As I type this (5/17), a brand new Anderson .Paak track, “Bubblin,” just dropped so that must be immediately addressed and listened to. He recently told Zane Lowe on Beats One that he has over 65,000 songs in the vault so hopefully that means a new album is on the way.
(FYI, this clip is *probably* NSFW so proceed at your own risk…)
Now onto a couple of other stellar new releases, and one from the vaults that’s been on my mind a lot thanks to a Twitter survey and this week’s episode of Lost Notes.
Jungle – “Happy Man”
Hey, new Jungle! Thanks to the constant stream of great new music that is being unleashed onto the public nearly every single day, I didn’t realize that Jungle haven’t given us anything new since their self-titled debut was released in 2014. I also didn’t realize how much I’d missed them. Perhaps to make up for lost time, they’ve given us two singles at once. “House in L.A.” is a lovely, sprawling, psychedelia-tinged slow burn, but “Happy Man” gives you more of that classic Jungle groove. It’ll get your weekend dance party started right.
Mitski – “Geyser”
Switching gears quite a bit, allow yourself to be devoured by this powerful new single from Mitski (who was last heard providing 2016 with one of it’s fiercest anthem’s “Your Best American Girl.”)”Geyser” is brief, coming in at just under two and a half minutes, but it packs quite a punch. The bracingly straightforward lyrics about love, and the vivid imagery of the video will haunt your dreams.
And now for a REAL gear shift. Ordinarily we like to keep our focus in these posts turned to the best and brightest new offerings, or maybe the occasional reissue. However, sometimes the universe conspires to make one dig a little deeper. This week’s episode of KCRW’s new podcast Lost Notes is centered around a McDonald’s promotional flexi-disc that won a Virginia based woman a million dollars in 1989. If you’ve not yet listened to the episode, do so immediately. The flexi is just a small piece of a larger S-Town-esque family saga that takes place in the small Appalachian town of Galax, VA. BUT before you open your podcast app, take a listen to one of my favorite recordings to ever appear on a flexi – Another Sunny Day’s “Anorak City.” They call songs like this perfect pop for a reason. It’s two minutes of fuzzed out, head bop inducing pure joy. Fun fact – local DJ hero Michael Stock who hosts the long running club night Part Time Punks owns a copy of this flexi-disc, and for the longest time would play it every time PTP did an indie-pop night. That’s a bold move for a record that is designed to self destruct, especially one that’s worth upwards of $350.
(Anderson .Paak carousel image: fuseboxradio, Mitski header image: Kenny Sun)