Yes, it’s cute: Flo Milli, “Roaring 20s” – One thing that’s refreshing about Flo Mili right now is that her music doesn’t sound like it was made to go viral on TikTok, and “Roaring 20s” is no exception. It’s a fun track that faithfully samples Fiddler on the Roof and features Flo Milli’s beloved brand of bravado: A dulcet, high-pitched voice paired with a brutal fuck you attitude. The music video is fun too, a flapper-era throwback that left me hoping that we’ll be able to reach some 1920s levels of debauchery when the pandemic is over. Here’s hoping, because I definitely want to scream Flo Milli lyrics in the club sooner rather than later. —Ashley Reese
Lol: Sabrina Carpenter, “Skin” (music video) – As all internet-savvy, teen pop fans of a certain age know, Sabrina Carpenter’s “Skin” was probably, maybe, can’t be too sure but almost definitely written as a response to Olivia Rodrigo’s monster hit “drivers license,” which is unfortunate, because it makes the Disney star seems petty as hell with lines like, “Maybe blonde was the only rhyme” and “You can try / To get under my, under my, under my skin / While he’s on mine / Yeah, all on my, all on my, all on my skin.” Considering that Carpenter is a 20-something adult and Rodrigo is a teen who literally just got their drivers license, it is a little disconcerting. The video, however, is sweet—she and a partner caress as the world collapses around them. Too bad it is impossible to remove from Rodrigo’s narrative! Better luck next time (despite the fact that, you know, this song kinda bangs. It is no “drivers license” but it is pleasant enough H&M pop.) —Maria Sherman
The decadence : Rich The Kid, Flo Milli, Mulatto & Rubi Rose, “Nasty” (music video) – Reboots are rarely desired, but I’d sign a petition for a Moulin Rouge remake featuring Flo Milli, Mulatto, and Rubi Rose tomorrow. In the meantime, the “Nasty” video will suffice—a dirty song gets a burlesque video, and while it’s a soundtrack for the bedroom, it’s making me miss the club. Hit play, live vicariously. —MS
Y: Skullcrusher, “Song For Nick Drake” – All band names are bad—the sleepy acoustic songwriting of LA soloist Helen Ballentine, who records under the moniker “Skullcrusher,” is proof. (No word from the Swedish death metal band Bloodshed.) But not all music is bad, and “Song For Nick Drake,” is proof. I love the idea of writing a gorgeous homage to a musician you admire—I think most musicians become musicians because they love music and because music soundtracks their lives, and this is a very literal interpretation of that enthusiasm. It’s great. —MS
Yeah, but it took me a minute: Iceage, “The Holding Hand” – Here’s the thing about Iceage: They know how to make a beautiful song that builds and builds and builds. They do it incredibly fucking well. Lead singer Elias Bender Rønnenfelt’s mumble singing might not be to one’s taste (my boyfriend always snickers about it when I’m blasting Iceage in the car), and maybe their style of punk isn’t for everyone, but these guys have the perfect formula for building tension in a song before allowing it to succumb to an explosion of sonic catharsis. So I was listening to “The Holding Hand” and waiting for that moment when the build-up pays off… and it never really happened.
Hell ya: Communions, “Birds of Passage” – Here’s how it is done: an ascending, airy pop-rock song optimistic about the future. Communions know how to write a song, even if it feels like devastation might be around every corner, but you can’t help but follow them through the journey. I am a bird, following their passage. —MS
Finally!!!: The KLF, “Atlanta to Mobile” – This week, conceptual artists/practical jokers/money-burners/legit ‘90s techno-pop act the KLF (aka the Justified Ancients of Mu Mu) released Come Down Dawn to streaming platforms. It’s an alternate mix of the group’s classic 1990 ambient album Chill Out—the biggest difference is the removal of some samples (Elvis Presley featured prominently in the original configuration). The group, in its typically confounding fashion, describes the relationship between Come Down Dawn and Chill Out like this: “Come Down Dawn by The Justified Ancients of Mu Mu is also a pre-mix of Chill Out released by The KLF on the 5th of February 1990. Come Down Dawn was released the day before Chill Out, but 31 years later.” A field-recording journey of sorts, the record helped birth the post-club, downtempo genre of “chill out.” I could have selected any of its tracks for this column (which is to say that the album should be experienced as a whole), but the one posted above uses sounds that would eventually appear on the KLF’s single “Last Train to Trancentral,” from the group’s equally vital album The White Room. If this is your first time embarking on the Chill Out express, enjoy the trip. —Rich Juzwiak
Y: Dance System and Mark Broom, “Never Ever” – A pumped-up disco house network of samples so frenetic it borders on techno comes courtesy of club revivalist Dance System (aka James Connolly, whom you may know as L-Vis 1990), and techno producer James Broom. This one pounds hard and sweet. With vaccine distribution underway and a return to relative normalcy potentially imminent, I’m choosing to hear this less as a remembrance of what we lost and more as a promise of what’s to come. —RJ
Lol: Sabrina Carpenter, “Skin” (music video) – As all internet-savvy, teen pop fans of a certain age know, Sabrina Carpenter’s “Skin” was probably, maybe, can’t be too sure but almost definitely written as a response to Olivia Rodrigo’s monster hit “drivers license,” which is unfortunate, because it makes the Disney star seems petty as hell with lines like, “Maybe blonde was the only rhyme” and “You can try / To get under my, under my, under my skin / While he’s on mine / Yeah, all on my, all on my, all on my skin.” Considering that Carpenter is a 20-something adult and Rodrigo is a teen who literally just got their drivers license, it is a little disconcerting. The video, however, is sweet—she and a partner caress as the world collapses around them. Too bad it is impossible to remove from Rodrigo’s narrative! Better luck next time (despite the fact that, you know, this song kinda bangs. It is no “drivers license” but it is pleasant enough H&M pop.) —Maria Sherman
The decadence : Rich The Kid, Flo Milli, Mulatto & Rubi Rose, “Nasty” (music video) – Reboots are rarely desired, but I’d sign a petition for a Moulin Rouge remake featuring Flo Milli, Mulatto, and Rubi Rose tomorrow. In the meantime, the “Nasty” video will suffice—a dirty song gets a burlesque video, and while it’s a soundtrack for the bedroom, it’s making me miss the club. Hit play, live vicariously. —MS
Y: Skullcrusher, “Song For Nick Drake” – All band names are bad—the sleepy acoustic songwriting of LA soloist Helen Ballentine, who records under the moniker “Skullcrusher,” is proof. (No word from the Swedish death metal band Bloodshed.) But not all music is bad, and “Song For Nick Drake,” is proof. I love the idea of writing a gorgeous homage to a musician you admire—I think most musicians become musicians because they love music and because music soundtracks their lives, and this is a very literal interpretation of that enthusiasm. It’s great. —MS
Yeah, but it took me a minute: Iceage, “The Holding Hand” – Here’s the thing about Iceage: They know how to make a beautiful song that builds and builds and builds. They do it incredibly fucking well. Lead singer Elias Bender Rønnenfelt’s mumble singing might not be to one’s taste (my boyfriend always snickers about it when I’m blasting Iceage in the car), and maybe their style of punk isn’t for everyone, but these guys have the perfect formula for building tension in a song before allowing it to succumb to an explosion of sonic catharsis. So I was listening to “The Holding Hand” and waiting for that moment when the build-up pays off… and it never really happened.
I got a sliver of it toward the tail end of the song—was Elias just singing louder?—but for the most part, I found myself waiting for something that never materialized. I’m enjoying it more after repeated listens, but that’s probably because I know what to expect. Don’t get me wrong, the song is still beautiful, and I can’t wait to see how their next album pans out, but the track felt a little monotonous for my liking. Shouts to the music video, for gratuitously reminding us how hot Elias is, however. That was nice). —AR
Hell ya: Communions, “Birds of Passage” – Here’s how it is done: an ascending, airy pop-rock song optimistic about the future. Communions know how to write a song, even if it feels like devastation might be around every corner, but you can’t help but follow them through the journey. I am a bird, following their passage. —MS
Finally!!!: The KLF, “Atlanta to Mobile” – This week, conceptual artists/practical jokers/money-burners/legit ‘90s techno-pop act the KLF (aka the Justified Ancients of Mu Mu) released Come Down Dawn to streaming platforms. It’s an alternate mix of the group’s classic 1990 ambient album Chill Out—the biggest difference is the removal of some samples (Elvis Presley featured prominently in the original configuration). The group, in its typically confounding fashion, describes the relationship between Come Down Dawn and Chill Out like this: “Come Down Dawn by The Justified Ancients of Mu Mu is also a pre-mix of Chill Out released by The KLF on the 5th of February 1990. Come Down Dawn was released the day before Chill Out, but 31 years later.” A field-recording journey of sorts, the record helped birth the post-club, downtempo genre of “chill out.” I could have selected any of its tracks for this column (which is to say that the album should be experienced as a whole), but the one posted above uses sounds that would eventually appear on the KLF’s single “Last Train to Trancentral,” from the group’s equally vital album The White Room. If this is your first time embarking on the Chill Out express, enjoy the trip. —Rich Juzwiak
Y: Dance System and Mark Broom, “Never Ever” – A pumped-up disco house network of samples so frenetic it borders on techno comes courtesy of club revivalist Dance System (aka James Connolly, whom you may know as L-Vis 1990), and techno producer James Broom. This one pounds hard and sweet. With vaccine distribution underway and a return to relative normalcy potentially imminent, I’m choosing to hear this less as a remembrance of what we lost and more as a promise of what’s to come. —RJ
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