Porteur - "LKBK" and iji - "World of Gecko" (Holy Page Records)

I the last year I've found myself in the comfortable position of never being at a loss for background music (or noise). Incidental sounds to fill the air while cooking, reading, watching boring ass olympic competitions on mute...Porteur and iji are the kind of listenable background artists I can read a book to. Neither wow me, but I am thankful for their skills at creating vibe. My "office" room no longer creaks with wall movements in a vacuum, but is constantly humming and bopping to tapes from all over the world. The twinkling hazy "bedroom pop" (as described by Holy Page Records - I don't subscribe to the term) of Porteur's LKBK is (I'd call it "Lake Book," but probs wrong on that) without a doubt the sun setting on southern Arizona captured on cassette. The title track's vocals are as ephemeral as the air we breathe. I can't get a beat on it even when the beat enters. I'm floating off towards foreign vistas. Recommended for fans of shimmering dream guitar ringing.

iji recalls an alternate 90s dance scene where pop/rock songwriting co-mingle with beat-centric odd experiments. Not quite dissimilar from the actual 90s, but oddly pleasant enough to be their own jam. Upliftingly light and shimmying, iji have recorded loosely psychedelic beat-pop that gets my body moving. Most of the tape was recorded by one dude named Zach, but there is one live tune at the end which feats sax and bass and this is my favorite cut. Smooth playing, but not at all locked into "jazz," there is a vaguely naive quality to "singing in the shower" feel of the lead vocal. Overall the music carries you along on relaxed grooves and psuedo-world dance percussion fills...worth exploring? 

Buy and Listen HERE.