Waiting For The Moves

Chinese American Bear “Dance Dance Dance (跳舞跳舞跳舞)”

This song could have stayed in ESG/Liquid Liquid post-punk funk minimalism mode and I would’ve been happy. I’m a total mark for that sound and always will be easily won over by most attempts at it. But the switchover in this track to orchestrated disco is magical; like the song suddenly shifts from grainy black and white to full garish color. This cut is a stand alone single pulled from the sessions for Chinese American Bear’s Dim Sum & Then Some record that was released earlier this summer. There’s some terrific songs on that album – I came close to writing up both “Turn Up the Radio” and “No No Yeah Yeah” – but “Dance Dance Dance” is a revelation. It’s not a departure from the playful energy of that record, but it’s a little less overtly twee and stands up to more repeat plays.

Buy it from Bandcamp.

Romare “Take Us”

There’s a similar sort of fake-out here: Romare opens the track with a chopped vocal sample that feels like it’s about to segue into a Madlib/Alchemist sort of down-tempo rap instrumental, but instead you get a left turn into a bouncey cartoonish groove that’s closer to Damon Albarn in Gorillaz mode. “Take Us” is as elegantly crafted as those comparisons would suggest, with some subtly shifting layers of samples and textures under that big beat. This could easily slip into goofy territory, but Romare allows for a lot of grace in the composition.

Buy it from Bandcamp.