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SOMETHING OLD
As Perfume Genius, Mike Hadreas has made a name for himself as a slithering, sensual presence on festival stages across America (“no family is safe when I sashay,” goes one song). But back in 2010, he was a piano-playing hermit whose music sounded like it was recorded inside a monk’s cell. Learning might be his best record. A collection of ambient miniatures and heartbreaking songs, it barely scrapes 30 minutes, and it’s amazing that its best songs—“Learning,” “Mr. Petersen,” “Write to Your Brother”—aren’t standards.
SOMETHING NEW
Working in a woolly early ‘70s mode this time around, Petunia is the newest expansion in scope, skill and budget from the shaggy-haired brothers in Tonstartssbandht. Its harmonies sound like Yes’ Jon Anderson doing Simon & Garfunkel, and the brothers have internalized the Dead’s way of making complex songs feel organic and free; it’s refreshing to see them bring some rigor to the noncommittal world of slacker rock.
SOMETHING LOCAL
The last year or so has been great for intimate, diaristic, field recording-based ambient music (see: Claire Rousay, More Eaze, Nick Zanca, Lucy Liyou, et al.) Through the Eyes of Someone You Love, from local Bandcamp denizen Kaho Matsui (recording as Kazuma Matsui), is a fine addition to the canon. It burbles up bits of daily life and blindsiding moments of pop beauty while staying abrasive, tender, and sweet. After a few tracks, you really start to feel for the chipmunk-person whose heartfelt narration composes the core of the album.
SOMETHING ASKEW
The ambient and warm drone catalog of New York audio-visual duo Bengalfuel is thematically united around dramatically lit album artwork that often incorporates very cute cats. The cover of 2012′s Braemar boasts an all-star pettable cat and some of the most sumptuous drones imaginable—eight tracks lasting an hour, great for listening while half-awake in the middle of the night or slow-blinking with a feline friend.
