It seems pretty obvious that, intentionally or not, most pop music is made with a relatively direct connection to some past or another, right? Not all musicians want to acknowledge that, whereas others probably wear their influences probably a little too proudly. Broadcast was a band that managed somehow to make explicit reference not only to pop music of the past, but to the very act of remembering, and through that to create something totally beautiful and engaging. When I was in high school, Work and Non Work was one of those key albums that everyone I knew seemed to love, and it has remained a constant source of profound pop pleasure for me. I sat underneath the keyboard when they played in a small gallery in Phoenix, and burst into tears midway through “Message from Home,” a song that I still can’t get enough of.
So it was very sad news last month when Trish Keenan died of pneumonia, or, according to numerous people who claim to have friends in London with personal ties to someone in the band or other, swine flu. I don’t listen to NPR or anything, but they have some very fine pieces of writing about her and the band, much more interesting than anything I could say… see this one and this one.
Making equally ethereal, and equally beautiful music, Julia Holter recently released a cassette on NNA Tapes that is just beyond exquisite. The tape compiles live recordings, some from as far back as 2008, to more recent recordings including some from collaborative performances with visual / performance artist Yelena Zhelezov. The tracks start and end abruptly, like a lazily made mixtape, and it’s unclear if “live” means performed in front of an audience, or just live in a bedroom. It’s absolutely wonderful, and I can’t recommend it enough. You can listen to a complete live performance of hers from a few months back at the wulf. in Los Angeles here.
And then there is the lovely new 7” from The Pains of Being Pure At Heart on Slumberland… Heart In Your Heartbreak. I wasn’t sure when I first heard them if I loved them for unabashedly playing music that sounds just like so many other things I listened to when I was younger, or if I found it utterly repellant. Well… I quickly gave in, and their first album lived in my friend’s car stereo whenever we took one of our thrice-weekly midnight trips out to Malibu at midnight over the summer. The new single is basically just like the album, a nice little piece of pure pop bliss. Can’t wait for the next LP that’s supposedly coming out next month!