Song Post – Page 189 – Queen City Sounds and Art

“As Yet” by In Sonitus Lux is Like an Ambient Jazz Expedition into Jon Hassell’s Fourth World

InSonitusLux_AsYet_crop — In Sonitus Lux, As Yet cover (cropped)

When “As Yet” by In Sonitus Lux starts out and gets going I couldn’t help but think of “Delta Rain Dream” by Jon Hassell and Brian Eno from Fourth World Vol. 1: Possible Musics. Similar processed horns in the distance but with the Hang (a steel percussion instrument) giving a steady texture as distorted synth swells echo out and stretch into mysterious shapes and fade out like a blast of gas fire from the local oil refinery towers. Science fiction writers Lucius Shepard and Ian McDonald write about the kinds of worlds this music would suit well: those where technology didn’t turn out to be a Utopian panacea to solve all human problems but had the usual unintended consequences well have to live with yet it didn’t all turn into cyberpunk-esque dystopia or life under Skynet. Where corporate and military science backfired and space exploration created not the world of Star Trek but a string of human settlements with their own cultures and subcultures because that’s what humans do better than anything else when adapting to new environments. It’s music for a synthesis of ideas and society while capturing the spirit of that path into a future we never really could have predicted. Listen below and then feel free to delve further into this project’s interesting body of work at the link provided.

soundcloud.com/serson-brannen

“We Will All Die” by MIRRORS is the Sound of Urban Pre-Gentrification Apocalypse

Mirrors1-sm — Mirrors, photo courtesy the artist

The cycling sequence of bright tones transitioning to more distorted yet still melodic sounds and vocoder is a familiar element in modern electronic music of a certain stripe that taps into 80s synthesizer music. What MIRRORS does on “We All Will Die,” though, is bring in some sequenced rhythms that work in counterpoint to the main progression giving the track a subtle weightiness that anchors the song into a lived experience like memories of living in a warehouse district and waking up earlier than you might otherwise and seeing the dawn start to break and the city coming back to life. Granted, such imagery is more or less long gone from Seattle where Sean Goldie of MIRRORS calls home by a decade, the song captures that cusp of a time when American cities of some size still had plenty of urban decay and creative people could find a place to flourish before rampant gentrification came and poached virtually every space. The song is the sound of pre-Apocalypse where everything feels normal and that it could go on for years but part of you knows it will come to an end sooner than you’re ready. Give “We Will All Die” or the new MIRRORS EP Homesick in its entirety a listen and follow Goldie’s further exploits at the links below.

open.spotify.com/artist/3eT4n27PpZJh2h0sJXUKPy
youtube.com/channel/UCSMaj_d8gadS1OECBwQDKzA
twitter.com/iammirrors
instagram.com/mirrors

Friends of the Bog Wax Poetic With Wit and Charm About Love Lost on “Earthworm”

FriendsOfTheBog1 — Friends of the Bog, photo courtesy the artists

What makes “Earthworm” by Chicago’s Friends of the Bog is that it uses some of the instrumentation you might hear in a folk or Americana song (banjo, accordion, gently strummed guitar, piano, violin, brushed drums et. al.) but as simple elements that contribute to a greater, well-orchestrated whole with a few changes. This is no mean feat for a song that is all of one minute fifty-three minutes long. The vocals, winsome and introspective, emotionally generous, stand ever so slightly in the foreground as if you can almost visualize the band on stage un-mic’d. Fans of early Jenny Lewis solo records will appreciate the songwriting here as well as Beth Hyland’s spare yet warmly expressive vocals and native wit. Released as one side of a two song single “Glow/Worm” (the other side “A Glow”), “Earthworm” is practically a master class of brevity and poignancy. Give this charming song a listen and follow the band’s further adventures at the links below.

facebook.com/friendsofthebog
instagram.com/friendsofthebog

“Sniper” by Color Theory is a Brilliant Cyberpunk Synthwave Story Song

ColorTheory3_sm — Brian Hazard of Color Theory, photo courtesy the artist

Brian Hazard as Color Theory has in “Sniper” a fast-paced electronic pop song that combines minimal synth dance sensibilities with some 8-bit tones. Difficult to say if he used a modified Famicom to put the beats and sounds all together but fans of Depreciation Guild will appreciate the modes and tones employed here. By using digital noise elements in an otherwise melancholic melodic song with a fairly dark theme, Hazard is showing how, like Kavinsky, you can do a kind of cyberpunk short story collection based in an 80s that never happened. With the first two Color Theory singles from the forthcoming eleventh album (tentatively titled Lucky Ago) “Backward” and “Feral” Hazard is developing a bit of a conceptual narrative that interrelates while each song stands very much on its own. For the project, Hazard has some strong ideas about how he put the record together and conceptualized it beginning to end and after listening to the song you can explore the artist’s richly imaginative body of work and progress toward the release of the new album at the links below.

soundcloud.com/colortheory
open.spotify.com/artist/7uWMG0Go7YMKqVG1fbsOBO
youtube.com/colortheory
colortheory.bandcamp.com
twitter.com/colortheory
facebook.com/colortheory
instagram.com/colortheory

“Unfinished Love Song” by MBG Hits All the Right Notes About the Complexities of Romance

MBG2_sm — MBG, photo by Shireen K. (IG: shireenkphotoz)

Yearning, wistful, introspective, resigned, accepting—Leena from MBG packs a lot of emotional mileage into a spare and soulful song about love and how we often question ourselves in how we fit into the relationship and sometimes realize that we can’t live up to expectations because we have to be who we are and honest with ourselves more than fulfill someone else’s fantasy. Somewhere between a country song and bluesy folk, “Unfinished Love Song” may live up to its title because your life and your connections with people rarely end with the kind of manufactured closure that you might find in a movie, a novel or a hackneyed pop song. With its expressive guitar lines and nuanced vocals, “Unfinished Love Song” also has the subtext of a reminder to be gentle and kind with yourself even as you question it all. MGB’s new EP Have a Alright Day recently released on Spotify and you can listen to “Unfinished Love Song” below and follow MGB’s work and happenings at the links following.

twitter.com/mbgisleena
Have a Alright Day on Spotify
instagram.com/mbgisleena

Heron’s “The Glow” Evokes a Peaceful Summer Sunrise

Heron3_sm — Heron, photo courtesy the artist

Prior to the July 19 release of its second full length album Sun Release, post-rock band Heron from Warren Pennsylvania set forth the single for “The Glow.” Perhaps a nod to Microphones, the song itself begins with a dawn-like shimmer to the sun rising on a peaceful day of feeling whole and well-rested and motivated to do something as if, yes, one has a glow emanating from within to drive a spirit to living fully. Maybe that explains the title of the album as well. The ethereal echo of sounds at the end definitely sounds like someone or something has launched toward better places. Listen below and keep up with the band at the links provided as it prepares to roll out the new record and the more than likely series of live dates in support.

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

Ala Ghawas’ Richly Dynamic “Mars” Evokes 80s Art Pop Stars and Modern Soul

AlaGhawas1_crop — Ala Ghawas, photo courtesy the artist

Rarely will we share a song by the same artist this close together but “Mars” is a very different flavor and sound from Bahrainian songwriter Ala Ghawas. It’s still rooted in a sort of fusion of folk, jazz and pop but “Mars” finds Ghawas processing his soulful voice and otherwise incorporating a broad range of vocal styles in a relatively short song. Musically it’s a bit like hearing something that bridges modern soul with 80s artsy pop like Talk Talk and Peter Gabriel. The fascinating changes, dynamics and dazzling array of instruments brought to bear in the songwriting but channeled into an accessible form speak to a talent that could make him a darling of American alternative radio, if he isn’t already, given half a chance.

alaghawas.com
open.spotify.com/artist/1nj0MYUA0NqzniJd4FvUQN

Jett Kwong’s “Cream” is a Deeply Layered Dream Pop Confection With a Thought-Provoking Center

JettKwong1_lg — Jett Kwong, photo courtesy the artist

Julee Cruise-esque in the lush tones and sense of mystery, Jett Kwong’s “Cream” has subtle layers of sound that weave in and out of the song in a marvel of subtle dynamics between vocals, synth and the exquisite sound of the guzheng. Though the song brims over with unique melodies from the mix of instrumentation and Kwong’s especially expressive and versatile vocals at its center is a commentary about the dangers of romanticizing another person and of an era or a culture as has often happened with the West and Westerners and Asia and Asians. That complexity of intent and musicality gives the song a not so obvious depth that makes repeated listens so rewarding. Has Kwong transmogrified elements of Edward Said and Frantz Fanon into the creative alchemy behind this song? Only she knows but whatever the case it’s a pleasant surprise to hear a gorgeous pop song with an experimental edge and a non-didactic socio-political subtext.

soundcloud.com/jettkwong

Jake Morse Tells it Like it is With Wit and Brevity on “Oh Say (Can You See What’s Wrong?)”

jake-morse-cropped — Jake Morse, photo courtesy the artist

On “Oh Say (Can You See What’s Wrong?)” Jake Morse says more in a little over a minute about America’s cultural conflicts and being an aware human than many other artists say in an song three times as long or even on an entire album. From immigration, colonialism, sexism, performative patriotism and more, Morse comments deftly on it all. His call to trying for something as simple as being a better person and not giving up on the good is delivered with an honesty, spareness and humor. The video looks like it’s taken place offhandedly in some working class suburban neighborhood but that just makes it a little more relatable than something filmed to be more exotic or imbued with urban cool. Listen/watch below and follow Morse at the links provided as he releases a music video a month.

jakemorsemusic.com
soundcloud.com/jakemorsemusic
open.spotify.com/artist/7G7FBHw6D3RyvYx8lGVbaR
twitter.com/jakemorsemusic
instagram.com/jakemorsemusic

Jonny Element’s “Our Love” Is The Sound of a Half-Remembered Daydream

JonnyElement2_lg — Jonny Element, photo courtesy the artist

Jonny Element’s “Our Love” has a circular structure repeating with intersecting patterns to create a kind of hypnotic tonality that taps into the subconscious and stirring positive memories. In that way it’s a bit like an Adrian Sherwood remix that draws out the essence of a song and uses those musical ideas and fragments to create a dream like echo throughout. Though likely not quite the method used it sounds as though Element wrote a core melody that is in the foreground with two layers weaving in and out to give an almost visual experience in sound the way a filmmaker would use an opacity function in a video editing program to create a compound visual that conveys a depth of meaning. For “One Love” it’s 90s rave electronica with a touch of the dynamic and melodic structure of The Orb’s “Little Fluffy Clouds” and a modern synth pop gloss akin to what Purity Ring has been bringing to more mainstream music. It’s an interesting effect like a half-remembered fond memory shared by people at a particularly good moment in their lives. After the song you can explore Element’s work further and follow his goings on at the links provided.

joshuapageweb.wordpress.com
soundcloud.com/jonnyelement
youtube.com/channel/UCMQVzK1T1xyBURch8CWE7SA
twitter.com/JonnyElement
facebook.com/jonnyelementmusic
instagram.com/jonny_element