Songs for while Rome burns

Music from Les Louanges, DJ Swisha, Fabiano do Nascimento, Lykke Li and more...

Longtime readers of Dead Fresh will know that I lost my shit over AI a couple years ago. I was, to put it lightly, shook. Since then, the evolution and spread of AI in our lives hasn’t been like an invading alien force. It’s been deeply human, driven by capitalism, ego and laziness. It’s often been dumb as hell. So when discussing the scourge of AI Slop, it’s worth remembering that we pump out a pretty thick hose of human slop on our own. Like a 3-hour sports podcast during the offseason. The music of John Summit. 20 years of Linkedin posts. Consider this, therefore, my pledge that this substack will always be made with 100% handmade bespoke organic slop.

The coolest song I’ve heard this year. An anthem about identity, as a Quebecois when “Le monde est à ta porte,” but also a study of the specific, simmering anger and anxiety that Vincent Roberge’s generation is grappling with. It must be harder to rage against the machine when you live inside it, but folks are very much keeping score and finding new ways to come at it. Built around a sample from writer and musician Suzanne Jacob, the lightness of the music makes the heaviness of the lyrics hit even harder.

Rediscovered artists, like Rodriguez, Vashti Bunyan and Charles Bradley, often share some commonalities. Fascinating life stories, a proximity but struggle with success, dashes of weirdness, and, importantly, a couple songs that make you think “ok but how did anyone miss this one?!” Nirosta Steel, aka 69-year old Steven Hall, fits the mould. The longtime Arthur Russell collaborator has been working and reworking the songs on My Skyscraper for over four decades, crafting incredible “queer love songs — night life, giddy desire and odes to lovers of yesterday.” It’s a fascinating album, in places kind of a shambling fun mess, but in other places coalescesing into something magical like “Boxx Trix (Benny’s song)”, a slinky disco banger that takes a ton of delightful left turns you don’t see coming.

Lykke Li is a real one, an anti-algo artist and indie rockstar of a very specific era (my daughter, who is currently into Tegan and Sara, remarked how similar they sound and she’s not wrong.) Lykke’s new album opens with 3 straight sad-happy bangers, a best-case scenario of what you’d hope for. Upbeat electro-synthy-pop with deceptively dark lyrics delivered in her distinct strong scandi voice that, like an elegant car, often just purrs along but occasionally opens up when it hits the freeway. The entire album comes in at 24 minutes and she says it’s her last one and I believe her. That’s boss shit.

Uzi is a confusing little dark elf but maybe also a genius tapped into something most of us can’t see because we don’t have diamonds fused to our foreheads. This MCVertt-produced song uses so much of another song (Indila’s “Love Story”) that sample doesn’t seem like the right word, but whatever gramps, this is lightning in a bottle.

I like Kendrick more in theory than in practice, but I’m big bullish on his cousin Baby Keem and the album he put out this year, Ca$ino. Deep personal trauma over funky beats is the lane, and the twisted Feist sample on this song has been stuck in my head for months.

This album got shot directly out of the meme canon. People did incredible work: Charlie Kirk Franklin, Luka Vandross, 9th Wonderbread, 50 Pence… victory laps for all involved. Thing is, the album is good and going to age well. It might be diet d'Angelo but there are genuine grooves here. While he’s clearly in on the joke (he knows they dressed him for this video with a neo-soul sock on his head), you can’t make something this smoothly solid without genuinely connecting with it. Maybe sometimes white boys can be weaponized for good.

Tom “Never” Misch is a London singer-songwriter, a Yussef Dayes collaborator and criminally underknown Soundcloud vet. This whole album is a treat, but I’m sharing this specific song because it sits real deep down in the pocket and sounds wonderful during a golden hour drive over rolling hills.

BaianaSystem are a group from Brazil that merge Jamaican sound systems with Bahian guitars, a distinctive electric mandolin that I’d never heard of until earlier in this sentence. There’s also marching band and hip hop elements, but really, more than anything, it’s the loose raucous feeling of being out in the streets.

DJ Swisha jumps between genres, from footwork to juke and jungle and back again, but whatever he’s playing is usually pretty fast. But this recent track is kind of a master study in tempo. It’s like a math problem come to life, a metronome on mushrooms. It’s marvelous.

I’ve heard it said that an odd experience of getting older is having younger people explain things to you that you were actually there for. I feel very confident that someday some kid, either my own or one I work with, is going to explain drum and bass to me. And I’ll do my best to be cool about it because I think we could all use a little more raving in our lives.

A joyous, beautiful anthem about pushing forward. Past the grief of losing a sister, the doubt that comes with years of hardship, the confusion of finally finding success. What other choice do we even have?

Witch house (sometimes known as “haunted house” which is wonderful) is a druggy and sluggy subgenre, all trap drums, drone, shoegaze, spooky synths and darkly affected vocals. It sounds like doing opiates in the Midwest. The OGs of the genre, Salem, have been around since 2010 and are truly dripping in lore. This surprise release, which combined new music with all sorts of internet loosies, came connected to a collab with Supreme that included a pair of hospital socks inspired by the kind you get when you’re institutionalized.

You probably found this Emma Ogier song like I did, through your phone. You looked at it long enough that your phone thought you’d like to see 100 more times. Turns out you did. Familiar but new, instantly catchy with wonderful turns of phrase delivered with a calibrated drawl and the perfect video. Lots more coming from her no doubt.

I stumbled into Angelo de Augustine’s orbit and thought I’d made the edifying connection to how similar he sounds to Sufjan Stevens. Then felt a bit foolish to learn that, in fact, they’ve recorded and toured together, Angelo is signed to Asthmatic Kitty and, wait for it, both of them survived different but equally sudden and terrifying medical crises that left them unable to move. What the fuck. An emotional Icarus situation? Anyway, check out this album it’s pretty good lol.

Here’s some music inspired by the courtyard that Brazilian guitar star Fabiano do Nascimento grew up in. Lush, light, playful and nostalgic and more sophisticated and technically proficient than I’m educated enough to discern. And look, I’ve just finished this nice long list of things to listen to, but honestly? Fuck it folks, it’s summer time, no need to overthink. Just put this on, sit somewhere nice, eat and drink some tasty things, talk to some good people, read something interesting, ignore the phone and you’ll be fine.

You can find all songs mentioned on Dead Fresh on the Songs you might like Spotify playlist.