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The Video for Anthony Ruptak’s “PHANTASMAGORIA” is a Humorously Doomerist Reflection of the Current Dark Age

Anthony Ruptak, photo courtesy the artist

The video Anthony Ruptak and Cole Naylor made for the song “PHANTASMAGORIA” is a perfect companion to the song and Ruptak’s fantastic 2025 album Tourist. It intersperses vivid scenes from a nightmare with the nightmare of everyday life in the present tense. The song has a distorted quality reflecting its raw and ragged emotions bursting from the confusion and despair of a world that seems to require resisting the status quo in which everything is, as the song’s lyrics state, a mess of our own collective making. We get through wading through a “phantasmagorical haze” while Ruptak hangs on to the old school where maybe things were rough but made more sense and maybe you could eke out a living without seeming every moment of your life taking something from you and costing you more than it ever has. The end of the video has Ruptak being buried with his hand around his mobile phone out of the grave and then bursting out with a last hurrah type of resistance to the endless wave of static and challenges only to witness the mushroom cloud that ends human life as we know it because as a species we’ve definitely let things go down the wrong path. And yet it’s a song with spirit and ultimately uplifting because that’s the tone to strike when things seem the bleakest they’ve been in our lifetimes in the modern era even for people who are already under incredibly challenging and lethal circumstances. The song challenges us to dream and do better. Watch the video for “PHANTASMAGORIA” on YouTube and follow Anthony Ruptak at the links provided.

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Anthony Ruptak at Instagram

Dennis Hauck’s Impassioned Folk Americana Single “Natural Heart” is a Literary Examination of a Life Lived Guided by One’s Passions

Dennis Hauck’s new single “Natural Heart” is steeped in a classic folk Americana sound with expert and even spirited musical performances. But what truly makes the song stand out is Hauck’s vocal delivery of lyrics that explore the complexity of the human heart and how our natures can drive us to behave in ways that can feel unpredictable but really it reflects how we’ve been affected by our lives and what we believe about ourselves and how we understand our natures to be. And when you’re just living life with sensitivity and not a deep sense of self-awareness maybe you can only live your authentic life and seem unmindful of how you affect others. The song suggests more sense of self than the story conveys because as impassioned as the song is delivered it is with a sense of wry humor under the surface that points to having lived through some tumultuous patches across a lifetime that leave you with an sense of one’s limitations akin to hard earned wisdom. Listen to “Natural Heart” on YouTube and follow Dennis Hauck at the links below.

Dennis Hauck

Listen to Erik Hall’s Bold and Lively Interpretation of Steve Reich’s “Music For a Large Ensemble”

Erik Hall will release his new album Solo Three on January 23, 2026 via Western Vinyl. The composer and multi-instrumentalist interpreted pieces by Glenn Branca, Charlemagne Palestine, Laurie Spiegel and perhaps most ambitious of the group, “Music For a Large Ensemble” by Steve Reich. The composition originally written in 1978 for at least 23 performers finds its bright, lively spirit in dazzling sonic detail with its component parts supporting, augmenting and complementing each other in short and then longer lines back to those shorter and alterations in accent and volume to bring to the experience of listening an organic feel and one that stimulates the mind with the simple joy of its arrangements. Hall uses a divergent sound palette with synths, organs, pianos, guitar, bass (all performed, recorded and mixed by himself—impressive on its own) to lend a modern almost electronic music aesthetic to one of Reich’s classics. Listen to “Music For a Large Ensemble” on YouTube and follow Erik Hall at the links below.

Erik Hall on Twitter

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Erik Hall on Instagram

Silver Liz Creates a Cinematic Experience of Deep Affection in Dreampop Single “Through The Trees”

When “Through The Trees” begins it sounds as though you’re hearing strands of music from overlapping realities. But Silver Liz appears to write music with a deeply layered aesthetic with mixed styles intermingling in unpredictable ways. When the song gets off the ground it’s like an IDM song in terms of production and arrangement but the ethereal synths, melodiously atmospheric vocals and textural guitar work ground the song in human emotion and the feeling of deep affection for one’s beloved. The intertwining of electronic and organic elements is seamless and adds to a great sense of space and sonic depth throughout the song so that even at three minutes forty-five seconds it feels like a full cinematic experience with the changes in tone and emotional resonance. Listen to “Through The Trees” on Spotify and follow Silver Liz at the links provided. The duo’s new album III drops January 30, 2026 on limited edition colored vinyl, digital download and streaming.

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Silver Liz on Facebook

Silver Liz on Instagram

Silver Liz on Bandcamp

Trouble’s Braids Releases Live at Stone Cottage

Trouble’s Braids, photo courtesy the artists

Trouble’s Braids just released Live at Stone Cottage including intimate and lively versions of “Precipice” and “The Pines.” The former is a lighthearted song about living on the edge of mainstream society and striving to pursue one’s passions with integrity. The latter a more somber composition telling the story of being pulled between two types of live, one more safe and predictable and one more satisfying and liberated. The spare guitar work and vocal harmonies really draw the listener into the song’s heartfelt storytelling. Both songs come in the wake of the late June release of the Americana duo’s debut EP, The Big Tourist. The warmly rendered songs from the EP have an earnest energy mixed with a knack for creating mood that one doesn’t always associate with music associated with folk Americana. Trouble’s Braids consists of Oliver Franklin and Emily Pennington who got their starts in music in Seattle and Los Angeles respectively but now call Boulder home. The two new songs were recorded at Stone Cottage Studios in Boulder and highlight the project’s diverse musical instincts and style.

Listen to Live at Stone Cottage as well as The Big Tourist on Spotify and connect with Trouble’s Braids at the links below. Look for a new relelase in Spring 2026 with vinyl later in the year. See Trouble’s Braids live at Globe Hall with Jason Brandt & The Build Out, Tomato Soup and Grass Ceiling on Sunday, January 11, 2026.

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Trouble’s Braids on Instagram

Trouble’s Braids on Facebook

Trendsetter’s “Superhero” is Like a Downtempo IDM Journey to Mysterious and Intriguing Places

The dark tone at the onset of “Superhero” by Trendsetter (with collaborators Magnus Deus and Katty G) suggests long late nights driving the back alleys and byways like perhaps Batman would. The song has layers of saturated tone that feel like textures through which the yearning, melodic vocals come through like something out of a mid-to-late-90s downtempo song. But this piece of music sounds even more steeped in 2020s production. The percussion beats are in the vein of future garage/IDM but which drop drop out and echo lightly at times to give a subtle dub effect. But beyond picking apart the musical elements the song feels like a deep journey into mysterious places that stimulate the mind with the possibility of intrigue ahead. Listen to “Superhero” on Spotify and follow Trendsetter at the links below.

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Queen City Sounds Podcast S5E35: The Silver Snails

The Silver Snails, photo by Jasmine Ward

The Silver Snails has been percolating its new album Speed of Light for over a decade since the 2012 release of its debut album The Seven Melodies. The core of the group is husband-and-wife duo Lucas Ward and Elisa Fantini and fashions itself a “glam rock space pop family band.” Even a casual listen to the new album reveals great attention to songwriting detail, performance and production. It has a huge, uplifting, deeply melodic sound and in moments it may remind listeners of something Jeff Lynne and Trevor Horn had their hands in making. In fact, the group covers “Video Killed the Radio Star” by Horn’s New Wave band The Buggles (the video for the original song was the first to be broadcast on MTV) for Speed of Light including a music video made by the members of The Silver Snails. The couple’s three children Jasmine, Celeste and Elias also contribute to the project’s creative efforts including live performances. Long before The Silver Snails became a band Ward was a close friend of singer/songwriter Elliott Smith from whom Ward took some inspiration in his own musical endeavors as someone who writes and records his own songs with keen attention to craft and performance. The album is indeed like a glam rock affair but one that is just as informed by the playful, experimental and imaginative psychedelic rock of Flaming Lips with some sonic resonances with the more space rock end of ELO. Co-produced by Dylan Magierek, mixed by Peter Katis and Adam Selzer and mastered by Greg Calbi and Sterling Sound, its an album that sounds like something from a classic era of pop but with an immediacy that hooks you in with every song. Speed of Light was released on September 5, 2025 on streaming, digital download and CD.

Listen to our interview with Lucas Ward on Bandcamp and follow The Silver Snails at the links below.

thesilversnails.com

The Silver Snails on Facebook

The Silver Snails on Instagram

The Silver Snails on Bandcamp

“Sunshine” is Your Friend Nirantha’s Tender Dream Pop Song of Affection and Appreciation For a Loved One

Your Friend Nirantha, photo courtesy the artist

Your Friend Nirantha released the debut EP Desire Path on September 25, 2025 and the lead single “Sunshine” is a quiet and delicate epic. Minimal percussion keeps the pace as spare, ethereal guitar traces the background spaces of the song and lightly distorted bass provides the deeper mood and Nirantha Gopal’s voice sits in the foreground with of affection and appreciation. In the end with the child’s voice one might rightfully assume it’s sort of a creatively ambitious song for one’s child. Hearing bells and in the mix to add a touch of texture enhances the impression of this song coming out of more a desire to convey a feeling more than being influenced by a specific style of music. It’s not really dream pop or indiepop but fans of both will find something undeniably appealing here. Fans of Black Belt Eagle Scout circa Mother of My Children will hear some resonance with the way Katherine Paul crafts melodies with great emotional nuance. Listen to “Sunshine” on Bandcamp and follow Your Friend Nirantha at the links provided.

https://yourfriendnirantha.bandcamp.com/track/sunshine

yourfriendnirantha.com

Your Friend Nirantha on Instagram

Your Friend Nirantha on Apple Music

Bad Flamingo Leans Into Defying Conventional Morality on the Languid, Noir Folk Single “The Fruit”

Bad Flamingo, photo courtesy the artists

With “The Fruit” Bad Flamingo takes a more gentle tone from the dark edge of some of its other songwriting. Some tasteful slide guitar work and folk-inflected delicacy gives a new quality to the band’s tales of being from the wrong side of the tracks and leaning into sweet temptations. Bad Flamingo is expert at implying people in the throes of a romantic and sexual relationship or rare connection and passion. But this song is more like having the time to reflect on yet another facet of that relationship in a moment with the typical, and refreshing, lack of regret for transgressing conventional behavior and morality in pursuit and service to something real and vital. The title of the song and references to snakes cleverly allude to original sin while discarding such spurious notions and taking a thrill at defying god/mainstream society at the same time. In the video we see the be-masked members languishing about in what looks like a hotel room from the 1970s, an aesthetic suiting their vibe and the late night musings of the song. Watch the video for “The Fruit” on YouTube and follow Bad Flamingo at the links below.

badflamingomusic.com

Bad Flamingo on Facebook

Bad Flamingo on Instagram

CTZNSHP Returns With the Dark, Moody and Dissonant Post-Punk Song “Hawaii”

CTZNSHP recently released Lost Loves (A Collection Of Rarities), a compilation of early demos, practice space recordings, previous and more recent studio recordings. The Montreal-based post-punk band garnered attention a little over a decade ago for its commanding and spacious guitar and emotionally charged vocals with lyrics of uncommon psychological insight. The lead single “Hawaii” sounds more melancholic like a dark surf rock song Chris Isaak might sing. Its lightly distorted guitar lead threatens to break apart in any moment and the vocals similarly so in its urgency. And as the song progresses that initial impression splinters because it sounds more desparate and dissonant than anything you’d expect from Isaak and more like something in the vein of Preoccupations or Protomartyr and how both bands can dip into a fractured sensibility and then back into coherence reflecting the actual experience of having a moment of peak emotion. Listen to “Hawaii” on Bandcamp and follow CTZNSHP on Instagram.