Chillwave's dead, but there are still a few great artists who have come out of the musical movement, including Ariel Pink, Panda Bear, and Toro y Moi. Not to be outdone, Georgia's Washed Out (AKA Ernest Greene) manages to immerse listeners in complex soundscapes without resorting to cliché or heavy-handed tricks.
Greene's story is one that only the current internet-driven music industry could produce. An unemployed 26-year-old moves back in with his parents, then uploads a few tracks to MySpace that are quickly discovered by several influential music blogs. The rest, as they say, is history.
Greene, the "chillwave poster boy," really set himself apart from the lo-fi aesthetics of the genre by mixing it up with touches of disco and hip-hop. His first two EPs, Life of Leisure and High Times, received universal acclaim, leading to profiles in Pitchfork and the New York Times. Greene promised to release a proper full-length in 2010, but it didn't happen. Still, when Washed Out washes up on Miami shores, we expect some new material will be involved.
