Weyes Blood, Beck, Deerhunter
Taking the format to the year’s end are a handful of US digital EPs. First up, unsinkable Californian Weyes Blood posted Rough Trade Session – four alternative takes of songs from Titanic Rising that reveal Natalie Mering’s strong, songwriterly core. Stripped of its chamber pop arrangement, in just piano and voice, Everyday is a highlight; brighter and louder than on the album, it taps directly into its nostalgic seams of inspiration. Mindful of his own muse, Beck donned a purple ruffled shirt to take up an invitation to visit Paisley Park, yielding a three-track EP for Amazon Music (video on Vevo): a superloose Up All Night (from Colors) and a high camp Where It’s At. But this party is all about the absent host and a spinning, dipping Prince medley of Raspberry Beret, When Doves Cry, Kiss, and 1999 has real time bending gravity. Indeed, Timebends is the title of Deerhunter’s 12-minute, part improvised workout, recorded in one take via a “completely analogue signal chain”. And if that’s as baffling as an explanation of how blockchain works, that’s roughly how it sounds too. A whole other kind of party groove.