Ryan’s Music Picks 🌦 April 2018

It’s been one of those months, huh? I took a few weeks off of work and really mellowed out and have had a time getting back into the swing of things. I didn’t tweet an album every single day, but got pretty close. The means that the album can be downloaded free. There’s so much good music out in the year of our Lord 2018, I hope you enjoy these picks!

• Spotify Playlist

• Apple Music Playlist

Songs of Green Pheasant – Songs of Green Pheasant (Bandcamp)Mist-shrouded acoustic songs that gently lead down a psychedelic path.

Daphne & Celeste – Daphne & Celeste Save the World (Spotify)Produced by Max Tundra, it’s a super future pop album overflowing with charm and sincerity in a way that most of the PC Music stuff isn’t.

In Love with a Ghost – gay story (Bandcamp)The master of ASMR pop delivers a new set of therapeutic soundscapes and sick beats perfect for maximum chill.

Melody’s Echo Chamber – Melody’s Echo Chamber (Bandcamp)Lush psychedelic songs that hit so many musical sweet spots for me: synths, shoegaze, dream pop, experimentalism. This is exceptionally good and highly recommended. New album in June!

 Det Svarta Landet – Verdant Realm (Compilation) (Bandcamp)The perfect collection of dungeon synth tracks to bring your campaign to a fulfilling conclusion.

Project Pablo – There’s Always More At The Store (Bandcamp)Five tracks of laid-back house here to lock into your mind and get you thinking.

Duet for Theramin and Lap Steel – 10 (Bandcamp)Beautifully enrapturing ambient noise that could just as well be created by cosmic entities or an enchanted forest.

The Fearless Flyers – The Fearless Flyers (Bandcamp)Fifteen perfect minutes of instrumental funk. Includes a Stevie Wonder AND Disney’s The Little Mermaid cover. No joke, this is perfect sunny day music.

Makeness – Loud Patterns (Bandcamp)A very dense collection of songs that exists on the continuum between psychedelic rock and acid house, making side trips to shoegaze and krautrock. Killer.

Mouse on Mars – Dimensional People (Bandcamp)Groundbreaking experimental electronic music that stays danceable. This album has a bunch of big name indie collaborators but doesn’t try to soften the strangeness one bit.

Rival Consoles – Persona (Bandcamp)Resting somewhere between avant-garde experimentalism and deep house, this album slowly encroaches on your mind and takes it over before you realize what’s happened.

Equip – Synthetic Core 88 (Bandcamp)In 2018, “soundtrack for an imaginary video game” is an entire genre. Equip’s second release (a collaboration with artist Drew Wise) is a stellar exemplar, designed to give you nostalgia for something that doesn’t exist.

Che – Shuco EP (Bandcamp)Refreshingly dank laid back vibes like the shade on a hot afternoon. Kinda sounds like making computer pop in your dorm room while someone shreds one room over.

CJ Mirra – Static (Original Surf Soundtracks vol. 1) (Bandcamp)Epic slow motion noise. (Sounds nothing like The Beach Boys, Dick Dale, or The Ventures.)

P X A – S P A C E S (Bandcamp)ASMR zen ambience and noise for maximum relaxation. You don’t need scientifically proven albums for sleep when you have this much chill.

Superstar Cruiser – Enceladus (Bandcamp)Big spacey sounds that seem to be formed from the detritus of crashed airbrush spaceships from the covers of 70s arena rock albums.

Dan Lissvik – Archive 1 (Bandcamp)Literally one hundred tracks of sketchy Swedish balearic chill from half of legendary duo Studio.

The Word – The Word (Spotify)Occasionally-transcendent instrumental gospel jazz rock that rises above “background music for a church photo montage” thanks especially to Robert Randolph’s pedal steel guitar.

Space Ghost – Endless Light (Bandcamp)Super synthy, mega chill interstellar house that still stays grounded.

Ebo Taylor – Yen Ara (Bandcamp)The Ghanian afro-funk legend returns with a mix of danceable melancholy that runs the gamut between jazz and ska.

Paul White – Rejuvenate (Bandcamp)The Danny Brown producer makes a mellow sample-free R&B album that leans towards late night grooves and ghostly instrumentals.

Sweet Valley – Eternal Champ II (Bandcamp)The Williams bros (one of Wavves fame) return to their schitzo-retro mixtape project and bring the bass and the weird noisy samples to make your head nod.

ZHU – Ringo’s Desert, Pt. 1 (Soundcloud)Seven tracks of killer electronic R&B for fans of darkness, The Weeknd, and slow motion videos of things being destroyed majestically.

Johnnie Frierson – Have You Been Good To Yourself (Bandcamp)The importance of the Gospel and self-care in trying times, presented in a fifty(it’s not 50, but it’s vintage)-year-old cassette recording of a Stax singer accompanied only by an electric guitar. This is AMAZINGLY GOOD.