If the majority of employers around the world hadn’t blindly submitted to the daytime fascism imposed by the sun, we as humans might more readily appreciate the tranquility that’s almost synonymous with the night. Actually, scratch that. More humans awake during the post-midnight hours would definitely have a ruinous effect on that tranquility, as retailers would quickly conform their operations to this newly-appreciated time of day. Silent neighborhood strolls would lose their appeal when insensitive passersby start indiscriminately shining their flashlights en masse, creating an artificial sun, of sorts, and eventually throwing off the elaborate processes of the entire global ecosystem! Don’t you tell me about science!
Less severe, artists like Los Angeles-based Nicholas Crozier Malkin a.k.a. Afterhours might lose a tiny bit of inspiration. Here he is. The photo is time-stamped to assure us of his nocturnal authority, and going even further on that front, he’ll be releasing his debut LP Lowlife on January 28 via Not Not Fun (who also released his Sleepwalker 12-inch in 2012). Afforded a preliminary listen, it’s already one of my early favorites of 2014, and while it certainly isn’t the darkest album to ever exist, neither is that the point, as much as creating a tone utterly congruous with a city (mostly) asleep. Genres traditionally associated with this feeling, such as a trip-hop and deep house, are somewhat prominently referenced, but a welcome variety prevents the album from falling firmly into either category. Additionally: reverberant piano? Will I ever not be into it?
Malkin also hosts a radio show on Sundays called “Field Recordings of the Afterhours.” Check it out here.
Lowlife tracklisting:
01. Spit at the Mirror
02. Sixty Forty
03. Lovesick
04. Outcome
05. Defragment #2
06. Night and Day
• Afterhours: http://afterhours.kchungradio.org
• Not Not Fun: http://www.notnotfun.com
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