What We’re Listening to This Week (3.1.26)

Dance of the Dragonfly by Zyanna

I’m always on the lookout for new soul, but this record is so much more than that. While it’s aesthetically beautiful, the real architecture lies in its ethical core. It’s a splendid blend of jazz, soul and R&B. It’s, in Zyanna’s words, a “queer love letter to young and old listeners in their journeys of self acceptance” – and while it’s warm, it’s also fearless while feeling intimate and broadly urgent.

PsychoTropika – BRUJO (Single)

I had a chance to meet Cristian and Rio of PsychoTropika at MODBANG on Friday and I listened to their DJ set at LITD 94. Their DJ set was particularly entrancing with this very eerie sample of someone repeating the word “PPSSYYCCHHOOTTRROOPPIIKKAA” pitched down an octave over their music. It’s so haunting and has been in my head for weeks. I’ve been listening to their single BRUJO for a couple of days now – it’s catchy as hell. Rio and Cristian also work with the Social Justice Action Center, a grassroots nonprofit that provides a community space and resources for meetings, events, a kitchen, and other programs that support grassroots organizing and marginalized groups. Looking forward to their newest album SHAMAN.EXE.

Drama V by The Dramatics

Fucking love this record. Like most of my favorite music, particularly Soul, I listened to The Dramatics a lot as a kid without knowing what I was listening to. I downloaded this album, along with countless others, in a torrent in 2009 and was happy to reclaim all those familiar moments of my life. Hearing it again now, older and slightly more dented by life, it hits crisp within the margins of my mind. Some albums don’t age well, but this one ages with you. I didn’t realize how much of this album I had internalized until I played it again and felt whole stretches of memories light up.

1YOF by Nova New Chorus

Nova New Chrous is quirky as fuck. I saw them play at Live in the Depths 94 and I was really into to their set, so this week it’s my goal to give 1Y0F a second listen. Their tonal palette runs nocturnal – glitchy fragments, soft pulses – for me it’s good headphone music. At one random Live in the Depths, I showed up wearing a Netscape Navigator t-shirt, and Nova New Chorus immediately clocked it. They’ve mentioned more than once how much they love Netscape too, which feels like a strangely perfect detail to associate with them. Nothing like the shared affection of obsolete browsers.

So This is Love Vol. I by CHIBIA

Oh man, this is a great record. If you do anything else today, maybe clear the afternoon and give it the time it deserves. Track 1 (Number Two) is so sprawling and wonderful, just a perfect piece of music. The production feels attentive, almost tactile. It’s so lush and savory. No more words, just give it a listen.

Rain Sounds by Palm Dat

See this is an odd one, because it checks so many boxes for me. Playful R&B at its core, electronic flourishes woven through the grooves, and just a whisper of trip hop (and I do mean a soupcon) drifting in the production. The album feels heavy – and when I say heavy, I mean humid. Muggy. The kind of air you can almost feel on your skin. Rain Sounds is an appropriate title. Cherry Cucumber Clementine is particularly fun.