New Music – Page 235 – Queen City Sounds and Art

“Southern Hospitality” is Coldway’s Hip-Hop Cruise Through Memphis Looking For the Song’s Namesake in Spirit and in Kind

Coldway2_sm — Coldway, photo courtesy the artist

“Southern Hospitality” depicts the thoughts and the sounds of cruising through Memphis as told by Coldway. The Tennessee city known for being a little on the gritty side but one that has produced some of the country’s most hungry and vital musical artists. Coldway displays a demanding swagger that challenges the city’s rep for both inspiring a determination born of a challenging social environment and the kind of Southern hospitality that is supposed to be a virtue and can often manifest in unusual ways. Coldway demands that warmth and regard on its face as if to say, “If this isn’t a joke then how about some of that generosity and kindness you pride yourselves on.” While driving through town musing on these concepts a beat reminiscent of 70s R&B like Delfonics, Curtis Mayfield or mellower Gamble and Huff track runs through. The metaphor of “southern hospitality” works as both code for sexual favors and being made to feel welcome in a town that may not be your own unfolds with a steady stream of clever wordplay and a story commenting on everyday desires and observations with the drive symbolizing not just a slice of life but the southern urban black experience not romanticized but expressed with an easy going swagger. Listen to “Southern Hospitality” on Spotify and follow Coldway at the links below.

soundcloud.com/coldwaypro
open.spotify.com/artist/4Z4CsfAV4JnkqIb6atdDwC
youtube.com/coldvizion
twitter.com/Coldwaypro
instagram.com/coldway

Phogg Gives Voice to the Outrage of a Robot of Conscience at Humanity’s Destructive Folly on the Psychedelic Thrash Single “EATR”

Phogg1_sm — Phogg, photo courtesy the artists

“EATR” is a song by Swedish band Phogg written from the perspective of a robot named Mofeto driven to misanthropic heights by its anger at the recklessness and wanton destruction humankind has wreaked upon the earth and other living creatures. Sounding like it was recorded in a secret, underground lair constructed from the salvaged fuselage of Mofeto’s would be escape vehicle from humanity’s self-inflicted environmental apocalypse, “EATR” has the quality of an urgent and corrosive, headlong psychedelic thrash to reflect the robot’s uncontrollable outrage at the “hundreds of years” humans have had to tumble the natural world toward becoming an uninhabitable wasteland. Listen to Mofeto’s lament, “EATR,” on Spotify and follow Phogg at the links provided.

soundcloud.com/phogg-band
open.spotify.com/artist/3YqUKOiwbzwB0gajg1sh9Y
phogg.bandcamp.com/releases
facebook.com/phoggband

Gold Spectacles Encourages Us to Embrace Our Otherness as an Act of Resistance on “Stranger Than You”

GoldSpectacles2_sm — Gold Spectacles, photo courtesy the artists

Gold Spectacles sound like the duo listened to a bit of Anne Dudley’s work in Art of Noise and her subsequent soundtrack work in crafting the music for the single “Stranger Than You.” Unconventional percussion like the sound of bottles struck, the sound of a small bell being struck and clicks of sticks on the rim of the drum as well as minimal drum kit rhythms give the song some of its atmospheric quality like some kind of clockwork narrative. The sound sounds like an experimental, downtempo jazz pop that settles into a nice groove but doesn’t get stuck in a creative rut with a soundscape that’s constantly, if subtly, evolving. Flutes and ethereal vocal choruses serve as a counterpoint to the lead vocal line which is playful yet pointed analysis of a relationship that could but won’t because of a basic disconnect of personality and temperament. The narrator anticipates daily conflict in the relationship in which she’ll be baited into a fight but won’t give the man the satisfaction because it’s all part of a meta narrative of gender roles. One of the lyrics speaks directly to this issue with “I never really understand the need to be an alpha man.” As if such a display of ego, bravado and physical dominance hides all the insecurity. As if to suggest existing outside of that mode of being the chorus of the song is “Maybe I’m a little bit stranger than you, darling.” Strange because of not adhering to values of being and identity that limit one to such regressive cognitive orientations that are, in fact all too common. “Strangeness” and being the other in the case of this song is an act of resistance to a culture of self-oppression reinforced by internalizing a harmful identity politics that anyone can step away from by simply questioning one’s assumptions of the “normal.” The song is the eleventh in the band’s “full moon” series culminating in the release of a full album release on November 15, 2019. Listen to “Stranger Than You” on Soundcloud and follow Gold Spectacles at the links below.

goldspectaclesmusic.com
soundcloud.com/goldspectacles
open.spotify.com/artist/5bGWQ9mEBYAo0GYymwj2QV
twitter.com/GoldSpectacles
facebook.com/goldspectacles
instagram.com/goldspectacles

The Abnorm Speaks to the Natural Human Capacity for Snooping Out Society’s Negative Nonsense on “Innocence”

TheAbnorm5_sm — The Abnorm, photo courtesy the artist

“Innocence” by The Abnorm begins with a clever bit of wordplay in talking about how we all have six senses, the sixth being innocence. The rap then goes on to discuss the ways we compromise our lives in trying to fit into a rigged game we have no choice but to play because the world we’re born into is what it is and to survive you have to navigate the world, to some extent, by the rules that exist. But the song suggests that in holding on to that sixth sense mentioned in the beginning of the song we can hold on to that part of ourselves that isn’t a part of a world of depraved values and warped priorities aimed at propping up a perpetual ruling class and in doing so preserve our inherent dignity. Play the game but know it for what it is and remember what really matters even if you can never overturn the order of things. But that in your heart it’s best to know the difference between what you’re presented than what your real interests may be and not hedge your bets and be on the fence like Vega from Street Fighter who is a henchman for The Man. The Abnorm suggests that within each of us the natural capacity for detecting bullshit that goes against our best interests. Watch the animated lyric video for “Innocence” on YouTube and follow The Abnorm at the links provided.

soundcloud.com/abnormalx
twitter.com/TheAbnorm
facebook.com/The-Abnorm-109930092395608
instagram.com/theabnorm

Skinjobs Torches the Hypocrisy of Traditional Sexual Mores on New Single “Breathe”

Skinjobs2_sm — Skinjobs, photo courtesy the artists

On its new single “Breathe,” Helsinki’s Skinjobs injects some more grit into its bright, atmospheric melodies. Fitting for a song that explores the nature of a relationship with complicated dynamics that go beyond the boundaries of the traditional relationship and traditional conceptualizations of what relationships should be. Katja Laaksonen’s vocals are commanding and controlled, directed and pointed in deflating the hypocrisy of conventional sexual mores through highlighting how people often really live while articulating the rawness and undeniability of attraction. It’s a subject often written about in rock music but rarely so candidly and unapologetically. The fiery music bursting about the words and raw noise searing the edges of the song are the perfect manifestation of the lyrics. Listen to “Breathe” on Soundcloud, watch the lyric video on YouTube and follow Skinjobs at the links provided.

soundcloud.com/skinjobsband
skinjobs2019.bandcamp.com
facebook.com/skinjobs2019

“5 AM” by KYENORD is a Luminously Chill Song Outlining the Late Night Contemplation of The Signs That the Relationship Was Over Before it Started

KYENORD1_sm — KYENORD, photo courtesy the artists

The dusky, downtempo synth melody on “5 AM” that is the backdrop to KYENORD’s Linn Östlund’s resigned vocals evokes that feeling when you’ve been up all night thinking too much about a tough decision long considered to end a relationship. The sense impressions are vivid with words about how the lover in question is always cold because their circulation is worse than that of the narrator and that they’re “holding me but it never helps.” The sample of raindrops and the way the tones steam into the fog of night before the dawn can interrupt the introspective and mournful but weary mood that has paradoxically allowed a moment of emotional clarity to become undeniable. The experience depicted seems so specific in the details but perhaps relatable to anyone who has been in a long term relationship that seems to no longer make sense and all of the things that should have been warning signs that it wouldn’t work out drift into your psyche one night making your soul restless deep into the night. “5 AM” is the first track from the new KYENORD EP Mellow Drama and you can listen to the song on Soundcloud and the rest of the EP on Spotify.

Mingo Orchestrates the Musical Analogs of Deep Space Cosmic Forces on “Quasar”

Mingo1_sm — Mingo, photo courtesy the artist

A cosmic wind as white noise pitched to have an abstractly tonal quality ushers in the intertwining lines of distorted, textural synth and phasing melody of “Quasar” by Mingo. The oscillating undertones suggest a trip through the depths of space with bright objects giving off even repeating signals that intersect with other signals like an intergalactic symphony. Utilizing a similar structure and dynamic as mid-70s Tangerine Dream, Mingo uses loops and sequencing and adding effects in real time to take the raw material of electronic sounds and using the processing end as a compositional tool. Did he take a mathematical model of an actual quasar and use it to craft an element of the music like the rhythmic, gritty synth part? Maybe not, but it sounds as though Mingo modeled various phenomena in space and orchestrated their character together for this transporting and playful track. Listen to “Quasar” on Soundcloud and follow Mingo, a contributor to NPR music programs Hearts of Space and Star’s End, at the links below.

soundcloud.com/mingo-sphere
youtube.com/user/sonarwebnet
twitter.com/mingosfear
instagram.com/mingosphere

Will Samson’s “Ochre Alps” and its Music Video Depict the Transcending of Deep Anguish Through Forcing Your Mind Down Alternate Pathways

WillSamson1_sm — Will Samson, photo courtesy the artist

Will Samson’s album Paralanguage, due out December 6 through Wichita/PIAS, was inspired by his first and only experiment with microdosing psilocybin in the wake of his father’s death in 2012. The songwriter fell into a long spell of despair and psychic unmoorment and having learned about the controversial use of psilocybin as a treatment for persistent psychological trauma he underwent a program of taking in the substance under controlled conditions. The lead single from the album “Ochre Alps” features nearly falsetto vocals and strings that are at once doleful and soothing as if releasing pain through the musical equivalent of sublimation. It sounds like motes of early morning sunlight and waking feeling lighter than you did the night before. Musically it sits at the intersections of folk, modern classical and indie pop. The accompanying music video features two blindfolded figures that are figuring out how to interact with their environment with a new set of parameters with which to do so. It is symbolic, perhaps, of Samson’s own experience with his wife in learning to reconnect with the world on different terms with some of the anguish of his loss evaporated in the light of a new kind of mental clarity. Listen to “Ochre Alps” on Soundcloud, watch the poetic video on YouTube and follow Will Samson at the links provided.

open.spotify.com/artist/6VBJxxPZ84ty9nR1nFkNNx
facebook.com/willsamsonmusic
instagram.com/will.samson

The Unconventional Structure and Subject Matter of State Park Ranger’s “The Will (feat. Cowbaby)” Makes it the Rare Strikingly Original Indie Folk Song

StateParkRanger1_crop — State Park Ranger, photo courtesy the artists

The pacing of State Park Ranger’s “The Will (featuring Cowbaby)” feels like an evolving sketch with details added as the picture and melody develop organically. It sounds almost as though we’re hearing the song being written as it goes, guided by an intuitive process and deep listening between the artists. It’s an impressionistic compositional style that subverts most current trends of songwriting in the realm of folk or indie alternative. There is no verse chorus interchange, rather the song’s progress travels in one direction exploring the Nietzschean concept of “the will” in the words but fleshing it out musically in an abstract form of indie pop like an even more subdued and introspective Neutral Milk Hotel. We hear familiar sounds but employed and set out in a way that dares not to follow the same musical paths we’ve been conditioned to hearing when that palette of sounds is utilized. That alone makes this song a fascinating listen as it does end and concludes but doesn’t resolve in a conventional sense making it similar in a way to some of Nietzsche’s enigmatic epigrams. Listen to the song on Spotify and follow State Park Rangers at the links provided.

music.apple.com/us/artist/state-park-ranger/1450085997
soundcloud.com/user-296456870
open.spotify.com/artist/30v98RhkhDjmCBleTisCG3
stateparkranger.bandcamp.com

“Stand Your Ground” is the Triumphant Anthem For an Indie Comedy Nerd Action Hero Movie Yet to Be

PeterArvidson1_crop — Peter Arvidson, photo courtesy the artist

Peter Arvidson’s “Stand Your Ground” sounds like a mixture of 80s popular music weaving together jangle/college rock, synth pop and anthemic New Wave. Some unusual mix of The Smithereens, Let’s Active and A Flock of Seagulls. Its electronics bring together chiptune elements with more vintage synths melodies to give it a retro-modern vibe so that it would be difficult to identify its musical era except for the fact that pretty much no one was mixing all those styles in songwriting until recent years. And yet, the song doesn’t feel kitschy, its message about self-empowerment and staying focused on our goals in the face of challenges sincere. One imagines this song in a current independent cinema comedy story about heroic nerds in an unironic fashion the way the music of Survivor was employed in a 1980s Sylvester Stallone vehicle. Listen to “Stand Your Ground” on Spotify and follow Peter Arvidson at the links below.

musicsubmit.com/peterarvidson
open.spotify.com/artist/0jnQgLNVrTnOzcXIpK65v1