Mac DeMarco finds freedom with his own record label
On his first album for his own record label, DeMarco takes on a lot of freedom. "Cowboy" wants to show his maturation. Desperately. On the repetitive "All of Our Yesterdays," DeMarco pushes it like it could be the anthem of the Summer of '76.
"Nobody" is his most downtrodden song in a while benefitting from a wobbly, sick-sounding monosynth accompaniment. However, the lyrics (once his strong point - see the marvelous "Salad Days") are too simplistic ("No second chance/No third degree").
Musically, his tangled, smoky guitar once bellowed arpeggiated chords that wound around and around capturing you without your knowledge. His "Cowboy" wishes to shrink the guitar he wields to staccato, mellow and muted parts that leave far too much space to wonder what else is playing on 96.7 The Pipe or 106.2 The Breeze.
A.A. BONDY
Enderness
[LP/CD](Fat Possum)
A.A.Bondy takes his languid grooves in a different direction on "Enderness," his first album in eight years. The one-time firebrand behind one of the great lost albums of the Nineties (Verbena's "Souls For Sale" from 1997) takes mellowness to a new level of disconnection. These songs have something to say.
Steady drums, basic keyboards and jangly guitar all make room for haunting lyrics that chronicle drug problems ("Diamond Skull"), self-immolation (the beautiful "Killers 3") and loss ("Images of Love"). "Enderness" is far from a downer. Songs often crest on a wave of hope and Bondy seems emboldened to find a soulful way to tell his stories.
ESPERANZA SPALDING
12 Little Spells
[LP/CD](Concord)
The musical polymath Spalding continues her quest to record music both never-before-heard and still spontaneously created. "12 Little Spells." Written and released into the wild over 12 days in October 2018, these tracks are formless and shapeless but have a lot going on. Spalding embraces how foreign chords can be ("Lest We Forget") and delivers lyrics with brazen melodies as if they were performance art ("12 Little Spells.") However, when she plays her bass and sings with the beast ("Dancing The Animal") - it remains magical.
NOTS
3
[LP/CD](Goner)
Memphis' Nots should be the most delirious band on your playlist. Two blistering albums down, they lose a member and still find a way to expand and toughen their sound.
"3" is lost in a haze of effects and wild synth square waves. Guiding you along like furies to their cauldron are bassist Meredith Lones and drummer Charlotte Watson.
The punky "Floating Hand" and the post-punky "Half Painted House" would burst open from newfound eerie vocals and skronky melodies of Natalie Hoffmann. Darker and more brooding than previous efforts, "3" finds the Nots intact and all-powerful.
Alaskalaska
The Dots
[LP/CD](Marathon Artists)
This six-piece band from London have hatched some very interesting ideas for their subtle new album. "The Dots" is ripe with danceable Eighties grooves that pulse along. Their multi-layered mixture of saxophones, synths and guitar lets them take a groove in multiple directions at once (the hypnotic-yet-dramatic "Meateater").
