Baker's Dozen: Benoît Pioulard, Omar Apollo, Bibio

Gabe 'Nandez, "Aeons" [ft. Chester Watson]

I like Gabe 'Nandez well enough, his 2023 record H.T. III—which this cut is from—sounded decent if not particularly distinct, I did like psilo-rap underdog Chester Watson's verse on this though, in the realm of stoner/"dude, that's my skull" hip-hop he has a very appealingly lackadaisical flow that sticks in your brain a little.

DEATHTRIPPA, "ezy mode"

I will admit that I don't usually expect sounds "like this" to come from New Zealand, but surprises always come when you least expect them...a lot of DEATHTRIPPA's 2023 record DEATHTRIPPA SZN came across as glitch-laden grindcore for the painfully online, and the grindcore reference really only holds potency when it comes to the track lengths, this is more white-belt sasscore with a bit of bloghouse thrown in. At any rate! This is the most soothed-out cut off the record, if you can believe it.

Benoît Pioulard, "Thursday Night"

Longtime fan of this guy, been meaning to get him on the newsletter, one day...the worst you could say about Thomas Meluch's 2023 record Eidetic, as well as his catalog at large, is that it remains astoundingly consistent when it comes to faded-photograph ambient pop, his best work either sounds like watching a spiderweb waft in the moonlight or taking a deep plunge into a freshwater lake, this track is definitely in the latter category.

Gnoomes, "Ax Ox"

Straight outta Russia, four-piece Gnoomes do a hypnotic and dusky Krautrock thing across the chassis of 2023's Ax Ox, sometimes they get a little too locked-in groove-wise but I love how they hit the endless-spiral feeling on the title track here, it makes your headspace feel like there's a Slinky bouncing back and forth.

Jen Cloher, "Mana Takatapui"

Jen Cloher's been around for a while now and is something of a treasured artist in Australia but has never really broken through to Western shores, ex-partner Courtney Barnett was in her backing band for most of the 2010s as well...I became aware of her after Georgia from Camp Cope posted about being in Jen's video for "The Witch" from her 2023 record I Am the River, the River Is Me, which I found was pretty good! This song was the big standout for me.

Object of Affection, "Half Life"

Kind of shocked to hear a band such as Object of Affection—who are effectively operating in the sometimes-around-sometimes-not grungegaze subgenre—on the normally metal-as-fuck Profound Lore label, but their 2023 record Field of Appearances (which also features contributions from newsletter alumni Crushed's Bre Morell) does have a sludgy heaviness to it that a lot of grungegaze typically carries, so it's a good enough fit. These guys definitely sound like they're from Los Angeles, and I swear that's not an insult.

Bleach Lab, "Everything At Once"

Both Bleach Lab's name and the album cover for 2023's Lost in a Rush of Emptiness—hell, that album title too—scream "metalcore" but as it turns out they are the furthest thing from it, instead resembling something more "Beach Bunny if they were a little gothier." I found the guitar textures appealing on this LP standout, as well as the way the song feels like it's just coasting along on one big chorus.

Weval, "Forever"

Dutch duo Weval are a good example of a band whose name I see quite often but I'm not often spending time with their music, which is maybe a mistake...I liked 2023's Remember quite a bit, it's very indie-gone-electronic in the vein of Hot Chip/Caribou/et al and that's a good thing, in terms of festival-friendly dance music they certainly beat the pants off of hotel-lobby kings Bob Moses, that's for certain.

Omar Apollo, "Killing Me"

I like Omar Apollo's music but I still most associate him from this very funny red carpet interview with Kali Uchis regarding his performance in Luca Guadagnino's I-guess-it's-underrated Queer...I still need to check out last year's God Said No but I thought 2022's Ivory was a substantial step up from what came before it, I like when he's in straightahead R&B most as he is here. He's also probably the one artist in a post-blonde world really going for the Frank Ocean sound, bless his heart but there's only one person who can properly do that and it sure isn't Omar Apollo, it is what it is.

NZCA LINES, "Push Reset"

Have always found Metronomy offshoot NZCA LINES to be fairly derivative but even the most derivative dance-pop projects can turn out the occasional banger, as he does here on the title track from 2023's Universal Heartbreak EP...very 2015 song for better or worse, but also a reminder that people never really stop making "this" type of music and that it's never that bad when it's done right.

Chaver, "Wanderer"

Chaver had a brief flirtation with greater fame when they accidentally had a similar album cover to Doja Cat's Scarlet...hey, all press is good press these days! That album in question, 2023's Of Gloom, is suitably sick in figurative and literal ways, I loooove the anxiety-spiral guitar lines that run through this fire-breather of a track especially.

LSDXOXO, "Double Tap"

2023's Delusions of Grandeur EP was perhaps the last big heater-packed release from LSDXOXO before his brief flop era with 2024's DOGMA...he got his fastball back with this year's DGTL ANML, I'll talk more about both in the future, but this track is really him doing what he does best, which is fluid-soaked techno that never lets up.

Bibio, "Shine a Light on Your Mirror"

Maybe one of the most straightforwardly gorgeous tracks Bibio has ever made? This highlight from 2023's Sunbursting EP is astoundingly lush and a little surprising even given how wide his catalog is sonically, it has strong Unknown Mortal Orchestra vibes but UMO also typically sounds dank and maybe a little depressed whereas this is pure radiance. I was extremely honored to have Steven on the newsletter back in 2023, you can check that out here.