This is the song that turned me on to Torn Hawk. Born to Win (Life After Ghostbusters) is 15 minutes of blurry cyberpunk guitar bliss.
It was one of those out-of-the-blue eureka moments, shared by a random friend on last.fm. Remember how great a social network that was before they killed groups last year? I still miss it.
This week I finally got on the literal saddle and biked every single day. It’s done wonders for my outlook. The days bloomed with a bright sense of openness, movement, and growth.
I find that optimism leads me to seek out new things with more enthusiasm. I ended up listening to a whole cavalcade of albums both brand new and new-to-me. I couldn’t fit them all so I’ll discuss the three that had the biggest impact on me.
Black Jazz Consortium is the latest artist responsible for sustaining my never ending journey into the dreamlike world of deep house. Since I write for a living, I’m always looking for another perfect mood glide, new music to swallow me up while I cascade words on the page. After discovering it last month, 2007 album Reactions of Light has become something of an obsession of mine.
I want to make this clear from the get-go: Anohni has crafted one of the most powerful vocal performances I’ve heard in years, wrapping it in incredibly sumptuous production that sounds like virtually nothing else out there in 2016.
With her incredible voice backed by innovative sounds by Hudson Mohawke and Oneohtrix Point Never (a longtime favorite of mine), this album instantly became my favorite work by the artist formerly known as Antony. Her gender transition seemed to herald a new boldness and sense of purpose, as these 11 songs definitively show.
I’m not normally that interested in mashup videos, but this one combines one of my favorite musicians with one of the best shows on TV in expert fashion. It’s Rick and Morty synced up to Kendrick Lamar‘s breakthrough single, Swimming Pools (Drank).
Watch below. It’s kind of incredible.
This week saw a small explosion in surprise music releases, with both Radiohead and James Blake dropping new albums mere hours after announcing them. It also brought one of the best politically charged albums I’ve heard in a very long time, from Anohni, formerly known as Antony Hegarty. This trio of releases opened a bold new chapter for gorgeous British vocals in 2016.
As someone who listens mostly to instrumental music, it was a refreshing change of pace. Let’s get into it.
The Colour In Anything sounds like that exact moment when you witness a loved one realizing their full potential. So don’t call it a comeback; this is the sound of eventual self-discovery.
Optimistic Underground 