The Warmest Hug: Taquwami’s “Dawnz”

One of the most interesting points about chillwave lost in the race to post new tunes to blogs is the idea of it being “recession music,” how the still-massive financial crisis coupled with all sorts of other bad stuff caused 20-something musicians to turn to bedroom-recording. That narrative often seems lost in 2011, replaced by leads about artists originally associated with that sub-genre shifting styles…see the new Washed Out, Neon Indian, that Toro Y Moi album. It’s an easy hook for an article or review…look, they sound different now!…but also not nearly as interesting as that original idea, of how these troubled times…and things certainly do feel just as bleak now…shaped this.

Tokyo’s Taquwami recently released a song called “Dawnz” that seems very simple – synths wrapping around one another, a beat, a little guitar and keyboard and non-sensical vocals. Far from complicated stuff. Yet Taquwami’s simplicity ends up being a major positive, the glowing forwardness of “Dawnz” feeling like a particularly needed embrace as one’s Twitter feed fills up with people bemoaning the seventh-billion person entering the world. It carries touches of what made Washed Out’s “Feel It All Around” so appealing – a computer-created warmth that felt great to be enveloped by – but ultimately embraces the simplicity that has also made records like Real Estate’s Days and Ranger’s Pan Am Stories stand out. Really, this song just sounds uncomplicated and welcome. Listen below.

[soundcloud url=”http://api.soundcloud.com/tracks/27228781″]

Dude also records under the name Occult You, a bit more of a abrasive/dance-centric project, and that effort posted a new song while I was writing this up so I thought “hey, why not include that as well!” Listen to “X” below.

[soundcloud url=”http://api.soundcloud.com/tracks/27313811″]