SubmitHub – Page 187 – Queen City Sounds and Art

Draag’s “Ghost Leak” is a Soothing and Illuminating Peek Into the Wonders All Around Us Hiding in Plain Sight

Draag2_sm — Draag, photo courtesy the artists

On overpasses, in Asian markets, amid shops of various kinds, on balconies, in darkened streets and fields, on a bridge in broad daylight and standing unobtrusively staring, a figure with a mask covering the lower part of her face is the central figure of Draag’s video for “Ghost Leak.” The figure seems invisible to other people except us who see it from the vantage of not being in the video. Like we’re getting that ghost leak that is the title and granted special powers of observation that we all possess but have come to ignore and neglect. And yet this figure doesn’t instill a sense of fear. Rather it’s more like the ghost experience many report of figures who appear unexpectedly without menace. Perhaps here it represents those things in the world many of us miss if we don’t pay attention or are turned in to our surroundings with the proper cognition as the mind often renders insensible or terrifying that which it has no framework or expectation.

Musically the song is like layers of cassette recordings put together so that vocals wander about spectrally as ethereal guitars glide along at a metronomic pace, sweeping between chords and notes, organic percussion provides texture and a shuffling and hypnotic pacing. Synths swirl into the mix and bass figures help to give the track occasional and loose definition. All the sounds convey a sense of depth and mystery that is soothing and inviting. Like if My Bloody Valentine wrote an IDM song using a similar palette of sounds. Its amorphous structure suits it as it winds its way into your consciousness as a reminder of everyday unexpected phenomena that, when noticed and observed can turn a mundane environment into something fascinating and inspiring once we’re able to perceive beyond our conditioned responses and interpretations. The song will be part of the band’s Clara Luz EP produced by Jon Nuñez of Torche due out in February when the group will have a residency at The Echo in Los Angeles. Watch the video for “Ghost Leak” on YouTube and follow Draag at the links below.

draagdraag.com
soundcloud.com/draagdraag
draagdraag.bandcamp.com/releases
twitter.com/draagsadpeople
facebook.com/Draag85
instagram.com/draagsadpeople

Moontwin’s Single “Reach Through” is a Densely Dynamic Anthem to Yearning and Triumph Over Adversity

Moontwin1_sm — Moontwin, photo courtesy the artists

Moontwin’s “Reach Through” has the kind of momentum and urgency one doesn’t hear often enough in an era of too much dispassionate music that also seems to lack for conviction. It’s tempting to compare it to 90s bands that fused industrial music with post-punk like Curve but the production on the track doesn’t sound or feel throwback. More comparable to something like Big Black Delta or TR/ST where the low end, rhythm and melody compliment each other in a mutually fortifying way. The distorted bass line starts the song off in a headlong drive that pushes and carries the song in its wake. Maple Bee’s vocals are part commentary part subject in the way Dale Bozzio’s were in Missing Persons. Zac Kuzmanov lost the use of his hands a few years ago due to a degenerative muscular disorder (the crowdfunding campaign to aid his disability can be found here https://zhouse.xraydio.net/?fbclid=IwAR0_Tc2SJDKwxmSfUhuo2X6wb8qzraezU9jkIwVhchAjGlm6JvC0pntu7k8 ) but it clearly didn’t put a damper on his powers of imaginative production and songwriting. Listen to “Reach Through” on Bandcamp where you can also sample the rest of the album Moon TV (available digitally but also as a limited edition cassette) and follow Moontwin at the links below.

soundcloud.com/user-977876126
twitter.com/moontwinmusic
facebook.com/moontwinmusic
instagram.com/moontwinmusic
youtube.com/channel/UCmzWUfHkhyJS7cFtvzv2ehQ
open.spotify.com/artist/44NqCpdthTpVVnN8149SuA?si=Pf2-TLtjSAycbvIZjwRkYA

Domus and Guest Singer Ljung Evoke the Sense of Mystery and Imagination of Nature on the Edge of Civilization on “Canada”

DomusXLJung2_Canada1 — Domus, photo courtesy the artists

The video for “Canada” by Domus, directed by Marcus Malmström, gives us the hazy, enigmatic night time imagery of traveling on lonely rural highways and wandering in mysterious spaces, and a wolf whose image phases as though traversing multiple dimensions at the same time. All while guest singer Ljung’s vocals drift in to add to the impressionistic composition with ethereal couplets that weave together perfectly with the languorous pace as synths swirl out in slow, hypnotic rosettes of tone accented by a melodic, distinct bass line. The song is based on impressions one of the songwriters had of his visit to Canada so he must have been through in spring or fall with the murky weather and lightning without the snow, when the world is not yet woken up from winter or preparing for the long slumber thereof. It speaks to the allure of a world where nature and urban living are so close together and making for a culture that isn’t so disconnected from the spiritual aspect of the uniqueness of the environment. The song itself though dusky and meditative provokes a spirit of exploration and reflection. Watch the video on YouTube and follow Domus at the links provided.

soundcloud.com/domusband
facebook.com/domussthlm
instagram.com/domusband

Robin Anderson Sings of Wrapping Up Pleasant Memories For a Future When You’ll Most Need Them on “Solstice”

RobinAnderson_Solstice_cover_crop — Robin Anderson “Solstice” cover (cropped)

Robin Anderson’s spare arrangement on “Solstice” is centered on the dulcet tones of her vocals and and piano melody. In the background a subtle synth drone, strings and bells accenting the lyrics. In the song Anderson sings about wrapping up the years and experiences for a later date knowing she’ll miss the cherished times because there have been rougher times and will be again when being able to unwrap those memories in your mind can be a welcome reminder that life isn’t always the hardship and struggle even when it can seem like it for longer stretches of time than you think you can endure. That sentiment elevates the song from perhaps mere holiday music written for and even during a sentimental season to a statement on making memories to have something positive to hold on to when you need it most. Listen to “Solstice” on Spotify and follow Anderson at the links provided.

robineanderson.bandcamp.com
facebook.com/robineanderson
instagram.com/robin.e.anderson

“Surfacing” by SCERE is the Sound of Swimming Your Way Through Life’s Murk to Better Places in the Psyche

Scere_Self-Titled_crop — SCERE self-titled EP cover (cropped)

SCERE’s debut, self-titled EP is reminiscent of 90s downtempo with a more industrial approach to the beatmaking. This is exemplified no better than on the single “Surfacing,” on which the serpentine structure of the rhythm gives one the impression of singer Coral wandering in a dimly lit room (as evidenced by the music video) unwinding and unpacking her struggles to herself and yearning for someone, maybe herself, to take her home whether literally or a place where she can feel grounded again and gain the strength to emerge from a kind of stasis or psychic funk. The streaming, hazy melodies and the layered beats accenting the emotional colorings of the vocals have a similarly sensual quality heard in “#1 Crush” by Garbage. The dynamic range of dense atmospheres and spacious, melancholic tonal spaces is wide but subtle making it a compelling journey of a song and EP overall. Producer Ged Denton is also a member of Der Prosecutor and C-TEC (which includes members of Front 242, Cubanate and Nitzer Ebb) and brings some of that expertise to this project in method but creating a decidedly different sound. Watch the video for “Surfacing” on YouTube and follow SCERE at the links below.

scere.com
soundcloud.com/scere

Calcou’s Tranquility Inducing “Tongue-Tied” is the Sound of Peaceful Denouement Before Life’s Next Big Adventure Begins

Calcou1_2019_TongueTied1 — Calcou, photo courtesy the artist

Calcou sure picked a nice palette of sounds to convey the sense of conclusion of a chapter in life and pondering about the future and new adventures on “Tongue-Tied.” A simple melodic drone, the sounds of gentle rain, warm Rhodes piano and GRIP TIGHT’s luminous vocals lend this final track from Calcou’s aptly titled EP The Prologue an almost spiritual calm and restfulness, a mood of being refreshed from a long period of struggle and labor for something more fortifying and inspiring ahead and being able to wonder what that might be but not being driven to action before one is ready to take on life’s challenges once again and having the freedom and space to take time out to rest and come into the proper frame of mind to tackle whatever may come your way with integrity. Listen to “Tongue-Tied (feat. GRIP TIGHT)” on Soundcloud and follow Calcou at the links provided.

soundcloud.com/calcou
facebook.com/calcou.music
instagram.com/calcou.music

“Lost like Teardrops in Rain” is Like Jack Cleary’s Homage to Vangelis and the Inspiration of Works of Deep Creative Imagination

JackCleary1_sm — Jack Cleary, photo courtesy the artist

Giving the song the title “Lost like Teardrops in Rain,” Jack Cleary is more than hinting at part of the inspiration for the composition. The streaming synth suggests enigmatically alluring vistas after the fashion of Vangelis’ score for Blade Runner. But in its gently roiling dynamic one hears the sound of a warm summer night by the ocean with moonlight on the water, its reflection interrupted with the ripples of raindrops stirring in your own mind a contemplation of your own place in the world and in your own life. In the context of the album Gemini, which Cleary released on November 21, 2019, it is a vivid passage of reverie, an homage even to treasured memories of immersion in works of deep creative imagination, on a sonic journey of exploration that takes you through dark and foggy places before emerging into a musical and emotional place of clarity. Listen to “Lost like Teardrops in Rain” on Bandcamp (where you can also listen to, perchance purchase, Gemini in its entirety) and follow Cleary at the links below.

jackclearymusic.com
jackcleary.bandcamp.com
facebook.com/JackClearyMusic
instagram.com/jackclearymusic

Nicole Theo’s “Would You Save Me” Aches With the Yearning For an Unrequited Love

nicole-sunset-cover_crop — Nicole Theo, photo courtesy the artist

Nicole Theo’s voice on “Would You Save Me” seems to come from a distance and through the filter of a fog enshrouded room within which you can make out shapes illuminated by fingers of light from a mysterious source, a breeze dopplering her voice, pitching it as a kind of somehow naturally occurring autotune effect. The latter alters Theo’s voice expertly as an enhancement of the sound rather than the trendy affectation you hear in entirely too many pop and trap songs. Sax and strings come into the song to give this song that aches with the yearning of an unrequited love a grounding and resolution that suggests soon emerging into action rather than wrapping oneself up continuously in unfulfilled fantasy. Listen to “Would You Save Me” on Spotify, watch the music video for the song on YouTube and follow Theo at the links provided. Look for Theo’s debut EP due out in 2020.

facebook.com/Nicole-Theo-102884934422714
Twitter: @theo_nike
nicoletheo.com
instagram.com/nicoletheomusic
Spotify: https://open.spotify.com/album/3Fh1HqVLkcgY2HJjJ8NGMi

Foreign Television’s “Minus 27” Celebrates the Life You Have Rather Than Being Trapped Into the Life You Were Born To

ForeignTelevision3_crop — Foreign Television, image courtesy the artists

Foreign Television sets the stage for us at the beginning of its single “Minus 27” with the gentle falling snow of sparkling guitar tone. It sounds like the aspect of the Christmas season we’d rather focus on rather than the possibilities of going back to the place that spawned you and the reminders of what drove you to seek greener pastures to begin with. The swirling riff is like a free-flowing haze of memories that burn off the anxiety of anticipating the time on holiday back “home” and the lifeline back out of the place you’re going to out of a sense of familial or otherwise social obligation. Perhaps to enjoy some of that time but knowing you’ll run into the people and the situations that may remind you of how much better you have it now. It’s not a melancholy song. Its melody is nostalgic but with a sense of being present in a way that makes it impossible to get full stuck in the past as many people seem to be at some point later in life, romanticizing a time that never really was when they felt more alive, more valid and more accomplished in a realm of life when your options really were more limited even if you felt otherwise. In the end “Minus 27” is a celebration and embrace of the life you have knowing you don’t have to feel trapped by a former life and milieu that didn’t suit you. Listen to “Minus 27” on Soundcloud and follow dream-pop/shoegaze band Foreign Television at the links below.

foreigntelevisionmusic.com
soundcloud.com/foreigntelevision
foreigntelevision.bandcamp.com
twitter.com/foreigntvmusic
facebook.com/foreigntelevisionmusic

Daddy Who’s “Clock Clock Clacka” is a Homage to the Dreamlike Production Style of 90s Underground Hip-hop

DaddyWho1_crop — Daddy Who, image courtesy the artist

The breaks on Daddy Who’s “Clock Clock Clacka” are so intentional and precise yet organic that it sounds like the work of an expert turntablist setting the tempo either before something big hits or between epic tracks. The synth swells, the sleigh bells placed so tastefully, the vocals speaking the title of the song and echoing off, the myriad other sonic details are reminiscent of another era of hip-hop before trap became one of the dominant styles of beatmaking. That era when producers like The Alchemist, DJ Premier, collectives like Hieroglyphics and artists on the Stones Throw label assembled sounds from disparate sources to set a mood channeled into a rhythm whether lyrics flowed with the soundscape or not. Listen to “Clock Clock Clacka” on Bandcamp.