DSUcover.jpg

Since 2010, Brooklyn-via-Toronto label Orchid Tapes has been releasing albums by young songwriters whose delightfully warm material exudes an intimacy I usually associate with bedroom acts. I don’t entirely endorse the use of “bedroom pop” to describe Orchid Tapes’ catalog, as the term doesn’t speak to some of the musicians’ flair for experimentation—take Three Love Songs, the proper full-length debut by Ricky Eat Acid (aka Sam Ray), on which Ray samples a cover of Drake’s “Take Care” and drops it on a house track that’s sandwiched between a couple lovely ambient numbers. Last month Orchid Tapes released Alex G’s DSU, which features plenty of lo-fi pop bizarreness. I’m particularly drawn towards “Axesteel” because Alex G spikes the doleful song with shrieks of guitar feedback that actually sound like a sample of a horror-movie scream. Take a listen to “Axesteel” below, it’s today’s 12 O’Clock Track, and download all of DSU from Alex G’s Bandcamp for whatever price you feel like paying.