The Weekend Fuzz: Waterwings
I was left with a difficult decision driving this morning; to listen to the radio or wallow in silence. As an avid musical enthusiast, the choice seemed obvious. I fiddled with the knob until I found X92.9, which is widely regarded by today’s youth as the only relevant radio station in Calgary. The first few minutes were commercials.. followed by more commercials.. followed by pseudo-social commentary and silly news stories.. and more commercials. In the hour of driving I managed to hear three songs, clocking in at under twelve minutes. Yes, the radio was only twenty percent music.
It’s a constant struggle battling with the over-generalized hipster stereotypes and trying to remain genuine. As if adhering to these stereotypes somehow disenfranchises your integrity and deprives your opinion of worth. That being said, the radio sucks. Flat-out. For me, today, it had nothing to do with the actual music being played. It was the fact that they weren’t actually playing any music. Considering radio listenership has been on steady decline since the iPod age, it’s somewhat surprising that I managed to hear twice as many commercials for a local diamond retailer within an hour than actual songs.
The ultimate point here is that I am not a hipster, I don’t hate the radio for the terrible music, I hate the radio for the lack of music. I hate the corporation. Oh god.. am I a hippie? Maybe my little cousin was right all along..
On a completely unrelated note, today we’re going to spin a few tracks with female frontmen(frontpeople?). Our theme for the weekend: Water!
[audio:https://thenewlofi.com/wp-content/uploads/2013/04/Owl-Eyes-Nightswim.mp3|titles=Owl Eyes — Nightswim]
Owl Eyes – Nightswim
Aussie Brooke Addamo is equal parts babe and genius, and her debut album “Nightswim” just landed on iTunes last week. The title track hits with shades of Kavinsky, but Addamo’s vocals hover above the beat. This is my kind of lo-fi.
[audio:https://thenewlofi.com/wp-content/uploads/2013/04/Soley-Ill-Drown.mp3|titles=Soley – I’ll Drown]
Sóley – I’ll Drown
Can’t say I know a whole lot about Sóley, other than the fact that she’s from Hafnarfjörður, which I assume is a town in Iceland pronounced properly with a mouthfull of marbles. I discovered this tune mid-wander on a YouTube hyperlink adventure, and it’s one of those hidden gems. I imagine listlessly stumbling through an ancient abandoned conservatory, perhaps half-dream or half-dead, sun beaming through the broken stained-glass ceiling.
We swim across the Atlantic for our last band, Woman’s Hour out of the UK. Their single “To the End” came out April 8th with Parlour Records and it bleeds passion. You can buy the whole EP for £1.49, which is some kind of silly English currency that involves a pound of flesh or something.
~~~~
Appropriately, that last song “to the end” brings us.. well..
Enjoy your weekend! And who am I kidding, of course i’m a hipster I write a music blog..
😉
