Song Review – Page 41 – Queen City Sounds and Art

Photay’s Ambient Techno Single “Derecho” Pulses With a Hypnotic Inner Light

“Derecho” with its subtle use of white noise as background texture with a foreground of hazy synths and percussive sounds in non-standard rhythms finds Photay in music time traveling mode well served by the music video. We see arrows in motion in arcs and in a spiral with luminous ripples to demonstrate the percussion all in luminous colors against darker backdrops both black and deep, vibrant blue. The visuals pair the aesthetic of a 1990s VHS video art piece and the library music-esque tone of the song itself. It creates a fairly playful mood that immerses the listener in textures and organic rhythms like an update of early 2010s minimal techno and deep house. While the song is not dance music it inspires a similar emotional response. The song is from Photay’s new album Windswept out on streaming, download and vinyl September 20, 2024 via Mexican Summer. The record was inspired in part by the sound of wind and the flow of the music has that kind of familiarity and spontaneity that makes it a refreshing listen even with the beneficially weird places it goes.

CATBEAR’s Buoyant Synthpop Single “Rush” is a Song About Finding the Sustained Impetus to Living in the Moment

CATBEAR’s appropriately titled “Rush” has real momentum behind its vulnerable and irresistible melodies. It’s a song about being in the moment, in older parlance of being in the zone, when you feel engaged and filled up with the emotional energy that feels vital and infuses every moment with a sense of purpose and excitement. Many things can inspire these feelings (being in love, feeling like you’re in the right place at the right time in life, a stretch when things seem to be going just right for you) but whatever it is it uplifts one’s spirit and makes having motivation feel effortless. It is the opposite of being depressed without being in a manic mode. The band’s use of sweeps and accented tones over a propulsive yet minimal beat makes the song reminiscent of a mid-80s synth pop song except rather than an excessive guitar solo pulls an almost spoken word line to add a moment of dramatic seriousness that helps to provide contrast and makes the music on either side of it shine even brighter. Interestingly though the song is about, yes, a rush of feeling the band reigns in musical excess in favor of a focus that really gives the song its consistently impactful boost. Listen to “Rush” on Spotify and follow London’s CATBEAR at the links below.

Elly Kace’s “I Did My Best” is a Avant Jazz Inflected Art Pop Song Song About Heartbreak and Coming to Terms With One’s Limitations

Elly Kace blends impressionistic, orchestral strings with shimmery jazz-y flourishes in the percussion on “I Did My Best” for an effect like a deeply melancholic torch song. The organic flow of sounds makes for a song that provides an ever evolving textural and tonal backdrop to Kace’s mournful yet rich vocals so that the song sounds like a direct connection to its words about a relationship in shambles that was never on the right footing from the beginning and which couldn’t be salvaged with earnest effort on the part of one person to make it all happen. In moments Kace’s vocals are reminiscent of Björk at her most vulnerable but overall the song resonates strongly with the art pop of Julia Holter and its pure fusion of pop, jazz and the avant-garde in a personal creative comment on one’s own limitations and blind spots. Listen to “I Did My Best” on Spotify and follow Elly Kace at the links below.

Elly Kace on Twitter

Elly Kace on Facebook

Elly Kace on TikTok

Elly Kace on Instagram

Sthlm Blush Captures the Tranquil Complexity of an Evolving Ecological System on Textural Ambient Track “Växer”

Swedish ambient artist Sthlm Blush attempted to express the act of growth on “Växer” (Swedish for “growing”). To accomplish the sonic manifestation of what can be a nearly impossible to trace whether through direct observation or the experiencing of it as a human, Ludvig Kullberg aka Sthlm Blush, assembled bell tones, background flows of white noise, echoing, the stretching sounds like insects and birds communicating with one another, processed, abstract synth tones and an array of impressionistic layers of sound in what sounds like an open environment in which all can interact. There is a trace of a crystalline melody that enters into the field of hearing near the middle of the song like an animating energy to shift the dynamic of the system ever so slightly. It’s a bit like listening to the sounds inside a tropic cave and being able to immerse oneself in the complexity of the place as a whole experience rendering its essence more explicable than separated elements. Kullberg’s command of texture as atmosphere and tone is impressive throughout and rather than serve as background music in the ambient mode the song makes staying present easier than if you consciously focus on being so. Listen to “Växer” on Spotify and follow Sthlm Blush at the links below.

Sthlm Blush on Facebook

Sthlm Blush on Instagram

Sthlm Blush on YouTube

Paper Citizen Celebrates the Communal Power of Music on Exuberant Indie Pop Single “American Song”

“American Song” is Paper Citizen’s tribute to singer/multi-instrumentalist Claire Gohst’s experience with live music in the USA. Gohst is originally from Singapore but moved to Boston to study recording and jazz violin at Berklee and inevitably discovered the local and underground music scene and the various opportunities to witness live original music and to write and perform music of her own. The music video, directed by Alissa Wyle, shows the band performing in a garage, truly a long-standing mainstay in music across America with friends coming over to share in that experience and being together as a community. The song is a lighthearted yet exuberant bit of indie pop with some tasty soloing by Gohst on guitar that highlights the level of musicianship in the band. But the heart of the song is an earnest and endearing portrait of how in Gohst’s mind, and likely in the minds of many listeners, how the music community can bring people of disparate backgrounds together in a mutually supportive spirit of camaraderie in a very unpretentious, grass roots way accessible to virtually everyone. Watch the video for “American Song” on YouTube and follow Paper Citizen at the links provided.

Paper Citizen on Facebook

Paper Citizen on TikTok

Paper Citizen on Instagram

Paper Citizen on Bandcamp

“Landlord Cull” is Muscle Vest’s Wild Noise Rock Call For Righteously Radical Economic Justice

The title of Muscle Vest’s “Landord Cull” is a statement in itself and in essence not a bad idea. But in the music video we get some facts about landlords and examples of their neglect in the UK with obvious cognates elsewhere that speak to the predatory practices of the landlord class writ large, particularly over the last few years like that group of people were getting revenge for pandemic era protections for renters. With the rampant expansion of private equity firms buying up huge swaths of residential property over the past couple of decades has simply amplified the effect of soaring rent prices, much less actual property ownership, so that an investor class can get in on the action and feel like it’s “just business” and not personal. But in the lived existence of people it is deeply personal and this song speaks to that rage and frustration with more than a little playful sonic mayhem The ragged and joyously delivered vocals and cutting, whorling noise rock is reminiscent of a combination of Chat Pile and The Jesus Lizard with a surreal and caustic sound. Watch the video for “Landlord Cull” on YouTube and follow Muscle Vest at the links below. The song is part of the Every Day For The Rest Of Your Life EP which came out July 26, 2024 via Muzai Records.

Muscle Vest on Facebook

Muscle Vest on Instagram

Talking to Shadows’ Tragically Haunted Shoegaze Song “Valentina” is Reminiscent of 4AD Dream Pop and Ethereal 90s Space Rock

Talking to Shadows, photo courtesy the artists

Talking to Shadows worked with Francis Ford Greggola on the evocative video for “Valentina” to establish a touch of the otherworldly quality of a Hammer Horror film combined with classic early 4AD band videos aesthetic (think Dif Juz and This Mortal Coil both visually and sonically). The song is a melodiously drifty dream pop song about yearning for love and meaningful connections in a world where that can elusive. Though the song begins delicately enough, as it progresses the guitar tones become more fiery and the vocals more soaring as the lyrics rise in tone to a place of greater personal conviction before it all dissolves by song’s end. The scintillating guitar progression in the last quarter of the song feels like a triumph over uncertainty right before the acceptance of one’s inherent human vulnerability. The song recorded and mixed by the legendary J. Robbins has a strong resonance with projects recorded by Keith Cleversley like Hum and Space Team Electra but with an elegance of tone and emotional delicacy all the band’s own. Watch the video for “Valentina” on YouTube and follow Baltimore’s Talking to Shadows at the links below.

Talking to Shadows on Facebook

Talking to Shadows on Instagram

Talking to Shadows on Bandcamp

HARTES PORZELLAN’s Subversive, Psychedelic Big Beat Single “RICH” Challenges Us to Re-Imagine Our Lives and Consciousness for a Better Collective Existence

HARTES PORZELLAN, photo courtesy the artist

HARTES PORZELLAN’s subversive, psychedelic, post-Big Beat song “RICH” expresses both an intense solidarity for fellow humans navigating the depredations and compromises of late capitalism and a complete contempt for the system imposed on everyone everywhere. Throughout the song the conventional system of values are flouted and redefined as the songwriter questions what constitutes being “rich” for real and how that “virtue” is a contingent fact that can be overturned if people simply didn’t cooperate in the established system of assigning value and perhaps embraced valuing our own lives and dignity and the very time we’re allotted in life itself both individually and as a society. In the video we see people indulging in casual fun and dancing, simple pleasures, acts of creativity and rebellious acts of everyday luxuries while simply shifting perspective to live in a new world of transformed consciousness. Musically it’s reminiscent of something that might have been inspired both by the work of Jack Dangers and The KLF’s The Manual. Watch the video for “RICH” on YouTube.

Mr. Gnome’s “Nothing and Everything” is a Brooding, Psychedelic Synth Pop Reaffirmation of Love and Commitment in Challenging Times

Cleveland’s art pop duo Mr. Gnome returns with its first album in four years with A Sliver of Space due out September 27, 2024 on El Marko Records (vinyl, CD, download, streaming). Lead single “Nothing and Everything” and its lyrics video showcase what’s in store with the new record. We see a mysterious figure drawing down cosmic energies from the heavens while floating above a rocky, desert landscape like a figure out of a Dune novel. The brooding synths contrast well with Nicole Barille’s lightly distorted and passionate vocals and the finely syncopated beat and together the music serves a song that seems to be a reaffirmation of love and commitment during challenging times through personal struggles and doubts. Sure it’s a classic theme but Mr. Gnome’s particular approach and style gives the messaging a sense of being in it for the long haul even if things get tough and require extra grace. It’s truly a song for the current period of human civilization and the title speaks to the layered challenges we all face individually and as a civilization. Watch the video for “Nothing and Everything” on YouTube and follow Mr. Gnome at the links below. The band tours across the USA September 27 through November 2.

mrgnome.com

Mr. Gnome on Twitter

Mr. Gnome on Facebook

Mr. Gnome on Instagram

Mnevis’ Alt Pop Single “Sparks (Zig Zag)” has the Soothing Sounds of a Cosmic Tropical Paradise

Mnevis’ single “Sparks (Zig Zag)” immediately brings you into an alternate world of shimmery sounds like a cosmic tropical paradise. The blend of strings, soft percussion and what seems like a rich tapestry of electronic/keyboard sounds crafted in a dynamic array of impressionistic composition is easy to get lost within even in the moments the song ramps up with fuzzy guitar entering the mix. The song has the energy of something from another era but one that remains fascinating elusive to the end. Because of that those familiar with the band Orions Belte or the music of Mary Ocher will find much to like with what this Swiss band has been up to up to in its career thus far in experimenting with what pop music can be. Listen to “Sparks (Zig Zag)” on Spotify and follow Mnevis at the links below.

Mnevis on Facebook

Mnevis on Instagram