simianthinker

“Undone” is Ryan K. Bishop’s Beautiful But Anguished Cleansing of the Memories of a Relationship Too Intense to Bear or Forget

RyanKBishop_lg — Ryan K. Bishop, photo courtesy the artist

The Fahey-esque opening chords of Ryan K. Bishop’s “Undone” just about sets you up for the leftward turn of the lyrics into a love lost and the ghosts of cherished memories. The world-weary pace is like the reeling emotions of the dissolution of a strong bond that might be a little too intense to bear at times yet too devastating to lose. As folk-y guitar is joined by electronic beats a third of the way through the song the pain in Bishop’s voice, so sincere and powerful throughout, is given a new context of sound as the vivid imagery and sense of being ground under by one’s own clinging to what is no more float in ethereal electronic tones that brighten and fade out washing away just enough of the mired emotions to begin to be free of their anchoring you to the past.

Mirror Trash Transforms Angst Into Triumphant Pop Melodies On “Blank”

MirrorTrash1_lg — Mirror Trash, image courtesy the artist

Mirror Trash’s “Blank” is a regretful and conflicted song about some kind of relationship that has fragmented into the past tense. It brims with anger and betrayal tempered with some self-reflection. Musically, though, it’s upbeat, even energetic, like those hurt feelings have been channeled into something more productive. The recording is lo-fi which may not be for everyone but in the fact of that, it has a rawness that suits the song perfectly and the indie pop/post-punk style of the songwriting is reminiscent of early Beach Fossils in how the riffing borders on jangle-y and surf-y but is just really detailed arpeggiated lines and reverb that work well at getting out nervous energy. The song is from the 2019 Reform EP and you can listen to “Blank” below and delve further into the Mirror Trash catalog and goings on at the links following.

open.spotify.com/artist/52im9jGpJOOPubaHGb6D9u
youtube.com/channel/UCRD7-mexy4Z2MTWKzgs8Uew
mirrortrash.bandcamp.com
twitter.com/MIRRORTRASHBAND
facebook.com/MIRRORTRASH
instagram.com/mirrortrashband

Port Lucian’s Command of Tonal Flow and Mood on “Lucid Dreaming” is Breathtaking

PortLucian1_lg — Port Lucian, photo courtesy the artist

The creamy roil of melody, the drawn out guitar strum shimmer, ghostly harmonic synth drone and warm but distant vocals—all of that sets Port Lucian’s “Lucid Dreaming II” apart from most lo-fi bedroom shoegazers. The way Portia Maidment arranges the layers to mutually enhance while drawing you into the experience evoked by the song is remarkable. It’s tempting to compare her music to that of the likes of Flying Saucer Attack, Grouper, Midwife and Mojave 3 because of the expert use of space and dynamics with an intuitive knack for natural rhythms suggested by the flow of sounds. That and the use of guitar as both a textural and almost purely tonal instrument like another synth. Listen on Spotify and follow Port Lucian at the links below.

youtube.com/channel/UCg5UkmvWYsnj7U9JilYKiww
twitter.com/portlucian
facebook.com/portlucian
instagram.com/portlucian

Equateur Evokes Tranquil Summer Evenings In The Song and Video “Pelican”

Equateur2_sm — Equateur, photo courtesy the artist

The finely accented acoustic guitar at the beginning of “Pelican” by Equateur suggests a tropical flavor to the song already. And the video for the song supports this impression taking place in a jungle of plants and animals cast in origami configurations although an animation short. The protagonist travels through desert and mountains to reach this land of jungle and a waterfall cave reflecting the rainbow hues around it. The song is perfect blend of an especially lush, French style synth pop and elements of flamenco and arriving in time for relaxing summer evenings or whatever passes for summer these days where you live. Watch the video below and follow Equateur’s colorfully luminous synth pop at the links provided.

equateurofficial.com
soundcloud.com/equateur
youtu.be/myzMZ05p80o
facebook.com/EquateurOfficial
instagram.com/equateurofficial

Instupendo’s “Pinch” is the Sound of Endless Possibilities With Ample Leisure Time in a More Nurturing Future Society

Instupendo1_crop — Instupendo, photo courtesy the artist

“Pinch” operates on a wide aural field with atmospheres stretching to the horizon as melodies and percussion emerge and fade or travel away in dopplering resonance, the sounds of strings ping-ponging in rapid succession like a record player stylus bouncing along grooves. Instupendo is no stranger to this style of composition that uses textures, percussion, processed tones and layers of atmosphere and simple melodies to craft a a sophisticated beat that establishes an distinct emotional space. On “Pinch” it’s one where you feel like you’ve traveled ahead to a future where no one works more than a few hours a week but everything gets taken care of and you’ve just put in your time and you have ample time to just ponder what you’d like to do with the days ahead with the sense of freedom you have without the Sword of Damocles of our currently dystopian world system and its demands hanging over you. Listen below and follow Instupendo’s other journeys into chill downtempo at the links provided.

instupendo.com
soundcloud.com/instupendo
open.spotify.com/artist/3ctnkEZGtVBTxS7IMin8nC
youtube.com/instupendo
twitter.com/instupendo
facebook.com/instupendo

The Hazy Psychedelic Drift of Miynt’s “Peaches” Will Coax You Into Daydreamy Reverie

MIYNT_Linn Koch-Emmery_sm — Miynt, photo by Linn Koch-Emmery

The hazy layers of melody on Miynt’s new single “Peaches” suggests the soft lighting of a dream sequence. The breathy vocals swimming in distorted synth washes, arpeggiated bell tones, warp-y/melt-y strings and anchored by soft percussion and bass accents has the hallmarks of a kinship with 70s independent cinema with its own internal logic that draws you in to accepting its unusual dynamics as they are and going along for the ride. It also has the sound of the kind of song that would fit on a Sophia Coppola soundtrack where idiosyncratic, moodily atmospheric music always seems welcome. But this would be for a film Coppola might make about a Drop City-esque art collective in the 1990s. Hypnotic and alluring, “Peaches” will take you out of your everyday mundane zone. Listen on Soundcloud and follow Miynt’s further explorations of inner space at the links below.

https://miynt.lnk.to/StayOnYourMind
facebook.com/miynt
https://instagram.com/itsmiynt

Three Years on From Its Initial Release “Detroit” by Pink Milk Renders the Mysterious and Intimate Into the Massive and Epic

PinkMilk3_sm — Pink Milk, photo courtesy the artists

Originally released in 2016 the “Detroit” single by Swedish rock band Pink Milk has a kind of lo-fi quality but with the sonic architecture of something recorded live in a room capable of offering massive natural reverb like a place used for refitting ships or The TANK Center for Sonic Arts in Rangely, Colorado. At times this quality blurs the tonal lines a bit but that contributes to a sense of the song being difficult to place in a time or context. Its guitar work is sort of surf-psych, it’s atmospherics like 80s dream pop and its mist cloaked melody and echoing vocals like something out of the non-existent post-punk wing of the Siltbreeze roster and that mysterious yet intimate aesthetic that seemed part of all the artists on the imprint. Listen below and follow the band at the links provided.

FYI: For those in the area, you can catch Pink Milk at the Reeperbahn Festival in Hamburg which runs September 18-21, 2019 with exact date(s) and time(s) announced closer to the event.

pinkmilkmusic.com
soundcloud.com/pinkmilktheband
open.spotify.com/artist/6pfkVhn2nBIYUEu9nKHdLV
youtube.com/pinkmilk
twitter.com/pm_theband
facebook.com/pinkmilkmusic
instagram.com/pinkmilkmusic

The Video For “Empty” By Denis First & Reznikov Is a Synthwave Urban Science Fiction Buddy Action Hero Epic In Miniature

DenisFirst_Reznikov_KamilKwiatkowski_sm — Denis First & Reznikov, photo by Kamil Kwiatkowski

For the video of their collaborative song “Empty,” Denis First & Reznikov approved some footage that suggests the banger aesthetic in the form of some action duo road trip video game. Like a demo for some futuristic urban noir mash-up of Duke Nuke ‘Em 3D and The Venture Bros.. The song sounds like it could be for the intro of such a show but without all the pesky telling the story of the show in the lyrics. The beat is urgent and progressive yet gritty like a more pop version of Perturbator or Kavinsky. But this is more clearly a dance song with builds that drop off into space rather than with bass wobble. It’s pulsing melody under gently auto-tuned vocals and contemplative passages gives the song a dynamic quality that would seem to work on the smaller stage or amphitheaters. Watch below and follow the artists at their respective links provided.

https://facebook.com/iamdenisfirst
https://soundcloud.com/denisfirstmusic
https://twitter.com/denisfirst
https://instagram.com/denisfirst

https://instagram.com/vladlenreznikov

Zaydo Takes Us On a Journey of Reaching Creative Focus on “Back In The Mix”

Zaydo1_crop — Zaydo, photo courtesy the artist

Gradients of tone and texture swirl in at the beginning of Zaydo’s “Back In The Mix” as though brought in with the breeze. Warping melodies flutter, bubble up and come in and out of focus as his flow of words anchor the ethereal beat and ghostly backing vocals in a story of grinding in the world juggling priorities and struggling with relationships and situations that undermine your time for your creative work. It’s a song to remind himself and us to not lose sight of our goals and what’s important without needing to couch it in misplaced tough-minded bravado. At just under three minutes the emotional journey of the song subtly runs deep with a soundscape that so vividly expresses a time and place in your life when you need to assess the state of things without getting distracted. The sounds almost representing city sights distant and near while driving or walking about and reflecting on your life and sorting through it all in your head until you reach clarity of focus. In doing so, the song is that process of sorting out but giving it a dreamlike quality that makes it creative rather than simply self-therapy. Listen below.

“Casey” by Jon Wiilde Captures That Post-Existential Crisis Liminal State Where All Seems Lost But Hope Remains

JonWiilde1_cropped — John Wiide, photo courtesy the artist

Jon Wiilde’s calm demeanor on “Casey” is even more obvious in the music video. The echoing synth rhythm casts a hypnotic, dream like sheen over the languid pace of ethereal guitar and minimal percussion to evoke a deep dive into a psychedelic realm of downtempo, melancholic melodies. What Wiilde sings from what sounds like a post-existential crisis place of spiritual weariness in search of an everyday moment of joy to pull him out of the doldrums. As colorful and entrancing as the song, the video is the sort of thing you’d expect out of Gregg Araki revisiting his filmmaking roots or Darren Aronofsky make a film that doesn’t plunge you to the depths of despair—that beautiful use of darkness, shadow and color that makes their work so striking. That mixture of elements is present in Wiilde’s songwriting and informs the remarkable video for “Casey.” Below are both the audio and the video followed by links at which you can follow further Wiilde’s imaginative creative output.

soundcloud.com/jonwiilde
https://open.spotify.com/album/50TF79R1LcTjV07l1PFlIE