BEST TRACKS OF 2017-ARTISTS LIST #59
Nim Chimpsky have a penchant for offering up rollicking good punk with lots of attitude and lush atmospheric melodies! Here they share the tunes that made their 2017!
01. Mount Eerie - Real Death
Canadian illustrator and musician Genvieve Castrée sadly passed away last year, but this is about what happens after that. Written and recorded by her husband, on her guitar, in the room she used as an art studio, it’s visceral, unpleasant, and one of the most moving pieces I’ve heard in years.
02. Chelsea Wolfe - Spun
I’ve never really needed an excuse to swan around dressed all in black, but the first time I listened to this I finally perfected my wingéd eyeliner and got super into horoscopes.
03. Botanist - Upon Veltheims Throne Shall I Wait
Apocalyptic Black Metal about flowers, played on an electrified hammered dulcimer. It’s not for everyone, but if you’re looking for something off the beaten track it’s definitely worth checking out.
04. Novoline - Triad
Designed (like the rest of the album it’s taken from) to be played at either 33 or 45 rpm, you get the choice of either a menacing Industrial stomp or joyous 80’s House workout. Two tracks for the price of one? That’s just good value.
05. Open Mike Eagle - Hymnal (feat. Sammus)
Brick Body Kids Still Daydream isn’t the most immediate album, but really gets under your skin when you spend some time with it. It was hard, but I’m choosing this track for the added bonus of a standout verse from Sammus, who is well worth a listen in her own right.
06. Kaitlyn Aurelia Smith - To Follow & Lead
If you’re like me and you enjoy watching disembodied hands twiddle modular synths on YouTube then boy howdy do I have a present for you! If you’re not, you owe it to yourself to at least give this a try, I promise you’ll come out the other side a better person.
07. Natalia LaFourcade - Mi Tierra Veracruzana
This was a Tiny Desk discovery, and from what I can gather came out of Ms. LaFourcade exploring the musical traditions of her native Mexico. Which I’m not going to pretend I know huge amounts about, but there’s always time for a sweet little song about missing your home town round these parts.
08. Dude York - Black Jack
Not everything has to be big and clever! This has featured in most of our car journeys so far this year, and I believe it fulfils all the criteria of what children are referring to as “a bop” these days.
09. Hauschka - Constant Growth Fails
Prepared piano loops, vintage synthesisers, disklaviers played through harmonisers - it can be hard to tell just what it is you’re listening to exactly, but even through all the layers and experimentation there’s a nervous energy bubbling up throughout this piece, part of a series imagining what the future might hold for his children. It’s unsettling and pretty in equal measures, and an excellent introduction to an artist I keep finding myself coming back to.
10. Superorganism - Something For Your M.I.N.D
Seriously, you’ve no idea how much I’m looking forward to that part of the 90’s revival when we stop trying to make grunge happen and start embracing silly, off kilter stuff like this.
