Christian Horrorcore, Auto-Tuned Minimalism, Convulsive Screamo
Midwestern by birth; Southern by the grace of God.
My family moved to the Atlanta suburbs in 1990 and, within months, I knew: This feels right. The humidity, the pace, the food, the neighborly how-y’all-doin’s — my roots are immigrant Scandinavian, New York and New Jersey-ian, but the South spoke to me in a slow drawl and I wanted to listen.
In the late ’90s, TLC and OutKast and Freaknik were on the periphery, but I dug my low-top Vans into emo, punk and hardcore. Not until college did I start to explore the hip-hop renaissance happening just an hour down I-85, including an OutKast show at UGA’s Stegeman Coliseum just as “Hey Ya” was popping off — up in the cheap seats, unfortunately, the sound bounced off the walls like basketballs. Peer-to-peer networks, friends and the WUOG stacks were my education, skewed heavily towards Southern rap, unaware of the scene’s battle for legitimacy against the coasts.
The South Got Something To Say: A Celebration Of Southern Rap is a project spearheaded by Briana Younger, hosted by NPR Music. In a list of 130 songs, mixtapes and albums, the series issues a corrective about the South’s crucial contributions to hip-hop past and present. The trap beat that’s taken over music as we know it? That’s the South. Crunk and buck, the ultimate hype music? That damn sure is the South. “But infinity is the South,” Briana writes in a passionate opening essay, “the genesis of all popular music mounted on the spirituals and blues of those who built this country.”
I’m still making my way through the list itself, and there’s so much more to come. I mean, just the 9-hour playlist alone — there’s so much that brings me back home and so much I didn’t know. So take a read, take a listen and, in the immortal words of Erykah Badu via OutKast, “Liberate the minds, then you go on home.” — Lars Gotrich
Bandcamp 6-Pack (+1)
Backxwash, STIGMATA EP (self-released): In which our horrorcore hero goes full-on ruffle-shirt goth, delighting in symphonic sweeps and Evanescence-level drama. Backxwash is easily one of the most exciting artists playing with the riffs, ‘tude and aesthetics of metal right now, but when I saw the sample sources for this EP, I just about split in half: Renascent, Antestor and Saving Grace, all Christian metal bands. Ashanti! We need to talk about this!
Dolphy Kick Bebop, Briefvisit (WV Sorcerer Productions): With a name like that, I half-expected some big-band spy-jazz a la Cowboy Bebop. In an alternate universe, China’s Dolphy Kick Bebop soundtracks those space-pirate rascals with 420-friendly free-jazz and sax-squealing drone-doom. The French label lists Plastic People of the Universe, Masayuki Takayanagi and Pärson Sound as influences, but this set especially reminds me of that time in the 2000s when battered noise and the long strange drip of psychedelia were the astral guides of the raucous punk-jazz scene.
Andew Weathers Ensemble, The Thousand Birds in the Earth, The Thousand Birds in the Sky (self-released): Bands end and trot out the hits, but the most thoughtful ones wander through the past with wonder. The Andrew Weathers Ensemble was less a band and more of a revolving door, but struck by the possibilities of psychedelia, minimalism and sad-bastard songwriting. For this cassette, Weathers assembles a remarkable crew (CJ Boyd, mari maurice, Claire Rousay, David Menestres, to name a few) one last time to dip skyward, scraping at the meditative music of Terry Riley and Alice Coltrane as he reflects West Texas desert sands in an Auto-Tuned stream of consciousness.
LoneMoon, kit@Nai (self-released): Maybe my way into emo-rap is blasted, bit-crushed bombast. Laced with distorted trap/crunk beats, ’90s R&B bops, pop-punk melodies and kawaii samples mashed mercilessly into the mix, LoneMoon is that friend at the gig getting everyone hype, but retreating to the corner to breathe a moment.
Future, Demo (Dreamland Syndicate): Not to be confused with BEASTMODE rapper Future, Poland’s Future makes the kind of psychedelic hardcore that requires an absurd amount of echo on the singer’s mic, turning his howl into a rainbow maelstrom. Just good ol’ punk-and-roll swagger hit to a one-two beat.
Tiger Village, Amblyopiac (Suite 309): Experimental electronics amplify the interior, piecing together samples and synths into a heart beating. Amblyopiac is a deeply personal album for Tiger Village’s Tim Thornton about his own deteriorating eyesight and resulting surgery. He skeeters and skattles broken beats like much of his Orange Milk/Hausu Mountain kin, but there’s an intention, hopefulness and frustration that guides the process.
MAHRIA, Analemma (Zegema Beach). Zegema Beach holds the torch high for that late ’90s/early 2000s screamo sound: weird jazz chords, throat-shredded screams, metallic riffs, emo breakdowns, just total chaos and abrasive feelings. I hadn’t heard of Edmonton’s MAHRIA before, which apparently broke up while making this album in 2014, finished it in 2017 and got a nice tape release in the year of our lord 2020. This is exactly my screamo speed: a wild balance of sludgy convulsion, guitar acrobatics, pinch harmonics, pop-punk hooks and just a smidge of noodly post-rock prettiness.
The Playlist
25 tracks. I cannot wait to scream, “So let’s embrace the twilight / While burning out the limelight” with Touché Amoré on a stage… someday. Flo Milli is just a damn delight — I want everything good that’s hopefully coming to this brash-and-bright rapper. Pink Siifu guests on an incredibly smoove Seafood Sam jam. Sam Moss has a way with a finger-picked guitar and feather-light arrangements. Electro-pop experimentalist Eartheater goes acoustic. Rap weirdos Injury Reserve (RIP Jordan Groggs) drop a verse on the new EP from Japanese rap weirdos Dos Manos. Another indelible, Auto-Tuned melody from bummer-pop synthesist Lisel. On the metal tip: Godflesh-ian mosh-stomp from Realize, an apocalyptic banger from Gojira, hippie-dippie prog from Intronaut, death metal fury from Necrot, arc-welding noise from Sumac and a very faithful, but still very fun Black Sabbath cover band featuring members of Krallice, Yeah Yeah Yeahs and Angel Deradoorian on vox.
Stream the playlist via Spotify. Did you miss a previous playlist? Get thee to the archives.
RIYL that sensual scene from Ghost, but make it instructional
What: tea pottery (Twitter video)
Why: As someone who treasures a daily ritual of tea, this is visual ASMR for me. Helpfully identified as a Yixing clay teapot, Zhu Caifeng pats, scraps, spins, slices and smooths the clay with the utmost patience of a master artist. Also, the smile she gives at the end! Admire your work, girl!