Unfortunately, Lower Frequencies will have to go on a month long hiatus from posting. I’ll be in India for a few weeks and internet cafes don’t exactly do the trick. Anyways, listen up on the new LPs from Vampire Weekeend and The National and we will be back in no time.
And to send us off on our month long hiatus is a track that we recently can’t get enough of. I like to describe their sound as tropical, but they can be characterized by their smooth, catchy guitar riffs and unconventional song structure. Way Yes were quick to follow up last year’s great album Walkability with Tog Pebbles, a record that’s easily atop the year’s best. “Macando” has a bit of a tribal vibe, made apparent by the heavy drums and strange howling. And if it doesn’t get you with the catchy guitar melody, just wait until the climactic sax kicks in. Here at Lower Frequencies, it’s surely an instant classic. One we’re sure to find some solace in during the off time ahead.
Providence’s Magic Man continue their effortless evolution into synth-rock juggernauts with “Nova Scotia”, lifted from the new EP “The Fox Den Demos”. Sleek, cool, and irresistibly danceable, the track stands apart for achieving a purely organic luster without sounding overprocessed and jacked up on studio embellishments. Likewise, voice and words wittily avoid big hackneyed emotions, instead flashing up in clever turns of phrase (“Sometimes nothing says it all”, “Tomorrow turned into yesterday/Why’d you take your time?”). The candy-swirl of synths marks the sound as technopop, but the beat is essentially straightforward rock; this one’s made more for a bedroom—dancing headphoned, alone, euphoric—than a club. Categorizing is useless, though. Not because “Nova Scotia” sounds like nothing else, or because it’s a trendy hybrid of seventeen different genres. It’s useless because it belongs to the one special category which swallows up the rest: immaculate pop.
The indie-pop heart throbs from Vampire Weekend have announced a new album, Modern Vampires of the City, to be released later this month. Fans have been treated to a quick, less than 3 minute single titled “Diane Young,” and the track is quite promising. It’s also almost comical, and appears as if the band members decided one of its early, unpolished forms was what worked best. The song begins with a pattering drum beat interspersed with minimalist guitar licks in their signature twangy, island feel. It becomes a bit heavier, building layers of drums and synth under Ezra Koenig’s morphed vocals. Check it out, and look forward to the album in a couple weeks.
Sure, Lower Frequencies features a lot more electro-pop and experimental rock than hip hop, but that doesn’t mean we don’t recognize talent when we see it. Chance The Rapper is an up and coming artist from Chicago and his new mixtape, Acid Rap is his coming out party. “Cocoa Butter Kisses” is incredibly smooth, spotlighting Chance’s relaxing, raspy voice that is refreshing in a world of harsh, Tyler The Creator voices. And hey, Chance even got Twista to sing a verse! Remember that guy! Just like 1999 brought Joey Bada$$ the fame he deserves, Acid Rap will do the same for Chance. It’s guys like these would make Nas proud.
Yinyues is an emerging chillwave producer out of the UK. So far that’s about all we know of this apparent newcomer to an already booming electronic scene. Though it’s obvious after hearing his most recent single “Everything” that Yinyues is intent on immediately making a name for himself. It’s a moving, cinematic blend of lovely piano melodies, heavy drums, and the exquisite voice of Mimi Page. Keep an eye out for this exciting new project in the months ahead.
BRAIDS’ moody new track, “Amends”, sounds like a conjuration, or better still a séance. A patch of heavy hiss is abruptly pierced by a pulsing bump-and-tick, as if an old analog receiver were suddenly receiving a nether-worldly transmission. Then Raphaelle Standell-Preston’s vocals curl through the mix like smoke summoned shamanistically by the low, repetitive beat. The track could be heard as a deconstruction of dub-step, further draining its murky soundscapes down to a hypnotic tangle of voice and percussion. At the very least it’s an arresting meditation on the flickering borderlands dividing body and machine. Yearning softness keeps colliding with something inhuman and relentless, an unresolved tension that leaves “Amends” drifting somewhere between enchantment and affliction.
Consisting of two multi-talented guitarists and singers, The Milk Carton Kids are a quickly rising folk duo out of Los Angeles, California. This track is off of their new album The Ash & Clay, and seems to represent the most cohesive style of the two as they work to find their voices. “Hope of a Lifetime” begins with a complex array of acoustic guitars that intersects with the calming union of Kenneth Pattengale and Joey Ryan’s two quiet voices. The song is whimsical and sentimental all at the same time, but is a bit sadder if you focus on their introspective lyrics. The group has brought a level of complexity into folk music, but has still created three fantastically dreamy and completely accessible albums that you can check out at the link below.
Today, Orlando based band Saskatchewan released their debut album, Occasion. This band fuses Beach Fossils guitar with Future Islands’ synth and 80′s drum beats. The product is a well produced, new wavy shoe gaze sound, whatever that means. But if “Youth Ministry” doesn’t hook you right away, wait until the 2:25 mark when everything becomes quiet. Suddenly those beautiful synths have the spotlight and it all comes together. As with any song with the word “Youth” in the title, “Youth Ministry” is a euphoric epic. Definitely check out the rest of their LP.
Folly And The Hunter have got skills. There’s really no better way I can illustrate my endearing feelings toward this Montreal three piece. They are self described as basing their sound in “American folk tradition and pull inspiration from contemporary indie and post-rock trends.” And in this regard I like to compare their sound to master folksmith Bon Iver and post-rock legends Sigur Rós. But there are no words or comparisons I can give to exemplify just how good their sophomore album Tragic Care really is. “Vultures” is a dreamy, atmospheric masterpiece — a track you’d expect to hear at the climax of an epic drama. The song is beautiful in it’s own right, but the vocal harmony these three achieve when the chorus rolls along can be appreciated regardless of your musical preferences. At a time when some of the biggest names in music might have let us down with recent releases, it’s a refreshing feeling knowing there might be more bands like Folly And The Hunter just waiting to be recognized.
