SubmitHub – Page 108 – Queen City Sounds and Art

“floor 20” by fearofmakingout is a Sultry, Moody, Post-Punk R&B Journey Into Quietly Desperate Urban Melancholia

fearofmakingout, photo courtesy the artists

The enigmatically titled “floor 20” by fearofmakingout seems to come from mysterious realm of music where moody post-punk, sultry R&B and hip-hop production aesthetics weave together as a coherent whole. Its wide ranging lead guitar is melancholic and traces the outer edges of the song while keyboards accent the rhythm and processed vocals sound like something you might have heard on a Eurodance or progressive house track. But together it gives the song a unique emotional resonance like a song you’d expect out of a UK indie band from Bristol or Manchester rather than an outfit from Tucson, AZ. It establishes a strong mood and a hook that keeps you into the song until the end. It sounds like the tale of a life permanently unsettled and on an endless hustle trying to find one’s footing not knowing if you can depend on anything or anyone. Sounds like the world today for many of us even if there are clearly specific references and inspirations for the track. Listen to “floor 20” on Spotify where you can listen to the rest of the 2022 album Secret Third Thing and connect with fearofmakingout at the links below.

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“Over an Old Road” by The Bodies Obtained is Like Library Music Crafted by Dali’s Melted Clocks Gone Sentient

Sustained, paradoxically gentle bursts of bright cycling melodic tones fused with the sound of bell tones counting time in a drawn out shimmer are the backbone of “Over an Old Road” by The Bodies Obtained. Sure maybe the project takes its name from a line from Joy Division’s “Day of the Lords” but this track sounds like some demented, broken library music sourced mash-up that brings together distorted haze and sharp, metallic sounds like music you might imagine an animated version of Dali’s melted clocks to make if they had somehow attained sentience the way Voyager I did in Star Trek: The Motion Picture. It’s strange stuff that wouldn’t be out of place on Warp Records and fans of that label’s more challenging outer edge stuff should give this song a try. Listen to “Over an Old Road” on Spotify and follow The Bodies Obtained on Soundcloud.

CUTLIST’s Downtempo IDM Song “Generator” Conjures Visions of a Chill City Nightscape In Your Mind

“Generator” finds CUTLIST easing us into the track with a bit of minimal techno before around the minute mark when elongated melodies form joined by a spiraling, bubbling hovering tone and drops of bright tonal coloring like a sudden sprinkle of rain. It has a sound that suggests space and a visual sense like looking out a window onto an active cityscape at night and imagining the dots of lights generate an image like urban pareidolia. Fans of Plaid’s more chillout moments will appreciate how the arrangements of sound on this song implies a physical dimension that your mind will fill in as the song progresses. Listen to “Generator” on Spotify where you can listen to the rest of the album Almanac which released on October 28, 2022.

Truehoods Drop Knowledge About Cultivating Self-Protection on “Polymer”

Truehoods condensed a lifetime of lived experienced into “Polymer.” The track is only one minute thirty-seven seconds. It begins with a simple bass chord and tambourine that loops across the song in hypnotic fashion with little samples of noise and subtle scratches dropped in to give the song some variety in the beat. The two rappers offer a perspective of people who have seen the degraded temptations of the world around them to lose sight of goals and of one’s humanity when trying to navigate a society that doesn’t offer many people much of anything in terms of a way of making an adequate living with integrity and certainly no guidance or nurturance. Often we have to discover our paths for ourselves and why it can be more rewarding and important than what might seem exciting for some on a trail chasing after elusive and dubious rewards. The line about “Self-protection from nonsense” and “Loch Ness monster swimming outside” speaks to the ways which one must cultivate to avoid foolishness and self-destructive ways. And later “I’ve got the fire leading the way” points out how an inner guide and self-motivation can too often be all you have to keep yourself from taking council with scoundrels. But in the song we also see how we also don’t exist without connections and the lyric “family ties keep me going when the darkness arrives” refers to our genuine social connections that can help sustain us when we’re faltering. It’s a line about being willing to be vulnerable and to be able to trust people that care about us in our time of need and the importance of these personal ties. And closing with the bit about “say a prayer then say adios” the rappers tell us that sometimes we have to wish people well but not get mired in habits that diminish our horizons. The song says a lot in such a short time with an immediate accessibility that makes repeated listens not only easy but desirable. Listen to “Polymer” on YouTube and follow Truehoods at the links below.

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Shilpa Ananth Personalizes the Nature of and Desire For Power on Art Pop Song “The Search (feat. Riatsu)”

Shilpa Ananth, photo courtesy the artist

Shilpa Ananth examines the nature of power and the making of it and seeking it out on “The Search (featuring Riatsu).” A percussive synth melody frames the song as she sings lines exploring the pursuit of power on a personal basis beyond immediate experiences and what she might do with that power and if she’s worthy of the journey in taking on power and its responsibilities. She mentions the concept of reincarnation and having lived many lives though one might take that in the symbolic sense as all of us live multiple lives in one lifetime if we have lived a path of growth and often when we don’t consciously do so because the nature of living is working through change. And in that idea is the implication of what we learn and the thoughts that come out of what we think we know and how our inherent shortcomings as mortal beings should give us pause in seeking power without understanding it and how it can be used and abused and how even possessing various kinds can change a person whose character is not suitable to a proper use of power and prestige. The video treatment directed by Suruchi Sharma is reminiscent of early Kate Bush music videos in the use of symbols and repetition including a large wire frame of a person reminiscent of The Wicker Man and its own symbolic resonances for the use and abuse of power and the seeking thereof. And that visual sense parallels the art pop sensibilities of the song and how its emotional colorings contain nuances of meaning reflected in its especially through-provoking lyrics. Watch the video for “The Search” on YouTube and connect with Shilpa Ananth at the links below.

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Jack Skuller Turns Heartache Into a Vision of Hope on “Echo”

Jack Skuller uses a simple device to bring an added layer dreamlike whimsy to his song “Echo” from his debut album Draw the Lucky Card (which dropped on October 15, 2022) with a drawn out note that sounds like a chord stretched out. This thread of a musical idea runs through Skuller ruminating on a love that has perhaps fallen on challenging times or faded off for the moment but which comes to visit his idle thoughts drawing him in to romantic reverie and symbols of a future for relationship. The line about “When I’m down in the valley and the grass is green” and the concept of the echo as a reminder in a positive sense with the suggestion of a depth that we can take for granted especially in our low moments and for Skuller in this song it seems to be one of a connection that he can’t forget and doesn’t want to let go even though things might seem at an ebb because it was genuine and strong. Skuller’s album seems to be a series of reflections on his life and the quirks of fortune that can shape character and his knack for a contemplative yet warm melody is one of its finest features. Listen to “Echo” on Soundcloud and follow Skuller at the links below.

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Good Grim’s Video for “Idiot” is a Surreal Yet Poignant Exploration of Love, Tragedy and Acceptance

Don’t mind that the video for “Idiot” looks like something that could have been a segment on Wonder Showzen with the woman in a romance with a giant white rabbit with blue eyes that seems to become perilously ill early into the relationship. This surreal visual is a perfect and poignant companion to a song seemingly about heartache, tragedy, loss and redemption. Its lush melodies and processional pace comes off like music from a dream where the sometimes nightmarish realities of real life turn out okay for real and where happy endings don’t have to be the stuff of fairy tales and movies. It is deeply hopeful and soothing even though the music video depicts the challenging realities that will visit us all at some point in our lives but which we can handle while feeling all of those painful emotions and not be sundered by them. Good Grim’s 2022 album Enchantment seems rich on songs that take heavy experiences and sets them to music that soften the blow without watering down the emotions. Watch the video for “Idiot” on YouTube and connect with Good Grim at the links provided.

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Rival Consoles Gives Us a Taste of Leisurely Travel on an Alien World With Cinematic Synth Song “Running”

Rival Consoles seem to channel a retro science fiction film aesthetic with “Running” from its new album Now Is (which released on October 14, 2022 via Erased Tapes). The steady, accented beat and the rapid, angular echoes of tone and bright melodic cast convey a sense of motion with distorted white noise streaking like wind. One imagines large empty spaces on a distant planet long lightly colonized with small urban areas connected by conveyances that leave one with the leisure time to take in and be impacted by the environment. Composer Ryan Lee West imbues the track with a textural component in the rhythm as more ethereal drones bubble up and drift off so that one does feel like one is inside a kind of machine that effects travel and captures the complexity of the device and its interaction with the surrounding environment in the arrangements for a holistic listening experience that grounds the music even as it captures what it might be like to spend unstructured time in a peaceful alien world. Now Is is now available digitally and on vinyl and CD. Listen to “Running” on YouTube and follow Rival Consoles at the links below.

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Mardi Lumsden Sings About the Benefits of Reconnecting With the Exuberance of Youth Even When You’ve Settled Into the Habits of Adulthood on “nineteen”

Mardi Lumsden, photo by Jade Ferguson @ Visual Poets Society

The melodic afterglow that flows throughout Mardi Lumsden’s synth pop ballad “nineteen.” It’s the perfect musical framing device that honors both the naivete and romance of being in one’s late teens when a very justified and knowing sense of doubt and nuance turns the black and white of teen feelings and thinking into a more full-fledged emotional spectrum takes hold. Lumsden paints that picture of being nineteen and feeling like you understand everything about love and you are willing to do anything for it or your idea of what that might be because your youthful exuberance is undiluted by life experience. But toward the latter half of the song the lyrics shift to a more adult perspective where you think you’re more sophisticated and have some more perspective under your belt but have somehow lost that everyday exuberance for life, that native excitement over simple things or rather to have that come to you without effort and have it uplift your actions and outlook. There’s something to be learned from this contrast in not romanticizing youth or ossifying into a sense of self defined by your adopted role in society or in the workplace. Lumsden reminds us that staying connected with the ability to be excited is not folly and that appreciating the benefits of learned wisdom isn’t selling out. Listen to “nineteen” on YouTube and follow Mardi Lumsden at the links provided.

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In the Haze and Melancholic Intensity of “what kind of mania” suffer fools Creates a Rare Lo-Fi Sense of Mystique

Listening to “what kind of mania” by suffer fools is a bit like catching an enigmatic music video on a mysterious TV station before everything went digital and you’re getting an elusive wave of music that keeps bringing you back even though maybe the reception is snowy and there is some distortion in the reception. In a more modern era it’s like a moody post-punk song but which eschews high fidelity and makes you work for it just a little with few concessions to commercial music considerations beyond the ear worm of a melody and an undeniably powerful mood evoking melancholic feelings of disappointment, conflicted romantic feelings and obsession. The way Times New Viking did its own unique take on punk and lo-fi rock, suffer fools tones down expected notions of sonic fidelity and embraces what some might perceive as production shortcomings. Singer Debbie Debased establishes a concept here that has the hallmarks of the artist’s purported background as a former child star who knows the perils of having one’s life too exposed and on display and the importance of an ever more elusive quality of mystique. In a hyperconnected world where it’s relatively easy to dissect someone’s life and their art and miss the point of what makes creative work compelling by overly focusing on personality and visual aesthetic this song invites the listener in to world of deeply personal heartache as a shared experience through music. Listen to “what kind of mania” on YouTube and follow suffer fools at the links provided.