New Music – Page 244 – Queen City Sounds and Art

“Paranoia de Nuevo American” by Anchorbaby is a Broodily Urgent Examination of Topical Cultural Tensions

Anchorbaby1_sm — Anchorbaby, photo courtesy the artist

Ricky Shimo may be on your radar because of his great, noisy psychedelic rock band Lenguas Largas. Anchorbaby is a bit different, more stripped down and all Shimo’s creative vision. If his new single “Paranoia de Nuevo Americano” is any indication, it’s a more direct songwriting style reminiscent of early offerings from The Soft Moon. The driving, mid-range accented bass line, the lyrics in Spanish, the urgency of the vocals and the fuzzed out yet ethereal guitar work suggests a menacing landscape reflective of the way Shimo felt when he first moved to the United States. There’s the image the nation likes to project and insist is true then there’s the reality of life in the USA, especially if you’re an immigrant from any part of Latin America. That Shimo named this project Anchorbaby is political and the song title is easy enough to suss out unless you’ve managed to get through life living in the USA picking up no bit of Spanish and are completely clueless about the shared linguistic roots of English and Español. All of the Americas are polyglot, multi-racial, multi-ethnic societies whether certain people want to accept the reality or otherwise and this song speaks directly to those tensions over such considerations. Look for the album Groovysmo out soon on Midtown Island Records. Listen to “Paranoia de Nuevo Americano” on Bandcamp and follow Anchorbaby at any of the links below.

Groovysmo by Anchorbaby

artists.spotify.com/c/artist/3td16HR8l9RIiNhvK60zqp/profile
youtu.be/XlFQprWVyC8
facebook.com/ricky.shimo
instagram.com/rickycustodioshimomoto

Outside The Academy’s Raucus “M.Y.O. Fiction” is a Much-Needed Pinprick to This Era’s Political Pomposity

OTA_Upside-DownLayeredCosmic_sm — OTA, photo courtesy the artist

“You’re a fuckwit” is not a line you hear in many songs. But in Outside The Academy’s “M.Y.O. Fiction” the band lays out some serious sarcasm wrapped up in its wiry and urgent noise punk. In doing so the group bares an understandable frustration with a political milieu where everyone imagines themselves an expert no matter what they know or their relative level of knowledge and forget remember one’s humanity when dealing with “the other.” It doesn’t sound like some simpering centrist call for “civility” in an era when a mythical notion of such went out the window given the corruption rife in the economic and the political system most places even in the face of environmental breakdown threatening all life as we’ve ever consciously known it. The internecine strife when actual fascists seem to operate openly and protected by the police. The insistence of purity in some realms of one’s life but not others and holding everyone to a standard you couldn’t adhere to if the tables were turned with a different set of criteria thereof. And to top it all off that the drudgery of the political as we know it now needing to dominate and permeate all art and creative expression or it has to be seen as some low rent version of “counter revolutionary.” We are there and Outside TheAcademy’s “M.Y.O. Fiction” (presumably “Mind Your Own Fiction” but interpretations will vary) is a send up of all of it. You can tell from the lyrics that all of that matters but to survive these times intact we’re going to have to not dissect everyone and everything all the time in the process. In a crisis it’s too easy to forget that your knowledge of everything is as limited as your universal expertise so best to maintain a little existential humility. Listen on Soundcloud and follow Outside The Academy at the links below.

soundcloud.com/outsidetheacademy
open.spotify.com/artist/0yJaXRFo7sYuUK69i5Z4d7
outsidetheacademy.bandcamp.com
twitter.com/O_T_A
facebook.com/OutsideTheAcademy

The Titular Character of “Mr. Polydactyl Cat” by Levitation Room is the Trickster Gangster We Need in Must See Video

“Mr. Polydactyl Cat” by Levitation Room sounds like some kind of 1960s garage rock lounge song and surreal enough on its own. But the video with a human-sized cat in a suit and early in the video bogarting a joint only to run to escape and get hit by a car and knocked right into animated cat Heaven?In that section we see the cat as can of cat food and the full range of cat evolution. But hey, guess what? Our scallywag hero wakes up and makes off with the car like a boss who discovers a bag of cash on the front seat. And gold coins. Some cats merely have nine lives, this cat is luckier than that until he wrecks the car on someone’s lawn and collapses on his porch. But maybe it was all the musings of the cat at the end of the video watching a mysterious being on television calling him back to the homeworld. What is the exact nature of Mssr. Polydactyl Cat? Is it just the extra toes that gives him the preternatural ability to dodge out of trouble like an interdimensional trickster traveler? We may never find out but maybe Levitation Room will clue us into more of the hijinks when its album Headspace comes out on Oct 4, 2019 through Greenway Records. Follow Levitation Room at its Soundcloud account.

soundcloud.com/levitation-room

Ivar Wigan’s Treatment of the Video For One Eleven’s “American” Matches Supernatural Horror to the Song’s Transporting Melodies

OneEleven1_lg_crop — One Eleven, photo courtesy the artists

Ivar Wigan took One Eleven’s song “American” and made a video with some choice visual references one might infer like The Wicker Man, John Boorman’s hazy, surreal atmospheres and The Blair Witch Project. Like a supernatural horror film invoking ancient religions and dream visions. It suits the song with its rich soundscapes and breathy, Toni Halliday-esque vocals and brooding dynamics. Guitarist Ollie had been playing with Roxy Music for some time when he met singer Fyah who was working for Bryan Ferry and helping with recording sessions with Prince. So the sophistication of the songwriting and the production should come as no surprise. That the song also courses through your imagination with its transporting melody is not something everyone with a similar background and chops manages to accomplish. The duo will perform Wednesday, October 23, 2019 at The Bermondsey Social Club in London.

soundcloud.com/user-420210294-345932521
https://open.spotify.com/artist/5vjo7iIjY0MFytklVwoe7V

Mestozi’s “Tilted” is an Introspective Noise Jazz Hip-Hop Meditation on Being Put Off by a Friend

Mestozi1_sm — Mestozi, photo courtesy the artist

You buy a reel-to-reel recorder at a garage sale and use it to splice together samples of record white noise and a simple piano melody, reverse delay guitar recorded backward for even trippier effect, analog synth arpeggios gone wrong and spit an introspective set of bars over the top. That’s what it sounds like Mestozi did but obviously the production is more pristine than that but that the songwriter/producer had the imagination to pull so many disparate elements together in this way that sounds like it could be some kind of avant-garde electronics track with elements of abstract jazz is impressive. It, in fact, sounds like the musical equivalent of a pinball machine that has tilted with the attendant more modern meaning of the word applying as well. The lyrics hint at being knocked out whack by the off-putting actions and words of a friend. Fans of Dilla, cLOUDDEAD and Blockhead will appreciate what Mestozi does on “Tilted” and how it pushes notions of what can be done in hip-hop ever so slightly. Listen to “Tilted” on YouTube and follow Mestozi at the links provided.

open.spotify.com/track/6EArLVdLteBNJCKzwuhgYc
mestozi.bandcamp.com/album/peak-communication

Pencey Sloe’s “All OK” is a Song About Living Life Without Unnecessary Filters

PenceySloe1_sm — Pencey Sloe, photo courtesy the artists

Benjamin Berzerker’s video for Pencey Sloe’s “All OK” reflects the enigmatic quality of the band’s twin melodies, one bright and ethereal, the other textured and gritty. The image of the red cloth around the man’s head like a rose-colored shroud is more original than merely saying someone is living with their head in the clouds but that the filter can be removed if you really want it to and that if you walk out of your usual contexts and take on the world on its own terms it will, indeed, be OK. The soaring dynamic of the song recurving in on itself as the percussion moves forward in a steady procession while warm yet ghostly vocals all but whisper the narrative of stasis and liberation from your internal oppressor set this song and band apart from the crowd of neo-shoegazers of the past decade and a half. Watch the Berzerker video below and follow Pencey Sloe on Bandcamp where the group will release its debut album Don’t Believe, Watch Out on September 27.

penceysloe.bandcamp.com/album/don-t-believe-watch-out

“Close To You” by Felines Draws You Into Its Embrace With Melancholic and Emotionally Refined Tones

Felines1_sm — Felines, photo courtesy the artists

With a sinuous bass line, breathy vocals and hanging guitar chords, Felines’ “Close To You” creates a dreamlike soundscape reminiscent of Sonic Youth’s “JC,” the song about Joe Cole. But the shimmer of of synths comes in to give a sense of the otherworldly mixed in with a wistful hazy quality that gives a different sort of emotional coloring to a song with a nostalgic undertone. When the vocals, the bass, guitar and drums pull apart ever so slightly it opens the song up in a way that allows it to hit your ears at a pleasantly slightly off angle while easing off the established dynamic and seeming to switch the momentum of the song fluidly. “Close To You” is bittersweet and melancholic in its romantic undertones with a spare musical complexity worthy of its refined emotional sensibility. The Copenhagen-based band will soon release its first EP Saying It Twice Makes It Real through Crunchy Frog and Burger Records. Listen to the song on Soundcloud and follow Felines at the links below.

soundcloud.com/the-felines
facebook.com/felinescph
instagram.com/felinescph

Glass Spells’ Darkwave Disco Song “Don’t Save Me” is a Plea For Authenticity in an Era of Mediated Personality

GlassSpells1_sm — Glass Spells, photo courtesy the artists

On “Don’t Save Me” Glass Spells uses the sound of an upbeat melody and urgent rhythm, in the classic mode of post-punk, to make a disheartening point about humanity while giving you something for the message go down better. The lyric “I took the darkness of your lies, the unknown pleasures of your past” speaks much when followed by “Don’t save me now, don’t tell me how” to the way so much, not just online but in our everyday lives, is mediated so that many people think they can just change in and out of identities and personalities like their personal history never happened and as though regular human attachments including the reality of your life as a mortal human is contingent as long as it suits a narrative however questionable. The song is like a plea for something authentic in a person and in experiences in an era where presentation seems to have more cachet than the genuine article. Fans of Violet Tremors, early Ladytron and The Vanishing will appreciate the way this trio crafts synth-driven post-punk in a way that transcends the conventions and embraces the way you can make a disco and electroclash beat moody and urgent. Listen to “Don’t Save Me” on Soundcloud and follow Glass Spells at the links provided.

soundcloud.com/glassspells
open.spotify.com/artist/6a4xrf2tjp1zo2osASzWOQ
youtube.com/channel/UCjAnoxEiHwLVg9q6dP6qvtA
facebook.com/GlassSpells

Margot Polo’s “Let’s Get Out” is a Celebration of the Mythical Endless Summer of Our Youths

MargotPolo1_sm — Margot Polo, photo courtesy the artist

“Let’s Get Out” on the surface level is a summer love chillwave anthem. The ascending, bright melodies and expansive vocals and the kind of rhythm that sounds like you’re gearing yourself up to be motivated to make it a great summer or at this late stage in the season one last hurrah before the weather begins its descent into colder temperatures. It’s a celebration of long nights indulging hedonistic fun. But David Provenzano, whose solo project Margot Polo happens to be, gives us details about the experiences he relates outside the choruses that give the song some concretizing vividness including some inside jokes for those in the know as with the line “Have you ever felt like you’ve come undone, like you want to go west on Highway 1” to indicate that you want to do something reckless since Highyway 1 runs north and south. References to the moon on the ocean and being shown the constellations on someone’s phone and other refinements makes the song a kind of fantasy about getting away from the humdrum of the everyday which is perfectly safe in the daydream world of a song and Margot Polo (points for an inspired project name) invites us to take that mythical road trip in our minds for a few moments to transport us to a place where summer never ends and it’s a time when some, if not most of us, can remember a time when we were free to do as we will for what seemed like forever. Listen to “Let’s Get Out” on Soundcloud and follow Margot Polo at the links below. Look for Margot Polo’s debut, 5-song EP out in the fall.

soundcloud.com/margotpolomusic
open.spotify.com/artist/3jtBwwaY0omFKTca8WmY7i
margotpolo.bandcamp.com/releases
twitter.com/margotpolomusic
facebook.com/margotpolomusic

“Hear Me” is Dominic Sen’s Reconciliation of Pop Star Ambitions and Being a Science Fiction and Fantasy Nerd

DominicSen2_crop — Dominic Sen, photo courtesy the artist

You probably don’t need to know that Dominic Sen is something an alter ego of Alexandra Lily Cohen and the seventh only surviving child of the black hole at the center of the galaxy called M64 who barely survived being swallowed by the event horizon and made their way way to Earth where pop music, fandom and the mythology of stars (movie, music etc.) proved enduringly fascinating to appreciate “Hear Me.” You probably don’t need to be immersed in a ton of nerdy lore to appreciate the signifiers in the retro-futurist science fiction themed music video. You don’t even need to have read John Christopher’s The Tripods, A.E. Van Vogt, Octavia Butler, Ada Palmer, Ann Leckie, Yoon Ha Lee, Jy Yang or Samuel R. Delaney to understand the song or its video, though that knowledge helps contextualize how deep the creativity and conceptualization runs with the song. But none of that would matter as much of the song itself wasn’t an emotional journey written as a charming dream pop song with unconventional percussion to give it exotic highlights. The song is a evocation of the experience of being objectified rather than being heard and appreciated as a full human being. That the song is upbeat and bright more than hints that Dominic Sen isn’t interested in being so defined by other people and free to let go of attempts to pen them in. In a way it’s symbolic of Cohen’s writing songs as Dominic Sen as a reconciliation of a writer of cool pop songs and nerdy pursuits and interests from a young age. Watch the video for “Hear Me” below and follow Dominic Sen at the links provided.

dominicsen.com
youtube.com/channel/UCOZdo1EKiddN4QAyqgp__bQ
twitter.com/dominics3n
facebook.com/dominics3n
instagram.com/dominic.sen