By Lauren Lege
I’ve been on the hunt for this season’s top sound selections, and I know I’m not alone. With platforms like Pandora, Sound Cloud, and Grooveshark, there’s enough variety swirling around out there to piece together your own concerto grosso. It can be overwhelming, so we did the work for you, in collaboration with Seaside’s Central Square Records to bring you the skinny on this year’s Top Ten Beach Beats.
“Three of [the band members] met while working in the famous record store Amoeba, and their consistent groove suggests they spend their days surfing, skating and chilling out in sun-kissed California…Fuzzy, distorted guitars, maracas, vocals put through vintage microphones and a Hammond organ (‘Catamaran’) create an unmistakably vintage sound. The snag? Hanging out on the beach can get a bit boring. As much as the album is warm, wistful and pleasant, every song is a variation on the others, using similar chords and the same key, although final track ‘Long Journey’ packs more of a punch,” writes NME’s Lucy Jones.
“The moody space of ‘Homesick’ is a fascinating overcast counterpoint to the late-afternoon haze of the rest of the record, while ‘And She Smiles’ builds from soft near-silence into the album’s tightest beat and leanest, most experimental guitar work,” says PopMatters’ Mathew Fiander. “It feels both physical and fleeting. That New Madrid can pull off so many seeming opposites at once on Sunswimmer is impressive, but the fact that they’re housed in such striking, well-crafted songs, is what makes this album so strong.”
“On To the Sea, the 35-year-old surfer and filmmaker is still staring down adult fears. But this time he has made an existential chill-out record that feels substantial, at times even edgy, without feeling forced,” says Rolling Stones’ Will Hermes. “The easy-rolling pleasures are tough to deny. There’s a moment on To the Sea, at the opening of ‘The Upsetter,’ where the funky guitar and hand-drumming suggest a cover of ‘Sympathy for the Devil,’ which would be pretty awesome. But instead it shifts into a bouncy island-flavored groove and shimmies off, not toward hell but into an island sunset and a chorus centered on the line “Stop upsetting yourself.” And sometimes, that is not bad advice at all.”
You may remember Brazilian songwriter, singer and actor, Seu Jorge, from the movie City of God or perhaps Wes Anderson’s The Life Aquatic with Steve Zissou, for which he provided most of the soundtrack in the shape of Brazilian Bowie, basically Bowie covers sung in Portuguese. He has a new cover album out, perfect for any day at the beach.
“It has a radically different dynamic than the Bowie record, with a heavier backing band that operates with dubby reverb and burbly, sleepwalking funk rhythms derived from the mangue beat movement. But its emphasis on slow tempos and subtle percussion gives it a woozier, gloomier atmosphere than his pre-Zissou work,” says Nate Patrin of Pitchfork Reviews.
THE STAVES – “FACING WEST”The Staverly sisters may come from the UK, but their music embodies that American Indie Folk feel that so many listeners are craving. With lyrics to kill, and voices that soothe, this threesome packs meaning and comfort into one powerful, yet soft song.
With lyrics like “Show me the path down to the shoreline ‘cause I don’t know if I can do this anymore,” “Facing West” is one that inspires a sense of wanderlust and melancholia all at once.
Corina Rose’s “Green Mountain State” single aired as the opening song in Indie film “Take This Waltz”. With a slow, calming melody backing Rose’s sweet voice delivering lyrics like “slow it down, we’ve almost reached the borderline. Just baby steps, and I think we’ll be just fine”, this song is sure to slow you down for a lax beach day.
WASHED OUT – “IT ALL FEELS RIGHT”Spin’s, Chris Martins says “…the new single is lush with diverse instrumentation and flush with vintage exotica vibes, perhaps as refracted through the Avalanches’ sampledelic kaleidoscope.
The dreamy orchestral affair fittingly celebrates warm weather and pleasant escapes — throwing its hat in the ring as an early contender for Anthem of the Summer.”
“For ‘An Ocean In Between The Waves,’ imagine Neil Young given Krautrock’s motorik backdrop, while the title track is a straight-forward piece of mellow ramblin’ rock,” writes American Songwriter’s, Matt Sullivan.
Bryant Kitching of Consequence of Sound says “‘Lila’ is perhaps the most forlorn, chugging along until it rips its own heart out as a grand gesture of devotion. The song’s chorus skyrockets upward, like he’s trying his hardest to dislodge some long-forgotten memory of a lost love. It’s one of those songs that you swear you’ve heard before — the simple idea of longing made fresh here by VanGaalen.”
MODEST MOUSE – “GRAVITY RIDES EVERYTHING”Brent DiCrescenzo of Pitchfork says “‘Gravity Rides Everything,’ begins with backwards drums, strums, and plucks, it’s quite evident Mouse Mouse have traveled well beyond their past. The song’s percussion relies on jacked drumstick claps and electro-bongos as no less than five guitar tracks float on aching melodies.”
This song’s transcendiary, yet calming melody make it a perfect match for crashing waves. You can purchase any of these songs on iTunes or head over to Central Square Records in Seaside and pick up the albums yourself.
