Greetings Full Riders! I know it’s been a while since my last post. I’ve been traveling a lot since the end of August for work, family stuff, and some R&R, and I also had a nasty cold for a bit that really messed up my schedule. In any case, let’s dive back in and check out some dynamic duos, including a one-time collaboration, a lasting partnership, and one that didn’t last so long but was great while it did. Enjoy!
Icebird, The Abandoned Lullaby | 2011 – USA
The Abandoned Lullaby (2011) is a collaboration album by hip-hop producer RJD2 and R&B/soul singer Aaron Livingston (a.k.a. Son Little), performing under the one-time moniker Icebird. An underground staple in the 2000s, RJD2 is best known for his elaborately avant-garde brand of instrumental hip-hop, and first featured Livingston on the track “Crumbs Off The Table” from his 2010 album The Colossus. As Icebird, their first and only album plays like a collection of unpublished works, crisscrossing between R&B, prog rock, funk, soul, and breakbeat. Through it all, Livingston maintains an effortless flow, at once full of whimsey but also dark, smokey, and haunting. I’ll admit that this all makes for a bit of a jumbled listening experience, but in the cutthroat world of buy-buy-buy-sell-sell-sell, there’s something refreshingly uncommercial about The Abandoned Lullaby: It doesn’t seem to be for anyone other than RJ and Livingston themselves – and me – and maybe you too. Favorite track: Going and Going. And Going.
Broken Bells, After The Disco | 2014 – USA
After The Disco (2014) is the second album by indie rock duo Broken Bells, comprised of The Shins frontman James Mercer and producer/multi-instrumentalist Danger Mouse. Picking up the thread from their self-titled debut (2010) – which was nominated for Best Alternative Music Album at the 2011 Grammys – After The Disco does what a great sequel does best: It takes everything great about the original, kicks it up a notch, then adds some new elements to keep things fresh and exciting. So, while fundamentally an indie rock record, After The Disco is also richly layered with touches of space rock, baroque pop, and of course disco, colored with some tasteful electronic flourishes and even the occasional four-piece choir. In lesser hands, this would all be a contrived mess, but Mercer and Danger Mouse – already masters of their craft long before working together – strike a finely textured balance grounded in Mercer’s humanistic folk rock sensibility. Favorite track: Holding On For Life.
iDKHOW, Razzmatazz | 2020 – USA
Nowadays, iDKHOW is the indie pop solo project of singer/multi-instrumentalist Dallon Weekes, although it was originally a duo comprised of Weekes and drummer Ryan Seaman that, in 2018, Rock Sound called “the hottest unsigned band in the world.” Before they broke up in 2023, the narrow peak of their success was their debut album Razzmatazz (2020), an upbeat indie pop affair with unironic globs of new wave and emo pop, no doubt drawn from Weekes’ tenure playing bass for Panic! at the Disco. Indeed, while not discounting any of Seaman’s artistic contributions, the real magic of Razzmatazz is Weekes’ phenomenal vocal performance, an unexpected blend of boyish charm, technical brilliance, and flamboyant theatricality. In the end, history probably won’t remember iDKHOW or Razzmatazz – as Weekes’ current output as a solo act has been decidedly unremarkable – yet it is often deep in the footnotes where the most interesting things are waiting to be found. Favorite track: Sugar Pills.
Record stores visited since my last post
Boo Boo Records | San Luis Obispo, California – Fantastic shop with a diverse and well-organized selection on the main drag in San Luis Obispo, a great little town on the Central Coast. Found a lot of good stuff, including two super local Americana records – the kind of stuff you only find out in the wild.
Peoples Records | Detroit, Michigan – Industrial warehouse vibe with heaps of used wax across all genres. An absolute delight for diggers who don’t mind getting a little dusty. Picked up some obscure local Detroit jazz.
The Detroit Record Club | Royal Oak, Michigan – Boutique-style shop with a highly curated selection of mostly rock and jazz where every used record is ultrasonically cleaned and tested. Buyer beware! The prices match the outstanding service and shopping experience.