RIP Françoise Hardy

RIP to a fashion icon and an unbelievable hip woman.  RIP to the original Ye-Ye girl.  Farewell to an absolute all-timer and one of my favorite voices of all time, the indelible Françoise Hardy.

Chelsea Wolfe Remixed by Boy Harsher

Darkwave duo Boy Harsher remixed a track from dark folk artist Chelsea Wolfe's excellent "She Reaches Out To She Reaches Out To She" album from earlier this year to wonderful effect.  It's like a whole new song.  Check out the mix of "House of Self-Undoing" below and download it here from Loma Vista.

Daily Jam - Wigwam

Just close your eyes for a moment or two and let the swaying rhythm and melody wash over you like purifying waves of sound, the horn section ebbing and flowing like the pristine blue waves of some hidden lagoon, your fingers gently gliding through the water to the sing-songy “da da dah da da’s,” as the sun burns bright above you. Picture the love of your life slowly moving closer towards you, striding gracefully across the hazy dunes, floating, an almost surreal and dreamlike movement, but honest and true. But above all else, happy. And then the moment fades away in caress.

I have no idea why Bob Dylan’s “Wigwam” makes me feel this way. It’s kind of a love song…maybe. There are no real lyrics, so it’s hard to gauge, but it feels like it should be one. There’s an overwhelming romantic quality to it all, more than likely stemming from the Mariachi-esque horn section that plays throughout, and Dylan’s almost playful “da’s” and “la’s,” like someone at a loss for words, all blushing and rosy-cheeked in the presence of one’s betrothed. It’s short and sweet, but feels like this revelatory notion of untempered love, like holding hands in the hallway or sneaking a kiss before night’s end. And it always makes me smile.

Everybody has a favorite Dylan song, mine just happens to come from a record considered by many to be at best a glorified bootleg album, and at worst an intentional joke. So, without further ado, here’s “Wigwam” from 1970’s Self Portrait.

Smile.

Midwife

Here's a pretty and melancholy little lo-fi number from Colorado dreampop/shoegaze/bedroom folk artist Midwife.  New album "No Depression in Heaven" is out in September.  Pre-order it here from The Flenser and listen to "Killdozer" below.

Fucked Up

It feels like a miracle that Canadian hardcore punk band Fucked Up are still making music all these years later.  It's been over two decades!  And they're still just as bombastic, as emotional, and as inventive as ever.  The band's latest, "Another Day," drops in August.  Check out "Stimming" below and pre-order the album here (download) or here (vinyl) from the band.

Dean McPhee

Folklore Tapes' "Ceremonial County Series" continues to be a fascinating sound experiment, utilizing a slew of different artists to create pieces of music inspired by the folklore tales of the various counties in England.  Volume V dropped a couple days ago and features a spectral, barely-there, and haunting track from Pefkin on the cassette's A-side, and a sprawling and somber instrumental from Dean McPhee on the B-side, "West Yorkshire: The Bradford Boar."  Check out that B-side below and grab the tape here.

Daily Jam - Silent Lucidity

I’d like for a minute for all of us to sit down and contemplate just how weird it was that in 1991, a ballad about lucid dreaming written and performed by an American prog metal band cracked the Billboard Top 10 and became this massive hit. And it was almost six minutes long too. And the bridge had a spoken word section in it about “achieving dream control.” It’s mind blowing. Seriously. But I guess that’s where we were at in the Spring of 1991, Queensrÿche’s “Silent Lucidity,” a single from their 1990 album Empire, playing alongside the likes of the Gerardos and the Marky Marks of the world.

Can you imagine something like that happening now? Me neither. So let’s just listen to that prog-lite lullaby on repeat for a little while until dream control is achieved.

Skyminds

Here's a gentle and soothing mix of electronic folk and psych from Oakland duo Skywinds to calm the nerves and ease the mind.  "Wasser" plays like a meditation tape, tranquil bliss in harmony with the universe.  Check it out below and pre-order the "Echoes on the Shore" cassette here from Inner Islands.

Daily Jam - Pink Girl with the Blues

Every May, I find myself jotting down a list of things to do during the summer: trips, activities, adventures, fun stuff. And every year I fail miserably, generally only doing a handful of things on my “No Bummer Summer” crusade. But that’s okay. Things aren’t the way they used to be. I have responsibilities now, a job and children, and I certainly can’t spend my late summer evenings getting hammered or hazy like I used to. The alarm just goes off too early every morning. But in my more energetic moments, or in the blissful fog of nostalgia, I still miss those summers.

Yeah, this is a flashback essay.

In the summer of 1998, I was back in Midland at my parents’ house following a fairly lackluster freshman year of college, educationally speaking at least. It turned out that newfound freedom combined with copious amounts of drugs and alcohol was not a good recipe for my grade point average, so I was back home, working a warehouse job for a petroleum company, taking summer classes at the local junior college, saving money, and working my way back into my mother’s good graces. I was also nursing a broken heart…with copious amounts of drugs and alcohol.

But broken hearts and miffed mothers aside, that was one of my best summers ever. My free time was filled with friends (also home/trapped for the summer) and parties and music, music, music. I’d end up at used CD stores once or twice a week scoring all manner of wonderful noise, discovering new tunes as well as padding back catalogs. Booze was plentiful and endless, though I don’t remember how as none of us was 21 yet. And nights were spent chugging beers at house parties, smoking cigarettes in backyards, and hanging out in dirty pool halls. It was wonderful. The dozen of us that were home that summer bonded into a whole and loving unit, a kind of which I doubt I’ll ever experience again, forever in my heart.

And one weekend, my buddy and I drove to Dallas to catch Curve and The Dandy Warhols perform at some hot and humid club downtown. The show was good, but uneventful, the rest of that weekend spent with my soon-to-be college roommate bumming around the greater Dallas/Fort Worth area, getting myself evened out. I remember the road trips, the diners and cafes, playing FIFA ’98 on the Playstation, and again the music, music, music. Curve was a big part of that summer’s soundtrack, and their ’96 single “Pink Girl with the Blues,” a pre-party staple to fire us all up.

There’s really not too much I miss about being a teenager (bone thin Tommy!), but that summer of 1998 has since become the standard by which I judge all other summers. May this next one prove to be as lovely.

Listen below, our Daily Jam.

Cave Sex

Here's Singapore band Cave Sex doing a dark and pulsing mix of darkwave synth pop and punk rock for your Sunday.  Death rock vibes abound!  Listen to "Survival / Affliction" below and get the self-titled EP here from Symphony of Destruction.