Blue Cadet-3: A Music Blog by Josh R.

  Swirlies - They Spent Their Wild Youthful Days In The Glittering World Of The Salons (1995) My copy: 2021 press by Taang! Records. Keeping skeletal fragments of their early, Sonic Youth-on-happy-pills sound, Swirlies returned after two years with their magnum opus. Developing their shoegaze-centric personality further into the realm of synth pop, They Spent Their Wild Youthful Days In The Glittering World Of The Salons pushes the boundaries of both sound and rhythm while retaining a youthful innocence even in the face of occasional melodic conflict. The stilted, scraping guitar of “In Harmony New Found Freedom” leads the percussion on an unstable tour of dynamic stops and starts, sometimes shuddering harshly with distorted tremolo. The blissful vocals of Damon Tutujian and Christina Files set hearts at ease even amidst powerful twisters of tremolo. They are more comfortable in psychedelic washes of repetition now a la Stereolab albeit with more pointed drum patterns and tight...

  Can - Future Days (1973) My copy: 2014 remastered reissue by Spoon Records. Damo Suzuki’s fourth and final release with Can, Future Days sees the kraut-rock poster-children move into a new realm of contemplative ambient tones; their lengthy jamming now removed from corrosive sound experiments so as to focus on sprawling rhythmic mesmerism instead. The ambition of prior records is missed, but Future Days makes up for this by standing as their coolest, most entrancing record yet. Just four songs long, the title track sets out in stormy weather, perhaps metaphorically riding away from the choppy waves of hellish soundscapes that often appeared on earlier tracks. Here on “Future Days,” the bubbling, suspended cauldron of fearful tones are quickly undercut by reassuring bass drones that help develop a multi-faceted percussive groove that mellows the vibe entirely. Suzuki is the most restrained he’s ever been here, cresting over the cruising instrumentals to call out a melody or tw...

  Quasimoto - The Further Adventures Of Lord Quas (2005) My copy: 2021 reissue on blue and yellow vinyl by Stones Throw Records. Five years after his last appearance and just one year following the resounding success of the more collaborative Madvillainy, Otis “Madlib” Jackson, Jr. revives his alter-ego Quasimoto in further pursuit of odd samples, urban misadventures and as usual, good weed. While the drug references here are a bit more ham-fisted than usual, Madlib never disappoints in whipping up oddball grooves that are so adorned with clever sample-focused plots and quick-witted rhymes that you’d swear you were half-awake slumped on a couch as your friend channel-surfs aimlessly.  “Bullyshit” kicks off showing Madlib’s further appreciation for samples of eastern music, creating tatters of psychedelia through which his spoken samples weave seamlessly. “Greenery” is one of a few obligatory odes to marijuana, serving as a sort of sister track to the Madvillain cut “Americ...

  Julee Cruise - Floating Into The Night (1989) My copy: 2023 limited reissue on pink vinyl by Sacred Bones Records. With a floating, ethereal voice like the lingering fragrance of a long departed lover, Julee Cruise is the pinnacle of atmosphere wherever her voice hangs. Having been “found” by Angelo Badalamenti and thusly providing her talent to a handful of iconic moments in David Lynch’s filmography, Cruise’s reputation likely precedes her through the Twin Peaks theme “Falling.” While she hits a few snares typical to early dream-pop, Floating Into The Night is largely an inventive and surreal extrapolation on the British 4AD style.  The show begins with the honking, then sighing woodwind of “Floating,” where brushed drums create a lounge-jazz vibe, as if to make room for Cruise’s quiet gliding vocals. The arrangements are tender and sweet, similar to her dream-pop contemporaries albeit with the added flare of the saxophone. “Falling” is just as lush and mysterious now ...

  Death Grips - The Money Store (2012) My copy: 2018 reissue by Epic. Regardless of how one feels about Death Grips, the sensation they generated through the internet was easily a defining moment for alternative music in the 2010s. Where Ex Military kicked it all off, The Money Store drove their fever pitch into cult fame straight home. Not every experiment pans out, but when this enigmatic trio manages to coalesce their respective visions into one dynamic frenzy, the resulting synthesis is frighteningly effective.  Where Ex Military was raving and ferocious, “Get Got” shifts focus with an echoing gauntlet of cellphone samples-turned-psychedelic and one of Stephen “MC Ride” Burnett’s more subdued vocal performances. While the mood does start out more hypnotic, the percussion and tempo are continuously blood pumping across the record (apart from a few off-kilter tracks that untether the pacing). Rising from a mechanical slumber, “The Fever (Aye Aye)” bursts like steam from ...

  Avey Tare - 7s (2023) My copy: limited 2023 press on violet vinyl by Domino. Cows On Hourglass Pond saw Avey Tare embrace the synthesizer more intimately again, creating a tighter relationship between the acoustic melancholy of Eucalyptus and the electronic variety of his earlier solo works. 7s then extrapolates again on his love of electronics, now patching walls of unique sounds to simplistic rhythmic loops - the mood now more open and accepting. Sometimes the structures do not evolve enough, but Tare has proven himself consistent in his mastery of layering. “Invisible Darlings” uses percussive cradle melodies to continue Tare’s frequent fixation on innocence, with chirping piano and warm guitar joining as if to score a cherished memory of running along a boardwalk carnival. As his use of layering evolves, so does Tare’s ability to compensate for an abundance of instrumentation, as “Lips At Night” manages to feel light and snappy even in denser passages of whirring electron...

  Broken Social Scene - You Forgot It In People (2002) My copy: 2017 reissue by Arts & Crafts. What began originally as a bedroom two-piece was now rapidly evolving into one of Toronto’s most ambitious pop collectives: as the formidable You Forgot It In People rocketed Broken Social Scene into indie fame. Focused on expansive and borderline-baroque arrangements, they blur the lines between pop and ensemble music with a wide variety of instruments and performers. Beginning quiet and curious, “Capture The Flag” shimmers and slowly rises - with horns yawning loudly as if to interrupt the gentle ambiance. “KC Accidental” then thrusts forward, centered on a grand melodic guitar riff that serves to break apart the cacophonous jam sequences. The music turns euphoric with swells for strings and voice, before rising to a mountainous crescendo, then running out of steam. Cool organ dances lightly through “Stars And Sons” with romantic, drunken vocal rambling, tying this relaxed indie...