Song Review – Page 9 – Queen City Sounds and Art

Eric Angelo Bessel’s Ethereal Ambient Single “Non-digetic Sound” Evokes a Sense of Mystery and Connection

Eric Angelo Bessel, photo courtesy the artist

Eric Angelo Bessel’s latest album Mirror at Night just released on October 31, 2025. For an album filled with elegantly and carefully crafted harmonic drones and flowing, resonating, abstract textures the track “Non-digetic Sound” both embodies and identifies the character of the entire album. The title refers to the incidental music in a film that the viewers but not the characters can hear. It provides emotional content that helps to enhance and sometimes establish the mood of the film in a non-verbal way that isn’t always obvious with the plot. The aforementioned song by Bessel is in a constant state of unfolding with a sustained sense of illuminated memories that come into the mind in peak moments that seem to parallel what’s happening before you. It’s a sense of wonder and connection that feels ethereal, mysterious and special. Bessel seems to have tapped into these often unspoken experiences that we comprehend but can’t always put into words, especially not in short. The music works on a similar level that Eno’s Apollo: Atmospheres and Soundtracks does by capturing the moment and the feelings precisely without the need for verbal explanation. Listen to “Non-digetic Sound” on YouTube and follow Eric Angelo Bessel along with his other project Lore City at the links below.

lorecitymusic.com

Lore City on Twitter

Lore City on Bandcamp

Night Teacher’s Beautifully Brooding Slowcore Single “New Cage” is an Exploration of the Panopticon of Social Media

Night Teacher, photo courtesy the artists

Night Teacher’s “New Cage” finds its visual manifestation in the superb music video directed, filmed and edited by Cat Rider. The song is about how the digital age and the concept of the idealized self as presented absolutely imperfectly and not actually completely under one’s control in social media and digital platforms generally. And how the dynamic channels one’s modes of expression into narrow pathways thus shaping the medium and content and narrowing the actual possibilities of expression with the illusion of choice and creativity. The song is orchestral and warmly analog in its textural tones cast in guitar, piano, bass and Lilly Bechtel’s finely expressive vocals in sharp contrast to the overwhelming inducement to turn all areas of one’s life into a commodity that can be more easily manipulated. Indeed, a new cage in which we’ve all been encouraged to participate in placing ourselves in the name of being with the times and not being left behind. Musically, it hearkens to early-to-mid-90s Sarah McLachlan and that songwriter could take heavy subject matter and imbue it with humanity and deep emotional atmosphere in which to get caught up in a moment of personal honesty. Watch the video for “New Cage” on YouTube and follow Night Teacher at the links provided.

nightteachermusic.com

Night Teacher on Facebook

Night Teacher on Instagram

Mark Ohai’s Moody and Surreal Post-Punk Single “Postoy” Conveys a Strong Sense of Resignation and Hope

The moody, melodic bass line that runs through “Postoy” (in English, “Wait”) by Mark Ohai anchors the ethereal synth and guitar melodies as the songwriter’s vocals seem to saunter in with couplets of lyrics that tell the story of a guy who feels lost and beset on all sides by danger. The song references the Jabberwock from Through the Looking-Glass by Lewis Carroll, a deft literary allusion that resonates well with the sense of peril avoided and the playful spirit of the song. Ohai sounds like he’s a little ragged but maintaining in spite of how things are and putting on a brave face. The uniquely melancholic keyboard line starting around 2:22 truly evokes a sense of both hope and resignation that one doesn’t often hear in music but which Russian artists in the vein of Kino and Grazhdanskaya Oborona in the latter’s more moody post-punk phase have captured so vividly. Listen to “Postoy” on Spotify and follow Mark Ohai on instagram.

Mark Ohai on Instagram

CATBEAR Evokes a Deep Sense of Regret and Yearning in the Immersive, Soulful Synthpop of “Darkness”

CATBEAR just released its new full-length For Now, For Ever (out on vinyl, CD, download and streaming) and for a taste of what the record has to offer you can listen to the single “Darkness.” The song begins with some white noise like the waves washing ashore in the nighttime distance. But then the duo’s immersive and rich synth melodies and soulfully melancholic vocals take over seeming to slow dance and sway over the pulsing and accented rhythms. The song seems to be one about people who were in love and parted ways thinking they found someone more suitable and maybe they did but unable to fully shake that earlier connection. It strikes the perfect tone for late night reflection in a certain kind of mood that takes you when you wonder if you’ve messed up but resigned to your choices like an adult. And yet sometimes someone stays in some dark corner of your heart possibly forever and maybe life will bring you back together. The song seems to honor these complex feelings with its emotional atmospherics and intensely evocative melodies. Listen to “Darkness” on Spotify and follow CATBEAR at the links below.

Ehsan Matoori’s “Fountain of Eternity” Sets Rumi’s Mystic Poetry to Dance Choreography and Stirring Modern Persian Classical Music

Ehsan Matoori, photo courtesy the artist

“Fountain of Eternity” by Ehsan Matoori is inspired by the work of 13th century Persian poet and Sufi mystic Rumi with lyrics from a poem of the same. The song features vocalists Maliheh Moradi and Tamir Hargana meaning more traditional melodic singing and Mongolian throat singing in the same song with both contributing in seemingly synergistic fashion to the subject of reconciliation of the self with spiritual and practical truths about our place in the great progression of a universe in which we can take solace in knowing that everything is connected by and made up of the same stuff, the same energy even if it manifests as subjectively experienced consciousness that can forget for a moment its specific limitations. The poem reads a little like a Zen koan in its simple but effective communication of existential and poetic truths. But it is the energetic aspect of the music and the orchestration of vocals, piano, strings and percussion that allows the words to affect you even if you aren’t watching the lyrics in the beautifully choreographed video with dance arranged by Miriam Peretz and Carson Brooks. Altogether it unites ancient creative work with modern methods and sensibilities for a work that synthesizes past and present modes of expression. Watch the video for “Fountain of Eternity” on YouTube and follow Ehsan Matoori at the links below.

Ehsan Matoori on Instagram

Peter Litvin’s Don’t Break It” is a Humorous and Dramatic, Psychedelic Breakup Song

The video for Peter Litvin’s “Don’t Break It” finds the singer and songwriter wandering a lonely, under-maintenanced (so it could be almost anywhere in America) highway cast in psychedelic colors from what looks like an in-camera effect from DV camera but too vivid and intentional to be just that. Yet the aesthetic suits the song about a breakup that leaves you confused because at least on your end you were putting what you thought was your all into the relationship. The song beckons the loved one not to break things off in what seems like a cavalier fashion. He fiery guitar solo in the last third of the song is an outburst of feeling that is like a dramatic mourning of what’s lost and fighting for what should still be. And yet the imagery asking the difference between a coffin and casket tells you how things played out in the end but if you can have humor about it and show that you tried, that your feelings were genuine and intense that you can preserve your dignity even if other people might think you’re being ridiculous. Watch the video for “Don’t Break It” on YouTube and follow the prolific artist at the links provided.

Peter Litvin on Facebook

Peter Litvin on Instagram

Pictureplane’s Introspective “Weeping Sky” is a Slow Jam For the Late Night Dance Floor

Pictureplane turns in an introspective club song for slow dancing with “Weeping Sky.” In the music video co-directed by Chris Burden we see Travis Egedy dancing on a basketball court while night scenes of New York City including images from dance clubs are layered over him for an aesthetic reminiscent of early 2000s video editing techniques like one would expect from some vintage underground hip-hop music videos with in-camera editing and effects. Egedy’s vocals are lower than one is used to from his earlier work but paired with the nearly downtempo beats and moody atmospheric flourishes as well as the bright, glitch-pop backing vocals it’s the perfect evocation of immediacy mixed with nostalgia and coming to terms with one’s own desires as a human with physical and emotional needs that can be separated by culture and social conditioning. The song is both a reconnecting of Pictureplane as an artist with his early experimental electronic pop songcraft rooted in hip-hop that resonates even today and moving forward into a different direction that feels more mature in approach without compromising a spark of the joy of life and of living and savoring authentic experiences that recharge and restore you. Watch the video for “Weeping Sky” on YouTube and follow Pictureplane at the links provided. The new Pictureplane album Sex Distortion drops October 31, 2025 on vinyl and digital via Music Website.

Pictureplane on Twitter

Pictureplane on Facebook

Pictureplane on TikTok

Pictureplane on Instagram

music-website.com

Slouching’s “Medialyte” is an Ambient Coldwave Song Evocative of Retro Science Fiction Noir

“Medialyte” begins with a minimal beat setting a framing of spaciousness before the voice sample comes in with the layers of synth and textural tones. Slouching’s use of these layers is cinematic in a way that sounds like a moody, fiction noir set in the 1980s might look like. Think like a downtempo IDM track influenced by early Gary Numan and late 80s coldwave soundtracking a lost Michael Mann film. Listening you can see the darkened streets and long drives, neon lights, street lights providing a hazy respite from a late night fog. The extended melodies are hypnotic and the voice like some lecture on existential subjects received on a shortwave radio adds more than a touch of compelling mystery without being the centerpiece. Listen to “Medialyte” on Bandcamp and follow Slouching there and on Spotify. The duo’s self-titled EP released August 18, 2025.

“Marina pt. 2” is an Ambient Jazz Fusion Portrait of Leisure Times in the Coastal Subtropics

Shrunken Elvis, photo courtesy the artists

“Marina pt. 2” has a steady clip of a beat with sunny, impressionistic guitar work sketching melodies over shimmering fades. The song by the curiously named Shrunken Elvis sounds like something written from the memories of being near a subtropical coast in latter half of spring between school breaks and summer vacation when the weather is nice and when the crowds are not as active. It’s a time when one can relax and let the days stretch out some while engaged in relaxing activity. The song builds so that the guitar is more distorted and playful. Like some of Brian Eno’s collaborations that include Robert Fripp cutting loose and then reigning it in. One imagines perhaps leisurely boat ride out of the marina into choppy waters and then into more tranquil parts of the bay and returning once again to dock with the sunset. Listen to “Marina pt. 2” on YouTube and follow Shrunken Elvis at the links provided. The trio’s self-titled album released September 5, 2025 on Western Vinyl.

Shrunken Elvis on Western Vinyl

Spencer Cullum on Instagram

Birdie Swann Sisters & King Black Acid Embrace the Messy Aspects of Being a Passionate Person in Love on “Hurricane”

Birdie Swann Sisters & King Black Acid, photo courtesy the artists

“Hurricane” by Birdie Swann Sisters & King Black Acid in its Birdie Swann Mix iteration lends the song a softer quality. The animated video with collaged images of imperiled and infamous women in a band playing the song (Squeaky Fromme, Shelley Duvall, Judy Garland, Jayne Mansfield and Sharon Tate) and a figure with a large, papier mache head frolicking in he forest in a kind of manic delirium playing guitar and dancing while a psychedelic world and all its contents continue to swirl. In the end we see the papier mache head in flames. The psychedelic pop song is an embrace of having a tumultuous heart and a passionate and highly emotional nature, being a little volatile, even unhinged, at times and in generally not being able to give less than everything, which is more than you get from a lot of people. Despite the lyrics depicting chaos the song is catchy and itself sounds more celebratory than menacing perhaps proving that sometimes what you see isn’t fully the essence of what you get with someone. Watch the video for “Hurricane” on YouTube and follow King Black Acid on Bandcamp.

King Black Acid on Bandcamp