Ro's Roundup: September 2023
Mitski, Purelink, Slow Pulp and more
It’s finally here! The big day, the long-awaited moment: Ro’s Roundup is officially launching.
Today I’m bringing you album reviews, show recommendations and a Q&A. I couldn’t write about everything in-depth, so I recommend looking closely at the “also worth checking out” lists; I chose those releases and shows as carefully as I did the ones I covered more extensively.
I’m excited to hear what you think about the newsletter and about the music itself. Feel free to drop a comment.
And now, without further ado, Ro’s Roundup.
NEW MUSIC
Out Today
Purelink, Signs (9/15) – electronic
Purelink has accrued an eager fanbase since it formed two years ago. The three-piece has perhaps become most beloved for its mesmerizing live performances, but the group’s recordings invite listeners to engage with the music in a more introspective way. Signs offers up a world lush with gleaming melodies and feathery percussion. I interviewed members Ben Paulson (Kindtree), Tommy Paslaski (Concave Reflection) and Akeem Asani (Millia) a week before the mini-LP’s release:
A lot of artists write and record their music and then play it live. You guys did the opposite for Signs, creating the album from compositions you’d already performed together extensively. Can you walk me through that process?
Ben Paulson: It really was just a matter of us all having a desire to perform our music live, and then luckily having a string of really nice shows in 2022. We had played a few shows with some of our favorite artists (Loraine James, Ulla, and CS + Kreme), and we wrote original music for all of those, trying a lot of new ideas. Then we had the opportunity to play a really long live set last September at Sustain-Release Festival in upstate New York. So we spent a few months fleshing out a couple hours of original music. Finally building to a handful ideas we felt would translate well on a record, so we ended up making studio versions of them throughout the winter and spring.
Your sound is gentle but at the same time very textured. How do you balance layering with holding back?
Akeem Asani: Like any band or collaboration, I think that’s something we’re always working on. It's very easy to get carried away with more and more sounds, but we tend to be at our best when everything is balanced. We all offer a unique sound to the Purelink palette, and making sure all our voices come through while maintaining uniformity is very important to us.
How did the three of you initially form Purelink?
Tommy Paslaski: Ben and I actually grew up together and have been friends since elementary school. It wasn’t until around 2017, when we both had finished school and moved back to Chicago, that we started to develop a musical relationship. Ben was already diving deep into electronic music, and he introduced me to a lot of new ideas that inspired me.
A couple years later, around the summer of 2019, is when we met Akeem. I bought an LP at Shuga Records where Akeem was working, and we connected from there. The three of us started hanging out more and listening to music. I remember bonding over shared enthusiasm of [dub duo] Rhythm & Sound and [rock band] Chain Reaction at that time, among many other things. Eventually, we did our first three-laptop jam in February of 2020. That next summer we began renting a shared studio space in Humboldt Park, and the group formed naturally from there.
You all recently moved from Chicago to NY. What brought on that move, and how have you been settling in?
AA: I decided to move here for work, but also more music opportunities (both for my solo work and the band.) We felt that if we really wanted to take our project to the next level, relocating to NYC would be beneficial; More venues, more shows, more connections, etcetera. We love repping our Midwest roots, but moving to Brooklyn will give us more room to grow.
Are you going to keep playing tracks from Signs live? Will having the album out change the way you perform them?
BP: I think in some variations, yes. The songs on the record that were previously performed live, at the time, were quite skeletal loops run through dub mixing effects. The studio versions added layers here and there. For a band who has mostly identified with the jammy/live sector of electronic music, we’ve struggled to be content with how our live sets have gone up to this point. There’s always a desire to be more live, and it’s tough when your main instrument is the computer.
We’re in the process of moving into a way of performing that is more of a hybrid approach, hoping to blur the lines of a live band, sampling and DJing. Depending on the type of setting, we could play slower sets with live instruments or faster sets that are more of a DJ set, but with similar ideas throughout. Ideally, this will allow us to create different versions of our older tracks, create new ideas at the same time and also highlight other music that we relate to or is important to us.
What’s next?
TP: We’ve got a few remixes that will be coming out in the near future. Otherwise, we are continually getting our live set ready and working on some new music as well–some collaborations in the works with other artists we admire.
Mitski, The Land is Inhospitable and So Are We – singersongwriter / rock / art pop
The singer-songwriter’s seventh album opens quietly, with a simple guitar underneath immediately recognizable, satin vocals. But soon Bug Like an Angel bursts into a stunning choral harmony which comes and goes through the rest of the song. Mitski sings about drinking for escape, making for a bone-chilling dissonance with the ecstasy-fueled vocals.
All these elements capture the complexity throughout The Land is Inhospitable, an Americana-fueled LP less poppy than 2022’s Laurel Hell. The lyrics are rich with imagery; Mitski sings of self-love intermingled with moonlight, of eating to the point of getting sick and–my personal favorite–of a freight train that she likens to buffalo that once roamed the prairie.
“This is my most American album,” Mitski has said of the project, though she added that maybe America is “maybe beyond witnessing.”
She split her recording process between Nashville and Los Angeles, working with an orchestra and a live band along with the full choir. The abundance of musical layers, from pedal steel guitar to French horn, add a cinematic quality and expansive dynamic range. At times the tracks are like a towering mountaintop, at others, they are barely more than a whisper.
Photo: Dora Segall
Also worth checking out:
Vagabon, Sorry I Haven’t Called – electropop
Octa Octa, Dreams of a Dancefloor – breakbeat
Lewsberg, Out And About – art rock
Upcoming
Slow Pulp, Yard (9/29) – rock
Slow Pulp has a bright future ahead of it. The band has already become a beloved staple across the Midwest, and its upcoming tour will reach audiences as far as Germany. The group seems to have found newfound confidence in its recent growth; its upcoming album showcases more stylistic range than previous releases.
Take the already-released singles–“Broadview” exhibits a backyard barbecue-worthy blend of harmonica, banjo and pedal steel guitar, while “Doubt” and “Slugs” take a turn into pop territory with intoxicatingly catchy hooks. “Cramps,” on the other hand features thick, grungy guitar parts. Slow Pulp’s last LP, Moveys offered hints of folk and slacker rock, but now the band is exploring these seemingly disparate influences head-on.
Photo: Alexa Viscius
Metro Riders, Lost in Reality (9/29) – dark wave / ambient
A press release couldn’t have described the Swedish project’s latest single better:
“A pungent ooze emanates from the subway. As a sticky drum machine sequence rolls out like thick dark fog, ice cold synth swirls rise from the depths.”
“Råttornas Vinter (Winter of the Rats)” is the fourth track Metro Riders has released from its upcoming LP Lost in Reality, named for and inspired by an Swedish crime novel set in 1980s Stolkholm. The literary reference aligns with musical artist Henrik Stelzer’s work as a whole–he conducts his recording process via vintage analogue equipment and draws heavily from old European cinema in his sound and aesthetic.
Stelzer’s distinct creative process generates tracks at once ominous and ethereal. As his fuzzy, electronic world comes to life, you might picture a movie’s protagonist navigating a series of bleak and bustling city streets.
Also worth checking out:
Another Michael, Wishes to Fulfill (9/22) – pop rock
LSDXOXO, Delusions of Grandeur (9/22)– dance/electronic
Slaughter Beach Dog, Crying Laughing Waving Smiling (9/22) – folk rock / Midwest emo
Blonde Redhead, Sit Down for Dinner (9/29) – rock / dream pop
Animal Collective, Isn’t it Now? (9/29) – neopsychedelic
Cherry Glazerr, I don’t want you anymore (9/29) – garage rock / noise pop
Jorja Smith, Falling or Flying (9/29) – neosoul
Wilco, Cousin (9/29) – rock
U.S. TOURS
Ulrika Spacek and Holy Wave (10/12 - 11/1), psych rock
Ulrika Spacek has been around since 2014, but the UK band’s fanbase has grown significantly since its most recent LP came out in March. The shift stems perhaps from its musical evolution; Compact Trauma offsets the band’s go-to guitar distortions with airier instrumentals, bringing the glistening riffs of Palm to mind. Ulrika cemented this new direction earlier this month by releasing Tier Drop, an almost loungey, two-track single.
Holy Wave will co-headline Ulrika Spacek’s first full U.S. tour. The Texas-based group’s LP Five of Cups, released last month, brims with floating guitar riffs and gentle drum parts. The music makes a perfect pairing for Ulrika Spacek’s, with both bands toeing the line between bedroom pop and grittier psychedelia.
Tickets here.
Field Medic (now-10/19), folk
Light is gone 2 continues the narrative thread of Grow Your Hair Out If You're Wanting to See Something That You Can Change (read my review for the Chicago Reader). While last fall’s album sees Kevin Patrick Sullivan through the process of getting sober, the newer release examines life on the other side. Most striking is the LP's departure from Sullivan's signature lo-fi folk sound; though the artist has incorporated drum machines and considered adding more electronic elements over the years, Light is gone 2 is his first full journey down that path. It will be interesting to see how Sullivan incorporates the newer synthesizers and computer-generated beats into his usual acoustic guitar playing on-stage.
Tickets here.
Photo: Jason Lin
SNÕÕPER (now-10/14), punk
Punk enthusiasts will appreciate the old-school sound and feel of this Nashville-based outfit. The group’s explosive debut LP came out in July, but the group has already become known for its wild live shows. Prepare for big on-stage personalities, papier-mâché props and, of course, moshing.
Tickets here.
Slowdive (9/23-10/16), shoegaze
Since returning to the studio for its self-titled, 2017 album, Slowdive has honored its roots while producing a more polished sound. The band’s newest LP, everything is alive, incorporates familiar spacious dreamscapes but is more subdued than 1994’s Soulvaki and less experimental than the following year’s Pygmalion. The project stands testament to Shoegaze’s continued revival. Amidst an abundance of new bands upholding the genre, Slowdive’s upcoming tour offers a chance to see one of the groups who pioneered the sound nearly three decades ago.
Tickets here.
Also worth considering:
Joanna Sternberg (9/20 - 12/6), country/folk
Pile (now - 10/23)
Melvins and Boris with Mr. Phylzzz (now - 10/14)
Chicago Music
Riot Fest
Brace yourselves; the time is upon us. Here’s who I’d recommend seeing:
FRIDAY
Parliament Funkadelic ft. George Clinton (1:50) – funk
Yard Act (2:15) – post-punk
Kim Gordon (3:20) – experimental rock
Screaming Females (4:50) – garage rock / pop-punk
The Breeders (5:50) – playing The Last Splash from start to finish!
Turnstile (6:55) – melodic hardcore
SATURDAY
Viagra Boys (3:50) – post-punk
Death Grips (5:45)
PUP (6:10) – punk
100 Gecs (7:00)
Insane Clown Posse (8:30)
SUNDAY
Hotline TNT (12:05) – shoegaze / slacker rock
Cults (2:25) – synth-pop
The Black Angles (3:00) – dark psych rock
Godspeed You! Black Emperor (7:00) – post-rock / experimental
The Cure (7:40)
Riot Fest aftershows
If you’re like me, you prefer to skip the crowds and opt for something more intimate, even if that means staying up a little late. Aftershows started Wednesday, but there are some upcoming that have yet to sell out:
PUP, tonight at Concord Music Hall (low ticket warning)
Viagra Boys, tonight at Metro
Godspeed You! Black Emperor, Saturday at Bottom Lounge
Black Angels, Saturday at Chop Shop
Yard Act, Sunday at Empty Bottle
Other shows
Pile with Moontype and NÜDE (via Chirp Radio) | TONIGHT 9/15 at Sleeping Village
Calicoloco with Social Cig, Hannah Sandoz and Molly Compton | 9/22 at Subterranean
Swans with Norman Westberg | 9/21 at Metro
Cold Waves XI featuring Street Fever | 9/22 at Smartbar
Fiddlehead with Buggin,’ Lifeguard and Restraining Order | 9/28 at Metro
Objekt and Leesh | 9/28 at Podlasie
Authentic Pines, Heet Deth, Cruel and Surf Candy | 9/29 glow-in-the-dark show at Raven Room
Frankie Cosmos and Good Morning | 10/3 at Empty Bottle
Zulu and Soul Glo with Playytime | 10/7 at Subterranean
SNÕÕPER, Critic Dummies, Cruelster and Consensus Madness | 10/8 at Empty Bottle
CMAT | 10/3 at Beat Kitchen
Knifeplay with Smut and Astrobrite (via Chirp Radio) | 10/3 at Sleeping Village
That’s all I’ve got for this month! Things are bound to change a bit as I finetune the format and content of the newsletter (and as I find a way to manage the chaos that is my email inbox). I’d love your feedback and music submissions for October. You can email me at dorasegall@gmail.com; please include “Ro’s Roundup” in the subject line. Otherwise, talk to you next month!