SubmitHub – Page 224 – Queen City Sounds and Art

“Find Me Out” by Ronjo V Perfectly Fuses Southern Rock With Power Pop

RonjoV1_crop — Ronjo V, photo/image courtesy the artist

If Ronjo V is actually a vanity project led by Ryan Joseph of 5th Street Studios in Austin, Texas then the guy has assembled his own Texan version of Argent Studios because the new single “Find Me Out” is like that glorious power pop that came out of the legendary studio. But if some tasty Southern rock licks were added to the mix. The song begins with a jangle-y figure and like something that could have come out of Memphis garage rock of the past decade with more sophisticated production but same kind of raw melodicism and verve a lot of that music seems to possess. The guitar leads help the song shine with some creative riffing that help to propel the song as much as the spare yet expressive rhythm section. In a lot of music that’s mining the classic rock era there are excessive guitar solos but in embracing that sound all the solos serve the song well and with a diversity of composition that helps keep this song sounding fresh beginning to end. Listen on Soundcloud and follow Ronjo V at the links provided.

soundcloud.com/ronjov
open.spotify.com/artist/2IitCAORDIHEZ8KNWJ8SuS
facebook.com/ronjovmusic
instagram.com/ronjovmusic

DEADBEAR’s “Black Sheep is Meaty” is a Dazzling Whirlwind Dub Downtempo Trip Through Non-Western Music Samples

Deadbear_WorldMusicMarket_cover_crop — DEADBEAR, *World Music Market* cover (cropped)

Be prepared to go through the gauntlet of rhythms and musical styles to a pounding and evolving beat throughout DEADBEAR’s “Black Sheep Is Meaty.” DEADBEAR’s Nick Donovan sampled eleven different records bought at his local flea market and blended them together with nearly orchestral melodic electronic passages and robust electronic bass so that recordings pressed to vinyl in the 50s and 60s could come to life in a new way to highlight the world as it is and not as defined in reference to Western culture. The track comes from World Music Market due out August 16 (see Bandcamp link below) and across the album you will hear Korean court music, Yemeni and Tibetan folk, Sudanese prayer songs, Syrian dance music and other sounds that might seem like an exotic affectation elsewhere but here the power and vitality of that music is retained if presented outside its original context and format. He profits from sales of World Music Market will go to charities that help integrate refugees into Western communities and itself an example of true multiculturalism as exists in Donovan’s now home city of Berlin where various cultures co-exist without necessarily having to assimilate, which is also the sound of the music on World Music Market. Listen to “Black Sheep is Meaty” on Bandcamp and follow DEADBEAR and this project in particular at the links below.

World Music Market by DEADBEAR

soundcloud.com/deadbearsongs
deadbearsongs.bandcamp.com

Hello Meteor Brings Out the Soulfulness and Fluid Low End of MOLTENO’s Downtempo Environmental Justice Song “Dakota”

Molteno1_sm — MOLTENO, photo by 10K Mega

The Night Water Mix done by Hello Meteor on MOLTENO’s “Dakota” is so immersive you feel like you’ve walked directly into a dream. The low end gently guides you along like you’re floating through MOLTENO’s narrative about the folly of humanity, or at least corporations and capital generally, in thinking it can control and own any natural resource or land in a larger sense. “Dakota” is an obvious reference to the pipeline and how it was built through native land as if it would have no consequences to the world around or the people who live there. The same mentality applies to so much of how our Western civilization conceives of the natural world and each other. In this song MOLTENO more than suggests the foolishness of the mindset that thinks disasters, natural or otherwise, can be dealt with through a simple transactional process with human currency. Hello Meteor enhanced the lush atmospherics of the original, gave the vocals a more soulful flavor and bathed the track in fluid low end for an entrancing version of the song that sticks with you. Listen to the remix on Spotify and follow MOLTENO at any of the links provided.

moltenomusic.com
soundcloud.com/moltenomusic
open.spotify.com/artist/7rAKOEwi4Wp5NXVmmkwd0n
twitter.com/moltenomusic
facebook.com/moltenomusic
instagram.com/moltenomusic

With Her Song “Red Dust” Kodey Brims Says That Navigating Life With Deep Uncertainty is Not Only Possible But Often Necessary

KodeyBrims4_crop — Kodey Brims, photo courtesy the artist

Kodey Brims seems to use a reverse chord progression to start off her song “Red Dust” before it shifts into a more conventional progression and it serves to give the sense of yearning and seeking of meaning a sense of being outside normal time. The mixture of atmospheres and earthy instrumentals also gives the song a dynamic contrast that allows Brims’ vocals to shine with a wide-ranging soulfulness that feels like Brims is giving up the process of fully figuring out what her life is about and where it’s going to intuition and forces beyond her control as opposed to the folly of thinking you have everything under control. It could be a melancholic song but it comes off as one of trust and hope in the process and the journey more so than a plan that won’t survive contact with realities and events you do not yet know you will encounter. It’s a song about recognizing the tentative nature of our life’s path more than we often care to admit and also about embracing the positive changes that come along as well. Listen to “Red Dust” on Soundcloud and follow Brims at the links below.

soundcloud.com/kodey-brims
youtube.com/user/KodeyLuci
twitter.com/kodeybrimsmusic
facebook.com/kodeybrimsmusic
instagram.com/kodeybrimsmusic

stanleystanley’s Ambient Single “palace of steam” is a Temporary Autonomous Tranquility Zone

StanleyStanley2_sm — stanleystanley, photo courtesy the artist

As the title “palace of steam” suggests, Jordan Russell-Hall as stanleystanley has crafted a soundscape that is both hazy and warm. Fog-enshrouded but luminous. The track drifts in and progresses through a series of melodies layered with complimentary drones that serve as a textural backdrop to the palpable sound of crystalline arpeggiation hitting in a circular pattern before fading into horizon like the end of a dream. For those few minutes, though, you find yourself transported to a place that may be described as a temporary autonomous tranquility zone in the titular location and spending some time perhaps leaning back against the walls of said palace and supported by the fleeting physicality of the place while bright tones wash over and though you to cleans out at least a little of the anxiety and built up angst from everyday living. The song can be found on the new stanleystanley EP beside myself out on The Ambient Zone imprint. Listen to “palace of steam” on Bandcamp and follow stanleystanley at any of the links provided.

beside myself by stanleystanley

soundcloud.com/stanleystanleyyyy
bandcamp.com/stanleystanley
twitter.com/stanleystanleyJ
facebook.com/stanleystanleyyyy
instagram.com/jordan_stanleystanley

“War On This World” is Jody Glenham’s Dream Pop Song Reminding us We Can and Must Work Together to Meet the World’s Myriad Crises

JodyGlenham1_lg — Jody Glenham, photo courtesy the artist

Jody Glenham seems to be challenging people to step up and act to set things on to a better path on “War On This World” by simply asking what we are feeling about and then what are we doing in the face of the challenges we are collectively facing. The song’s expansive and triumphant progression growing from quiet, even meek, gentle beginnings is like a metaphor for how a movement for positive change can snowball into an unstoppable force from humble origins and individual efforts that grow into global action. The dreamily melodic synth and guitar lines keep pace with the drums which seem to propel the song forward to emotional and sonic heights reminiscent in a way of Lower Dens’ way of getting under your skin in ways you welcome for their mood lifting and energizing effect even as the atmospheres are melancholic. Listen to “War On This World” on Soundcloud and follow Glenham and her band The Dreamers at the links provided.

jodyglenham.bandcamp.com
twitter.com/jodygthatsme
facebook.com/jodyglenham
instagram.com/summerwitch

Dean Manning Shows How You Can Handle the Pain of a Bad Breakup With Grace and Humor on “Messy Time”

DeanManning1_Crop — Dean Manning, photo courtesy the artist

Dean Manning’s metaphors and imagery on “Messy Time” are evocative and unusual and the dark, self-deprecating humor could have waxed maudlin about a relationship that has come apart and its aftermath but the tenor of the song is simply one of weary acceptance. Manning doesn’t place the blame for the breakup on anyone and acknowledges his own inability to perceive the signs that things were off. It’s a gentle song that sketches how one’s life can be turned upside down but everyone can come out at the end of that period essentially okay with no need for misplaced rancor. To help him to bring some subtle sonics to the song Manning brought in multi-instumentalist Justin Stanley who brought his skills to recordings with Prince, Leonard Cohen and Beck and Stella Mozgawa, the talented drummer of Warpaint. Fans of Low and Yo La Tengo’s more mellow moments will find Manning’s song charming and resonant. Look for the full record Sunday Mountain out on Manning’s label Cloudy But Fine on September 6. But for now you can listen to the song on YouTube.

Freedom Fry’s “David Bowie” is a Simple Love Song About Rejecting Conformity of Identity in Our Ever Evolving World

FreedomFry3_sm — Freedom Fry, photo courtesy the artists

With its new single “David Bowie,” Freedom Fry once again demonstrates its knack for letting stripped down but sonically rich music serve as a backdrop to a compelling and relatable, if unusual, story. In this case the narrator is someone who can’t help being a weirdo who goes through life dressed up like they’re out of the same science fiction glam universe as David Bowie during his Ziggy Stardust phase. But our storyteller is casually confused by people not accepting their normal because it suits them. And let’s face it, business casual or formal business wear is odd in its own right because it imposes a uniform standard of presenting oneself and thus conformity. In its way it is a form of psychological warfare to normalize behaviors and mindsets that deny your unique human qualities. The narrator of “David Bowie” sees no reason to adhere to such needlessly strict and destructive standards and rejects the laughter of those who have submitted to the will of conditioned and unquestioned behavior. This narrator sanely sets their own standard and speaks nothing of imposing one on others. It’s also a bit of a love song suggesting a like-minded companion has been found who too can shrug off the shackles of a phony sense of normalcy. If anyone was an avatar of making the world accept his eccentricity it was the likes of David Bowie, Prince and Sun Ra but Freedom Fry made David Bowie the icon this time out. Listen to “David Bowie” on YouTube and follow Freedom Fry at the links below.

soundcloud.com/freedomfry
open.spotify.com/artist/195hFqaTDENqLCcG8uGtM7
youtube.com/freedomfrymusic
twitter.com/freedomfrymusic
facebook.com/freedomfrymusic

Munya’s Enigmatic “Dove” Weds a Simple Melody With Complex Emotional Content

Munya2_sm — Munya, photo courtesy the artist

In Munya’s “Dove” there is a bit of the same atmospheric character that makes music by Chromatics seem timeless and out of the current frame of cultural reference. As though, technological considerations aside, this song could have come out in the late 50s or in the mid-60s. The crystalline guitar, bird sounds and Josie Boivin’s vocals with the French lyrics seem to be coming from another place and another era. Like if Françoise Hardy got into making chill synth pop in the 1980s for a movie David Lynch made under a different name that wasn’t Alan Smithee but a secret cult movie to rediscover in future decades and one that embraced the romanticism at the heart of his films more so than the darkness. Whatever the inspirations or the aims of the song it is tapping into a complex array of emotions while seeming, on the surface, simple if otherworldly. Listen to “Dove” on Soundcloud and Boivin’s project Munya at the links below.

soundcloud.com/munyamusic
open.spotify.com/artist/0JnhdXEQfVjoY1OgwTExwO
munya.bandcamp.com
facebook.com/munyamusic
instagram.com/munyamusic

“Black Lion’s” Downtempo Song “Survive ft. Testament & Ray Robinson” Conveys a Sense of Hope and Striving Against Everyday Challenges

BlackLion1_lg — Black Lion, photo courtesy the artists

“Survive,” the new single by Canadian hip-hop duo Black Lion, features contributions from Testament and Ray Robinson. Ostensibly a hip-hop song with the beat structure and sampling you’d expect from someone selecting some tastefully atmospheric sounds to convey a sense of striving and hope against everyday challenges. But the mood and lush tone is more reminiscent of downtempo and trip hop. Maybe it’s the small details Rich Lindo and JR “Heny” Lindo place into the mix like Massive Attack did all over Blue Lines. Little tones and textures to give the beat an internal diversity that is the foundation for the vocal rhythm while also giving the listener that extra hook to draw you in to what the song has to say about maintaining positive mental attitude when too many things in your life including your own mind want to erode your effectiveness as a human to attain even the most modest of dreams. Listen to “Survive” on Spotify and follow Black Lion at the links provided.

itunes.apple.com/ca/artist/black-lion/198183281
soundcloud.com/black-lion-productions
open.spotify.com/artist/7KREsI6YKvT8xoz4w4BuDe