[SONG OF THE DAY] Jakuzi - "Yangın"

My beloved Turkish darklings Jakuzi have released another track from their gorgeous upcoming sophomore album, Hata Payı, which drops on April 5th courtesy of City Slang. As of today I can speak with authority about the awesomeness of said album because since it hit my inbox this morning I haven’t been able to stop listening to it.

This new track, “Yangın”, which literally translates to "Fire”, deals with feeling stuck in your current situation, more often than not because we’re our own worst enemy. As singer Kutay Soyocak shared, "My life is in a process of development and I am trying to go somewhere I would like to be. As this process goes on, a personal defect of mine distracts my attention and all of a sudden, I start watching it and that stops me. I am getting passive.”  

The band have paired the single to the below video which perfectly encapsulates Soyoack’s feelings. The gloomy scene portrayed comes off like there’s something wrong with the video once it zooms out on Soyoack sitting on the rooftop, but it’s just the somber reality of the situation at hand.

[RANT] Please Stop Downgrading Women’s Fandom To Romantic Adoration

See this man? I love his music and therefore love and support him in every way I can. That doesn’t mean I want to have sex with him. I can’t believe I have to even say this. 🤦🏼‍♀️

Over the weekend, news broke that seven time Grammy winner and one of the most important artists in my life, Beck, had filed for divorce from his wife of 17 years.

Less than a week prior, the world saw him snag 2 of said Grammys at the 61st Annual Grammy Awards show. Earlier in the week I had been discussing with fellow Beck superfans how great it must feel to finally be seeing the amount of success and recognition for his art that we all thought he should’ve had for basically decades now. In my mind, Beck had to be super happy, therefore I was super happy for him.

Sadly, that doesn’t seem to be the case.

I don’t know why they’re getting divorced and frankly I don’t care because it’s none of my business.

What I do care about, is that I couldn’t have a moment of empathy for someone who means a lot to me without having to be on the defensive for my level of fandom and feeling the need to tweet something like this when the news broke:

Swear to god if any of you link me to the news about Beck's divorce and are like "now's your chance!" I will end you

— empress of zero chill💖 (@kibbe) February 16, 2019

The quick “cute” comments I’ve received from people I either barely know or are relatively close to have been all something to the effect of, “Get in there, girl!”, “You’re in”, “Where’s my wedding invite?”, and my new favorite from today where someone suggested that the reason I finally changed my profile picture across the internet after 10 years is because I “didn’t want Beck to get the wrong idea now that he’s getting a divorce”.

Yes, I celebrate the man’s birthday like it’s a friend’s birthday. Yes, I was the person who claimed /r/Beck from becoming a portal for Glenn Beck on Reddit. Yes, I occasionally sit in private Facebook groups analyzing his Instagram posts. Yes, I have a stockpile of bootlegs. Yes, I’ve seen him perform live over a dozen times. Yes, I will most likely mourn his inevitable death to the same level I have for friends and family (perhaps more tbh).

Yes, I am a superfan to the extent that people in my life think of me when his music comes on.

….so why the HELL does that equate to me wanting to essentially just fuck the man?

Let me do my best to explain to what happens in my brain simultaneously when people make comments like this to me.

On a top level:

• I’m immediately downgraded from a full human being to a female sex object. Am I really just on the planet to be sexualized and fuck a lot? NO.

• I’m frustrated that my career in the music business isn’t where I hoped it would be at my age and a lot of that has to do with not getting afforded the same chances men get in music thanks to sexism.

• I relive dodging gropey men at music industry winter holiday parties.

• I remember how many times I’ve had to shrink my level of interest talking about music at label jobs because I didn’t want to get dismissed as a “groupie”.

• Speaking of that triggering ass word, I remember how many times I’ve had someone say. “Oh so are you like a groupie for them or something?” When I spoke passionately about a band that had men in it.

• I remember the time I had to tell a band whose label brought me out to meet them for potential coverage that seemed uncomfortable to my general friendly demeanor, “I don’t wanna suck your dick. I just want to help you get famous” and how their mood changed immediately.

• I remember the time I co-hosted a CMJ showcase with The Audio Perv and all the other music blogger dudes who showed up thought I was someone’s girlfriend instead of the person who bought this domain, built the site, solicited pitches from publicists, etc. etc.

• I get angry on behalf of the women in music who have had it much worse than I have.

• Most importantly my capacity for love is immediately confined. Not just my capacity for love, but for every woman who loves music.

That’s really depressing if you think about it and that’s just me as a HUMAN PERSON!!! As a woman who has to choose every day to interact with male musicians, there is so much of my head space that I occupy with trying to overcome the above as I write reviews, leave meaningful comments on artists social posts, and just generally try to be the person I know I am. Imagine if I could just like….spend all my brain power seeking and reporting on Turkish goth bands carving out a space in the Turkish music scene, the badass house DJ who helped pioneer the first music production course at a Girls Rock Camp, or any of the other artists out there that could end up being the thing that YOU get as hopelessly devoted to as I am to Beck.

I wanna talk about that, too. Since I’ve addressed above the way my capacity for love gets shrunken to whatever box people think my fandom should fit in. When my fandom gets discounted as something silly or seen as anything other than just, well, fandom, it dismisses:

• The degree of loyalty that I am capable of.

• The fact that I’m not sure if I’d be where I am today writing this very thing without Midnite Vultures because that record gave me the permission to be as different or weird as I wanted to be.

• The transformative power music has over me and my desire to share that with others.

• The money I’ve invested in something I believed in.

• The love-centered the community I have to turn to for more than just Beck’s music.

• The ways his music informed details in my methods of self-expression.

….and a ton of other things that I can easily identify has deeply rooted bits that factor into my identity. Whether we want to admit to it or not, music shapes all of us to some varying degree. Just because I express my gratitude for that by providing as much support as I am able to should not make me less of a person. I’d say it’s the opposite, honestly.

So please. For the love of the song that makes you feel things the most, just let me love whatever music I want to, however hard I want to, without your preconceived ideas of how you think loving art works or any assumptions rooted in patriarchal garbage nonsense.

[SONG OF THE DAY] Max Rad - "Flesh & Blood"

As much as it irritates me to no end when artists go the hella illusive route with their online personas, I do delight in reporting on the occasional super sleuthing mission. This me for today’s SOTD —-> 🧐

Earlier this week The Algorithm™ delivered London producer/singer-songwriter Max Rad’s last track, “Rumors”, which as you’ll hear for yourself, is this laid back blend of trip-hop and R&B. As per usual when I find something that’s a delight to my ears I dive head first into their artist profile to see what else they’ve got going on.

Me: Oh! There’s a brand new track, “Flesh & Blood” and it’s just as good (if not better) than “Rumors”! Hell yes! Okay so what is this dude’s deal then?

Fam, there’s just like links to his Instagram and Facebook. No bio. No nothing. But he’s on like so many fucking playlists. His Instagram is meticulous and nothing too personal. But wait there’s a link to his official website on his Facebook where you can enter your email for free tickets (for what I assume is this Camden Assembly show on April 25th in London).

Which of course had me all, Okay no but REALLY who the fuck is this dude?!

Fortunately for y’all I have zero chill so I sat back for a couple of days and started looking for clues. Earlier today, I noticed on IG stories that he was celebrating the fact that London singer-songwriter Nathan Ball hit 4 million streams on his breakout track, “Drifting”. A track that, per some additional casual digging, a one Max Radford co-wrote and co-produced.

From the looks of the personal Twitter account he occasionally still updates, the story here appears to be that the dude has been working closely with Nathan Ball for a minute, lending his services on guitar for Ball as needed. Then early last year he started putting together the project you’re vibing to now under the name Max Rad and started getting some buzz love from around folks like Line of the Best Fit, Blue Walrus, NME, Clash, etc.

You’ll note that when Clash first wrote up his debut single, “Carousel”, that they even go as far to say, “We still don't know a hell of a lot about the newcomer - but that's fine, given that his colourful, lucid pop constructions speak for themselves.”

Well…. now you at least have a bit more to sink your teeth into so when you tell your friends about Max Rad you can say more than, “Yo this shit so so good tho”.

🧐😂💖

[WATCH] Empath - "Soft Shape" (Official Video)

Philly lo-fi rockers Empath have announced their debut full-length album, Active Listening: Night On Earth, which drops in April. On the heels of the announcement, the band have shared lead single, “Soft Shape” along with the accompanying video. Following up their Crystal Reality Vol. 1 & 2 EPs, “Soft Shape” chugs fuzzy bass and plinky guitars through your eardrums, all the while weaving howling synths to and fro.

The video features the band performing in a spooky retro-looking house, including a room full of dolls. As you follow along you’ll find yourself thinking, “Somehow…this….actually….fits….perfectly?”

The band will be performing at SXSW in addition to a handful of gigs on the east coast. Dates below!

UPCOMING SHOWS:

Friday March 8 Savannah, GA @ Savannah Stopover Festival
Saturday March 9 Atlanta, GA @ The Earl
March 13 - 15 Austin, TX @ SXSW
Saturday March 16 Dallas, TX @ Not So Fun Weekend
Wednesday March 20 Columbus, OH @ Ace of Cups
Saturday April 6 Harrisonburg, VA @ MACROCK Festival 

[WATCH] tiLLie - "faith" (Official Video)

still taken from “faith” music video

tiLLie is back and she’s got some goodies for us! ✨

After releasing her infectious karma-laden anthem, “faith”, the shimmering songstress has unveiled not only the accompanying music video, but also news that she will be releasing her sophomore EP LOUD MOUTH on March 8th.

The video features our heroine cathartically dancing around in her bedroom before taking to the streets. Inspired by an actual evening in her own bedroom, she revealed the inspiration behind the video in a recent interview with Galore,

"I had just gotten home and was listening to the demo as I was washing my face and suddenly I just felt like I was a teenager in my bedroom again listening to a song that was written just for me. I started jumping on my bed and just had this cathartic dance party. So, the video basically became a recreation of that with the help of the ever so talented Erik Rojas. It represents what I hoped this song would feel like to whoever hears it and is going through the emotional rollercoaster of a bad break up or healing from abuse. There’s no endorphin boost quite like carefree dancing through all your feelings. I’ve done it since i was a kid and will do it till the day i can’t dance no more. It gives me a release like no other."

I love the symbolism of her working through her frustration while in her bedroom before hitting the streets celebrating the power that she’s reclaimed.

UPCOMING TOUR DATES

March 7th - Portland, OR @ Lola's Room

March 9th - San Francisco, CA @ Brick + Mortar

March 11th - Los Angeles, CA @ The Echo

March 12th - San Diego, CA @ Casbah

March 14th - Phoenix, AZ @ Valley Bar

March 15th - Tucson, AZ @ 191 Toole

March 18th - Dallas, TX @ Cambridge Room

March 19th - Houston, TX @ Bronze Peacock

March 21st - Austin, TX @ Stubbs Jr

March 24th - Atlanta, GA @ Purgatory

March 25th - Nashville, TN @ High Watt

March 27th - Chapel Hill, NC @ Local 506

March 28th - Washington, DC @ DC9

March 29th - Philadelphia, PA @ Voltage Lounge

March 30th - New York, NY @ Mercury Lounge

April 1st - Boston, MA @ Great Scott

April 2nd - Pittsburgh, PA @ Smiling Moose

April 4th - Detroit, MI @ Shelter

April 6th - Grand Rapids, MI @ The Stache

April 8th - Cleveland, OH @ Basement

April 9th - Columbus, OH @ Cambridge Room

April 11th - Chicago, IL @ Schubas

April 12th - Milwaukee, WI @ Shank Hall

April 14th - St. Paul, MN @ Amsterdam Hall

April 16th - Kansas City, MO @ Encore

April 17th - Denver, CO @ The Globe

April 18th - Salt Lake City, UT @ Kilby Court

[SONG OF THE DAY] BABii - "SEiiZURE"

Late last week Margate, UK artist BABii unveiled her karaoke-esque style music video for her recent single, “SEiiZURE”. If you’re having trouble following along with the lyrics, that’s because the words are all written in BABii’s own pictorial alphabet. Speaking about the video, BABii said "FROM MAKiiN THiiS ViiDEO iiVE REALiiSED THAT ii AM JUST TRYiiNG TO LiiVE MY CHiiLDHOOD GiiRL DREAMS WiiTH ALL THE THiiNGS ii MAKE AROUND MUSiiC. iiTS FUN AND ii LiiKE iiT."

Where does one learn to speak fluent BABii, I wonder?? 🤔🤔🤔

“SEiiZURE” comes from her forthcoming debut full-length, HiiDE, which will be released later this year courtesy of Deathwaltz Originals.

Folks across the pond can catch her at a few shows coming up in Berlin, Munich, and London. Those of us in the US of A gotta figure out last minute SXSW plans if we plan on seeing her live any time soon.

See BABii live:
1/3 Gretchen, Berlin (DJ set) w/ Iglooghost + Kai Whiston
2/3 Common Ground, Munich w/ Iglooghost + Kai Whiston 
7/3 Scala, London supporting Crooked Colours 
11/3 - 17/3 SXSW, Austin

[SONG OF THE DAY] Bronze Whale - "Cruising"

Last week Austin groove gods Bronze Whale released their first track of 2019, “Cruising”. Following the slightly more upbeat tracks, “Never” and “One” that were released near the end of 2018, “Cruising” subtly shifts gears with the song’s steady pulsating hypnotic synths and gradual builds. If you were to accidentally put this song on repeat before going for a drive to clear your head you might end up states away from where you started without noticing the amount of time or distance that has elapsed.

“It delivered exactly the feeling we wanted,” the duo said of the track. “That first moment when the lights hit and a show begins. Cruise control on an open highway. Enjoying the night.”

With every song they’ve delivered in the past 6 months I’m very much looking forward to birthday month (April), which is when Benny and Jacques are expected to release their debut full-length, The Shape Of Things.

[SONG OF THE DAY] Ekkah - "Just A Thing"

You know what time it is. IT’S VIBE OCLOCK ON FRIDAY, CUTE PEOPLE!

Been longer than a minute since I checked in on disco-funk duo Ekkah. When last I heard from the pair they had just released their “Ekkah x Real Love” single back in 2016. Fortunately for us they’ve resurfaced this year, dropping “Homesick” early in January under my nose. Today brings us a new track, “Just A Thing”, which is a nice way to end a mostly-unintentional Valentine’s Day themed week. The duo enlisted the likes of SG Lewis and Phairo to collaborate with them on the track and as you’ll hear for yourself it is quite the lovely pairing.

Speaking on the track, the band explained, “‘Just A Thing’ is a song about a relationship that never quite took off. It's about not expecting too much from another person, you don't always have to fall in love, it was just a thing and that's cool sometimes!”