Tag Archives: Chillwave

[Album Review + Event Review] Neon Indian: Identity, the Chillwave Fallacy and Vega Intl. Night School

DNP_4129

Neon Indian at Social Hall, SF 9/22

Looking around the crowd at the newly minted Social Hall SF, it was apparent that the diehard group of fans had little idea what they were hearing. Attending a show by a favored artist is an unforgettable experience; the anxiety and foreboding feeling that they may bomb the performance, the hope against all hope that the one favorite song played on repeat 300 times that one summer is on their set list, the lofty and unrealistic expectations of them noticing your pinpoint gaze from the stage.

All of those unstable feelings – coupled with the awkward notion of repeatedly bumping shoulders with complete strangers – are made more bearable by the overarching fact that the mass of people is musically in sync. Artists take huge risks when touring a new album pre-release; when a fan base comes together to experience their latest works before hearing a single song, the performance can either fall flat or amaze. Alan Palomo’s performance, thankfully, accomplished the latter. Despite vague familiarity with the new material, the cluster rocked and swayed to the arrangements that have made Neon Indian into a renowned electronic producer.

Between his own eccentric swinging hips and a charmingly flat-footed signature shuffle (falling somewhere between Motown and Disco), Palomo also managed to keep an often-times lost crowd energized and in the moment. Continue reading

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Tropics Talks Inspiration, Artistic Evolution and the Making of ‘Rapture’ [TMN Exclusive Interview]

Rapture

’Tropics – Blame’

The “chillwave” movement has matured phenomenally in the last couple years with acts like Toro y Moi and Washed Out evolving their sound from lo-fi bedroom productions to beautiful and complex musical compositions. UK producer and vocalist, Tropics, has architected his own chillwave aesthetic that, true to its name, features a vibrant sensibility and deep sonic textures. On his debut album, Parodia Flare, Tropics put together a beautiful collection of colorful compositions and began experimentation with his voice, but his recently released follow-up, Rapture, feels like a true breakout project. With stripped down organic instrumentation and a newfound focus on vocals, Rapture proves a cohesive, deeply emotional and soulful project that reaches new depths without losing the glowing energy of its predecessor. We had a chance to catch up with Chris Ward, the mind behind Tropics, about his musical background and influences, the evolution of his sound and more. Check out the interview below and, if you like what you hear, head to iTunes to grab a copy of Rapture.

TMN: What was your first experience with making or playing music?

Tropics: The furthest back I can remember was this little early learning centre tape player with a microphone attached to it. It was really kid-like and colourful. I remember it having this weird echo which probably sounded quite cool. I used to record songs off the radio. Then my first memory of playing music was getting a drum kit at around 10.

TMN: You studied music in university and are a multi­-instrumentalist, right? How integral has that been in allowing you to bring your vision to life? Or do you feel like you’ve learned more from just from experience?

Tropics: I wouldn’t say I’m a multi instrumentalist, I’m a producer, who like most of us can play keys and a strum out a few jams on guitar, drums. I feel I’ve learned a lot from experience but some more theory and things about the industry when I studied music, but to be honest; I didn’t do a lot of studying, I just wanted to go to university with all my friends and have all the free time in the world to party, take recreational drugs, have lots of sex and make as much music as I could.

TMN: The colourful aesthetic in your music definitely brings some influences to mind. Who are some artists you grew up listening to that you feel continue to inspire you today? Any ones who’ve influenced you in unexpected ways?

Tropics: I think there’s influence from a lot of 90s electronica, in my sort of ‘go to textures and sounds’. My older brother played me loads of Leftfield, Massive Attack, Faithless and Underworld when I was around 11 or 12, which I ended up getting back into quite a lot at 16 and 17.

 I think one of the great things back then was that the Internet wasn’t so revolved around the music industry, or if it was, I wasn’t aware. So I’d get records/albums, without taking interest of reading into when they were released or how current they were . If I connected with it, I just connected with it and it became my new love affair. I feel I’ve lost this a bit ­or, a lot of us have, with the pressure to keep up with this quickly moving industry with 100 new flavours and artists coming through a month!
Continue reading

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[Chill/Pop] Roosevelt – Small Hours (John Martyn Cover)

Roosevelt
Small Hours

Cologne upstart Roosevelt has been a blip on our ambitious radar for over a year, notably behind this writer’s favorite EP of 2013 Elliot, but today he’s peeled back yet another layer of production prowess, offering a smooth cover of John Martyn’s 1977 classic “Small Hours” which begs the attention of an entire blogosphere. Roosevelt cuts the original running time down significantly, routing his cover with a syrupy sweet downtempo melody and a focus on perhaps one of the most beautiful chorus line we’ve consumed in eons. “Keep on Lovin’ while your love is strong/Keep on lovin’ til your love is gone…away” may be simplistic on paper, but such a highly emotive vocal sang by Roosevelt stirred our pot in the perfect direction and adds an entire new dimension of depth to the ambient original. “Small Hours” is being pushed as a single on Joe Goddard’s tastemaking imprint Greco-Roman, and judging by the fact that we adore most anything from their camp, we were plenty excited that they were the genius music minds behind its release. So stream Roosevelt’s cover of “Small Hours” above, slink back somewhere comfy and let this absolutely gorgeous tune point you in the right direction.

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