DISCUSSIN’ THIS SUMMER’S HOTTEST AND MUSICAL ENDEAVORS
Where to start with music during Summer 2011? First, Sbtrkt released his self-titled album with the wonderful track “Wildfire”, which features vocals from Little Dragon; a rather lovely way to kick off summer. However, my two albums that have been on repeat were Shabazz Palaces’ Black Up and Portugal. The Man’s In the Mountain In the Cloud. Both are very well crafted albums. If you’re able to get enough information on Shabazz to see him live, I highly recommend it. Black Up is an album I hope will pick up more momentum throughout the rest of 2011. One album that is more summer-oriented is Unknown Mortal Orchestra’s (UMO) self-titled EP. The album is super fuzzy, lo-fi, and reverb-filled. It made a great entrance into the blogosphere and my iTunes. Along with the summer vibes comes LA-based sister duo, Bleached. I guess you could categorize them as garage rock or even punk. Although they’re starting to gain a few more followers here and there, you still may be able to catch them at The Echo if you act quick.
One album I revisited this summer was Real Estate’s self-titled album. Like UMO, it was a bit lo-fi but sounded very beachy. This album always seems to resonate the feelings of summer; carefree, relaxed, and bummin’ out. Stereogum was able to pull together several indie heavyweights to cover The Strokes’ album, Is This It; re-titled as Stroked (clever, y’all). Real Estate can be heard on this tribute album (among Peter Bjorn and John, Owen Pallett, and The Morning Benders) doing an awesome cover of “Barely Legal”, which was without a doubt, the boner jam of Summer ’11. I personally didn’t get to attend any shows this summer aside from working Pacific Festival where I snuck out to see Afroman, who sported an all green suit, and Phantogram who previewed a new song that’ll be featured on their upcoming LP (keep an ear out). Prior to Pacific Fest, I also headed to our back yard, Huntington Beach, for a free set by MGMT with Surfer Blood opening for them. And although Surfer Blood may not have as big of a following as MGMT (formerly pronounced as “management”, if you’re hip like that), they did a great job filling the space.
What’s gonna get you through the first few weeks of school? Well, if you wanna feel nostalgic about summer and all the super fun times you had chilling real hard with your bros, give Poolside’s cover of Neil Young’s “Harvest Moon” a listen. The song is reinvented with a shimmering synth arrangement, spaced out reverb, and finger-snap filled “daytime disco.”
So what should you look forward to this fall? Several things; first, pick up your ticket for FYF Fest (Sept. 3) for a day of solid indie rock and other experimental groups as well as comedians, etc. Second, what you should already have tickets for: Trentemoller and M83, who are both playing at The Music Box.
’Twas a good summer for music indeed, and fall will bring some excellent acts to the LA area as well.
