Poolside >> The starlight will guide us through the night

Poolside - "Slow Down"

(Day & Night Recordings, 2012)

I can't believe I never posted this.  I'll sheepishly admit I found out about this song thanks to a feature in Pitchfork that summer, and in my opinion it was the unquestioned slow jam of that year.  The more you listen to this song, the more you realize just how perfect every tiny detail of it is.  You will understand why Poolside calls their music "daytime disco."  They literally have a poolside studio, and in fact that's where their band name comes from.  Best line from the Pitchfork article: "They aspire to parlay their success into DJing high-end pool parties."

Note: This Poolside is a duo from Los Angeles consisting of Filip Nikolic and Jeffrey Paradise.  They are not to be confused with the indie pop group Poolside, whose boring CD Indyglow I bought a decade or so ago.
Daft Punk's "Get Lucky" is basically just a more disco'd up, cocaine'd up, and way less subtle, take on this song. Then again, this song is extremely similar to chillwave's defining song, Washed Out's "Feel It All Around."
Here's the video that started my obsession:

Incredibly, though they obviously made a video for it, this song was apparently not released as a physical single.  Record labels are fucking stupid, as I've said time and time again.  A few months ago, on Sirius radio's Chill station, I heard a Poolside remix of Black Sabbath's chillout classic "Planet Caravan."

Fri. Mar. 7: Went to new Central American / Mexican restaurant Mizado for my mom's birthday.  It was indescribably loud.  My dad, who is 61 and has been to probably thousands of restaurants around the country / world in his life, said it was the loudest restaurant he had ever been in.  I unfortunately missed Com Truise at the Hi-Ho Lounge that night because it sold out.

Sat. Mar. 8: Went to Euclid Records' sidewalk sale ahead of their move one block west later this month.  It turned out to be a stunning 5 CD's for a dollar bonanza.  And the stuff being sold was not garbage either.  Spent 3 hours loading up on tons of CDs, including ::reaches for big cardboard box:: John Coltrane, Sigur Rós, 2Pac, Steve Roach, the Pointer Sisters (x2), Diana Ross / Supremes, Opal, Ivy, Coldcut, Aphex Twin / AFX, Pole (x2), Vangelis, Dizzy GIllespie, Baaba Maal, Deee-Lite, Spearhead, Smashing Pumpkins, Tortoise, Goodie Mob, Royal Trux, Johnny Griffin, Steely Dan, the Crystal Method, Spiritualized, Foreigner, Aaliyah, the Pastels, Henry Mancini, the Telescopes, Adina Howard, Born Against, Beans, Plastikman (x2), Maude Maggart (Fiona Apple's jazz-croonin' sis), Carla Bley, Sponge, Iron & Wine, V/A - Lounge-A-Palooza, Edith Frost, Kings Of Leon, Dead Kennedys (x2), Nine Inch Nails, the Warlocks, Eisley, Sonny Rollins, Delerium, Sting, 702, the Seconds, Jaco Pastorius, the Crimson Curse, the Ocean Blue, Magik Markers, Gang Gang Dance, Amorphous Androgynous (a.k.a. the Future Sound Of London), Robyn, Mötley Crüe, Diana King, Rachelle Ferrell, Liz Story, Mary Lou Lord, Skinny Puppy (x2), David Toop, Foo Fighters, Gravity A, the Other Planets, Reception Is Suspected, Sade, Loop, Paul Simon, Rickie Lee Jones, Autechre, Black Dice, Chris Thomas King, Sam Phillips, Digable Planets, Nas, MGMT, Cex, Keith Jarrett, Primal Scream, Arcturus, the Donnas, Sage Francis, Fluke, Squarepusher, Charlotte Gainsbourg, Michael Gira, Transvision Vamp, Brass Bed, Björk, Davell Crawford, Mercury Rev.  All for only $11.  Wow.  Thank you, Euclid!  I also talked with DJ Lefty Parker about Chapel Hill's early '90s indie rock scene.  He said he worked at Schoolkids Records with members of Superchunk and other bands, told me some stuff about Polvo that kind of blew my mind, and said a band called Metal Flake Mother was the best band in town. This sale, combined with this recent find, has swamped me with CDs.  So I've been busily burning them onto the ol' MacBook so that people on last.fm can see what I listen to.  Afterwards, I went to Harold's Nursery and bought an echeveria.

Sun, Mar. 9: Saw Future Islands + Wye Oak + Ed Schraeder's Music Beat at the Spanish Moon.  ESMB play a hokey, primitivist rock n' roll that wears thin very quickly, much like the music of Beat Happening or the White Stripes.  Wye Oak were good, doing mostly stuff from their upcoming album Shriek, according to singer Jenn Wasner.  Plus an intense "Holy Holy."  But the entire reason I made the trek to Baton Rouge was to see them do their masterpiece "Spiral", and they did not.  Oh well.  I asked Wasner if they still play it, and she said they hope to start playing it again soon.  She was beaming after I told her I thought it was the best song of the last five years.  I bought a 7" by her solo project Flock Of Dimes.  Future Islands, fresh off an appearance on Late Night With David Letterman, did their usual workmanlike synth-rock replete with odd dance moves from their singer.  I guess being on Letterman didn't provide a huge career boost, because I seem to remember just as many, if not more, people at their show at the Moon in Nov. 2012.  Weird.

Planets with similar climates: Washed Out - "Feel It All Around" (2009), Kool & The Gang - "Summer Madness" (1974), Ween - "Freedom Of '76" (1994), School Of Seven Bells - "Love Play" (2011), Janet Jackson - "Funny How Time Flies (When You're Having Fun)" (1985), Dead Leaf Echo - "Act Of Truth (Extended Truth Mix)" (2009).