The Music Box.
Entries about the music I like.
Omicron Records // The Velvet Underground, Nico – The Velvet Underground & Nico
Nothing related to the Velvet Underground will shake me like the first time I heard 1967’s Velvet Underground and Nico. The introductory celesta notes of Sunday Morning leading to the frantic shuffling of Waiting for the Man. The hands on the shoulder and shake-shake-shake of Venus in Furs, and the slightly-adjacent-to-pop stylings of Run Run Run and There She Goes Again.
Various Artists — Uneven Paths, Deviant Pop From Europe 1980-1991
A set of experimental recordings from lesser-known European artists of the 80s that pose the question, what if this is what pop music from the 80s sounded like? What if it sounded like an understated drum machine, echoing guitars, and a bossa nova groove? What if it was African tribalism through a pop lens? What if it sounded like lush reverb-pop? Or infectious leftfield dance?
cLOUDDEAD — cLOUDDEAD
People in the know insist on calling the whiny nasal stream-of-consciousness ramblings of cLOUDDEAD hip-hop. I don’t know why, but as a compromise, let’s settle for experimental abstract hip-hop. Remember cloud rap? I do. A strong case can be made for cLOUDDEAD’s cLOUDDEAD being the first cloud rap album, and I’d be making that argument if my brain could digest this experimental electronic album as rap. Woo, what a fascinating album 😘
Yaeji — What We Drew 우리가 그려왔
Each short track of this mixtape is a hazy journey into the self. The lyrics deal with the everyday, the mundane: easily my favourite lyrical focus. Rarely have I heard the simple combination of bass + drums + vocals + synth done this expertly.