#Hiide babii full#
Decidedly a psych-rock and not a synth pop band, they tried to embrace the robots on this inexplicably 99-cent full length album. “Costa do Marfim” - Cachorro Grande (2015).
I prefer the tracks when he/they (the female backup singer is a nice touch) sing rather than rap. Russian hip-hop over very electronic beats is short, varied, and 99 cents on this EP. $2 and part of a large but iffy catalog, this one might bore people who demand flashiness, but it’s both catchy and kooky in its own mellow way. I mentioned there not being much experimentation on this list due to “pop” being in the name of the genre, but this EP has just enough distorted vocals over its electronica to fit. I don’t think the remix at the end of the $1.49 four-tracker adds anything by going minimal, maybe subtracting from the overall enjoyment. Still a little spaced out, but adding repetitive lyrics might also put this one closer to house music. The title should be taken ironically, then? I definitely prefer the two earlier ones, but this is still fine for someone who just wants to shake a leg. After two EPs I loved for being on the dancier edge of post rock, this one finds them fully embracing a standard dance beat. “Lose My Rhythm” - Desert Sound Colony (2018). The synths and guitars are either dueling or having a civil conversation on this EP. I hear traces of both Clearlake and Shimmering Stars in the vocals and overall tone. More guitars in this one than in most synth-pop, and it wouldn’t be a proper list without some to push the borders. I could close my eyes and imagine it was on Warp. Female vocals over nice electronic production draw artistic attention to repetition. I’d probably give four, but it definitely feels current and cool. A tip of the hat to whoever got to this one first to give it five stars. They like to work with organs, pianos, and a warbling baseline. Harmonizing and light rapping on the first track, and then they go mellow but keep up the harmonies. Poppier, funkier, and clearly more comfortable with their Swedishness than The Notwist are to sing in German, another clear point of reference. They’re no Hot Chip, but a very strong $2 RIYL. “Välkommen in till Hallen” - Hallen (2013). Not sure why there’s an English PSA at the end.
This one’s almost all en español, and the production hits the sweet spot without going overboard. Will also have to work my way backward to her earlier album like I did with the Ukrainian chanteuse. I’d be lazy just to call her new album a Latin version of ONUKA, but the catchiness is right up there.
Formerly on the criminally under-appreciated Mush Records. Impossibly smooth and melodic, this 99-cent EP doesn’t win points for originality but works well with slight variations on conventional chord progressions and a layered keyboard sound evocative of the 1980s. “A Chain of Islands” - Brothertiger (2019). She tries English and sings about her Russian language on the penultimate track, a special treat after well establishing the album’s mood and modus operandi. Deliberately changing her cadence to contrast with or match the music exactly is a neat trick, too. Monotone spoken word more than rap or singing in general, this is slow-to-midtempo and not so distinctive in the electronic accompaniment (excepting a sax solo on the first track), but the overall effect of these songs is darkly mesmerizing. Epitomizes the “too cool for school” Russian female vocal aesthetic on a label I might have to own the entirety of, Bastard Boogie. The requirement to be pop constrains the parameters of experimentation here, but sometimes just being cool or catchy is all you really need. Synthesizers + vocals is a simple formula, but it doesn’t have to sound formulaic.
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