LIGHTNING ROUND (Quarantine Edition!) – March 20, 2020

Wellllllllllcome to the LIGHTNING ROUND!! It’s the second one we’ve ever done and boy is it coming to you in strange times. In the spirit of a dispiriting world event, here are a bunch of songs for your listening pleasure! Make sure to check out each of these artists, they’re all doing great stuff.

[Normally I’d use Bandcamp embeds as much as I can, but today is a hard day for Bandcamp’s servers so I’ll be using Spotify and Soundcloud until the dust settles. Please support these artists where you can!]

1. Disq – “Loneliness”

For those of us suffering in isolation alone, here’s a track dedicated just for you. Madison, WI’s Disq put out a record a couple of weeks ago on Saddle Creek, and one of the lead singles fits this moment almost disconcertingly well. Pay attention to the weird timeliness of the lyrics, how it builds until it bursts, the descending chord progression when the song finally breaks open. The whole album is worth a listen, but this song in particular is a strong outing that shouldn’t be missed.

2. Danny Denial – “everything is terrible”

You’re right, Danny! Everything is terrible! You know what’s not terrible though? This song. It’s so endearingly strange, a batshit-crazy melange of alt-country and grunge and experimental pop with this wonderful steady drum beat underneath everything. Denial himself sells the moment, keeping his voice to a low cool and breaking out into a compelling scream when he needs to. Most strikingly, it’s a song that somehow captures the musical current running through Seattle right now; as a link between the city’s past and its present, it ends up sounding like its future.

3. Elson Complex – “Saddest Song”

All the way from Spain, Elson Complex lays down a haunting solo acoustic track that paradoxically sunlit and subterranean, the sound of a muted heart. It may not be the “saddest song,” but it is pretty damn gorgeous and works as both a palate cleanser and a ruminative piece on its own.

4. golda – “Dear Los Angeles”

Speaking of paradoxes (and timeliness), here’s a track that at once very L.A. and not L.A. at all. Golda might be speaking right on the nose here, but there’s no denying the hypnotic power of her voice is, or the gorgeousness of the track she’s written. It’s short, it’s sweet, and it’s causing all the flowers to open up. Too bad it’s harder than ever to leave L.A. now.

5. BATTS – “City View”

Far from your standard indie-pop fare, BATTS’ “City View” has this crafted edge to it that makes it jut out in relatively unpredictable angles. It feels like a small journey, the way it starts out humbly and then opens up, the way the harmonies peek out halfway through, the bending of pitch that throws a shadow of doubt on Tanya Batt’s words of praise.

6. Johnny Franco – “Immediate Love”

It’s hard to do classic rock a la George Harrison in a terribly fresh matter, but Brazilian guitarist Johnny Franco seems to have it down pat. His voice is far from typical, and the track he’s laid down here is perfectly restrained; it’s as if he’s embodying the spirit completely. It’s just a lovely, smooth moment that isn’t forced at all; you get the sense this guy could be doing this for fifty years and not get tired it.

7. Grace Weber – “Find A Way”

Next up, a stunner: a lovely gospel-leaning tune by Grace Weber, who you might recognize from The Social Experiment and Chance the Rapper’s exquisite Coloring Book. It’s clear Weber knows how to do neo-gospel right, and here it’s no different; like the opening of windows on the first day of spring, it’s a breath of fresh air that that’s neither overblown nor heavy-handed, and I can’t think of a better way to ring in the new season.

8. Hanging Valleys – Sleeping Sound

And finally, here’s something to get you to sleep amidst all the anxiety. UK-based Hanging Valleys lean into intense reverb and heavy atmosphere to create a soft, eternally quiescent landscape of picked guitar and post-rock vocals. It’s nothing if not nothing, and soothing is what we all need right now.

That’s it for the LIGHTNING ROUND this week! Stay tuned for more songs about staying indoors because holy crap this isn’t gonna send soon is it? Ah man.