Washed Out-Within and Without

By: Cassandra

Rating:

“You’ll be all right in time”

There are several terms in the world of popular music that instantly make me cringe.  “Indie” is undoubtedly one of them (any word that must be accompanied by air quotes and a brief/not so brief explanation of what exactly you mean should cause some  amount of discomfort).  “Chillwave” is another one of these words. Perhaps it is because it evokes images, at least for me, of self-gratifying hipsters jockeying for position as the most apathetic in the room. However, the latest release from Georgia-native Ernest Greene a.k.a. Washed Out embraces home recording and the DIY mentality. Technology has made it so any asshole with a drum machine can make electronic music from their living room. Within and Without, however, utilizes the DIY approach without sacrificing a polished, sleek sound.  This sound is somewhat of a departure from Greene’s usual lo-fi sound, but the result is well worth it.  The problem with this explosion of lo-fi/home produced music is that in a lot of cases, it places the musician in a corner with little room for development. While a lot of these bands can turn out some great albums, I’m incredibly eager to see where new material takes them.

Within and Without does an adequate job of taking an established sound and showing the progression and evolution of home recorded music.  Aspects of hip-hop collide with poppy synthesizers to create laid-back songs that will have even the most uptight person bobbing their head along.  While this album makes for wonderful background music, it goes little beyond that for me.  It’s something I could see throwing on to accompany studying, cleaning, or perhaps behind some light conversation, but I don’t see this being one of my go-to albums.  However, if you’re looking for something incredibly chill, Within and Without really hits the spot.

iTunes - http://itunes.apple.com/us/album/within-without-bonus-track/id447269751

Myspace: http://www.myspace.com/thebabeinthewoods