Baker's Dozen: Floating Points, Metronomy, and Some Block-Rockin' Beats
Baker's Dozen is for paid subscribers of Larry Fitzmaurice's newsletter Last Donut of the Night—it's a weekly collection of music in playlist form along with some critical musings around that music. All newsletter revenue is currently being donated to the National Network of Abortion Funds; we've raised $3,160.13 so far.
Slikback, "RAGE"
Here's another tune from Slikback, as promised. If "Ascension" was a bit more floor-forward, "RAGE" is total head-cleaning stuff to me even as it hits a trap-y gait, just a full-on psychedelic blast of distortion and rhythm. Sick.
Vagabon, "Full Moon in Gemini (Monoko Reprise)"
I wasn't too into Vagabon's first album but find myself very taken by her follow-up from 2019...the textures and songwriting are more there for me. I'll share a track from that one next week, but I also am very enamored by this sorta-cover of the album's opening track from Montreal band Monako, the vocals are very dusky and gorgeous to me.
Cherry Bullet, "My Boo"
Perfect example of the type of K-pop I gravitate towards—specifically, stuff that sounds 3-D, like it's reaching through the speakers to punch you in the face. Strident, not for everyone, blah blah blah, I can't resist it.
FISHER, "Just Feels Tight"
My wife sent me this so-2000s-it-hurts ultra-rude tune, obviously there's shades of Eric Prydz's "Call On Me" in the visuals. The song itself falls somewhere in between Oliver Heldens' "Bunny Dance," the Chainsmokers' "Selfie," and Duck Sauce's "Barbra Streisand." The kind of music that, for better and worse, you feel like you need a shower after coming into contact with it.
Foals, "Dreaming Of"
I liked Foals' latest album and will share something from it in the far-off future; this is the only good song off their (extreme British voice) absolute shite record from 2019. This is the mode that Yannis and co. work best in at this point, you build to a generally repeatable vibe and just kind of go with it for the song's second half, they sell it well. I saw a piece on "indie sleaze" that suggested Foals' new album this year was one of the signs of a renaissance, an assertion that is so frankly wrong-headed that I still don't know what to do with it. Yes, the indie sleaze piece is coming from me at some point. Eventually.
Floating Points, "Anasickmodular"
"Peoples Potential" vibes here, this is my favorite Floating Points mode—quite Aphex-y too, he's so good at doing a thing where it almost sounds totally dancefloor-focused while also having these quixotic bibs and bobs popping in and out of frame. His b2b with Four Tet at Forest Hills last month...I'll be annoyingly mentioning it for years to come, I'm sure.
Sorry Girls, "Something's Gotta Give"
Very windswept Swedish-sounding synth-pop from...Arbutus Records? Wait, yes, that makes a lot of sense. New album soon from these two, Deborah was satisfying if not exactly wheel-reinventing, one to look out for regardless.
Relaxer, "Serpent in the Garden"
Jammer. Been seeing Relaxer's name pop up on a gig list or two in NYC, need to make it out to a show.
Torn, "Onibi" [ft. Sam KDC and Korse]
Torn's Borderline is some of the hardest shit I've heard this year—just miles and miles of pitch-black drum'n'bass that feels almost ugly in how unadorned it is, at once sounding like a massive expanse and completely claustrophobic in nature. This ended up being a standout for me, but the whole record is kind of something you just end up living within and (I mean this as a compliment) ultimately surviving.
Namesake, "Out Loud"
I listen to a lot of stuff context-free at this point, so I'll hear a band like this and think "These British blokes have done a good job of sounding American!" But, they're actually from Brooklyn. Which makes sense! Plenty of post-post-post-punk stuff over here always, as much as there is across the pond.
youra, "BYE BYE"
This kind of sounds like if Erykah Badu did end-credits video game music, which is very much something I didn't know I needed but now do.
Metronomy, "Love Factory"
Metronomy are a funny band to me—I get the sense they have a reputation for being fairly mid, admittedly have never really turned in a front-to-back banger of an album by my count, but they are very much the type of thing I typically love: Indie-disco in the British sense of the term, cut from the same sensitive cloth as Belle and Sebastian/Sarah/Labrador-type stuff, even though they've had a rare blog-house crossover or two. The new album is lovely at points, they hit a dreamy Deerhunter-y thing here I think; the song with Porridge Radio is also very good and new wave-y.
Sa-Roc, "Gold Leaf"
Veteran Rhymesayers artist here, you know what you're getting into—although I don't think I've ever listened to a full album from Sa-Roc until The Sharecropper's Daughter in 2020, which I enjoyed quite a bit. If you like stuff that sounds like this (plenty don't!), you should check out the album too.