Writing about music in lieu of human interaction
Erika June Christina Laing (whom you may know from Working Breed) strips her sound down from art to alt with Erika June and the Tunes, who recently released their first single. Where Working Breed plays around with high concepts (see: speaking plants, singing saws, and cicada-centric storylines), Erika June and the Tunes take a more … Continue reading Daily Yinz – Erika June and the Tunes – Other Girls
Luwi trades in a mournfully melodic brand of spacious, wavy hip-hop, sometimes eschewing the genre altogether. Luwi's latest single, "Bend & Bruise" (produced by Julio), takes things in a particularly analgesic direction, its slow, curling beats, weeping strings, disorientingly reversed tones, and cavernous reverb combining to create a palpably hypnotic atmosphere, like a depression blanket … Continue reading Daily Yinz – Luwi – Bend & Bruise
Brandon O'Neill's Memory Wound project produces blurry soundscapes created from tape loops, field recordings, found sounds, and more. Memory Wound's April release, Lillian Drip, is by turns peaceful and haunting, beautiful and elusive. Where many of the album's tracks drift by in a dissociative haze, eddying outward like faint ripples on a pond, O'Neill takes … Continue reading Daily Yinz – Memory Wound – Lead Moon
Singer/songwriter Adam Merulli recently released volume 2 of Schoolhouse Sessions, a series of intimate live tracks recorded under his A-Money & the Downtown City moniker. "D'Olier & Grafton" is named for two streets in Dublin, Ireland, where Merulli spent time a few years ago while studying abroad in Paris. The song, a reflective number led … Continue reading Daily Yinz – A-Money & the Downtown City – D’Olier & Grafton
Odell Lancaster (one half of hip-hop duo Notorious Bastards) collaborates with KeyDaIntro on his latest single, produced by Venturebeatsofficial. "Mindset" displays the same dusty, crate-digging tendencies as Odell's work with Notorious Bastards, with chimes, gentle cymbals, and a slithering flute melody providing backing for veil-piercing rhymes about politics ("The president's evil/And the polls ain't nothing … Continue reading Daily Yinz – Odell Lancaster – Mindset (ft. KeyDaIntro)
Emily Rodgers's latest release, I Will Be Gone (Shimmy-Disc), is a haunting document of loss. I Will Be Gone is a tribute to Rodgers's brother, who died by schizophrenia-related suicide fifteen years ago; the music contained within is spectral and feathery, but elemental and emotionally direct at the same time. Produced by Kramer (a man … Continue reading Daily Yinz – Emily Rodgers – I Will Be Gone
Unread is a Pittsburgh label that's been "making tapes from empty aluminum cans since 1994"; they specialize in bizarre outsider stuff, never conventional and always entertaining. Adam void's unread #271 is one of the label's more recent releases. Adam void approaches the record with a gonzo sensibility, using rudimentary home recording tools to create a … Continue reading Daily Yinz – adam void – unread #271
KELS's, latest single, "No Lie.," is a love song that would sound at home in any decade. KELS has one of those timeless voices, the kind of pipes you associate with a Winehouse or a Duffy. "No Lie." has the vibe to match; it's a gentle ballad that mixes touches of R&B, jazz, and traditional … Continue reading Daily Yinz – KELS – No Lie.
Rappers Fam Ross and Arsinel team up for Pen Lordz, a masterclass in lyrical underground hip-hop. "Emaculate" gets by on atmosphere and wordplay alone. No snares, no kicks; there isn't a bit of percussion to be accounted for outside of a few steady taps on the world's gentlest cymbal. Weeping strings, glistening harp flourishes, and … Continue reading Daily Yinz – Fam Ross x Arsinel – Emaculate
Aaron Myers-Brooks's Monochromatic Residua project uses death metal as a vehicle to explore the power of microtones (AKA the notes you can't find on a piano). Monochromatic Residua's latest EP, Eternal Mountain, contains brutal blastbeats, apocalyptic imagery, and, of course, furious shredding that refuses to adhere to the chromatic scale. On the EP's title track, … Continue reading Daily Yinz – Monochromatic Residua – Eternal Mountain
