Welcome to a special holiday edition of our Weekly Playlist. Pour yourself a glass of wine and take a seat by the fire and enjoy our carefully selected mix of melancholic winter-themed and Christmas tracks and reflect on the year gone by. Happy holidays! --P.F.M.
London producer Jack Richie, aka Bearcubs, has dropped the infectious single ‘Do You Feel’ which accompanies the announcement of his debut album Ultraviolet. The single which follows his two brilliant EPs, Chroma and Underwaterfall, is a stunning exercise of his signature sound; velvety vocals, and some emotional experimentation with vibrato, atop an addicting beat that draws you in.
Grandbrothers‘ latest offering is very much in the vein of neo-classical compatriots and contemporaries Hauschka and Nils Frahm – dramatic piano flourishes and grand, sweeping sonic statements marry beneath minimalist-lite motifs. Where Grandbrothers take a leap to leftfield is further down in the mix, right at the bedrock: built on a foundation of thumping rhythms and clubby beats, this could easily find a home inside sweat-soaked warehouses as easily as the majestic symphony halls of continental Europe.
Recorded in a working dairy farm in the backwoods of West Wales, ‘Reflection of Youth’ was written during a period of EERA’s life when, she says, Norwegian society expects everyone “to figure everything out.” It’s no surprise, then, that this record is investigative, as it thrives in its experimentation, moving seamlessly between styles from honey-sweet lo-fi to angry pulsating rock with soul-searching, introspective, electronic twists.
People who pack up and transport their house twice a year become choosy about their possessions. I recently traveled among the nomads of Mongolia for two weeks and had a chance to inspect their belongings.
Scottish producer Makeness, aka Kyle Molleson, has released ‘Loud Patterns’, a thundering slice of electronica. Makeness has also signed to Secretly Canadian, the Indiana label home to Anohni and The War on Drugs. His music usually falls on the harsher, more industrial end of the musical spectrum. On ‘Loud Patterns’, however, he combines raw, organic drums and grating synth lines with ghost-like vocal melodies to create a track reminiscent of pop-laced EBM.
The New York City and Seoul-based producer Kathy Yaeji Lee makes house music and pop tunes, but her vocal delivery often sounds like rap. In past songs, like “Guap” or “Last Breath,” with hard 808s, she flashed a unique flow that showed precision in both English and Korean. For her new track, “Drink I’m Sippin On,” Yaeji embraces her inclination toward the style and trades in her usual four-on-the-floor for a trap beat.
In this week’s instalment of TIG TV, we tour Virgil Abloh’s studio, peek inside Europe’s most remote restaurant, look at the life and death of Pakistan social media star and icon Qandeel, learn about the Catalonia’s independence referendum, explore the photography of the artist Gregory Crewdson and as always, much much more. –P
Earlier this year, the legendary producer Madlib reconnected with past collaborators Blu and Med for March’s joint record “The Turn Up.” Now after spending the better part of 2017 laying low, the West Coast perfectionist is back with more incredible new sounds.
Rock bands used to be mysterious organizations. Fandom was an exercise in extreme patience. You whiled away the hours in monk-like private study of records, lyrics, and liner notes. A new song or video or interview hit like a scientist’s “eureka” moment, offering a new lens through which to explore familiar worlds more closely. But there were weeks and months where you heard nothing and pure enthusiasm and hope had to suffice.
Never the kind of band to do things by the book, Brand New’s career the last two decades has felt like a series of mazes. The Long Island-bred rockers, a product of the early aughts pop-punk/emo scene, became known for receding into the shadows and shying away from the public eye.