New Music – Page 212 – Queen City Sounds and Art

Moon Beach Evokes That Moment When One’s Tentative Feelings Break Through to Emotional Clarity On “Don’t Drive Away”

MoonBeach1_lg — Moon Beach, photo courtesy the artists

Moon Beach quickly establishes an elegant and subtly evocative dynamic on its single “Don’t Drive Away” between the introspective vocals, a simple yet elegant keyboard figure and spare, ethereal guitar work. The singer seems to implore her love to not leave the scene despite some setbacks and difficulties and her inability to fully articulate her feelings in a way that will make everything alright. It’s almost a resigned yearning but toward the last third of the song one that is imbued with some hope and being able to reach the the feeling that made her remember what made the emotional connection so strong and real and finally able to say the simple phrase that is the title of the song as an opening to more. Between the vocals and the rhythm the song is reminiscent of late 80s Suzanne Vega and early offerings by The Sundays and that compellingly wistful style of dream pop. Listen to “Don’t Drive Away” on Soundcloud.

ASHRR’s Video For the Moodily Ominous “All Yours All Mine (Dark Days Mix)” Reflects the Shadowy, Surreal Side of Life in Los Angeles

ASHRR2_crop — ASHRR, image courtesy the artists

ASHRR, like some of the most interesting artists from Los Angeles, highlights the experience of the side of the City of Angels that isn’t romanticized on television or in movies. The group’s sound reflects the unusual and surreal qualities of the city’s unique blend of geography and culture as a place where many go to pursue their dreams but finding it far different than anything they would have assumed. ASHRR’s musical vision is more in line with William Friedkin’s and Jeffrey Lee Pierce’s own depictions of Los Angeles and not that of Beverly Hills, 90210 or even Bret Easton Ellis’ nihilistically lurid depictions of the city and its culture. The music video for the group’s song “All Yours All Mine (Dark Days Mix)” is an apt companion to its darkly rich synthesizer melody with a plot like something out of Black Mirror or the new Twilight Zone with a man encountering duplicates of himself at home and lurking about even when he manages to escape the scene in his car into the night. Musically the song is also something like an R&B-inflected, late 80s Depeche Mode song, the aforementioned melody drawing a wide-ranging, pulsing sonic arc. That dynamic suggests the rhythm of night driving and the way street lights can serve as an almost hypnotic strobe to induce an introspective mood. Watch the video on YouTube and follow ASHRR at the links provided.

ashrrmusic.com
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“MotherTongue (language has a fault of its own)” is Mykimono’s Ode to the Inadequacy of Language to Express the Fullness of Feeling

Mykimono3_sm — Mykimono, photo courtesy the artists

Mykimono’s “MotherTongue (language has a fault of its own)” has a roiling dynamic that swirls with saturated tone that goes spacious and clear like a day with high flying clouds that flow and move rapidly in a wind that hasn’t quite hit the ground. Musically it is reminiscent of a more introspective Swervedriver with the wah elegantly pitching the tones accented by a bass line that periodically punches gently through the soundscape to accent the riff. The tone is a touch melancholic but awash in nostalgia and hints of romance whether that’s romantic love lost or of something or some time that can never be again. The words of the song express well the inadequacy of language to express the fullness of feeling though one tries with poetic language and metaphor. Listen to “MotherTongue (language has a fault of its own)” on Soundcloud and follow Italian dream pop/shoegaze band Mykimono on Facebook (linked below).

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“Nine from Lax-di-Kal” by SevenAntenna is a Rube Goldberg-esque Soundtrack to a Futuristic Urban Exploration Adventure

SevenAntenna2_crop — SevenAntenna, photo courtesy the artist

Don’t put too much numerological analysis into SevenAntenna and it’s song “Nine from Lax-di-Kal” as it reduces to seven all over again. Further analysis will just take you down the Max Cohen rabbit hole and no trepanning needed. But the song begins like a retro IDM excursion that sounds like a musical analog of a basic Rube Goldberg machine and from there the beats increase in complexity and the layers of distorted synth tone take on more bombastic figures as the song progresses and then fade from the foreground in the final minute of the song. One might also imagine playing one of the more immersive early 8-bit video games to this song like Metroid but one in which you navigate an abandoned city of the future based on the artwork of Moebius, searching for treasure and solving the mystery of why the inhabitants had to leave. Listen to “Nine from Lax-di-Kal” on Soundcloud.

“You’ll Only Make It Worse” by Renwick is a Heartfelt Song About Accepting That Your Personal Limitations Can Be a Stumbling Block to Reconciling With a Loved One

Renwick1_sm — Renwick, photo by Connor Barkey

On “You’ll Only Make It Worse” Renwick articulates in some detail and with an air of sensitivity and hard won self-awareness the feeling of knowing you need to try to make amends to someone you hurt but that maybe your current self and your ways of being and communicating can only make the situation worse. Its hushed tones and beautifully saturated and lush soundscape express well a gentleness of spirit and vulnerability in that moment in having good intentions but being so keenly aware of one’s limitations and the hurt caused and the painful realization that maybe making things good again is beyond your abilities. It really is mostly a male instinct to think one can simply “fix” something with actions but here Renwick sagely recognizes that such a mentality is hard to shed when it’s so ingrained in you to be a “problem solver” and shed it you must and not so that you can make amends in a possessive way but so that you avoid causing harm in similar ways in the future. It’s a bittersweet, resigned song but all the better for not taking on the stance of conquering male bravado. The song comes from Renwick’s 2019 EP I Hope You Feel Good In The Morning and you can listen to the single on YouTube and follow Renwick at the links below.

facebook.com/renwickmusic
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“Passover” by Pleasures of the Flesh is an Anti-White Supremacy Post-Punk Song Aimed to Cultivate a Kinder More Just Community

PleasuresOfTheFlesh1_crop — Pleasures of the Flesh, photo courtesy the artists

Pleasures of the Flesh is a post-punk band from Louisville, Kentucky (home of some of the greatest art punk of the last 35+ years) that is trying to cultivate a punk community with “equality and kindness.” To that end the group wrote the song “Passover” as a way to address the curiously lingering cultural feature of white supremacy as a stumbling block to a just and open society. The refrain of “over and over and over” reflects the weariness with how white supremacy really should have been in the rearview at this point in history but for a variety of reasons some people cling to such regressive outmoded ideas even when it is simply used to manipulate them against their own natural interests to stay in conflict with people who live on the direct delivery end of its effects. And when something is pervasive, especially when some people think it’s subtle, it pops up in odd and often hideous ways obvious to anyone that doesn’t have a stake in perpetuating white supremacy. The song goes into some of the complexities of the issue without mincing words and that is not something one immediately expects from a post-punk band even though groups like Gang of Four, The Pop Group and Heaven 17 (to name but a few) tackled heady issues on the regular in their own music back in the day much as did Fugazi and bands like IDLES, Priests and Cheap Perfume do today with a creative and incisive flourish. This single and its wiry, evocative guitar work and impassioned vocals may have a touch of melancholy and atmosphere but its message refreshingly is direct and unequivocal without coming off as performative. Listen to “Passover” on Spotify and follow Pleasures of the Flesh on Instagram. The group released its Earthly Pleasures EP, of which “Passover” is a part, on Christmas Day 2019.

instagram.com/pleasuresflesh

Mike Costaney’s “J” is the Audio Analog of a Tranquil Dream of Flight

MikeCostaney1_sm — Mike Costaney, photo courtesy the artist

The diffuse pulses of billowing tone drifting into pink noise textures on Mike Costaney’s “J” conjures visions of what it’s like to look out across a bank of clouds from above lit by moonlight. Or to be aboard a ship drifting through a luminous bank of fog in the early morning. Its sounds have an unusual quality of being both abstractly hypnotic and soothingly intimate. It suggests the experience of a breeze flowing over you and of a dream state in which your mind feels unmoored from its corporeal bonds. Though the track comes from an album with the humorous title Ambient Music For Ambient People II, “J” sounds like the audio analog of a tranquil dream of flight. Listen to “J” as well as the rest of the album on Spotify and follow Costaney on his Soundcloud account.

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John McCabe Makes the Information Overload in Our Fractious Age Seem Manageable on His Single “On TV”

JohnMcCabe3_crop — John McCabe “On TV” cover (cropped)

John McCabe sounds like he took a deep dive into early-to-mid 80s Paisley Underground music and jangle pop produced by Mitch Easter, R.E.M. in particular on “On TV.” But like a lot of that music McCabe has some incisive commentary on the absurdities of American and international politics in recent years and the resultant cultural turmoil as institutions seem to be on the verge of collapsing and leaving society in free fall as the human race heads off into the sunset of climate catastrophe. And as part and parcel of that process we are overloaded with insipid information to make wading through the haze of marketing and partisan sophistry too often tied together challenging and tiring for most people. McCabe’s song sounds like a measured approach to this unfortunate situation in world civilization but it also articulates that frustration with economy and poetry and makes it all seem manageable in spite of how overwhelming it can be. Listen to “On TV” on Soundcloud and follow McCabe at the links below.

johnmccabemusic.com
soundcloud.com/john-mccabe

Advakit’s “Halcyon” is a Tonal Oasis of Tranquility

Advakit_HalcyonCover1_crop — Advakit, “Halcyon” cover (cropped)

“Halcyon” by Advakit is a great example of how to place sounds in a mix to give a sense of depth and movement. The layers of synth melody and electronic percussion create a sonic environment that feels like your mind is resting in a place in your memory where the happy and tranquil moods and images dwell. As though you are able to take a walk through a moving gallery that only contains the good and soothing things so that you’re able to shuffle off the anxiety and concern of everyday life if only for the relatively short duration of the song. One imagines a place well lit but not aggressively illuminated, impossibly infinite horizons outside windows and off an immaculate beachside view in perpetual mid-spring or fall. Of course a lifetime spent in such an place would stagnate and become unhealthily soporific but in these angst-ridden times indulging in a bit of this mode of being is good for everyone. Listen to “Halcyon” on Soundcloud.

Dream Reporter Puts the Powerful Emotional Fragility of the Holiday Season for Many Into Its Beautifully Stark Yet Warm Cover of Low’s “Just Like Christmas”

DreamReporter2_sm — Dream Reporter, photo courtesy the artist

Though it’s nearly a month after Christmas, Dream Reporter’s cover of Low’s “Just Like Christmas” with the samples of ye olde domestic violence that might occur during the holiday season gives a bit of an edge to the presentation. Fortunately, the song’s sentiment reflects that reality obliquely with the metaphor of the lack of trappings of Christmas as the lack of goodwill and tranquility. The vocals have enough of an emotionally fragile quality to express a yearning for something nurturing and imbued with mutual affection over the tense social climate that too many of us encounter during that time of the year. Yes, the song is an acknowledgment of that reality but also of the dysfunction of the pressure of expectation for people to perform benevolence when their lives and psyches may be more challenging. It could be enjoyed as a nice and spare rendition of a song by a band whose thematic complexity encompasses the double meaning of the lyrics but that opening sample gives the proper context and makes what could be another hackneyed Christmas song an uncommon depth of meaning. Listen to Dream Reporter’s cover of “Just Like Christmas” by Low on Soundcloud and follow the project at the links provided.

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