Nightswimming #3: 06/27/24-07/04/24 (2024)

Into the Blue - Aaron Frazer (Colemine Records)

The 2^nd solo album from Durand Jones & The Indications drummer/co-vocalist Aaron Frazer gives us more of that signature falsetto vocal over extremely tight soul/R&B instrumentals, performed by a cast of almost 40 musicians and instrumentalists.

While the album does iterate on that beloved Durand Jones & The Indications/Leon Bridges throwback to the Motown Sound, there are also moments of 90’s R&B and California hip-hop à la Montel Jordan’s This Is How We Do It.

Lyrically, Frazer laments heartbreak, good love gone bad, and the hurt that comes from getting the cold shoulder (“A love for the ages to perfect strangers”, “Tryin’ to figure out how love went from sweet to sour”). These all-too-familiar themes pay homage to the rich tapestry of soul melancholy that came before.

Into the Blue gives us a healthy mix of upbeat dancers and midtempo groovers, but it never feels overstuffed. At 11 tracks and 37 minutes, it’s an efficient work. Even if it isn’t necessarily an evolution of his sound, Aaron Frazer gives us more of what we want—a very solid Back Porch Album

Highlights: Into the Blue, Dime, Payback

For a genre that has as many sub-genres as it does bands across the country, hardcore has a uniting principle in three simple letters: D-I-Y

I’ll be transparent: hardcore music is not necessarily my bag. I really respect that people are making it, and I have a ton of friends who either make it or love it. Less than 1% of the time will I put on hardcore music in any setting. But I respect the hell out of the DIY communities, and I think hardcore music has as much value as any other.

The below caught my eye online. I loved such a stark, distinct declaration of what a band is about. California Cousins has gone on to lean in to these ideals on Twitter, in a thread urging bands to make their own music as often as they can. That sh*t rocks!

I’m not sure what mix of subgenres this album (or as calicuzns calls it, “The World’s First Double EP”) fits into. I’m sure any hardcore heads reading will grill me. Maybe California Cousins will hate this review from the guy who “doesn’t love hardcore”—but I bet they respect that I’m Doing It Myself. To me this is an effective mix of emo, post-punk, hardcore, and just general riff-focused rock. Good harmonies! Interesting melodies! I thought it was great and I’m recommending it to everyone I see with cutoff jean shorts and leg tattoos.

Highlights: Guitar Beat, Clouds Forever

For years Nathaniel Rateliff has balanced 2 careers on a see-saw (does anyone say teeter-totter?). Between being the leader of his seemingly ever-growing roots rock Americana band The Night Sweats, to his more stripped-down singer-songwriter solo albums, Rateliff has established himself as a force in folk.

South of Here, Rateliff’s 4th album with The Night Sweats, is the collective’s best effort yet. However ambitious this album is, they don’t break any new ground. Rather, they’ve further coalesced as a group and filled in the corners of their sound. Some Americana seeks to pay homage to the genre while offering an entirely new take, some Americana patches together a pastiche of influences. South of Here nearly borders on the latter, but is saved by truly great performance and outstanding production. On top of it all, Rateliff has one of the most unique voices in music today—a real singularity.

We need to have a serious discussion about Brad Cook’s work as a producer, and how he really is a leader at the forefront of a movement. In 2024 alone, Cook has been behind the wheel of a half dozen great albums, including Hurray For The Riff Raff’s The Past is Still Alive and Waxahatchee’s Tigers Blood (a universal AOTY front-runner). In the last 5 years, Cook has produced remarkable works by Bon Iver, Hiss Golden Messenger, Whitney, Kevin Morby, Indigo De Souza, Suki Waterhouse, and Snail Mail—among many others. Cook has a real knack for bringing groups together and creating extremely warm, full-sounding records all with a Back Porch firepit vibe. May Brad Cook live a thousand years and produce a thousand more records!

Highlights: Remember When I Was a Dancer, Heartless, Center of Me

Another solid entry in the catalog of the music world’s most effective current neo-soul group.

On tracks like Make Friends, Love Heart Cheat Code strikes strong free jazz and DnB (Drum n’ Bass) chords that evoke recent works by DOMi & j.d. beck. This is more of an active listen than previous works by Hiatus Kaiyote. Where Mood Valiant and Tawk Tomohawk were a bit more melodic, Love Heart Cheat Code follows the more free-form instincts of the band.

At times, Love Heart Cheat Code leans too heavily into free jazz where jam moments become aimless. Nai Palm’s vocals, unique and groundbreaking as they are, can feel exhausting when they consist of vocal run after vocal run after vocal run of double, tripled, and quadrupled tracks. Her voice is brilliant, but nothing ever resolves—just vocal runs in ethereal space. And in some ways, that’s a vibe!

Listen if you like: DOMi & j.d. beck, Thundercat, Kamasi Washington, Arrested Development (the rap group)

Highlights: Make Friends, Longcat, the cover of Jefferson Airplane’s White Rabbit (if only for the novelty of hearing that song through the lens of an acid-soaked neo-soul group)

Hot Sun Cool Shroud - Wilco (dBpm Records)

Here’s a surprising thing as white guy: I never really got into Wilco. Especially surprising being from St. Louis! Those guys grew up here! Uncle Tupelo played its first shows in Belleville!

That said, I respect and admire Jeff Tweedy. I generally enjoy everything he does, and I think he’s a great vibes guru for indie music.

They put out an EP that is very Wilco! If you like Wilco, well then brother you’ve already listened to this. It’s good! It’s exactly what you look for. 2^nd track has some shocking guitar shredding.

Highlights: it’s a 17 minute EP just listen to it

Samurai - Lupe Fiasco (1st and 5th/Thirty Tigers)

Lupe returns to form! Lupe’s flow here is at his most Phife Dawg in years. Samples and vibe reminiscent of early Wu-Tang Clan 36 Chambers/Liquid Swords type sh*t.

Here are some great singles that dropped last week.

She’s Leaving You - MJ Lenderman (recently announced album coming September 6th, one of my most anticipated of the year!)
Bells and Whistles - Bright Eyes (another highly anticipated album, September 20th)
tidal wave - almost monday (a little generic, but fun)
Take Me Back - Foster the People (new album August 16th—uhhhh, we’ll see!)
Reason Why - SOPHIE (SOPHIE’s family has authorized release of a posthumous album September 27th. I’m interested to hear it—SOPHIE was a beloved figure in her scene and a groundbreaking producer, and her death was untimely and tragic.)

At her June 28th show at the Vicar Street Theater in Dublin, Ireland, the Poet Laureate of Punk, Patti Smith, covered Lana Del Rey’s Summertime Sadness. Patti dedicated the cover to her late husband Fred “Sonic” Smith of the legendary Detroit punk band MC5.

Patti tells a lovely story about her and Fred on the Seven Mile Bridge, and then launches into the gripping and heart-breaking rendition, complete with her signature Patti Smith timbre.

If you’re not familiar with Patti Smith, I highly recommend going RIGHT now and listening to her debut album Horses. Patti and her band played alongside The Ramones, Blondie, Talking Heads, Television, and The Police at New York’s famous CBGB (OMFUG) in the late 1970’s.

This isn’t the best video that I’ve seen from a visual standpoint, but it includes the entire song and the sound quality is perfect.