Middle Earth and Westeros are both paracosms, imaginative fantasy worlds. Paracosm, on the other hand, is its own musical world but instead of beasts and Khaleesi, it’s inhabited with dreamy sequences and electropop. Ernest Greene, more commonly known as Washed Out, began releasing singles through his Myspace page in 2009 and four years later, he’s crafted a mighty strong collection of songs.
Paracosm is a bright summertime album, but not the Corona commercial-style summer where you’re out with your friends, this record sounds best with a pair of headphones on during an afternoon trip down to the Willamette River accompanied with that book you’ve been meaning to read.
Washed Out experienced every post grad’s nightmare: he moved back into his parent’s home after not being able to land a job. During the day he’d send out resumes, but at night he’d produce and record songs in his bedroom.
His releases earned him praise throughout the blogosphere and eventually he was signed to Sub Pop Records. His breakthrough was the 2010 EP Life of Leisure, which featured heavy samplings of vintage funk.
His song “Feel it all Around” earned him the ultimate hipster gold star (it’s the theme song for Portlandia.) Washed Out has been looped into the recently established genre “chillwave.” Similar to artists such as Neon Indian and Toro y Moi, Washed Out blends together syrupy synthesizers with a lo-fi psychedelic pop. But on Paracosm, Washed Out distances himself from the dance trance and looping samples heard in “chillwave” and focuses on the ethereal sounds that crash like waves against a speaker’s shores.
The album starts with a short intro that plays like the opening of a pop-up book filled with soothing sounds and birds chirping in a peaceful field. The ambiance grows and then bleeds into the lead single, “It All Feels Right.” Definitely one of the most accessible tracks on the record, “It All Feels Right” could make that leap into a stereo speaker.
“All I Know” recalls the gentle groove of Ivy’s “Edge of the Ocean” and would easily play as a closing track to some future movie right as the credits begin to roll. The second half of the record sounds the best, reaching its peak with “Falling Back.” The song features a chic rhythmic section with the bass and drums tapping alongside reverb-drenched vocals and lazer shooting synths. The record’s close out is the aptly titled “All Over Now” and like any good story, it brings us back to the beginning setting of a tranquil meadow gently sprinkled with rays of electronic pop.
Bedroom artists began to appear a few years back and now’s the time for them to branch away from their personal abodes. Paracosm producer Ben H. Allen also worked on Youth Lagoon’s Wondrous Bughouse and both records feature the same broadening characteristics. With Paracosm, Washed Out has officially left the bedroom.
http://www.toroymoi.com/http://www.allmusic.com/artist/neon-indian-mn0002146408http://www.amazon.com/Feel-It-All-Around/dp/B003BNCDE4http://www.subpop.com/http://www.subpop.com/artists/washed_out@@