My very first ecounter with music was when I was not so much more than a toddler with the Penny portable 7″ player of my mother, with which I used to play her collection of italian pop 7″ (Lucio Battisti and Gianni Morandi mostly). So I’m kind of sentimentally attached to the single format, and to be honest, I miss 45 rpm a lot, the way they slowly built the sound of a soon to be album. So these are some singles released this year I listened to and loved a lot.
- Empath, Born 100 Times
Here I collect a handful of tracks released as singles, focusing on singles not preceding an album, with one exception, Empath, an exception due largely to the fact that Empath are by far my favorite band in recent years, roughly since I first heard them with “Liberating Guilt and Fear.” I’ve been following them with great interest ever since and ‘Born 100 Times’ is perhaps the song that best represents their mixture of experimentation and pop, frenzy and chaotic noise and joyous pummeling rock.
- Horsegirl, Billy
In the future of independent rock I see two bands in particular, both hailing from Chicago. One of these is formed entirely by very young girls, and after only three singles entered the Matador roster. I don’t know if this is supposed to be good, but judging by the first single they do under Matador, everything seems to be in its right place.
- Lifeguard, Receiver
The other band that I see in the future of independent rock are Lifeguard, partially born into art, as the bassist, Asher Case, is FACS’ Brian Case son. Last year they already proved what they are capable of, despite their young, very young age but, hey, keep in mind Squirrel Bait and what was born from them.
- Time Wharp, 10 Years Warrantly
Time Wharp, aka brooklyn based artist Kaye Loggins, has already been around for a while, and has already done a lot of electronic, kraut, psychedelic ambient music. She is now under the multifaceted and ever-trusted Leaving Records, and this is the second single she has pulled out with them, a Neu! meets Devo groove
- CUSP, I Can’t Die
Rochester’s CUSP debuted last spring with a very interesting shoegaze / jangle EP, and it was therefore a half surprise to hear a single in which they combine the now ubiquitous synths with an indie-rock structure, they didn’t fall into the synth-pop trap: on the contrary, the synths are here to warm up, embellish and enrich a somewhat classic indie-rock.
- SIS, Double Rapture
This was a nice surprise, and not only because it’s a warm and beautiful song, but mostly because I left Jenny Gillespie Mason’s Native Cat at the start of the terrible 2020, when it closed for good after releasing a buch of wonderful records (Luke Temple and Meerna, for exampple) . Now Jenny Gillespie Mason is back with her project, SiS. I don’t know if this is supposed to be the reborn of Native Cat, but at least we have one good song to listen to in colder days.
- MJ Guider, Matanzas
MJ Guider perhaps represents the state of the art of Kranky label at its best. No one like her can mix ambient, shoegaze, dream-pop, goth, electronic and other genres that still don’t have a name. She does it so well that even her somewhat minor releases are worthy of attention, as this single made during a stay in Cuba.
- Sea Oleena, Untethering
Last year there was a need for soothing and blissful music, an ethereal and warm folk to rock you in your home-size cradle, and Montreal musician Charlotte Oleena, bka Sea Oleena, arrived in time with one of Covid year 1 most fascinating album. For those who wanted more, there is now this single, a non-album track to add to the large amount of bliss of Weaving a Basket.
- C. Lavender, Transient Seclusion
I never know how to explain what soundscape and deep listening are, but perhaps the best way to do it is to point the finger, or rather the ears, towards C Lavender. “Transient Seclusion” is a long track published for Longorm Editions that ranges between ambient, experimental electronics, new age and a thousand other musical languages bordering the avant-garde and unexplored territories. To be listened to with headphones, sitting on a bench with your eyes closed and a lukewarm sun that gently lights your face.
- Sweeping Promises, Pain Without a Touch
There will also be a reason why an independent album reaches its ninth reissue, and that reason is that that album has a great, lo-fi and honest sound. What happened next, is that that group releases a new single which is co-released by Sub Pop. To be honest, I’m not exactly a Sub Pop fan, but I do trust Sweeping Promises, especially since the sound has remained as dirty and wild as it should be.ù
- Gretchen Korsmo, Cloud Juice
“Cloud Juice” is Gretchen Kormso’s true solo debut, followed by a collaboration with CC Sorensen. Korsmo is, I think, an architect by training, she then approached the world of soundscape and ambient music by vocation, and perhaps the propensity to design buildings can also be felt in the two tracks of this single, two six minutes long tracks that seem to build sound around the listener. Angels kissing your ears.
- Kate Bollinger, Shadows
After a handful of self-produced singles and two EPs, Kate Bollinger fell under the radar of Ghostly International, where they realized that Kate Bollinger’s music is not the usual anemic and bland bedroom pop. The two singles released this year, “Shadows” and “Yards / Gardner,” show a jazzy filigree, a thin vein of psychedelia and gentle lo-fi, all cooked together in heart-warming pop tunes.
- bonus track: Sasami, Sorry Entertainer
Verily verily I say unto you that I really don’t know what to think about this nu-metal metamporhosys of Sasami, especially since I’m not a fan of nu-metal and crap like that. I loved her first album though, loved the sound of it, the way guitar and synths overlapped and talked to each other, like only two siblings can do. For this new turn, the only thing I know is, she’s having fun, so much fun that she insills her fun to me.
listening wind 