Bryce Rudow is the Editor-in-Chief of Random Nerds, the best damn media site in the world. You can tweet vitriol at him @brycetrudow or email him at [email protected]
Happy Wednesday, ya’ll!
For those of you that don’t meticulously check my boilerplate header, I am proud to announce that I got hired to be Editor-in-Chief of the newly launched RandomNerds.com. We’ve got great writers like The A.V. Club‘s Nathan Rabin and Pitchfork‘s Julian Kimble on staff that you should read all the time, but more importantly, we’re throwing a concert this weekend.
This Saturday, we’ve got Spirit Animal, Kokayi, and Greenland at Rock and Roll Hotel for a one-night-only gig to help celebrate our glorious birth unto this world.
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=y7V7a4TKb6k
Tickets are only $12 and you can get them here.
Come say hi and I’ll probably buy you a beer. But get a ticket now.
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- Wangel – “Seoul”
You know why they say you shouldn’t go reinventing the wheel? Because the wheel is awesome. However, just because there is already one wheel, that doesn’t mean there isn’t also room in the world for other ‘original wheel’ knockoffs. I bring this up because yes, this song does sound a lot like James Blake or Sampha or any of another handful of artists you could name. But that doesn’t mean it isn’t good. It’s, at least, coincidentally, better than similar-artist SOHN’s song “The Wheel.”
While Wangel, a very charming looking fellow out of Copenhagen (his Twitter and Facebook is almost exclusively in Danish), probably doesn’t need the 6 reinvented wheels that comprise his EP (available on Spotify), there’s no denying “Seoul” has that special something. If he’s smart, his management will have him go hard with the live recordings (the more zoom-ins on bare Edison lightbulbs, the better):
and stripped-down recording sessions:
Because you never know when you’re going to get that one version that perfectly captures the artist/goes viral (Just ask Torres and her OurVinyl Sessions, which were so damn good they had to put them on Spotify). Ultimately though, “Seoul” should give Wangel the leverage to get a proper tour and EP done, and then it’s up to him to capitalize on that opportunity.
This cover of Jeff Buckley’s “Everybody Here Wants You” ain’t bad, and not many people would have the balls to touch this, so I’m up for giving this guy a chance.
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- Fetty Wap ft. Azealia Banks, Quavo, Gucci, “Trap Queen”
As a rule, I don’t like trap music. Mostly, it is because of one (hypothetical) reason: If I locked you in a recording studio for 24 hours with a professional producer and asked you to come up with a trap beat and chorus, odds are you could come up with something at least as good as “Trap Queen.”
However, as someone that is celebrating his 1-year ‘loss of sight in one eye’-aversary in a few weeks (pickup basketball injury), I’ve got to give a little love to a dude pulling the ‘yes I have no eye, what of it?’ move of not rocking an eye-patch or covering it up. If my eye had to get removed like his, I’d probably still be rocking a tie-day bandana over my face.
Plus Azelia Banks is in the remix version of this song, and she could rap over anything and I’d be okay with it.
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and now, it’s time for a very special edition of…
HULKIN’ OUT WITH LINDSAY HOGAN: (BYT Editor Brandon Wetherbee specifically requested this because the man has taste)
- Chemical Brothers – “Go”
I have insecurities about really loving electronic artists . Individual songs are one thing, but I hesitate to get too wrapped up in a genres whose quick-fix fads are likely to sound unbearable in a few years. The Chemical Brothers, on the other hand, have been a pillar of electronic music for 24 years. Not only can I comfortably use words like “longevity” and “respect” to describe the duo, but I think it was my dad who first told me to listen them. Thanks dad.
“Go” is not the work of spot-light seeking amateurs who bought some expensive equipment. It’s the classic Chemical Brothers sound; big, synthy and spacey. And if that’s not enough, they’ve brought Q-Tip on board who is distinct brand of energetic cool sounds like its been part of the group for years. If you haven’t decided on an early-summer pump-up jam, I recommend this one.
- Torres – “New Skin”
Torres is not for summertime. But to those who feel unfulfilled and underrepresented with the majority of hyper-energized seasonal jams, I bring you Sprinter, Torres’ second album. Yes, I know Bryce has plugged Torres more than once in the past year, but I was too busy ignorantly frolicking in the shallow pleasantries of life to wrap my head around her music.
But now my mind-ears have been opened and I repent. “New Skin” is an aching representation of the angry and intimate personality that drives the whole album. Its unpacks fear and resentment towards family, religion and often herself. If, like me, you actively avoid exploring necessary sadness in your life, Torres is there to help you out.
But just because her songs are dark does not mean does not mean they are small. “New Skin,” and much of the album, sounds like a lifetime of repression getting releases. Sprinter is about introspection and liberation from mind of a very complex person that I try to understand with every listen.
Was that too heavy? I think that was way too heavy. Check out this new Penguin Prison track. Its bubbly.
https://soundcloud.com/penguin-prison/show-me-the-way
