New Music – Page 249 – Queen City Sounds and Art

With Her Song “Red Dust” Kodey Brims Says That Navigating Life With Deep Uncertainty is Not Only Possible But Often Necessary

KodeyBrims4_crop — Kodey Brims, photo courtesy the artist

Kodey Brims seems to use a reverse chord progression to start off her song “Red Dust” before it shifts into a more conventional progression and it serves to give the sense of yearning and seeking of meaning a sense of being outside normal time. The mixture of atmospheres and earthy instrumentals also gives the song a dynamic contrast that allows Brims’ vocals to shine with a wide-ranging soulfulness that feels like Brims is giving up the process of fully figuring out what her life is about and where it’s going to intuition and forces beyond her control as opposed to the folly of thinking you have everything under control. It could be a melancholic song but it comes off as one of trust and hope in the process and the journey more so than a plan that won’t survive contact with realities and events you do not yet know you will encounter. It’s a song about recognizing the tentative nature of our life’s path more than we often care to admit and also about embracing the positive changes that come along as well. Listen to “Red Dust” on Soundcloud and follow Brims at the links below.

soundcloud.com/kodey-brims
youtube.com/user/KodeyLuci
twitter.com/kodeybrimsmusic
facebook.com/kodeybrimsmusic
instagram.com/kodeybrimsmusic

stanleystanley’s Ambient Single “palace of steam” is a Temporary Autonomous Tranquility Zone

StanleyStanley2_sm — stanleystanley, photo courtesy the artist

As the title “palace of steam” suggests, Jordan Russell-Hall as stanleystanley has crafted a soundscape that is both hazy and warm. Fog-enshrouded but luminous. The track drifts in and progresses through a series of melodies layered with complimentary drones that serve as a textural backdrop to the palpable sound of crystalline arpeggiation hitting in a circular pattern before fading into horizon like the end of a dream. For those few minutes, though, you find yourself transported to a place that may be described as a temporary autonomous tranquility zone in the titular location and spending some time perhaps leaning back against the walls of said palace and supported by the fleeting physicality of the place while bright tones wash over and though you to cleans out at least a little of the anxiety and built up angst from everyday living. The song can be found on the new stanleystanley EP beside myself out on The Ambient Zone imprint. Listen to “palace of steam” on Bandcamp and follow stanleystanley at any of the links provided.

beside myself by stanleystanley

soundcloud.com/stanleystanleyyyy
bandcamp.com/stanleystanley
twitter.com/stanleystanleyJ
facebook.com/stanleystanleyyyy
instagram.com/jordan_stanleystanley

“War On This World” is Jody Glenham’s Dream Pop Song Reminding us We Can and Must Work Together to Meet the World’s Myriad Crises

JodyGlenham1_lg — Jody Glenham, photo courtesy the artist

Jody Glenham seems to be challenging people to step up and act to set things on to a better path on “War On This World” by simply asking what we are feeling about and then what are we doing in the face of the challenges we are collectively facing. The song’s expansive and triumphant progression growing from quiet, even meek, gentle beginnings is like a metaphor for how a movement for positive change can snowball into an unstoppable force from humble origins and individual efforts that grow into global action. The dreamily melodic synth and guitar lines keep pace with the drums which seem to propel the song forward to emotional and sonic heights reminiscent in a way of Lower Dens’ way of getting under your skin in ways you welcome for their mood lifting and energizing effect even as the atmospheres are melancholic. Listen to “War On This World” on Soundcloud and follow Glenham and her band The Dreamers at the links provided.

jodyglenham.bandcamp.com
twitter.com/jodygthatsme
facebook.com/jodyglenham
instagram.com/summerwitch

Dean Manning Shows How You Can Handle the Pain of a Bad Breakup With Grace and Humor on “Messy Time”

DeanManning1_Crop — Dean Manning, photo courtesy the artist

Dean Manning’s metaphors and imagery on “Messy Time” are evocative and unusual and the dark, self-deprecating humor could have waxed maudlin about a relationship that has come apart and its aftermath but the tenor of the song is simply one of weary acceptance. Manning doesn’t place the blame for the breakup on anyone and acknowledges his own inability to perceive the signs that things were off. It’s a gentle song that sketches how one’s life can be turned upside down but everyone can come out at the end of that period essentially okay with no need for misplaced rancor. To help him to bring some subtle sonics to the song Manning brought in multi-instumentalist Justin Stanley who brought his skills to recordings with Prince, Leonard Cohen and Beck and Stella Mozgawa, the talented drummer of Warpaint. Fans of Low and Yo La Tengo’s more mellow moments will find Manning’s song charming and resonant. Look for the full record Sunday Mountain out on Manning’s label Cloudy But Fine on September 6. But for now you can listen to the song on YouTube.

Freedom Fry’s “David Bowie” is a Simple Love Song About Rejecting Conformity of Identity in Our Ever Evolving World

FreedomFry3_sm — Freedom Fry, photo courtesy the artists

With its new single “David Bowie,” Freedom Fry once again demonstrates its knack for letting stripped down but sonically rich music serve as a backdrop to a compelling and relatable, if unusual, story. In this case the narrator is someone who can’t help being a weirdo who goes through life dressed up like they’re out of the same science fiction glam universe as David Bowie during his Ziggy Stardust phase. But our storyteller is casually confused by people not accepting their normal because it suits them. And let’s face it, business casual or formal business wear is odd in its own right because it imposes a uniform standard of presenting oneself and thus conformity. In its way it is a form of psychological warfare to normalize behaviors and mindsets that deny your unique human qualities. The narrator of “David Bowie” sees no reason to adhere to such needlessly strict and destructive standards and rejects the laughter of those who have submitted to the will of conditioned and unquestioned behavior. This narrator sanely sets their own standard and speaks nothing of imposing one on others. It’s also a bit of a love song suggesting a like-minded companion has been found who too can shrug off the shackles of a phony sense of normalcy. If anyone was an avatar of making the world accept his eccentricity it was the likes of David Bowie, Prince and Sun Ra but Freedom Fry made David Bowie the icon this time out. Listen to “David Bowie” on YouTube and follow Freedom Fry at the links below.

soundcloud.com/freedomfry
open.spotify.com/artist/195hFqaTDENqLCcG8uGtM7
youtube.com/freedomfrymusic
twitter.com/freedomfrymusic
facebook.com/freedomfrymusic

Munya’s Enigmatic “Dove” Weds a Simple Melody With Complex Emotional Content

Munya2_sm — Munya, photo courtesy the artist

In Munya’s “Dove” there is a bit of the same atmospheric character that makes music by Chromatics seem timeless and out of the current frame of cultural reference. As though, technological considerations aside, this song could have come out in the late 50s or in the mid-60s. The crystalline guitar, bird sounds and Josie Boivin’s vocals with the French lyrics seem to be coming from another place and another era. Like if Françoise Hardy got into making chill synth pop in the 1980s for a movie David Lynch made under a different name that wasn’t Alan Smithee but a secret cult movie to rediscover in future decades and one that embraced the romanticism at the heart of his films more so than the darkness. Whatever the inspirations or the aims of the song it is tapping into a complex array of emotions while seeming, on the surface, simple if otherworldly. Listen to “Dove” on Soundcloud and Boivin’s project Munya at the links below.

soundcloud.com/munyamusic
open.spotify.com/artist/0JnhdXEQfVjoY1OgwTExwO
munya.bandcamp.com
facebook.com/munyamusic
instagram.com/munyamusic

“Black Lion’s” Downtempo Song “Survive ft. Testament & Ray Robinson” Conveys a Sense of Hope and Striving Against Everyday Challenges

BlackLion1_lg — Black Lion, photo courtesy the artists

“Survive,” the new single by Canadian hip-hop duo Black Lion, features contributions from Testament and Ray Robinson. Ostensibly a hip-hop song with the beat structure and sampling you’d expect from someone selecting some tastefully atmospheric sounds to convey a sense of striving and hope against everyday challenges. But the mood and lush tone is more reminiscent of downtempo and trip hop. Maybe it’s the small details Rich Lindo and JR “Heny” Lindo place into the mix like Massive Attack did all over Blue Lines. Little tones and textures to give the beat an internal diversity that is the foundation for the vocal rhythm while also giving the listener that extra hook to draw you in to what the song has to say about maintaining positive mental attitude when too many things in your life including your own mind want to erode your effectiveness as a human to attain even the most modest of dreams. Listen to “Survive” on Spotify and follow Black Lion at the links provided.

itunes.apple.com/ca/artist/black-lion/198183281
soundcloud.com/black-lion-productions
open.spotify.com/artist/7KREsI6YKvT8xoz4w4BuDe

“Boychoir” Finds Noise Punk Band Hissing Tiles Dissecting the Toxic Narratives That Erode Our Lives From Inside and Out

HissingTiles1_crop — Hissing Tiles, photo courtesy the artists

“Boychoir” appropriately sounds atonal, troubled and desperate. Post-punk/noise rock band Hissing Tiles spent some time writing the songs for the album of the same name to explore one of the root sources of violence and social tension and that’s the principal of the masculine and how it manifests in negative ways in culture, belief systems and our own psychology whether we identify as masculine or otherwise. The feedback in the song is like the internalized narratives of what it means to be a “real” man and the social inducements to cling to those ideas regardless of the fallout and consequences we may not even see as negative but simply normal when in fact there’s nothing “normal” about mindsets that warp our perception and thinking and allows us to rationalize oppression. And yet isn’t it true that most people want to be pumped up about something and to be cheered on in their endeavors. The song suggests maybe taking a deep look into what we allow ourselves to be excited about and the manner in which we accept encouragement, to dissect our own pedagogy of desire and realize that we can change our will to perpetuate psychic poison. Listen to the lead track to Boychoir on Soundcloud and follow Hissing Tiles at the links below.

hissingtiles.bandcamp.com
facebook.com/hissingtiles

Chris Child & Micah Frank Evoke a Sense of Ancient Civilization and Technology on Ambient Drone Track “Peering At Dawn”

ChrisChild_And_MicahFrank1_crop — Chris Child & Micah Frank, photo courtesy the artists

“Peering At Dawn” sounds like what might happen if some artificial intelligence from Puma Punku or Göbekli Tepe had somehow made its way to the northeast of the modern United States tasked with creating theme music for the local environment only to be discovered by local explorers in the grotto where this artifact was hidden for millennia and documented its creations to sample through analog synths and old tape machines that occasionally warped the source recordings. It’s that enigmatic and seemingly out of step with standard reality. The same could be said for songs by Boards of Canada and Seefeel where alternate realities seem to blend and put the sounds out of time in their music. It’s reminiscent of weirdo, tripped out library music and thus the sense of having come from another time and place before the modern era but difficult to accurately place with its mixture of blurred tones and the background sound like generative sound replicating the sense of phosphenes. The song hails from Chris Child & Micah Frank’s forthcoming release Tape Loops Vol. 1 due out on 8/23 through Foil Imprints. For now, though, listen to “Peering At Dawn” on Soundcloud and follow Chris Child & Micah Frank at the links provided.

twitter.com/kodomoremix
facebook.com/kodomoremix
instagram.com/kodomoremix

Caracol Teams Up With Illa J on “Flooded Field” to Break the Emotional Isolation of a Loved One

Caracol5_cropped — Caracol, photo courtesy the artist

Caracol’s new track “Flooded Field” was written in collaboration with Illa J, the brother of J. Dilla. The song’s structure has well-arranged complexity with downtempo flavor and a reggae cadence with electronic steel drum accents. Its rich synth piano flourishes and splashes of rapidly expanding tonal wash suggest a sound palette drawn from 80s hip-hop production. When Illa J comes in the song exits the ethereal undertones and comes down to earth for a nice passage of vivid imagery to reinforce the message of the lyric “Your heart is a flooded field” and the sense of isolation the narrator of the song feels for the object of her love and a desire to bridge that emotional barrier. It is as though Illa J gives the critical clue to solve the emotional conundrum. The dynamics of the song as it shifts between vocals, moods, rhythmic flavors and an effervescent melody keeps it an interesting and rewarding listen beginning to end. Check out “Flooded Field” on Soundcloud and follow Caracol at the links below.

twitter.com/caracolmusic
facebook.com/caracolmusic
instagram.com/caracolmusic