UNSLUMP! Volume X: August 2024
UNSLUMP! Volume X: August 2024
Wake up your ears with Magdalena Bay, Rae Khalil, Fontaines D.C. and more.
What’s cooking? Welcome to UNSLUMP! The Music Recommendation substack. If you’re getting this email, that means you are finding yourself in a music SLUMP (bad), and I am here to give you some recommendations (good)!
I’m writing this edition on an airplane (woah!) as I travel to Greensboro, N.C, to work the NC Folk Festival! I’m excited to be surrounded by lots of great music this coming weekend, but even more stoked to share August’s UNSLUMP! picks- Sunny season is coming to a close in Seattle, so think of this mix as an ode to lake swimming, eating on patios and beach trips.
UNSLUMP! can’t feature em’ all, but here’s this month’s top 7 for you to try!
*** Don’t forget to check out the end of the newsletter for September’s show radar!
Follow along on Spotify. (Sorry, Apple Music users).
7 - Tunnel Vision - Magdalena Bay (Imaginal Disk) [August 2024]
For fans of: a BRAT summer, Grimes, Beach House, the expanding universe of LoFi Girl, digital cameras
From its inception, Magdalena Bay has felt like an alien force. Equal parts branding, art and immense creativity (they have the coolest website of any band, ever), Miami-based duo Mica Tenenbaum and Matthew Lewin inject chronically-online, 90s digital era charm into their psychedelic danceable synth pop. Following up 2021’s epic release Mercurial World, their second album, Imaginal Disk builds a brand new universe, and one I’m happy to live in.
The 9th track, “Tunnel Vision” was released as the third single in lead-up to the album. Beginning as a playful summer jam and finishing with a surprising prog-rock ending, the track sits nicely among lots of catchy earworm hits- some of my other favorites include “Killing Time”, “Image”, and “Fear, Sex”. Magdalena Bay is the moment, and they’re a band you won’t want to miss out on.
6 - Love Me Not - Ravyn Lenae (Bird’s Eye) [August 2024]
For fans of: Chappel Roan but make it R&B (trust me?), Nourished by Time, Tennis (band), palette cleansers, aperol spritzes
Chicago-based Ravyn Lenae Washington’s sophomore album Bird’s Eye is a great album from front to back, spanning catchy pop hooks to more spare R&B in its brisk 35 minute runtime (Ideal!! All albums should be under 45 minutes). A part of Smino’s Zero Fatigue music collective, Ravyn’s music combines genres including nu-soul, electro-jazz and ambient hip hop.
Bird’s Eye is so much fun- the whole project flows so seamlessly, I’m excited to hear more from Ravyn Lenae.
5 - The Punch! - Shigeto, KESSWA (single) [July 2024]
For fans of: bongos, Thank God It’s Friday, riding in the car with the top down, surround sound, funk!
Shigeto is a new find for me this month- the Detroit-based drummer, producer, radio host and label owner does a little bit of everything. “The Punch!” is the first single from his upcoming record Cherry Blossom Baby, set for release in October.
Shigeto’s discography is diverse, combining jazz influences with more melodic, beat-dependent songs. He deftly weaves between hip hop and electronic music- The Punch! being a funky, disco-influenced bop with a killer kick drum.
4 - Hey Life - Tune-Yards (Nikki Nack - Deluxe) [August 2024 re-release]
For fans of: heavy panning, talking to yourself, Pitch Perfect, surprising musical arrangements, forced active listening
I have my friend Andy to thank for introducing me to Tune-Yards (stylized as tUnE-yArDs) a few years ago. Hi Andy if you’re reading this!
Nikki Nack, originally released in 2014 as Tune-Yards’ third album, was reissued this month for its 10 year anniversary as a deluxe edition, featuring a bonus reworking of the song Water Fountain with an additional verse from the band Water From Your Eyes, a crosssover I never expected! The album features contributions from the a capella group Roomful of Teeth- and as a staunchy anti-a capella woman (I AM SORRY!) I am happy to report that this and Pitch Perfect are my exceptions to this immense hatred (I know a classic when I see it. However the Pitch Perfect sequels are still terrible).
Nikki Nack really rocks because it takes western musical traditions and flips them on their heads- the layering of instruments and panning of instruments is nothing short of a work of art.
3 - SHE’S A BORE - Rae Khalil (CRYBABY) [August 2024]
For fans of: West Coast Hip Hop, fat and farty synths, motivational speaking, NxWorries, Nia Archives (VI)
One of my favorite releases of the year so far, Rae Khalil brings it home with CRYBABY. I’ve written about Khalil before (III) and all of what I said there still stands - this album, produced by Anderson.Paak, has ZERO SKIPS (WOW!) and is perfect for a road trip or pre-game for an epic night out (I recently read an article where it said Seattleites call a pre-game a “pre-func”, as in “function”, and that can’t be true, can it??).
“SHE’S A BORE” opens with a gospel introduction, before quickly catching the listener with one of the grooviest hooks of the year, the layering of the vocals wrap you up like a BLANKET!
It’s hard to stop listening to CRYBABY once you start- it’s infectious, danceable and totally its own thing. Every feature on the album is magnificent and meaningful- I especially love Khalil’s ode to Cisco Swank in the track “CISCO’’S SONG”, “KNOW YOU” with Anderson.Paak himself, and the epic bookends of “HOT TRACK” and “OVERCAST/OVERTURE”.
2 - Earthling - Thee Oh Sees, Osees (SORCS 80) [August 2024]
For fans of: New Order, Gee Tee, Lip Critic (VI), IDLES (III), Atari sound design
Osees, Orinoka Crash Suite, OCS, Orange County Sound, The Ohsees, The Oh Sees, Thee Oh Sees, Oh Sees… The band with the biggest commitment issues when it comes to naming themselves, has released its 28th album (and you thought King Gizzard was busy…).
Formed in San Francisco, John Dwyer’s solo project has evolved through many line-up and name changes, with their sound drawing from garage rock, krautrock and general psychedelia. I love that stuff! SORCS 80 is a fun, if slightly forgettable album, but worth listening to if you’re craving some of that freaky psych rock!
1 - Here’s The Thing - Fontaines D.C. (Romance) [August 2024]
For fans of: shoegaze, David Lynch, KEXP, Arctic Monkeys, lots of reverb, slow romantic post-punk
Irish post-punk band Fontaines D.C. is back with James Ford (of Arctic Monkeys fame)-produced Romance. Such a great rollout of singles with this album- the completed project left lots of their best songs already out there, with not much else coming to the table. However, the album is a testament to the band’s evolution- it feels a lot more adult than their last album, Dogrel.
The album is crisp and well-produced, and although not completely what I expected (“In the Modern World” sounds like Oasis meets Lana Del Rey meets AM-era Arctic Monkeys… which is maybe good, because Oasis is reuniting and they probably need some inspiration, but maybe not good, because there’s a reason it’s not 2014!) What did you think of Romance?
🎵 Seattle Show Radar: September 🎵:
9.1 Bumbershoot at Seattle Center - Lineup includes Pavement, James Blake, Courtney Barnett, Kim Gordon, Helado Negro and more - Tickets
9.2 Corridor: Live on KEXP - Free tickets (claim in person!)
9.6 Amelia Day at Easy Street Records - Free tickets
9.6 Osees at Neumos - Tickets
9.7 AFROPUNK Seattle at Pier 62 - Tickets
9.7 Magdalena Bay at Neptune Theatre - Tickets
9.14 King Gizzard at the Gorge - Tickets
9.14 bloococoon, New Age Healers, Waves Crashing at Sunset Tavern - Tickets
9.15 Ulrika Spacek, Dummy at Madame Lou’s - Tickets
9.17 Gee Tee at Clock-Out Lounge - Tickets
9.17 Naima Bock: Live on KEXP - Free tickets (claim in person!)
9.18 Wand at Madame Lou’s - Tickets
9.19 Black Ends + Zookraught + Anthers at Neumos - Tickets
9.20 Floral Tattoo Tour Homecoming at the Black Lodge - Tickets
9.20 Fontaines DC, Been Stellar at Showbox SoDo - Tickets
9.20 William Basinski at Seattle First Baptist Church - Tickets
9.20 JUNGLE at Remlinger Farms - Tickets
9.21 Johnny Marr, James at Moore Theatre - Tickets
9.21 Horse Jumper of Love at Barboza - Tickets
9.22 Chris Cohen at Madame Lou’s - Tickets
9.24 Sky Ferreira at Neptune Theatre - Tickets
9.24 billy woods, Kenny Segal at Neumos - Tickets
9.28 Marika Hackman at Madame Lou’s - Tickets
9.30 Ginger Root at Moore Theatre - Tickets
That wraps up Volume X of UNSLUMP! Let me know what you thought of this month’s picks, I’d love to know your favorites!
What have you been listening to this month?
Until September - Stay out of the slump!
Jess