BLASST 104: Pillowsnake

TRACKLIST:
1. Pillowsnake - "LOVE GAVE ME THE LUXURY OF TIME"
2. Serge Gainsbourg - "Theme from Cannabis" (Cannabis the film)
3. Freddie Gibbs & Madlib - "Crime Pays"
4. Solange - "Almeda"
5. Pillowsnake - "GABRIELA IS THE NEW SKIN" 

Content Warning: this conversation covers sexual assault at points, and contains strong language.

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NOTES:
Welcome back to Blistering Listens and Strange Sounds, thank you for tuning in - again! Today's broadcast features our first guest of 2020, Jacob LaFollette, also known as the RGV's own avant-pop wizard, Pillowsnake! 

As you will hear in the episode, I first came to know of Jacob's work the same way most people hear about things these days: social media. Soon after becoming Facebook friends a few years ago, Jacob began regularly sharing links with me to listen to his music, welcoming me into the sonic space his mind occupies. Unlike anything I had ever heard from an artist in my neck of the woods, Pillowsnake's music lives in a multi-verse of inspiration: hip-hop, vaporwave, industrial experimentalism, and everything sexy about rock n' roll. 

The first time I saw him play was in Brownsville at the Carlotta Petrina Cultural Arts Center in 2019 for The Objects album release party, and he absolutely ripped. Switching between crystal clear rapping, singing, and shredding out guitar solos at a moment's notice, he was a one man band that was clearly larger than life. 

Since then, I've booked him for my own shows, recommended him for others, and as of a few months ago, been jamming his latest release, hmminBYRD, a five-track burst of glittery, glitchy, madness. We talked about that, his production style (he makes all of his music on his smartphone) and influences, and about his hometown(s) of San Benito/Harlingen, and life growing up in the Rio Grande Valley. 

You can check out hmminBYRD here.

Check out Jacob's new single below:

If you can guess the background music in today's episode, you can select all of the music I play in a future episode. Drop me an e-mail (uupunk [at] gmail [dot] com) if you do.

HINT: it is from a video game.

Thanks again for tuning in, hope everyone's been staying safe and staying home (if you have the privilege to do so). I'm working on some ideas for streaming shows via social media (IGTV, Twitch) etc. Inspired by Angel Corsi's recent Quaranstream, Tubby's (a friend's bar in Kingston) streaming sets all this week from their Instagram, and Don Giovanni's streaming music festival (also via IG Live). 

More on that in coming episodes. See y'all next week.

AS