Washed Out

[miaedu]

[ame]http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=-DkslcOhytU[/ame]

 

[miaedu]

[ame]http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=yOf-moiZPVQ[/ame]

 

[miaedu]

[ame]http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=wDniFWp3jPA[/ame]

 

[miaedu]

Really fun show here in Miami last week during Art Basel.

[ame]http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=YlY0-6kXZcc[/ame]

 

[miaedu]

http://www.readplatform.com/mixtape-vi-the-fantastic-symphony/

MIXTAPE VII – THE FANTASTIC SYMPHONY
Posted by Stephen Pietrzykowski on 12/09/09

Some people just get it right. Like James Murphy or David Simon: smart-arsed fuckers who you can’t help but love for their enviable ability to be on the money just about all the time. Thankfully for the fallible and imperfect among us, they’re a rare breed, but now you can add Ernest Greene (AKA Washed Out) to that heady pantheon of people to be jealous of.

It’s unclear what was imagined first – the band name, the music, or the artwork – but the entire Washed Out aesthetic coheres effortlessly to form a beautiful dream wave of eternal youth and endless Sunday afternoons. Nothing feels like an after thought, but equally, it doesn’t feel overly calculated either, blurred just enough around the edges to comfort like sunshine through a window. It’s fitting, then, that when we asked Ernest to make a mixtape based around his recent marriage, he instead chose to pop out a 20 minute soporific beauty designed to evoke one long continuous dream. Contrary, but yes, you guessed it, perfectly conceived.

There’s not one Washed Out track here, but it couldn’t have been put together by anyone else. Even the sepia tinged artwork (designed by Mark Weaver) looks like it was put in the wash 35 years ago with a copy of The Interpretation of Dreams. If only all of my dreams sounded like this instead of being chased around the forests of Bergen by Mayhem, I wouldn’t ever want to wake up, as opposed to lying in a cold sweat every night fearing sleep like Freddie really exists. Thanks, Ernest.

 

[miaedu]

On Tour with Beach House:

04-21 Dallas, TX - Granada Theater
04-22 Austin, TX - Emo's
04-23 Houston, TX - Walter's
04-24 Baton Rouge, LA - Spanish Moon
04-25 Tallahassee, FL - Engine Room
04-27 Birmingham, AL - Bottletree
04-28 Nashville, TN - Mercy Lounge
04-29 Atlanta, GA - The Earl
04-30 Asheville, NC - Grey Eagle Tavern
05-01 Chapel Hill, NC - Cat's Cradle

 

[miaedu]

I heard "Feel It All Around" on XMU and fell in love with it.

I must say, you have great music taste, miaedu.

Thanks

Here's a new track:

[ame]http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=PNGoIjuJfIM[/ame]

 

[miaedu]

[ame]http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=PuMUhU0vvy0[/ame]

 

[miaedu]

Washed Out's Ernest Greene Talks Chillwave, Hip-Hop, and Weird Mishmash

​Sampling tracks and random sounds from the '70s, '80s, '90s -- and even voicemail messages -- seems the norm for Washed Out's Ernest Greene. But it won't always be that way.

"The new album is slightly [more rock-based]," Greene says. "There's just more live drum sounds. There's a bass guitar. So just little things, but still straight beats. It's kind of a weird mishmash."

In the second part of our recent interview, Crossfade caught up with Greene to talk about changing his sound, what he thinks of the chillwave movement, and playing with ANR this Friday.

New Times: Your music seems to cover a lot of different bases, with hints of everything from lo-fi to disco, hip-hop, mo-town. What's your songwriting process like?

Ernest Greene: I definitely have a lot of different influences that come together -- mostly at random. I've been listening a ton to the stuff I've been working on. There's definitely a hip-hop influence on it, a little bit of disco. Mainly just trying to do something different than what I've heard listening to hip-hop stuff. There's definitely some kind of cliched things that happen in every hip-hop song. I try to grab things that aren't the cliched parts and use for good. I guess across the board that's my approach. I can kind of grab something from any genre that I really like and use it. It's really just a lot of grabbing different influences, throwing them against the wall and seeing what sticks [Laughs]. That being said, it's never really a kind of conscious thing. As I'm writing I don't plan on writing a hip-hop song. It just kind of naturally develops over the course as I'm working on it -- which is kind of exciting and frustrating, too. I'll end up with like 10 hip-hop songs, when obviously I'm not trying to put out a hip-hop record.

Yeah, you seem to mention hip-hop a lot. I've heard that you go through different music "phases" and you become obsessed with particular genres, then move on. Is hip-hop what you're obsessed with now?

Yeah. I mean I hadn't really listened to hip-hop for like eight years or something. It's just something that when I started writing songs I kind of had that mindset. It's still kind of with me and shapes the way that I think about writing. That's probably the biggest influence. But that's the weirdest thing. For the first time in my life I haven't really been obsessing over any one kind of style. If anything, I've been obsessing over my own style -- which is really kind of isolating and frustrating. I can't wait to finish. I'll finish it all in like a week or two, then I look forward to not listening to Washed Out for a while [laughs] and start exploring. I'll start looking for like "best of 2010" lists. That'll probably be a good place to start or something. [Laughs]

Your music hit sort of a mainstream-style success pretty quickly what with being profiled in the New York Times and Pitchfork, touring with Yeasayer. What's it been like for you?

Yeah, definitely. It all picked up really fast. The intention was pretty consistent. I was writing the songs summer of 2009 and pretty much as soon as I posted the songs online the right people heard them and sort of passed them around. Immediately there was attention there. I think the high was South by Southwest (SXSW) this past year in March. That was right as I was starting to play shows. Before I was kind of this mystery -- like who I was and what I was about. That was a big deal. But it's been one really great opportunity after the next. I did some shows with Beach House -- who I've been a big fan of for a long time. Same thing with Yeasayer. I've done a few tours now like in Europe and Australia. It's been a good ride.

Has getting married in the midst of all of this and breaking out influenced you at all musically?

Yeah. I would say it's the biggest thing -- especially with this writing -- that I've kind of struggled with. It's just been so different. It has something to do with being married. But it's such a lifestyle change, 'cause we got married right as everything was really happening. So it's gone from working a nine to five job and not being married to being married and really not being tied to anything potentially and really be working and thinking about music all the time. It's amazing in one sense and it's really demanding. I kind of obsess about it. At one point I'm just like, "Okay, you've gotta step back from this." But it's been great. My wife has been with me the entire way. She kind of tour manages with me while I'm on the road and kind of handles things when we're not touring. So we're together pretty much all the time.

So it's almost like an extended honeymoon.

Yeah, yeah. We had a short honeymoon. We've been so busy. In a sense the lifestyle is sort of a honeymoon 'cause we have some really fun times and we don't have any bosses. We don't have to be anywhere if we really don't want to be there. But at the same time we'll be working on stuff late into the night and work really weird hours. She stays really busy too, so it's kind of a trade-off I guess.

What's going on with the new album?

I've been writing songs really all summer. I did some touring earlier in the year -- for most of the spring, I guess. I took some time off to write. My wife and I moved out into this really small cabin sort of house in middle-of-nowhere Georgia. It's on a lake. It was really nice. Definitely kind of secluded. I started writing songs and recording them myself there. Now I've finally gotten the chance to take all of the work that I've done and bring it in and add some things that I couldn't really pull off myself.

Do you have a date for the release set yet?

No, actually. I'm trying to work that out but I'm considering releasing a song or two pretty quickly, even though it's not even set up yet. I feel like it's been delayed a lot, so I want to get stuff out there.

How many members are you at now?

There's three other guys: A bass player, a drummer, a guy who does keyboards/percussion. Then I'm singing and playing some keyboard stuff too.

Would you say it's more alternative or rock-based, then?

Slightly. There's just more live drum sounds, which before it was a little bit more electronic stuff happening. There's a bass guitar. So just little things, but still straight beats. It's kind of a weird mish mash.

So then it'll be a completely different experience from the recorded version.

Oh yeah, definitely. And in some cases we play different versions from the songs than what's on the record, too. It's definitely a different experience.

What would you compare it to, then?

It's really hard. There's nothing '80s about it, that's for sure, 'cause there aren't many synths and stuff. If anything it sounds very '90s to my ears -- which I don't even know how to define that, really [laughs]. But that's kind of been what we keep referring to. I think what I was working toward were memories of certain songs, styles and stuff.

You've been dubbed the sort of poster child of the Chillwave movement. What's it like to take the reigns of a genre with friend and fellow Chillwaver Toro Y Moi?

It's definitely strange. I feel like I can speak for both of us when I say none of us intended on being a part of any genre, really. I'm interested to see what people think of the record I'm working on, 'cause it's much different. In some senses it's very much in line with what I've done. But it's also not traditionally what I think of as "chillwave." It's got a lot more kind of live band elements, playing with a band. I'm sure it'll still be categorized as chillwave, but that doesn't really shape how I do things. I just kind of do my thing and inevitably it'll fall in line with whatever people group it with.

You're taking the stage with ANR again in Miami. What made you ask them to open for you again?

Yeah. We both opened for Yeasayer last time, and we thought they were really amazing. Just so much energy for two guys up on stage. We were psyched. They were really cool guys. We got to hang out with them for a bit. They were the obvious first choice when we were coming back.

You realize that we're the only state in the US right now that doesn't have any snow.

Yeah, that's pretty amazing. It all falls in line with my aesthetic -- the beach kind of vibe that's been the method to my music. We look forward to being at the beach and playing some chillwave music [laughs].

Washed Out with Awesome New Republic, Josh LeCash, and Desiree. Friday, January 21. Eve, 1306 N. Miami Ave., Miami. Doors open at 9 p.m. and tickets cost $12.50 via wantickets.com. Ages 18 and up. Call 305-995-5050 or visit miamieve.com.

http://blogs.miaminewtimes.com/crossfade/2011/01/washed_outs_ernest_greene_talk.php#more

 

[miaedu]

This was a much different show than the one back in December 2009. Fleshed out with several members instead of a solo performer.

Better show but awful crowd.

Review from local rag:

http://blogs.miaminewtimes.com/crossfade/2011/01/washed_out_eve_miami_january_21.php

 

[miaedu]

Ernest Greene's Washed Out project has signed to Sub Pop, who will release his debut LP, Within and Without, on July 12. Sub Pop will release the album in the U.S. Weird World/Domino will release the album internationally.

The album was recorded with Ben Allen (Animal Collective, Deerhunter), and a U.S. tour is in the works as well. Check out the LP's tracklist below. You might notice that one of the tracks on there, "You and I", looks familiar; a song by the same title was released by Washed Out and Chairlift's Caroline Polachek for last year's Adult Swim singles series.

Within and Without:

01. Eyes Be Closed
02. Echoes
03. Amor Fati
04. Soft
05. Far Away
06. Before
07. You and I
08. Within and Without
09. A Dedication


[ame]http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=Vkjwzx8DfL0&feature=player_embedded[/ame]

 

[miaedu]

First Listen: Washed Out, 'Within And Without'

http://www.npr.org/2011/06/22/137340922/first-listen-washed-out-within-and-without


During the recording of his first releases as Washed Out, Ernest Greene was on his own. Holed up in a bedroom of his parents' Georgia house, he began crafting the hazy electronica that soon defined his work under the Washed Out moniker. Although the tracks that came to make up his two 2009 EPs (Life of Leisure and High Times) are largely bright and sunny, they were unmistakably the work of a man in isolation.

Greene released his first work as Washed Out only a few months after creating the concept, so he didn't have many opportunities to play his material in a live setting before his records started to attract attention. Without much time to learn the nuances of playing in bigger spaces, Greene made the jump from tiny rooms to medium-sized rock venues and festivals, a transition that can be especially tricky for a one-man live show. But after nearly two years of touring, either on his own or with the like-minded New York group Small Black acting as his backing band, Greene's music now sounds unmistakably designed to be played live.

On Washed Out's first full-length album, Within and Without (out July 12), it's obvious from the echoing wall of synths in "Eyes Be Closed" that Greene is looking to fill big spaces with these songs. Live instruments also play a bigger role on Within and Without than on his previous work. The melancholy album centerpiece "Far Away" still rests on a backbone of simple, driving dance beats, but here, Greene shrouds his softly cooing vocals in chiming xylophones and mournful, rustic strings. Demonstrating that he's a skilled composer even without a synthesizer at his fingertips, "Far Away" might be the most unabashedly pretty song he's ever recorded.

For all of the leaps forward that Greene has taken on Within and Without, it's still unmistakably his work — all of the changes here are just iterations of his established sound. At the core of Washed Out is a push and pull between electronic dance music and pop music, between songs based on slowly shifting and building textures and those built on a more traditional verse-chorus-verse structure.

Greene is able to slip deftly from one sound to the other, thanks largely to his vocals. Although his range is limited, he possesses a thorough understanding of the roles the voice plays in each genre from which he pulls. The vocals in "Echoes" are as murky and treated as any other piece of the song; their role is to add texture rather than to provide a dominant melody — an approach widely used in the world of dance music. "Amor Fati" follows immediately afterward, and features a prominent vocal part with a clear (and catchy) chorus hook that's decidedly high up in the mix. Greene never makes these differences immediately obvious, though. With Washed Out, he seems content to just make people dance, oblivious to the strings he's busy pulling behind the curtain.

 

[miaedu]

Washed Out - Eyes Be Closed (Lovelock Mix)

[ame]http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=aRONM9EiYGs[/ame]

 

[SaZaeFunkAdelIc]

[ame]http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=G6VBbuyOw2g[/ame]


my favorite washed out track. <3

anyway, the song is 'hold out'. my first taste of this guy from a year or two ago, i think.

 

[miaedu]

Washed Out - Weightless

 

[Native Son]

Sounds sweet.