New Music – Page 220 – Queen City Sounds and Art

“Bucket List” is Carina T’s Subversively Pragmatic Song of Self-Affirmation

CarinaT4_sm — Carina T, photo courtesy the artist

Carina T lists all the discouraging messages thrown your way by other people and your own brain throughout “Bucket List.” But part of those narratives is the illusion of infinite choices and why choose any of them when you can pursue something provided for you. But Carina wades through the competing voices with some self-belief and a vision of the life she wants for herself. The music is reminiscent of one of those pop ballads of the 80s or 90s that is part of a montage of a character setting aside distractions and naysayers and getting things done but without malice. She also introduces the idea of how you often need to keep your dreams to yourself to protect them from those who would prefer to see everyone around them striving for the middle, threatened by anything or anyone that stands out, spewing words dismantling fledgling plans and positive impulses as silly or impractical before they get off the ground. On the surface it’s a positivistic, self-affirmation song but its undercurrent is more subversive in acknowledging the existence of legitimate concerns and doubts but putting the defeatist messaging in its proper perspective. As the title of the song suggests, it’s important to have goals but also not to get bogged down by accomplishing them all and certainly not insist they happen in a particular order. Listen to “Bucket List” on Soundcloud and follow Carina T at the links provided.

carinatmusic.com
carinatmusic.bandcamp.com/releases
twitter.com/CarinaTMusic
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instagram.com/carinatmusic

“The Journey” by Emiji is a Doorway Into the Tranquil Places of Your Mind

Emiji_TheJourney1_crop — Emiji “The Journey” cover (cropped)

“The Journey” finds Emiji exploring the concept of travel both physically, emotionally and psychologically through finely modulated dynamics and syncopation. Like several different sounds set to different ways of counting time and measuring distance, layered upon each other the way we are hit with new stimuli as we travel through a landscape or in the imagination. But Emiji leaves room for the space and thus a place for the mind to expand and process rather than simply take in a solid feed of information. In that way it’s a little like the mythological journey in which adventures and stimuli are undertaken and then made sense of in cultural context later on to convey to the tribe. Except that this journey is no epic adventure but rather a doorway into the calm places of the mind where peaceful moments can linger in your mind and go back to when life gets more complicated. Listen to “The Journey” on Soundcloud and follow Emiji at the links below.

emijimusic.com
facebook.com/emijimusic
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With Elegant Skepticism Pop Band Seatbelts Skewers Conventional Wisdom of Embracing All Change as Equal and Inevitable on “Black Spring”

SEATBELTS1_sm — Seatbelts, photo courtesy the artists

Produced by Edwyn Collins, “Black Spring” by Seatbelts was inspired in part by Henry Miller’s classic work of the same name. It tackles the issue of great changes that hit us whether we’re ready or not. It challenges the often spurious notion that one must embrace all change because it’s inevitable. But is it always for the positive, must it be welcomed in all circumstances? Do some changes that seem beneficial at first eventually become agents of a negative upheaval? The tone of trepidation and skepticism that imbues the R&B inflected melody seems warranted given how the modern world in the West has meant shrinking prospects for dignified work that doesn’t bleed over into all hours of the day with you being on call much of the time at the behest of customers in a way that isn’t adequately compensated but what else is there for some of us? The dubious promises of a better life for all with Brexit and cutting taxes for the ultra wealthy and for some reason imagining ensuring the so-called donor class being allowed to hold on to greater shares of unearned largesse will translate to better economic conditions for all when history consistently shows the opposite is the backdrop to this introspective and gently scrappy song. Listen to “Black Spring” on Soundcloud and follow Seatbelts at the links provided.

soundcloud.com/user-466191958/hey-hey-tiger_mix-c
facebook.com/wearseatbelts

Ariza’s Cinematic, Downtempo IDM Jazz Track “Find Me” Is Like the Soundtrack to Deep Secrets Spoken Aloud Only When Alone

Ariza_FindMe1_crop — Ariza “Find Me” cover (cropped)

Ariza’s use of space on “Find Me” gives the track a fascinating dynamic both sonic and emotional. It begins with the sounds almost sitting in the background before flowing effortlessly into the foreground as Miette Hope’s vocals come into vivid focus with the rest of the music. The production suggests a visual aesthetic to the composition and at times there is a layer of gossamer noise floating over Hope’s voice as it weaves through the track like a jazz ghost reminiscent of Beth Gibbons but less dramatic and alien. And yet Ariza places the voice in balance with meditative pace so that it sounds as though you’re hearing deep personal secrets normally spoken, if at all, alone to a bedroom mirror. The parts are woven together with glitches that manage to be smoother than usual while maintaining the flow. Although a different musical flavor in that way Ariza’s songwriting bears comparison to Broadcast and its perfect melding of ethereal downtempo, experimental electronic music and sound design. Listen to “Find Me” on Soundcloud.

“Shifting Time” is Fleonite’s Composed Experience of The Contentment and Tranquility Offered by the Beauty of the Natural World

Fleonite_ShiftingTime1_crop — Fleonite “Shifting Time” cover (cropped)

The new Fleonite single “Shifting Time” seems so aptly named because its pacing has a more intuitive and organic flow and not a standard song arrangement. There is a sense of depth in the sound with a subtle bass line in the background accenting time, blissed out synth melodies, echoing piano, enigmatic vocals and washes of tone that feel like you’re walking down a tunnel toward some shining, promising fulfillment at the end but not completely out of reach. As such, there is a sense of hope and light that streams forth from the song. While it doesn’t provide that psychic payoff itself, it’s almost like a musical analog of that Buddhist thing about the journey being the goal as in the practice is the reward, the ongoing learning and striving toward something new to stimulate the heart and mind rather than get complacent having achieved and end point. The music reminds one of a casual stroll through a bright springtime garden wherein the natural beauty of the environment is itself good enough and nourishing to the spirit without the experience having to adhere to an artificial, preconceived notion of the good. Listen to “Shifting Time” on Soundcloud where you can further explore Fleonite’s work.

soundcloud.com/fleo-nite

Reaching Beyond the Pit of His Own Despair and Discouragement, TaReef KnockOut Suggests Dream Better For Ourselves Too on “Family Recipe”

TaReefKnockOut1_crop — TaReef KnockOut, photo courtesy the artist

TaReef KnockOut is a hip-hop artist from Tallahassee, Florida and the track “Family Recipe” from his new album Local Rapper features a refreshingly honest, aspirational yet not boastful flow of words against a backdrop of spare percussion and an elegant, melancholic horn sample. TaReef talks about the depression that’s been coursing through his mind and some biographical details that bring some heaviness to the song but rather than weighing everything down, TaReef takes the death of his grandmother and the drama of scene politics and turns it into a drive to do something legitimate and respectable beyond the people who think they know you and want you to reach for the dull lower rung just like they do. In every local music world so many artists aspire to play for drink tickets and exposure and being “honored” by being included on play lists that merely mention them and a single song by name, playing some major opening slots and after two or three years being discarded by the local press and clubs in favor of the next biggest flavor. TaReef envisions more for himself as indicated by the line “ambition over riches, the world gon’ love my vision.” If you don’t have creative ambition as an artist you end up being a one trick pony with a short career and without vision that’s all you’ll ever be. TaReef by expressing these ideas in spite of so many things in life as a stumbling block tells us we owe it to ourselves to imagine better for ourselves in our own lives too and to look beyond our immediate context which can so often seem to be all there is since it’s all around us and can pen in our dreams if we let it. TaReef just benefited from a little faith from his family and at least some modest life goals upon which to build even more. Listen to “Family Recipe” on YouTube and follow TaReef KnocOut at the links provided.

tareefknockout.com
soundcloud.com/tareefknockout
twitter.com/TaReefKnockOut
facebook.com/TaReefKnockOut
instagram.com/tareefknockout

“Mont Crevelt 4am” by Flexagon is an Ambient Tone Poem Evoking the Sounds and Sights of the Early Morning Hours at the Harbor

Flexagon1_Crop — Flexagon, photo courtesy the artist

The baseline for Flexagon’s single “Mont Crevelt 4am,” as for the rest of the tracks of his upcoming album Nocturnes East due out January 24, 2020, is found sounds and field recordings done in the early morning at the time and place cited in the song title. Sometimes the sounds inspire the music, sometimes the music comes first and one of the recordings suggests itself in the pairing. The result is an ambient track with a powerful sense of place, of environment and of a mood that while intentional isn’t purely manufactured. “Mont Crevelt 4am” is named for the location on the southern side of the entrance to St Sampson’s Harbour in Guernsey, UK, one of the Channel Islands near France. It suggests dappled moonlight on the water with the delicate bell tones and drifts of fog with the lingering synth over sound of water lapping against the shore. In the distance you can hear men talking discussing who knows what at that hour. But it all combines to create a kind of tone poem in your mind that takes you to that place, for most of us, a place we’ve never been, which is one of the great powers of music and art generally. Listen to “Mont Crevelt 4am” on Soundcloud and follow Flexagon at the links provided.

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soundcloud.com/flexagon-music
flexagon.bandcamp.com
twitter.com/flexagonmusic
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Fun Balloon Animals Create a Futuristic Home Invasion Horror Movie Soundtrack With its Frankenstein-inspired “The Death of William”

FunBalloonAnimals5_crop_sm — Fun Balloon Animals (The Narrator), photo courtesy the artists

Fun Balloon Animals took inspiration from Mary Shelley’s Frankenstein for the themes of its self-titled album (released on Halloween 2019, appropriately enough). The single “The Death of William” from about the middle of the album sounds like something from a near future home invasion movie scored by Sisters of Mercy minus the melodramatic vocals. Pounding drums like lightning while blossoming synth figures cast a dreamlike yet menacing quality upon the track. Musically it also sounds like the part of the book when the creature is hanging about and observing human behavior including the framing of Justine Moritz for the murder of Victor Von Frankenstein’s brother William leading up to asking his creator to craft a mate for him so that he needn’t feel all alone in the world. All the while Victor assumes the creature, which does later threaten to kill everyone he cares about if Frankenstein doesn’t create that mate, is responsible for his misfortunes. The air of heightened reality and impending tragedy courses through the song lending it multiple interpretations and applications in service of a narrative work. The record is a concept album and works well as a whole but “The Death of William” stands on its own with its cinematic aesthetic reminiscent also of Eurhythmics’ darkly moody score for 1984. Listen to the song on Soundcloud and follow Fun Balloon Animals at the links below.

twitter.com/Funballoonanim1
facebook.com/funballoonanimals

“Waiting to Happen” is Flood for the Famine’s Torch Song to a Dysfunctional Phase of Life

FloodForFamine2_sm — Flood for the Famine, photo courtesy the artist

Alex Lindner sounds like he’s singing into a huge, empty concert hall late at night on the Flood for the Famine single “Waiting to Happen,” the title track to the project’s debut EP. The music video begins with Lindner seeming to wake from a dream into another dream wherein he’s called on to perform with, alternately, the moon and a jazz lounge crowd as his audience. He reminisces about wandering down dark streets in a state of lovelorn/lovestruck confusion as he sings about hitting rock bottom and starting all over as if he’s well neigh familiar with this cycle in which he’s been, as the title of the song suggests, waiting to happen, waiting to not just live his dreams but to live a life as a human being that isn’t constantly holding himself back from full development as a person with self-sabotage. The dark, crystalline blue tones and the dusky lighting of the video perfectly matches the song’s reflective mood and blend of smoky torch song to a life to be left behind and luminous downtempo pop. Vocally, Lindner brings the right amount of grit to give the otherwise smooth song some earthbound character so that its emotional impact is concretized in the mind. Watch the music video on YouTube and follow Flood for the Famine at the links provided.

floodforthefamine.com
soundcloud.com/flood-for-the-famine
facebook.com/FloodfortheFamine
instagram.com/fftfmusic

EL LAGO’s “Citadel” is Like Waking Suddenly From a Dream Into a Disorienting World Full of Wonders

EL_LAGO_CItadel_cover1_crop — EL LAGO *Pyramid* cover (cropped)

The bendy guitar whorls of EL LAGO’s “Citadel” are an interesting contrast with the downtempo dynamic going on with the vocals and percussion. Shimmering tones mid-song evolve into an urgent melody that gives way to more soaring bends that rise and collapse into introspective melodies once again. It gives the song an electrified and disorienting quality like waking from a nap and getting your moorings when everything around you seems so significant but confusing while you get your footing coming so quickly out of dreaming and the hypnagogic state. Fans of early Medicine and My Bloody Valentine will appreciate the way the song paradoxically has a cutting quality that is simultaneously fluid and the unpredictable rhythms that are also oddly hypnotic. The single is part of the group’s new album Pyramid, which released on October 25 through Wallflower Records. The group recently performed at the LEVITATION festival in Austin with plans for a US tour in 2020. Listen to “Citadel” on Soundcloud and follow EL LAGO at the links below.

ellagoband.com
soundcloud.com/ellagoband
ellago.bandcamp.com
twitter.com/ellagoband
facebook.com/ellagoband