New Music – Page 287 – Queen City Sounds and Art

“People Can Change” by Troy Meadows is Like Bill Callahan after a Beefheart Bender

TroyMeadows2_crop — Troy Meadows, photo courtesy the artist

Troy Meadows is the project name for the songwriting of D. Klein from North Jersey. The song “People Can Change” is remarkable for its unusual arrangements and insistent percussion, which can be an odd listen at first but the textures have a charm that jibes well with the almost shouted, clipped vocal line. In some ways it’s like if the Minutemen had done a Bruce Cockburn cover or Bill Callahan after a Trout Mask Replica bender. The guitar cadence initially seems at odds with every other element but the masterfully accented, interlocking rhythms gives the impression of compound time also giving it hypnotic quality that is so not obvious it’s only after listening to the song at least a couple of times that it hits you. The album from which “People Can Change” hails is 2018’s Adelaide and you can delve more into Klein’s unique musical vision at troymeadowsmusic.com and troymeadows.bandcamp.com.

Tash’s “Dreaming” is the Perfect Song for Introspective Rainy Afternoons

Tash1_crop — Tash, photo courtesy the artist

Who can’t relate to Tash’s words in her new song “Dreaming” in which she sings of regret wishing the mysterious experience in question had only been a dream. The song is introspective and smoky, Tash’s expressive vocals are mildly breathy and reminiscent of Fiona Apple-esque at her jazzy best. The musical accompaniment a sort of progressive, smooth jazz with plucked, minimal guitar lead underneath a gentle strum that holds the rhythm almost as much as the beautifully accented drumming. The subtle phasing in the ultra tasteful processing of sounds gives the song a timeless quality like Tash could have been touring with Sade in the 80s or performing in a hip after hours club at the space port of an intergalactic hub. Exotic yet familiar, this downtempo gem seems like a perfect song for a spring afternoon post-rain shower. With the song produced and arranged by Mark J. Feist (who has produced for, oh, Beyonce, Mary J. Blige, Tyga and many others not to mention his impressive songwriting credentials), it will hopefully find a wider audience outside Tash’s home country of Australia. Take in the song for yourself below.

Kin Capa’s “Sum1” is a Bracing Power Pop Gem in an Age of Uncertainty

KinCapa_TheAmericanOperaActOne_crop — Kin Capa, The American Opera, Act One cover (cropped)

Lee Capa is a multi-instrumentalist and singer whose band Kin Capa recently released its debut album in March 2019. Titled The American Opera Act One, the record isn’t just a sampling of urban American experience with its complexities and challenges rendered with a spirit of yearning to comprehend one’s place in the great big mess while maintaining one’s passion and integrity. The song “Sum1” (listen below) caught my attention because it’s simply a great, jangle-y power pop song that takes some sonic chances with established form including an almost background guitar sound in lightly distorted phasing that gives the track a sense of disorientation but one in which one can let go and trust in one’s instincts and the impermanence of every situation in a fast-moving world to carry the day. The punchy percussion and Capa’s emotive quaver reinforces the perfect impression of bravery in the face of seemingly never-ending uncertainty. Fans of The Raspberries and Dave Edmunds may enjoy this one greatly. The American Opera Act Two is due in the summer. Visit kincapa.com to follow the band’s future adventures in imaginative, finely crafted pop.

Take In Sail By Summer’s Gift For Transforming Personal Gloom Into Beauty with “Fetch You Roses”

SailBySummer_FetchYouRoses_crop — Sail By Summer, “Fetch You Roses” cover

“Fetch You Roses” by Sail By Summer has a power and elegance like a late 70s Giorgio Moroder song transmogrified into a melancholic modern pop song. The bright synths, the luminous melody, the emotionally soaring melody and Casio tone arpeggiation recall Neon Indian’s evocation of nostalgia and reverie in “Fallout.” If “Fetch You Roses” is any indication, William Hut and Jens Kristian of Sail By Summer have created a vehicle for transforming personal gloom and regret into uplifting music without dishonoring the feelings and experiences that inspired the song in the first place. Follow and explore the duo’s work further through any of the links below the song.

sailbysummer.com
soundcloud.com/sailbysummerofficial
open.spotify.com/artist/1KLprSWhIYjqkoLCJ88SLv
youtube.com/channel/UC6KlhkVT56sFlClxrZz7nLg
hqindie.bandcamp.com/music
twitter.com/SailBySummer
instagram.com/sailbysummer

Ghassan’s “Break Some Shit” Erases the Line Between Industrial, Americana and Post-punk

Ghassan1_resize — Ghassan, photo courtesy the artist

The beginning of Ghassan’s song “Break Some Shit” has that kind of shimmering bass tone that sounds like you’re about to hear a version of Tricky’s “Black Steel” (which is, of course, a masterful cover of Public Enemy’s “Black Steel In The Hour of Chaos”) but the meditative/metronomic percussion, wind-like, gritty synth swells and expansive dynamics underlying the dark poetry waxing frustrated nearly to the point of nihilism is a bit what it might be like to hear Tom Waits collaborating with MC 900 Ft. Jesus. Industrial, post-punk Americana? With the rippling soundscape, accented beat and expansive sounds, an impending existential, maybe literal, beatdown has rarely sounded so contemplative.

The Simple Charms of Lofi Legs’ “Dreamin” will Soothe Your Heart

LofiLegs_Dreamin_crop — Lofi Legs “Dreamin” cover (cropped)

On “Dreamin,” San Francisco’s Lofi Legs leave out all sonic distractions from the brilliance of its spare composition. Just Maria Donjacour and Paris Cox-Farr harmonizing with minimal guitar accompaniment. Its charm rests in part due to how it recalls stripping 90s indie pop to the bare essentials, or Low’s more intimate songs or even “After Hours” by The Velvet Underground. It is a prime example of how a few elements can articulate so much with creative arrangements and unvarnished emotional honesty and an elegant delivery. The group has an album called Lamb in the works and you can check out more from Lofi Legs and keep up with their happenings at the links below the song.

Facebook – https://www.facebook.com/lofilegs/?fref=ts

Spotify – https://open.spotify.com/artist/6NSKTNhAAE9RTo3NrGBQu2

Bandcamp – https://lofilegs.bandcamp.com

Instagram – https://www.instagram.com/lofilegacy

Witness the Spare, Soulful, Doleful Americana Noir of Raygun Carver’s “Jesus He’s Right”

RaygunCarver_JesusHesRight_crop — Raygun Carver “Jesus He’s Right” cover (cropped)

Raygun Carver is the moniker under which singer/songwriter Michael Soiseth has been releasing some of his music of late. The latest single is “Jesus He’s Right.” Not a religious song, the tune sounds like something that came out of being on the outs and staying up until dawn trying to come up with the right words to say to the object of one’s love and ditching at least a few hundred couplets before you realize you have to stop trying to overdo it and outsmart yourself. The evocation of tarnished glitter in the lonely, echo-y guitar and the doleful horn in the middle elevates this from the usual folk pop crowd into the realm of urban Americana noir minus the skullduggery.

Walt Disco’s “Strange to Know Nothing” is the Flamboyantly Glam/Goth Pop Song of the Year Thus Far

WaltDisco_3000x3000_A — Walt Disco “Strange to Know Nothing” cover (cropped)

Listening to “Strange to Know Nothing” by Glasgow’s Walt Disco it’s impossible to anyone relatively familiar with glam/Goth/post-punk not to be struck how it’s reminiscent of the eccentric and energetic weirdness of Sparks or The Pop Group with a Heaven 17-esque pop baseline. The impassioned, warbling vocals and the minimalistic guitar riff and synth swells executed in a wonderfully melodramatic fashion makes me personally wonder if San Francisco’s The Sleepers got in a time machine and recorded a new record after listening to only post-punk and ska from the UK made between 1981 and 1986. If this is retro it’s at least borrowing after an original fashion. If that’s the band on the cover, and even if it’s not, rarely has a group of eccentrically dressed yet indisputably cool Goth misfits been so perfectly rendered as a representation of a song as rambunctious yet as haunting as “Strange to Know Nothing.” Listen for yourself below.

The PBS Educational Video/70s Action Thriller Vibe of Freedom Fry’s “The Sun is Gonna Shine On You” is a Winning Combination

FreedomFry1-sm — Freedom Fry, photo courtesy the artist

Freedom Fry has been releasing an EP a month in 2019 and “The Sun is Gonna Shine On Your” comes from the group’s latest offering. The song is gritty yet breezy retro-futurist pop like a 1970s AM radio hit with modern sonic sensibilities. The video is more or less a lyric video but with the shifting, stylized yellow and black pinwheel in motion as the background imagery, it’s like you’re seeing an intermission reel for a lurid action thriller epic set in 1978 with the vibe of a safety video, Schoolhouse Rock and one of those psychedelic shorts in Sesame Street and Electric Company designed to make reading, doing math and learning language as exciting as they can be. Whatever the exact aim of pairing the song with these visuals, there’s no denying the impact. To further explore and keep up with the band’s new releases and other hijinx at any of the links below the video.

The Bergamot’s “Ceasefire” Shines With an Incandescent Spirit

TheBergamot_Ceasefire_crop — The Bergamot “Ceasefire” artwork

“Ceasfire” by Brooklyn, NY-based The Bergamot has a downtempo anthemic quality that reminded me a bit of Low in the past decade and a half. The fantastic vocal harmonies between husband and wife duo Nathaniel Hoff and Jillian Speece going from gently textural verses to ethereal yet forceful choruses is utterly entrancing. All the while the music starts in simple, interweaving layers of percussion, glistening guitar and breezy synths and resolves into triumphant tones. Fans of The Besnard Lakes will appreciate the bright and scintillating take on a psychedelic indie folk. Keep with The Bergamot at any of the following and listen to “Ceasefire” below.

thebergamot.com

@the_bergamot