Category: New Music

Vergo |Kraven | Dario Ferrara’s “Miles Away” is a Crossover Dark Techno and Darkwave Soundtrack to a Sci Fi Thriller Yet to Be

VergoKravenDarioFerrara1_crop
Vergo | Kraven | Dario Ferrara, Space & Time EP cover (cropped)

“Miles Away,” from the Space & Time EP (Bassoff Records) by Vergo | Kraven | Dario Ferrara is a dark techno track that wouldn’t be out of place in a Nicolas Winding Refn science fiction thriller set in Berlin. The sound is a blend of French techno and Italian trance but the spiraling, distorted synth work driving the track, that later gives way temporarily to ascending ethereal passages, would crossover well to a darkwave night as its aesthetic is similar to electro industrial but with a different palette of tones and rhythms. The song takes you on a journey and winds you up as it draws you in to let you go into a state of bliss as the song goes to the outro. Listen to “Miles Away” on Spotify where you can also sample the rest of the Space & Time EP and follow the artists at the links provided.

bassoffrecords.com
soundcloud.com/darioferrara
facebook.com/vergo23music
instagram.com/kraven__

Doomed Romance Never Sounded so Sweet or as Hopeful as on Stevie Zita’s “Anastasia.”

StevieZita_Anastasia_cover_crop
Stevie Zita, “Anastasia” cover (cropped)

Stevie Zita strikes an adroit balance between the sardonically amused but not jaded, resigned acceptance and hopefulness on “Anastasia.” It’s a song about a troubled girlfriend who seems unaware of her own worth and potential and self medicates with the 80s drug of choice—cocaine. Of course that’s one substance that has come back into popularity with a vengeance in this era of being pushed to do and be more and to go, go, go at a bare minimum at a pace that will burn out any normal human eventually. The tone of the song is a tacit acknowledgment of letting go that demented way of being. This song captures the mixed emotions and the perhaps doomed romance in the musical parlance of the glam and dream pop end of post-punk. It’s lush and gentle melody almost makes it seem possible that the subject of Zita’s song will indeed discover a way back home to stay after all. That Zita named the song “Anastasia” which means “She who is reborn” suggests that potential not just of Anastasia’s inherent potential as a human but her potential to recreate her life on a healthier basis. Listen to the track on Soundcloud and follow Stevie Zita at the link on the same website below.

soundcloud.com/steviezita

The Minimal Beat of “Sage” by Human Age Allows the Vibrant Melody to Dance Freely

HumanAge_SafeEmergencyEP_cover_crop
Human Age, Safe Emergency EP cover (cropped)

The minimalist percussion of “Sage” by Human Age, is an interesting foundation for the flaring, colorful melody to unfold upon. It provides the texture and the momentum of the song while sounding so delicate itself. Like one of those wire frames of large sculptures, the weak nuclear forces without which matter cannot exist. It’s reminiscent of the way Four Tet will hang an extended panoply of sounds and moods on a spindle of rhythm to keep time while modulating that rhythm slightly while the melody and atmospheres take the foreground and dance about and fill in the sonic framework. The melody here feels like taking in a breath and noticing nuances of flavor and texture in your lungs for the first time and the minute diversity of each with every breath with each passage. That the song reflects a psychedelic experience the composer had at Joshua Tree should come as no surprise but it is incidental to the enjoyment of a short song that seems so simple but offers an ever changing array of sonic experience. Listen to “Sage” from Human Age’s Safe Emergency EP and follow the artist at the links below.

soundcloud.com/humanagemusic
open.spotify.com/artist/2Xv8LwqhmKSjRB5K2vCYCV
instagram.com/human__age
https://linktr.ee/HumanAge

Emiji’s “Ambient Trip” Iteration of “Mystical Thoughts” is Like a Cleansing Stream of Tranquil Waters

Emiji1_crop
Emiji “Mystical Thoughts (Ambient Trip)” cover (cropped)

This “Ambient Trip” iteration of Emiji’s song “Mystical Thoughts” reflects is reflected in the various permutations of the cover art to give a different cast and emphasis on a theme. The geometric artwork suggests Emiji hears the mathematical roots of the sounds and their connection to one another and their relationships and put the track together with the organic flow in mind the way one might model weather systems, the way Ryoji Ikeda has mapped out generative sound that seems to follow no formal logic but whose vectors are explicable through mathematical modeling and representation with a visual component. But without knowing any of this, Emiji’s song can be enjoyed as a blissful, slow moving cascade of soothing sound that flows over your conscience like a tranquil water, cleansing the mind of anxious thoughts. Listen to “Mystical Thoughts (Ambient Trip)” on Soundcloud and follow Emiji at the links provided.

emijimusic.com
facebook.com/emijimusic
instagram.com/emijimusic

Mateo Paz’s Remix of M0narch’s “654” Takes Us On Journey Through Snow Terrain Under Moonlight

MateoPazAndM0narch1_crop
The Best of COOD cover, cropped

This version of “654” is a remix Mateo Paz did for M0narch’s original in October 2018 and is now available on the COOD Music compilation The Best of COOD. It has the structure and mood of progressive trance which tells you little except that the percussion is soft and moves forward with a mechanical precision with the smallest changes evolving over time and that the melodies over the top are ethereal and instilling a chill mood. But this song is reminiscent of late 70s and early 80s Tangerine Dream in suggesting a cinematic counterpart to the music. Something composed as a companion to an emotional journey. The lightly distorted synths speak of passing through snowy terrain under moonlight contemplating an uncertain future but feeling comfortable with the choice to pursue it. Listen to “654” on Soundcloud and look to the links below to purchase The Best of COOD, to follow Mateo Paz and to further explore the COOD catalog and the labels future releases.

Purchase The Best Of COOD
www.beatport.com/release/the-best-of-cood-vol-01/2643968

Mateo Paz
www.twitter.com/mateopazmusic
www.instagram.com/mateopazmusic
www.mateopaz.com
https://www.youtube.com/channel/UCBykxC6bnfAwhAzZL7wXBQQ
www.soundcloud.com/mateopazmusic

COOD Music
www.soundcloud.com/coodmusic
www.beatport.com/label/cood/68920

Haneke Twins Bring a Broad and Powerful Tonal Range to its Urgent and Harrowing Classic Post-Punk Sound on “Deep”

HanekeTwins2_sm
Haneke Twins, photo courtesy the artists

Swiss post-punk band Haneke Twins may channel or tap into some obvious musical reference points on its new single “Deep,” like Paul Banks’ rich baritone in the vocals and the driving, melodic bass line that is the hallmark of any post-punk worth listening to. The drumming, though, pushes the headlong urgency of the song and accenting the momentum of the beat with splashes of cymbal like heavy rains. The guitars are cutting and seething like the high end got the boost. This mix of sound allows for the bass, vocals and guitar to occupy distinct frequency ranges giving the track some subtle power. “Deep” may sound like it could have come out in post death rock 1983 but the way the band has arranged where the sounds lie speaks to a knowledge of modern production techniques and the influence of newer music and thus it never really sounds like Haneke Twins are trying out a style du jour. Also, compliments on the name referencing controversial filmmaker Michael Haneke. Listen to “Deep” on YouTube and follow Haneke Twins at the links below.

soundcloud.com/haneke-twins
haneketwins.bandcamp.com/releases
twitter.com/HanekeTwins

Daddy Who’s Hypnotically Looping “Space Jam” is Like Hold Music For Making Reservations at the Restaurant at the End of the Universe

DaddyWho2_crop
Daddy Who, image courtesy the artist

Not to be confused with the Quad City DJ’s song of the same name at all, Daddy Who’s “Space Jam” is like a loop of shimmering synth over bursts of ascending horn samples, a downtempo jazz rhythm and vocals that almost come across like voice synthesizer pieces or odd artifacts from pre-recorded announcements processed to fit that perfect tonal and textural moment at the beginning and at the end of the track. Is it a ring tone for an incoming call from another galaxy or hold music for The Restaurant at the End of the Universe. It could work as either because the loop fools you into a sense of generative composition as it makes its way hypnotically into your brain. Listen below and follow Daddy Who at the link provided.

Space Jam by Daddy Who

open.spotify.com/artist/35LuXmFMMue04hCQ48qFpR

“Find Me Out” by Ronjo V Perfectly Fuses Southern Rock With Power Pop

RonjoV1_crop
Ronjo V, photo/image courtesy the artist

If Ronjo V is actually a vanity project led by Ryan Joseph of 5th Street Studios in Austin, Texas then the guy has assembled his own Texan version of Argent Studios because the new single “Find Me Out” is like that glorious power pop that came out of the legendary studio. But if some tasty Southern rock licks were added to the mix. The song begins with a jangle-y figure and like something that could have come out of Memphis garage rock of the past decade with more sophisticated production but same kind of raw melodicism and verve a lot of that music seems to possess. The guitar leads help the song shine with some creative riffing that help to propel the song as much as the spare yet expressive rhythm section. In a lot of music that’s mining the classic rock era there are excessive guitar solos but in embracing that sound all the solos serve the song well and with a diversity of composition that helps keep this song sounding fresh beginning to end. Listen on Soundcloud and follow Ronjo V at the links provided.

soundcloud.com/ronjov
open.spotify.com/artist/2IitCAORDIHEZ8KNWJ8SuS
facebook.com/ronjovmusic
instagram.com/ronjovmusic

DEADBEAR’s “Black Sheep is Meaty” is a Dazzling Whirlwind Dub Downtempo Trip Through Non-Western Music Samples

Deadbear_WorldMusicMarket_cover_crop
DEADBEAR, World Music Market cover (cropped)

Be prepared to go through the gauntlet of rhythms and musical styles to a pounding and evolving beat throughout DEADBEAR’s “Black Sheep Is Meaty.” DEADBEAR’s Nick Donovan sampled eleven different records bought at his local flea market and blended them together with nearly orchestral melodic electronic passages and robust electronic bass so that recordings pressed to vinyl in the 50s and 60s could come to life in a new way to highlight the world as it is and not as defined in reference to Western culture. The track comes from World Music Market due out August 16 (see Bandcamp link below) and across the album you will hear Korean court music, Yemeni and Tibetan folk, Sudanese prayer songs, Syrian dance music and other sounds that might seem like an exotic affectation elsewhere but here the power and vitality of that music is retained if presented outside its original context and format. He profits from sales of World Music Market will go to charities that help integrate refugees into Western communities and itself an example of true multiculturalism as exists in Donovan’s now home city of Berlin where various cultures co-exist without necessarily having to assimilate, which is also the sound of the music on World Music Market. Listen to “Black Sheep is Meaty” on Bandcamp and follow DEADBEAR and this project in particular at the links below.

World Music Market by DEADBEAR

soundcloud.com/deadbearsongs
deadbearsongs.bandcamp.com

Hello Meteor Brings Out the Soulfulness and Fluid Low End of MOLTENO’s Downtempo Environmental Justice Song “Dakota”

Molteno1_sm
MOLTENO, photo by 10K Mega

The Night Water Mix done by Hello Meteor on MOLTENO’s “Dakota” is so immersive you feel like you’ve walked directly into a dream. The low end gently guides you along like you’re floating through MOLTENO’s narrative about the folly of humanity, or at least corporations and capital generally, in thinking it can control and own any natural resource or land in a larger sense. “Dakota” is an obvious reference to the pipeline and how it was built through native land as if it would have no consequences to the world around or the people who live there. The same mentality applies to so much of how our Western civilization conceives of the natural world and each other. In this song MOLTENO more than suggests the foolishness of the mindset that thinks disasters, natural or otherwise, can be dealt with through a simple transactional process with human currency. Hello Meteor enhanced the lush atmospherics of the original, gave the vocals a more soulful flavor and bathed the track in fluid low end for an entrancing version of the song that sticks with you. Listen to the remix on Spotify and follow MOLTENO at any of the links provided.

moltenomusic.com
soundcloud.com/moltenomusic
open.spotify.com/artist/7rAKOEwi4Wp5NXVmmkwd0n
twitter.com/moltenomusic
facebook.com/moltenomusic
instagram.com/moltenomusic