SubmitHub – Page 189 – Queen City Sounds and Art

John McCabe Makes the Information Overload in Our Fractious Age Seem Manageable on His Single “On TV”

JohnMcCabe3_crop — John McCabe “On TV” cover (cropped)

John McCabe sounds like he took a deep dive into early-to-mid 80s Paisley Underground music and jangle pop produced by Mitch Easter, R.E.M. in particular on “On TV.” But like a lot of that music McCabe has some incisive commentary on the absurdities of American and international politics in recent years and the resultant cultural turmoil as institutions seem to be on the verge of collapsing and leaving society in free fall as the human race heads off into the sunset of climate catastrophe. And as part and parcel of that process we are overloaded with insipid information to make wading through the haze of marketing and partisan sophistry too often tied together challenging and tiring for most people. McCabe’s song sounds like a measured approach to this unfortunate situation in world civilization but it also articulates that frustration with economy and poetry and makes it all seem manageable in spite of how overwhelming it can be. Listen to “On TV” on Soundcloud and follow McCabe at the links below.

johnmccabemusic.com
soundcloud.com/john-mccabe

Advakit’s “Halcyon” is a Tonal Oasis of Tranquility

Advakit_HalcyonCover1_crop — Advakit, “Halcyon” cover (cropped)

“Halcyon” by Advakit is a great example of how to place sounds in a mix to give a sense of depth and movement. The layers of synth melody and electronic percussion create a sonic environment that feels like your mind is resting in a place in your memory where the happy and tranquil moods and images dwell. As though you are able to take a walk through a moving gallery that only contains the good and soothing things so that you’re able to shuffle off the anxiety and concern of everyday life if only for the relatively short duration of the song. One imagines a place well lit but not aggressively illuminated, impossibly infinite horizons outside windows and off an immaculate beachside view in perpetual mid-spring or fall. Of course a lifetime spent in such an place would stagnate and become unhealthily soporific but in these angst-ridden times indulging in a bit of this mode of being is good for everyone. Listen to “Halcyon” on Soundcloud.

Dream Reporter Puts the Powerful Emotional Fragility of the Holiday Season for Many Into Its Beautifully Stark Yet Warm Cover of Low’s “Just Like Christmas”

DreamReporter2_sm — Dream Reporter, photo courtesy the artist

Though it’s nearly a month after Christmas, Dream Reporter’s cover of Low’s “Just Like Christmas” with the samples of ye olde domestic violence that might occur during the holiday season gives a bit of an edge to the presentation. Fortunately, the song’s sentiment reflects that reality obliquely with the metaphor of the lack of trappings of Christmas as the lack of goodwill and tranquility. The vocals have enough of an emotionally fragile quality to express a yearning for something nurturing and imbued with mutual affection over the tense social climate that too many of us encounter during that time of the year. Yes, the song is an acknowledgment of that reality but also of the dysfunction of the pressure of expectation for people to perform benevolence when their lives and psyches may be more challenging. It could be enjoyed as a nice and spare rendition of a song by a band whose thematic complexity encompasses the double meaning of the lyrics but that opening sample gives the proper context and makes what could be another hackneyed Christmas song an uncommon depth of meaning. Listen to Dream Reporter’s cover of “Just Like Christmas” by Low on Soundcloud and follow the project at the links provided.

soundcloud.com/dreamreporter/sets/white-horse-ep
facebook.com/DREAMREPORTER

“Coffee In The Morning” by The Millennial Club is Like a Hazy Early Morning Conversation With Yourself About Whether or Not the Relationship is Over

TheMillennialClub-CarlyWhalen_sm — The Millennial Club, photo by Carly Whalen

“Coffee In The Morning” by The Millennial Club has the kind of hush, hazy sound that sounds like what an early morning before the day gets into full bloom feels like—cool, languid, indistinct memories and a mind awake but not ready to take on the reality of modern, urban America during business hours. The back and forth dialogue of male and female vocals (the latter from guest singer Tori Romo) and the pondering about the contrasting viewpoints of people in a challenging relationship. The production allows tones to swirl and drift into the distance while the voices sound as intimate as a conversation with yourself. The chorus of “If it was easy everyone would do it” is like a mantra to keep trying even though the relationship seems on the verge of coming apart. And having that talk with yourself before your brain is in the linear logic mode demanded by daytime life is the perfect format to suss out the complexities of a situation so that you’re not yet in a place where you pick everything apart based on what you think you know rather than from a place where what you feel and what you think are closer together in your psyche. Listen to “Coffee In the Morning” on Soundcloud and follow The Millennial Club at the links provided. Look for The Millennial Club’s sophomore EP in 2020.

thisistmc.com
soundcloud.com/themillennialclub
twitter.com/shessoinsane
facebook.com/shessoinsane
instagram.com/themillennialclub

Urchin’s Blend of Jazz and Techno Blurs the Line Between Early 2000s Progressive Trance and Indie Electro on “Without No Fear”

Urchin1 — Urchin, photo courtesy the artists

“Without No Fear” by Urchin is reminiscent of the kind of music that one might have expected to hear in a movie taking place parallel to Trainspotting. The similar touchstones of blending jazz, electronic dance music and soul are there. But it’s an update on that sound that captures the heightened reality offered by the tranquil moments in otherwise stylized action movies like Layer Cake and Snatch. The track from the project’s forthcoming 2020 sophomore EP hits one’s ears like an Underworld song rooted more in organic sounds but imbued with that sort of hypnotic momentum and effervescent sound design. The song is a bit like using and indie rock and jazz palette of sounds with the style and structure of progressive trance. It’s a fascinating and evocative bit of abstracting together music that has traditionally been in two different spheres though these days those worlds are closer together than ever as methods of recording and production for both are similar and musical tastes not so sectarian. Listen to “Without No Fear” on Soundcloud and follow Urchin at the links below.

urchinband.com
facebook.com/urchinband
instagram.com/urchinmusic

Harley Small and Wallgrin Invite Us Into Their Shared Cauldron of Dreams With “Magic Circle”

harley-small-wallgrin-1_crop — Harley Small and Wallgrin, photo courtesy the artists

Harley Small and Wallgrin named their collaborative song “Magic Circle” after John William Waterhouse’s 1886 painting “The Magic Circle” depicting a woman using a wand to draw a ritual space in order to conduct a feat of ceremonial magic—a ward against the trespasses of the world while working on something special, sacred and personal. The song is carried by a breathy, drifty melody buoyed along by Kai Basanta’s intricate drumming as Small and Wallgrin welcome the listener to that magic circle where reality warps as the tones and vocals are processed to stretch out into gently reality altering proportions interweaving with synth tones similarly manipulated to give a sense of an expanded personal universe within the protected environment of that magic circle where one’s imagination and creativity can incubate and develop before coming forth fully formed so that the hermetic development can become an experience shared to a world outside the intimate company of those who key into the song’s unusual yet compelling structure and free flow of sounds and ideas. Like a cauldron of dreams issuing forth an alchemical blend of shared aesthetics, realities and aspirations. Musically it might be comparable to an experimental indie pop song in the classic 90s vein when Elephant 6 bands would use noises, samples, field recordings and tape manipulation as part of the process of writing uniquely affecting, even at times haunting, pop songs. But the production exists in a post-Animal Collective and post-Super Furry Animals realm of idiosyncratic psychedelia. Listen to “Magic Circle” on Soundcloud and follow the artists at the links below.

wallgrin.com
wallgrin.bandcamp.com
instagram.com/wallgrin
twitter.com/WALLGRINnoize
facebook.com/wallgrin
harleysmall.bandcamp.com
instagram.com/harleysmall
twitter.com/harleysmall
facebook.com/harleyedwardsmall

I, Doris, the World’s First Middle-Aged Girl-Band, Sends Up the Spurious Notion of Middle Aged Female Anonymity With Its Cheeky New Single “Just Some Doris”

IDoris2_crop — I, Doris, “Just Some Doris” cover (cropped)

I, Doris claims to be “the world’s first middle-aged girl-band.” And so it seems. What makes this interesting beyond a mere gimmick is the fact that Western culture generally encourages everyone to “grow up” and give up doing anything creative or having a real identity or personality after 35, much less 40. And if you’re over 40 and not rich or famous there is no public place for you in society. Especially if you’re a woman. Which is what makes “Just Some Doris” a delightfully cheeky indie pop gem taking aim at the notion that all women over 40 are basically interchangeable. The refrain “Just some Doris, you can just ignore us, don’t need to know my name, girls are all the same, birds are all the same, chicks are all the same, Doris is our name,” spills such notions back out into the world to send it up as the absurd conceit it is. But instead of screaming these sentiments, I, Doris takes the sarcasm a step further by delivering the message in a pleasing, accessible form as a nice pop song. Is the subtext that just because someone is polite and pleasant doesn’t mean they’re not telling you arch truths you need to acknowledge? It’s a playful pop song with layers of meaning both overt and covert and the melody is too catchy to resist. Watch the video for “Just Some Doris” on YouTube and follow I, Doris at the links provided.

idoris.bandcamp.com
twitter.com/justsomedoris
facebook.com/IDoris
instagram.com/idorisband

The Melancholic Indie Pop of “The Xennials” by Blissful Red is an Ode to Coming of Age in a Time Before Constant Connection and Instant Access

BlissfulRed3_sm — Blissful Red, photo courtesy the artist

From the stop motion drawing animation of the music video to the start and stop dynamics of its spare melody, “The Xennials” by Blissful Red captures a sensibility that came to the fore during that early to mid-90s period in Western culture. One that embraced a lo-fi sound and songwriting approach favored by artists like Microphones and Sebadoh, willfully rough around the edges but making that into a more authentic and intimate songwriting style inspired in part by that brief period when artists that didn’t fit with the previous era of overproduced music and bloated bombast or the one that came after of conservative artistic choices guided again largely by commercial potential over artistic originality and a turning away from idiosyncratic creativity. By putting into the video visually interesting but rough drawings of classic 90s album covers and clothing colored in by crayon and colored pencil by hand it’s almost as though Blissful Red is invoking how coming of age at the that time was a mixture of having art handed to you by an older generation and discovering what was meaningful to you in your anecdotal way long before almost everything could be researched on the internet sans the context that made it all meaningful to the people to whom it resonated originally. Almost as though the act of the drawing was a way to emphasize how your identity had to be hand crafted analog style with the context not summed up for you in some online article or playlist. There is a sense of a loss of that way of being and the culture that came out of that time that fostered a real sense of having access to an alternative culture by having to pursue and cultivate it rather than have instant access. Of not being able to access everyone all the time and feel an artificial sense of connection, of existing before a beige, interconnected monoculture set in. It’s not a mournful song, but one that looks back fondly to a time not so long ago that may seem quaint to many now. Watch the video for “The Xennials” on YouTube and follow Blissful Red on Soundcloud.

soundcloud.com/blissful-red-1

Tomas Raae & The Malibu Beach Band Encourages Us to Follow Our Inner Light and Curiosity Toward Paths of Our Lives’ Fulfillment on “Flashlight Beam”

TomasRaae1_sm — Tomas Raae, photo courtesy the artist

With a name like Tomas Raae & The Malibu Beach Band you might expect something like a surf garage project. But with the ambient version of “Flashlight Beam” it’s more like something Nico might have done had she lived long enough to collaborate with Jenny Hval or Joanna Newsom. Alice Carreri’s luminously ethereal vocals float through a tranquil soundscape directed by spidery guitar work and textural percussion. Distorted synth washes flash through the track like the object in the title, sweeping away the darkness for a moment as if to emphasize the idea in the song suggesting how we all need to figure out where we want to go and the path we can discover for ourselves if we’re willing to go beyond what we assume is possible based on the limited horizons of our upbringing and culture. The vocals drift toward those that alluring and mysterious territory just outside the reach of where our personal flashlight beam can illuminate and make clear to us unless we take those steps into the unknown trusting our ability to navigate the new if we don’t let the unknown be a source of fear and allow it to be a beacon for curiosity. Listen to “Flashlight Beam” on Spotify and follow songwriter and composer Tomas Raae at the links provided.

https://open.spotify.com/track/3gZpNdiFoDVbJoGEZIeT1R

TomasRaae.dk
facebook.com/TomasRaaeandthemalibubeachband
instagram.com/tomas_raae

“Got It Like I Like It” is Like Qwiet Type’s Personal Action Movie Outro Anthem

QwietType2_Crop — Qwiet Type, photo courtesy the artist

“Got It Like I Like It” finds Qwiet Type in a bit of a different sonic realm than the other singles reviewed on this site. Rather than the somewhat whimsical yet ambitious pop of “Shakedown” and “My Friends Are Coming Over,” this song makes you think not of Harry Nilsson so much as the moment in an 80s action movie or cop show, think Miami Vice or another Michael Mann vehicle like Band of the Hand or Manhunter, where one of the protagonists is reflecting on all the struggles to finally reach the point in the plot at the end of the story where the greatest challenges are overcome and they can take the time out to enjoy the kind of victory and triumph that really only fully makes sense in your own head because that’s where a lot of our struggles take place even if they seem tough even from the outside. Though the song has an uplifting vibe and somewhat celebratory it also obviously comes from a place of genuine feeling but needing to downplay how hard it’s been in order to enjoy the moment. Listen to “Got It Like I Like It” on Soundcloud.