Think Pink Radio

* Album art by Michael Earl Phillips

There is a distinct sometimes, when the morning’s too young, maybe after an intense discussion the night before, you are looking at a FULL day ahead, put on your headphones and the first few bars of a record create an emotional vortex. Perplexing panic and calm at the same time, it’s the moment when the sound of commuting fades and you have a private arrest while being crowded by strangers. Bastardgeist’s self-titled album does that. Recorded at home with a minimal set up, it starts off with the song “Flee to the Hills” a soft but gripping introduction to songwriter Joel Midden’s past few years. Looped field recordings, manipulations of a kalimba (thumb piano), live drums and his ghost-like vocals come together to form a stream of sound that is cautious but loose; if Sufjan Stevens took some Valium and tried to write an Animal Collective song, he might be able to approximate Midden’s lonely, hopeful pictures. Skewed harmonies reminiscent of Kyp Malone and Tunde Adibempe, glitchy melodies recalling Mum, and feminine, crushed-on Cocteau Twins are clouded by rhythms that go back and forth between shaky and hip-hop. Perhaps a deliberate masking of lyrics plays into the record’s mystery; if these ten tracks tell you anything about Midden, it’s that he’s on a path to find beauty from escape, however vague and brittle it may be. Bastardgeist’s world is intimate and earthy, messy and pretty, and Chicago is blessed to be included.  Midden has been in label talks for his debut and this is the kind of stuff Pitchfork eats up, so take notice NOW. Stream some tracks off his myspace and I’ll keep you up to date with shows, release dates, etc.