Dusted "Blackout Summer (Polyvinyl)"
Brian Borcherdt of the bombastically electronic Holy Fuck stunned everyone at the venue when he unveiled his side project Dusted. Just Brian by his onesies on stage, a guitar and a crackling amp his only accompaniment. From there, he rounded out the sound with a live band and released their beloved first album, Total Dust. Now we have the follow-up to that record, Blackout Summer, just in time for all of your planned blackouts this upcoming summer. Sparse yet deceivingly complex arrangements leave this airy, early morning-appropriate album heavy on deeper secrets just waiting to be discovered. Take, for instance, the hypnotic bass calisthenics on “Seasons” or the fade-in harmonies of “All I Am.” A little like a Pedro The Lion album of Beach Boys covers, Blackout Summer is sure to be a new fav. So make room in the “D” section of your collection and check out any of the tunes already mentioned, or the equally great “Backwoods Ritual.”
Paul de Jong "You Fucken Sucker (Temporary Residence)"
It’s tough to tell who the “sucker” is in the title of Paul de Jong’s newest LP You Fucken Sucker (Temporary Residence). Is it you and I he’s naming? Is he referring to himself? Well, like most of the work from Paul both solo and in his work with the Books, it’s not the easiest to discern what he’s trying to say. That makes sense, as his music isn’t always the easiest to listen to either. This collection of nearly undefinable music is a hazy road trip with stops off at found auditory object collages, R&B, jazz, world music, new age, doom electronica, and everything in between. You will NOT listen to this album passively, PdJ has made sure of that. But if you’re willing to give yourself over, it’s gifts are bountiful. Take, for instance, the tuned-in sound collage of “It’s Only About Sex.”
Daniel Avery "Song For Alpha (Mute)"
When we last heard from Daniel Avery, he was tiding us over whilst we waited with baited breath for his new full-length by releasing the Slow Fade EP. Well, consider yourself tided because Song For Alpha (Mute), that aforementioned upcoming release is here! Now! In the here and now! As I reported in my thoroughly researched blurb for the Slow Fade EP, Daniel has been saying of his recent music “I’ve become increasingly interested in those moments in a club when the outside world becomes little more than an inconsequential thought at the back of your head. Eyes closed as opposed to hands in the air. A light emerging from the darkness – this is the idea I repeatedly returned to in the studio.” If his last album was designed to be played in the club, this album is designed to be played in the car on the way home from the club. Sophisticated and modern, this is electronic music for life’s quieter times. Check out the stuttering bounce of “Slow Fade.”
Nonpareils "Scented Pictures (Mute)"
Aaron Hemphill, formerly of Liars, is here with his debut solo album. Although he wanted his solo project to sound more like a collective or a band, so he went with Nonpareils (you know what those are, right? Those almost flat, round chocolates that are covered in those teeny, tiny colored sugar balls. Mmmmm…. sugar balls…..). Not to be out-odded by his former band, Aaron is as strange as ever by himself. As the Mute press states, Aaron did the “silliest things” (his words) when recording this album. What did he do? Well, he “played the drums without click tracks, encouraged his engineer to distract him, and played the piano while allowing poorly set-up microphones to fall away from the body of the instrument.” I’m sure the engineer was thrilled with this, but the results are surprisingly cohesive and almost pleasant. Scented Pictures is sure to please both longtime fans of his former bands, and peeps new to the fold. Check out “The Timeless Now.”