New Music – Page 49 – Queen City Sounds and Art

Nihiloceros’ Surreal and Poignant “Penguin Wings” is a Fusion of Gritty Power Pop and Noisy Emo

Nihiloceros sounds like an amalgam of sounds and ideas across decades on “Penguin Wings.” The vocal melodies are in moments reminiscent of Lincoln-period They Might Be Giants but the angular, aggressive yet upliftingly melodic guitar riffs with a touch of jangle are like the a fusion of Bob Mould’s post-Hüsker musical projects and the more imaginative end of 2010s emo. The lyrics seem to juxtapose the surreal with the poignant like the band used a cut-up technique to assemble the words to give it a blend of the personal and the fantastical. The song mentions “dark ice balloons” which is also the name of the group’s latest full length that dropped on May 3, 2024 and available on vinyl, digital download and streaming. Listen to “Penguin Wings” on Spotify and follow Nihiloceros at the links provided.

Nihiloceros on Facebook

Nihiloceros on TikTok

Nihiloceros on Instagram

The Hypnotic Pulse and Haunted Echoes of Eudscher’s “RFU318” is a Soundtrack to Liminal Spaces

Eudscher’s enigmatically titled “RFU318” sounds like traveling down a long corridor accompanied by pulsing low end sounds and echoing voices and rattles draw out into fading infinity. The music video presents a series of triangles in black coming at you against a hazy off-white background like markers on that corridor to who knows where. In moments it brings to mind the vibe of those “The Backrooms” videos of liminal spaces parallel to our own regular dimensional space or the mood of the chapters of House of Leaves by Mark Z. Danielewski where the characters find the hidden stairways that go on forever lit by a luminous gray light. It is a sustained drone, only small details change yet it is a little hypnotic ever evolving and holds your attention until the end. Watch the video for “RFU318” on YouTube and follow Eudscher at the links below. The album SN24002 released on April 5, 2024 and includes “RFU318.”

eudscher.com

Queen City Sounds Podcast S4E25: Steven Lee Lawson

Steven Lee Lawson, photo courtesy the artist

Steven Lee Lawson is a singer-songwriter from Denver whose musical exploits date back to the late 90s and early 2000s when as a fledgling musician he was involved in a variety of styles of music including the experimental/krautrock of Zubabi before finding his lane at the edges of Denver’s indie rock scene in the mid-2000s with the more classic pop and Americana-inflected projects like Oblio Duo and its multiple incarnations with then songwriting partner Will Duncan (now of Pleasure Prince). Lawson’s poetic lyrics shed a light on his attempts to come to terms with life challenges and struggles with a society and culture seemingly stuck on boosting dull and crass commercialism and anti-human systems of politics and economy. Lawson also spent some time as a sideman in bands like Ross Etherton and the Chariots of Judah before dropping out of actively being involved in music for a handful of years and then getting back into the joy of creating music again in recent years. Obvious touchstones like Harry Nilsson, Townes Van Zandt, Sparklehorse and Neil Young can be heard in Lawson’s musical DNA but his songs have always seemed deeply personal and idiosyncratic including his new EP Help Is On the Way due out June 27, 2024 and available as a limited edition 7″ through Snappy Little Numbers.

Listen to our interview with Steven Lee Lawson on Bandcamp and follow the songwriter at the links below. There will also be an EP release show with Blacktop Musical at The Broadway Roxy in the downstairs speakeasy on June 27, 2024 at 7pm.

Stream Steven Lee Lawson here

Steven Lee Lawson on Instagram

Danielle Whalebone Yearns for the Solace and Comfort in Tactile, Mundane Normalcy in the Discordant, Industrial Post-punk of “Ordinary Things”

Danielle Whalebone, photo courtesy the artist

Danielle Whalebone’s “Ordinary Things” begins by providing texture and tactile sounds with what sounds like a metallic object being crafted and formed with the repeated sound of metal on metal and resonating drones. There is a chain-like rattle that sounds throughout like a mechanical mantra. Whalebone’s vocals, when they enter the song provides a human touch to what feel like inorganic objects interacting. She sings of being aware of an immense aspect of existence but now she seeks “peace in ordinary things.” The industrial sounds of the song have a post-apocalyptic menace that contrast with that message which is the point. In extraordinary times in the way they are now in all the ways they have been there is a solace to be found in ordinary things and situations. When one has spent much of one’s life in pursuit of the un-ordinary and the remarkable because of how mundane and uninspiring everyday life can be and making art to take one out of those circumstances only to find oneself in situations that set a different standard for what is the usual one can yearn for perceived comfort and stability of ordinary things. Whalebone’s discordant and gloriously noisy song expresses well that contrast and reconciliation of former conflict with instincts and impulses. Listen to “Ordinary Things” on Spotify and follow Whalebone at the links below. Her new album Whispers of Shadows released on May 17, 2024 on streaming, for digital download and as a limited edition vinyl LP.

Danielle Whalebone on Facebook

Danielle Whalebone on YouTube

Danielle Whalebone on Wikipedia

Danielle Whalebone on Instagram

Queen City Sounds Podcast S4E24: Stephen Bluhm

Stephen Bluhm is a songwriter based out of Hudson, New York who released his latest album Out of the Nowhere. Into the Here on April 19, 2024. It is the second full-length from Bluhm and one whose sophisticated, orchestral arrangements lend the songs a cinematic and storybook quality with exquisite details and attentiveness to aspects of production and composition that reminiscent of a The Magnetic Fields or Belle & Sebastian record or the level of richness of aesthetics one associates with a Wes Anderson film. It sounds like something from another era with deeply personal and idiosyncratic yet instantly relatable lyrics. The songs are literate art pop gems with an autumnal flavor that hits as old timey in its sensibilities but not in the folk Americana tradition so much as more in the vein of Rodgers & Hammerstein on the chamber pop and indie folk scale.

Listen to our interview with Stephen Bluhm on Bandcamp and follow the songwriter at the links below. Out of the Nowhere. Into the Here is now available for streaming, digital download and on vinyl.

Stream Stephen Bluhm’s music here.

Stephen Bluhm on Instagram

stephenbluhm.fun

Dick Dudley Dark Surf Rock Post-punk “Meditation” is a Surreal Yet Sincere Inducement to Living in the Moment

“Meditation” is a very different kind of song for Australian post-punk band Dick Dudley. Its lyrics are a kind of guided meditation but one that goes beyond the tranquil self-care of a New Age or non-Western spirituality type of exercise. There is an undercurrent of intensity that suits the slinking sense of menace in the music. The latter sounds like the kind of surf rock you’d hear in Apocalypse Now. If Charlie surfed, that is. Dick Dudley hasn’t been short on irony and subversive humor but this song seems to be playing the messaging fairly straightforward while subverting the form of the guided meditation which can benefit anyone needing to focus on living in this current moment rather than being distracted by the forces that take us out of living in the moment. Listen to “Meditation” on Spotify and follow Dick Dudley on Instagram.

KYCTO’s Progressive Noise Rock “War” is a Musical Embodiment of Chaos and Breakdowns of Widespread Conflict

The angular breakdowns and resolves from direct guitar lines into splayed percussion that KYCTO uses throughout “War” reflects well the horrific subject of the song. The drama, chaos and violence punctuated by periods of deceptive silence finds itself embodied elegantly in the song which introduces some melodic then blaring saxophone that joins the rest of the instrumentation to create an entrancing cacophony with a paradoxically non-linear precision. The song is at the intersection of progressive black metal and noise rock. Like this band listened to a lot of Last Exit and later period Daughters and in moments its reminiscent of the less hyperkinetic and industrial moments of Killl. Listgen to “War” on Spotify and follow KYCTO on Instagram. The project’s album A concert for guitar, voice and drums released May 3, 2024.

Carlos Antonio’s Cinematic and Soulful Downtempo Art Pop Single “Rhodes” is a Song About the Complexities of Being Open About Intimacy

Carlos Antonio, photo courtesy the artist

Carlos Antonio’s breathy vocals seem to come from shadow places in in a late night lounge on “Rhodes.” The downtempo beat, moody strings, horns and harmonic drones flow like a slow moving fog with rhythm and tone integrating perfectly to lend the song a cinematic, orchestral aspect like an especially lush trip-hop song. Although the song has a soulful and vulnerable quality its lyrics outline the complicated social aspects of LGBT intimacy even in the twenty-first century. Antonio’s vocals sound like someone who has long been in the practice of shielding their true self but is now sharing a raw yet sophisticated glimpse into the mixture of passion, fear and desperation that comes from being uncertain how one’s authentic self will be received. Listen to “Rhodes” on Spotify and follow Carlos Antonio on Instagram.

snō Embraces Uncertainty as a Feature of Human Existence on Ambient Pop Single “unsure”

“unsure” by snō is a song seemingly about a tentative relationship with the world around oneself with all its demands and contradictory expectations making it sometimes challenging to have a solid and assured sense of self. The simple guitar figure that runs through the song beginning with the echo of an input jack being plugged in. Though abstract and repetitive the guitar line gives the song a tactile quality while Jacquelin Turner’s vocals flow and drift with an introspective and expressive vulnerability. The song does feel like a journey from uncertainty to acceptance but not one driven by a need to find absolute solutions, rather leaning into the process and into feeling and being because in life your experiences are part of a continuity of existence that don’t always lend themselves well to an outlook oriented toward linear problem solving. The song is part of the EP processing (released April 24, 2024) which has similar themes throughout of coming to terms with not always having the answers or not having any that are enduring all assembled with beautiful ambient soundscapes and gentle textures. Listen to “unsure” and the rest of processing on Spotify and follow snō at the links below.

snō on Apple Music

Kabusa Oriental Choir Brings Commanding Choral Arrangements to its Interpretation of South African Pop Banger “Tshwala Bam”

Kabusa Oriental Choir hails from the Federal Capital Territory of Nigeria known for creative, choir adaptations of popular songs. “Tshawala Bam” was and is a 2024 TikTok viral sensation by South African duo TitoM & Yuppe. Kabusa Oriental Choir turn the relatively pulsating dance pop song very much of its time and place into something that feels slightly more traditional without sacrificing the vitality of the original and its fantastic low end. This version of the song expands upon the vocal possibilities inherent in the song and gives it an even more celebratory spin with multiple voices dropping in to switch up the flavor and tenor throughout further proving the song’s adaptability to multiple contexts and interpretations as evidenced by the more conventional production style remixes of the song that have already come about.