New Music – Page 211 – Queen City Sounds and Art

Robin Anderson Sings of Wrapping Up Pleasant Memories For a Future When You’ll Most Need Them on “Solstice”

RobinAnderson_Solstice_cover_crop — Robin Anderson “Solstice” cover (cropped)

Robin Anderson’s spare arrangement on “Solstice” is centered on the dulcet tones of her vocals and and piano melody. In the background a subtle synth drone, strings and bells accenting the lyrics. In the song Anderson sings about wrapping up the years and experiences for a later date knowing she’ll miss the cherished times because there have been rougher times and will be again when being able to unwrap those memories in your mind can be a welcome reminder that life isn’t always the hardship and struggle even when it can seem like it for longer stretches of time than you think you can endure. That sentiment elevates the song from perhaps mere holiday music written for and even during a sentimental season to a statement on making memories to have something positive to hold on to when you need it most. Listen to “Solstice” on Spotify and follow Anderson at the links provided.

robineanderson.bandcamp.com
facebook.com/robineanderson
instagram.com/robin.e.anderson

“Surfacing” by SCERE is the Sound of Swimming Your Way Through Life’s Murk to Better Places in the Psyche

Scere_Self-Titled_crop — SCERE self-titled EP cover (cropped)

SCERE’s debut, self-titled EP is reminiscent of 90s downtempo with a more industrial approach to the beatmaking. This is exemplified no better than on the single “Surfacing,” on which the serpentine structure of the rhythm gives one the impression of singer Coral wandering in a dimly lit room (as evidenced by the music video) unwinding and unpacking her struggles to herself and yearning for someone, maybe herself, to take her home whether literally or a place where she can feel grounded again and gain the strength to emerge from a kind of stasis or psychic funk. The streaming, hazy melodies and the layered beats accenting the emotional colorings of the vocals have a similarly sensual quality heard in “#1 Crush” by Garbage. The dynamic range of dense atmospheres and spacious, melancholic tonal spaces is wide but subtle making it a compelling journey of a song and EP overall. Producer Ged Denton is also a member of Der Prosecutor and C-TEC (which includes members of Front 242, Cubanate and Nitzer Ebb) and brings some of that expertise to this project in method but creating a decidedly different sound. Watch the video for “Surfacing” on YouTube and follow SCERE at the links below.

scere.com
soundcloud.com/scere

Calcou’s Tranquility Inducing “Tongue-Tied” is the Sound of Peaceful Denouement Before Life’s Next Big Adventure Begins

Calcou1_2019_TongueTied1 — Calcou, photo courtesy the artist

Calcou sure picked a nice palette of sounds to convey the sense of conclusion of a chapter in life and pondering about the future and new adventures on “Tongue-Tied.” A simple melodic drone, the sounds of gentle rain, warm Rhodes piano and GRIP TIGHT’s luminous vocals lend this final track from Calcou’s aptly titled EP The Prologue an almost spiritual calm and restfulness, a mood of being refreshed from a long period of struggle and labor for something more fortifying and inspiring ahead and being able to wonder what that might be but not being driven to action before one is ready to take on life’s challenges once again and having the freedom and space to take time out to rest and come into the proper frame of mind to tackle whatever may come your way with integrity. Listen to “Tongue-Tied (feat. GRIP TIGHT)” on Soundcloud and follow Calcou at the links provided.

soundcloud.com/calcou
facebook.com/calcou.music
instagram.com/calcou.music

“Lost like Teardrops in Rain” is Like Jack Cleary’s Homage to Vangelis and the Inspiration of Works of Deep Creative Imagination

JackCleary1_sm — Jack Cleary, photo courtesy the artist

Giving the song the title “Lost like Teardrops in Rain,” Jack Cleary is more than hinting at part of the inspiration for the composition. The streaming synth suggests enigmatically alluring vistas after the fashion of Vangelis’ score for Blade Runner. But in its gently roiling dynamic one hears the sound of a warm summer night by the ocean with moonlight on the water, its reflection interrupted with the ripples of raindrops stirring in your own mind a contemplation of your own place in the world and in your own life. In the context of the album Gemini, which Cleary released on November 21, 2019, it is a vivid passage of reverie, an homage even to treasured memories of immersion in works of deep creative imagination, on a sonic journey of exploration that takes you through dark and foggy places before emerging into a musical and emotional place of clarity. Listen to “Lost like Teardrops in Rain” on Bandcamp (where you can also listen to, perchance purchase, Gemini in its entirety) and follow Cleary at the links below.

jackclearymusic.com
jackcleary.bandcamp.com
facebook.com/JackClearyMusic
instagram.com/jackclearymusic

Nicole Theo’s “Would You Save Me” Aches With the Yearning For an Unrequited Love

nicole-sunset-cover_crop — Nicole Theo, photo courtesy the artist

Nicole Theo’s voice on “Would You Save Me” seems to come from a distance and through the filter of a fog enshrouded room within which you can make out shapes illuminated by fingers of light from a mysterious source, a breeze dopplering her voice, pitching it as a kind of somehow naturally occurring autotune effect. The latter alters Theo’s voice expertly as an enhancement of the sound rather than the trendy affectation you hear in entirely too many pop and trap songs. Sax and strings come into the song to give this song that aches with the yearning of an unrequited love a grounding and resolution that suggests soon emerging into action rather than wrapping oneself up continuously in unfulfilled fantasy. Listen to “Would You Save Me” on Spotify, watch the music video for the song on YouTube and follow Theo at the links provided. Look for Theo’s debut EP due out in 2020.

facebook.com/Nicole-Theo-102884934422714
Twitter: @theo_nike
nicoletheo.com
instagram.com/nicoletheomusic
Spotify: https://open.spotify.com/album/3Fh1HqVLkcgY2HJjJ8NGMi

Foreign Television’s “Minus 27” Celebrates the Life You Have Rather Than Being Trapped Into the Life You Were Born To

ForeignTelevision3_crop — Foreign Television, image courtesy the artists

Foreign Television sets the stage for us at the beginning of its single “Minus 27” with the gentle falling snow of sparkling guitar tone. It sounds like the aspect of the Christmas season we’d rather focus on rather than the possibilities of going back to the place that spawned you and the reminders of what drove you to seek greener pastures to begin with. The swirling riff is like a free-flowing haze of memories that burn off the anxiety of anticipating the time on holiday back “home” and the lifeline back out of the place you’re going to out of a sense of familial or otherwise social obligation. Perhaps to enjoy some of that time but knowing you’ll run into the people and the situations that may remind you of how much better you have it now. It’s not a melancholy song. Its melody is nostalgic but with a sense of being present in a way that makes it impossible to get full stuck in the past as many people seem to be at some point later in life, romanticizing a time that never really was when they felt more alive, more valid and more accomplished in a realm of life when your options really were more limited even if you felt otherwise. In the end “Minus 27” is a celebration and embrace of the life you have knowing you don’t have to feel trapped by a former life and milieu that didn’t suit you. Listen to “Minus 27” on Soundcloud and follow dream-pop/shoegaze band Foreign Television at the links below.

foreigntelevisionmusic.com
soundcloud.com/foreigntelevision
foreigntelevision.bandcamp.com
twitter.com/foreigntvmusic
facebook.com/foreigntelevisionmusic

Daddy Who’s “Clock Clock Clacka” is a Homage to the Dreamlike Production Style of 90s Underground Hip-hop

DaddyWho1_crop — Daddy Who, image courtesy the artist

The breaks on Daddy Who’s “Clock Clock Clacka” are so intentional and precise yet organic that it sounds like the work of an expert turntablist setting the tempo either before something big hits or between epic tracks. The synth swells, the sleigh bells placed so tastefully, the vocals speaking the title of the song and echoing off, the myriad other sonic details are reminiscent of another era of hip-hop before trap became one of the dominant styles of beatmaking. That era when producers like The Alchemist, DJ Premier, collectives like Hieroglyphics and artists on the Stones Throw label assembled sounds from disparate sources to set a mood channeled into a rhythm whether lyrics flowed with the soundscape or not. Listen to “Clock Clock Clacka” on Bandcamp.

“In Love” by dopeman is a Wistful, Musical Key to Unlock Memories of Affection and Tenderness

Dopeman_DaddyWho_1_crop — Dopeman and DaddyWho, Cheesecakes Vol. 1 split, cover image courtesy the artists

“In Love” by dopeman begins with a piano line and the crackle of of a record like the memory of a good time in your life being triggered by running across an artifact of a relationship as mnemonic key to unlock a flood of positive feelings. The shuffling beat gently buoys the mood and the vocal samples, like voices from an old movie leaking in from another room, anchor and contextualize the memory in the part of your mind that stores sensory perception on an almost subconscious level. Though the tone is moody and hushed it is not melancholic, rather, wistful and nostalgic. Musically it’s in the realm of IDM or a more experimental hip-hop beat but ultimately doesn’t fit neatly into a genre category as its appeal transcends that of a specific style. Listen to “In Love” on Bandcamp and follow dopeman at the links provided.

open.spotify.com/artist/5JTxaZxdkwOIirFJlm3ynP?si=lVuUL38qSEO6nXFFT7TSWQ
soundcloud.com/misterdopeman
misterdopeman.bandcamp.com

Kapeesh Invites All The Too Cool For School Wallflowers to Join in the Fun at the Show on “Lampshade”

Kapeesh3_sm — Kapeesh, photo courtesy the artist

When “Lampshade” by Kapeesh starts off it sounds like something heard through a wall on AM radio. But when it attains full fidelity the onslaught of ideas and cultural references hits like something out of late 90s Big Beat collided with irreverent alternative hip-hop and the Butthole Surfers. It really is a fascinating genre-bending song that draws on a broad spectrum of sounds and ideas in a way that establishes a unique aesthetic. The song is aimed at the people that stand near the stage at the show that are above dancing and the confusion at the proclivity of some people to not be swept away by the music or at least participate. Many of them are just trying to take in the experience but those that stand there unimpressed at all, who show no appreciation can throw performers off their game and frustrate people who want to be there and show their own enthusiasm without hitting that emotional brick wall. But the song is more than that and it’s a kind of goading of these people to join in on the fun. Listen to “Lampshade” on YouTube and follow Kapeesh on the Instagram account (linked below).

instagram.com/kapgunsarefun

Agency 666 Takes You Into a Starkly, Beautifully Haunted Journey Into the Subconscious on “Deep Sleep”

Agency666_2_crop — Agency666, image courtesy the artist

Listening to Agency666’s “Deep Sleep” you are drawn into the realm of soundscapes that feel like you’ve entered into the weird end of a supernatural horror ARG in which you must navigate out of your own subconscious mind. “Every time I close my eyes” is the refrain that floats about, processed to echo parts of the vocal like repeated images that throw you off the trail of the path out of this spiraling maze of sound. The sound of what seems to be chirping insects in the distance surrounds you, a warping, melodic arpeggio intertwines with the voice in a staccato pattern that serves almost as a luminous walkway in a dark realm until the end when the whole beautifully nightmarish, minimalistic world fades from your hearing. It’s reminiscent of HTRK or a demented, stark side of Everything But The Girl in being so alien, minimal and enveloping but more in the realm of minimal techno yet unlike much of anything that fits neatly in any genre. The song comes from the project’s Fear of the Unknown EP and you can listen to the single on Spotify and follow Agency666 on the Soundcloud account.

soundcloud.com/agency666