Greene has painted himself into an aesthetic corner with the Washed Out moniker, unable to grow and expand in any meaningful way.

Do we treat it as a chillwave album or an album about chillwave?

20. Julianna Barwick Nepenthe [Dead Oceans] Julianna Barwick’s Nepenthe leaves me feeling like I’ve opened a secret door, the light behind it thick and golden and twining around me. With ethereal loops and choir-strong harmonies and swells and flows that float you through her honeyed haze, Barwick does more than conjure an ambient space from oceans of sound. Her songs …

25. Janelle Monáe – “Dance Apocalyptic” [Bad Boy/Wondaland] On her stellar sophomore album, The Electric Lady, Janelle Monáe calls in the musical royalty. The likes of Prince, Miguel, Solange, Esperanza Spalding and Erykah Badu lend their talents to an album that’s a start to finish listen and a triumphant breakthrough for Monáe—nowadays it’s difficult to buy a cup of coffee …

[xrr rating=4.0/5]After the obligatory sonic throat-clearing of “Entrance,” Paracosm, the new album from Washed Out, goes straight into “It All Feels Right,” which approaches chillwave self-parody, at least initially. There’s a burble of twinkly tones, a beat like the samba demo on a Casio turned to its slowest setting and even a brief hint of something that sounds like a …

The guy directly in front of me at the concert was wearing a baseball cap from an area gun store that had been embellished in Sharpie marker with the cheery battle cry, “Let’s Go Shoot Some Diner [sic]!!!” I’m not sure if there was any irony lurking in that choice of headgear (since moving to the South, I’ve developed a …

The year is more than half over with the big push of fall releases to come. But before we get mired down in year-end lists, have you heard all the vital 2011 releases? Some worthy albums did not make our list (Decemberists, Nicolas Jaar, Tim Hecker, Julianna Barwick) but our list does include what the Spectrum Culture staff feels is …

The ornate ceilings and wall fixtures of The Great American Music Hall in San Francisco can make you wish you came dressed in your Sunday best even though it’s only a concert venue. All that fell away the night Chain Gang of 1974, Class Actress and Washed Out played. Two forgettable supporting bands and a transitioning (from sample based to …

Washed Out Within and Without Rating: 2.6/5.0 Label: Sub Pop Like most of the material Washed Out releases, Within and Without is mostly a body high; nothing even comes close to breaching what is confrontational or cerebral, lyrically, dynamically or otherwise. Ernest Greene continues the swagger of hip-hop-informed electronica while maintaining the infinite idealism of chillwave, and does it just …