- Asian Trippers
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by Jin Li Hai
Another lockdown has been announced, and you know what that means! Time for some musical catharsis at home to release all them demons that have been bottling up for some raucous release! You know, it’s been about 6 months since my last musical taste sharing, so I guess it’s about time to see where we stand sonically.
Driving on a scooter in Taiwan is something that I’ve gotten used to, easily over 1000s of hours have passed, and I’ve grown adept at not only reading when a dumb dumb is in front of me on the road, but being able to flick between songs as well. The trick is to ride slow; traffic deaths are the biggest cause of premature death in Taiwan, in fact, 8 people a day die from scooter deaths it is said, about 2000 a year.
https://www.statista.com/statistics/320553/taiwan-road-traffic-fatalities
The reason simply being, that people here have a very chilled approach to life, and especially to traffic. They don’t really use their mirrors, they just kind of look in front and see what the people in front of them are doing…that and you have the occasional 70 year old driving on a motorcycle, bicycle’s driving in the road along with cars, and a test so easy to pass that I swear I can do it while drunk. But this isn’t about proving stereotypes right! This is about music, and what the Asian Tripper likes to dabble in while driving and while high! Enclosed within are music stretched across all different genre’s and times, the only connection being that they are either interesting, or straight from the soul! So now during lockdown, get your oils, greens and edibles, and compile this playlist or simply stay here for the links; cause things are about to get deep “bruh”.
Starting off are the big summer releases that I’ve been looking forward too, both following up on some pretty strong releases. The cd’s being, “Hiatus Kaiyote’s Mood Valiant, and Tyler The Creator’s Call Me If You get lost”.
Hiatus Kaiyote’s previous effort, Choose Your Weapon, was fresh, dynamic and musicians darling of sparkling neo-soul, willing to get technical, propelled by the mystical lyrics and vocal prowess of singer Nai Palm. It was a grower that stayed in my mind for a long time, and anticipation followed mixed with mad curiosity to what they could come up with after 6 years and Nai Palm recovering from breast cancer (removed, along with her breast.) The new record, Mood Valiant, is way more down tempo, in regards to their previous effort…stand out tracks include, “Red Room”, “Chivalry is not dead” and “All the words we don’t say. Produced by the bassist, the instruments run smooth over the sunset, serenaded by a woman who actually sounds unique, unlike all the radio girls who sound like the same person. Sensual, silky, twisting through synthesizers and chill drum patterns, not as unique and striking as their previous effort, but very cool and hitting of the spot on days when one needs some red wine and cuddles.
Coming in next is the new Tyler record, a reaction of course to his previous record, “Igor” which was way more on the left side of the fence, including more singing and RnB crooning. The new record is just about raw, powerful BEATS bruh! Big boasts (most of how he sold out MSG) and quick musical drops and changes that will make basic hip hop head’s mouth drop and left screaming “OOOOOOOHHHHHH”. It is calculated, each track about 2minutes in time, full of boasts and zingers which make it perfect for little Tik Tok videos…while at the same time making all the supreme kids feel like the coolest shit for blasting this. Overall not sticking in my playlist,
Now for something interesting…the Young Fathers. 3 lads from Scotland, bringing some really interesting sounds, recently I had gotten into their 2014 Mercury Prize Award winning record, “Dead”, tribal, raw, honest, not easily digested. A grower not a shower…containing tribal sounds, 3 men with very distinct voices, cutting through with raw maturity and honesty, tracks like “Hangman” and “Get Up” show a bleak stark take on the heaviness of the world, all with pulsing beats and gritty sensitivity. However, taking that energy a few steps further, if you want to go into the heavier and darker realms, one always returns to the first 3 records of Death Grips! Post modern rap at its rawest, once described as being as intellectual as a scrapped knee…time and time again, one returns to see some spitting the truth over raw drums and visceral screams, screaming for redemption and self betterment while watching the world burn down.
MC Ride has one of the craziest flows that you’ve never heard of, the first 3 records, and I do recommend only those ones…pushes one to the limit, but the intensity is so refreshing and satisfying…leading us into my personal album of the month, Limp Bizkit’s criminally underrated last record, Gold Cobra. Of course , all 15 tracks aren’t all classics, but nevertheless, these songs hit with a power sorely missed in these clean bleached times.
Tracks like Golden Cobra, Shark Attack, Get A Life, and Shotgun…all pump with beautiful drum and bass, dope rhymes that anals any PC baby and riff so heavy, they could lunch Space X to Mars and back in a single spin of the CD. Recommended for a sense of humor and big ass headbanging.
But perhaps, you are in need of something a little more chill and trippy…perhaps you got a dab or some indoor cheese and you really need that head high to explore intricate guitars and melodies…so then I present to you, the awesome tag team of Tera Melos and Feed Me Jack. Feed Me Jack is without a doubt, the best guitar band you have never heard of. Amazing guitars, dabbling in rock, folk, jazz and shredding…their short career has produced amazing EP’s, breathtaking musical crescendos and of course, Still Woozy.
Still Woozy is the solo project of one of the bands guitarists…and the man is a genius. His music isn’t as intricate or breathtaking, but it’s super mellow and well done. Perfect for playlists, high drives and spooning with the lady, Still Woozy (although mostly singing about his girlfriend, which gets a bit annoying after the 10th song) has sound textures, phat bass and really cool guitars that compliments any strain of green to make you breathe out after shouting at the sky for cursing you with this country.
Taking us into weirder territories are Tera Melos, a band most music geeks adore, so if you haven’t heard of them, then I suggest you download (or add) their record X’ed Out, and be prepared for long talks with hipsters about how important this record is for alternative music. Yes, Tera Melos, the band you should know, driving, melodic, psychedelic, but still able to shred. Abstract is a way to describe their pedal driven soundscapes, tracks like “Sunburn” gallop like indie rock of 2005, followed by spaced out jammage strapped in a polished baguette. I especially recommend the head bop of the opening track “Weird Circles”, and the liquid tension ambient sun glazed experience found on the track, “No Phase”. Cosmic ocean waves come to mind.
A few honorable mentions to go out to those songs that pop into your head from time to time, that make you give it a few spins, and always pops up at the end of your playlists.
Pkew Pkew Pkew -Mid-20’s skateboarder. A song in the Tony Hawk Pro Skater remake, a tongue in cheek romping punk jam, fun for in between playlist lightheartedness. MeWithoutYou- The Crow the Cookie and the Fox; and coming in straight from the 80’s…the Proclaimers with It’s Over and Done, a track dripping with honesty and folk harmonies done right, with the spirit of a true gallant hero from a small town who understands the hidden mysteries of life, as well as, Men At Works- Land Down Under. A gem that only needs a listen to know why it was such a classic.
To finish off this attempt, I will attempt to write a full on review, of an album, that I think, could be, the most undercover stoner album, of the year(s) for me, and I bet no one will see this one coming. It is a record, that twists and transforms, evokes so many textures and moods, and surprisingly, a lot of the tracks were played by the artist himself. It is an RnB record at heart, but contains old school blues, jazz, latin music, and psychedelic rock, all wrapped in sonically painted soul. That record is, D’angelo’s Black Messiah album; released in 2014, 14 years after D’angelo’s last album; the acclaimed and amazing, Voodoo.
What makes Black Messiah so intriguing, so captivating, that it makes one remember it time and time again, thinking about one certain guitar line, or lyric, or texture or beat…it is a record of love for music, and shows all that is beautiful and redeemable about humans. The record starts with the pumping, spiritual and sparse Ain’t That Easy, showing some sweet Southern strut, and introducing us to D’angelo’s layered vocals and smooth bounce. Following is 1000 Deaths, the heaviest and trippiest song on the record. Don’t let it scare you, Off times, abrasive vocals, it is really weird, but freakishly groovy, heavy bass, a mental guitar solo, all with a sermon of the coming of the black messiah. The Charade restores the chill, and from here on the rest of the album is a beautiful trip…the previous track, although a rude awakening, serves as the fire to burn D’angelo’s past digressions and his mortal flesh, and now his spirit starts to reveal himself. The Charade, with the funkiest bass, sitars taking us into the spirit world, one’s head can’t stop moving, hidden piano’s creep up, the drums take us higher, as D’angelo’s deep words, almost get lost in all the beautiful sounds…so I do recommend reading it, because after the song, you haven’t heard a thing you said, as it just washed you in its ride.
Next up we have the fun, and funny little “Sugah Daddy”, and when I say fun, I mean all the fun. Jazz bop piano, soaring trumpets, and falsetto lyrics, all dealing in graphic detail, (but that you wouldn’t notice, as his vocals become instruments, where you listen to it as such), about a girl so impressive that you want to give her a little cash to help her in her rise in the modern world.
That follows into “Really Love”, an evocative scene starting with a moody string piece, followed by Spanish guitar, transporting one to a lush cinematic track of what D’angelo considers real love to be, in all its vivid details. The Spanish guitar is beautiful, and it’s a definite add to any sexy playlist. Following that is one of my personal favorites, “Back to The Future (part 1), a song that starts with a mellow guitar line, and ending up taking you into a psychedelic vortex of reminiscing of the past, with memorable lyrics like “I just want to go back, back to the way it was; used to get real high, now I just get a buzz”, truer words not stated as often or openly in modern music. The track is like Funkadelic mixed with the acid Beatles, a real recommendation.
From that realization we go deeper into the spiritual, “Until it’s done (Tutu) and “The Prayer” puts us into the heavy again, with lyrics lamenting how much can we put the earth through until it’s really done, and the Prayer, an honest yearning and acknowledgement of temptation around us, and a chant to protect us in our darkest moments. At no point is there any cheese (except for the strain), this is real and from the soul, reciting sentiments we all have felt before. From here, we go back to the fun, after the darkest night of the soul. The wonderful, “Betray my Heart” is one of my favorite songs of all time, a positive funk jam, with brilliant guitar and one of the most positive refrains, that can keep one going through whatever, the mantra repeating over and over, without becoming repetitive, “That I will never betray my heart”. Following is “The Door”, a Mississippi Delta slide guitar ditty that reminds one of the 1950’s with funny, but truthful lyrics of not shutting the metaphorical door on some one, an earworm, a standout, and surely very unique.
The album winds down with “Back to the future part 2”, the psychedelic wind down, going full on the trippy guitars and taking us into the soul-full sunshine croon of “Another Life”, where D’angelo’s spirit has finally been liberated, and now, is looking through the astral portals, musing on the next life, and bringing this sonic odyssey to a close. Stoner record of the past 5 years, and the best one you probably never heard. So if you’re high, with nothing to do and no where to go…then I suggest listening to this record or one of the other cd’s I recommended. And remember, as D’angelo said, don’t ever betray your heart.
Stay High and Stay Lifted
Jin Li Hai
