A sprawling epic from Toronto jazz trio
Plus new tracks from Magdalena Bay, LeBon and DJ Bizarrap
Keeping up with new music releases can be a difficult task. Your Weekend Playlist offers a brief introduction to a broad range of the most interesting new tracks and emerging artists.
This week’s playlist features new music from BadBadNotGood, Magdalena Bay, Bizarrap and a collaboration between Hamilton Leithauser and Kevin Morby. Plus, new music from Cate Le Bon and Roc Marciano.
BadBadNotGood: Signal From The Noise
In a recent podcast, music critic Kelefa Sanneh describes how, in the late ’60s and early ’70s, two groups — The Velvet Underground and Yes — offered competing visions for the future of rock ’n’ roll. Of course, The Velvet Underground’s vision proved triumphant — their laid-back and loose sound became the template and a key influence for punk music, altrock and indie. As for the progrock/jazz fusion wizards in Yes, despite their technical prowess and grand ambitions, the music today sounds bizarre, even alien.
On their new instrumental album, “Talk Memory,” Toronto’s BadBadNotGood conjure a future where Yes’s vision prevails, melding aspects of spaced-out prog-rock with the contemporary sounds of jazz, R&B and hip hop. On the album’s sprawling opener, “Signal From The Noise,” the trio lumbers dreamily into a crescendo that explodes into a wickedly distorted bass freak-out by Chester Hansen, before crashing down into psychedelic reverie.
As detailed in a Star profile by Jonathan Dekel, “Talk Memory” signals a new direction for BBNG, a group best known for “offering dexterous musical accompaniment and reinterpretation to rappers looking to expand their musical sensibilities.” In embracing their influences and leaning into their skills as a jam-band, they suddenly seem boundless.
Magdalena Bay: You Lose!
The sudden death of exuberant synth pop remains one of the great unsolved mysteries of the 2000s. One day, you’re a wideeyed millennial with a flower crown dancing with all your friends to MGMT, Grimes and M83, and the next day you’re a jaded 30-something listening to sad songs by Mitski and Phoebe Bridgers all by yourself.
Fortunately, an extremely-online duo from L.A. known as Magdalena Bay have exhumed the dusty polo fields of Coachella and revived the genre for a new generation, while providing a much-needed shot of nostalgia for the rest of us.
Released last week, Magdalena Bay’s supremely-crafted and only-slightly ironic “Mercurial World” is filled with colourful synths and bubbly vocal hooks. Tracks like “You Lose!” and “Something for 2” evoke the spirit of the aughts while still managing to sound fresh.
Bizarrap: BZRP Music Sessions #38 and #45
Looking for an easy way to dive down the rabbit hole of Latin trap music? Go ahead and check out the BZRP Music Sessions, an ongoing series from Argentine DJ and producer Bizarrap (who recently became one of the most streamed artists in the world). Each session features a different rap or reggaetón artist in the studio trying to keep up with Bizarrap’s aggressive and hyperactive beats — it’s almost like an extreme take on the COLORSxSTUDIOS series.
Among the most-listened to sessions is #35, (117M streams on Spotify, plus nearly 232M views on YouTube), which features menacing rhymes from Argentine “cachengue” (a mix of cumbia and reggaeton) singer L-Gante and an intense, lurching rhythm. On the latest session, #45, Spanish rapper Ptazeta rapidly spits bars over a bouncy, bass-heavy beat that deftly treads the line between fun and ridiculous.
Cate Le Bon: Running Away
For more than a decade, Welsh artist Cate Le Bon has kept things interesting with her offkilter approach to pop music, characterized by innovative arrangements and eccentric guitar playing style.
On “Running Away,” Le Bon builds a slow-burning and psychedelic groove around a warbling bass synth and scorched electric guitars that would sound at home on a Berlin-era Bowie record.
The single will appear on her upcoming album “Pompeii,” which drops in February.
Hamilton Leithauser and Kevin Morby: Virginia Beach
Indie rock journeymen Hamil- ton Leithauser and Kevin Morby — both of whom released solo albums last year — have shared a one-off collaboration ahead of their upcoming coheadlining U.S. tour.
According to Leithauser, who is best known as the frontman of 2000s post-punk group The Walkmen, the song was an attempt to write a “dark country song” with an underlying dance groove.
Morby, who wrote the lyrics, seeks to emulate the likes of folk legends Bob Dylan and Johnny Cash via colourful references to “the bizarre and beautiful corners of America.”
Leithauser and Morby find a nice bit of alchemy on this autumnal track, their distinct voices intertwined over fingerpicked acoustic guitar and countrified electric licks. Don’t be surprised if these two continue their musical friendship with a full length project.