Darktown Strutters: "Evil Eye"

"Darktown Strutter's Ball" is one of the most oft-covered standards of early jazz, as well as providing the title for the most racist film of all time. Not sure how this discogaze (please don't let that be an actual word) group settled upon it, but "Evil Eye" is some solid ass 2 AM summer chill music.

(via Gorilla Vs Bear):

Keep Shelly In Athens: "Madmen Love"

Perhaps in response to EDM, the more experimental frays of electronic music are increasingly eschewing the soft edges of chillwave and dream pop for more incisive, cutting synth lines. So it shouldn't be surprising to see Keep Shelly In Athens employing a darker feel on "Madmen Love", the first single from their upcoming debut LP (through they have so many EPs and singles out over the last few years the whole scenario just shows how ridiculous the idea of a "debut LP" is in 2013).

Look for that on Cascine, a label with amazing taste but a correspondingly infuriating refusal to provide up-to-date release info via their otherwise snazzy website.

Toro Y Moi: "Say That"

Quick, one last chillwave entry before the wheels come off. Can't believe I haven't covered Toro Y Moi previously, but then again I don't tend to cover a lot of the tunes that are already canvassed by literally every other indie blog on the planet.

I'm making an exception for this one because it may, in retrospect, represent the moment where the genre merged into mainstream pop. The production lacks the syrupy filters and atavistic synth lines associated with the style, instead proffering a breezy yet accessible pop sensibility. In other words, we've reached Peak Chillwave. Shit happens.

Anything in Return is out January 22 on Carpark Records.

Hiawatha: "Dogs of War"

If chillwave is on its way let "Dogs of War" be one of its last great anthems. Hiawatha is the side project of Night Slugs producer Egyptrixx, though he does a damn fine job covering up that fact on his data-deprived Soundcloud profile.

LTD: "You Must Be Dreaming"

A lot of these 80's throwback groups could virtually pass for OMD or the Thompson Twins if they didn't slather on the production grime so thickly. Witness this tune by New Images signee LTD, which has a pop sensibility buried somewhere deep within that chillgaze facade.

Peaking Lights: "Beautiful Son"

I'm not a big fan of gushing new parent tracks, but I do like a mellow, deceptively simple tune to chill to. "Beautiful Son" doesn't really have a beat to speak of, but the noodly, recurrent synth lines make a sensible backdrop for the piano-and-Hawaiian guitar that drive the track. Also if you don't try too hard you won't even be able to make out Indra Dunis exclaiming why her new baby is more special than your old one.

[UPDATE 7/10/12: added official music video]:

Part Time: "I Wanna Take You Out"

This is probably a little too disco-y to be Chillwave Proper, but you get the idea. "I Wanna Take You Out" is the sound of a SF group sleeping until 1:00, waiting for the fog to burn off and then reveling sleepily in the sun. Maybe that park across the street from the Dirty Harry sniper church. Early drinking a few blocks away at Vesuvio. Dildo shopping at Big Al's. But here I am making this about me. You should make it about you. I'm in a weird place right now.

Indians: "Magic Kids"

Really getting tired of all these single word, pluralized band names these days, but what are you gonna do? Especially when the band in question is as good as Indians. "Magic Kids" is kind of a deluxe version of chillwave, with orchestral synths bubbling up from an ethereal pool of percolating sounds and crystal clear lyrics breaking occasionally breaking the tranquility. As near as I can tell this is one guy from Copenhagen, and I'll be damned if I can find anything other than this one song by him. Stay tuned.

Neon Indian: "Fallout"

Era Extraña has been out since September - even made #16 in Stereogum's Top 50 Albums of 2011 - but somehow we're just getting a video for standout track"Fallout". Adult Swim produced the animated clip on behalf of this Denton band (two Texas acts in one day! Getting my shit together!).  Peep this Saturday Morning Cartoons shit:

Heavenly Beat: "Faithless"

The splintering of so called "chillwave" has taken us to some interesting places, not the least of which is this track by Beach Fossils side project Heavenly Beat.  Did you ever watch Skinemax back in the 1980's, when they were still importing their late night smut from Europe, back before the made-for-video craze ensured there was plenty of homegrown yet cookie cutter (and artificially enhanced) T&A to choose from instead?  It was a glorious time, Mediterranean beach themes and breezy Europop takes on whatever they imagined Jimmy Buffett to be... that's what "Faithless" reminds me of.  Then again, if you have a sewer mind and a potty mouth like me you'll find filth in even the most staunchly fortified innocence.  This could be an earnest stab at transcendence for all I know.


Heavenly Beat - “Faithless” by Creeping Wave

Twin Sister: "Kimmi in a Rice Field"

Twin Sister, a Long Island band that oh-so-predictably relocated to Brooklyn once their career began to take off, is a relatively new arrival on the scene.  First forming in 2008, they put out two EPs spanning the same number of years before releasing their debut full length, In Heaven, last week.  Despite the album title, Twin Sister is not a power pop band in the Cheap Trick vein, but rather a combination of indie rock and dream pop that loosely circles the chillwave drain.  Ignore my snark.  They're actually quite good, and this insane horror themed video will skullfuck the ghosts of your distant relatives.  It's like a cross between Hausu and Jean Rollin.  Not really but I have to say something.

Washed Out: "Wicked Game"

I thought about using this Chris Isaak nod to inaugurate the site's Killer Covers theme, but it's not decidedly superior, just different.  This was recorded for a Sirius session, but I don't have satellite radio so I just stole it off 40 other blogs instead.