Fresh Finds Quick Hits (part two)
another trawl through spotify playlists
You know how I did that article a little while back about Spotify’s Fresh Finds Country playlist when I was in a time crunch and working on another bigger article? I’m in a similar time crunch this week, with at least three bigger articles in different stages of development. I wanted to put something out this week to make up for the relative lack of content last week, so I’ve selected the Fresh Finds Indie playlist as my source. I mine the genre of country pretty hard, and I always try to mix up my offerings whenever possible. (I also try to incorporate artists who are queer, Black, indigenous, or other people of color. Have you noticed?) Thus, the spinner this week fell on “indie”.
I’m going through the first ten entries on this playlist and telling you what I thought of them. No more, no less. Don’t expect a lot of in-depth analysis. In keeping with my usual rating system that I stole fair and square from Raven and Raja’s Fashion Photo Ru-View, I’ll rate each song a “boot” (negative) or “toot” (positive). For exceptionally bad entries, there’s the “scoot”, and for exceptionally good entries there’s the “shoot”. There’s also the fifth variation, the neutral “noot”, which means this is just a reskinned Likert scale for all my fellow data analysis nerds out there. Let’s get started with Amie Blu…
1. 9 lives - Amie Blu
The best description of this one from Londoner Amie Blu is “dancehall on ketamine”. (Remember kids, don’t so drugs.) There’s a lilting quality to her vocals, with an almost whispered delivery. Once the beat drops, the song does its best Sly and Robbie impression, complete with a danceable rhythm that will stick in your head.
Verdict: Toot
2. Just Stay for Once - Imani Graham
Nervous energy permeates Imani Graham’s song, a frenetic and vibrant thing reminiscent of mid-period Guided by Voices or early Yeah Yeah Yeahs. The glitched vocals at the end of the chorus phrases are a nice touch. I admire the ability of the artist to go from thin, twinkly rhythm guitar to a crunchy, earthy distortion at appropriate times. The synth parts blend well with the organics.
Verdict: Toot
3. Easier - carego
Imagine a slowed-down, blissed out oso oso, having recently listened to just the right amount of My Bloody Valentine. The guitars are drenched in reverb and delay, creating an atmospheric aura. Is that a tempo-shifted “Amen break” I hear in the pre-chorus? Once the bridge hits, the energy builds then dissipates, returning to the stately pace of the first two verses. I would have loved to have heard a definitive key change instead of the return.
Verdict: Noot
4. Paloma - Tall Juan
Pitchfork described Tall Juan as an unholy hybrid of Elvis and Iggy Pop, but I don’t get that at all. If anything, I detect Beck on a mid-fifties tropicalia bent. The bassline is clearly indebted to the Compass Point All-Stars as filtered through David Byrne or Tom Tom Club. More bands should incorporate a woodwind section unafraid to use an extensive effects pedal board. About halfway through, I got major Spyro Gyra vibes, which is not a bad thing at all as far as I am concerned.
Verdict: Toot
5. Cheapshot - Seago
If you take one part Harry Nilsson and one part Warren Zevon, then filter it through a modern hip-hop prism, this is what you’d get. I’m not one to normally complain about the length of songs one way or another, but this is too short to develop the idea completely. Essentially, “Cheapshot” doesn’t go anywhere, and certainly not anywhere interesting. If there was more to it, I might be able to get absorbed. As it is, there’s not enough substance.
Verdict: Boot
6. Mirrored - Skeleten
When I was six or seven, I won a statewide contest that had a cash prize. I bought three things with my prize money: a Toronto Blue Jays cap, a Miami Marlins cap, and a far too complicated for a seven year old Casio keyboard. The reason I bring this up is that the rhythm and the discordant synth parts to “Mirrored” remind me of my entirely uneducated work products from that keyboard. The vocals are nice enough, with some quality reverb. That’s about all I can praise here. It’s just not my thing, and that’s okay.
Verdict: Boot
7. Wait for Me - Matilda Lyn
I have an immediate dislike for vocalists who eschew their lower range in order to sound more childlike and youthful. I can appreciate Matilda Lyn’s theremin-esque warbling to end her phrasing, but some bass would be nice. The triple-tracked and quadruple-tracked choruses are an improvement, although the thinness of her voice still shines through. I need low end to survive.
Verdict: Boot
8. Dodge Street - Lilts
This is the stuff right here. Take the Cocteau Twins, the Cranberries, and a distinctly Mike Campbell rhythm guitar, throw some Reeves Gabriel-style leads onto, and give it a little bit of crunch. The result is exactly what I’m looking for in an indie track. John Ross from Wild Pink and Laura Wolf have combined to make an excellent song that creates a beautiful image in your head.
Verdict: Toot
9. It Takes Time - Fairhazel
Another track that seems anemic and lifeless without some kind of low-end anchor. Falsetto vocals need contrast to stand out, so the etherealness doesn’t distinguish itself from the backing music. The string section is a good start, but it doesn’t go anywhere. I need some ideas developed in a song, whether through lyrics or melody. This song has neither.
Verdict: Boot
10. Someway Somehow - Party Nails
Imogen Heap should get royalties on the majority of “indie” songs recorded after her song “Hide and Seek” (perhaps best known for that scene in The O.C. and the endless parodies that came afterward). The vocal part from Elana Carroll a.k.a. Party Nails in “Someway Somehow” owes a great deal to Heap’s pitch-shifted multi-layered delivery, but the backing track is your league-average indie song from any number of disaffected Brooklynites from any point in the past two decades.
Verdict: Toot, with noot characteristics
I hope you enjoyed this little detour. If any of my readers has a playlist or selection of songs they would like me to do quick hit reviews of, I’m more than willing to do so. I’d like to begin alternating longer pieces that involve more research and time with these shorter pieces. The constraints on my time as of late should lessen in the coming weeks (with any luck), so I can devote more energy to my usual output. If you have any subjects you’d like to see me cover, hit me up on essentially any social media platform you might have. All of my accounts are linked in my Linktree, so feel free to yell at me. See you next time, space cowboys, space cowgirls, and space cattle workers of all genders.