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MP3: Frenemies – Having Sex

Frenemies is the nom-de-guerre of one Chris Freeland, sound wizard behind a vast number of your aural experiences in and from this town, regularly working sound at the Talking Head and engineering any number of albums from local artists.  But when he’s not behind the EQ, he makes some pretty fantastic music of his own.  Look no further than his days as drummer for Baltimore legends Oxes.

His Frenemies project has been a bit infrequent lately, rarely playing out and sporadically dropping nuggets of goodness like mana from heaven to a privileged few.  A week or so ago, Chris dropped the Spring-beckoning track “Having Sex” on me and I haven’t been able to turn it off since.

The fantastically playful melody starts things off, simply tapped out on a Casio.  Collaborator Steve Hefter drops some baritone, sleepy vocals to set the mood perfectly as the entire track coasts along at a steady, lackadaisical pace, gliding along like a gentle, smooth breeze on a lazy sunny day.  Your head is swiftly lost in a haze that perfectly mimics that blissful bit of post-coital haze.  A special treat arrives when you find the supporting female harmonics are actually Jenn Wasner’s, her lush voice turning out a Francophone version of the chorus a little over a minute into the affair.  The particularly inspired inclusion of horns-and-hand-claps really gives the track a great, classic lounge feel that conjures nostalgic images of the classic crooners while mixing with the synth melody, closing out the track with gently fading harmonic reprisals of the refrain.

You would do yourself a disservice to not have this song on your spring/summer soundtrack.

Welcome newest contributor, audio-visual wizard Guy Werner!  Guy will be providing us with video and audio from shows around town.  His first volley: clips from the Thank You/Mi Ami show at Floristree a few weeks ago.  Check after the jump for videos from Katherine Fahey’s The Birdwatcher’s Companion opening at the Metro Gallery, Jenn  and Andy of Wye Oak and Caleb Stine.

Clip from Mi Ami’s Set (click here for longer, higher-res)

Clip from Thank You’s Set (click here for longer, higher-res)

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