Sonic Space: It's Week 10...
This was yet again one of those weeks in which I couldn’t find an album to review despite a large slew of quality new releases. All these albums, while good, haven’t moved me to anything beyond casual interest. Instead, I’ve put together a playlist of tracks both old and new that are infectious, if not always PG-13. I had no particular theme in mind when I cobbled these tracks together, but taken as a whole, I believe this playlist reflects the fact that its week 10 and I have officially given up on forming sentences with fewer than four curse words in them. I recommend listening to this playlist out of the earshot of small children.
[embed]https://soundcloud.com/pddr/sets/june-1-2015[/embed]
All that being said, the first track on this playlist is fairly tame. “Lean On” by Major Lazer and DJ Snake features MØ and has been aggressively promoted on Soundcloud for the past few weeks. I was initially skeptical, specifically because it was a featured track, but it really is a fun one. MØ, whom I love inordinately, shines on vocals and Major Lazer and DJ Snake do their thing well.
The next track, Rihanna’s “Bitch Better Have My Money,” needs no comment, but I’ll provide two anyway. Firstly, if this is what Rihanna’s new album (whenever it comes out) is going to sound like, I’m pleased. Second, I imagine the financial aid office playing this song 24/7. Someone please confirm.
I have a lot of conflicting feelings about Borgore, but this is not the venue for them. “Decisions” is distinctly less inappropriate than some of Borgore’s other songs (“Nympho,” anyone?) but still maintains the filthiness that makes Borgore tracks so endearing. I also really enjoy the fact that “Decisions” features Miley Cyrus as a background singer whose vocals are turned down.
The next track, the Mura Masa remix of “Kingpin” by RL Grime is a beautiful blend of heavy and light. The bass is low and powerful, and the remix artfully layers on a variety of swoopy synths. It’s a breather compared to “Decisions,” but in and of itself the track is no slouch.
Marc Kinchen’s remixes are pretty much all fantastic, and his remix of Sky Ferreira’s “Everything Is Embarrassing” is no expectation. I love the original, but the remix is a whole lot more party-friendly without losing any of the charm of the Ferreira’s voice.
The next track, “Bugatti” by Tiga, is such a dumb song, but it’s somehow incredibly fun. You’d think that the two lines that essentially make up the entire song would get super annoying, but they don’t. I think it’s because of the funky offset bass.
The next two songs go together because I have no idea why I enjoy them so much. “Drugs” by Roach Gigz has quite possibly my favorite intro to any song ever, and “Drunk Already Lit” by Starting Six might be the ideal everyone-in-this-basement-is-too-gone song. Both are aggressive with fairly repetitive beats, but they’re loud and fun and worth at least one listen.
The Madeon remix of “Que Veux-Tu” by Yelle is fairly old but always manages to charm me. It’s one of those songs I listen to incessantly for a couple of weeks every year or so. The buildup is so delicately done that you almost don’t want the bass to drop — but it’s so great when it does.
I really enjoy the energy of the original “Kangaroo Court” by Capital Cities, but the Forever Kid remix pushes the song into a whole new territory of manic energy. It’s faster and louder. The remix still manages to showcase the solid trumpet solo near the end of the song, which I greatly appreciate. Trumpet solos are something we need more of in modern pop music.
The last track, the Feed Me remix of Robyn’s “Call Your Girlfriend,” is not, in my opinion, better than the original, but it’s more in line with the other tracks on this playlist. That being said, this remix is still pretty great. It deconstructs the original and splices it with rapidly shifting synths. The final product is surprisingly harmonious.