WHY? Appreciation Post

Credit is due to my boyfriend for introducing me to this band, thus sparking yet another musical obsession of mine.

WHY? is absolutely unclassifiable. Sometimes hip-hop, sometimes folk pop... but really the only way to describe them is that they're unlike anyone else.  They're just plain weird.  

WHY?

The thing that keeps me coming back to WHY? is lead singer Yoni Wolf's lyrics.  They're expressive and imaginative... laden with imagery, metaphors, and double entendres.


There's no way I could do this band more justice than simply listing off some of my favorite Yoni-isms.  It took me actually reading the written verses to realize just how many themes he has incorporated into their work.  Love, history, death, adolescence, sex, violence, drugs, religion... just a small list of Yoni's lyrical musings.

Here's a taste (warning, some are NSFW):

i thought i had a pebble in my sock

i pulled it off and shook out a wasp

it stumbled out lost, and without a pause

unstung as i was, still i stomped it

even though i haven't seen you in years,

yours is a funeral i'd fly to from anywhere.

what, does it make me evil?  am i a feeble deranged fuck?

cause jesus would and i would not drive the needle exchange truck?

if you grew up with white boys

who only look at black and puerto rican porno

cause they want something that their dad don't got

then you know where you're at

then i wept with my face in your night shirt

trying hard as hell to say 'until death separates us,'

loosening the skin on your breastbone

i painted your nails and you sleep while i write all this down

when i got better from the mumps

yes, my swollen nut and neck shrunk

i sleep on my back cause it's good for the spine and coffin rehearsal

your mom she sits while her hair is in curlers

smokes weed and listens to garrison keillor

that's how i'll live when i quit my rap career

let her laughter pass the rafters and go out into the atmosphere

And here's a few favorite tracks with accompanying lyrics:

Song of the Sad Assassin

Alopecia (2008)

'i'll suck the marrow out and rape your hollow bones, yoni'

Berkeley by Hearseback

Eskimo Snow (2009)

'these tits not filled with milk, these cold bones wrapped in hunger

like a bundle of sticks in a fire so slow it leaves them unburned, black and yearning'

St. Vincent

Been listening to St. Vincent for quite some time, but I've never liked her stuff more than I do now.  

Annie Clark's progression as an artist has been fascinating.  She started out wearing butterfly wings and providing gentle background vocals for another one of my favorite musicians, Sufjan Stevens.  She broke out as an individual artist with her first studio album in 2007, entitled "Marry Me."  In 7 years, she has broken her own mold.  Though there was always a hint of edginess in her work, her early LP's brought more melody and timidity to the table than fierceness.  That couldn't be more opposite than her newest self-titled album... she has never sounded more confident.  The evolution of her cover art says it all:

Innocent Annie Clark (2007)

Fearless Annie Clark (2014)

Her time spent on tour with David Byrne had a profound impact on her recent material.  This is most obvious on the track "Digital Witness," which is Annie's commentary on the technology of today, posing the question "If I can't show it, if you can't see me... what's the point of doing anything?"

There's no arguing that her new work is both daring and just plain weird at times.  She's definitely a polarizing artist... especially when you watch her live.  Her concerts not only showcase her musicianship, but also serve as a medium to convey her newfound persona. She's perfected the use of her voice, her body and her facial expressions to transport you to what feels like a different time, and perhaps even a different world.  Personally, I find it mesmerizing, and I'll keep watching her.  Especially if she keeps ripping guitar solos like the one that starts at 4:06 in the video below:

Sharon Van Etten - New Album Trailer

I think I'm responsible for at least 100 of the hits on this video today.

Sharon Van Etten released a way-too-short teaser of her new album, "Are We There," which will be released in May by Jagjaguwar.

Her music is sometimes folksy and quiet, sometimes rock-n-roll-sy (is that a word?) and bold.  Regardless of style, it's always powerful.  

Needless to say, I'm obsessed already with her new stuff, even after hearing just 50 seconds of it.  Typical strong vocals by Sharon, backed by Heather Woods Broderick's perfect harmonies... laid over oscillating strings.  If only I didn't have to wait 3 months to hear the rest of the LP.

Justin Vernon Can Do No Wrong

By now, everyone's heard of Bon Iver.  I credit my friend Ali with introducing me to Justin Vernon's music back right around the time when "For Emma" was released... Her and Justin share the same hometown (Eau Claire, WI), and thus she had somewhat of an "inside scoop" on his early recordings.

5 years later, I'm still a total sucker for my Bon Iver albums... they're ones I keep coming back to, again and again.  When I heard the band was going on a (potentially permanent) hiatus at the end of last year, I was pretty bummed.

The silver lining to this news, though, is that Justin has consistently (for years now), created great music outside of the confines of Bon Iver.  The first side project of Justin's I was aware of was Gayngs, a kind of half indie/half retro soft rock band with seemingly a zillion members in it.  Ali and I actually caught their live act at the Paradise in Boston, and had a great evening.

Anyways, the point of this post is to share some of Justin Vernon's perhaps lesser-known-yet-still-awesome music contributions over the past few years.

#1:  Justin provides the background vocals on this track from Lia Ices, a fellow artist on the Jagjaguwar record label.  It's a fantastic track that tilts from its initial choir-like, mellow intro to a massive lilting ending full of piano and percussion.

#2:  Volcano Choir is a band originally formed by Justin and Collections of Colonies of Bees.  They're set to release their 2nd album, entitled "Repave," on September 3rd of this year, off of which this single comes.  It's called "Comrade."

Jon Hopkins - Immunity

In my year and a half now of generally being stuck in front of powerpoint slides studying, ambient electronic music has been one of my best friends.  One of the artists I've come to love is a British producer and musician named Jon Hopkins.  He started out playing keyboards for Imogen Heap, and since then has collaborated with the likes of Brian Eno and Coldplay.

Jon Hopkins

The way Hopkins creates sound is unique.  To me, it feels like sitting in the middle of an igloo where music is piped in, allowed to reverberate against every wall, and hits the listener's ear at the most opportune time.  

Hopkins' latest album, "Immunity," was just recently released, but a cut off of it, entitled "Open Eye Signal," dropped a few weeks ago.  I've been listening to it ever since.  The synth ebbs and flows infectiously throughout, and the music just envelopes the listener.

His stuff begs to be played on some high-quality headphones, if you have them.  Enjoy.

Audio:  Jon Hopkins – Open Eye Signal

Laura Stevenson

My first post in a long while, since I had a few weeks of craziness!  Between vacationing in the Pacific Northwest (which was AWESOME) and getting through a week of wrap-up stuff at school before heading off to clinical rotations (which was decidedly less awesome), things got busy.  Anyways, now I'm back to my bloggin' self.

I just came across a recently released album entitled "Wheel" by Laura Stevenson on Spotify (via the Pitchfork app).  Regardless of Pitchfork's semi-lackluster review, I decided to give it a try (primarily because I loved the album cover art, I admit it).  I haven't been disappointed though.  Laura's stuff is a mixture of country twang and punk-pop that's worth a listen.

I'm going to post two different songs off the album:

• The Spotify link I've provided is the first track off the album, entitled "Renee."  This cut sounds decidedly folksy thanks to a nice string accompaniment.  
• The Youtube video is "Runner," which I believe is the first single off of "Wheel."  Way more upbeat, way more kinda-like-Tegan-and-Sara-ish.

Spotify:  Laura Stevenson – Renée

Youtube:  

Bonobo

Bonobo, also known as Simon Green, is a British producer and DJ you'd expect to see spinning records in the basement of some hip Parisian club.  His music is a fusion of hip hop, electronica and jazz.  The sounds he creates are interesting to really analyze if you've got a good pair of headphones, but I usually just let my Spotify playlist run through his library while I'm lounging around or studying.

Simon Green, aka "Bonobo"

His latest release, entitled "The North Borders," is unfortunately not available on Spotify just yet... but one track off of it, "Cirrus," is.  I've pasted the link below.  Additionally, I've embedded a Youtube link to an older song of Bonobo's I've always enjoyed.  It's called "We Could Forever," and is off his 2010 release "Black Sands."

Listen Here:  Bonobo – Cirrus