Thursday 20 Jun
 
 

Superior sound

Em and the MotherSuperiors with Honeylark and Feathered Rabbit
10 p.m. Friday
Kamps 1310 Lounge
1310 N.W. 25th
kamps1310lounge.com
819-6004
$7

06/19/2013 | Comments 0

It might get loud

Okie Noise Fest 2 with Psychotic Reaction, Copperheads, Fire Bad! and more
3 p.m.-midnight Saturday
Bad Granny’s Bazaar
1759 N.W. 16th
free
06/19/2013 | Comments 0

Fox news

Foxtrot Uniform with Them Hounds
9 p.m. Friday
Blue Note Lounge
2408 N. Robinson
thebluenotelounge.com
600-1166
$5

Foxtrot Uniform with Quaker City Night Hawks
9 p.m. Saturday
Grady’s 66 Pub
444 W. Main, Yukon
gradys66.com
364-8789
$7
06/19/2013 | Comments 0

Sweet slumber

The technology boom of the last two decades has made life easier in a variety of ways. In the music world, widespread computer use has spawned a modern-day compositional renaissance.
06/19/2013 | Comments 0

Beau bridges

Beau Mansfield Trio
10 p.m. Saturday
The Bluebonnet Bar
321 E. Main, Norman
447-2480
06/19/2013 | Comments 0
Home · Articles · CDs · Electronica · Washed Out — Within and...
Electronica

Washed Out — Within and Without


Has a band's name ever better captured its sound?

Matt Carney July 11th, 2011

Back in 2009, Ernest Greene recorded two of the year’s most widely praised EPs with cheap, airy synthesizers at his parents’ house in rural Georgia.

washedoutwithinandwithout

The end products, discovered on his MySpace page by excited bloggers, established Washed Out as a distinct house beat-driven sub-style in chillwave, contemporary to the likes of Toro Y Moi and Neon Indian. They also earned Greene a deal with Sub Pop.

So not long after the former dropped his excellent “Underneath the Pine” and Alan Palomo’s dalliances with The Flaming Lips, Greene has returned to the electronic spotlight with “Within and Without”, his debut LP assisted by Animal Collective producer Ben Allen (recent résumé spots include AC’s “Merriweather Post Pavillion” and Deerhunter’s “Halcyon Digest”).

Much to Greene’s credit, “Within and Without” retains his bedroom releases’ most distinct quality: their edge-less, lo-fi laptop approach to song construction. Each track here is anchored by a simple, steady-as-she-goes house beat and plodding bass that are covered with bleached sheet synths and whispery vocals that never really soar or even solidly manifest. They surround.

The beats hit hardest on the title track, eventually giving out to an electronic pitter-pattering fadeout, suggestive of raindrops on a lake. “Far Away” distinguishes itself here with some really intimate, murky lyrics evocative of a lo-fi take on The xx.

“Within and Without” adheres pretty strictly to chillwave’s modus operandi: looping, ’80s-influenced synth samples; moderate to high danceability; and lyrics so shoegazey that your two feet blur and twist into a single, liquid entity. —Matt Carney

And p.s. the album drops tomorrow, but if you hurry you can still stream it over at NPR Music.

 
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