SubmitHub – Page 221 – Queen City Sounds and Art

Luca Vasta’s “Old Italian Songs” Has the Emotional Resonance of a Beloved 70s Pop Song Until Now Forgotten

LucaVasta3_sm_crop — Luca Vasta, photo courtesy the artist

Luca Vasta’s “Old Italian Songs” switches between Italian and English lyrics as the sweeping dynamics of the song convey a sense of forward momentum. While it resonates with a 1970s pop aesthetic this kind of song wouldn’t have and couldn’t really have been written then as the touchstones are more modern as are the complex dynamics. Yet it sounds like something that should have been in a movie set in the mid-to-late 70s. Shades of Nino Rota haunt the edges of the song and its structure and it seems obvious that Vasta has more than a passing familiarity with ABBA and that band’s winning combination of orchestral and electronic pop. With Vasta’s vibrant vocals and the upbeat yet moody composition, this song hooks into your ear like something beloved but forgotten. Listen to “Old Italian Songs” on YouTube and follow Luca Vasta at the links provided.

soundcloud.com/lucavasta
open.spotify.com/artist/1JVjSV4iG3WPqLLkKA9bCU
twitter.com/lucavastamusic
facebook.com/VastaTV
instagram.com/lucavasta_official

Krept & Konan’s remix of “I Spy” is a Community Dis Track of the Fools Amongst Us

KreptAndKonan2_sm — Krept & Konan, photo courtesy the artists

“I Spy” by Krept & Konan, the remix including Bugzy Malone, SL, Morrison, Abra Cadabra, RV and Snap Capone anyway, is like a community dis on the do nothing “fuckboys” of the world who try their level, well not best because let’s be real that’s not happening, minimal effort to bring things down. Whether that’s with careerist climbing, turning their backs on the community in pursuit of performative dignity through phony association with celebrity and wealth. The hard beat coupled with the finely sculpted sidechain ducking gives the track a playful quality but one that reflects the amusement at the foolishness being called out. It’s a song with the fascinating contrasts and commentary on social reality that we’ve come to expect from Krept & Konan. Watch the video for the “I Spy” remix and follow Krept & Konan at the links below.

twitter.com/konanplaydirty
www.instagram.com/konanplaydirty
www.facebook.com/KreptandKonan

Working Breed’s “Turtle Race” is a Darkly Ethereal Internal Dialogue of Personal Liberation From a Toxic Relationship

WorkingBreed1_sm — Working Breed, photo courtesy the artists

“Turtle Race” from Working Breed’s new album Hieroglyphica is like a symbolic dialogue with aspects of oneself. Set to a slow, processional pace the earlier parts of the song are a prelude to when the pace picks up along with the vocal narrative. One of the aspects of personality represented sings of a yearning for not living a life in perpetual stasis and wondering when the time will come when she’s ready to act on buried wishes and if she’ll even recognize the opportunity to act. The accompanying music video reveals further aspects of the song suggesting the story of a kept woman who a wealthy man thinks he can keep under glass while he pursues other women with the promise of the privileges his status can bring her. But the triple characters of the “Mind,” “Astral” and “Real Life” Erika, played of course by Working Breed frontwoman Erika Laing, reject that value system in favor of her own dignity and finally comes to see the “brick of gold,” “country club” and “palisade” as ersatz symbols of devotion. In the end of the video Erika sheds the outer signs of her relationship to be free. It would be difficult to sum up what style of music one might call “Turtle Race” but fans of Sunshine Blind and The Dresden Dolls will appreciate the baroque pop and musical theater aspects of the song as well as its darkly ethereal mood. If you happen to be in Pittsburgh, Pennsylvania on August 24, you can catch the album release show at Thunderbird Music Hall with opening band Cello Fury. Watch the video on YouTube and follow Working Breed at the links below.

workingbreed.net
open.spotify.com/artist/1NAW00pX1DxSF7u9Q4ATXe
youtube.com/channel/UCaqBsTuf_MdYXtgRPViGoqQ
workingbreed.bandcamp.com/track/my-chimera-3
instagram.com/WorkingBreed

Drawing on the Surreal Late Night Convenience Store Vibe, Durgi’s “Gas Station” is a Prime Dose of Jazzy Hypnagogic Pop

Durgi_CamGirl_cover_sm_crop — Durgi, *Cam Girl* cover (cropped)

“Gas Station” sounds like something written and conceived by someone who has worked lots of overnight shifts at the titular business on the edge of town while working on their Literature and Music Composition degrees by day. The dead hours of boredom when you can’t read anymore post-modernist literature and you’ve listened to Wowee Zowee, In an Aeroplane Over the Sea and Worn Copy back to back all night so you work on songs with arrangements that would stimulate your own brain only to find out, after you’ve stopped working nights and your mind is back to working like normal that your songs were like some late night jazz lounge indie/hypnagogic pop psychedelia and that your song “Gas Station” was like an awkward yet appealingly earnest love poem. Maybe that has nothing at all to do with how Durgi came to write the song but its unconventional melodies and decidedly eccentric and non-standard dynamics and rhythms were certainly birthed from a perspective familiar with the derangements of mind many of us undertake to get through life as a filter on our already established weirdodom. At the end of the song you may ask yourself “What did I just listen to?” And then find yourself listening again and again to appreciate the wealth of details and the places Durgi takes you emotionally and artistically. Listen to “Gas Station” on Spotify and follow the band at the links below.

open.spotify.com/artist/3ZScYCkSYirKZBkifTeGN3
cabletv.bandcamp.com/album/cam-girl

Leah Dunn’s Atonal Pop Song “Oakland” is a Gentle Reminder to Mind Our Blind Spots Even as We Get Swept Up in the Romance of a Moment

LeahDunn1_crop — Leah Dunn, photo courtesy the artist

Opening “Oakland” with some atonality and minimal instrumentation before her vocals come in is an interesting choice on the part of Leah Dunn. The disorienting almost anti-melody reflects the sense of how her experience in Oakland and a relationship undertaken there played out. The poetically vivid lyrics lay out how Dunn was drawn in by the mystery and romance of the moment and how these stories we tell ourselves help us to not just highlight the significance of experiences but also helps to obscure from our comprehension obvious warning signs. Dunn’s vocals, vulnerable and more conventionally melodic contrasts with the sounds of strings hitting “wrong” and at borderline jarring tones showing the clarity versus all the hints that things weren’t going to go well long term until both aspects of the song come together in a strong, unified final section of the song and thus the moment of realization. The song ends with a nod to the atonality because life is uncertain and no matter what we learn we’re capable of making the same mistake again and best to have compassion for one’s human frailties. Listen to the song on Apple Music and follow Leah Dunn at the links provided.

open.spotify.com/artist/1zrefLbUbnYR1GAVrUNkRQ
instagram.com/leahdunndunn

Fear and Loathing in Ottawa: Garçons’ “Froggin'” is a Surreal Genre Bending Pop Gem

The core beat of Garçons’ “Froggin’” sounds a bit like a sped up version of the Sanford and Son theme and the video cements an impression of the 70s with Deelo Avery taking on the role of Hunter S. Thompson in the drama of the song. For a video with pretty much no budget and based in Canada, the crew nailed the vibe and giving the song that seems part Afrobeat and part R&B, the surreal quality it deserves. The pace of the song is frantic but the narrator is doing the best he can given clear and present challenges and managing with some sense of style. Given that Avery grew up hearing Fela Kuti it comes as no surprise there’s more than a touch of that in this song but it manages to transcend a narrow genre of hip-hop, Afrobeat and lo-fi pop and thus repeated listens are rewarding. Follow Garçons at the links below.

soundcloud.com/realgarcons
open.spotify.com/artist/0HAiMAa8lwFrKnEq55SLWe
youtube.com/channel/UCi-LyhMsvpYq_rqZrBr1nkw

Reverends’ Hypnotic “The Greater Roadrunner” Speaks Directly to the Frustration of Being Drawn to Unfulfilling Relationships

Reverends1_lg — Reverends, photo courtesy the artists

“Because I’ve been here too many times,” a line from “The Greater Roadrunner” by Atlanta-based psychedelic rock band seems poignant in a song about repeating the same patterns with a relationship whose fulfillment in a larger sense is ultimately elusive. The hypnotic, stretching, distorted melody of the song and its vivid and evocative tonal range sounds both world weary and amused at one’s own folly at the same time. But that maybe the realizations will stick this time even though the person in question has the power to draw you back in almost intuitively and instinctively the way Wile E. Coyote seems unable to stop chasing the Roadrunner from the cartoon. Except that Wile E. Coyote doesn’t know better and you should. “I have to be that guy, that fuckin’ guy,” the line preceding the aforementioned speaks so directly to the well-earned frustration it would be comedic if it weren’t just too real. Watch the kaleidoscopic video on YouTube and follow Reverends at the links below where you can give the group’s new album The Disappearing Dreams of Yesterday in full as well.

littlecloudrec.com/collections/reverends
open.spotify.com/artist/3t6Zk9rDDkmYwrY4tBb9v2
youtube.com/channel/UCI3ZDoYhLybdFnXSegJU3ng
reverendsatl.bandcamp.com
facebook.com/SomeHighSun
instagram.com/reverends_atl

Lochie Earl Reminds Us to Find a Grounding Humor in the Unpleasant Manifestations of Our Personalities on “Laugh@urseLF”

LochieEarl1_lg_crop — Lochie Earl, photo courtesy the artist

The title of Lochie Earl’s new single “Laugh@urseLF” should be an obvious clue that there is an element of humor involved in the songwriting. But that humor is pointed inward as a reminder to not be an insufferable jerk. Also, to remember that no matter how seriously you may take yourself that won’t change your condition or your personality and that in the end you can’t escape yourself and you may as well accept yourself as you are and have a laugh once in awhile at how your personality can have unpleasant manifestations that you can either find humor in to diminish their power or double down on your ridiculous moments. Musically it’s a dynamic and varied song that begins with a piano figure and rapid fire lyrics that reflect the rush of thoughts and emotion. The piano melody is reminiscent of Blue Oyster Cult’s 1974 song “Astronomy” and that gives it a haunted quality suggestive of maybe being stuck in your own head with the drama around you maybe in no small part existing as a figment of your imagination. Listen to “Laugh@urseLF” on YouTube and follow Lochie Earl on the Gypsys of Pangea Febook page.

www.facebook.com/gypsysofpangea

“Tears of the Past” is Duphi’s Musical Journey Away From a Cycle of Self-Punishment for Your Mistakes

Duphi_TearsOfThePast_crop — Duphi, “Tears of the Past” cover (cropped)

Duphi’s latest single “Tears of the Past” brings together production and natural sounds to create a track that sounds like a cycle of processing regret and grief in the context of your whole life. It’s a natural tendency to look back and assess and, if you’re a person of conscience possessed of self-honesty, flagellate yourself a little for mistakes, reliving those moments as if that ritual of punishment is an endless act of atonement that is the only proper way to demonstrate you’ve acknowledged that mistake but are never able to live it down. The gentle beats of this song and its utilizing sampled sounds of a storm in the distance and a sense of traveling away from that storm into more tranquil zones of melodic, percussive arpeggiation that bring a clarity of mind and engender giving yourself the perspective of placing your mistakes as part of your evolution as a person and not as something to always hang over your own head. The song is a reminder that while self-martyrdom may be normal it’s really a waste of time, energy and life better spent being the better person you aspire to be. Listen to “Tears of the Past” on Spotify and follow Duphi at any of the links below.

soundcloud.com/duphi
facebook.com/duphi.phillips

“Twintails” by Podge is a Dynamic Blend of the Aesthetics of Indie Pop and Manga

Podge1_sm_crop — Podge, photo courtesy the artist

A charming mix of 8-bit sounds, organic percussion and sounds and keyboards, Podge’s “Twintails” is a song that picks up where 80s Ninendo game soundtracks left off and explored the pop songwriting possibilities of that sensibility. The effect is something like a playfully yet melancholy indie pop song that draws on what is an element of so much manga and anime and that is how it reflects a sense of loneliness and yearning for connection while speaking to the aspirations and dreams of the artists. This palette of sounds thus never comes off as gimmicky or mere affectation. Podge’s songwriting is fully immersed in the blend of cultures Western and Japanese on that creative level and that gives “Twintails” an unexpected emotional and sonic depth for an effect of an eclecticism reminiscent of Alopecia-period Why? Listen to “Twintails” on Soundcloud and follow Podge at the links below.