Music for a Quiet Morning

Jessica Pratt – Quiet Signs

Jessica Pratt has recorded three full-length albums, and each of them is gentle, hushed and stark. They’re all quite beautiful, though her third, Quiet Signs, is the most maximalist of the three, which isn’t really saying that much. Most of these songs still mostly comprise her voice and acoustic guitar, with occasional touches of piano or light percussion. It’s great music for rising with the sun and enjoying a cup of coffee before telecommuting or, if you prefer, going back to bed.

Music for Motivation

Kaleta and Super Yamba Band – Médaho

I don’t know about anyone else, but music helps motivate me a lot better than, say, listening to a podcast. Don’t get me wrong—podcasts are fine, but they can be distracting when I need to get down to business. So sometimes I’ll opt for the loudest most intense music at my disposal, but more often than not, I need something with a groove. Benin-born Kaleta and his New York based Yamba Band most certainly have groove. Theirs is a blend of Fela Kuti-style Afrobeat, James Brown’s funk and King Sunny Ade’s juju guitar, and it’s got groove for days. I don’t know about you, but I feel ready to take on whatever comes my way (which is just email and takeout, I suppose).

Music for Daydreaming

Jay Som – Anak Ko

A little distracted? That’s OK! Distracting yourself or even just zoning out for a bit is entirely permitted. While you’re doing this, put on the new album by Bay Area artist Jay Som, which is a lush and gorgeous indie pop record full of dreamy melodies and dense arrangements.

Music for In-Home Happy Hour

Ratboys – Printer’s Devil

Working from home means that the lines between work and time off are going to be a little blurry, which is why it’s important to set some boundaries for yourself. Choose a time to “clock out”, and have yourself a stay-at-home happy hour. And you’ll need some music for that, of course. I recommend the new album by Chicago’s Ratboys, whose style of indie rock has the kind of energy and upbeat melodies that feel appropriate for a little treat-yourself time after work.

Music for a Living Room Dance Party

P.E. – Person

My favorite album of the year thus far is one that’s probably going to keep me grounded for a little while, just because it’s so much fun. P.E. is a Brooklyn band that features members of Pill and Eaters, and their sound is somewhere between weird, no-wave industrial and super-catchy synth-pop. So while some of their sounds are a little experimental, songs like “Soft Dance” and “Pink Shiver” are basically perfect pop singles. You can’t go out to dance right now, so put this on and do it in your living room.

Music for Insomnia

Caribou – Suddenly

I should clarify that when I say “Music for Insomnia,” this probably isn’t music that will get you to sleep. To be honest, I’ve always had trouble sleeping with music on. Some soothing voices? Perhaps, but not music. But the new Caribou album, while riddled with beats and samples, is to my ears very much a late night album, and it’s something to keep you company if you’re up at night, deciding whether or not you should mix together all the types of cereal in your cupboard.

Music That Soothes (Without Being Too Sedate)

Four Tet – Sixteen Oceans

Perhaps you just need something to listen to that’s not too intense, not too gentle or sparse, just something pretty with enough energy to make you feel like a human being. Well, UK producer Kieran Hebden, aka Four Tet, is great at that. Most of his music has energy and momentum, but never veers into sensory overload EDM. And his newly released Sixteen Oceans is one of his prettiest to date.

Music for Meditation

Tengger – Spiritual 2

Most of us will probably need some time for meditation, to re-center ourselves, to find a moment of peace while things are a bit scary. Some would probably prefer silence, but if you can add music to the equation, then you should do so, at least that’s my personal take on it. Tengger is a South Korean group that makes epic and beautiful electronic music that tends toward the hypnotic. Perfect for your solitary moment of inner peace. Or yoga. That works too.

Music To Hear Just Because It’s Really Good

Moses Sumney – græ Part One

But do you really need an excuse to buy some good new music? The best reason is because we enjoy listening to it! And one album I enjoy a whole lot right now is the first installment of Moses Sumney’s græ. He’s releasing it in two parts, with the second installment coming in May. But even if it’s half an album, these 12 tracks are some of the most sonically inviting, emotionally powerful songs I’ve heard all year.But no need to stop there, spend some time on Bandcamp and stream new albums to find other music you might want to buy. It’ll make a musician’s day, and they could really use that right now.

Jessica Pratt

Samuel Richard

The post Music For Social Distancing appeared first on San Diego Magazine.

Eric Bachmann at a Private Residence

One of the first, and best, shows I saw this year was in someone’s attic. That’s not a weird thing to say if you’ve ever been to DIY punk house shows. And for that matter, the increasing trend of living-room tours has made the practice more common in a constantly changing music industry landscape. Eric Bachmann, vocalist and songwriter in Crooked Fingers and Archers of Loaf, serenaded an audience inside a house in South Park, pulling from throughout his catalog and even taking a few random requests, in what amounted to an intimate and special evening, one unlike any other show I saw this year.

Chameleons Vox at The Casbah

Enough rock reunions have taken place in the past decade that I’m increasingly skeptical anytime another one gets announced. (Until one comes along that I genuinely get excited about, of course—I’m complicated.) This wasn’t necessarily a reunion show for iconic UK post-punk band The Chameleons. The only original member was vocalist and bassist Mark Burgess; regardless, the show was far tighter, more powerful and intense than I could have expected. It’s enough to warm a coastal goth’s heart.

Mike Doughty at Soda Bar

I don’t like to think of myself as the kind of person whose favorite live shows throughout the year are nostalgia trips, but I’m just going to go ahead and lay out my confession: Hearing Soul Coughing frontman Mike Doughty perform the band’s debut album, Ruby Vroom, in its entirety was the best kind of reminder of discovering all kinds of weird, fun and unfamiliar music when I was in junior high. And 25 years later, I’m pleased to say that the album more than holds up—and Doughty himself is a stellar entertainer, not to mention a super funny guy.

Idles at Observatory North Park

I’ve seen Idles three times in one year. That has to be some kind of record for a band that none of my friends are in. But there’s a good reason for it though: The Bristol, UK band is one of the most vital rock acts right now, balancing furious punk and post-hardcore with a magnetic positivity that’s often sadly missing in loud, aggressive music. There’s nothing but love to go around at their incendiary live shows, and I don’t imagine anyone left this one without having an absolute blast.

Bob Mould at The Casbah

While we’re on the subject of getting caught up on legendary bands on my live-music bucket list, I only this year saw Bob Mould—former frontman of Hüsker Dü and Sugar—for the first time. And the show more than lived up to my expectations. The Minneapolis punk legend ripped through more than two-dozen songs from throughout his 40-year career, and seemingly every time he started a new one, I thought to myself, “Oh right, this song is also amazing!” An amazing show, and while we’re on the subject, one of the nicest musicians I’ve ever interviewed.

Angel Olsen at Observatory North Park

I’m always heartened by seeing the progression of an artist firsthand. Back in 2014, I caught Angel Olsen on a rainy night at Soda Bar, and she closed her set with three quiet (and stunning!) solo tracks that managed to hush the entire bar—a rare feat in a rock club. But since then the singer/songwriter has gradually made her way to even bigger rooms. On this tour, she brought a bigger band with her, including a violinist and a cellist, which allowed her to bring the songs from her outstanding new album All Mirrors to life.

Sleater-Kinney at Observatory North Park

As I mentioned in my preview of this show earlier this year, Sleater-Kinney without Janet Weiss is bittersweet, and unfortunate that her departure from the band happened the way it did. That being said, the live version of Sleater-Kinney—expanded to a quintet—sounds phenomenal, and with as much energy and intensity as ever.

Weyes Blood at The Irenic

One of the biggest bummers in San Diego music this year was the closure of North Park venue The Irenic, one of the few places in town that doesn’t have a 21-and-up age limit. But before it closed down, Weyes Blood delivered a gorgeous performance composed mostly of songs from her latest album Titanic Rising. It was a warm night, and the only thing available to drink was canned Guayaki Yerba Mate (which was fine, I guess?), but the thing I’ll remember most was Natalie Mering’s amazing songs.

Jamila Woods at The Casbah

Jamila Woods’ first album HEAVN was an underrated favorite of 2016, but its follow-up, this year’s LEGACY! LEGACY!, is nothing short of a masterpiece. Inspired by the experiences and contributions of artists of color throughout the 20^th century, LEGACY! is a rich listening experience that showcases the range of Woods’ poetic songwriting. It’s also funky as hell, and Woods delivered a smoldering set backed by a band that had more groove than San Diego typically knows what to do with.

Yob at Brick by Brick

I don’t often talk about it on this page, but I believe in full transparency: I’m a metalhead. An unapologetic and enthusiastic metalhead who buys “oxblood” colored vinyl because that’s way more metal than standard black. That said, Yob is not a conventional metal band by any measure. The Eugene, Oregon band usually makes time for San Diego on every tour, and their most recent stop was outstanding. Heavy yet spiritual, colossal yet transcendent. It’s massive music that evokes a deeper, emotional connection, and as much as I appreciate the cathartic aspect of heavy music, sometimes it’s nice when it feels restorative as well.

The 10 Best San Diego Concerts I Saw in 2019

Idles | Photo by Candice Eley

The post The 10 Best San Diego Concerts I Saw in 2019 appeared first on San Diego Magazine.

With their second album, Young Enough, some of that has changed. They’ve embraced synths and bigger pop production that suggests something of a leveling up for the band. Though their songs are as catchy as ever, they’re also more nuanced, more brutally honest, and more grown up. It’s a big album, and yet it feels much more intimate.

I spoke with singer Eva Hendricks and her brother Sam about the album, growing up, and the importance of always challenging themselves.

It’s my understanding that when you wrote the songs for your first album, Guppy, you had lived with them for a while before they were released?

Eva: I think “Percolator” was written four or five years before Guppy actually came out. So by the time it actually did come out, we were so relieved, but I would also say a bit frustrated and just kind of “Grrr, this album needs to come out; we can’t wait any longer!” And we recorded it twice, so it felt like a long road to getting the album out. It’s been a totally different experience with Young Enough.

How soon after the first album was released did you start on Young Enough?

Eva: We had already started writing by the time Guppy was out. The songs, we had them for a while, which I think was a good thing because I felt really aware that once the album was out and people have heard it, it might be kind of scary to feel the pressure of writing something new. So by the time we broke the seal, we were already on our way.

Sam: Also, for Guppy, at least the first iteration, we had only written 10 songs. And I think that was one of the biggest reasons we re-recorded it in the first place, and so we learned from our mistakes and ended up writing way more songs than we needed.

There’s definitely a lot of new and different ideas on Young Enough. How important is it for you as a band to continually be challenging yourselves?

Eva: It was so important for us to not make the same album twice. We didn’t want to make Guppy 2.0. We wanted to make an album that felt like we had grown and experimented with things that didn’t immediately come to us, and that makes for a record that we’re all really proud of. The first 10 songs we wrote would have been a very logical follow-up to Guppy, then it was really exciting to see what happened when we went beyond that and forced ourselves to try new things and get out of old habits. We always want to push ourselves in the right direction. I always want to feel like we’re growing. I’d hate to put out the same album over and over again.

The title Young Enough feels like an unfinished statement, like you’re suggesting a second half of that: “Young enough to be…” fill in the blank.

Eva: Definitely. I was thinking about what it means to get older. But I really like this idea that as you get older, you also get softer, or that’s what I hope for. You get more open, I guess. And I think something I never want to be as a person is stubborn and rigid; I always want to feel like I’m growing, and I think of that as a young mindset. Your perspective is always changing. The title track is about that. It’s a relationship I went through, which I’ve written about before, and I was really frustrated and angry when I first wrote about it. But when I got older, I also felt a lot of peace with the situation, and gratitude in some ways, and the ability to see where it brought me. So I think the idea was kind of like, you’re young enough to be wrong and to prove yourself wrong and have your mind change and to mess up. And I think it’s something that’s not tied to a certain age, it’s just tied to who I am forever.

What is the biggest change the band has undergone as you’ve grown?

Sam: I think we started listening to a lot more new music. When we started, I was the kind of person who found what I liked and would just obsessively listen. I was kind of stuck in a box, like all the ’90s stuff—Nirvana, Foo Fighters, Weezer. Then meeting Spencer and Dan, and traveling around the country multiple times together, I think it’s done a tremendous change in terms of musical taste and has affected my songwriting.

Eva: I would say for me, the biggest change is that being in this band has both forced me to become a lot more self-aware and also a lot more confident. We are around each other so much, and we essentially live together around the world and work together—it’s a lot of time together, and it’s really humbling to have a group of people around you who see you at your absolute worst and best and love you and support you regardless of where you’re at. We’re so close as bandmates, and that’s a really lucky and wonderful thing that I don’t take for granted. This whole band started because Spencer said, “I bet you’ve been secretly writing songs,” and he was totally right! And this band wouldn’t have happened if he didn’t believe in me. I’m lucky enough to have bandmates who ignore me or force me to do things I don’t think I can do. Like, I didn’t think I could play guitar, and I’d say “Don’t give me this part, I’ll mess it up,” and they’d just say, ‘No, you’ll be fine.’ They are always putting me in a position to grow as a person and I feel really lucky.

Sam: That was a way better answer than mine. I think I want to double down on that. [Laughs]

Charly Bliss
June 29
The Casbah

Other Recommended Shows This Week:

Eric B & Rakim (June 20, House of Blues): Two of the best and most influential albums in hip-hop history—Paid in Full and Follow the Leader—have crossed the 30-year mark. And the two men behind them are still bringing those rap Rosetta stones to audiences three decades later.

Mattson 2 (June 20, Belly Up): Twin brothers Jared and Jonathan Mattson make music that blurs the line between indie rock, jazz, and surf rock, and it’s one of the more interesting sounds to come out of San Diego. They recently collaborated with synth-pop artist Toro y Moi, which was a cool combination, but they more than hold their own as an instrumental unit.

Anderson .Paak & the Free Nationals (June 26, Open Air Theatre): This was one of the shows I highlighted in my Summer Concert Preview, in large part because Paak’s 2016 album, Malibu, hasn’t lost its freshness in three years. But do yourself a favor and check out any live videos of Paak on YouTube to witness pure joy in the form of live music.

Charly Bliss discusses growing up

Photo: Ebru Yildiz

The post Charly Bliss discusses growing up appeared first on San Diego Magazine.