Some Chillwave for your Summer
- Michael John Halse
- Jul 11, 2016
- 6 min read
I grew up listening to all different kinds of music, I can remember being a little kid and listening to classic rock, country, pop, Disney tunes (sister *eye roll*), soft rock, and lots of Madonna. As i grew up I went through a number of different musical phases. Before high school, in the 90's and early 00's I was really in to pop and rap music, just the generic, top 40 stuff that everyone knew. I actually thought that's all the music was, that the top 40 was all that the music industry had to offer, man were my eyes opened.
Thanks to my sister, Christine, I was introduced to mid-00's emo and alternative rock, bands like Green Day, Blink-182, My Chemical Romance, and the like. And while I've pretty much moved on from those bands, I still think Green Day's American Idiot is one of the MOST influential alternative rock albums, ever. In my final years of high school, a friend introduced me to indie rock, she lent me her Broken Social Scene, Death Cab for Cutie, Stars, and Bright Eyes albums, and my mind was blown. Broken Social Scene and Death Cab quickly became some of my favourite bands and still are to this day. All of this new music opened my world up to the music industry, and instilled this unending thirst to find new music to add to my collection. As I went into university, my tastes broadened to include folk, something I'd stayed away from because I thought it was a slippery slope to country (which is the only genre of music I can't stand). I discovered Feist, Sufjan Stevens, Beirut, Bon Iver, the list goes on and on.
But these last few years, I've been getting into something different. My iPhone playlists are separated into generic pop, catchy songs that are great to sing along to in the car, and ambient/chillwave/post-rock/gothic rock tunes that sort of ease me through any setting. These genres have quickly become my favourite. The music tends to be more atmospheric and gets a more emotional rise out me than typical pop, indie rock, or folk. And that's what I like best about those tracks. They're subtle, but incredibly moving and have the power to influence your emotional and physical state while listening to them. I've had more spiritual awakenings while meditating to ambient music than to, say, Lady Gaga (not that Gaga is not omnipotent). There are even a few tracks on this list I'm about to share, that lower my blood pressure... I can literally feel my body slow down while listening to them, and to me that's phenomenal. I'm an emotional person as it is. I'm very empathic and change depending on the atmosphere around me, and I always find that emotions can be amplified through music. It's not just me, being all artsy-fartsy, it's been proven by science. If you don't believe me, click here and pick ANY of the links that come up.
But I wanted to share some of favourite tunes from these genres at the moment, because I don't think enough people know about them, and if you're a music junkie like me, you'll definitely enjoy them.
10. Tamara, by Cobalt Rabbit
This one's purely ambient. It features light, airy instrumentals that overlap some cityscape sounds that aren't too distracting beneath the general haziness of the music. It's a shorter track, and I wish it were longer, but definitely a calming and moving one.
This one's a little bit of a mix between ambient and chillwave. You still have an overall ambient feel, with that hazy, light, and airy sound overtop of everything, but the chillwave drive, that slow beat that gives the song a flow, almost like water, keeps the song driving forward. I'm not sure what Myst is saying on this track, but the gentle voice definitely helps draw everything together.
8. Breathe, by Nsolo
This song is sort of mixture of a number of genres, from dream rock, downtempo, chillwave, and R&B, and if you don't know what half of those genres are, don't sweat it. Just listen. This track's a little faster paced than the last two, and has more of a driving force to it, but the undulating rhythm of the music is perfect!
7. Pretty Thoughts, by Alina Baraz & Galimatias
Perhaps you crave something a little more mainstream – it doesn't have to be a bad word! Well then check out this song. It's filled with chillwave vibes, pulsing music, and those rare lyrics that you can actually understand. Despite that, there's something calming about this song, and blasting it while you're driving along with your windows down, is definitely lush.
6. Our Hearts of Ruin, by Blue Sky Black Death
These guys are a little better known in the world of instrumental hip hop and electronica than some of these other artists. This song also has a slightly different sound than the others on this list. It's a heavenly sound with layered instrumentals, that's almost like something you'd hear in a visually intoxicating indie flick (I'm thinking along the same lines as Code 46, The Fountain, or The Neon Demon). This song is part of their album Noir, and it's a whole album of tracks as beautifully layered as this one, it's definitely an album to check out.
There's one rule I've learned about when it comes to finding good synth pop or chillwave, and that's that, if the musician's signed to Kitsuné (record label) than it's going to be good. Like Pretty Thoughts, this song is a little more mainstream than the others on this list, with louder beats, EDM-influence, and coherent lyrics. You could argue it's not even chillwave, but that doesn't mean it's not a great song.
4. Acid Rain, by Lorn
I came across this music video one day, and couldn't get over it. The music, the eerie feeling it created, the dancing, it was so hypnotizing. This song's a bit more dream rock meets experimental meets post-rock, but sometimes a darker vibe is exactly what you need... or maybe that's just me... As much as I love chillwave, sometimes I just need something fuelled with a little darkness pumping through my while I sleaze around at night.
3. Waves, by Glass Gang
This track's very similar to the last one. It's a dream rock-infused song with eerie vocals that hover in the background above distorted instrumentation. I love these tracks, and I can't really explain why, but they just feel so familiar to me, almost like the noise and the distortion is what plays in my head all day long, and this is just bringing it out. This song is one of those tracks that brings out heavy emotions in me. It's just the perfect song.
2. Still Thinking About Things, by Børne
My last two songs are very ambient-heavy. While this one has some influences of chillwave, with the pulsing rhythm and driving instrumentals, it's still very ambient, filled with lazy sounds that just hang in the air and fill the void. This song, as well as my number 1 pick, are two that lower my blood pressure. I don't know why, I can't explain it. But when my heart's racing, and I need it to stop, I put these songs on, concentrate on the atmosphere, and instantly I can feel my heart slowing... it's trippy man.
1. Carlights, by Strawberry Hospital
This song! It's fantastic. Ambient at it's finest. The slow build, the gentle sound of rain... it's perfect. This song swells around your ears and lifts you up emotionally, pumping you full of good vibes and melatonin. I have never felt a calm as deep as the one I've felt while listening to this song. It's the perfect example of the power ambient music has over the body. Definitely worth adding to any ambient-lover's library.
And there you have it, my top 10 picks of ambient/chillwave/post-rock/dream rock/whatever you want to call it music for the summer. Check them all out, give them a listen, and if I missed any of your favourites, let me know in the comment section below!
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