Brandon Soderberg’s Pitchfork review of the new Washed Out record Within and Without is in its entirety as much a 2011-flavored chillwave commentary as it is an album review. Someone had to do it—take the reigns for the genretalk surrounding this one inexhaustibly buzzy word. Not because chillwave is “back” or “dead,” but because there are those of us in the music community that still love those lazy synth sounds more than anything. And because from hip hop to indie rock to the remix sphere, you can hear it, feel it, see it still rippling in the undercurrent. Soderberg’s review is a State of the Genre address. In 2009 the chillwave tide rolled in, carrying with it such greats as Toro Y Moi, Small Black, Neon Indian, Memory Tapes, and others that have held their own as torchebearers for the genre and for their own unique sounds. But 2010 was the year of lo-fi. Backlash kicked these artists hard and “chillwave” somehow became a dirty word. Bloggers beat their chests and proclaimed with savage satisfaction that “chillwave is dead,” or worse, mocked it as a non-genre. The injustice of this is felt most in Pitchfork’s prickly review of Toro Y Moi’s 2010 masterpiece Causers of This. Injustice turned tragedy, because Toro Y Moi was never the same. All because the album came after the chillwave tide had ebbed. We lost one to the critics. No surprise then that Washed Out’s summer 2011 release was so highly anticipated. Ernest Greene has earned his reputation for being a solid dude, an excellent musician, and a great performer, but he is chillwave through and through. Would he abandon his roots? Put out a psychadelic indie rock effort that was decent at best (cough… Underneath the Pine)? Upon first listen, there’s no debate. It’s breathtaking. And it’s chillwave. That brings us back to Soderberg. His Pitchfork review for Within and Without begins with the following: “Chillwave as an idea and a sound is here to stay. Synthesizers are in; guitar-based rock has taken a backseat to diffuse, rhythmic dance music; and the sound’s key influences (broken, blissed-out electronica, hip-hop) have leached into most interesting music happening right now.” Hold the phone. This is a shining review, slathered in praise not only for Greene’s latest record, but for the genre. Soderberg almost gleefully challenges the very same chillwave criticism that brought Toro Y Moi’s 2010 review down to a measely 7.6. In fact, the very last paragraph cites “Blessa,” a standout cut from Causers of This, as a standard of chillwave mastery to which Washed Out might be compared. Based on this review alone, we would be forgiven for thinking chillwave is “back.” Problem is—it never left. Just because tastes change and haters have blogs doesn’t mean a genre dies. It’s all a struggle to stay relevant. Pitchfork finally perked up its ears once it realized it could no longer eschew an entire genre worth of artists making jawdropping records. Especially when that genre’s sounds begin creeping into buzzworthy new releases in hip hop to indie rock to top 40. It had to backpedal. Soderberg says Within and Without is a “declaration to snarky ironists that there is nothing to be ashamed of with this sound.” No Soderberg, your review is. —- Pitchfork review - Within and Without: http://pitchfork.com/reviews/albums/15614-within-and-without/ Pitchfork review - Causers of This: http://pitchfork.com/reviews/albums/13931-causers-of-this/

understandtheuniverse: “Man.  Because he sacrifices his health in order to make money. Then he sacrifices money to recuperate his health. And then he is so anxious about the future that he does not enjoy the present; the result being that he does not live in the present or the future; he lives as if he is never going to die, and then dies having never really lived.” (via salvagedcalamity)