Slaughtered (Modcast #95) - Memory Tapes (October 2011)

David Hawke, otherwise known as Memory Tapes, recently put together an extended mix, comprising of all new material, for Modular’s Modcast. Hawke had this to say about the mix:

I find I listen to mixtapes more than albums a lot of the time, so I wanted to make a new record in the form of a mixtape instead of a single or EP etc. It’s all new, original Memory Tapes stuff just put together in the form of an extended mix.

Rocking a quite unique sound that could be described as prog chillwave, the first album from Memory Tapes, 2009’s Seek Magic, was a beautifully sprawling and emotive record, and is up there with my all-time favourites. But then with this year’s eagerly anticipated follow up Player Piano, he just seemed to lose the magic somewhat. According to interviews, he was trying craft a more concise album influenced by 60s pop, but in the end the whole thing just felt oddly devoid of the rich emotion and nostalgia pervading his first album.

Thankfully this mix, enigmatically entitled Slaughtered, sees him returning to the emotive sprawl of his first album, with a splash of 90s rave thrown in the mix. At times I’m not sure whether it is a mix, or more of a very lengthy through-composed track, but either way, it’s something special. Check it out above, or you can download it here.

Amor Fati - Washed Out - Within and Without (2011, Sub Pop)

Atlanta-based singer-songwriter Washed Out is one of the forefathers of the whole chillwave/glo-fi movement, but although he’s released a number of successful EPs and singles, he’s only just got around to releasing his debut full length album now. It’s not a bad time though, there’s been a quite noticeable resurgence in the scene as of late, with artists such Memory Tapes, Neon Indian and Toro Y Moi all popping up again.

Within and Without is an album full of gauzy synths, reverbey vocals and slightly muffled guitars; in other words, it’s pretty much archetypal chillwave. And it’s chillwave done very well. The only issue I have with the album is it can be just a bit too chillwavey at times, and because of this I sometimes find myself glossing over the music, as it can all sound quite similar on the surface. But once you push past that hazy barrier, it really is a beautifully constructed, subtle album, with a lot more going on than just a surface listen will reveal.

So I guess it works on two levels. One one level, I guess it’s just good summery background music for a make-out session or a road trip to the beach, but if you give the album a bit more of a concentrated listen it will really pay off.

Wait In The Dark - Memory Tapes - Player Piano (2011, Carpark / Something In Construction / Inertia)

Memory Tapes’ 2009 debut Seek Magic was a seminal album in the glowfi/chillwave explosion of that year. Many of the artists from that scene such as Washed Out and Neon Indian are releasing new albums this year, and Memory Tapes isn’t disappointing either with his second album Player Piano dropping just a few days ago.

The album definitely feels less lo-fi, more polished and slightly tighter than his debut, and this approach seems to be one that his contemporaries are also taking with their upcoming releases. I’m not sure how I feel about that, as Seek Magic, in all its hazy, lo-fi, meadering goodness was and is one of my all time favourite albums. But at the same time I guess critics would be complaining if everything was exactly the same. However, Player Piano is still packed with gauzy alt-pop goodness, such as this fantastic track Wait In The Dark.

Green Knight - Memory Tapes - Seek Magic (2009, Something in Construction)

A perfect song to drift off to sleep to, on a warm, rainy summer night such as tonight.

Swimming Field - Memory Tapes - Seek Magic (2009, Something In Construction)

This was the soundtrack to my last summer, and it’s getting time to drag it out again. My favourite album from one of the coolest subgenres to emerge in the last few years, chillwave.

Run Out - Memory Tapes - Seek Magic (Sincerely Yours / Acéphale / Something in Construction, 2009)

Since mentioning Memory Tapes a couple of posts ago, I’ve been getting back into to his 2009 debut, Seek Magic, in a big way. I’d forgotten just how great it is. Run Out is one of my favourites, a beautiful, wistful track to close what is quite possibly the best chillwave album ever made.

♥ - Cerulean - Baths (2010, Anticon)

I can’t be the only person to miss the whole chillwave/glo-fi craze of about a year ago. A genre that, in its pure form, pretty much began and ended in one summer. But it still lives on as an influence in a multitude of releases since then (a prominent example being the lead single from The Chemical Brothers’ new album, Swoon).

And so we come to Baths, the debut from the Los Angeles based Cerulean (otherwise known as Will Weisenfield). Weisenfield comes out of a budding beat-centric scene in LA, hot on the heels of names such as Flying Lotus and Nosaj Thing. And that is probably the first thing you’ll notice about his songs: the beats. At times they’re so wobbly it feels as if the whole track is going to collapse. Other times they’re incredibly sharp and precise, often in stark contrast to the hazy, chilled samples he utilizes.

A lot of the album sounds to me like a collaboration of Aphex Twin and Memory Tapes. The Memory Tapes comparison is pretty clear, but the Richard D. James’ influence comes out in more ways than one. Obviously is the crazy beats. But maybe not so obvious is the way the album’s chill-wavy innocence can sometimes go past cute and into being a tad ominous. It has a feeling of having something much more solid underneath its breezy, hazy exterior.

But in the end, comparing Cerulean to other artists is a bit useless, because he ends up reminding me of so many. And very varied artists too. This track, ♥, sounds to me like a mix of Philip Glass, Boards of Canada and Passion Pit. And although that doesn’t really sound like a mixture that could produce anything that works, it does, very well. I guess what I’m trying to say is although it may sound like a lot of other things, put it all together and it doesn’t quite sound like anything I’ve heard before.