BEST INDIE CHILL MUSIC – WEEK 34 2014

8/22/14

On Monday, the news we've all been waiting, oh, only 13 fucking years for was finally announced. Aphex Twin is releasing a new album, y'all! I wonder what dicked out things Pitchfork will have to say about this one, right Tobacco?! Anyways, while Richard D. James aka Phex Twinnipicks readies SYRO, we've got some new music to be listening to. So forget the Ice Bucket Challenge, this is a much less douchebaggy way to stay chill, and there's nothing stopping you from donating to your charity of choice at the end of it either. Just sayin'.

 

THE KITE STRING TANGLE – ARCADIA

The Kite String Tangle's debut EP, Vessel, and this song in particular recently took a lot of shit over at The 405. Not going to lie, I'm not the biggest fan of the Brisbane producer either. Don't get me wrong, dude makes pleasant enough music. But it's almost TOO pleasant. It sounds like something a 16-year-old girl bursting with hormones would listen to. So to all the 16-year-old girls bursting with hormones reading this, HOLLAH. As for me, I prefer my music a little more offensive, even if this video is kind of NSFW in places.

 

CARIBOU – OUR LOVE

This is the greatest shit in the club since “In Da Club.” Definitely one of Caribou's most evolutionary bangers to date. I lost it around the three minute mark. Dat drop. This is the kind of song I can go back to over and over and over again and get something new from it every time. This is the kind of song I fucking live for. So hyped for the album in October. YEEE.

 

DARKSIDE – WHAT THEY SAY

Darkside are coming to an end?! Aw hell naw. Psychic was one of the best albums of 2013 and I've still got it on repeat almost a year down the line. Anyways, at least we've got two new tracks out of their apparent demise, although I'm going to call it hiatus as that's easier for me to swallow. Here's one of those tracks, “What They Say,” a banging electro-guitar instrumental that never quite bangs. Check out the other track, appropriately titled “Gone Too Soon,” here. Gulp gulp gulp.

 

KELELA & LE1F & P MORRIS – OICU

This is some baby making shit right here. My only bone(r) of contention?! I don't want to wait almost 2 minutes until Kelela comes in. But when she does, yas bishhh, I'm moist. Girl kills it. It's like Aaliyah and Janet had a love child, y'all!

 

DAVID O'DOWDA – LOOK UP

“Get a load of this guy. Who does he think he is?!” - Justin Vernon.

Get a load of this guy

 

BENZEL & STEVIE NEALE – WASTED LOVE

Don't you wish you possessed BenZel's magical touch with the ladies? First they got it on with Jessie Ware in 2012, back when they were still trolling everyone into thinking they were two 17-year-old girls from Japan, and now Benny Blanco and Two Inch Punch are hooking up with another fresh female artist from London, Stevie Neale, on “Wasted Love.” Here's hoping this is the song that finally propels Stevie into the limelight, as her vocals are really what this is all about for me. That, and the trippy as fuck artwork.

 

SUSIE SUH & ROBOT KOCH – HERE WITH ME (BEARSON REMIX)

The original “Here With Me” is a piece of art, so there's absolutely no way I'm going to like this remix. Nope. Not a chance. Oh, fuck it, this is EVERYTHING. Bearson, you Nordic genius you. As soon as I saw this was tagged as “tropical” on SoundCloud, I grew cynical, but the Oslo producer has handled the whole thing with such care, it doesn't even feel all that separate from Susie Suh and Robot Koch. If anything, it feels like an extension of them. Omg, I'm so in love I could actually cry.

cry

 

GALIMATIAS – NIGHT OWL

Last time we heard from Galimatias, he was taking us to the depths of the ocean floor. Now he's taking us high into the night sky. It's really difficult for me to put a genre to this, or any of Galimatias' shit for that matter. Dude is so forward-thinking, he all at once defies genres, and incorporates elements of each one into his music. “Night Owl” sees him do exactly that without ever sounding like a clusterfuck, but always sounding completely effortless. In fact, it feels almost wrong to analyse it. What am I even DOING? Press play, already!

 

J M R – DOESN'T FEEL HUMAN

Joshua Michael Robinson aka JMR has been refining his electronic R&B for the last year or so, but the frontman of The Careful Ones has managed to transcend everything in his solo back catalogue thus far with “Doesn't Feel Human.” I could talk for days about the subtle genius of the production (by Joe Santana), but there's only one thing that truly matters around here. Dat voice. If it doesn't have you naked by the end of this song, then, erm, You must've been naked to begin with! Perverts.

 

R I T U A L – THE FALL

There's very little information out there on R I T U A L other than they're a quartet from the UK, and according to Complex, “equal parts videographer, producer, live instrumentalist and singer.” It's appropriate that, based on my viewing history, YouTube recommended me Rhye at the end of this video, since that was one of the first comparisons that came to mind after hearing the minimalistic yet all-encompassing electronic beats of their debut single, “The Fall.” That said, YouTube also recommended me “Kim Jong-un: Fat Guy Number 3,” but that's another story for another day.

indie chill music

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Brb, going to listen to every Aphex Twin song ever.

About Jess Grant

When Jess Grant isn't writing on music, she can be found playing it – on her guitar, on her ukulele, and on her recently acquired mandolin. Playing it hideously, she ought to add. Jess also studies. She studies the English language, to be precise. Jess is currently on her way to a degree in the subject, and enjoys starting and never finishing novels, screenplays, and poetry in her spare time. She also likes dogs. Lots of dogs.