The Weekend Fuzz: Chill therapy
Welcome once again to the 16th installment of the Weekend Fuzz!
This year is shaping up to be the biggest since sliced bread, which according to the interwebs was 1928. Hard to believe civilization survived thousands of years without the convenience of pre-sliced baked goods, and that’s exactly how we will look back on 2014. This year, yours truly will be headed to the frantic mania that is SXSW, as well as Sasquatch! in May and the Calgary Folk Fest once again in August. Needless to say I’ve gone through quite a few adult diapers as I’ve been peeing myself with glee (diapers were popularized in 1887, and were surely the greatest thing until sliced bread usurped them 41 years later). But enough talk of baked goods and secret public urination, let’s dip into some tunes.
This week will be your first session in Chill therapy. So lay down, shut your eyes, and click play.
Abram Shook
[audio:https://thenewlofi.com/wp-content/uploads/2014/02/Abram-Shook-Coastal.mp3|titles=Abram Shook – Coastal]
Abram Shook – Coastal
Congruent with my love for beachy tunes, Abram Shook slow-jams this absolute seashell of a tune. It’s a love ballad to California, a finger-picked sentiment of dreamy bliss. A perfect track for those of us with a case of the Saturday chillins.
Boardwalk
[audio:https://thenewlofi.com/wp-content/uploads/2014/02/Boardwalk-Im-To-Blame.mp3|titles=Boardwalk – I’m To Blame]
Boardwalk – I’m To Blame
I first heard Boardwalk’s “I’m to blame” on a sleepy afternoon drive on Christmas eve, and it quietly became one of my favorite songs. It’s an absolute sedative, and four minutes of slow-kicking synth. LA based Mike Edge and Amber Quintero stir up a lot of emotions with this piece, and it’s along the same vein as Kevin Morby’s “Slow Train” or some of Cass McCombs’ sleepier songs. There’s saw raw emotion in Amber’s subtlety, a sombre confession of fault, and therapeutic admission of responsibility.
Nick Leng
[audio:https://thenewlofi.com/wp-content/uploads/2014/02/Nick-Leng-Crawled-Out-of-the-Sea1.mp3|titles=Nick Leng – Crawled Out of the Sea]
Nick Leng – Crawled Out of the Sea
San Diego soloist Nick Leng absolutely kills this one. His ghostly vocals reminds me of genre heavyweight Trevor Powers of Youth Lagoon, and his subtle composition isn’t far off from making a big splash in the blogosphere. It’s music therapy at it’s finest, leave this one on loop and watch the worries wash away.
Favela.
[audio:https://thenewlofi.com/wp-content/uploads/2014/02/Favela.-Easy-Yoke1.mp3|titles=Favela. – Easy Yoke]
Favela. – Easy Yoke
Headed over the sea to Leeds, we pick up the pace a bit with 21-year-old Favela. Easy Yoke is a very unique piece of music, blending elements of dreampop we’ve grown to love with looping samples of classical string instruments. Unlike the other songs on this list, tension mounts in this track, and the result is pure beauty. A good song to walk home to, and minimalist soul at it’s finest. The last few moments will leave you with goosebumps.
Yellerkin
[audio:https://thenewlofi.com/wp-content/uploads/2014/02/Yellerkin-Solar-Laws.mp3|titles=Yellerkin – Solar Laws]
Yellerkin – Solar Laws
Changing pace once more, I bring you the banjo strummed tunes of Adrian Galvin and Luca Buccellati, aka Yellerkin. With the explosion of bands like Mumford and Sons and The Lumineers, it’s been increasingly difficult to navigate the field of indie folk. Solar Laws is a bouncy blend of traditional folk and chillwave, and as a connoisseur of both genres it seems like a match made in heaven. The rest of their EP is solid gold, and worth a full listen.
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And that wraps up this week’s edition of the Weekend Fuzz. Slap these five songs on to your weekend playlist and I guarantee you’ll come down with a heavy case of the chills.
