Thom Yorke Photo: Alex Lake
Gabrielle Marlena, Manners
[Breakstone, June 28]
The genteel “coffeehouse-poet chanteuse” groove-folk genre currently soundtracking family-friendly cafés and elevators around the country actually sounds sharp and fiery again, thanks to Gabrielle Marlena. The arrangements on Manners are instantly familiar—languid grooves, acoustic guitar strums, pulsing electronic keyboards—but the singer-songwriter has managed to locate the compelling heart of this oft-worn sound, investing it with a potent edge of fuck-it bravado and lacerating lyrical wit that rescues it from the pit of sub-Spektor platitudes that doom so many others who attempt this kind music. The seemingly weary longing on tracks like “Anxiety Dreams” and “Manners” is belied by Marlena’s fierce anger and intelligence, turning them into reclamations of identity and anthems of uplift. These six songs cut through the fog of mellow soul and connect in a deeply satisfying way. [Alex McLevy]
Georgia Anne Muldrow, Vweto II
[Mello Music Group, June 21]
Just seven months ago, The A.V. Club named Georgia Anne Muldrow’s Overload one of our favorite albums of 2018. It was a sharp, celebratory statement of love that showcased the L.A. legend’s multifaceted talents as vocalist, songwriter, beatmaker, and more. On the new Vweto II, however, Muldrow is primarily back in the producer’s chair, offering up 16 instrumentals heavy on the funk and the low end (“Mary Lou’s Motherboard,” “When The Fonk Radiates,” but really, take your pick), with only the occasional vocal fragment wafting through (“Bronx Skates”). The focus on the music only serves to emphasize Muldrow’s mastery behind the boards; her tracks are impossibly intimate and rich, at once anchored in her West Coast roots and driven to explore the outer limits of genre. It’d be a blast to hear Muldrow or another skilled vocalist/MC on these songs, but they’re a spiritual experience all their own. [Kelsey J. Waite]
30 Comments
double post. Apologies!
Ingrid Michaelson’s Stranger Songs is a solid album with a ton of bops so I hope it gets some recognition (since people sleep on her so often.)
If being Yorke is anything like as exhausting as listening to that track, he really needs to take a nap.I love pretty much every track on Vweto II. That is some timeless stuff.
To combine two great artists from this list, check out Georgia Anne Muldrow’s album Seeds, which is entirely produced by Madlib. The whole thing is Muldrow’s beautiful and eccentric soul vocals over Madlib beats.
ditto, amazing album.
Define “timeless”, because you are riding some crazy bullshit here.
No thanks. But you have a nice day.
The Paul Thomas Anderson Anima film is my favourite at the moment and I have watched it four times.Those men can do no wrong.
I heard from sources he is a mediocre white man.
it’s so gorgeous, and kind of a bummer that I had to wait till the credits to find out Damien Jalet (of Suspiria 2018!) did the choreography. the trio of him, Yorke and PTA on one project is kind of unbelievable
Those men can do no wrong.To say that you have to be someone who wants to think that before even seeing the work in question. There’s much wrong here.Yorke sure ain’t an actor and he ain’t a dancer either. The choreography is designed so a 60 year old man who isn’t a dancer can do it and Yorke still doesn’t really pull it off. His girlfriend is also not a good actress or dancer and no amount of her sugardaddy shoehorning her into his videos is going to jumpstart her career.The dystopian themes (set in Prague! because gotta drive home that ‘Kafka-esque’ like it’s a freight train!) are like a 15-year-old just read his first deep book and had an epiphany as if he’s the only one ever. Yorke works best when he doesn’t surround himself with sycophants and has people there to reel back his more puerile thinking. PTA wasn’t the right guy for this job.
Shhhletpeopleenjoythings.jpg
Fucking thank you!
You are fucking welcome!
That album is nothing but Yorke getting high off his own farts.Someone take the old man’s keys and save us from another album. Doesn’t he have people looking after him?
New Drab Majesty album out in 2 weeks(!):
I miss the Thom Yorke (and Radiohead) of “In Rainbows”. I fear they may have moved on for good.
It’s not like they’ve ever stayed in one place
You’re right. But I like it when there was more traditional/accessible rock or pop aspects to what they do. It’s less innovative but easier for me to get into emotionally. Gloomy AND musically challenging is too much for me!
I’m an idiot, I legit mistook Thom Yorke for Ryuichi Sakamoto.
“The record’s very existence is a middle finger to creeps and abusers:” Then why did the female reviewer hypocritically only mention men when talking about “creeps and abusers”. If a man tells a woman no they are harassed and abused, but that’s apparently fine. Tell the 15 year old boys that were preyed on by their female teachers that abusers are only men. Making an album villainizing all men (how original) with abusive and ignorantly trope lyrics is not manipulative with the intent to benefit from it? I guess those two men that were lied on by a girl and faced 20 years in prison for rape while she barely faces a year can’t get the feeling of a punch to their predator’s jaw. Because then they’d be facing 20 years again. Nope, all “creeps and abusers” are men. ‘feminists’ call for harsh punishment against Male abusers unless the accused is her husband or son, then the female can be a liar. But hey, a man is an abuser if the woman has an unenjoyable date with him, so why should anyone expect EQUALITY in the age of “Because she said so”?
JFC it’s a song written by a woman who’s probably had experience with shitty men. I’ll be my lunch money you give no shits about abused men and boys until women speak up about their abuse. Then you’re a righteous fucking crusader, huh?
Your hypocrite ass is white knighting on the internet bitching at me about things you don’t understand. You only speak up on the internet about direct comments against double standards and fake feminism like the dickless bitch boy you are. I have been directly affected by false accusations and see it on a regular basis when ‘women’ that claim to be mature abuse the system for money and plain shittiness. When guys talk about the shitty bitches they encounter, I’d bet my lunch you run in to defend a ‘woman’ you will never meet because a weak punk like you think it will get you points with a cunt you have no chance of entering. Like I said, women are shitty people too, and the reviewer’s ignorant and hypocritical assumptions that only men are creeps and predators invalidates the bullshit 2019 ‘progressive’ thinking that women can do anything if even the shitty ass ‘feminists’ think women are too weak to be shitty ass creeps and predators.
“White knighting”.LOLOLOLOLOLOLOLOOLOLOLOLOLOLOLOLLOLOLOLOOLOLOLThat’s where I stopped reading. Save the diatribes for your incel buddies, because this shitty bitch has better things to do.
I gave it all to a castrated bitch, so there’s nothing left to save.
No wonder you’re bitter. You had a shit lawyer. Sucks to be you!
If that was the case, then at least I’d have a reason. You’re just a chump starting an argument on the internet for no reason than you have no dick. You had better things to do that you ignored to try to argue about an opinion on hypocritical and biased review practices. You are just shit. Thinking you are defending a girl over the internet to get brownie points is fucking pathetic.
Stay mad, sucka!
Stay mad, cuck.
Not mad. MADNESS