Celebrating our favorite sounds released this September.
by Pierce Courchaine
On the whole, 2014 is a down year in music compared to 2013’s spectacular twelve months of releases from artists like Daft Punk, Kurt Vile and Savages. Fear not, fellow crate diggers! The last three months have been loaded with high profile album drops. Karen O (of the Yeah Yeah Yeahs) and Jenny From The Block headline our five picks from month number nine.
Tennis – “Never Work For Free”
Tennis’s latest release, Ritual in Repeat, is an agreeable pop album that doesn’t break the mold of the band’s blueprint. “Never Work For Free,” a three-and-a-half minute sprint of a pop song, is damn catchy. I find myself mumbling the chorus and hearing the snappy “ohs” accompanying the rendition in my head.
Jennifer Lopez & Iggy Azaela – “Booty”
Can we enjoy “Booty” without irony? Can we resist dancing to it if a friend plays it before we hit the town on a Friday night? Is it okay for us to play it if the friend doesn’t? I won’t condemn this remix, but I can’t quite give it my seal of approval. I’ll let you decide. Regardless, Azaela’s rise continues to the stratosphere. Her inclusion on any track (especially when she replaces Pitbull) should be welcomed.
Jhene Aiko – “Spotless Mind”
Aiko has been an up-and-comer for a number of years; she has contributed her smooth R&B sound to tracks by Drake and Kendrick Lamar, among others. Her debut album Souled Out might just be her coming out party. The September release is a slow, plodding LP, and unremarkable in parts despite Aiko’s sultry voice, which we’ve become familiar with over the years. “Spotless Mind” is the highlight, though. It’s perfect for anywhere with the lights turned low and candles burning silently.
Karen O – “Day Go Bye”
Karen O, best known as the frontwoman for The Yeah Yeah Yeahs, put out her debut solo album this month. Crush Songs is an uneven release that toes the line between lo-fi and half-finished. “Day Go Bye” is one of the most melodic tracks on the stripped-down album. The song is far from the grandiose rock operas that made Karen O famous in The Yeah Yeah Yeahs, so fans should approach with an open mind.
Mary Lattimore & Jeff Zeigler – “Welsh Corgis in the Snow”
Harpist Mary Lattimore teamed up Jeff Zeigler to release the hypnotic instrumental EP Slant of Light. “Welsh Corgisie in the Snow” is a sparse, lonesome song. Lattimore’s harp is soothing but not in a spa kind of way. Instead, she climbs and descends scales like a lost woman in an abandoned mansion. Zeigler checks in now and then but never stays for long. It’s Lattimore’s quest to find whatever she’s looking for.
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Pierce Courchaine is a contributor for The Riveter. You can follow him on Twitter at @PJCourchaine.
