Frank Ocean/ Passion Pit/ Purity Ring (2012)

Hello people. Brief intro: Digital Wax is where I will be posting music I am listening to that does not belong up on Plenty of Swords. The Swords has become a mammoth math rock blog with a roster of awesome contributors; they have me completely beat on their knowledge of the genre and its artists. I can't compete with them in finding new bands for the blog, and because I'm constantly being recommended great math from them, most of the artists that I find and want to share are in other genres. The Swords has an audience built on math, and I don't want to take away from that. So here we go.

This first entry is a whopper. Apparently, it is Super Music Tuesday, because when I woke up and checked my usual review sites, there were THREE albums that dropped today I was excited to hear. I will try to keep this brief:

Frank Oceans debut solo album is first on the list; I was very excited to see this was finally out, as I've been a fan of his since Gavin Castleton posted a cover/ mashup of Swim Good with samples taken from Portisheads song Roads. I dig Frank Oceans contributions to Odd Future more than anyone else in that outfit, and his mix tape from 2011, Nostalgia, Ultra, is damned sweet (and it is still available for free on his website). Channel Orange is a seriously solid debut. I am sure I will be listening to it a lot; for starters, I would recommend checking out the albums 10 minute centerpiece, Pyramids, but if that sounds a little daunting he's got a video for the much shorter second track, Thinkin Bout You. I feel like I don't have to say anything else: trust me, check these out.



Next, Passion Pit released their second album today; Gossamer picks up exactly where they left off on Manners. Great sounding electro pop full of hooks, this time around talking about darker issues while keeping their music tight and bright. Heres the video for their single, Ill Be Alright.

Last but not least: I heard a song by Purity Ring months ago, when I was listening a lot to minimalistic electronica/ dubstep stuff like Zomby, Crystal Castles, and the soundtrack to Drive. It excited me enough that I kept tabs on them, and I am glad that I did. I really love a good electronic outfit with a female singer. heres a nice video for their single, Fireshrine.

frank ocean- channel orange
passion pit- gossamer
purity ring- shrines