You know the old saying: "When it's windy outside/Give new local music a ride." Well, here you go.
Sym1 Puts the “Sigh” in Cyborg
Sure, everyone’s half-machine nowadays, but Sym1 was plugged in back when you all were still 100% meat. Her new five-song EP All That U Want nods back to the rave culture of yesterday and leaps forward over electronic pop’s next half-dozen or so microtrends to land on what will be next—once everyone else catches up. If you’ve already heard the lead single, “Midnight Crush,” you know to expect snares like whips and giant slabs of synth, but the real treat on the EP is her vocal range: soaringly anthemic one minute, breathily enticing the next. Can you listen to it? Here. Can you order it? Here. Sym1 has several events planned in April, the next of which is this very cool-sounding event at Artspace Jackson Flats in northeast Minneapolis.
Lady Midnight’s Call to Arms
Where has Lady Midnight been? I don’t know, where have you been? Where have any of us been? Enough with the existential questions—it’s Friday. All that matters is that you can, should, and (I hope) will listen to her new song, “Arms Around Me.” Produced by her frequent collaborator Mike the Martyr, the track features a soulfully up-pitched backing vocal before LM herself wafts in to sing about a sexual entanglement more emotionally complex than the song’s simple and direct title indicates. In other Lady Midnight news, she has finally scheduled a new date for the beginning of her long-delayed Icehouse event, Lady Midnight’s Last Mourning: A Multidisciplinary Celebration of Life and Death, initially planned for December. Guests include Kavyesh Kaviraj, Medium Zach, Miguel Hurtado, Mayda, Lydia Jones & Zhané of New Black City, Silvestrey, Oanh Vu Puppets & Andrew Young of Monsoon Season, and DJ Adora Tokyo. That’s a lot of guests! I hope there's room in the club for the rest of us.
The Current Sneak-Peeks New Hip-Hop/R&B Stream
Last December, the Current announced the hiring of former Radio K program director Julian Green for a mysterious “urban alternative project” in collaboration with KMOJ. Today, 89.3’s Reed Fischer tweeted out a way for us all to listen in to what’s been percolating behind password-protected doors. (It feels very illicit, like ducking under the velvet ropes when no one is watching.) It’s called “The New Thing.” (A free jazz reference? Can I request something from Ornette’s In All Languages?) And what can we expect from this new (probably) Dawes-free zone? Well, this afternoon you would have heard Kehlani, Massive Attack, Jill Scott, and Stevie Wonder’s “Skeletons,” the only hit single of the ’80s to call out Oliver North.
America, Give It up for the Yam Haus Dancers!
I promise this is not going to become Yam Haus Weekly, especially since I am not-angry-just-disappointed that the band has yet to react to this very funny reply tweet. But since Yam Haus was on national TV this week performing “Ready to Go” (not a Republica cover) that deserves a mention. They were the first band on the first episode on American Song Contest, NBC’s odd new attempt at United Statesifying Eurovision. “I think that is a hit record right there," Snoop Dogg told the band. Judge for yourself, and enjoy the very network TV light display and over-enthusiastic backup dancers. The band should bring them on tour. Better yet, First Ave should hire the dancers to accompany every rock band.
