What Am I Listening To? - The Nimbly Edition

[Nimbly9]

Lovers Entwined - The Way (2020)

A gorgeous album experience from vaporwave auteur Telepath that answers the age old question - What if Brian Eno and Jonn Serrie became best buddies and did the soundtrack to Blade Runner back the early 80's instead of Vangelis? This record is one of the most perfect and heartfelt experiences I've had with ambient music in the 20+ years I've been collecting albums - it has a melancholic, liminal sensibility that reminds me of Haruomi Hosono at his most pensive and abstract, yet is also littered with some beautiful Ryuichi Sakamoto-esque piano work and tons of other ideas that tug at your ears in a tasteful way.  Just excellent stuff.

[Nimbly9]

Fan Fiction - Anticipated Hits (2021)

Top-tier modern yacht rock band from L.A. with a power pop edge and some fantastic guitar harmonies. This debut is a really fun record that comes across as the unexpected lovechild of Pages and Jellyfish, with all the jazzy energy of the former and the baroque kick of the latter. Some tracks where these influences vibe particularly well include the sprightly 'A Staler Tale' and the high octane AOR of 'Back To Philly', but I love all the songs here and it is a lot of fun when you are in  the right mood.

[Nimbly9]

George Clanton - Slide (2018)

While I personally don't have a ton of nostalgia for the 1990's, this brilliant record is probably the closest I'll ever get to that all-consuming love that some have for the decade, especially in regards to the trip-hop and shoegaze scenes as a central sonic pair of touch points. 

Nothing goes quite as you'd expect though - 'Livin' Loose' coalesces a chaotic chime motif into a sax line and somehow transforms it into a dreamy long-player from Ride or even early Smashing Pumpkins if they had been a hair stranger than they were. Elsewhere, you hear other influences rear their presences in unexpected places, from the R&B of Seal to the post-New Romantic beats of Bel Canto and Enigma.

Giving cohesion to all these ideas isn't an easy task, but Clanton brings it all into focus with plenty of style and emotional substance to go around.

[Nimbly9]

Psycada - Hiking Lung (2022)

Probably my favorite psych-rock album from last year. Catchier than your typical stoner act, these Greeks know their way around a melodic groove. Their closest peer aesthetic-wise is probably Kikagaku Moyo but they have an almost 70's Camel sense of space when you least expect it (complete with Hammond organ), which is a nice touch to these ears and a strong indicator that they have more up their sleeve in the future as they continue to evolve their sound.

[Nimbly9]

Steely Dan - Katy Lied (1975)

Probably the most intrigue-laden Steely Dan album in some ways - it marks the point where they transitioned fully into a high concept jazz rock outfit specializing in telling tales of scoundrels and strangeness in equal measures (sometimes both in the same song).  Dr. Wu, the centerpiece of the record and my favorite tune of theirs, is a particularly fun exploration of the relationship between a desperate man and his drug dealer.  Some have said it is also something of an exploration of toxic patient-doctor dynamics and big pharma, though that might be a reach.  But that's the fun thing about Steely Dan - the songs are so interesting that you want to actually understand the crazy characters that tend to show up in them.

[Nimbly9]

Hello Meteor - Seven Hour Sunset (2022)

A fun blend between chilled out House, 90's electronica and some John Carpenter-esque haunted melodicism. If I were to point out examples of instrumental projects that walk the line between beautiful and ominous, this is a record that treads that path with a fair amount of confidence.  The emphasis on piano and how it weaves around the other elements in a lot of the tunes here is rather soothing. Overall, the album is a disquieting storm that wouldn't be out of place as the soundtrack to some future Lovecraftian thriller on an island paradise. A calm façade that belies something colder and stranger underneath.

[Lexi Darling]

That sounds right up my alley, I'll definitely check it out!

[Nimbly9]

That sounds right up my alley, I'll definitely check it out!

Hello Meteor have a ton of good albums, so I hope you like a few things.

[Nimbly9]

Monsoon - Third Eye (1983)

A catchy New Wave / Raga Pop-Rock outing that launched Sheila Chandra's solo career in the U.K. The album has a really cool vibe overall, like a richer palleted Bangles writing tunes with Deborah Berg.

Sheila was only like 16 or so when she fronted the mic on this outing, so the sheer vibrancy of her voice is quite something to behear, especially on songs like Wings Of The Dawn or the big single Ever So Lonely.  The overt Indian music influences, especially the percussion and sitar, meld really well with the early emergence of digital 80's production and sounds tasty in a grand, psychedelic sort of fashion.  No matter how you slice it, definitely worth owning.

[Guybrush]

That's a cool find, Nimbly 🙂 I'm not familiar with Sheila Chandra, but I like this.

[Nimbly9]

Chris Isaak - Chris Isaak (1987)

Late 80's rockabilly icon known for being a frequent musical collaborator and muse to David Lynch, it's not hard to see why the film maestro was enamored by this guys' Smiths-meets-Westcoast dark country energy.  He's like Roy Orbison with a touch of the vampiric, a troubadour channeling that decade's fascination with all things late 50's / early 60's.

While Chris doesn't have a bad album to his name, his first three (with this one being the second) are considered the cream of the crop and the perfection of his somewhat Gothic take on classic rockabilly with a touch of 80's soundtrack AOR and some post-punk jangle to round out that roadhouse vibe. 'Fade Away' and the iconic 'Blue Hotel' are two instant favorites, but the album is just fantastic. 

[Nimbly9]

The Paper Kites - On The Corner Where You Live (2018)

Somewhere between the late 80's Indie rustic swing of K.D. Lang, a lush Blue Nile styled dream pop and the neon cruising dreamscapes of modern synthwave bands like The Midnight sits this gorgeous record from Australia's The Paper Kites. It is a true marvel: over the course of 50 minutes, they maintain a late-night ambiance that embraces spaciousness and atmosphere. Lot of great guitar work and harmonies too. The songs exude a sense of ease and tranquility, yet they are far from passive. In fact, they possess captivating climaxes that sneak up on you.

For instance, "Give Me Your Fire, Give Me Your Rain" and "Don't Keep Driving" build up their energies gradually but culminate beautifully while they circle their grooves like whirlpools.  And my favorite cut here, 'Deep Burn Blue' is a luscious ride that's as good as anything the band could claim influence from, burning a trail across a blackened highway as it snakes its way toward the dawn.

One of my favorite late night albums and the perfect soundtrack when your on the way to a far off destination, wherever that may be.

[grindy]

Hell yeah!
I'll be checking this thread out post by post. We don't always agree but I've always appreciated your taste and missed it on MB.

[Nimbly9]

Valeriy Stepanov Fusion Project - Album №1 (2019)

In a parallel universe where everyone loves modern Russian jazz with a smooth fusion edge, this would be the greatest soundtrack to a Gran Turismo game you've never played. Alas, this is not that reality.  But this album might just be good enough to change a few minds.  Valeriy is a multi-instrumentalist and singer who is considered something of a prodigy. When you watch any of his videos on YouTuhe (including ones where he sings) you begin to see why - he's so perfect it seems unreal. 

While his fusion band has a fair amount of material out there, this first album is a great starting point.  As you can likely tell from the song above, the tunes have have a contemporary slick modern smooth jazz aesthetic, but with the hyper stylized melodic sense of great video game composers.  I mentioned Gran Turismo earlier, but this style of fusion owes an equal amount to Chick Corea and Sonic The Hedgehog soundtracks...and that's not a bad thing at all. When the mood is right and you need the musical equivalent of the best Moscow Mule you've ever had in your life, this will definitely do the trick.  It is muzak for people who hate the Weather Channel but who miss those PS2 Course Selection screens of yesteryear.

[Nimbly9]

Bill LaBounty - Bill LaBounty (1982)

Despite looking like your weird uncle from every 80's sitcom, there's some real magic going on within this singer-songwriter's self titled masterpiece. 

Considered to be one of the best golden era examples of what an end-to-end "yacht rock" album should be doing in early 80's California, I'd say there's more to like than just the Steely Dan-level studio perfection and wonderful grooves.  LaBounty isn't the most technically gifted singer you've ever heard, but he's got a ton of personality and soul.

LaBounty later became a prominent and successful songwriter in the Nashville country world, and on this record in particular he demonstrates a knack for sad sack divorce-core stories like the old school country artists he looked up to were so good at, just in a smoother city-slicker context for the L.A. downtown crowd. 

It also helps when you have groove gods like Jeff Porcaro and Chuck Rainy leading the charge in troubadouring these excellent odes to fools who just can't get it right.