EP: Kali Uchis – Por Vida

Published March 11, 2015 on The Le Sigh (See all TLS posts here)

Kali Uchis’ sixties-inspired Por Vida is as fresh as a beach breeze.

Kali Uchis will not put up with bullshit. Lame dudes may mistake her coy voice, retro pastel aesthetic, on point makeup and sugary tunes for a sweet pushover, but they couldn’t be more wrong. Not all of Kali Uchis’ jabs are as tough as “Ridin’ Round”‘s (“Baby, understand, I don’t need a man / Fuck me over, I’ll fuck you worse, then take off to Japan”) but the message is clear: Treat Kali Uchis less than she deserves, and she’ll realize she “should have left your ass in the friendzone,” from the self-aware “Know What I Want.” Still, her romantic side shines through on debut EP Por Vida, especially on the back-to-back smitten “Melting” and “Lottery”: “Your smile ignites just like a candlelight / Then somehow I know everything is alright.” Kali Uchis shows off her range of vocal styles on a cappella opening track “Sycamore Tree,” layering sweet, airy and cooing tones with a deep, soulful and biting hook.

Tyler, the Creator and BADBADNOTGOOD top the roster of Por Vida‘s producers, who keep Kali Uchis’ love of sixties sound as fresh as a beach breeze. A resident of LA via Virginia via Colombia, the chill West Coast influences mixed with her Latin background help create Kali Uchis’ signature tropical doo-wop sound and candy throwback look. “Rush”, produced by Kaytranada and BBNG, is the EP’s grooviest track, which simultaneously makes you want to grab a partner for a proper Latin ballroom routine and bob your head and bounce like the coolest dude in the club. Closing song “Loner” puts a baby pink bow on Por Vida‘s back-and-forth extremes of “go on and bite me” and “boy just call me” with what should be at the top of the “I’m dating myself!” playlist. Kali Uchis is tired of being treated like an “ashtray” and puts an end to a toxic relationship because that’s not what she, or anyone, deserves: “And maybe you got a full plate / Know I’m cookin’ something better.”

EP: Outer Spaces – Garbage Beach

Published Dec. 5, 2014 on The Le Sigh (See all TLS posts here)

Garbage Beach is a record for millennials in the most sincere, non-hashtagged sense.

Garbage Beach is a real place. In an interview with Impose Magazine, Outer Spaces’ mastermind Cara Beth Satalino said the title of her debut EP is an ode to a swimming hole she frequented when she lived in Athens, Georgia. “It’s a very romantic place. It’s easy to fall in love with, but at a certain point I knew I had to leave.” This works as the theme of Garbage Beach, out now on Salinas Records. The music sounds comforting and warm, but there’s this looming sense that things will end – or that things need to end – like graduating school, changing jobs or moving to a new city. Which is exactly what Satalino did in the middle of creating this Outer Spaces EP. She packed up in Athens and moved to Baltimore, where she, Chester Gwazda and Rob Dowler, finished writing and recorded Garbage Beach.

Throughout Garbage Beach, Satalino sings of changing seasons, moving away, leaving parties, visiting home, shifting winds and passing trains. Maybe that’s why it’s so easy to connect to the record, because from high school through your twenties, life contains a lot of changes riddled with uncertainty, excitement, anxiety, moving up, out and on. Garbage Beach is a record for millennials, in the most sincere, non-hashtagged sense. “Civilization’s Dying”, the folkiest song on the EP, offers a bleak, but all too true, perspective on how the economy sucks for young people (/everyone), and especially hits home with who were too cavalier in taking on college debt. “We’ll be buried in debt, even after we’re dead / They’ll take the shirt off your back, and the sheets from your bed.” “Gun Song” acts as a counterpoint to those condescending thinkpieces that label twenty-somethings as selfish carefree narcissists. “Everybody says ‘Oh, to be young’ / They wanna write their names on the sun / Everybody says it, but they’re wrong.” As Satalino sings of bittersweet times, her guitar, Gwazda’s keys and Dowler’s drum create a safe, warm indie rock space where you can sway out your weird life problems.

Track: SALES – “Vow”

Published May 22, 2014 on The Le Sigh (See all TLS posts here)

SALES’ makes intimate pop that will never get old.

Over the last 10 months, SALES have been releasing singles on soundcloud as a steady build to their first full-length record (TLS covered their “Renee” / “Tonka Time” 7″ earlier this year). SALES’ newest track “Vow” is also a slow build in itself; it hangs at the same relaxed pace throughout, thanks to a boomerang guitar line and Lauren Morgan’s gentle voice. As Lauren sings, she bounces on top of each word and never reaches her full volume, like you’re hanging out and playing music in her room but don’t want to annoy the roommates. Jordan Shih provides deceivingly subtle backing on drums, also never making more noise than absolutely necessary. The Orlando duo toes the line of folk, indie pop, lo-fi and minimalism and refuses to commit to one genre, which is part of SALES’ intimate appeal. “Vow” tackles the confusion of intimacy, as well: “Looked at you too long at last / Fell apart in the lows of a laugh.” To cap off the 3-minutes, liquid guitar riffs flow over Jordan’s steady rhythms giving the perfect finishing touch. If you’re in the NYC area next month, come see SALES play at the Paper Box on June 20, presented by THE LE SIGH, with Kaiotic Music and The Epoch. Florist, Small Wonder and Told Slant will also be playing.

EP: Couples Counseling – Couples Counseling

Published March 25, 2014 on The Le Sigh (See all TLS posts here)

Couples Counseling fills up the room with intimate bedroom pop.

“Bedroom pop” is a strange genre name. It’s often used to write off releases, as if composing and recording music on a laptop at home is any less of a feat. Other times, it is lazily used to literally describe home-recorded poppy tunes instead of searching for more appropriate adjectives. But then there are the cases when “bedroom pop” isn’t just referring to the production or used as a dismissal; it captures the intimacy, creativity, experimentation and ambiance of the music. Couples Counseling, the solo project of Virginia de las Pozas, fulfills that definition while its name complements that special intimate quality.

In an album released on a limited cassette run on Blood Oath Slumber Party, de las Pozas creates a layered, dreamy world filled with hazy loops, chirping birds, staccato drum beats, choppy vocals and sweet melodies using effects pedals and a SP-404sx sampler. While many of the individual elements seem pretty on paper, when put together, Couples Counseling gives off a sinister glow. “double dream sequence” includes pitched-down samples and chilly bridge, and “peach pits” features Twilight Zone-y whistling effects throughout the song. It’s this sort of toying with atmosphere – plus the airy layering, angelic vocals, peculiar melodies and inclusion of natural samples and snippets of dialogue – that reminds me so much of Julia Holter’s early work. The first minute of “fiftyseven” would fit right in on Holter’s first album Tragedy (more than once, I actually had to check iTunes didn’t goof and switch over to Tragedy as “fiftyseven” started).  Like the name suggests, Couples Counseling follows the story of a courtship that turns sour, although the lyrics aren’t always easy to pick out since vocals are used as an equal layer (another quality in common with Holter). In the shy opening song “hope u nevr hear this”, the artist crushes from afar: “I don’t know you, but I feel like I know you” / “Let me get to know you, I’ll show you that I’m the girl for you.” By the middle track, she seems to be growing tired: “You been shaking the fruitless tree / You’ve been eating apples with no seeds.” And the final chapter has some perspective: “We only lasted half an hour”; “I can’t say I had the best intention”; “You were just a pretty package.” Listening to this relationship unfold and fall apart is like a therapy session in itself, and Couples Counseling embraces the kind of intimacy you can only get from bedroom pop. It feels like you’re sitting on the bed next to Virginia de las Pozas as she confides her relationship troubles in you.

EP: Yumi Zouma – EP

Published March 4, 2014 on The Le Sigh

A sunny disco debut on Cascine to help you cope with this tedious winter.

“I’ll always give it to you honest / I’ll always try to solve your every problem,” Kim Pflaum sings on the sincere “Sålka Gets Her Hopes Up”, like the best friend and partner we all deserve. Yumi Zouma prefers the direct approach. There’s no dancing around words and feelings on their debut EP – the sunny disco beats have that covered. The disses are disguised by breezy vocals and retro basslines; “You threw me and you screwed me and you fed me to the fishes / Like we’ve never been together and I’m only just a vision,” Pflaum bites on “The Brae”.

The three friends behind Yumi Zouma are from New Zealand, and now are split between New York and Paris. This distance isn’t reflected in the music, which holds onto the intimacy and ease of their friendship. Instead, the songs manage to feel like all three places at once: New York’s disco heyday, Paris’ romantic timelessness and New Zealand’s island scenery. There are few things I welcome more than hearing disco’s influence in new music. Last year brought us Rhye’s sultry, soft pop record, and Yumi Zouma’s EP takes the best grooves from Woman and lays a sunny shimmer over them. This dreamy disco pop will wash away the stresses of your day, as you take a mental break on a faraway beach with a citrusy cocktail (maybe even adorned with a mini umbrella) in hand. At a little under 15 minutes, Yumi Zouma’s debut is a tropical taste of what’s to come, with hopefully more tunes (fingers crossed for an LP) set to release near summertime. Until then, I’m going to harbor hair envy for their easy, breezy, beautiful cover girl.

EP: Holly Herndon – Chorus

Published Feb. 11, 2014 on The Le Sigh

Let Holly Herndon be your guide through this Internet wasteland.

Holly Herndon wants you to feel uncomfortable. Her debut EP Movement opens with the sound of her breath, which morphs into an inhuman buzz. The record’s backbone is how Herndon manipulates very human sounds into something unsettlingly artificial. On Chorus, her new 12″ released last month on RVNG Intl, Herndon looks to her hard drive for source material. The title track “Chorus” is spliced together from YouTube, Skype and other audio clips as Herndon leaves a trail following her daily Internet habits. As the scattering samples glitch, pop and crash, a pulsing bass enters joined by Herndon’s distant vocals touches to guide you through this techno Internet wasteland. This single pairs well with the digital dystopia Oneohtrix Point Never creates on R Plus Seven, as well as its computer desk spying video. It makes you wonder what you could create from your own browsing history.

With B-side “Solo Voice,” Holly Herndon flips the disjointed layering of “Chorus” and opts for suspenseful minimalism. “Solo Voice” stands to be just as unsettling in its sparseness that struggles to hold on to a phrase as it pulses past. The track peddles from around the bend, only to swoop on by and continue circling. Recorded in one take, the minimal “Solo Voice” serves as a perfect complement to the intricate “Chorus.” Much like Herndon’s composition method (which involves the physical movement of waving induction mics over her laptop to pick up and distort its signal), Chorus sustains the confusion Herndon creates by the blurring distinction between person and PC.