Song Post – Page 153 – Queen City Sounds and Art

Paragon Cause’s Edgily Brooding Downtempo Track “Someone Else” Conjures Imagery of Future Cybernetic Rebels

ParagonCause3_sm — Paragon Cause, photo courtesy the artists

The insistent cybernetic beat and distorted synth washes of Paragon Cause’s “Someone Else” provides a fascinating contrast with the song’s tuneful vocals. Its menace is both sonic and thematic. Like a reminder to oneself to trust one’s own instincts and perceptions rather than listening to “someone else” that might not have your best interests at heart or in matters that are better dealt with personally. The emotional urgency of the track and its enigmatic subject matter makes it seem like a good song for the soundtrack to a more fully realized film version of Æon Flux as its sound spans a 90s cyberpunk vibe and something more of the now looking forward, sounding like an edgily brooding downtempo track. Listen to “Someone Else” on Spotify and follow Paragon Cause at the links provided.

soundcloud.com/paragon_cause
open.spotify.com/artist/40dYcBoVdlxuuHhyJRE8vL
paragoncause.bandcamp.com
twitter.com/ParagonCause
facebook.com/ParagonCause
instagram.com/paragoncause

Age of Reason’s “Morning Song” Captures the Surreal Tranquility of the Big City Night

AgeOfReason2_crop — Age of Reason, image courtesy the artist

When Julia Easterlin’s vocals float over the intricate guitar line of “Morning Smog” by Age of Reason we get a sense that the narrative of the song is coming from someone who has stayed up all night to observe the parts of the day between sunset and sunrise bringing forth insights about human existence as the sun burns away not the fog so much as the smog as the musings, perhaps jotted down, perhaps committed to memory, are happening during a walk through Midtown Manhattan. Distorted keyboard sounds drifting in are like clouds temporarily blocking the moonlight, the shimmery guitar with its own raw distortion is like the choke of morning traffic even before the sun properly takes to the sky. The lyrics seem to take in the proportion of human existence referencing things like “small men, tall towers” and how in that environment it’s easy to feel forgotten and lost in the late hours like Griffin Dunne’s character in After Hours. The song, conceive of and written by songwriter Steve Hudock, perfectly captures the surreal tranquility of a big city at night compared to the hustle and bustle of the daylight hours and how those who live mostly by night for work and by nature relate to the jarring pace of the city during standard business hours. Listen to “Morning Smog” on Bandcamp.

Morning Smog by age of reason

WRENN’s “Psychosexual” is a Poignant,Gritty Pop Song About the Yearning for Authentic Experiences

WRENN_Psychosexual_cover_crop — WRENN, “Psychosexual” cover (cropped)

WRENN’s single “Psychosexual” will get all kinds of comparisons to 90s artists that came out of alternative rock and modern artists who have drawn on that realm of music for inspiration. But WRENN’s clear, melodic vocals alongside bouncy rhythms and guitars both fuzzy and swirly will remind connoisseurs of 90s alternative rock of the likes of Hammerbox and Medicine. Not as weird or as experimental as the latter and not rooted in jangle-y 80s college rock as the former, WRENN fortunately, isn’t really following the musical path of either, it’s just the same willingness to blend diverse musical interests into the songwriting rather than try to fit in within a specific, already established musical niche. The lyrics speak to the vagaries of modern relationships and how so many of our mediated experiences and ways of interacting with the world might be complicating our lives in historic ways and warping our sense of what’s authentic even though we need authentic experiences with authentic people for life to feel like it has any essential meaning. Listen to “Psychosexual” on Soundcloud and follow WRENN at the links below.

https://www.facebook.com/therealwrenn
https://twitter.com/wrenn
https://www.instagram.com/wrenn
https://open.spotify.com/artist/1mUvCFjlnNilmIebNqKYo8

“Southern Hospitality” is Coldway’s Hip-Hop Cruise Through Memphis Looking For the Song’s Namesake in Spirit and in Kind

Coldway2_sm — Coldway, photo courtesy the artist

“Southern Hospitality” depicts the thoughts and the sounds of cruising through Memphis as told by Coldway. The Tennessee city known for being a little on the gritty side but one that has produced some of the country’s most hungry and vital musical artists. Coldway displays a demanding swagger that challenges the city’s rep for both inspiring a determination born of a challenging social environment and the kind of Southern hospitality that is supposed to be a virtue and can often manifest in unusual ways. Coldway demands that warmth and regard on its face as if to say, “If this isn’t a joke then how about some of that generosity and kindness you pride yourselves on.” While driving through town musing on these concepts a beat reminiscent of 70s R&B like Delfonics, Curtis Mayfield or mellower Gamble and Huff track runs through. The metaphor of “southern hospitality” works as both code for sexual favors and being made to feel welcome in a town that may not be your own unfolds with a steady stream of clever wordplay and a story commenting on everyday desires and observations with the drive symbolizing not just a slice of life but the southern urban black experience not romanticized but expressed with an easy going swagger. Listen to “Southern Hospitality” on Spotify and follow Coldway at the links below.

soundcloud.com/coldwaypro
open.spotify.com/artist/4Z4CsfAV4JnkqIb6atdDwC
youtube.com/coldvizion
twitter.com/Coldwaypro
instagram.com/coldway

Phogg Gives Voice to the Outrage of a Robot of Conscience at Humanity’s Destructive Folly on the Psychedelic Thrash Single “EATR”

Phogg1_sm — Phogg, photo courtesy the artists

“EATR” is a song by Swedish band Phogg written from the perspective of a robot named Mofeto driven to misanthropic heights by its anger at the recklessness and wanton destruction humankind has wreaked upon the earth and other living creatures. Sounding like it was recorded in a secret, underground lair constructed from the salvaged fuselage of Mofeto’s would be escape vehicle from humanity’s self-inflicted environmental apocalypse, “EATR” has the quality of an urgent and corrosive, headlong psychedelic thrash to reflect the robot’s uncontrollable outrage at the “hundreds of years” humans have had to tumble the natural world toward becoming an uninhabitable wasteland. Listen to Mofeto’s lament, “EATR,” on Spotify and follow Phogg at the links provided.

soundcloud.com/phogg-band
open.spotify.com/artist/3YqUKOiwbzwB0gajg1sh9Y
phogg.bandcamp.com/releases
facebook.com/phoggband

Gold Spectacles Encourages Us to Embrace Our Otherness as an Act of Resistance on “Stranger Than You”

GoldSpectacles2_sm — Gold Spectacles, photo courtesy the artists

Gold Spectacles sound like the duo listened to a bit of Anne Dudley’s work in Art of Noise and her subsequent soundtrack work in crafting the music for the single “Stranger Than You.” Unconventional percussion like the sound of bottles struck, the sound of a small bell being struck and clicks of sticks on the rim of the drum as well as minimal drum kit rhythms give the song some of its atmospheric quality like some kind of clockwork narrative. The sound sounds like an experimental, downtempo jazz pop that settles into a nice groove but doesn’t get stuck in a creative rut with a soundscape that’s constantly, if subtly, evolving. Flutes and ethereal vocal choruses serve as a counterpoint to the lead vocal line which is playful yet pointed analysis of a relationship that could but won’t because of a basic disconnect of personality and temperament. The narrator anticipates daily conflict in the relationship in which she’ll be baited into a fight but won’t give the man the satisfaction because it’s all part of a meta narrative of gender roles. One of the lyrics speaks directly to this issue with “I never really understand the need to be an alpha man.” As if such a display of ego, bravado and physical dominance hides all the insecurity. As if to suggest existing outside of that mode of being the chorus of the song is “Maybe I’m a little bit stranger than you, darling.” Strange because of not adhering to values of being and identity that limit one to such regressive cognitive orientations that are, in fact all too common. “Strangeness” and being the other in the case of this song is an act of resistance to a culture of self-oppression reinforced by internalizing a harmful identity politics that anyone can step away from by simply questioning one’s assumptions of the “normal.” The song is the eleventh in the band’s “full moon” series culminating in the release of a full album release on November 15, 2019. Listen to “Stranger Than You” on Soundcloud and follow Gold Spectacles at the links below.

goldspectaclesmusic.com
soundcloud.com/goldspectacles
open.spotify.com/artist/5bGWQ9mEBYAo0GYymwj2QV
twitter.com/GoldSpectacles
facebook.com/goldspectacles
instagram.com/goldspectacles

The Abnorm Speaks to the Natural Human Capacity for Snooping Out Society’s Negative Nonsense on “Innocence”

TheAbnorm5_sm — The Abnorm, photo courtesy the artist

“Innocence” by The Abnorm begins with a clever bit of wordplay in talking about how we all have six senses, the sixth being innocence. The rap then goes on to discuss the ways we compromise our lives in trying to fit into a rigged game we have no choice but to play because the world we’re born into is what it is and to survive you have to navigate the world, to some extent, by the rules that exist. But the song suggests that in holding on to that sixth sense mentioned in the beginning of the song we can hold on to that part of ourselves that isn’t a part of a world of depraved values and warped priorities aimed at propping up a perpetual ruling class and in doing so preserve our inherent dignity. Play the game but know it for what it is and remember what really matters even if you can never overturn the order of things. But that in your heart it’s best to know the difference between what you’re presented than what your real interests may be and not hedge your bets and be on the fence like Vega from Street Fighter who is a henchman for The Man. The Abnorm suggests that within each of us the natural capacity for detecting bullshit that goes against our best interests. Watch the animated lyric video for “Innocence” on YouTube and follow The Abnorm at the links provided.

soundcloud.com/abnormalx
twitter.com/TheAbnorm
facebook.com/The-Abnorm-109930092395608
instagram.com/theabnorm

Skinjobs Torches the Hypocrisy of Traditional Sexual Mores on New Single “Breathe”

Skinjobs2_sm — Skinjobs, photo courtesy the artists

On its new single “Breathe,” Helsinki’s Skinjobs injects some more grit into its bright, atmospheric melodies. Fitting for a song that explores the nature of a relationship with complicated dynamics that go beyond the boundaries of the traditional relationship and traditional conceptualizations of what relationships should be. Katja Laaksonen’s vocals are commanding and controlled, directed and pointed in deflating the hypocrisy of conventional sexual mores through highlighting how people often really live while articulating the rawness and undeniability of attraction. It’s a subject often written about in rock music but rarely so candidly and unapologetically. The fiery music bursting about the words and raw noise searing the edges of the song are the perfect manifestation of the lyrics. Listen to “Breathe” on Soundcloud, watch the lyric video on YouTube and follow Skinjobs at the links provided.

soundcloud.com/skinjobsband
skinjobs2019.bandcamp.com
facebook.com/skinjobs2019

“5 AM” by KYENORD is a Luminously Chill Song Outlining the Late Night Contemplation of The Signs That the Relationship Was Over Before it Started

KYENORD1_sm — KYENORD, photo courtesy the artists

The dusky, downtempo synth melody on “5 AM” that is the backdrop to KYENORD’s Linn Östlund’s resigned vocals evokes that feeling when you’ve been up all night thinking too much about a tough decision long considered to end a relationship. The sense impressions are vivid with words about how the lover in question is always cold because their circulation is worse than that of the narrator and that they’re “holding me but it never helps.” The sample of raindrops and the way the tones steam into the fog of night before the dawn can interrupt the introspective and mournful but weary mood that has paradoxically allowed a moment of emotional clarity to become undeniable. The experience depicted seems so specific in the details but perhaps relatable to anyone who has been in a long term relationship that seems to no longer make sense and all of the things that should have been warning signs that it wouldn’t work out drift into your psyche one night making your soul restless deep into the night. “5 AM” is the first track from the new KYENORD EP Mellow Drama and you can listen to the song on Soundcloud and the rest of the EP on Spotify.

Mingo Orchestrates the Musical Analogs of Deep Space Cosmic Forces on “Quasar”

Mingo1_sm — Mingo, photo courtesy the artist

A cosmic wind as white noise pitched to have an abstractly tonal quality ushers in the intertwining lines of distorted, textural synth and phasing melody of “Quasar” by Mingo. The oscillating undertones suggest a trip through the depths of space with bright objects giving off even repeating signals that intersect with other signals like an intergalactic symphony. Utilizing a similar structure and dynamic as mid-70s Tangerine Dream, Mingo uses loops and sequencing and adding effects in real time to take the raw material of electronic sounds and using the processing end as a compositional tool. Did he take a mathematical model of an actual quasar and use it to craft an element of the music like the rhythmic, gritty synth part? Maybe not, but it sounds as though Mingo modeled various phenomena in space and orchestrated their character together for this transporting and playful track. Listen to “Quasar” on Soundcloud and follow Mingo, a contributor to NPR music programs Hearts of Space and Star’s End, at the links below.

soundcloud.com/mingo-sphere
youtube.com/user/sonarwebnet
twitter.com/mingosfear
instagram.com/mingosphere