New Music From Slumberland Records, Yanga
Various Artists
SLR30 7” Single Series
(Slumberland)
This writer feels like a crotchety, rake-shaking old man each time he explains to some young, earnest vinyl collector that back in the ‘90s, the standard price for an indie-rock/pop 7-inch single was $3 and an LP was usually around $8, while today, singles are $7–10 and new LPs are $20–30.
The 7-inch single format thrived in indie realms then, and for good reason—for just a few bucks, you could take a chance on something and own a tangible art object, and there’s a certain immediacy and joy when you find that single you simply want to play over and over. It made music-listening an activity; lifting the stylus every three minutes forced you to interact and be engaged.
The pop-centric label Slumberland Records began in December 1989, initially concentrating on the small yet mighty 7-inch single. It’s notable just how enduring and inspired some of those early ‘90s singles are, with standouts from Black Tambourine and Swirlies and some absolutely essential new-canon classics from Stereolab (“John Cage Bubblegum”) and Velocity Girl (“My Forgotten Favorite”).
Slumberland never stopped putting out great records, even after the ‘90s indie-pop heyday faded, and within the last decade, it fostered impressive new talent from acts such as Procedure Club, Veronica Falls, Gold-Bears, and Young Guv.
Approaching its 30th year, Slumberland wanted to celebrate by returning to the format with which it launched, with the SRL30 7” Single Series, which includes 13 singles to be released gradually throughout 2018 and 2019. However, rather than spotlight Slumberland bands, the series will mix things up by mostly featuring non-Slumberland (yet aesthetically like-minded) bands.
So far, four singles have been released in the series, from The Suncharms, Rat Columns, David Lance Callahan, and Dolly Dream, and it seems appropriate that the first is from the British band The Suncharms, since it formed in 1989, sharing the same birth year as Slumberland. Their single “Red Dust” b/w “Film Soundtrack” harks back to ‘90s shoegaze acts and ‘80s British indie-jangle pop, and will appeal to fans of bands that mixed shoegaze and pop, like 14 Iced Bears and Moose.
Australian David West’s rotating-lineup group Rat Columns delivers a bouncy momentum on “Sometimes We’re Friends”, and while it’s not exactly ground-breaking, it does have a pleasing freshness to it; it’s backed by the brief, low-key ballad “Astral Lover” and “Waiting to Die”, offering an unusual breeziness with a choppy rhythm.
David Lance Callahan is known as the singer of the ‘80s pop band The Wolfhounds and the co-founder of the sample-heavy, unclassifiable group Moonshake (if Eva Luna and Big Good Angel don’t blow your mind, this writer can’t help you), and his solo single sounds completely different from those two bands, with pastoral singing, acoustic guitar lines and bright glockenspiel notes. This direction is completely unexpected, and although his two tracks are growing on this critic, he can’t help but think that Callahan’s talents aren’t fully on display here.
So far, the best of the bunch is Dolly Dream’s single, an unabashedly nostalgic amalgam of mid-century reverberating bliss, with gliding exotica, a Link Wray-esque guitar and Meg Remy (U.S. Girls) channeling Ronnie Spector with her carefully stylized vocals on “The Way to Heaven”, while “Slip Thru Hell” is a short, disquieting mind-trip—something that’ll make you wonder “What the hell did I just listen to?” and compel you to pick up the stylus to play the song again.
Yanga
Libérate, Volumen 1 & 2
(Names You Can Trust)
At first blush, the southern California group Yanga serves up well-executed Afro-Caribbean stylings—focused on those from the Colombian coastal region—with ample drive and energy. But upon repeat, more attentive listenings to Libérate, Volumen 1 & 2, one hears some mysterious details and can appreciate the care that went into these pristinely recorded and mixed tracks.
Released as a duo of 7-inch singles plus digital downloads, including instrumental versions of all four tracks, Libérate weaves a web of polyrhythms on a variety of traditional percussion instruments—the tambora (two-headed Dominican drum) played by Daniel McCormick, the conga-like tambor alegre played by Eduardo Valencia, quecharaca (gourd scraper, similar to a güiro) sounds from Edgar Modesto, shakes of the shekere (gourd covered with a beaded net) from vocalist Eddika Organista, along with handclaps.
Also providing momentum are the spirited call-and-response vocal exchanges between Organista and the backing singers, and every so often there are some truly odd background vocal exclamations and outcries, providing a chilling element that bridges the natural with the supernatural.
The smooth, funk-inflected electric bass lines from Tony Martin have a soft touch, and key notes are accented with tambora drum beats; Valencia’s tambor alegre beats nudge their way to the forefront at times, with nuanced, enthusiastic playing. One of the band’s main composers, John D’Alessandro, occasionally steps into the spotlight with his accordion melodies, but his sound is sometimes treated so that there is a slight warble to it—it’s not exactly psychedelic or distorted, but the manipulation is present just enough, as if to signal that things aren’t entirely normal here.
The subtle peculiarities are there for careful listeners, giving Yanga a slightly off-kilter flavor that carries the group’s traditional sources into an altered sonic wilderness.