SWEEP FREQUENCY #351: No Way Down
OPENING RIFF: "I wanted to run away from everything but I wanted to run towards something too. Don't you see, dear, how it was?" -- Sherwood Anderson, Winesburg, Ohio
SMALL TALK: While Kraftwerk is a band that a lot of people think about when they think about Germany, my associations with Sweden probably differ from most. As I prepare for a spell in Stockholm after my visit to Berlin in just a few weeks, I've thought back specifically to the music of the record label Sincerely Yours, home to artists like the Tough Alliance, Air France, and the Honeydrips. The label's sound could be said to have its roots in balearic pop, but it generally felt like each band operated via dream logic, and in a way they taught me to see life through a new filter in a moment I needed it most during and after college. The sounds of these bands felt like the apex of music at the time, even if it seems like they're all slowly getting forgotten if their lack of mention during the so-called indie sleaze revival (sigh) is any indication. It's a shame, because the songs you'll find on this excellent retrospective of the label that I come back to from time to time holds up very well, and you can see where so many newer artists have taken some aspects of their aesthetic. The music will always hold a dear place in my heart, and I'll be excited to get to set foot in the land that produced this unique moment in time that I often wish I could crawl back to. On a present-day tip, one of my favorite records of the year so far is King Krule's Space Heavy, which struck a nice balance between Archy Marshall's tendency for heartfelt ballads and brutalist experimentalism. He just released a new concert film with dreamy suburban beach town scenes peppered throughout titled You'll Never Guess What Happened Next. The film is a perfect showcase for Marshall's present aesthetic as well as a reminder of just how powerful his voice is in a live setting. Let's get to this week's new music.
Nearly Every Song From Every 2023 Newsletter Will Be Available in Playlist Form: SPOTIFY | APPLE MUSIC
1. W.H. LUNG - "HIGH PRESSURE DAYS": While I love the dance-punk sound, the reason a full-blown revival isn't around the corner is namely because it's hard to pull off, but W.H. Lung know how to absolutely crush it. With its nervy synths, yelping vocals, and rising cacophony of glorious noise, "High Pressure Days" will feel like a proper shot of adrenaline.
2. BORN DAYS - "DEEP EMPTY (DMT FEELINGS)": Speaking of synth-pop, Melissa Harris makes a killer, brooding variety of the genre, and her debut album is definitely one I'm looking out for based on the strength of "Deep Empty (DMT Feelings)." With autumn just around the corner, this is the kind of tune you'll want to play after dark in the best way possible.
3. JALEN NGONDA - "SO GLAD I FOUND YOU": When you think of Daptone Records, you mostly think of older artists getting a second chance, but Jalen Ngonda is a rising young talent whose sound happens to line up perfectly with the label's aesthetic. On "So Glad I Found You," Ngonda uses his beautiful falsetto over a jazzy, string-laden sound for a ballad that will make you want to slow-dance with that special someone.
4. WORRIERS - "CLOUDY AND 55": I often think about whether I miss Brooklyn itself or my youth that coincided with my time there, which is something that Lauren Denitzio seems to have on her mind too. "Cloudy and 55" is a beautiful piano tune about the nostalgia one can have for both place and time and where the line between the two gets blurred, especially if you're on a visit back.
5. JLIN - "PARADIGM": Jlin has proven time and time again that her intricate, versatile sound has unlimited range, so much so that her collaboration with Third Coast Percussion among others almost nabbed her a Pulitzer earlier this year. "Paradigm" is one of the songs to come out of that project, and it's a stunning jam, one that has a hypnotic rhythm that will get you both nodding your head and stroking your chin at its virtuosity.
PARTING SHOTS: This is a savage, well-written, and absolutely necessary look at the stale state of hip-hop as it reaches its 50th anniversary. Speaking of which, I wish I could listen to this new Earl Sweatshirt/The Alchemist record but they decided to release it as a fucking NFT. LitHub has a great new essay that's included in the book Track Changes: A Handbook for Art Criticism, which I hope to read soon. It absolutely breaks my heart to find out that Róisín Murphy is a TERF.
ENCORE: "SOMEBODY MADE FOR ME"