I've recently been recuperating from surgery and have had a lot of time on my hands. This can lead to some wonderful discoveries (I have the attention span to read an entire article! And to get obsessed with a really, really bad TV show called Betrayal!). But my favorite discovery is these three bands that I know I'll be listening to all summer long. Each has just the right amount of energy, emotion and panache to ensure dancing on the warm days and staying in with them on the foggy ones. Here are my votes for summertime soundtrack!
Last week, my friend sent an email ordering me to listen to the new, eponymous Sylvan Esso album. And she was very right to do so. This side project of Mountain Man singer Amelia Meath and Megafaun bassist Nick Sanborn makes me very grateful for side projects and I vote it should become their main project. Sylvan Esso was born when Meath asked Sanborn to remix her song "Play it Right." That song's music video features Meath writhing around in stage lights wearing really awesome white and neon leggings (see above).
While not very reminiscent of the folky inclinations of the duos' original bands, that sort of range and departure is part of their dynamism. Meath's voice gives the now-familiar synth pop tone of the band some oomph and strangeness that makes them stand out. Nowhere is that more clear than the first track, "Hey Mami," which sort of sounds like some combination of campfire song, yoga class chant, Regina Spektor voice, and The Knife sensibility. You can experience this crazy blend for yourself when Sylvan Esso play the Fillmore on June 6 with the also weird tUnE-yArDs.