ListenUp
DJ Shadow + Nils Frahm, D∆WN’s high-energy pop and some NSFW facesitting this week in music
Blonde Redhead: Dripping
Veteran NYC avant-rock trio Blonde Redhead (made up of Kazu Makino and twin brothers Simon and Amedeo Pace) released their ninth studio album Barragán back in September 2014. From it, the hushed and hazy lead single “Dripping” (“I saw you dripping sunlight / I saw you dripping moonlight”) previously had a music video-cum-ad for fashion label AllSaints. Now comedian Eric Wareheim makes his version for his “favorite band of all time.” The new and NSFW music video for “Dripping” shows off the seductive art of… face-sitting. It’s surprisingly conducive to multi-tasking.
D∆WN: Wake Up
Former Danity Kane member D∆WN has been busy this week, dropping her Adult Swim Single “Serpentine Fire,” her collaboration “Lemonade Lakes” with Oshi, and now a music video for her climatic chant “Wake Up.” The high energy dance track—featuring Machinedrum’s signature rapid-fire beats—breaks the template of the formulaic electro-pop hit, experimenting with how far D∆WN’s voice can flit, bend and tauten. Thankfully, the visuals can keep up with the music’s intensity, as the seasoned singer and dancer wears gilded wings and gold ram horns like NBD.
Dave Okumu feat. Jamie Woon: Oceans of Purple
Dave Okumu (of acclaimed band The Invisible) just released a lush and fitting Prince tribute song, “Oceans of Purple,” that tingles the senses. Featuring British singer/songwriter/producer Jamie Woon on vocals, the sexy, sexy song—with a beautifully drawn out instrumental outro that feels like you’re bathing in synths—was written by Okumu in the days after his hero’s passing. Officially releasing 25 June on Okumu’s Ruby Moon Records, all streaming and sale proceeds will be donated to Nordoff Robins—a UK-based independent music therapy charity.
DJ Shadow feat. Nils Frahm: Bergschrund
DJ Shadow’s latest track “Bergschrund,” made with Berlin-based pianist and experimental composer Nils Frahm, will have your heart pumping along to the beat. The gated synth line seems simple at first before the instrumental enlarges and blooms and lurches. The title, an obscure German word for a mountain ice crevasse, relates to the title of DJ Shadow’s upcoming album—The Mountain Will Fall—which features yet another choice collaboration “Nobody Speak” (with Run the Jewels) which will be released at the end of this month.
MOTHXR: She Can’t Tell
Brooklyn-based four piece MOTHXR (not to be confused with Athens, GA-based band Mothers) released their debut album Centerfold this past February. Each of the slow jam pop tracks is getting its own shot-in-one-take video of singer Penn Badgley, filmed during a tour through the EU and directed by bassist/producer Jimmy Giannopoulos (Lolawolf, Reputante). The new video for “She Can’t Tell” has surveillance cam vibes as Badgley (looking more like Fabrizio Moretti these days than Dan Humphrey) interpretively shuffles under a yellowing street light.
ListenUp is a Cool Hunting series published every Sunday that rounds up the music we tweeted throughout the week, also found in Listen. Hear the year so far via Cool Hunting Spotify.
