Deerhunter Nation

No, this is not me going all Red State on you. This is fan mail from some flounder to Deerhunter, the alternative band fronted by Bradford Cox and Lockett Pundt, whose side projects Atlas Sound and Lotus Plaza make up the Empire part of this thing.  Ambient psychedelia?  Maybe so.  Chiming guitars, metronome drumming and minor key introversion are the pulse running all through this music.

Where to begin?  Start with"Agoraphobia" from 2008's Microcastle, by which time the band's sound has gelled from their noisy 2001 beginnings.  The noise quotient is toned down, the jangly guitars that Pundt contributes and Cox's introverted sentiments are all here in the prettiest little song you'll ever hear about a panic attack.  

Then it's on to Cox's efforts as Atlas Sound.  Away from the band, his work can verge on chamber pop, somewhat sunnier (what a relief) and rhythmically complex.  This stunner "Walkabout" is from 2008's Logos and features Noah Lennox of Panda Bear (but he's for another day):

I've saved the best for last, the Luna-like sound of Pundt's Lotus Plaza. If LP is the most accessible of these three collectives, you're still not gonna hear it on the radio anytime soon.  Hypnotic and trippy, those reverb-soaked guitars are all over his Spooky Action at a Distance, released this year.  "Remember Our Days" is my pick on a disk full of gems.    

Psychedelic Soul: Michael Kiwanuka

Do you long for the "Summer of Love" sound of the Youngbloods?  Does the mention of Moondance make you a little woozy?  Maybe you came way too late for that party but have been wondering what Bon Iver would sound like if Justin Vernon had any soul?

If the answer to any of these questions is "yes", then you need some Michael Kiwanuka in your head right now.  A Londoner of Ugandan parents, Kiwanuka has clearly been mainlining post-Monterey Otis Redding, all of Bill Withers, and not a little Curtis Mayfield.  The fingerprints of the trippy part of the late 60's are all over this.  But what's not to like about psychedelic soul?

Somebody say "Amen". 

Summer Soundtrack: Beach House's Bloom

As we approach the summer solstice, here is an album that has already earned a place on my 2012 Best list.  Fittingly, as the northern hemisphere tilts closer to the sun, it's the latest from Beach House, Bloom.

The long shadow of Brian Wilson hangs over this duo, a Baltimore pair that has been recording since 2004 and now sits in the center of the genre known as "dream pop."  It's a big, lush sound, full of harmony and vocal wash. Boomers, there are echoes of George Harrison, ELO and the Zombies and later, Dream Academy's Life in A Northern Town.  Everybody else, you know this sounds as kin to Panda Bear, Animal Collective, Sigor Ros, Deerhunter, Camera Obscura, Atlas Sound, Grimes, my recent faves Chairlift and Tennis -- oh, for God's sake it's everywhere.  Haven't you been paying attention?

This stuff plays with contrast, just like Wilson's best: the sunny melody that wraps up a lyric about loneliness and alienation.  (And who doesn't love a dollop of irony with their pop?)  But forget about narrative, these songs are all about mood:

Face it, right now this sound epitomizes the antithesis of rap -- there's not a hip-hop bone in its body.  But as Beach House puts its across, it's not slack.  It has tension and a certain muscularity that's revealed in this live version of Wild:  

Earlier Beach House disks felt, well, washed out.  This one has cohesiveness and heft.  I'm moving in for the summer.