2016 in 2017

Almost nobody releases new music in January. Many of my weekly columns this month involved me cleaning off my desk and rooting through my inbox to see what I missed.

Highly recommended: Nicolas Jaar, Débruit, Doing it in Lagos: Boogie, Pop and Disco in 1980s Nigeria

As always, these reviews originally ran in the Waterloo Record.

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Doing It in Lagos: Boogie, Pop and Disco in 1980s Nigeria – Various Artists (Soundway)

In the past decade, we’ve seen enough compilations of ’70s West African Afrobeat to safely assume that that well has run dry. Hell, just before his death this month at the age of 70, even the elusive William Onyeabor emerged from hiding (and would likely not approve of the use of the word “hell”). The always-reliable Soundway Records, which is the rare label to have invested in modern acts while still scouring the globe for lost gems, now shifts its focus to the 1980s, from which they now present this stunning new Nigerian collection.

On Soundway’s website and in the liner notes by Uchenna Ikonne, this material is presented almost apologetically, as if the great legacy of Fela Kuti and Afrobeat was somehow tarnished once Nigerian musicians embraced the cultural steamroller that was disco. “It’s perhaps not for the purists who think they know what African music should sound like,” warns the Soundway website.

Poppycock. Yes, the influences of Chic, Cameo, Michael Jackson, Earth, Wind and Fire, New York hip-hop and Washington go-go are all more than evident here, in a hybrid style that Ikonne tells us was simply called “boogie.” It’s no less original than the way the previous generation had refracted the sound of Stax soul, James Brown, Sly Stone and other American greats. As happens around the world all the time—just as Jamaican ska was born as an ersatz take on New Orleans R&B—it’s the local transformation of an external influence that results in something greater. One of the only analogues from this side of the pond would be Talking Heads’ Remain in Light: a record, of course, heavily influenced by Fela Kuti. Here, Mike Umoh’s “Shake Your Body” wouldn’t sound out of place smack dab in the middle of Stop Making Sense. 

This is disco and electro like you’ve never heard it before, taking the intricacy and skill and precision required to play the polyrhythms of Afrobeat and applying that to Western club music of the day. That’s not to suggest that a subgenre like go-go is more simplistic—far from it—simply that it’s much different than what we hear here. If, now or then, there was to be any concern about watering down an Indigenous sound in service to Western norms, there’s no question from whence this music came. In the words of Odion Iruoje, one on the best tracks here, “Which one you de? You’re still an African.” (Jan. 19)

Stream: “Fellas Doing It in Lagos” by Hotline; “Don’t Give Up” by Willy Roy; “Identify With Your Root” by Odion Iruoje

Bremer/McCoy – Forsvinder (Raske Plader)

This young Danish duo—25-year-old bassist Jonathan Bremer and 24-year-old pianist Morten McCoy—are not hot young firebrands eager to show off. On the contrary, their third album displays delicacy and restraint, a minimalist approach that invites the listener to lean in. McCoy started his career at 13 in a popular Danish ska band (perhaps the only time I’ll ever type that phrase); Bremer has a side project in a surf band. Here, they take their time: melodies are rarely hurried, while Bremer’s bass dances lightly underneath. Forsvinder is a hypnotic record, never more so than when McCoy’s electric piano gets lost languid quarter notes that linger in delay loops on “Cirklen.” (Jan. 19)

Stream: “I Eet,” “Ny Begyndelse” “Cirklen”

Communism – Get Down Get Together (Zunior)

For the past 25 years, Don Kerr has been one of the busiest musicians in Toronto: as a producer, engineer and drummer. Rarely, however, has he taken the lead role, outside a rare turn on the mic from behind his drum kit with the Rheostatics, or on a ukulele duo album with Ron Sexsmith. Here, he fronts his own power pop band—again, from behind the kit—with guitar wizard Paul Linklater (Bidiniband) and bassist Kevin Lacroix (Sexsmith, Selina Martin). All three men are nimble multitaskers and harmony singers, so even the sunniest, straightforward pop song twists and turns with prog touches. The ahistorical naivete of the problematic band name is redeemed somewhat by the earnest positivity and critical thought that these middle-aged dads and Bernie Sanders supporters bring to their songs. It’s their combined musical chops, however, that push this project far beyond a novelty name. (Jan. 5)

Stream: “Take Care of Each Other,” “Forgiveness,” “Crapitalism”

Débruit – Débruit & Istanbul (Ici)

Gaye Su Akyol – Hologram Imparatorlugu (Glitterbeat)

We could use some good news out of Turkey right about now, for a variety of reasons, but especially after the New Year’s Eve massacre at an Istanbul nightclub.

French/Belgian producer Débruit, a.k.a. Xavier Thomas, went there in 2015 to collaborate with six local artists and to soak up the local flavour. He sought out elders like Okay Temiz, a jazz guitarist, and Roma clarinetist Cüneyt Sepetçi, as well as newer artists like singer Gaye Su Akyol and guitarist Murat Ertel, from alternative band BaBa ZuLa. Débruit is a synth player whose interest in funk, dub and African rhythms makes it easy for him to adapt to the cross-cultural pollination that has made Turkey such an important bridge between cultures for centuries. Not that he’s interested in merely throwing local sounds and players on top of dance tracks; though every track is deeply rhythmic, they’re just as likely to be intended for the cinema as they are a disco. On the tracks where he does not employ collaborators, his melodies and rhythms are obviously drawn from his new surroundings without ever sounding slavish to antiquated ideas of the local folk music.

On her own record, Gaye Su Akol roots herself in traditional-sounding melodies but is backed by a modern rock band who excel in hypnotic, mid-tempo grooves, the lead guitar and violin harmonizing leads while the oud provides an insistent rhythm over the bass and drums. Everything, of course, is in a minor key, which makes the album sound even more mournful, considering the current situation—and yet simultaneously strong and defiant. (Jan. 12)

Stream Débruit: “Kaçiyorum” (feat. Gaye Su Akyol), “Duman” (feat. Murat Ertel), “Çevreler”

Stream Gaye Su Akol: “Akil olmayinca,” “Nargile,” “Berdus”

Escondido – Walking with a Stranger (Kill Canyon/Cadence)

When you read about the new Nashville, the generation of artists setting up shop in the legendary music mecca who don’t necessarily adhere to country music orthodoxy, the type represented in the younger musicians on the fictional TV show Nashville, this is the kind of band that comes to mind. Escondido is a male-female duo who make dreamy, hazy, country-tinged music with twang that would be just as at home in the California desert (where they split their time). David Lynch is a huge fan, and listening to this evocative, cinematic music, it’s not hard to figure out why. Escondido sound like a less lethargic Mazzy Starr, a rootsier Beach House, and are one of the most underrated Americana acts of 2016. (Jan. 5)

Stream: “Footprints,” “Apartment,” “Try”

Future Peers – s/t (Phi Ro Sigma)

Rock bands who claim to be influenced by electronic music are usually po-faced Radiohead disciples, determined to evaporate the visceral joy of loud guitars. That’s not the case with Toronto’s Future Peers, who employ glitchy sounds, odd synth patches and vocoders in their peppy pop songs propelled by live drums and ragged guitar riffs. Produced by Broken Social Scene’s Kevin Drew and engineer Shawn Everett (Alabama Shakes), and recorded during a five-month sojourn in L.A., Future Peers’ debut picks up the since-fizzled promise of mid-2000s indie rock and carries it to—well, the future. (Jan. 5)

Stream: “Better Love Lost,” “Time Went Away,” “F--k Noises”

Gringo Star – The Sides and In Between (Nevado)

Yes, worst band name ever. But this Atlanta four-piece rock band (signed to Canadian label Nevado, home to the Wooden Sky, Jordan Klassen, and who launched Bahamas’ career) are a refreshing rock’n’roll revival act equally at home with ’60s psychedelic garage pop and ’90s indie rock and alt-country. They’re obviously a seasoned live act, based on their instrumental skill and chemistry together, and they have songs that echo the rowdier side of early Wilco and the snarl of prime Pavement, with some of the twee glee of the Elephant 6 bands. There’s much here that’s reminiscent of the debut by Foxygen a few years back, before that band went well off the rails; it sounds like there’s no danger of that ever happening to Gringo Star. (Jan. 12)

Stream: “Rotten,” “Get Closer,” “Heading South”

Nicolas Jaar – Sirens (Other People)

This 26-year-old Chilean-American electronic musician was last heard as one half of the psychedelic electronic rock duo Darkside; here, on his second solo full-length, Jaar reveals more layers of his sonic personality: singing in Spanish, exploring ambient drone, performing incredibly sparse pop songs that recall late-period Talk Talk, making hazy electronic cumbia, writing a ’50s-style 6/8 ballad sung in falsetto, paying tribute to the band Suicide in ways Radiohead would surely appreciate, or placing post-punk bass lines over ’90s jungle breaks with a bass clarinet in the mix just for kicks. Had I heard this when it came out in September—always a busy time for major releases—it would surely have found a spot on my best-of-2016 list. (Jan. 5)

Stream: “The Governor,” “Three Sides of Nazareth,” “No”

Jadea Kelly – Love & Lust (Fontana North)

Kelly has toured with neo-roots duo Whitehorse and sung with metal band Protest the Hero (from her hometown of Whitby, Ont.), but on her own she creates the kind of deceptively soft pop at which Sarah McLachlan once excelled: languid enough to lull you with its beauty, but with a bite underneath the portrays the artist as anything but a pushover. Kelly’s third album finds her writing her way through heartbreak and deception: “Mariah” is a swipe at a lover’s mistress; “Paper Thin Heart” is particularly devastating. She has some top-notch help here: drummer Gary Craig (Blackie and the Rodeo Kings), keyboardist Jason Sniderman (Blue Peter), backing vocals from Bahamas’ Afie Jurvanen, string arrangements by Jesse Zubot (Tagaq), and bass by Run With the Kittens’ Nigel Hebblewhite. There’s a reason that level of talent wants to work with Kelly, who splits her time between Toronto and Nashville—a town where she no doubt feels right at home. (Jan. 5)

Stream: “On the Water,” “Can’t Outrun,” “Good Girl”

Lowlands – Erie (Chelsea)

Formed in Toronto as buskers in 2010, this group relocated to Guelph and easily found a home for their sparse take on modern roots music; Erie is their third album, released late last fall, showcasing the high lonesome lead vocals of banjo player Gordon Auld, who has more than a bit of early My Morning Jacket in him. Pedal steel player Matt Monoogian provides welcome texture, augmenting the electric guitar of co-songwriter Abrahm Del Bel Belluz. Producer Gavin Gardiner of the Wooden Sky clearly sees kindred spirits in this band; he also put out this record on his band’s own label. (Jan. 5)

Stream: “Broken Man (Black Mask III),” “In the Cold,” “Wind Blows Back”

Supermoon – Playland (Mint)

Not sure what it is about Vancouver that always inspires a certain fetish for early ’80s British indie pop in the wake of Joy Division, the band The Organ being the prime example in the mid-2000s. But here comes another generation of rainy-day women in the form of Supermoon, whose lilting, melodic guitar lines are stronger than the lead vocals, the rhythm section quiet but insistent. All songs are under three minutes long; they know not to overstay their welcome. This digital album (also available as a double-seven-inch single) is a promising start; Supermoon is still waxing, you might say. (Jan. 19)

Stream: “Night Division,” “If You Say So,” “Stories We Tell Ourselves About Ourselves”

January '12 reviews

These reviews ran in the Kitchener-Waterloo Record and Guelph Mercury this month.

Jim Cuddy – Skyscraper Soul (Warner)

I had low expectations for a Jim Cuddy solo record in 2011, expectations that plummeted when I heard that the first single was about—wait for it—the royal wedding. And yet without realizing that I was listening to “Everyone Watched the Wedding,” I was quickly sucked into a somewhat sappy, straightforward, tough-times family narrative before the chorus clued me in.

It’s tricky, but effective; Cuddy’s argues the wedding was a small moment of hope and perfection for two people, a moment that millions were more than happy to experience vicariously if only as a respite from the downer of daily drama at home. And if he could pull that off—which he does—I figured that boded well for the rest of his third solo record.

Jim Cuddy has always been comfort food, and he rarely changes his recipe, either inside or outside Blue Rodeo. For whatever reason, this is his finest collection of songs in over a decade, songs of survival, resilience and faith—both lost and regained. The title track is about staying true to the town that’s in your blood, no matter how bad things seem—a sentiment many artists are pondering in Mayor Rob Ford’s Toronto. Cuddy is no master of imagery (“why do I need you so / like a drunk needs wine”), but he’s effective at nailing simple sentiments and concise storytelling, as any solid country songwriter should.

Blue Rodeo bassist Basil Donovan is here again, as always, and Cuddy’s longtime guitarist Colin Cripps recently signed on as a member of that band. So the real discovery here is keyboardist Steve O’Connor, who shines both in solo moments and just hovering in the background; Bryden Baird provides some lead trumpet lines that shake up the sound a bit. Cuddy also leaves room for a brief cinematic cello-laden instrumental, and a tiny acoustic song that sounds like Elliot Smith.

The biggest knock on Cuddy’s solo records is that they sound exactly like Blue Rodeo, devoid of the creative tension he has with Greg Keelor. While it would be nice to hear him step outside his comfort zone, he also knows what works best for him—and Skyscraper Soul is Cuddy at his best. (Jan. 5)

Download: “Everyone Watched the Wedding,” “Skyscraper Soul,” “Watch Yourself Go Down”

Ani DiFranco – Which Side Are You On? (Righteous Babe)

There’s no mistaking which side DiFranco is on; she’s not going to be appearing on Fox News any time soon. Which is why, in this American election year, she sounds more powerful than she has in years on the title track here, an interpolation of the 1931 protest song with new lyrics and a children’s chorus, a marching band and—of course—Pete Seeger on banjo.

We expect political fire from DiFranco. After 17 albums, what we don’t expect, necessarily, is subtlety, orchestral production and economical editing, which she delivers here. It’s her first album in four years, which for the ultra-prolific DiFranco is an unheard-of gap (though easily explained by her five-year-old daughter); the extra care in the songwriting is evident.

Producer/partner Mike Napolitano gives her music more bottom end than ever—not just the work of longtime bassist Todd Sickafoose, but every bass drum hit, every baritone saxophone punch, every low note on DiFranco’s distorted electric guitar. Bells, vibraphone, harps and tympani all provide small but effective shading. DiFranco’s voice improves with age, and she’s long ago stopped showing off as a guitarist, and serves each song instead.

The album’s only weak points are when she sets her most political poetry to music (“J,” “Promiscuity,” “Amendment”). On the page, as part of typically lovely album design, the poems are powerful; as music, they’re little more than a speech.

Overall, DiFranco is older, wiser and happier, and it shows. As she herself sings, “If you’re not getting happier as you get older / then you’re f---ing up.” (Jan. 19)

Download: “Which Side Are You On?”, “Hearse,” “Mariachi”

Kathleen Edwards – Voyageur (Maple)

In the advance hype leading up to Voyageur, much has been made of Kathleen Edwards’ creative and romantic partnership with Justin Vernon of Bon Iver, the indie sensation whose 2010 album topped many year-end lists and garnered several Grammy nominations. On the surface, it’s a strange combination: Edwards has rarely strayed from the Canadiana roots rock template of her peers Sarah Harmer, Jim Bryson and Blue Rodeo; Vernon makes sensitive, mellow pseudo-folk music that sounds like it’s sung by space aliens and a ’70s L.A. studio band. What would Vernon do with Edwards’ music? Hook her up to a helium tank? Demand she strip away any literal language in her lyrics? Impose a five-piece horn section on every song?

Vernon is all about the opaque; Edwards is never anything but blunt and direct. Using their lyrics, let’s imagine a typical conversation between them. Edwards: “I know your heart is a sacred thing. You’re a comedian hiding behind your funny face.” Vernon: “In a mother, out a moth, furling forests for the soft, gotta know been lead aloft.” Edwards: “Out of the shadows, out of the cameras and the lights, you’re a chameleon and you hide behind your darker side.” Vernon: “I’m ridding all your stories. What I know is, what it is, is pouring—wire it up!”

Thankfully, Vernon doesn’t impose himself on Edwards’ music; the production is crisp and clean, and there’s little here to distinguish it from any other Edwards album, other than her continuing maturity as a writer—although 2008’s Asking For Flowers was the real sea change, where she expanded her writing voice, constructing strong narratives that were clearly not autobiographical, setting short stories to songs. Here she’s back to writing what could easily be seen as personal stories; in the last year she divorced previous collaborator Colin Cripps before taking up with Vernon, and much of the album is about beginnings and endings of relationships. She and Vernon have very little in common, musically, although her “House Full of Empty Rooms” shares chords and sounds somewhat like Bon Iver’s “Beth/Rest,” only without a Mike and the Mechanics backdrop and with about 1/20^th the amount of reverb.

And yet if enough potential fans who would never give Kathleen Edwards the time of day before are suddenly interested because of the Bon Iver connection, more power to her. Edwards has yet to make a weak record, and Voyageur finds her more than ready for her close-up. (Jan. 19)

Download: “Change the Sheets,” “Empty Threat,” “House Full of Empty Rooms”

Elliott Brood – Days Into Years (Paper Bag)

Schomberg Fair – Mercy (independent)

In iTunes, the band Elliott Brood (or someone in their camp) categorizes the previously acoustic act as “punk,” proof that the now-pointless term really can apply to any band that uses electric guitars, as the Brood do for the first time here. One would be hard pressed to find anything punk about the 10 largely innocuous songs heard here with choruses like, “If I get old I’m living easy, find a nice old country home.”

Trivial semantic genre discussions aside, Elliott Brood—which boasts fiercely loyal, rabid fans—has been treading water for a while, with no sign that the songwriting is improving, Juno nominations and Polaris Prize shortlists notwithstanding. So much of their work is based on trying to get an A for effort: singer Mark Sasso does his best to channel passion, almost always sounding strained instead, and there’s no denying the band’s energy. Here, the electric guitars crackle and crunch fantastically and are a welcome addition to the band’s sonic palette; the production by John Critchley (13 Engines, Dan Mangan) is vivid, rich, and results in one of the better-sounding Canadian rock records of the last six months.

And yet it rarely adds up to anything memorable, other than hazy memories of raising a glass at a live show with their adoring audience. The songwriting is stuck in a rut, and not even the band’s apparent inspiration of visiting WWI memorials in Europe manages to spark much inspiration here.

The Schomberg Fair, on the other hand, who are Elliott Brood’s neighbours in Toronto’s quick-pickin’ roots rock community, are just as punk as Fucked Up. Schomberg Fair may have titled their last album Gospel, but they’re heavier than most metal bands. And right from the blistering banjo opening of the title track of their new EP, they throttle every song to the floor and pound it into submission, and yet still employing dynamics that give the willing victim time to breathe. Nate Sidon’s distorted electric bass is a rumbling melodic force riding the thunder of Pete Garthside’s tom rolls, while frontman Matt Bahen sings like a man who’s lived through tougher times than you’ll ever see and will kick the ass of anyone who wants to send him back there.

This EP is a bit of a stopgap before an upcoming full-length; 2010’s Gospel was a near-perfect barnburner that managed to have songs just as powerful as the performances, and one of my favourite records of that year. The EP doesn’t quite match that standard, but does pump up the production values, leave some more room for the songs to breathe while ratcheting up the intensity elsewhere, and often puts Sidon’s supporting vocals—he has a register about an octave lower than Johnny Cash—on par with Bahen’s lead.

The Schomberg Fair are too good to ignore anymore, and 2012 promises to be their breakout year. (Jan. 12)

Download Elliott Brood: “Hold You,” “West End Sky,” “Lines”

Download Schomberg Fair: “Oh Mercy,” “Orphan Bones,” “Black Train”

Nicolas Jaar – Space is Only Noise (Clown and Sunset)

This album is almost a year old, but is getting a new lease on life with strong showings on many year-end lists. And rightly so. Jaar creates luxurious, minimal techno—the kind that a mere 12 months ago was still being called dubstep, before that term got hijacked to mean electronic remixes of bad teen metal bands. Jaar keeps his tempos low, his vocals discombobulated and alien, and a variety of acoustic instruments—in particular Satie-style piano—offsetting the warm electronic bass and percussion. There are shades of Kraftwerk and even ’80s easy listening, like when a saxophone comes blazing in out of nowhere for a solo. Jaar in clearly love with sonic possibilities, and his strength as a producer outweighs any songwriting or particular beats found here. While it’s great that he’s being recognized as one of the leading lights of 2011—and several steps above the much-hyped James Blake, who mines similar territory—this fascinating but imperfect debut album is clearly just the beginning. (Jan. 5)

Download: “Too Many Kids Finding Rain in the Dust,” “Keep Me There,” “Space is Only Noise if You Can See”

The Roofhoppers – s/t (Fedora Upside Down)

The Boxcar Boys – Don’t Be Blue (Fedora Upside Down)

The record label’s name should give away what you can expect here: old-timey music that sounds the sweetest on a street corner where hats are passed to solicit audience appreciation. Both acts features lyrical clarinetist John David Williams, both acts are reverent traditionalists, both offer simple pleasures with excellent execution and devoid of cliché. The Roofhoppers are a klezmer-ish trio of acoustic guitar, upright bass and clarinet, with occasional female vocals; the Boxcar Boys are a five-piece New Orleans outfit that also delve into anything they feel like, be it Balkan melodies or haunting Hank Williams songs. Both offer much more than passing busker fancy; not only are the original compositions as much of a draw as the performances, but both recordings are perfect portraits of compelling live acts. (Jan. 19)

Download the Roofhoppers: “A Sleuth on a Park Bench,” “Church Street Khosidl,” “Roof Union”

Download the Boxcar Boys: “The Crumb Brothers,” “Paco Junior,” “Waltz for Rotman”

The Weeknd – Echoes of Silence (independent)

The final mixtape in The Weeknd’s 2011 trilogy restores the promise of the debut, House of Balloons—the second release, Thursday, was a disappointing sidestep into industrial/rock/reggae—while expanding the sound to be even more sparse at times, simultaneously more mainstream and more left-field, and thankfully no dark dips into the roofy-romance narratives that made him famous.

The real eyeopener is the opening track, a cover of Michael Jackson’s “Dirty Diana” (listed here as merely "D.D."), an odd amalgam of bad (and Bad) ’80s production sounds mixed with cheap early ’90s industrial and modern R&B—all elements that Tesfaye has toyed with before, but they didn’t sound as cheesy as they do here. Vocally, however, he absolutely nails the song; his range is equal to Jackson’s (no small feat), and the song’s subject matter fits in perfectly with his oeuvre (one of the stronger songs here has a chorus about how “you just want me coz I’m next”). As odd and reclusive as The Weeknd has appeared so far, listening to him cover the King of Pop makes you realize there’s really no reason why he couldn’t be the biggest R&B star of the next 10 years. (Jan. 12)

Download: The entire album is available for free at the-weeknd.com.

Jah Youssouf and Bintou Coulibaly – Sababou (Tall Corn Music)

Jah Youssouf is a musician from rural Mali who rarely leaves West Africa, although southern Ontario audiences got to know him when he recorded and toured with Dave Clark and Lewis Melville of the Woodchoppers Association, including regular gigs at Toronto’s Tranzac club and an appearance at Guelph’s Hillside Festival in 2009.

That same year, Chicago fan Brad Loving travelled to Mali to seek Youssouf out, and, thanks to Melville, found him at home outside Bamako with his wife, Bintou Coulibaly, in a house with no running water and electricity only from a car battery. Loving recorded the two of them—on ngoni, acoustic guitar and calabash—on a portable Zoom recorder, and released the recordings only last fall.

The unplugged intimacy—like a West African version of Gillian Welch and David Rawlings—is only the first of this album’s many charms. Youssouf is a powerful rhythm player, subtly conveying the strength of an entire band on a single stringed instrument, with Coulibaly providing minimal but effective percussion.

Most African music that we hear here involves big bands, big production, or both. Sababou may have been recorded in a living room by two people, but it’s every bit as gripping. (Jan. 5)

Download: "Faco," "Kahlan," "Folkan"

Youth Lagoon – The Year of Hibernation (Fat Possum)

If you didn’t know anything about the singer/songwriter who records as Youth Lagoon, you might think he’s a 23-year-old Midwesterner who suffers from the occasional anxiety attack. Turns out you’d be right: Trevor Powers quietly recorded this collection of fragile, dreamlike songs, and in a few whirlwind months after posting them online he found himself with a record deal, a world tour, and slots on several year-end lists. So he dropped out of the Boise State University, quit his retail job, and went on tour.

It’s hard to imagine Powers performing this material in public, however. The Year of Hibernation is music tailor-made for winter shut-ins, the distant vocals drenched in reverb, a lo-fi haze hovering over every instrument, Powers’s voice often slipping into a breaking falsetto, and crackling drum machines punctuating electric piano sounds—not unlike Beach House’s Teen Dream if someone dragged the master tapes through the mud and then threw them in a washing machine. Though much of it sounds tentative and shy, Powers is actually a great singer when he finally opens up and writes a chorus that allows his voice to soar.

Fans of fellow bedroom recorder East River Pipe will find plenty to love here; everyone else need only find themselves driving out of town on a starlit light, preferably in the midst of an existential crisis, to be ready to dive deep into Youth Lagoon. (Jan. 5)

Download: "17," "Daydream," "The Hunt"