Allah-Las Las (Mexican Summer) On their fourth LP, L.A.’s Allah-Las don’t seem in any hurry to alter their psychedelic slacker twang. In fact, they don’t seem in any particular hurry at all; the baker’s dozen of songs lopes along with nary a hitch, everything a pleasant if slightly dulled blend of Beck and White Fence. […]
Lynda Dawn At First Light (Akashik) The first sounds on Lynda Dawn’s debut EP—a fat keyboard bass line and synthetic handclaps and claves —come straight from the ’80s glory days of electrosoul. And as it turns out, so do all the other sounds, including the U.K. singer’s sultry, gospel-tinged vocals. On At First Light Dawn […]
Lana Del Rey Norman Fucking Rockwell! (Universal) Lana Del Rey takes a turn at pillow- soft rock on NFR, the product of a partnership with Jack Antonoff—late of the annoyingly-named fun., and an erstwhile Taylor Swift and Lorde collaborator. The songs here are slow and subdued, dominated by patient piano—they’re well suited for Del Rey […]
Heron & Crane Firesides (Hibernator Gigs) Denizens of Charlottesville’s indie scene know Dave Gibson from power-pop exponents Borrowed Beams of Light and Weird Mob, plus synth soundscapers Personal Bandana. Here, Gibson and Columbus, Ohio, buddy Travis Kokas split the difference, with sweet results. The mostly instrumental Firesides is a fetching mélange of melody and texture, […]
Flying Lotus Flamagra (Warp) One of the most compelling post-Dilla beatmakers, Flying Lotus has collaborated with Kendrick Lamar and Kamasi Washington, among others, as his amorphous funk has spread throughout left-field R&B, hip-hop, and jazz. On Flamagra, FlyLo is abetted by fellow travelers like Thundercat and Robert Glasper, along with why-not guests such as David […]
Resavoir Resavoir (International Anthem) It goes down smooth and it’s jazz, but it isn’t smooth jazz. Members of Chicago collective Resavoir have played with Chance the Rapper, Noname, and Mavis Staples, and the band maps a similar wholesomeness onto these nine pithy originals that don’t just walk the classic/fresh tightrope, but live directly on it. […]
Various artists Lullabies for Catatonics (Grapefruit) The U.K. rock scene’s initial response to LSD tended more towards pastoral reverie than paranoid fever dream (not having a Vietnam War helped). But psychic unraveling quickly followed, as chronicled on Lullabies for Catatonics, a transporting crate-dig from excellent reissue label Grapefruit. Covering 1967-1974, this triple-disc set is lovingly […]
Craig Leon Anthology of Interplanetary Folk Music Vol. 2: The Canon (RVNG Intl.) Craig Leon produced the classic debuts of the Ramones and Blondie before covering some classical stuff himself (key title: Bach to Moog). On his ’80s new age albums Nommos and Visiting, Leon imagined the vernacular music of extraterrestrials, presenting it as slow, […]
Boogarins Sombrou Dúvida (LAB 344) Brazilian band Boogarins is back with more heady psychedelia, adding a little bap to the mix this time. If the Google translations are on point, Dinho Almeida is repeatedly counseling us to eschew tradition, explore life, embrace fear, etc. Ironically, his vocals never leave their sleepwalk-serenade comfort zone, while shred-capable […]
Lizzo Cuz I Love You (Atlantic) When Lizzo sends the title character of “Jerome” packing even though he “looks good on paper,” it summed up my feeling of listening to the sassy, up-with-me R&B of Cuz I Love You, as Lizzo’s righteous body positivity saturates the album and becomes didactic to the extent that the […]