NEW TRACK: Kim Gordon – ‘I’m a Man’

Following on from her recent single ‘BYE BYE‘ – an eclectic combination of dense beats, brooding basslines and bruising reverb – renowned musician and visual artist Kim Gordon has shared her new track, ‘I’m a Man’. Taken from her upcoming second solo record, The Collective, which is set for release on 8th March via Matador Records, this new cut is a potent blend of grinding guitar FX, slow, sinister beats and Gordon’s distinctive vocals.

Recorded in her hometown of Los Angeles, Gordon continued to collaborate with producer Justin Raisen (Lil Yachty, Yeah Yeah Yeahs, Charli XCX, Yves Tumor) on The Collective, with additional production from Anthony Paul Lopez. The follow up to her acclaimed 2019 debut solo album, No Home Record, on her new full length offering Gordon has retained her idiosyncratic style, remaining eclectic and ambiguous across each of the eleven tracks. She has captured a rumbling, intoxicating sense of unease which is translated both sonically and visually – first with her single ‘BYE BYE’ and now with her latest release ‘I’m a Man’.

Throughout the track, Gordon cogitates on the ways in which capitalism is redefining and ultimately diminishing the role of “traditional masculinity”, pitted against a chaotic backdrop of disarming noise. These ruminations are also reflected in the accompanying video, directed by Alex Ross Perry and starring Gordon, her daughter Coco Gordon Moore and Conor Fay. ‘I’m A Man’ is another exhilarating creation from a musician who immerses herself wholly into all aspects of her art. Watch the visuals for it below.

Pre-order Kim Gordon’s new album, The Collective, here

Follow Kim Gordon on bandcamp, Spotify, Instagram, X & Facebook

Photo Credit: Danielle Neu

Kate Crudgington
@KCBobCut

Kate CrudgingtonLeave a comment

NEW TRACK: Kim Gordon – ‘BYE BYE’

An eclectic combination of dense beats, brooding basslines, grinding reverb and spoken word, renowned musician and visual artist Kim Gordon has shared her new single, ‘BYE BYE’. The track serves as an introduction to her newly announced second solo record, The Collective, which is set for release on 8th March via Matador Records.

Following on from her 2019 debut solo album No Home Record, on The Collective, Gordon has retained her idiosyncratic style, remaining as curious, eclectic and ambiguous across each of the eleven tracks. Recorded in Los Angeles, Gordon continued to collaborate with producer Justin Raisen (Lil Yachty, John Cale, Yeah Yeah Yeahs, Charli XCX, Yves Tumor) on the new record, with additional production from Anthony Paul Lopez. Together, they have captured a rumbling, intoxicating sense of unease which is translated both sonically and visually – something which permeates new cut ‘BYE BYE’.

Accompanied by a video directed by photographer and filmmaker Clara Balzary, and starring Gordon’s daughter Coco Gordon Moore, ‘BYE BYE’ is an exciting preview of what’s to come from a musician who immerses herself wholly into all of her creations. The track and album also accompanied by words from English artist Josephine Pryde, who offers poetic context to Gordon’s debut and upcoming solo record:

“There was a space in Kim Gordon’s No Home Record. It might not have been a home and it might not have been a record, but I seem to recall there was a space. Boulevards, bedrooms, instruments were played, recorded, the voice and its utterances, straining a way through the rhythms and the chords, threaded in some shared place, we met there, the guitar came too, there fell a peal of cymbals, driving on the music. We listened, we turned our back to the walls, slithered through the city at night. Kim Gordon’s words in our ears, her eyes, she saw, she knew, she remembered, she liked. We were moving somewhere. No home record. Moving.

Now I’m listening to The Collective. And I’m thinking, what has been done to this space, how has she treated it, it’s not here the same way, not quite. I mean, not at all. On this evidence, it splintered, glittered, crashed and burned. It’s dark here… Haunted by synthesised voices bodiless. Planes of projections. Mirrors get your gun and the echo of a well-known tune, comes in liminal, yet never not hanging around, part of the atmosphere, fading in and out, like she says – Grinding at the edges. Grinding at us all, grinding us away. Hurting, scraping. Sediments, layers, of recorded emissions, mined, twisted, refracted. That makes the music. This shimmering, airless geology, agitated, quarried, cries made in data, bounced down underground tunnels, reaching our ears. We recalled it – but not as a memory, more like how you recall a product, when it’s flawed…

…I would say that Kim Gordon is thinking about how thinking is, now. Conceptual artists do that, did that. “I Don’t Miss My Mind.” The record opens with a list, but the list is under the title “BYE BYE.” The list says milk thistle, dog sitter…. And much more. She’s leaving. Why is the list anxious? How divisive is mascara? It’s on the list. I am packing, listening to the list. Is it mine, or hers. She began seeking images from behind her closed eyes. Putting them to music. But I need to keep my eyes open as I walk the streets, with noise cancelled by the airbuds rammed in my ears. quiet, aware, quiet, aware, they chant at me. What could be going through Kim’s head as she goes through mine?”

Follow Kim Gordon on bandcamp, Spotify, Instagram, Twitter (X) & Facebook

Photo Credit: Danielle Neu

Kate Crudgington
@KCBobCut

Kate Crudgington1 Comment

ALBUM: Horsegirl – ‘Versions Of Modern Performance’

With their debut album, Versions of Modern Performance, Horsegirl have translated the world of underground underage Chicago into 30 minutes of sludgy jubilation. Thudding drums, strangled guitar lines and catchy choruses: it’s a time-honoured formula, executed here with vigour and original flair.

The band produced this record as college freshmen and high school seniors and it is bursting with a fine balance of youthful exuberance and nuance beyond their years. Within a tight instrumental framework, the group explore a range of emphases and styles, from the more straightforward guitar pop of tunes like ‘Anti-Glory’ to textural instrumental interludes and the unusually weighted ‘Fall of Horsegirl’, in which the guitar foregrounds the vocal line.

The integrity of the artistic scene from which Horsegirl have emerged defines the sound, attitude and presentation of this music. The group are keen to champion the work of the network of fellow creatives too young to get into most concerts going on in Chicago and forced to organise shows and create among themselves. Their videos employ the talents of friends and peers who put their directorial and kitchen dancing skills to use in assertively homemade productions (check out the video for ‘Billy’). There is an infectious DIY enthusiasm in everything this band does, and this reverberates through Versions Of Modern Performance.

Undaunted by the transition from high school band to signees with heavyweight indie label Matador, the group have made a deliberate effort to remain faithful to the simple setup that has taken them this far. Describing this self-consciously as “the debut bare-bones album”, they bring the sound of their various basement rehearsal rooms to the studio. The choice of John Agnello as producer suits this aim to be true to the band’s roots, given that his CV, which includes Dinosaur Jr. and The Breeders, reads like a list of the influences you can hear working throughout the record.

Though this record takes many cues from the sound and approach of much of that American brand of alt rock that has been around since the mid-80s, the group make this sound their own. It feels like the natural outcome of three imaginative rock musicians playing in someone’s basement; an honest, instinctive debut free from contrived affectations.

Listen to Versions Of Modern Performance on bandcamp or Spotify

Follow Horsegirl on Twitter, Instagram & Facebook

Photo Credit: Cheryl Dunn

Lloyd Bolton
@franklloydwleft
@lloyd_bolton

lloydboltonLeave a comment

WATCH: Kim Gordon – ‘Air BnB’

Only Kim Gordon could get away with making a music video about not being able to afford to make a music video. It’s a bold statement, and one that pays off for the musician & artist on her new single ‘Air BnB’. The track is taken from her debut solo album No Home Record, which is set for release on 11th October via Matador Records.

Following on from singles ‘Murdered Out’ and ‘Sketch Artist’, Gordon’s latest offering is an abrasive jest about hospitality. Her breathy vocals and scratchy guitars are the perfect soundtrack to trash your “faux mid-century modern” hired dwellings to.

Known for her groundbreaking work with Sonic Youth, as an Author (2015 memoir Girl In A Band), an actress, and as an artist; Gordon’s first set of songs as a solo artist demonstrate her ability to fuse all of her passions and skills in to one fascinating entity. They cast new light on a musician whose fan base thought they already knew everything there was to know about her.

Watch the video for ‘Air BnB’ below and follow Kim Gordon on Twitter for more updates.

Pre-order your copy of No Home Record here.

Photo Credit: Natalia Mantin

Kate Crudgington
@KCBobCut

Kate CrudgingtonLeave a comment