Song Post – Page 173 – Queen City Sounds and Art

memory theater Conjures Imagery of Future Conflict Solved Through Synth Pop Duels On “Eyes Within Night”

MemoryTheater2_lg — Memory Theater, *Some Sort of Paradise* cover

Immediately “Eyes Within Night” sounds like you’re getting a radio transmission from an AM college station in the late 1980s playing underground music in the pre-alternative rock era. Some of the frequencies sound washed out like it’s being played from a tape lovingly listened to countless times and preserved for posterity using a four track tape deck to convert it to digital. The keyboards and the Casiotone play off each other toward the end of the song like dueling synthesizers the dramatic way they might in some weird science fiction movie about rival gangs competing against each other in synth pop bands but with the vibe of Night of the Comet after an apocalyptic event that destroys most of the human race and people are rebuilding civilization and re-creating culture while solving conflict in artistic ways rather than through violence. Or like a New Wave Goth version of Breakin’ or Krush Groove. Who wouldn’t want to see that movie happen? Well memory theater, the Filipinx band from Berkeley, California has the perfect music for the soundtrack. Listen to “Eyes Within Night” on Spotify and follow the group on their Bandcamp page.

memorytheater.bandcamp.com

“Sun Release” by Heron is a Musical Manifestation of the Moment When the Sun Sweeps Away the Night Into Day

Heron1_sm — Heron, photo courtesy the artists

The title track to post-rock band Heron’s new album Sun Release is like the dawn itself. Guitar intones with an impressionistic figure, minimal and calm. Then around the three minute mark multiple guitars flood forth with a fiery swarm of majestic riffs to make one forget that it was once quiet and introspective like the dark of night between when there is a moonset and the inevitable sunrise. The song captures the false dawn and then the tentative flickers of illumination before the sun rises into the sky in all its cosmic glory illuminate the world into wakefulness. With drums and the full instrumentation engaging Heron captures that moment between a sleepy early morning and full-flung day. Listen to “Sun Release” on Soundcloud and explore follow Heron and explore Sun Release further at the links below.

heronband.com
soundcloud.com/user-376736334
open.spotify.com/artist/1eDflyuVvl6VwwEmm1NQXM
heronband.bandcamp.com
twitter.com/weareheron
facebook.com/weareheron
instagram.com/heron.band

BellaBoo’s Remix of def.sound’s “Saturdaze” Brings the Vocals to the Forefront in a Gentle Sea of Hypnotic Dub Echoes

defsound1_crop — def.sound, photo courtesy the artist

BellaBoo’s remix of “SATURDAZE” by def.sound inverts the emphasized sonics in a way by bringing the Clear Mortifee’s and def.sounds’ vocals to the forefront while emphasizing the beat over the sharply focused synth melody of the original. The cymbals and bass are given a dub treatment to echo with an ever so slightly phased effect to expand the hypnotic and otherworldly feel. The subdued tones are brought up to lend the remix a downtempo quality even as the vocals take on the properties of a sample used as part of the dub as well. It displays the producer’s talents for creative re-imagining in his own style as his original songs favor organic percussion sampled and spliced in with electronic beats and dreamy, cool color atmospherics with a gently playful sensibility like he lets daydreams take bits of sound, rhythm and melody and run with them until they make a kind of subconscious sense that translates into an aesthetic that seems pleasantly familiar but mysterious all at once. It’s a way of approaching making music that remixer and songwriting seem to share thus a fine match. Listen below and follow def.sound at the links provided.

soundcloud.com/deffery
instagram.com/def.sound

The Sense of Hopeful Resignation in frogi’s “time” is Heartbreaking

frogi3_crop — frogi, photo courtesy the artist

With a palpable vulnerability and affection, frogi’s “time” is overflowing with expansive melodies and an elevated tone. There is a soft touch to the songwriting as she sings to her significant other about how maybe time will heal the ailing relationship in which she sees some hope. And that if what’s left isn’t nurtured it will be the end. She doesn’t want it to be the end but she feels powerless over what seems to others inevitable. The undertone is a sense of hopeful resignation, resisting what she knows is already over while acknowledging for herself that letting go will hurt so much if she doesn’t give it the spark of a chance it deserves. The song employs unconventional structure aimed more at the emotional impact and experiential aspect of the songwriting and frogi’s singing style a fascinating mix of free verse poetry and classic pop. Listen to “time” on Soundcloud and listen to her other recent single “peace of mind” on Spotify.

The Dark Synth Pop of Oliver Marson’s “Cocaine Romance” is a Lurid, Lynchian Snapshot of a Doomed Romance

OliverMarson2_lg — Oliver Marson, photo courtesy the artist

The music video for Oliver Marson’s “Cocaine Romance” is like a short Panos Cosmatos film about the paranoia and amplified unreality that the title of the song suggests. The female lead runs through glowing red forests and other characters, like rejects from the Black Lodge, look on with an eerie knowing of her dark end after losing her mind while driving away desperately to escape from her tormentors. It’s Lovecraftian in that way minus overt denizens from a dark, menacing part of the universe. The music is like a synth pop song written by The Damned with dramatic vocals and a neo-Gothic story about a doomed romance based on the shaky foundation of a fondness for substances and not something more substantial. Though upbeat and melodic there is a darkness to the song that resonates with juxtaposition of brightness with personal darkness in the likes of New Order’s “True Faith” and Depeche Mode’s “Never Let Me Down Again” and their own surreal videos. Oliver Marson is tapping into similar sensibilities but his sound is a more contemporary take on the aesthetic of that era with more distorted synths and a hint of self-awareness. Watch the video below and follow Oliver Marson at the links provided.

soundcloud.com/olivermarson
youtube.com/channel/UCGWui3Lpq0lY60qc9rpLPYQ
facebook.com/oliver.marson
instagram.com/oliver.marson

Remi’s New Single “5 A.M.” is a Fearless, Beautiful and Self-Deprecating Examination of a Toxic Relationship

REMI3_sm — Remi and Whosane, photo courtesy the artists

Remi’s new single “5 A.M.” features his friend and collaborator Whosane and together the two artists vividly evoke how the mind in extreme circumstances often forces us to the dark places of the truth we might otherwise leave buried. It was inspired by a time when Remi had been sick with the flu and as his body was processing out the virus in its various ways his psyche was bubbling with past emotional trauma that had not been properly processed either yet sparking in Remi the need to articulate that for himself the experience and then to cast it forth as a song with the help of his friend Silent J’s (no relation or connection, really) beat. The result is a vibrant song that is haunted by atmospheric synths, expertly syncopated electronic percussion and self-avowedly self-deprecating and shockingly frank and vivid lyrics that swim and flow with uncomfortable truths amid dreamy melodies. Listen to “5 A.M.” on Soundcloud and follow the Australian hip-hop artist Remi at the links below.

remikolawole.com
soundcloud.com/remzilla
twitter.com/remikolawole
facebook.com/RemiKolawoleMusic
instagram.com/remikolawole

“Keep Talkin” by Bader x Colz is a Genre Bending and Bursting Crossover of Middle Eastern, African and English Dance Music

bader x colz 2 — Colz of Bader x Colz, photo courtesy Tenwest

“Keep Talkin,” represents a meeting of international minds an creatives between Saudi Arabia’s fairly new electronic music world as represented by producer Bader and Lewisham, London-based vocalist Colz. The latter’s musical style is a mix of reggaeton and afro swing he calls “Afroton” and the collaboration as “Bader x Colz” is the debut release on Bader’s label SoundsBader. The video, filmed in Dubai, stikes one as incredibly subversive for the swagger and sentiments and celebration of lighthearted hedonism and references to ganja in and out of a place where such things are, at least in the public sphere, not just taboo but subject to severe criminal penalties. Nevertheless the jaunty rhythm and infectious melody of “Keep Talkin” is irresistible and its genre crossover from South London “Afroton” and Bader’s finely sculpted, dub-like bass warble accenting Colz’s deft wordplay sound is an exciting, natural and inevitable synthesis of Middle Eastern and African polyrhythms and poetry (which have so much in common sonically and culturally) and modern club music. Check out the video below and follow the artists through their UK based imprint Tenwest.

www.tenwestgroup.com

Magdaluna’s “Deep Space: 1985” Is a Post-Rock, Black Metal, Dark Science Fiction Epic

Magadluna1_crop — Magdaluna, image courtesy the artist

Enigmatically titled “Deep Space: 1985,” Magdaluna’s latest single weaves together post-rock, mournful piano with fiery and corrosive drone guitar and dramatic and expressive percussion. One might think of it as a slice out of a lost science fiction movie of the era like the background information on the space vampires from Lifeforce before they were encased in the sleep coffins having been put in suspended animation to end their reign of terror. One imagines from there a group of people who tricked the vampires eons ago into quelling their endless hunger and then launched them into a lost part of space aimed toward a black hole only to be catapulted back toward inhabited regions by a quirk of gravity in a long arc like a comet from another galaxy. Little known to the would be hero of another world, the vampires would live on again to wreak havoc. But the song suggests this with the melancholic outro. Of course the song isn’t about this but it does stir the imagination and it is imbued with the aesthetic of 1980s space fantasy and dark, dystopian science fiction like Aliens or stories from Heavy Metal Magazine. Listen to the song on Bandcamp and explore Magadaluna’s other work there as well.

Deep Space: 1985 by Magdaluna

magdaluna.bandcamp.com

Relentlessly Playful and Inventive, Shwesmo’s “Concerto for Guitar and Computer” is the Sound of the 8-bit, Technical Metal, Glitchcore Evolution Revolution

Shwesmo_ConcertoForGuitarAndComputer_cover_lg — Shwesmo, “Concerto for Guitar and Computer” cover

The compound time and grinding, bit-crushed sound of the beginning of Shwesmo’s noise/fusion/death/thrash song “Concerto for Guitar and Computer” is like John Zorn infused with 8-bit DNA and a penchant for some choice computer cutting and reassembling. Is it tech metal + EDM + glitchcore? Are such distinctions useful in parsing out a song like this? The cover art for the single shows a cyberpunk ape wielding a part bass/guitar and a MIDI controller for samples and visuals. Which is perfect because the song turns on a dime into interesting territory. It might be busy for some people but it never gets too busy to follow and it’s relentlessly playful and inventive beginning to end. If all the 8-bit artists of five to seven years ago moved on to a higher degree of sophistication and synthesis of musical styles some of them would have ended up in the realm of what Shwesmo has accomplished with this song. Listen on Soundcloud and follow Shwesmo at the links provided.

open.spotify.com/artist/3oJve5kEy2Ds8329L596Ts
shwesmo.bandcamp.com/releases
facebook.com/shwesmo.music
instagram.com/shwesmo

Bels Lontano’s “Hope” Has All the Beauty and Grace of a Benevolent Cryptid in Flight

BelsLontano1_crop — Bels Lontano, photo courtesy the artist

The Bels Lontano track “Hope” takes some time getting off the ground but like a plane or a baby bird when it does take flight its potential is obvious. Buzzy yet melodic pulses drive the song while ethereal tones flutter and hold alongside the almost clop clop horse hoof percussion as the song comes into full focus and volume and its sonic features engulfing. Textures, claps, a contemplative second melody breezes through the middle of the song. The effect is a bit like what it would be like to see a great, bird or insect approaching and as it float near you benevolent and curious, you can marvel at its grace and parts moving together with a dazzling efficiency before it flies off to parts unknown. And by its very existence it fills you with hope for a present and future in which there are still things to discover and plenty of unknown that the technocratic oligarchy hasn’t fully exploited. Listen to “Hope” on YouTube and follow Bels Lontano at the links below.

soundcloud.com/belslontano
open.spotify.com/artist/2wDdIIdpp8cL7WKAQAcdJP
twitter.com/belslontano
facebook.com/belslontano