New Music – Lay Me Down Easy
Sometimes the finest elements of shoegaze aren’t what the record packs in, but instead what the record lacks, and with No Swoon’s newest display, Take Your Time is the recovery album that personally opens a floodgate of originally and intrigue.
Mentally speaking, low points throughout life take over, but through Take Your Time, No Swoon is this guardian angel that instead of becoming a daunting endeavor, shows some of the glory that life can protrude. The duo led by Tasha Abbott and Zack Nestel-Patt are a formidable force without even raising a fist.
Instead, the hands of prominence fall upward with the title track being the opening, “Take Your Time.” Beautiful but could be mistaken for somber introductions, Abbott on vocalization gives vitality to a seemingly deranged and cascading track. The foundations of “Take Your Time” let the listener down easy, not into the bay of spikes or pigs that could overpower. Instead, the ethereal approach vocally is a fantastic addition to the piece and makes for a slow burn with Take Your Time rather than a mad dash through the doors.
The following “Again” is a bit of a jolt to the system compared to “Take Your Time,” making for No Swoon to become this monster that has human features through instrumentation. Never quite a conquering force, No Swoon is the perfect band for windows drenched in light or the familiar, exciting feeling of an old friend.
Abbott and Nestel-Patt recruit Jonathan Smith on the percussion as well as engineering for the record and feature Jake Aron on guitars, keys, and production for several of the tracks on Take Your Time. The biggest surprise comes from the mastering done by Joe LaPorta who often handles producer and hip-hop heavyweight The Alchemist which grants some overall engagement between the genres.
Tracks like “Otherside” have some upbeat mantra to them and begin to push this level of danceability to the production with these simple but infectious drums. The build-up isn’t entirely based on tension but is instead boosted to new heights with Abbott’s vocals over the already dreamy atmosphere.
Over the 10 tracks and 36 minutes spent with No Swoon on Take Your Time, memories of “Nothing” start to stick out with the advantageous way of stacking layers on top of each other to eventually bury one another. It begins with vocals and a hi-hat click only, then as the synth clicks get added to coincide with the snare and bass, the mix begins to spread out and feel grace to the compound.
fundamentally, Take Your Time is easy to approach but from a glance seems simple enough. Only until getting closer and looking more in-depth at each component here does No Swoon win over the heart through sheer prowess on production and gleam on performance.
Listen To Take Your Time Here!!! – BandCamp/Spotify/iTunes
STREAMING // (Track) Pyrithe – “Luminous”
Listen Here – BandCamp
STREAMING // (Track) Dälek – “Good”
Listen Here – BandCamp
STREAMING // (Album) Bones X Grayera – “WITHERED”
Listen Here – Spotify
Featuring: Lady Moon
Track List: WITHERED, IridescentArmor, CabinInTheWoods, NobodyHome, LFG, Knievel, Propellers, TheOne, Fable, BarrensChat, DustyRoad, EarlGrey, SlayTheDragonSaveThePrincess, ItsTimeToGo, PerpetualMotion, AWellNeededSmoke
Classic Day – Take A Chunk
Awakening from an intermediate slumber, Willie “Little Beaver” Hale is this recognizable but not always instantly namesake for easy-listening and funk sounds to appear in the mind. With his popularity and most recognizable work most likely being the sampling from Jay-Z on “Party Life,” Party Down as a record from Little Beaver cements some of his work into the ground floor of gentleness.
Party Down from the start is a palatable and beautiful dissection of what the caress of sound can be. With seven tracks that get essentially carried out over the spinning wax, around 30 minutes give enough of a lasting indentation with Little Beaver.
The start of Party Down makes for a title-track with two parts, “Party Down – Pt. 1” is the same instrumental as “Party Down – Pt. 2,” however the first part uses the vocalization from Little Beaver.
This vocalization becomes the reflection of 70s coke white shoes that mix to Soul Train levels of dance movement. “Party Down – Pt. 1” in particular acts as a god to moving the shoulders, feeling comfortable, and eventually moving the train of thought forward into a lucidity.
While incredibly simple from a progression standpoint, Party Down and the track itself are gorgeous. Little Beaver is this stone-faced monument of assembling a working and rotating staff to fulfill these arrangements on the record.
It begins with Little Beaver as the vocals, guitar, and bass, which coexists alongside George Perry, Nelson Padron, and Ron Bogdon on the bass as well. The percussion stems from Robert Ferguson and Glen Holmes who together, work in tandem with Latimore and Timmy Thomas on the keyboards. Backing vocals while minimal come from Betty Wright and give vitality to an already illustrious mixing of performances.
There are moments where Little Beaver almost touches into the realm of being vaguely familiar even if his tracks have never been heard, he embodies this iconic soul and funk fusion where so many realms of soundtracks have been produced.
The track “I Can Dig It Baby” becomes the standard for this phenomenon where the writhing guitars are a focal point for the track, as well as the sultry vocals from Little Beaver. He describes, “You party all night long, living it up ad getting it on. I’m so lonely when you’re gone, so when you’re up and on your own, I can dig it, baby.” Party Down which is baked in with velvet pants and the overcoming feeling of a spiral right before the crashing point in Goodfellas. The guitar solo brings in a new dawn on “I Can Dig It Baby” like a tender caress before the sunshine dissipates, the nighttime becomes the horizon, and eventually, this nightlife will take over the audience.
Quick and to the point, Party Down is sample heaven for percussion and vocalization, but never hits that mark of being a necessary record to own. The tracks present are gorgeous but get somehow overshadowed by many similar records of the same era, becoming a gem inside a dust bin of treasure.
Listen Here – Spotify/iTunes
STREAMING // (Track) Darkher – “Love’s Sudden Death”
Listen Here – BandCamp
STREAMING // (Track) Supersuckers – “Gravity Bill”
Listen Here – BandCamp
STREAMING // (Track) TYPE – “CHERRY BOMB”
Listen Here – BandCamp
STREAMING // (Album) Nia Archives – “Forbidden Feelingz”
Listen Here – BandCamp
Track List: Ode 2 Maya Angelou, Forbidden Feelingz, 18 & Over, Luv Like, Part Of Me, Gud Gudbyes
THIS IS A LIST OF THE MOST RECENT STREAMS...
The complete list of all past streams can be accessed here as well
(Click Here)
MATT'S MUSIC MINE - MERCH FOR SALE
VIDEO REEL 2
LIVE PHOTOGRAPHY – JESUS PIECE AT BABY’S ALL RIGHT, DECEMBER 6TH, 2022
SUNDAY SAMPLER // (Playlist) “12/04/2022″
(Track) Jake Mason Trio – “Rib Eye”
(Video) Lightning Bolt – “Dead Cowboy @ TAICOCLUB 2014”
(Video) The Velvet Underground – “After Hours”
(Video) Mac Miller – “10 Years Of You”
(Video) A$AP Rocky – “Same Problems”
The complete list of all past streams can be accessed here as well
(Click Here)