Forplay’s dispatch from Sweden

I’m not in Sweden, but if I was chilling in Stockholm and sipping on some Glögg, this is the music I’d prefer listening to.

Sounds Like: The Radio Dept, Sin Fang, Seabear

Goodie Bag
Simian Ghost - Wolf Girl (Summer Heart Remix) (Left Click)

Mexico isn’t known for its muscle relaxers, but they’re a duty free delicacy south of the border. I’ve been hanging on to a couple “souvenirs” for about a year now - and finally decided to remedy my complete body breakdown with relaxers, vegetable juices, vitamins, sinus medication, and a gallon of Poland Spring’s finest h2O.

Stay tuned for results. But for now - here’s what a night on muscle relaxers may sound like.

Sounds Like: Washed Out, Toro Y Moi, Blackbird Blackbird

Goodie Bag
Boat Club - All The Time (Left-Click)

This is not hungover music

Latest addition to Sesh XIV: Chillwave

Goodie Bag
Casa del Mirto - The Haste (Left-Click)

Forplay really needs to get some ruby shoes to click three times.

Playing this track on repeat on Monday morning won’t take me back to saturday night when the air was thick and the sounds were ethereal.

Goodie Bag
Diamond Messages - Liquid Summer (Right-Click)

Diamond Messages - Smoke and Mirrors (Right-Click)

Forplay needs this reenforcement right now

Still feelin’ the chillwave, so I sesh-ed it. (see next post).

Goodie Bag
Mathemagic - Breaststroke (Left-Click)

Forplay prefers going downtown

Midtown Manhattan bars have an interesting approach to ambience - that is to thrive by hosting a complete shit show. Never has an experience been so disconnected as when people wearing sombreros are singing along to karaoke classics like ‘All the Small Things’ while ESPN SportsCenter replays on the screens. Not to mention these are also the places that your friends are most likely to get their asses pinched by chicks queuing in an unsafely long line for the facilities (true story).

If you’re lucky enough, you might find a soft little spot with a Millionyoung vibe. If not…well then, Happy Seis De Mayo.

Forplay seeks refuge from torrential rain in bars that ride the chillwave.

Chillwave is an interesting movement. Easily thrown into broader playlists covering Electronic Dance Music, Glo-Fi, Shoe Gaze, Dreamwave, or Synth Pop, it’s a sound that has few contributors, and even lesser variation. A more cynical person would probably find issue with the fundamental ills of a small corps of formulaic musicians recycling the same sounds. But we’re not talking about hip-hop (ha!).

I’m quite happy to continue amassing hours of similar sounding music that tends to play life through an 8mm video lens - and allows for the possibility of breaking out into less advised dance moves.

Goodie Bag
Small Black - Despicable Dogs (Washed Out Remix) (Right-Click)

Forplay might have chosen the worst time to post some chillwave coming out of Japan.

I always find it interesting to post good tracks that have minimal exposure on youtube. Rebecca Black has people flocking to evidence of her stupidity in the millions, while this track has racked up only something like 470 views (10 of which were my doing as of last night). I am tempted to just rant on about how fucking dumb Rebecca Black is, but that’s pointless. Instead, let me steer your attention to the only viral video that Forplay endorses.

Goodie Bag
Hotel Mexico - Starling, Tiger, Fox (Left-Click)

Keep Chill with Baths

Maximalist//Baths

Earlier this year Toro Y Moi and Washed Out put chillwave as a genre on the map (at least for me). As those albums slowly migrate from the ‘Recently Added’ to ‘Most Played’ lists, Will Weisenfeld in the form of Baths supplies new chill to the wave to keep us cool for the summer.

Cerulean, the album, is out June 22. Check out some more tracks @myspace

Goodie Bag:

Baths - Maximalist @passionothefweiss (Right-Click)

Baths - Halls @passionoftheweiss (Right-Click)

Welcome to 2010

You Hid//Toro Y Moi

Amongst some weak releases in the first two weeks of 2010, Toro y Moi sets himself apart with an eclectic chillwave, lo-fi fuzziness that is ripe for foggy atmospheres.

This slowed-down synth pop and funk ridden base sound is the brainchild of South Carolina (whaaa?) native, Chad Bundick. If you’re wondering, yes he is the sole manpower behind the operation. Armed with a computer, guitar, and an imaginative sound, Chad is setting the year in motion with a haze.

File with: Nite Jewel, Memory Tapes, Animal Collective

*Update*: I don’t think I can really listen to Vampire Weekend.