The Coral Springs-based act MillionYoung has been hailed as South Florida's own bona fide entry into what is cringe-inducingly called "glo fi" or "chillwave." (The latter word actually started as a joke on the parodic blog Hipster Runoff.) In fact, impending blog hype looms. The one-man-band born Mike Diaz has had a track reviewed positively on Pitchfork, and his MySpace page already lists a manager and a publicist, as well as national tour dates as painfully hip as Brooklyn's experimental venue Glasslands.
All this, even though he has only begun to recently publicly perform in earnest. Chalk it up to the fact that his sound captures perfectly the sort of beach-nostalgic, gently psychedelic zeitgeist started by Animal Collective but distilled to its electronic essence by acts like Neon Indian and Washed Out. (Funnily enough, those other groups all come from distinctly beach-less locales).
Still, for Diaz's sake, it's best to consider his music on its own terms, rather than as part of a blog hype wave that was basically D.O.A. by the end of last year. MillionYoung tracks are less vocally driven than AnCo, but peppier than so-called downtempo, existing in a watery haze in between. It's the sound of far-away summer jams on a stereo as you fall asleep oceanside.
It's heavily sequenced, and heavily textured, requiring some attention to fully appreciate, but at the same time very little to just enjoy. Still, it's far more chilled-out than usual club fare, so it remains to be seen how, as a live act, MillionYoung will go down with a drunk crowd likely itching to dance to faster BPMs.
The latest MillionYoung EP, Be So True, is a "proper"-type release available physically as a cassette, or as a $4.95 digital download on iTunes. If you like to try before you buy, though, his descriptively named Sunndreamm EP is still generously offered for free. Click below to grab it.
Millionyoung. Doors open 10 p.m. Friday, February 5. The Vagabond, 30 NE 14th St., Miami. Admission is free before 11 p.m., $5 after. Age 21 and up; 305-379-0508; thevagabondmiami.com
