simianthinker

Atroxity’s “Children of Voodoo (ambient version)” is the Soundtrack to Future Urban Decay

The ambient version of Atroxity’s “Children of Voodoo” uses drones, floaty dynamics and tonal washes to set a dark and enticingly enigmatic mood. It is reminiscent of “Tal Coat” by Brian Eno from his 1982 album Ambient 4 (On Land). It and this composition evoke a sense of place albeit one you’ve never visited and its pervasive tranquil mood drifts into your consciousness. Whereas “Tal Coat” has no vocals, in “Children of Voodoo” we hear the voices like conversations whispering abstractly from an unknown distance in the night. At times some of the voices sound cybernetic like an automated attendant for a mass transit station or vending machine. The song makes you feel like you’ve entered a neglected part of a town where the vegetation has reclaimed parts of the landscape and streetlight illumination is patterned by the shadows of foliage. It is the sound of a future where technology has lost some of its campaign of conquest over all things or simply become a part of the ecosystem in ways we have yet to predict. Listen to “Children of Voodoo” on Soundcloud, connect with Atroxity at the links provided and look out for Atroxity’s new album Outdated And Unpatched due for release November 2020.

open.spotify.com/artist/5WMiD3emycGsMIXC3kW9Vy
youtube.com/channel/UC9JQRHPMD17U39r12rZnNCQ
atroxity.bandcamp.com
facebook.com/Atroxity
instagram.com/atroxity

Dax Dives Into the Psychological Anguish of Prolonged Self-Neglect on “I Can’t Breathe”

Dax roams about his living space prowling with a tortured conscience in the video for “I Can’t Breathe.” A lightly flangered guitar figure, like a sample out of a song by The Cure, runs in the background giving the song a dreamlike quality but Dax’s commanding vocals keeps you centered on the psychological agony at the heart of the song. He articulates with emotionally gritty poetry the struggle of someone who had to grind hard to get to where he thought he wanted to be in a place he thought he wanted to be, in this case Los Angeles, only to have achieved so much but at the cost of things you had before any level of professional success that you took for granted and the self-neglect and the lack of self-maintenance it took to climb to what it was you assumed embodied your deepest aspirations. The image in the video of Dax writing in a notebook in blood, soaking the pages is the perfect symbol for that process. As a creative person or any kind of professional you accept sacrifices and lay so much of yourself out there and often at the end of the day you have nothing left for yourself and long term it leaves you feeling empty and desperate even if you are to the outside world a success. That hollowing out to the very strands of your psyche is how we lose a lot of people in the world even when we think they should probably be happy or satisfied with their lives. But it is that inner life that you dip into reaching for ambitious goals thinking its an endless well when it simply isn’t. Dax beautifully and evocatively expresses that terrible headspace throughout the song. And in doing so casts it into a shape with which one might actually get a handle and find a way out of it. Watch the video for “I Can’t Breathe” on YouTube and connect with Dax at the links below.

open.spotify.com/artist/5icKdCmMhNMYoAzVBAWt39
soundcloud.com/thatsdax
youtube.com/channel/UCvvVOIyaYu2l4jiH9L8_eRw
instagram.com/thatsdax

The Kraken Quartet and Adobo Stimulate Multiple Parts of Your Brain on the Intricate Art Pop Tapestry of “Backdrop”

The Kraken Quartet with Adobo, photo courtesy the artists

The Kraken Quartet worked with singer Adobo (Nay Wilkins of Hikes) on its single “Backdrop” bringing together intricate instrumental interplay with a deeply emotional, ethereal quality. The effect is like having multiple parts of your brain stimulated and transported to a better place. The vibraphone introduction leads you to think maybe you’re in for a more ambient work but it is just another layer of evocative sound as math-y guitar work brings in a wide-ranging dynamic that weaves together with the percussion perfectly. When Adobo’s winsome and reflective vocals come in the sound of gentle marimba joins in to create a rich tapestry of sounds. Fans of the more recent Rubblebucket recorrds will appreciate this maximalist approach to the composition that focuses on the emotional content rather than a display of technique as the latter speaks for itself if you want to dissect the song’s individual parts. But this song works as a whole experience with all parts seeming to contribute equally to the unfolding dramatic sweep of the song. Though clearly not stylistically beholden to classic 90s indie pop bands like Neutral Milk Hotel, Olivia Tremor Control and the Apples in Stereo nor more modern dream pop bands with similar instincts like the aforementioned Rubblebucket and Sound of Ceres, there is something about that creative ambition, attention to detail and imaginative execution that resonates with “Backdrop” as well. Listen to the song on Spotify and connect with The Kraken Quartet at the links below.

soundcloud.com/thekrakenquartet
youtube.com/watch?v=s555R_6CCA8&feature=youtu.be
thekrakenquartet.bandcamp.com

“Vertical Migration” by Mobile Steve and the Grand Slams Evokes the Dark Tranquility of a Deep Sea Realm Lit by Bioluminescence and the Faint Hint of a Distant Sun

Mobile Steve and the Grand Slams, image courtesy the artist

Mobile Steve and the Grand Slams were trying to evoke the deep sea on “Vertical Migration.” The slowly ascending drones, the sparkling melodic, crystalline tones certainly capture a tactile as well as emotional quality in a depth of sonic field that suggests slow, flowing dynamics broken periodically by unexpected flashes of activity and the way light often seems to travel in strands into the depths. The song is also reminiscent of 1980s Italian synthwave soundtracks and the way those composers often unabashedly used distorted synth lines and the creation of mood in a way itself cinematic. “Vertical Migration,” though, envelops you in its drifting, whorling rhythms in a way more abstract with no concessions to conventional genre songwriting. Because of that you can imagine yourself in a world lit mostly by forms of bioluminescence and hints of the distant sun. Listen to “Vertical Migration” on YouTube.

Wizard Death Teams Up With Easy Sleeper For the Ambient Post-Rock Chiller Track “we watched the sunset (through the window to the studio)”

Wizard Death/Easy Sleeper, photo courtesy the artists

Wizard Death is lo-fi, ambient hip-hop project of Alex Lubeck who featured his indie rock band Easy Sleeper on the song with the Boards of Canada-esque title “we watched the sunset (through the window to the studio).” The downtempo pace of the song allows its tones to ring out warmly as a simple synth arpeggio traces its own pace like like it’s accenting the overall rhythm. The guitar and bass give the otherwise ethereal song a textural grounding that works to not just create a great, languid and soothing mood but a depth of sound that is impossible to pigeonhole to a specific genre of music. It could be an ambient track, it could be a super chill hip-hop beat that would work well for a song that starts off with casual observations that follows those thoughts into deeper places. Either way, the relatively short song is evocative in its deceptive simplicity giving it repeated listenability on its own terms. Listen to the song on Spotify and connect with Wizard Death at the links provided.

open.spotify.com/artist/3jPBisnT8ejZfvxVBmfjaY

soundcloud.com/lilwzrddth

facebook.com/wizarddeathmusic

instagram.com/wizard_death

John McCabe Sets the Bar of Hope in Anticipation of Life’s Coming Storm at a Realistic Level on “Here Comes the Rain”

John McCabe’s gift for the melancholic, observational ballad remains strong on his first single of 2020, “Here Comes The Rain.” The percussion on the song really helps set the mood with its expressive dynamics that accent the melody in which McCabe seems to come to terms with how life can seem perverse in its ups and downs and in the predictability of how things get better in some way eventually even when you can see the periods of struggle coming down the like. The chorus of “Here comes the rain again, I surrender / the clouds keep rolling by and I know things are going to get better” is Zen-like in its use of imagery as life circumstances and expressing a realistic hope because you’ve been through struggles, setbacks and even disasters before and even when they transform your life in significant ways you do get a reprieve regularly from the worst of it eventually. Fans of R.E.M., Green On Red and Uncle Tupelo will appreciate the way the jangle-y guitar work captures that journey from personal darkness to triumph over it with a hint of world weariness to give the song a little grit. Listen to “Here Comes the Rain” on Soundcloud and follow John McCabe at the links below.

https://open.spotify.com/artist/2Bg3CG3jKSw7QdcKkFN46w?si=4hPEF5HqSZaZ1redx2iFtQ

johnmccabemusic.com

soundcloud.com/john-mccabe

Morningless Brings Some of the Magic of Dreams to the Waking World on “Sand”

The soft dynamics and introspective yet vivid melodies of “Sand” by Morningless is reminiscent of XTC. The cadence of the vocal dynamics and the way it sits within a swirl and sparkle of fine layers of guitar, keyboards and percussion that seem to flow and weave together as distinct streams of sound. One imagines a walk through a forest in a dream encountering the usual surreal yet familiar settings, situations and people. In short passages of fiery, distorted guitar one hears the perils of a nightmare having burst in upon the tranquil meetings with the avatar of dream, the Sandman himself, but as the dream turns a corner on that fleeting cosmic narrative of significance that is the lucid dream the nightmares pass on. In the song our narrator discovers a place where the weight of social expectation is lifted and he can “Be myself for once in my life” and that we all can in the realm of dreams and knowing that it’s not such a huge leap to bring that state of mind to the waking world, enriching it with a bit of that nourishing sand of the dreamtime. Listen to “Sand” on Spotify.

Aeneas Synthesizes Industrial Rock and Experimental Darkwave Dance Music on “Existential Crisis”

Aeneas_ExistentialCrisis1_crop — Aeneas, “Existential Crisis” cover, image courtesy the artist

Aeneas’ “Existential Crisis” creeps up on you like the experience of the title often does. A background drone blossoms into a melodramatic soundscape punctuated by moments of emotional oasis from an intense wave of peak feeling. The processed, warped vocal sample comes in like a reminder of your failings while the processed vocals, like your conscious mind, tries to maintain some semblance of your humanity while drums pound out a dynamic rhythm and a simple guitar rhythm traces the through line that is your life line through the trauma as a glimmer of the familiar and steady. Fans of Poppy and Vowws will appreciate the genre bending and synthesis of industrial rock and experimental darkwave dance music. Listen to “Existential Crisis” on YouTube and connect with Aeneas at the links provided.

open.spotify.com/artist/6pzljfM8LxaukPobYyK5Vi
soundcloud.com/aeneasmusic
instagram.com/aeneas_music

Moudy Afifi Invokes Ancient and Modern Rhythms on His Techno Track “Sahara”

MoudyAfifi_Sahara2_crop — Moudy Afifi “Sahara” cover

Egyptian artist Moudy Afifi gives us some flavor of his homeland on the techno track “Sahara” (out on Disclosed Records). The shuffling percussion and steady beat puts you in the state of mind of passing over a desert landscape and dunes in a jeep with wind flowing through your hair. The melodic bass line follows a traditional, pan-Arabic scale complemented by string synths that bring to the song a sense of exotic mystery. Almost as though the song evokes the journey of Alexander the Great to the Siwa Oasis to consult with the oracle of Ammon following a flock of birds. “Sahara” invokes both the ancient and traditional and modern techno dance music in a nearly hypnotic rhythm that may get you moving in ways that feel right if not consciously familiar. Listen to “Sahara” on Spotify and connect with Afifi at the links below.

disclosedrecords.net/moudyafifi
soundcloud.com/moudyafifi
twitter.com/MoudyAfifi
facebook.com/moudyafifi
instagram.com/moudyafifi

Debris Discs’ Sweetly Nostalgic “We Never Die” is Like a Latter Day Roller Skating Rink Anthem

DebrisDiscs_WeNeverDie2_sm — Debris Discs, photo courtesy the artist

Former Coves & Caves and My Side of the Mountain frontman and songwriter James Eary has a new project called Debris Discs. The lead single from the forthcoming full length album “We Never Die” sounds like a nostalgic roller skating rink anthem that never was. It combines soaring background melodies with bright, distorted synth figures and Eary’s commanding yet introspective vocals. The dynamics of the song are as transporting as the tone with the three aforementioned elements working to elevate the mood in different but complimentary ways. The vocals keep you in the moment while one synth line bathes you with luminous sonic energy and the other sweeps you along in its irresistible emotional momentum. Listen to “We Never Die” on Soundcloud and connect with Debris Discs at links provided.

soundcloud.com/debrisdiscs
twitter.com/DebrisDiscs