form a chance.
The 1975, our eponymous opener, sets Greta Thunberg’s powerful speech on the climate crisis to beautifully composed strings and piano. People follows up with all the urgency of a house on fire, taking my garnered attention and locking it into place with huge riffs and adrenal vocals, making me question what I know about this band entirely. The End (Music For Cars) is an elegant, fluttering transition of strings and piano that drifts between tracks like butterflies in a greenhouse atrium, a stark but appreciated contrast to the fire and fury only moments before. Frail State of Mind takes things down several gears and swerves electronic, sounding like a Baths track with its glitchy percussion and minimal synthesis, and Streaming is another gorgeous instrumental composition very similar to The End.
And then we get 7 tracks in a row that remind me why I never got into The 1975. From dumbly twinkling indie pop songs with a country twang that sound like Party In the USA for people who wear docs and skinny jeans to hushed Iron & Wine wannabe folk songs about Jesus, I scold myself for hoping so naïvely that things would be different this time. Boyband vocals in full syrupy force, I force myself not to skip, to be sure I wasn’t missing something genius. Sadly, I wasn’t.
Nothing Reveleaed/ Everything Denied comes halfway through the album as a relief - landing between gospel and R&B with a lush choral section that bookends a muted, reverb-laden guitar solo that outros nicely. Shiny Collarbone is a surprising house track the features chopped reggaeton vocals over oscillating arps and a nasty trap drop that gives me enough fuel to keep going. If You’re Too Shy (Let Me Know) quickly chews through much of that patience with its unashamedly 80s-glam pop 4-chord and cheesy sax solo, but Having No Head beckons me back in, timid electronic blips and chirps accompanying an airy soundscape of piano that suddenly bubbles into a head-bobbing midtempo drop with sultry vocal flares and a darkly undulating bassline that slithers through the track’s underbelly. What Should I Say inhabits a strange and unique twilight between my polarized love and hate, the fantastically produced instrumental sections allowing me to tolerate the autotune vocal dribble that makes up unfortunate verses.
And then the rest of the album gets worse - sappier, less interesting and just generally more basic. I never intended to write this much about an album I’ll probably never listen to all the way through, but it was such a bizarre experience that I had to vent - so thanks for reading.
If you’re going to listen to this album, use this tracklist and save yourself some sonic whiplash.
1. The 1975
2. People
3. The End (Music For Cars)
4. Frail State of Mind
5. Streaming
6. Nothing Revealed/Everything Denied
7. Shiny Collarbone
8. Having No Head
Favorite tracks: People, The End (Music For Cars), Having No Head
Hundred Fifty Roses
By Duñe, Crayon
From duo Crayon (producer) and Duñe (vocals) comes a funky, smooth and surprisingly deep LP released today on our favorite French label, Roche Musique. Hundred Fifty Roses splashes color from 80s nostalgia, poolside R&B and soulful delivery of lyrical themes touching on addition, obsession, prostitution, overstimulation, and self isolation. The title is a nod to the cost of an escort, transcribed into a currency more befitting the city of love and romance, and if you’re a fan of Daft Punk, FKJ, Anderson .Paak, Poolside, Breakbot, or Hablot Brown, this album is going to hit just right. From the opening sun-splashed moments of Save Yourself First to the deliriously funky Flowers and Honey Interlude that sounds like the new Tom Misch fucked a Daniel Caesar joint and beyond, this is beach music, love-making music, losing yourself in the vibe for the rest of the evening music. Crayon’s production melts you into spring with thick basslines, woozy guitars and layered vocals floating like silk scarves in a summer breeze. Magnetic Magazine got a wonderful interview with the duo for a track-by-track “director’s cut” breakdown that reads pretty quickly and is absolutely worth your time if you geek about unpacking themes like we do. Our favorite track, Pointless, got a well-deserved music video that revolves around some of the album’s central themes - bought love, substance abuse, isolation in an era of eternal connection. Check it out here, and make sure to stay up on Roche and all their incredible acts here.
Favorite tracks: Not In Love, Pointless, Ps (feat. PH Trigano, Swing).
