New Music – Page 163 – Queen City Sounds and Art

Jackson Hill Unites the Earthly With the Ethereal on the Ambient Jazz Track “Rabbit Feather”

On the title track to his forthcoming EP Rabbit Feather, Jackson Hill brings extremely tactile sounds together with an electronic production aesthetic that both grounds what you’re hearing and transports you to an otherworldly headspace of pure imagination. Soft electronic drones swell and swarm while percussive sounds mark out unconventional rhythms in modulated clicks and snaps, strings resound with an unmistakably delayed and drawn out strum, bass traces downward arcs in jazz-like downtempo style. It is layers of minimalism that matches the surreal imagery suggested by the title of the song. For something so peaceful and spare there is a lot of movement and forward momentum in the song and altogether it sounds like little else unless you could vaguely trace a lineage to some of the work of Laraaji, Brian Eno’s and David Byrne’s 1981 experimental world music album My Life in the Bush of Ghosts and maybe the more avant eras of Anthony Braxton. It is a unique and rewarding listen for anyone that has an ear for the music that is somehow both tuneful and requires taking it in on its terms rather than imposing genre requirements in order for it to be enjoyed. Listen to “Rabbit Feather” on YouTube and connect with Jackson Hill at the links below. The Rabbit Feather EP is being independently released on March 18, 2022.

Jackson Hill on Twitter

Jackson Hill on Instagram

Peaces Refurbishes and Recontextualizes Mainstream Pop Nuggets as Experimental Electronic Goodness on “Down to Earth”

Peaces is no stranger to the recontextualized pop hit and cultural reference mashup and remix but with “Down To Earth” he has outdone himself with the both the audio and the unusual collage music video. Crafting a hodgepodge of a sample of Avril Lavigne’s “Sk8er Boi,” some ever so slightly warped Don Toliver flourishes and what sounds like a modified UK garage beat, Peaces invites the listener to rethink how popular music works and how it can sound. Certainly hip-hop and EBM artists have used sampling and sequencing to place sounds seemingly disparate into new contexts for a different way of creative thinking and Peaces is operating out of similar aesthetics but updating the sample base and imagining how they might work as a piece of music in the context of his own composition. Sure, DJ Shadow did that in the 90s and Girl Talk took the mashup to glorious new extremes. But with “Down To Earth” Peaces takes bits of popular music that many might dismiss as mainstream fluff and makes it into something experimental, surreal and cool. Watch the psychedelic music video for “Down To Earth” on YouTube and connect with Peaces at the links below.

Peaces on Facebook

Peaces on Instagram

Sonja La Makina’s “GOTEO” is a Futuristic Perreo Flavored Hip-Hop Banger

It probably helps to know some Spanish to get the most out of Sonja La Makina’s “GOTEO” but as purely a piece of music it is immediately compelling as something different. You’ll hear elements of trap, perreo and more hip-hop-inflected electroclash but it’s La Makina’s fluidity and forcefulness in the use of language that stands out in a shuffling and shifting beat that weaves in compound rhythmic lines and playful synth work that augments a sense of swagger in the vocalist’s performance. Frankly, it’s the kind of music you imagine the characters in the futuristic urban environments the Hernandez Brothers’ Love And Rockets would listen to as they drive through the neighborhood and seem cooler than people vibing to basic tunes. Fans of M.I.A. will appreciate La Makina’s musical fusion. Listen to “GOTEO” on YouTube and follow Sonja La Makina at the links provided.

Sonja La Makina on Instagram

sonjalamakina.live

Pleasure Craft’s “Dead Weight” Bursts With a Will to Self-Liberation

Pleasure Craft, photo courtesy the artists

Layered vocals like a sustained echo lead us into the world of Pleasure Craft’s “Dead Weight” which brings the crackling distortion that explodes into a driving, pounding industrial soundscape once the song gets going. Syncopated percussion marks measured time as if putting an exclamation point on a line. Sam Lewis’ vocals take over and then joined by Mingjia Chen, both singing about a character who seems a victim of circumstance, essentially a passive cipher who is on his way to digging something of value within him out that may set him free, a terrifying prospect when being part of the landscape is so comfortable and has its own socially sanctioned rewards. The electrifying momentum of the song suggests that the safe state of affairs is unsustainable when the currents of aggravation and resistance are already flowing freely and you’re ready to let go of your own life’s dead weight. Listen to “Dead Weight” on Bandcamp and follow Pleasure Craft at the links below.

pleasurecraftto.com

Pleasure Craft on Facebook

Pleasure Craft on Instagram

Bloods Let Everyone Know in No Uncertain Terms That the Time for Waiting to Seizing Your Dignity and Taking Charge of Your Life is Over on “BOSS”

Bloods, photo and illustration by Rosa Morgan

Australian punk band Bloods packs a lot of content into the one minute and forty-eight seconds of “BOSS.” And that content is a brash and bold statement of self-assertion of intent that reclaims the pejorative description of a certain type of female expression as “girl boss” by simply going with “BOSS,” a succinct, effective and direct dispensing with niceties the same way one must stop with being a “nice girl” in a “big bad world” because if you act in the narrow constraints of being nice as conceived by an ignorant and sexist society you get run over. Bloods are having none of that because doing so means you never get what you want and deferring to other people on everything forever is not just unsustainable but no sane society or one worth living in puts people under the thumb that way. And hey, just abstract the sentiment to your situation and it works. There is of course no contradiction between being a nice person and refusing to be a doormat but sometimes you have to spell it out to people (as this song cleverly does) and insist your dignity matters in the least conciliatory way possible. Watch the lively video for “BOSS” on YouTube and connect with Bloods on Spotify.

Gomddam Memory Fuse Industrial and Psychedelia to Ward Off the Mass Narrative Brainwash on “Pandora’s Omelette”

The enigmatic title of “Pandora’s Omelette” is as mysterious as Gomddam Memory’s music itself. Are the clear vocals and the more distorted vocals both by næringssorg? Is one of them producer ade? It hardly matters as the song strikes a balance between darkly ambient psychedelia reminiscent of an unlikely blend of Legendary Pink Dots and early industrial ministry. The song draws us in with pulses of modulated bass tone as one vocal repeats “crack” and the other “don’t mind” and going on to say “the voices.” Perhaps the song is a creative and poetic exploration of the idea of the conflicting narratives, conscious and those embedded into one’s world view and cognitive framework, that swirl in our minds as influenced by the events around us and our interpretations thereof and those interpretations pushed upon us by family, friends, mass media and what we opt for in our leisure time entertainment. The blend of psychedelia and industrial music is reminiscent at times of the Love and Rockets song “Haunted When The Minutes Drag” and even more of that group’s rock and electronica fusion landmark Hot Trip to Heaven (1994) and the ways in which Love and Rockets mixed the personal with the societal with the more mythical (Gomddam Memory certain invokes the mythical and the mystical and humorous in the song title). Stamping the song with a specific genre or style tag wouldn’t be adequate but fans of the aforementioned with find something to appreciate about this fascinatingly strange track as will people who appreciate the newer darkwave that can see beyond the sometimes narrow framing. Watch the visualizer video for “Pandora’s Omelette” on YouTube and connect with Gomddam Memory at the links provided.

Gomddam Memory on Bandcamp

Gomddam Memory on Instagram

Nathaniel Paul Considers the Disruptive Nature of Modern Life on “Turpentine”

Nathaniel Paul, photo courtesy the artist

Nathaniel Paul of the acclaimed pop band The Bergamot is releasing his sophomore solo album Turpentine in Spring 2022. The debut “Turpentine” finds Paul sketching riffs off the main rhythm line in seemingly whimsical fashion and in the video he hangs upside down at a jungle gym while he opines about trying to get out of the rat race and get back to a stable place in order to dream about a better life again. Animated characters interact as an air of menace permeates those sequences as well as those of the mysterious rabbit figure with the briefcase that contains a mysterious glowing prize à la Pulp Fiction. The song is playful but its words are very real and thoughtful about how “This harsh world takes its toll” on everyone and puts us all off balance despite our best efforts. Is it planned? Does Mr. Paul have some ideas in mind to climb out of these darkly mysterious situations for himself and for humanity as a whole? That’s probably too much to ask but surely more illuminating tales rendered as innovative pop songs await when Turpentine releases. Watch the video for the title track on YouTube and connect with Nathaniel Paul at the links below.

nathanielpaulhoff.com

Nathaniel Paul on Bandcamp

Nathaniel Paul on Facebook

Nathaniel Paul on Instagram

Manx Dreams Captures the Mystique of Late Night Journeys on the Darkly Synthwave Pop of “Black Spark”

“Black Spark” announces the brooding tone of this lead single from Manx Dreams forthcoming album Of Past Lives (due out April 8, 2022) with the title alone. The song begins with a measured pace of lightly distorted, layered synth drones and a steady beat and electronic bass line that establishes a leisurely pace like a walk on a moonless night in the industrial edge of town where street lights are sparse except for the commercial lots fenced in and desolate. When the vocals come in they’re reminiscent of Andrew Eldritch’s on the Sisters of Mercy song “Colours.” But more processed though occupying a similar place in the middle of the mix like a presence in the late night darkness to guide you from the outer edges to a place more welcoming. In the melodies of “Black Spark,” especially the intonations of the vocals one might hear hints of John Foxx or Steven Strange. Whatever the inspirations and influences on this track might be, Manx Dreams captures that mystique of late night life and journeys to places that retain a bit of mystery even in an era when seemingly everything is broadcast to the public. Listen to “Black Spark” on Spotify and connect with Manx Dreams at the links provided.

Manx Dreams on Bandcamp

Manx Dreams on Instagram

Charles Fauna’s “Diner” Taps Into the Solace of a Faded Late Night Culture

Charles Fauna, photo courtesy the artist

In just over three minutes Charles Fauna’s “Diner” perhaps unintentionally hits depths of melancholic nostalgia mixed with regret and a sense of leaving the past behind and going on into an uncertain future but with a feeling of liberation. It’s a lot to pack into a short pop song but the aforementioned possible unintentional impact gives the song more heft despite its ethereal and uplifting melodies. When Fauna sings “I think you’re perfect in the diner light” after referring to getting off on the turnpike after having left in the dead of night for many he is conjuring the image, in physical and emotional memory, of a time that isn’t quite the same anymore. The pandemic devastated an industry that had been in trouble for years because its usual patrons and workers were often students or other lower wage workers who could indulge a diner meal on the regular when many cities were still somewhat affordable and college as well. So there was a late night dining world in cities and off highways the kind that existed in even the least glamorous locales throughout America. It felt reliable even if the food quality could vary a bit. But in the past decade late night options in many places have diminished whether it’s grocery stores no longer being twenty-four hours, coffee shops closing by eight p.m., many by 5. As cities have become precipitously economically challenging and housing scarce the diner as we knew them before the 2010s has become scarcer. The pandemic hit that late night culture even harder and maybe put an end to it into the foreseeable future. And yet Fauna’s song taps into the memories of hanging out with friends at these places and finding refuge in them on a road trip while taking for granted their presence and the people willing to work in them and the chain of economic relationships that made them possible eroded by the trickle down impact of oligarchic greed. So while Fauna’s lushly gorgeous song is a simple yet emotionally rich pop song about leaving your past behind for the sake of your well being he invokes memory and a completely understandable hope for a future where such simple luxuries can exist again on a better basis. Fans of M83 will probably like this one. Listen to “Diner” on Spotify and follow Charles Fauna on Soundcloud linked below.

Sham Family Torch the Rotting Masquerade of Political Respectability on “Plaque Protection”

Sham Family burst forth in shiny and urgent tones at the beginning of “Plaque Protection.” The title is a metaphor for the veneer of respectability put on by politicians and various people to make it seem like what they have to say is civil, genteel and thus reasonable when it is merely the cheapest theater employed by those who have little or nothing to offer. Unless the aforementioned gestures are meant as a way to prop up a position in society and a place of power. The surging guitar riff and propulsive rhythms and brashly intense vocals should appeal to fans of IDLES and Iceage as should the sense that the music is about to go off the rails at any moment even as the band maintain a delicate musical balancing act. Listen to “Plaque Protection” on Spotify or the Wavy Haze Records Soundcloud and give a listen to the band’s self-titled EP out now.