Simple, Francois, Music For Thought, Chayed Out
Chayed Out, Francois, Music for Thought

Haim – Falling (Duke Dumont Remix)


There is a moment in Noah Baumbach’s While We’re Young where Duke Dumont’s remix of the Haim song “Falling” plays. The film is a model ship in a bottle: an older generation of creatives begin to hang with a younger hipster generation at the looking glass of sorts that is gentrified New York City. It’s a delicate and intricate situation that occurs in a microcosm at once parodying the thing itself by scaling it down and beautifying it.

While that may be an oversimplification of what the film’s about, it’s an analogue of electronic music itself too. Songs such as this remix of “Falling” are themselves oversimplifications: an original track boiled down to a glaze of vocals and its barest rhythm overlaid with juicy beats and melody.

It’s worth repeating, for it never wears on one, but something simple can yield a multitude of results. The simple is often transparent and direct. It’s the stuff of pop songs and twelve-bar blues. And as the above song demonstrates, demonstrably potent. Enough to get this kid off his high horse and admit the goofy remix is just plain old good.

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Chayed Out, Francois, Thinker

Donnie Trumpet & The Social Expermient

What happened to Lauryn Hill? D’Angelo? Haunted by the sounds of old ghosts – Peter Frampton – and the new stalwarts – Frank Ocean – they faded from production and into record collections. Perhaps the music industry, the upkeep of being a star, was too much. Better to take the road less traveled than the red carpet one too many times over.

Nevertheless, their sounds live on in the likes of Donnie Trumpet & The Social Experiment. The group: Donnie Trumpet, Nate Fox, Peter Cottontale and Chance The Rapper. They’re from Chicago and best friends, not unlike the Fugees and Odd Future before them. Their latest single “Sunday Candy” builds on the variety of talent and sound from their debut, “Zion”. It’s a fun song, wonky, and self-aware; tinged with a young persons’ cynicism. A new kind of blues. Something for the Internet age.


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Chayed Out, Deep Cuts, Francois, Friday's Song

Friday’s Song: A French Set

My apologies for the delay, folks.

It’s Bastille Day on Monday. Today, let’s celebrate some of the sweetest and smoothest Francophone jams. This one’s for the Frenchies.



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Deep Cuts, Francois

Blues

The only distance between Revin Goff and The Growlers is geographic. Ireland to California, they’re all singing the blues. Goff’s winnebago jangling sound makes excellent use of electronic leaps and bleeps. The Growlers on the other hand, sound as if they lived in an attic, recycling the sounds of 1972, concocting a chemistry of sounds for today’s ears and tastes.

What appeared to be a sonic gulf – a lonesome kid behind a laptop and melancholic balladeers – is bridged by the reservoir of the Internet. Blues, we recognize them when we hear them.


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Chayed Out, Francois, Friday's Song

Friday’s Song: Nao vs. A.K. Paul – So Good

English singer Nao, together with upstart producer A.K. Paul (brother to the sublime Jai Paul), have produced a track that’s in equally parts lush and tropical. “So Good,” a title which defies much elaboration, bursts with scrambling guitar riffs which alight your senses like phosphorescent pop rocks of yore.

If it’s Friday, then it’s “So Good”.

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Bangers and Mash, Francois

Tame Impala’s Five Fridges High!

Five fridges? What the hell’s that, you ask? It’s surfing parlance. A measurement for wave height. Stacked atop one another, five fridges measures out to about 18 feet or so. Depends on whether you the surfer or the bystander, I suppose. Anyway, Tame Impala, another musical act from the fabled Perth, Australia, aren’t actually the height of several refrigerators high. But their sound is.

Their songs hit like a Nerf football to the face. Enough chit chat. Here’re three “variations” of Tame Impala songs to give you a sense of why I’m babbling so. First, the good folks at Modular People‘s titillating remix of the smash-hit “Elephant”; even after 7 and a half minutes this live version of “Be Above It” will make you cry out for more; finally, the sneak attack: a praiseworthy cover of Andre 3000’s “Prototype”.



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Deep Cuts, Francois

A Crooked Colours Doubleheader

Perth, Australia, where the surf is good and World Cup football competes for the eyes and ears, from the bars to the beaches, with musicians such as Crooked Colours. Their pulsating songs are attractive, right off the, er, cricket bat. Yet, it’s after listening to songs such as “Come Down” or “In Your Bones,” do you get a sense of what makes Crooked Colours so captivating. It’s the surprise, the progression of one melody into the next, which among other things, gives the listener an indelible impression of good sound.

C’mon, the drop is passé, no?



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Deep Cuts, Francois, Friday's Song

Friday’s Song: Kölsch feat Troels Abrahamsen – All That Matters

This is an old school affair. It’s sumptuous. It’s a love song. It’s the latest in the long line of troubadour ode’s to l’amour.
Besides that, it’s a terribly addictive song. Both alluring and stirring. Dance a little. Have a great weekend. Olé!

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