Note: I’m really going to call these quick roundup posts about 100 different names until I find one I like. Today, it’s Quick Cuts.
I haven’t had a lot of time lately to do the type of deep dives I find so rewarding, but I’ve nevertheless found myself enjoying a handful of killer cuts. They’re not all new or all old. Just a hodgepodge of this and that and everything else. Hope you like them as much as I do.
Gigamesh – ‘Slow Love (feat. Caroline Smith)’
This lovely piece of disco came out last fall, but I’m noticing a lot of people still haven’t heard it. Or maybe you have heard it, but forgot about it (like I did). Don’t stop at this song, though. The entire Time Travel collection is great.
Furniteur – ‘Brat’
While we eagerly await the release of Furniteur’s Perfect Lavender album, we get to enjoy the DC-based artist’s punky dance cut à la early 2000s NYC. As with previous single “Redundant Buzz,” this cuts shows that Furniteur and her Brett/Dance Party-affiliated bandmates are creating work that everyone will be listening to, talking about, and evangelizing over in the months to come. Theirs is a damn fine antidote to uncertain times for the District.
As an aside, Prince George Records, which releases Furniteur, is home to a family of great talent. Check out the others, including Pleasure Curses and Saint-Samuel.
Softer Still – ‘Eulogy’
This English foursome crafts stunningly gorgeous dreampop that reminds me of early Wild Nothing (albeit with far less C86). The vocals are breathy and ethereal, the guitars jangly beauties, the synths both crystalline and warm, and the drums tender and excited. Hat tip to Phantom Ride for telling me about these folks. They’re so good. I’ve been kind of down on guitar-centric bands for a while, but Softer Still are restoring my faith.
“Eulogy” features on the band’s recently released self-titled EP, the entirety of which is crucial listening. I strongly encourage you to spend actual money on it.
Unknown Artist – ‘Crawling Out of Some Type of Hole’
This cut is a mystery to me. I recently found an old mixtape (on an actual cassette) that someone had made for someone some time ago. This was one of the shorter, more intriguing songs on it. So I uploaded it to the Vehlinggo SoundCloud account.
The song lives up to its title. It is a disembodied, laid-back jazzy number that sounds as if its entire composition will disintegrate by the time its two minutes and 22 seconds are up. The melody seems to act with force of will to hold it all together, bringing an optimistic end to things. Fascinating stuff.
Trent Reznor & Atticus Ross – Patriots Day OST
I can’t guarantee I’ll see the Mark Wahlberg star-vehicle about the Boston Marathon bombing, but I can tell you I’ve been listening to the Lakeshore-released Patriots Day score with great fervor.
Film-score team Trent Reznor and Atticus Ross have again used ambient sounds, reticent synths, skittering melodies, dark matter, and a healthy dose of pulsation to create a score that stands on its own as a rewarding piece of art to experience. However, I can imagine that, as with their previous scores, this time around the duo has again composed a corpus that complements the film as much as it exists outside of it.
Cues that stand out: “The Night Drive,” “The Place You Are Right Now,” and the abrasive “Terminus.”
