Washed Out, Small Black, Pictureplane @ Mercury Lounge, NYC 3/7/10

Sunday night, I hit up the Mercury Lounge for an intimate show featuring Washed Out, Small Black, and Pictureplane opening.
Although I was definitely curious about the openers, my main reason for going was Washed Out, whose Life of Leisure EP I’ve been thoroughly enjoying ever since I checked out a few tracks on The Hype Machine this past fall and decided to make the purchase. If you’re unfamiliar with Washed Out, it’s basically one young dude (Ernest Greene) from a random town in Georgia who has caught the attention of the Hype Machine crowd with a unique blend of dreamy synth-pop that some are giving the unfortunate label “chill wave.”
Washed Out has managed to cull some of the most perfect synth tones from the 80s and update them with a more contemporary rhythmic and atmospheric framework. That’s all topped off with heavily-processed and “hazy” vocals that makes for a mesmerizing sound that’s familiar and nostalgic but totally fresh. I’d definitely recommend checking out his EP or getting a taste from the blogs or his MySpace page.
But before Washed Out came on, I also got to check out sets by Small Black and Pictureplane.

Pictureplane
Like Washed Out, Pictureplane was a one-man show, complete with a bunch of beat sequencers, samplers and effects pedals (i.e. toys). He got the party moving with an interesting mashup of house-oriented dance tracks overlaid with high-pitched, moody vocals. What the guy lacked in technical agility with his various contraptions, he definitely made up for with lots of energy and a silly, fun vibe. He could use a little work on delivery, especially in the transitions and endings (more on that later), but it was a fun way to kick off the night.

Small Black
Next up was Small Black, the only real “band” of […]

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