Chris Farren "Born Hot (Polyvinyl)"
Few artists have equally keen ears for melodies and humor-Chris Farren definitely belongs in this category. No, his Polyvinyl debut isn’t a comedy album or anything-but with a name like Born Hot you have to expect at least a little humor. Well, if you do you won’t be disappointed. But if you are only expecting jokey songs then you will be disappointed as Chris is a gifted songwriter/performer and Born Hot is the record he was born to record. Quirky arrangements, pop punk attitude, singable choruses, this is a feel-good record about feeling bad about yourself. A tricky balancing act to be sure, but he does it with aplomb. Check out the positively danceable “Search 4 Me.” This really harkens back to a time (the 80s) when taking yourself too seriously was a no-no. So have some fun and dig in!
The Building "Petra (Concord Records)"
Multi-instrumentalist Anthony LaMarca, best known as the guitarist for The War On Drugs, has returned with another album as The Building-his main solo project. Though the recording of this album was not ideal (it was during the sessions that his Multiple Myeloma returned) Petra is, in fact, an ideal record. Stunningly beautiful songs with autumnal arrangements are the name of the game here. Like the frame of a building (Pulitzer please), The Building’s music is fragile like acoustic Neil Young and Bill Callahan. Recorded in his hometown of Youngstown, OH and bonus points for the album being named for his dog, Petra (the album) as pretty as music can get. Check out “Life Half Lived.”
Emptyset "Blossoms (Thrill Jockey)"
Blossoms (Thrill Jockey), the latest release from Emptyset, is a tough one to describe. Thankfully, someone with far more intimate knowledge has already done the heavy lifting:
Blossoms was generated entirely from the output of a neural network based artificial intelligence system. Developed over eighteen months through conversations with an international network of programmers working at the cutting edge of sound synthesis, Emptyset arrived at a system powerful and intelligent enough to create original complex structures of audio. Blossoms explores the dissonance between organic processes and machine learning principles, creating unsettling and uncanny sonics that give voice to non-human intelligence. Taking inspiration from cybernetics and literature, the album allowed Emptyset to further their explorations into generative composition and elemental aspects of sound, creating a system that was both inspiring and disconcerting in its behavior and results – opening up vast new possibilities and sonic worlds whilst simultaneously collapsing their previous methods of production.
See! I wasn’t fooling around! Check out “Blade” and see what I… er… Thrill Jockey means!
Carla dal Forna "Look Us Sharp"
The hazy spot between home-recorded lo-fi pop, experimental electronic excursions, and the ambient and noise music that lies on the periphery of vaporware music can be found Look Us Sharp, the latest album by Carla dal Forna. Like a nervous, jittery Portishead album played at the wrong speed mixed with chamber pop-this is a heady, wondrous collection that speaks volumes to Carla’s musical tastes (after all, the best musicians have the best record collections, right?). You’ll hear swathes of The Cure, ‘90s indie, ‘70s experimental, and all the other great things that makeup music collections. Check out the haunting “I’m Conscious” or the mysterious “So Much Better” and see what I mean.