Stereogum's 25 Great EPs of 2017

Nandi Rose Plunkett writes, records and performs under the name Half Waif. Her music is deeply personal and engaging, reflecting her lifelong endeavor to reconcile a sense of place. Rasied in the bucolic cultural hub of Williamstown, Massachusetts, Nandi was the daughter of an Indian refugee mother and an American father of Irish/Swiss descent. She was one of Williamstown’s only non-white residents. As a kid, she listened to a wide mix of music that included everything from Joni Mitchell and Tori Amos, to Celtic singer Loreena McKennitt and traditional Indian bhajans. In college, she studied classical singing and became enamored with the works of Olivier Messiaen and Claude Debussy. Her output as Half Waif reflects these varying influences, resulting in a richly layered collage of blinking electronic soundscapes, echoes of Celtic melodies and the sad chord changes of 19th-century art music. Next to her touring schedule as a member of Pinegrove, Half Waif has already self-released two EPs and two albums – a split 7" with Deerhoof, the Future Joys EP in 2013, and then albums KOTEKAN (produced by Devin Greenwood) in 2014, and Probable Depths (produced by Zubin Hensler) last May. It was with Probable Depths that Half Waif caught the attention of the worldwide music media, with NPR singling out track ‘Turn Me Around’ and Pitchfork awarding it their coveted Best New Track distinction. It was also during this time that Half Waif’s relationship with Cascine began. Half Waif’s latest work is newly complete. The form/a EP is a collection of tracks that expand on her exploration of home. She explains, “there’s an inherent restlessness in the way that I write and think about sound. I’m the daughter of a refugee, and somewhere in me is this innate story of searching for a home. As a result, I have many – a collection of places that I latch onto, that inspire me, that fuse themselves to me. I’m sentimental, nostalgic – yet constantly seeking what’s next, excavating the sound of my past and coloring it to make the sound of my future. I’m a child of divorce, fiercely loved but forced into independence at a young age; I rocket into relationships with the desire to find roots, commonality, to create stillness in the midst of public noise. In this way, my songs are like the notes of a large scavenger hunt, clues pinned to trees I have known, or tucked under rocks on my path, urging the listener to keep looking a little deeper, because maybe they will find something special in the end.” form/a is released as a limited-edition 12” February 24 on Half Waif’s new label home, Cascine. Art for the cover was shot by Adan Carlo and hand-stitched by Chilean artist, María Aparicio Puentes. Half Waif is comprised of Nandi Rose Plunkett, Zack Levine and Adan Carlo.

As a songwriter for mega-stars like Justin Bieber and Gwen Stefani, Julia Michaels crafts anthemic pop hits that balance confidence and vulnerability, playfulness and sincerity, joy and pain. On her debut EP, the Iowa native reveals she can hold her own on stage, too. A fiery package of self-assured tracks that show off her soaring soprano and sly sense of humor, it’s a lively mix of confessional love songs (“Issues”), brazen break-up ballads (“Just Do It”), and dance anthems that ring of Robyn and La Roux (“Pink”).

Give It To Me is a collection of songs made from a solitary place in one of the most social times in my life. I had a teacher tell me once that it's ok to be a watcher, that you don't have to feel bad when you don't know how to participate. Observation is important as well. Some of these songs are about that to me. They were recorded mostly live with great love and tenderness for myself and for you.

For the second installment of a planned series of three EPs, Nine Inch Nails mastermind Trent Reznor eases up a bit on the harsh, experimental noisescapes of initial volley *Not The Actual Events*. \"Less Than\" indulges Reznor\'s gifts for New Wave keyboard swells and danceable beats, while \"Not Anymore\" thrashes about with a near classic-rock swagger and a shout-along chorus. In contrast, \"This Isn\'t the Place\" and \"The Lovers\" are subdued, almost ambient ballads that display Reznor’s range and maturity by luxuriating in tangible sonic beauty.

In describing Palm to the uninitiated, it’s sometimes necessary to clarify the meaning of the group’s name by raising one’s hand in the universal symbol of greeting and goodwill. The act of corroborating the aural with the gestural occurs everywhere in their work. On their latest EP, "Shadow Expert," the syntax of popular music is regarded suspiciously and often subjected to revisions or reversals. Without formal training in their instruments, the players are left to determine their own musical language. Eve Alpert and Kasra Kurt’s guitars occupy themselves most often with the pace-keeping work typical of a rhythm section. Meanwhile, Gerasimos Livitsanos’ bass and Hugo Stanley’s drums seem to perform commentary and reportage from deeply embedded positions at the front. Their contributions remain necessary to the composition, generating the kind of friction that other motion can be charted against: the grinding of teeth, the turning of an engine. The record begins with the skittering appeals of one guitar to another, hard-panned left and right. They produce a groove, stop on a dime, and begin a series of nimble paces that might suggest the artful recovery from a skipped step. Here and elsewhere, the guitars confer and conspire with each other, finishing phrases and figuring it out. There is a faint delay to be heard in their communication, perhaps equivalent to that which exists between an object and its shadow, broken across several surfaces. On the vocal track, Alpert and Kurt trade the barbs and bristles of a familiar argument and share the blissful cries of discovery. The “How could I forgive that? / How could I forget that?” refrain of “Two Toes” recalls the capricious turns of the gut in moments of grievance and doubt. These sonic and thematic dissonances are sustained, rather than resolved. This music draws the thought as it bounces around the head, draws the conversation as it circulates the room. Its most important questions are never answered but always rephrased. On 2015’s "Trading Basics," Palm’s experiments were more alchemical, more preoccupied with the impossible. Much of that music was submerged in some viscous and delicious substance, which often seemed to burn and bubble over. Two years and several tours of the United States later, the group sounds more limber, more acclimated to the press of events. At seventeen minutes in duration, these six songs are efficiencies of form, cutting quickly and decisively among scenes of bodies, systems, and intrigue.

Having amassed an impressive back catalog of singles and EPs, Nashville-raised indie artist Sophie Allison reappraises her own hushed, lo-fi heartbreakers on this mini-album. Although beefed up by her live band, *Collection*’s greatest achievement is that it breaks free of the bedroom—take the swirling jangle of “Benadryl Dreams”—without sacrificing any of that beguilingly hazy intimacy. “Try” brings a skipping C86 groove, and “Death by Chocolate” is an irresistible hymn to doomy adolescent longing.

Comprising of reworked versions of some of her best Bandcamp releases, as well as a few new songs written, mixed and produced by Sophie herself, Collection is the perfect introduction to Soccer Mommy’s sound: quietly catchy, surprisingly confrontational, the kind of music that sneaks up on you and makes a permanent first impression.