Speaking of stunning debuts….Warpaint is 3 girls and 1 guy from L.A.  They’re signed to Roughtrade now but their debut e.p., Exquisite Corpse, came out on Manimal.  It’s amazing on its own but also really raises expectations for their forthcoming full length.  Their music, which shifts between moody post punk, folkish torch songs and chanteuse ballads is full of awe, sadness, rage, hilarity, and ultimately beauty. Musically, they made me think of what Arab Strap would sound like if Arab Strap were Au Revoir Simone.  Lyrically, they juxtapose the cosmic beside the personal until they blur into this smeary, haunted wash. They manage to make lyrics that could come off as vague and personal, but instead are ominous as all hell.  They find these strings that tie the disparate tracks together in such a way that I feel that they knew exactly what they were doing, which says so much for a first release.

2009 is the year that rave broke….again.  There were a slew of rave influenced releases this year, and most of them were produced by musicians that were way too young to have taken part in the original rave culture of 1990 or so.  The best of the bunch by far is Dark Rift by Pictureplane.  Pictureplane manages to make spirited music that sounds like all the dance music made between 1988 and 1993 while avoiding a curated feel.  Somewhere in the waves of piano, nonsense vocals, and disjointed Stevie Nicks samples there is something truly transcendent.  It’s totally inspiring to me to see rave music reinvigorated and evolved and I hope against hope that this moment becomes more than just an aesthetic homage, i.e. that rave’s utopian visions and yearnings follow.