THE MAGAZINE FOR
June 2010
bunkerhillmagazine.com
DOWNTOWN L.A.
✵ PERSHING SQUARE BUILDING
NOW LEASING CREATIVE OFFICES
213.622.2929 448HILL.COM 448 HILL ST. LOS ANGELES, CA 90013
Corner of 8th and Flower Streets DOWNTOWN LOS ANGELES
Call Today for Specials 213.955.5700
810 S. Flower Street www.gascompanylofts.com
Y
SIGHTSEEING FOR SPORTS FANS
Over 100 HD TVs • Over 45 interactive games • Weekday Happy Hour 4PM - 7PM Daily lunch specials 11AM - 4PM • Private “Skybox” viewing suites 4 bars with HD TVs • Live ESPN 710 radio broadcasts
DOWNTOWN L.A. AT L.A. LIVE ESPNZONE.COM
The vocal prowess of Ernest Greene remains something to be reckoned with… His languid vocals float weightlessly above the ebb and flow of the melody below. taking a dated concept and injecting new life into it, that in the process we are losing our innovative spark. Music-wise, this means a lot of hearing the same old things, over-and-over again. So if repeating history too many times will inevitably end up in farce, clearly we need to create something brand-new and unprecedented. You have to give it to Washed Out for trying damn hard to create a new sound that is not confined to any past era or post genre. Washed Out is the one-man-project of multi-instrumentalist, Ernest Greene. He creates music out of his parent’s house in rural South Carolina. He shuns corporate record moguls, and instead distributes limited numbers of cassettes to only his closest friends. He shies away from media attention, and was labelled an agoraphobic for his general distaste of the outside world. And yet, Washed Out has been
26
BUNKER HILL | 06/2010
celebrated by the musical elite and raved over by critics and listeners alike. Perhaps Mr Greene errs on the side of the quixotic. Or perhaps he simply enjoys the allure of exclusivity and finds comfort in his lavish dream worlds. This could explain his latest creation, Life Of Leisure, a record that resembles a woozy Technicolor frolic through an open field of opiates. On this fresh and hazy record, the gentle shifts of rhythm and melody trigger nostalgic responses and provide a perfect platform for reconciliation, and meditation. The record plays like a sleepless night, where perception is enhanced and reality is altered. This sonic haze and postmodern ambience is a taxonomist’s nightmare. Of course many have come up with their own tags to describe this music: Dream-pop, chillwave, post-electro, lo-fi, glo-fi and no-fi; they all are slightly imperfect phrases for
THE LOOKOUT SOUNDS
describing a style of music that is generally one or all of the following: lackadaisical, hypnotic, cassette-recorded, warped, affable yet not encouraging, pleasantly apathetic, sun-baked, laid-back, slightly out of focus and… Washed Out. Yet as far as labelling goes, perhaps the aforementioned do not do Life of Leisure justice. A solid piece of sonic architecture, the record assembles an array of sounds and textures, adds sporadic splashes of static atmosphere and in the process creates a listening environment that is truly magnificent. The vocal prowess of Ernest Greene remains something to be reckoned with. He seduces us with enigmatically opaque lyrics, a breathless urgency and crystalline arpeggios. His languid vocals float weightlessly above the ebb and flow of the melody below. In fact, so relaxed and lethargic are Greene’s musings that one almost picks up a sense of boredom. And yet it is boredom without negative connotations. It is the kind of boredom that spurs artists like Greene to retreat to their bedroom and experiment with synthesized aesthetics. It is the kind of boredom that then inspires individuals to turn those electronic webs of irresolution, into fully realised songs. It is the kind of boredom that should not be frowned upon, but on the contrary, embraced – for boredom often leads to innovation. Life Of Leisure sounds surprisingly contemporary, and at the same time painfully familiar. The half articulated musical messages evoke countless
sentimental connections and unreachable desires. Layers of sound are fed through a filter of nonchalance, which gives the record an emotionally distant feel; though this is not necessarily a bad thing. Ernest Greene’s electro-vignettes are all recorded in his parent’s house, on dated recording software. But again, this adds to the mystery and attraction of Washed Out’s music. Greene seems to attack the recording process with a mix of extraordinary genius and naive incompetence. Some instruments are recorded live, whereas others are simply loops downloaded from the Internet. Occasionally you can hear a snippet of conversation, or footsteps, or birdsong, and it makes you wonder whether the effect is the result of an overlooked recording device, or a precisely planned vision. Washed Out’s music does not strive to enhance or better your life, but to help you simply appreciate the now. Ernest Greene is not enlightened nor does he claim guru status; on the contrary he’s a giddy if not naive Southerner who has found happiness within his artistic medium. Pushing the confines of what is perceived to be electronic music, Greene explores various genres and in doing so crafts his own entirely. Life Of Leisure could perhaps be described as the encapsulation of relaxation and happiness; or better yet, the rejection of anxiety and fear. No, this won’t change your life or help you understand the world better, but it will give you a 20-minute break from the harsh realities of Western life. And in a place where time is money, isn’t that worth something?
IF YOU LIKE WASHED OUT…
Memory Tapes
Neon Indian
Real Estate
27
s the place a d e w ie v widely ds, Skid Row is s, dope fien t a e b d a e d ty's where socie this is true ile h W . m o t t it bo the and winos h o scratch t in g e b 't n oes is enough, it d iverse that n u l lle a r a p a any surface of l. Although m a n io s n e im id ult far more m