Not Another Mid-Year Round-Up: Why Be Lazy and Repeat Myself When There's Still So Much Great Music To Cover, Including an AOTY Contender

Electronic music dominates my headphones as Brothertiger finishes his phenomenal 'Fundamentals" series, and HAAi makes a staggering debut

I’ve never been a fan of making a mid-year list ranking my favorite records of the first six months, especially when there are still so many notable records I haven’t covered yet. Last year, I focused on some jazz albums catering to June’s needs, including the otherworldly collaboration between Floating Points and Pharoah Sanders. Promises found the British electronic producer and American jazz saxophone legend taking a cerebral voyage to the outer edges of the melodic galaxy. I may have written a short review at the time, but with another few months to breathe, Promises found its way to my top ten favorite records of 2022.

So at this year’s midpoint, are there any albums that share the same trajectory? Here are two vastly contrasting electronic albums that you need to hear now.

Brothertiger’s Fundamentals, Vol. IV is that record I can’t stop recommending - no matter the person’s genre preferences, it’s the chilled-out electronic break everyone didn’t know they needed—the cure-all for the daily procession of shit.

Brothertiger, the performing name for Brooklyn’s Jon Jagos, has been on the synthpop scene for over a decade but has garnered fresh attention this year after Tears for Fears mentioned Jagos’ cover album of Songs From the Big Chair in an interview. Roland Orzabal and Curt Smith are even on the record that Brothertiger’s version of “Mothers Talk” is better than theirs. That’s some crazy high praise.

While the covers are pretty damn great, it’s the Fundamentals series that shouldn’t slip under your radar. During quarantine, Jagos streamed improv sessions of free-flowing beat-making, and Fundamentals is the result. The four classical elements theme each volume, and fire is the final stop on Vol. IV. Though written and performed on the fly, there’s never evidence of phoning it in as each song flows from one to the next with stunning results.

Case in point, in the phenomenal run of “Seamount,” to “Kipuka,” to “Laminar Flow.” After starting with the sprinkling keys and diligent yet cozy beats of “Rim of Fire,” “Seamount” introduces an elevated woodwind hook that rides the washed-out synths straight on through “Kipuka” before slipping into the buoyant “Laminar Flow.” It’s a helluva way to start an album, and as this is one continuous thirty-minute session, Brothertiger’s lush chillwave never stops rolling, with “Sunup” being another absolute showpiece.

Each part of the Fundamentals series has been a necessary way to end a challenging day, and I assumed the project peaked with “Westerlies” from Vol. III (the only way I can describe this song is ‘the one with that never-ending Bruce Hornsby piano riff’ and I mean that as a sincere dad rock compliment). But Vol. IV is truly something special, and I can’t recommend listening to the entire four-part package enough. There’s no way this doesn’t end up in the top ten of the year for me.

Fundamentals Vol. IV is self-released and available now on Bandcamp.

To further demonstrate the diversity in the modern electronic genre, look no further than the reader recommended HAAi’s debut album, Baby We’re Ascending. While the Australian producer’s first full-length outing may careen between pounding club beats, retro house, and left field, I’ve found it to be just as soothing as Brothertiger.

Baby We’re Ascending is the product of Teniel Throssell’s fast-paced rise in the UK circuit performing as HAAi, and an aptly named record both for her expeditious climb and the euphoric and joyous songs found here. On top of the phenomenal solo works like the pulsing “Pigeon Barron,” cathartic “Bodies of Water,” or gorgeous subaquatic “Orca,” HAAi has also brought along a primo guest list. “Human Sound” lends looped beats a mortal sound thanks to a poetry verse from Kai-Isaiah Jamal and a heavenly hook from HAAi. “Biggest Mood” is already one of my favorite songs of the year thanks to the reverbed vocals from Alexis Taylor of Hot Chip and Jon Hopkins, the current king of hallucinatory dance music shows up for the title track with stunning results.

An album that dodges a suitable description, it’s also a bit clubbier than my usual recommendations. But stick with Baby We’re Ascending and you’ll find the bona fide healing powers that electronic music offers.

Baby We’re Ascending is available now on Mute.

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Hear songs from Brothertiger, HAAi and so many more on the Good Ass Songs 2022 playlist! (For those that think music is dead, here are 217 songs that say otherwise… and it’s only June!)