Along with Tobacco, Baths is one of the standard-bearers of the new Anticon, a label dedicated less to antagonizing rap reactionaries and more to releasing some of the most psychedelic beats on the planet. The amicable parting with Sole didn’t hurt matters — thereby disassociating themselves with being Linda Tripped. Baths quibbled with Pitchfork recently over their description of his beats as blunted. Apparently, Will Wiesenfeld does not smoke. At least, that’s the assumption gleaned from his Myspace response. Then again, one quickly learns to not make assumptions about Baths. After all, he’s a guy named Wiesenfeld from the San Fernando Valley who is somehow not Jewish.
These are things I learned from Chris Martins’ excellent profile of Baths in the LA Weekly, a few issues back. The same feature also revealed the endearing goofiness with which Baths came out of the closet to his family: “I came out to my brother first, and I wanted to make it really epic,” says Wiesenfeld. “So we drove out to Malibu in the middle of the night and walked out to Point Dume with the ocean all around. And I was just, like, word for word, ‘John, I’ve got the fags real bad.’ He was, like, ‘Oh, duh.”
If you’re looking for more actual musical context, there is also my piece in Pop & Hiss on him, complete with testament to his love of Fennesz and Pokemon. Ian Cohen’s 8.1 Pitchfork Review also comes highly recommended. But not as much as the latest leak from Cerulean, “Lovely Bloodflow,” my favorite song on the record and the sort of thing that will convince skeptics. No secretly taped phone call necessary.–Weiss
Download:
MP3: Baths-“Lovely Bloodflow”
MP3: Baths-“♥ (Daedelus’ Snolaxed Remix)” (Left-Click)
