STACK #132 Oct 2016

MUSIC

ED’s JAMS

KURT VILE b’lieve i’m goin down

F ull of well-paced alt-rock tracks that are at once big, imaginative, detailed and surreal in a lot of ways, Kurt Vile’s new release B’lieve I’m Goin Down still has its Adidas hi-tops firmly in the western desert (which, as Jesse Hughes tells us, is the best). Although he’s wont to talk down his piano skills, Vile’s experiments with the Boy & Bear limit of love

instrument are as refreshing as Meg White’s drumming was when we first heard it: it’s definite stuff, no drifting around, because he’s got his guitar for that if he wants to do it (he does). The keys arpeggios are bright-faced and the chords are deliberate, particularly on stand-outs Stand Inside and Life Like This , while That’s Life, Tho has a stranger gait – it’s

unbelievably beautiful and manages to realistically embrace the fact that even happy things are sad (because memory and nostalgia are inherently sad?). He’s clearly an excellent songwriter and a super compelling guitarist, but secretly, the best part might be the odd upwards inflections that sometimes pop out of Vile’s calm voice, a la Lou Reed, like a piece of a sing-song

conversation. The vocals also aren’t fogged with reverb, an effect Vile used heavily for 2013’s Wakin’ On A Pretty Daze . As a follow-up, B’lieve I’m Goin Down is perfect parts familiar and new – it’s smarter, more intricate, but has these thoughtful little ponds of space you can sit and bathe in. Absolutely first-rate. (Remote Control) Zoë Radas

STACK Picks Life Like This; That’s Life, Tho; Pretty Pimpin; Lost My Head There

JULIA HOLTER Have you in my wilderness

Beach Slang are undoubtedly the new band to watch in 2015. Having established an enviable amount of buzz around their initial EPs, the band’s first album is obviously anticipated but also such an odd carbon copy of their former releases that it’s at times hard to differentiate the two. Not to detract from the inherent innovation and attractiveness of their sound. It’s sultry summer nights set to breathless vocals, spread across romantic, fuzzed out indie punk and Beach slang the things we do to find people like us

The studious manner in

Have You In My Wilderness is further evidence of Julia Holter’s singular skill as a writer and musician. There’s something timeless, classic, yet utterly unique in the structure and arrangement of each track that defies easy description. There’s power - and restraint - in the performances, underscoring the emotional effect of the lyrics that explore subjects of love, trust, and balance in relationships. As always with Julia Holter’s albums, Have You In My Wilderness is packed with ideas and sounds that reveal themselves over multiple listens, an endlessly rewarding collection of ballads. (Domino/EMI) Simon Winkler

which Sydney five-piece Boy & Bear recorded Limit Of Love – by rehearsing every track until it was in Ironman shape and then recording, rather

than muddling through multiple layers and edits – has saturated the whole record with immediacy and real heart. The rhythm section is tight as a pickle jar and that gives the other guys – particularly vocalist Dave Hosking and keys player Jon Hart – room to rubato. It’s great to hear the edge come from unique qualities in the harmonies, guitar tones and cool organs/synths rather than a slushy open hi-hat ( A Thousand Faces is a nice example of this balance). Single Walk The Wire shows off the utterly symbiotic relationship between these musicians as well as Hosking’s unflappable voice, with its little end- of-phrase bends; Breakdown Slow is a divine lapsteel stroll; and my favourite is Just Dumb , which includes Air-esque bass, plaintive piano, a tiny delectable guitar riff in your left headphone, and an inspired, gently wheeling melody that sticks. (Universal) Zoë Radas

it’s really, really great. (Cooking Vinyl) Emily Kelly

OCTOBER 2015

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