Friday, May 9, 2014

Album of the Week: Washed out - Paracosm

Born in Perry, GA and a UGA grad, Ernest Green, better known as Washed Out, is signed to Sub Pop records, has performed on Letterman and his song Feel It All Around is featured in the opening sequence of sketch-comedy series Porlandia. All that being said, I just started listening to his August, 2013 released Paracosm only a month or so ago. Washed Out's music is not the kind of music many folks might expect to come out of rural central Georgia, but this state is evolving considerably right now - so maybe they would...

Washed Out's customary style is chill-wave and this album is exactly that. Is is really a beautiful, yet short, collection of songs with lyrics that don't really get too specific about anything but skirt ideas and subjects that more often than not deal with the subject of escape, living the life you yearn for and moving away from your past. The way it's mixed in a lot of places reminds me of Atlanta band Ponderosa's last LP Pool Party and the music itself brings to mind Animal Collective, but more structured and less erratic and thus, I think, more commercial. Weightless  is my personal favorite on this collection. It's sort of a driving tune that is certainly reflective. It has a steady beat and a build. Vocals are mixed low and one struggles to understand what he's saying behind the also steady guitar strumming, and video game sounding synth accents. It eventually ends with fading pianos and violins and a hypnotizing phaser effect and if circumstances are right, leaves you with a feeling as though the last 5 minutes or so were a dream. 

The video below is done well, but I don't necessarily enjoy watching it. It was worth watching once. 




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