EPT
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=T91VDlJiAXM
MillionYoung - "Weak Ends" off Sunndreamm EP
MillionYoung - "Weak Ends" off Sunndreamm EP
Chillwave is a very narrow, very young brand of music that probably peaked this September, to coincide with nostalgia over summer 2009. Though I downloaded most of the genre's big releases back then, I'm just now starting to appreciate them (as the weather gets worse). Thought I'd share a bit about this music here—including some albums for your downloading pleasure.
Descriptions vary (it's always hard to convey music in words) but I'd call chillwave Beach Boys meets dreampop. Tracks are downtempo and fuzzy—reminiscent of new age and select 80s pop—with some guitar hooks and heavily filtered vocals and harmonies. Chillwave is obsessed with summer things like the beach, puppy love, and sun. Here are a few chillwavers, with download links for some of their albums:
Washed Out is Ernest Greene from Georgia. His EP Life of Leisure dropped in early September, and is a good flavor of the genre. The babe on the album art is his new wife. If I had a good-looking wife and was a musician, I'd put her on my album cover.
![[image loading]](http://4.bp.blogspot.com/_bisjm3Bvuqs/StA7FDvd0yI/AAAAAAAAAsU/JWTAlENQYak/s400/washed-out-high-times-art.jpg)
Slightly better, and much more raw, than Life of Leisure is Washed Out's follow-up release High Times (click image above to download). High Times was released limitedly (200 copies) on cassette, so what you'll listen to if you download it is a rip of a tape. The medium fits the music, since even on digital releases these artists emulate the fuzziness of tape recording. I recommend "Belong" and "Phone Call".
Memory Tapes is probably the biggest name in the genre and his full-lenth debut Seek Magic is probably its defining album. Click to download:
![[image loading]](http://1.bp.blogspot.com/_SWvfoDs3n2U/SjZqnepLDHI/AAAAAAAAAM0/6aab_CHPUfM/s400/td5116_lg.jpg)
The first two tracks on this album are pretty kickass, after that it kind of loses me. I find a lot of the processing on his vocals too abrasive to jibe with the album's ultra-smooth instrumentation. Definitely worth a listen though, and I couldn't really leave it out of this post.
Toro Y Moi Is Washed Out's buddy from South Carolina, and his debut Causers of This will drop in early 2010—a bit late to the party, but worth the wait. DL:
![[image loading]](http://i66.photobucket.com/albums/h277/cbbundick/Picture1-40.png)
Causers of This is much more consistent than Seek Magic and, in a class of albums that beg to be played in their entirety (who can bother to pick tracks while simultaneously lighting a j, drinking tequila, surfing, and undoing the top of a freckled, tan brunette's bikini) that's worth noting. This is what the Dr. ordered for background music the next time you and your friends are relaxing in your apartment with drinks and in low light.
MillionYoung is Mike Diaz from Florida, and his Sunndreamm EP sounds like it's titled. Diaz is still small enough to respond to emails from fans—I wrote him requesting a higher quality version of Sunndreamm and he responded! DL the EP:
![[image loading]](http://2.media.tumblr.com/tumblr_kqqwf5QOOV1qa5mlwo1_400.jpg)
This is just one in a million self-released dabbles in electronic music, but I love it. "Weak Ends" and "Hammock" are amazing—catchy hooks and dreamy melodies. Have a listen!
See Also: Wild Nothing (play "Summer Holiday" and "Cloudbusting"), Neon Indian, Memory Tapes's 16-minute mix Walk Me Home
![[image loading]](http://spectrumculture.com/assets/ayrton.jpg)
