simianthinker

AWON, BluntOne and ANTITHESIS Give Voice to a Skeptical Yet Tentative Hope for the Fulfillment of Creative Dreams on “Timing”

AWON, BluntOne and A N T I T H E S I S ” Timing” cover (cropped)

“Timing” is a collaboration between A N T I T H E S I S, a piano project by Georgii Speakman and Phil Lewis, BluntOne and rapper AWON. Speakman and Lewis have crafted for the song a spare piano line that starts simple and crescendos into more emphatic emotional spaces alongside a horn part that is melancholic, moody and accents the reflective tones and tempos throughout. It sounds like a perfect melding of downtempo hip-hop, modern classical music and jazz between its repeating figure acting like a sample in real time in the beat. AWON raps through the song a tale of wanting to live up to responsibilities to the people that make it possible for him to pursue his art with integrity and support and the fears born of uncertainty and the pressure to succeed being both exciting and threatening to undermine what can feel like an edifice when you’re hampered ever so slightly by a touch of impostor’s syndrome. But amid that wave of doubt, at the beginning of the song, we hear that burgeoning trust in self that will hopefully carry the day when you know you’re on the right path and the creative work you’re doing is solid and not you and your friends simply pumping each other up as friends and collaborators do in faking until you make it. You hear the hints of someone who has been down that path and now doesn’t trust it and instead feels tentative as a defense against wishful thinking and the way that can compromise your work. Listen to “Timing” on Spotify, connect with A N T I T H E S I S at the links below and keep a look out for the project’s new album A N T I T H E S I S Vol. 1, Pt. 3.

https://open.spotify.com/artist/1sbuH2QadilkAzCOOrjHuf
https://soundcloud.com/project-antithesis

The Dusky, Incandescent Tones of “Days on You” by Joe James Lewis Takes us Into the Deep Waters of Romantic Doubt

Joe James Lewis, photo courtesy the artist

Joe James Lewis says that “Days on You” is a “song for the age of indoors.” The title track of his new EP finds Lewis using what sounds like Fender-Rhodes to cast the tone of the song in a dreamlike haze matched with a downtempo beat and a soulful hush in his vocal inflections. If one could have a jazz lounge chillout room in your ground floor apartment in a coastal town and perform during one of those late nights when the rain has been going on steadily on and off for hours that would be an analog to the vibe of the song. Lewis contemplates a period of doubt in a relationship where he examines aspects of the interpersonal dynamic and if the excitement and passion is worth the challenges and in the end he makes no absolute decisions, there’s no television show ending platitudes and that makes the songwriting emotionally and creatively brave because often people want to hear a song that tells them it’s all going to be okay but we all know life is rarely like that even if it would be nice once in awhile. That choice, coupled with the song’s lush soundscapes also rewards repeated listens through the song’s duskily incandescent tones. Check it out for yourself on Soundcloud and follow Lewis on Bandcamp linked below.

https://joejameslewis.bandcamp.com/releases

The Sweeping Momentum of “Far Behind” by Sub Cultures is Like a Hurried Yet Wistful Goodbye From Life in a Dead End Town

Sub Cultures “Far Behind” cover (cropped)

You can hear the echoes of the breezy, emotive melodies of the likes of Sarah Records bands or Veronica Falls and Beach Fossils in “Far Behind” by Sub Cultures. The simple yet intricate guitar lead transitions seamlessly into impressionistic rhythmic passages and back again. The captivating vocals evoke a sense of renewed hope in the wake of feeling like you might be trapped by life circumstances for the rest of your life like many of us seem to if not prodded by friends or family or events beyond our control. There is a touch of regret in the song even though it has great forward momentum like you’re taking a quick glance back at a life that felt like the whole world as you’re about to exit it for something better or at least different. Listen to “Far Behind” on Soundcloud and connect with the UK-based band on Spotify below as well.

Wild Manes Combines Spare Elements to Craft a Deep Listening Experience With Indie Pop Song “Cicadas”

“Cicadas” by Wild Manes is a great example of a song that combines several spare elements to create a deep listening experience. The interlocking guitar melodies are both soothing and gritty as befits the moment in the song. The vocal harmonies are tight and melodious yet flowing with a gentle energy that helps carry the momentum of the song alongside an equally fluid, tuneful bass line that doesn’t serve merely to accent the rhythm as is often the case in a lot of modern indie music. The percussion is minimal but it sets a mood of its own, one of anticipation that resolves in the choruses and by the song’s end. One imagines the entire song conceived of and written for all the parts to complement each other so that even a song that doesn’t bowl you over with volume or melodramatic dynamics can strike you as so vivid and compelling. There are no cheap tropes, no empty sonic calories, not heavy handed sentiments or musical flourishes, it’s simply a song that you can get something new out of with every listen which is rare in pop music at any time. Listen to “Cicadas” on Spotify and connect with New York’s Wild Manes at the links below.

https://open.spotify.com/artist/19keP25yDsn0Y6WpOvmxaB
https://www.reverbnation.com/wildmanes
https://soundcloud.com/wildmanes
https://www.youtube.com/channel/UC3jcJoOdCg7DkXPCqsgh9EQ
https://wildmanes.bandcamp.com
https://www.facebook.com/WildManesmusic
https://www.instagram.com/wildmanesmusic

Alex Mali Dismisses the Trifling Fools in Her Life With Swagger and Style on “Problem”

The glossy lips and gold grill that you see in the beginning of the music video for “Problem” by Alex Mali (directed by the artist and OMNI) is more than symbolic of someone finally having to listen after so not doing so for entirely too long. Mali sings with a bold but cool swagger outlining the ways in which she had been taken for granted with her needs dismissed as insignificant. But now that the offender is in a time of need the chorus of “Sound like a you problem, cuz it ain’t my problem” is delivered with a touch of amusement—the kind you get when someone who has been so neglectful, abusive and unmindful of you has the gall to approach you like you owe them a favor or anything at all. When Mali manages to make the rhyme and rhythm work on the line “All the time I gave you was unrecognized, now all you want do is reconcile” it’s a marvel of creative vocals and speaks directly to the remembered pain while giving nothing to the person undeserving of consideration. The beat is trap but Mali makes use of a deeply evocative palette of sounds that goes beyond the tropes of style. It feels dark, lush and fluid and fans of Kari Faux and R A R E B Y R D $ will appreciate the attitude and the chill yet intense vibe of the track. Watch the video for “Problem” on YouTube, connect with Alex Mali at the links provided and look out for her new EP Phenom due out late Spring 2020.

https://open.spotify.com/artist/77SLhlrrJKzclwLB9bnRJZ
https://itunes.apple.com/us/artist/alex-mali/1123463077
https://soundcloud.com/alex-mali
https://twitter.com/MAINLYMALI
https://www.instagram.com/mainlymali

Alex Nauva’s Hybrid Synthwave/Chillwave “Vivid” is a Psychic Palate Cleanser

The stream of distorted white noise give Alex Nauva’s “Vivid” the feeling of flying through the air in a dream. The phasing on the main melody line and pulsing rhythm under the soaring higher tone second melody is reminiscent of something you might have heard on an early 80s Gary Numan album. But the composition has breezy, bright quality that feels like a modern re-imagining of the early, experimental syth pop. Nauva is the frontman of Swiss post-punk band OGMH but on “Vivid” there are no vocals, rather layers of contrasting textures and emotional shifts that are both introspective and uplifting. Like listening to the song will cleanse your psyche ever so slightly and in the current period of amplified angst and turmoil we all need a bit of that. Listen to “Vivid” on Soundcloud, connect with Nauva at the links provided and take a listen to his new EP Yume from which this track hails.

open.spotify.com/artist/0sSNWTcImp5SbbdAVxn1WR
soundcloud.com/alexnauva
youtube.com/channel/UCXtJ-IRZsKXPCCq5QAblOXA
alexnauva.bandcamp.com

“Creep For Life” by The Great Dictators Mirrors the Warped Dynamic of a Dysfunctional Family and Renders it Escapable

The Great Dictators, photo courtesy the artists

“Creep For Life,” the final single from The Great Dictators’ new album One Eye Opener (released April 17, 2020 on Celebration Records) sounds like a warping collage of melodies and textures held together, oddly, by the vocals telling the story of a dysfunctional family, the deviously passive aggressive kind in which that dynamic rolls back and forth with everyone on the lookout and never really knowing where they stand with anyone. The kind of family dynamic of mutual abuse that goes unexamined and undiscussed for years because to admit to not being able to “deal” with it is to admit one’s shortcomings, leaving oneself vulnerable to becoming the family scapegoat that everyone else can pile on even when they’re fairly shitty to each other if the occasion presents itself. The song’s soundscapes is like the emotional feedback loop that one can ride out of the situation and it’s reminiscent of a more pop version of My Bloody Valentine’s “Loomer” from Loveless. Though, according to the band, the song is a bit of a tribute to the imaginative soundscapes of Icelandic composer Jóhann Jóhannson who passed away in 2018. The imagery that includes the line “This party is the worst party ever” is so poignant because it captures those awkward family gatherings, name the occasion, in which people seem to competitively snipe at each other. Fortunately, in being able to identify all of these shenanigans the song offers an exit which is often taking yourself out of the situation as often as possible because that kind of neuroses is only perpetuated when people participate without having any distance from that being the twisted norm and even if, when you make that move, you’re dubbed a terrible person by those choosing to be snared by that endless cycle of co-dependent abuse. Listen to “Creep For Life” on Soundcloud and connect with The Great Dictators at the links provided.

soundcloud.com/the-great-dictators
open.spotify.com/artist/5lLz1TtyX6e2LlUdbbAsJH
youtube.com/user/TheGreatDictators/videos
twitter.com/great_dictators
facebook.com/thegreatdictators
instagram.com/thegreatdictators

Kamil Kula and Wiesław Miernik Miernik Team Up For Hypnotic Tribal Industrial Sutra Track “Pieśń Wielkiej Pieczęci”

Kamil Kukla and Wiesław Miernik teamed up for a unique amalgam of their creative work with “Pieśń Wielkiej Pieczęci.” Wiesław Miernik is an outsider music representative from Suchedniow in Poland and he wrote words to Kukla’s song “Kto Umarl” from his latest album Gehenna. Though the song is in Polish and about Buddhism it is the mix of almost chanted poetry and tribal-industrial music that conveys a meaning that transcends specific context. The organic percussion and electronic beats with Miernik seeming to utter a kind of sutra brings together ancient ideas and contexts with modern avant-garde music in a way that few other artists synthesize so well. Maybe Einstürzende Neubauten and SWANS and other artists whose sonic palette embraces sounds outside strict genres and timeframes and even invents a few to create the proper emotional resonance. Listen to “Pieśń Wielkiej Pieczęci” on Soundcloud and connect with Kamil Kula at the links provided.

soundcloud.com/kamilqkla
kamilkukla.bandcamp.com
facebook.com/KAMIL-KUKLA-XOo0o-111315547131616
instagram.com/kamilkonradkukla

TV FACE Punctures the Pomposity of Boastful Fools on “Yarns”

We all know at least one person who talks big and has a story about everything that’s grander than anything you can speak to with any integrity. The president of the United States of America is one of these people for whom everything is the non-plus ultra of whatever subject is at hand. But in the end these stories don’t stand up to scrutiny and when they unravel the whole edifice of making the teller out to be some kind of hero or person of great accomplishment crumbles. TV FACE’s song “Yarns” spins such a tale in words and the language of wiry, layered discordant riffs and amplified energy. In moments it’s reminiscent of one of Lee Ranaldo’s more punk songs for Sonic Youth with its wide-ranging and sprawling dynamic that somehow welds to that stretched out composition an enthusiastic intensity. With the line “Just like the yarns you’ve come undone, you look washed out” the band encapsulates the end result of making oneself and one’s life more interesting than is the truth. Why not tell stories of your life that you can live up to instead of getting lost in a web of what you think to be beautiful truths when someone somewhere is going to know you’re exaggerating if not outright lying? Listen to “Yarns” on Soundcloud, follow UK-based post-punk band TV FACE at the links below and give a listen to the group’s new EP Like Dominoes which released April 24, 2020 on Bandcamp.

open.spotify.com/artist/2guRUrsON9OcOAx27AHe82
youtube.com/watch?v=wgi1FRV3-zg&feature=youtu.be
tvface.bandcamp.com
twitter.com/tvfaceband
facebook.com/tvfaceband
instagram.com/tvfaceband

dpe0’s Haunting and Affecting “Devotion” is the Soundtrack to a Perilous Existential Journey

There was a time in the 2000s and early 2010s when horror movies and thrillers had truly enigmatic soundtracks and deeply evocative sound design that was as much a part of the cinematic experience as the visual elements. Oftentimes that side of the movie was more compelling than what was on the screen or just edged it into the haunting and affecting. “Devotion” by dpe0 comes from that lineage whether formally or otherwise and it sounds like it was written after a marathon of listening to old Hearts of Space broadcasts alongside watching the entire works of Andrei Tarkovsky and Bela Tarr. It is spare and simple in its composition but its low volume puts your listening focus in the distance as it evolves slowly with hazy, melodic drones that echo through a cycle that never quite resolves and because of that it holds your attention with a vague sense of anticipation like something mysterious and transformative is on the horizon. It brings to mind when the “Stalker” character from the Tarkovsky movie of the same name leads “The Writer” and “The Professor” into the “Zone” and towards the “Room” where it is said the wishes of those who step inside are granted. Listen to “Devotion” on Spotify.