OPM: Lucky 13

Thor Speeler – “Monochromatic”

An ebullient and spirited slice of electro-kissed indie pop reminiscent of the best of mid-’00s indietronica. If you miss the glory days of festival lineups stacked with acts like Passion Pit and Phoenix delivering fist-pumping sadness anthems, you’ll definitely want to hear this. 

A little bit electro, a whole lot of pop, a touch of IDM and a kiss of sampledelia all come together beautifully and irresistibly. Packed with hooks and sprinkled liberally with delicious ear-candy flourishes, this track bangs from beginning to end and, frankly, makes me want to hear an album’s worth of similar material. 

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Alex Acacia – Aether

Hard hitting and heavy synthwave meets classic trance with occasional elements of techno and IDM thrown in for good measure. The production is strong, with good sound design and punchy mixing and mastering – I am thinking this would sound incredible on a proper sound system. 

The synthwave base is definitely spiced up with those elements incorporated from other, older dance styles, particularly the classic trance tropes, which frequently take over completely. Honestly, this collection helps explicate the connection between classic trance and modern synthwave, showing not just the shared DNA but also the points of compatibility rarely explored by modern producers. 

(Listened to the entire album)

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Sauvie Island Moon Rocket Factory – The Blind Slough to Fort Rock

A delightful cache of classic lo-fi singer-songwriter psych pop Americana. Released back in 2005, this stuff is approaching the age we can call it vintage, but it sounds surprisingly relevant to today’s alt scene – Kurt Vile fans, in particular, will definitely want to check this out. Of course, given that this predates his first release, this is a case of parallel evolution, not direct influence. 

Seems like both of them have a deep love for ‘70s artists such as Crosby, Stills, Nash and Young, Beatlesesque pop, Elephant 6 psych pop, and more modern weird indie pop acts such as Mercury Rev. Whatever the influences, these are well written songs presented in a largely simple, subdued arrangements of guitar, bass, drums and the occasional Americana flourish, such a fiddle, and more occasional dollops of electronic or sampled weirdness to keep you on your toes. A fascinating reminder that no matter how deep you go into a genre, there’s always more deep cuts and obscure gems to discover.

(Listened to the entire album)

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Dace Merryweather – “Magnapinna”

A beautiful, dark and mysterious instrumental rock track in honor of a beautiful, mysterious creature of the deep dark, the giant squid that shares its name with this track. This could be a mid-period Pink Floyd track or a weird outtake from Echo and the Bunnymen – it’s all brooding guitar, rolling bass, tight drumming and occasional splashes of electronics. 

It builds up, it breaks down, and it crescendos in an almost post rock way, but it’s a bit more grounded in classic rock than most of that genre. Groovy, dark, heavy and weird, just like the dwellers in the deep deep that inspired it.

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Gutto Ze – “Lies”

An instrumental track driven by interweaving lines of piano and synthesizer. Underneath those marquee elements, you’ll find a solid drumbeat and some mellow electronics filling out the arrangement. The lead synth is the real star of the show, tho – sinuous and seductive, slipping in and over and thru the rest of the arrangement. 

And, as a bonus, if you like looking at the music, this one comes with its own custom visualizer, delivering the kind of abstract shapes and colors you might recognize from rubbing your closed eyes too hard, only in response to the music. Cool. 

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