Seek Magic

Back when he was still the frontman of a shape-shifting Philly band called Hail Social, Dayve Hawk used to talk about how much he loved Boards of Canada and how he couldn’t help but build similar sepia-toned beats on the side. A couple of bedroom-borne aliases later (Memory Cassette, Weird Tapes), Hawk emerged from the ether with his first proper solo album, Memory Tapes’ Seek Magic. The universally acclaimed album has already gotten more attention than Hawk’s last group for a reason, and it’s got nothing to do with the blog-bred, New York Times-endorsed “glo-fi” genre he’s supposedly a kingpin of. If Memory Tapes has anything in common with his contemporaries Washed Out and Toro Y Moi, it’s the overwhelming sense of nostalgia in his synth-guided songs. Other than that, Hawk’s groove-locked tracks are the closest these kids have come to crafting actual club tunes, from the dewy dance loops and killer chorus-line climax of “Bicycle” to the slick sci-fi hooks of “Graphics” and “Stop Talking” — songs that can keep the party going for a good six or seven minutes at a time. It’s a party where Hawk’s gonna cry if he wants to, but it’s a party nonetheless...