Song Post – Page 91 – Queen City Sounds and Art

“Suspended In Blue” by Marigold Sun Articulates the Deep Sense of Peace and Awe at the Fingers of Sunlight of a Clear Sky On a Late Winter Morning

“Suspended In Blue” evokes the image of sunlight refracting in the sky and streaming down, sparkling now and then the way it seems to on a bright, late winter morning. Eric Li Harrison as Marigold Sun arranges the peaks of tones and fades of the track so that there is a continues flow of atmospherics so that the accents and lingering drones and gentle, subtle whorls of sound in the background stand out in with layers of sonic depth as though capturing that perfect moment when an icicle will catch the sunlight against a blue sky as well as the aforementioned streams of sunshine breaking the morning haze before the sun rises to the full power of its brightness in the sky. It’s a natural beauty that is difficult to express in words, as might be too obvious here, but it does have a restful and refreshing effect psychologically and the treatment of those feelings here is immediately affecting. It is reminiscent of some of the best library music of the 80s that are largely lost to time unless you have one of those great compilations of that music or you’re actively listening to the echoes of such in the work of Boards of Canada. Listen to “Suspended In Blue” on Soundcloud and connect with Marigold Sun at the links below.

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Marigold Sun on Instagram

“Feed Infinite” by London Jazz Group Binker & Moses is a Modal Act of Resistance to Today’s Spirit of Malaise

London jazz duo Binker & Moses brought in honorary third member Max Luthert to reassemble raw acoustic recordings of sax and drums in the studio. Saxophonist Binker Golding and drummer and composer Moses Boyd went in with no planned material and after Luthert’s treatments of the exercise in spontaneous composition the resulting track “Feed Infinite” (out now on Gearbox Records) comes off focused and fluid. It’s reminiscent of mid-60s post-bop, free jazz in the ways Boyd accents the beat and keeps the rhythm flowing with both contemplative minimalism and maximalist urgency later in the song. Golding brings a light touch to his tonal figures early in the piece as well before launching into elaborate and energetic modal passages with an expressive flourish to match Boyd’s pacing. It’s a beautifully synergistic piece that when assembled this way takes advantage of electronic touches and sounds that help bring out a contemplative mood that can turn quickly to a spirit of creative rebelliousness and resistance to the doldrums and resignation to mediocrity in life under late capitalism. The energy of the performance is the opposite of the malaise one might understandable feel these days. While tapping a bit into older jazz traditions the aesthetic is well placed in modern electronic music and the avant-garde with micro-dynamics that flow and evolve in a manner suggestive of free association. Listen to “Feed Infinite” on YouTube and connect with Binker & Moses at the links below.

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Binker & Moses on Instagram

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Streaming Platform Links for Binker & Moses

Vague Lanes Manifest a Path Through the Dark Spirit Haunting the Zeitgeist on “Here :: Now.” From Its Debut EP Cassette

Vague Lanes create a sound that resonates with the decaying culture and political infrastructure of the USA with its 2021 track “Here :: Now.” Achieving a good deal of grit with two basses, one driving and grinding along with the insistent drum machine, the other carrying a bit of the melody in the upper registers. The vocals sound like they were recorded in a tunnel in a forgotten part of the city while the track itself produced and then mixed for effect in a similarly clandestine location for an effect that is cathartic and expansive even though a mood of oppression, dissolved for a few moments by the momentum of the music, can be felt and heard haunting every moment of the song. Fans of Comsat Angels or All Your Sisters will appreciate the way the vocals a expressively wide-ranging and reach deep into a place of desperation and a yearning for liberation from the ambient gloom that seems to have settled on the zeitgeist. Listen to “Here :: Now” on Spotify and perhaps buy a copy of the duo’s debut EP on Bandcamp titled Cassette as it is available on a limited run tape. Connect with Vague Lines at the links provided.

vaguelanes.com

Vague Lanes on Instagram

Jamie Rhodes Sagely Articulates the Need to Let Ego Give Way to Growth on “Bring The Wine”

Jamie Rhodes sounds like he’s composing a letter to a loved one or to himself to read later when he’s in a different emotional place when he delivers the vocals on “Bring The Wine.” The song has a slow, orchestral build that builds to a gloriously dramatic conclusion and fade out that is the perfect accompaniment to a song that seems to be about the realization of the impermanence of so many things in life and learning to let go of even cherished notions we maybe thought of as core to our identity. The simple refrain of “the answers, they come and go” points to those stages in life where we think we have things figured out but those answers don’t serve us for a lifetime. The pastoral pace and tenor of the song as well as Rhodes’ half spoken singing really enhance the impression of a person having learned not to hold on so strongly to cherished notions largely anchored on ego that aren’t as significant for a lifetime and to move on and not get so attached to aspects of our personality that we can come to see as integral to our existence when evolving into other modes of thinking, believing and being might be better for us as we learn and grow as people, embracing the fact that things change whether we’re ready or not. Certainly a poetic truth that more humans could learn. Listen to “Bring the Wine” on Spotify, listen to the rest of Rhodes’ 2021 album The Mighty Mighty Something on Bandcamp and connect with Rhodes at the links provided.

Jamie Rhodes on Instagram

Voluptuous Panic Reinterprets Marvin Gaye’s Psychedelic Holiday Classic “Purple Snowflakes” Into a Dream Pop Song For All Seasons

Voluptuous Panic, photo courtesy the artists

Holiday music can be insufferable starting right after Halloween. But Voluptuous Panic’s interpretation of Marvin Gaye’s 1965 psychedelic holiday song “Purple Snowflakes” puts the emphasis on the original song’s surreal and ethereal quality unusual for its time. Using electronic drums to keep a steady beat, steady sleigh bell and what sound like physical bells to trace the counter melody to Gretchen DeVault’s (frontwoman of The Icicles) brightly resonant vocals and Brian J. Bowe’s low, hushed backing vocals, this treatment of the song sounds less like a holiday classic and more like a mysterious almost retro dream pop song that wouldn’t be out of place on a Jim Jarmusch soundtrack. Listen to “Purple Snowflakes” on Bandcamp and connect with Voluptuous Panic at the links below.

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“Dawn Patrol” is The Square Community’s Musical Collage Hologram of a Tarnished Pastoral American Dream

Assembling “Dawn Patrol” from cassette loops, Johnny Gutenberger collages what sounds like some old freak folk like outtakes from a lost John Fahey session, decayed trumpet, faded strings and distorted ambient sounds to craft a fractured pop Americana overlaid with segments of harmonica as the reel ends. Its multiple reference points work well together to create a mood reflecting an imperfectly remembered moment of cultural nostalgia like degraded holograms overlaid on one another to make a uniquely haunting image. In that way it’s like the tarnished yet vaguely romantic American dream cast in pastoral moods in the musical equivalent of sepia tones. Listen to “Dawn Patrol” on Bandcamp where you can also explore the rest of the Words Are No Constellation album out now on No Pressure Records. And if you’d care to follow The Square Community and other Johnny Gutenberger projects, please click on the links provided.

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Wrené Reaches Out For Connection From a Place of Disconnection From Self on the Orchestral Majesty of “White Walls”

Normally when an artist sounds like they’re putting distance between themselves and those that might encounter their work it can be off-putting. But with “White Walls” Wrené’s production invites a spirit of solidarity with feelings of isolation and the coping mechanism of emotional dissociation and a yearning to restore oneself to a more functional place in the heart and spirit. Her wide-ranging vocals brim with a strength of feeling even when it expresses a feeling of emptiness yet from a place of intuitively knowing that can’t and won’t last forever. The song starts of sounding a bit like Portishead broadcasting from space and later the orchestral swell of sounds and emotions is reminiscent of Chelsea Wolfe’s more folk and ambient work or that of Zola Jesus. Once the dramatic tension of the song peaks Wrené ends on a deeply melancholic and lingering note that doesn’t suggest that it’s easy to come back from a place where you feel like you’ve cut yourself off from the passionate drives of the heart you once knew. Surely a song that embodies a way of feeling and being many of us have experienced over the last few years. Listen to “White Walls” on YouTube and connect with Wrené on Spotify.

Jimmy Harry’s “Gummy” is Like an Alternative Soundtrack to Deckard’s Unicorn Dream

Jimmy Harry accomplishes some impressively nuanced depth of sound field on his song “Gummy.” In the foreground there is the minimal and impressionistically processional piano line ringing out while the sound of what seems to be cello lurking at the edges and touches of an otherworldly synth figure in the distance. Flares of distorted static occasionally crackles like you’re peaking in at the dreams of an ancient radio or those of Deckard as he dreams of the unicorn in that scene from Blade Runner. It’s a song that induces a spirit of reflection and cleansing of conscience to make room for a more peaceful emotional state once the mind is empty of the pressures to focus on the usual concerns. Though ambient it gently eases your mind into a different headspace in a welcome distraction from a mundane psychological mode. Fans of Harold Budd’s 1986 ambient classical masterpiece Lovely Thunder will certainly find much to like here. Listen to “Gummy” on YouTube and follow Jimmy Harry on Soundcloud and Spotify linked below.

“Alchemy” by indigos paradise is a Musical Vision of Creatively and Culturally Syncretic Future

indigos paradise, photo courtesy the artist

“Alchemy” is an entrancing showcase for indigos paradise’s eclectic and rich sound palette. Living up to the title, the track is built on a base of a hybrid of luminous IDM synth track and techno beat but processed with the kind of reverb to suggest a wide open space within which various other sounds launch and dissipate, where voices call cadence like an android announcing the arrival of trains in some futuristic station where a language based on some sort of then contemporary machine language is understood by all—machines, humans, visiting alien species. The blend of styles that indigos paradise brings to bear itself suggests a future where clear distinctions between artistic disciplines and genres are even less clear than they are now and creative work can more readily express an individual vision rather than reflect an internalized compliance with established modes and methods. Listen to “Alchemy” and the rest of the new indigos paradise album The Oasis on Bandcamp and connect with the artist at the links provided.

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bobsled team Channels the Musical Lineage of C86, 90s Indiepop and Sonic Youth on “Cool Waters”

bobsled team, photo courtesy the artists

“Cool Waters” finds Belfast, Ireland’s bobsled team draws us in with a simple and strong bass line in the beginning of the song on a journey through sparkling guitar tones and unconventional counter melodies with vocals that stand out like a spirit working its way through a mist of noisy drones that somehow sit find in the mix of tonal imagery. The contrasting aesthetics remind one of a time in the mid-90s when a bunch of naff, ersatz alternative rock and tough guy aggro nü metal pushed aside more interesting sounds and tenderness and sensitivity out of mainstream music. So much was louder without saying a whole lot and the bravado then as now was insufferable. But in the underground there was indiepop of the variety that embraced strong songwriting and unconventional pop hooks as well as noise and a spirit of experimentation that operated without reference to popular trends: Felt Pilotes, Apples in Stereo, Neutral Milk Hotel, Oliva Tremor Control—the whole Elephant 6 thing and its cousin scenes. There was also dream like noise and art rock like Unwound, Versus and Helium that resonated with the ways Sonic Youth took the avant-garde and made it accessible. The fusion of those lineages you can hear in the music of bobsled team and “Cool Water,” from the group’s fantastic full length The Colours Blur, is a fine example of those impulses and influences manifested in a new expression of a similar creative spirit. Listen to “Cool Water” on Bandcamp and connect with bobsled team at the links provided. Score a very limited edition vinyl version of the record on Bandcamp as well.

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