Author: dirty chai ☽

hi there, i'm dirty chai :3 i love all sorts of music, but some of my favorite genres are electronic (ambient, electronica, garage..), alt-r&b/hip-hop, nu-disco, and psych rock. all sounds are welcome <3

check out some of my shows on hd-1:
- mocha disco (mondays @ 5pm)
- liturgy (thursdays @ 6pm)

Categories
New Album Review

Soundbites: “Got A Story To Tell” – Thee Sacred Souls

Thee Sacred Souls has got a story to tell in their new album, one with tales of self love, longing, sorrow and gratitude.

“Got A Story To Tell” is Thee Sacred Souls’ second album, released on Oct 4, 2024. The band’s work has a distinctly aged sound despite coming together in 2019: other than the beautiful mixing and production, it’s like heartfelt memories and family heirlooms made into song.

Here are some of my favorites.

The very first (and possibly my favorite) track on the album is “Lucid Girl,” a song about a girl choosing to traverse life on her own, and being content with it. It’s equally soft and triumphant, and a celebration of such a fundamental revelation.

Josh Lane, the band’s vocalist, does it justice with a hint of a smile in his voice; I can’t help but do the same as I think of my closest female friendships and our collective exploration of our time here together.

The next track on the album is “Price I’ll Pay,” which takes the perspective of a character willing to put the work in for love. It’s a refreshing take on a love that works, bringing to mind songs like “Ride or Die” by Durand Jones & The Indications. Lane sings like melted butter, with catchy little breaks in between.

Another track I really love off of “Got A Story To Tell” is “My Heart is Drowning.” It’s slower and a little more tart on the tongue than the others. The lyrics are tainted with regret as Lane sings, “With the power of the sea / Your absence washes over me.”

According to the band, their two inspirations for this track were Jamaican rocksteady and 60s girl-group pop. Somehow, both sounds combined to make me feel like something of a heartbroken cowboy, but I have no complaints.

The very last track on the album is called “I’m So Glad I Found You, Baby,” inspiring the sweet feeling of coming home. It’s a Sunday morning song to my ears, something to sip on coffee and window-filtered sunlight to. The track is a lovely note to end on, with the same gentle jubilation as “Lucid Girl.”

“Got A Story To Tell” is a truly beautiful addition to Thee Sacred Souls’ discography. I don’t typically consider myself an “album person,” but this one is definitely one I can listen to the whole way through; I can tell it’ll be an autumn favorite of mine this year.

love & disco,

dirty chai

Categories
Classic Album Review

Soundbites: “Space 1.8” – Nala Sinephro

Nala Sinephro "Space 1.8" album cover that is an off-white color with the words Space 1.8 in artist font around the edges. The middle has a pink oval with a black head surrounded by a rainbow circle. The circle also has a black figure holding on to it.
Nala Sinephro's "Space 1.8" (2021)

”Space 1.8” is a 2021 album by Nala Sinephro that is meant for organic movement.

It’s a collection of eight different ambient tracks laden with kisses of harp and saxophone, all of which are perfect to sway, stretch or float to — whichever you prefer.

Each track is meant to have a personality of its own: “Space 1” is mellow, twinkly, and organic like komorebi. “Space 2” is significantly jazzier as the sax takes center stage; “Space 3” is funky and electric like a kaleidoscope. “Space 4” is jazz again, this time with the piano singing its backing vocals; “Space 5” is clicky at first, and then begins to take the sacral form of Hindustani hymns. “Space 6” sounds like not knowing where you are, and “Space 7” is lush jungle made of circuitry. Finally, “Space 8,” the longest on the album (about 18 minutes), is meant for stillness. It is my favorite one to play at the end of a yoga class: it floods the room with a warmth not previously present.

”Space 1.8” is the collaborative child of several different artists, including Sinephro on the pedal harp and modular synths, Lyle Barton on piano and Nubya Garcia, Ahnansé and James Mollison on saxophone, to name a few. It is so beautiful to witness the interactions of each instrument with each other, given the difference in dynamic between each one. Each track is like witnessing play between spirits of sonic wonder, as they bite, dance, entangle and engulf one another.

It is an album fit for reflection on curiosity and exploration, sacred in its manifestation.

love & disco,

dirty chai

Categories
New Album Review

Soundbites: “Break Me Down” by Yukimi Nagano

Yukimi Nagano for the cover of her new single "Break Me Down."
Yukimi Nagano for the cover of her new single "Break Me Down."

Yukimi Nagano, best known as part of the experimental indietronica/R&B gorgeousness that is Little Dragon, released a track called “Break Me Down” on October 9, 2024. I love Yukimi Nagano (my car is named after the woman), so I’m pretty thrilled about it.

It has the same quirky blazing synths and piano notes Little Dragon unique to Little Dragon’s sound, but it’s just the slightest bit edgier—the track almost reminds me of something off of Jim James’ “Eternally Even.”

“Break Me Down” is sweet and triumphant like a revelation of capability, as Nagano sings, “[E]very day I’m reborn like a new reveal.” Another line, “[E]very day that I wake and I let in love / And I hope that you know my heart’s enough,” is something to be written on a sticky note, posted on a bathroom mirror to see in the mornings.

I will admit I’m not as intrigued by it as I am with some of Little Dragon’s other work, like “Rush” or “The Other Lover,” featuring Moses Sumney — for context, Little Dragon often has off-the-wall elements that make their songs peculiar at first listen, and completely charming by the third — but maybe Nagano’s simpler approach to her solo debut has a purpose as something foundational. Her voice is still as beautiful and summery as ever, and the track is sunny; I’m excited to see the direction she takes on her own.

love & disco,

dirty chai

Categories
Classic Album Review

Soundbites: Andrei Eremin & Kučka – “Anhedoniac”

Cover for 2015 single "Anhedoniac" by Andrei Eremin, featuring Kučka.
Cover for 2015 single "Anhedoniac" by Andrei Eremin, featuring Kučka.

“Anhedoniac” brings to mind a beach in the wintertime, where the cold is pensive and the air is pristine; the swells of voice and sound are like solar flares in slow motion (or a lava lamp).

While I was looking for songs to play on one of my sets, I stumbled upon Andrei Eremin’s track “Anhedoniac” off of his 2015 EP “Pale Blue,” and was immediately intrigued. It features vocals from the charmingly extraterrestrial Kučka, and it is hypnotic.

Part of why I find it so fascinating is because, in my opinion, it kind of lacks the distinct 2010s electropop sound. In my head it’s comparable to “Innocence” by Flume, featuring AlunaGeorge, in how its deep-space atmosphere removes it from the throes of time. The synths of “Anhedoniac” wax and wane like ocean under a permanent red sun, and although ambient, the song is not aeriform.

Alongside Eremin’s gorgeous production, Kučka’s voice contributes a svelte substance to the mix. She takes her time, as if she was reading a poem she had written herself. Her vocals are a sensory experience: the words “[Y]ou could destroy me” sound like a sworn truth as they come out of her mouth, a revelation and a confession all at once.

Eremin has worked with several artists since, including the likes of Hiatus Kaiyote, Tash Sultana, Sampa the Great, MAY-A, Ta-ku, Wafia, and Kllo, but has not put out any new tracks of his own. He’s an elusive presence for sure, but his influence is not insubstantial, however quiet it may be. Here’s to hoping we get something new from him one of these days.

love & disco,

dirty chai <3

Categories
New Album Review

Soundbites: Montell Fish – “Don’t You Love Me?”

COLORSXSTUDIOS thumbnail for Montell Fish's performance of "Don't You Love Me?"
COLORSXSTUDIOS thumbnail for Montell Fish's performance of "Don't You Love Me?"

“Don’t You Love Me?” is a song for when there is nowhere else to go.

Montell Fish originally posted a demo of it on his YouTube channel November 2022, but it had never officially been released.

August 15, 2024, he performed the song on COLORS, a well-known music platform in the soul and R&B scene… and it was breathtaking.

Montell Fish, real name Montell Frazier, is known primarily as a Christian artist. He draws inspiration heavily from his faith when creating music, his pure devotion phrased like lyrics of a love ballad. Songs like “Crumble,” whose lyrics are doting and unshakeable in their disposition, are ones I love even as someone who ascribes to a different faith.

“Don’t You Love Me?” is another beast entirely.

The chorus wastes no time, coming in desperate and swinging before anything else can take stage. The lyrics have a hint of something wavering, and Frazier’s voice tells me he’s on his knees:

“Know I get crazy / But don’t you love me anyway? /

And I know I frustrate you / But don’t you love me anyway?”

Like most of the music I love the most, this track found me at the perfect time.

Truthfully, that’s probably why I find it so moving: communication in my own relationship with the Divine exists substantially through sound.

So to come across a song that captures a familiar struggle so eloquently is truly special, especially if it’s not authored by someone with the same beliefs.

Also like many of the songs I hold closest to my heart, “Don’t You Love Me?” is relatively uncomplicated and somewhat repetitive, only breaking the prayer for a bridge in between; the devotion is apparent, however unadorned the track may sound.

After I’ve had it on loop for an hour or two, the song becomes a chant, of despair, of fear, and of faith in something unknown, but only because there is nowhere else to go.

– love & disco,

dirty chai

Categories
Classic Album Review

Soundbites: Jitwam – “I’m a Rock”

Jitwam in the streets of Assam for his 2019 album "HONEYCOMB"
Album cover for "HONEYCOMB" by Jitwam (2019).

“I’m a Rock” is a track from Jitwam’s 2019 album “HONEYCOMB.”

I would say I heard it far too late in life, but I think I actually might have found it at the perfect time: the height of autumn, driving up a windy mountain road, being caressed by cold air and cedar wood smoke. It was the only song I listened to for about 72 hours.

It’s sultry and bluesy, a formless tango in orange floodlight from the jump: a funky little cowbell beat and backing synths like molasses, both moving together in viscous ecstasy. At around one minute and twenty-six seconds is an inquisitive gliding melody. Inarguably my favorite part; it’s intoxicating, it reminds me of the ceaseless groove we commit to as humans, up and down and high and low again.

Its warmth is not limited to its sound. Jitwam writes about wading through time, trying to find a more sustainable source of peace than lazy, fleeting highs:

“In the middle of the ocean / Life is here in slow motion / I’m a rock, and I’m destined to find / I’m a rock and I’m going to clear my mind / of these feelings, these feelings.” 

Simplistic enough in their presentation, the lyrics touch on a spiritual desire that doesn’t quite require eloquence or extravagant rituals. With enough replays, it then becomes something of a chant.

“I’m a Rock” so gracefully weaves between genres. It’s patchwork soul—lo-fi like indie and smooth like house—and it humbly brings something new to the table. Through the right headphones, its ambient seduction is an affair with the ears in full bloom.

Check out Jitwam’s other work here.

Categories
New Album Review

“Things Don’t Always Go the Way You Plan:” Celebrating 10 Years of Flume

Cover art for Things Don't Always Go The Way You Planned by Flume. Screenshot of a computer's desktop filled with a bunch of files.

To commemorate his tenth year as Flume, Harley Streten put out an old unreleased track on November 6, 2022: “Slugger 1.4 [2014 Export.WAV].” The track strongly resembles the warm, grainy, not-quite-polished songs found on Flume’s self-titled album, released in 2012. Shortly after, on February 8, 2023, fans were gifted an entire mixtape of unreleased tracks on “Things Don’t Always Go the Way You Plan.”

Continue reading ““Things Don’t Always Go the Way You Plan:” Celebrating 10 Years of Flume”