Queen City Sounds and Art

Donzii’s Video For “Grave” is Like a Synthpop Darkwave Disco Celebration of Underground Culture and Making One’s Own Fun

Miami-based post-punk dance band Donzii released its debut full-length album Fishbowl on December 1, 2022 and its lead single “Grave” is a solid dose of what you’re in store for in giving the record a full listen. The music video for the song shows the band performing in what looks like an abandoned warehouse space with dancers who look like they came out of a future society after the American version of Mad Max has risen from the ashes of the apocalypse accompanying the band in its choreographed movements set to the moody, R&B infused darkwave. The percussion sounds like something borrowed from 80s dance pop but paired with the brooding mood of the song that prescribes finding and making one’s own fun in a world where everything seems so precarious and menacing. At points the band strikes a tone reminiscent of what might have happened if Giorgio Moroder, New Order, Madonna and Nina Hagen had collaborated on a song created for performing in East Germany and having to keep a song about subversive, even revolutionary and forbidden simple hedonism a secret from officialdom. Its this eclectic but strong sound that Donzii has been crafting across a handful of previous releases that has set it apart from the post-punk and darkwave bands with which its often been associated that has found a peak moment on Fishbowl. Fans of Boy Harsher and Actors will find what Donzii’s been doing much to their liking. Watch the video for “Grave” on YouTube and follow Donzii at the links below.

Donzii on Facebook

Donzii on Instagram

Holy Wire’s Instrumental Post-punk Song “Dream” is the Perfect Nostalgic Track to Soothe a Broken Heart

From jump Holy Wire’s “Dream” feels like a journey back to a time when one would hear C86 bands alongside the likes of New Order, Felt and The Smiths on college radio. And be struck by how that music could employ both intimate acoustic rhythm guitar with synth and spare electric guitar melodies to create an evocative backdrop to stories of heartbreak, crisis and times of existential introspection. But for this song Holy Wire doesn’t bother with the words, it lets the melancholic and nostalgic tenor of the song transport the listener to a time in life when horizons seemed in the distance and a broken heart could be soothed with the power of music seemingly written as the soundtrack to getting over a breakup. Listen to “Dream” on Spotify and connect with Holy Wire at the links below.

Holy Wire on TikTok

Holy Wire on Instagram

Holy Wire on Bandcamp

“your eyes” is a Torch Song by partygirl That Burns With the Memory of Someone That Truly Sees You

“your eyes” sounds like partygirl spent some time immersed in old Joe Jackson records and those of Fiona Apple and absorbed a certain late night jazz lounge sensibility to inject into soulful pop songs. The piano work is wide ranging and simmers with an active intensity sweeping the song along as the vocals soar soulfully like the voice were hearing cut her teeth on playing endless open mics testing out R&B and jazz songs before establishing her own commanding style. If Grace Cummings had aimed more for a torch song style instead of searing blues rock her songs might sound like this as it has a similarly emotionally stirring power. It’s a song steeped in uncertainty and obsession, of being haunted by the memory of someone that gets you in all your flawed glory. Listen to “your eyes” on YouTube and follow partygirl at the links below.

Eosine’s Video for the Entrancingly Expansive Dream Pop Single “Ciarán” is a Glimpse Into the Mind on the Border of Waking

Eosine offer a gorgeous array of sounds and textures on its single “Ciarán.” From piano melody running through and complemented by guitar chords drawn out and then syncopated in perfect sync with vocals that are luminous and warm in the tonal breezes that guide the structure and arrangements of the song in spiraling waves. The video treatment by Simon Medard with footage also shot by Eosine lead vocalist and multi-instrumentalist Elena Lacoix is like a journey into a personal vision of the universe and the interconnecting streams of energy on both the macro and micro level. But then there are concrete images as though drawn from where the raw stuff of dreams coalesce into symbols and then explicable yet mysterious objects and structures like the eyes and face toward the end of the video as though at long last one emerges from the subconscious to venture into the waking world again but not before gaining the benefit of beautifully strange visions one often sees in the cinema of explorers of the subconscious like Ken Russel and Jodorowsky. Watch the video for “Ciarán” on YouTube and follow Eosine at the links below.

Eosine on Facebook

Eosine on Bandcamp

Eosine on Instagram

Human Interest Capture the Anticipation and Cathartic Release of Primal Urges on the Brooding and Fiery “Mixing Paint”

Human Interest, photo by Dougie Chalmers

Human Interest leads us down a path of minimalist mood in the beginning of “Mixing Paint” with just female vocals, some spare drums and bass. But it feels like something is brooding on the horizon. The lyrics create an image of desperate anticipating muted of necessity and given one possible slang meaning of “mixing paint” the imagery of checking one’s phone, being restless and having disturbed sleep maybe the first two thirds of the song are a buildup to consummating a relationship and sating that desire and the final minute of the song with its cutting loose into fiery distorted rock and roll is the indulging of the poetically described impulses in the first part. Overall the song is reminiscent of The Kills and its own fusion of blues rock and post-punk and a union of brooding atmospherics and scorching catharsis in rendering a primal urge into art. Listen to “Mixing Paint” on YouTube and follow Human Interest on Instagram.

Toebow’s “Kitchen” is a Brilliant, Eclectic Fusion of Styles Orchestrated to Express a Playful Amusement at Vainglorious Clout Chasing

The intricate arrangements of percussion, guitar and electronics in Toebow’s “Kitchen” conspire to create a unique mood and texture. When the vocals come in it helps to change the quality of the song like some bizarre and fascinating mix of folk rock, prog, R&B and psychedelia. In moments it sounds like the weirder end of an LCD Soundsystem song but if Adrian Belew was bringing some alien guitar sound and technical heft to the songwriting. The lyrics seem to be about clout chasing and wanting to win accolades and distinctions that don’t really add up to much. Casting these words into music that at times sounds like arty dream pop seems inspired and when the song waxes 1980s hard rock and Joe Satriani-esque jazz fusion the potential cheese factor transmogrifies into something that seems perfect in capturing the essence of pursuing vainglorious rewards. Listen to “Kitchen” on Spotify and follow Toebow (which includes former and perhaps current members of Zula, Peel Dream Magazine, Dirty Projectors and other noteworthy NYC ensembles) at the links below.

Toebow on Instagram

Toebow links

Charm the Riot Envisions a Future Guided by Intelligence, Imagination and Sensitivity on “Out There”

Charm the Riot, photo courtesy the artist

Charm the Riot’s video for “Out There” is a perfect companion to a hip-hop song that has some old school craft in the beat making but sounding not just modern but like a welcome next step. There are plenty of bad and boring trap beats that lack creativity completely. Charm the Riot takes some of that method in making percussion and injected it with a different palette of sounds so that the texture of the song is immediately noticeable like he’s striking bottles or actual drums and making them hit with an programmed precision. And maybe part of his creation of the song involved that level of detail. The keyboard tones are soft but resonant like a string of lights coming on in a dream as you walk by to mark the paces. The artist raps about learning from his losses, embracing being an outsider, taking chances with his life and his art, staying true to his roots, dodging ignorance and foolishness and making all of it into the kind of music that makes you take notice in spite of having heard a ton of all kinds of hip-hop on the radio, on playlists, on the street in cars driving by, in public spaces, online, everywhere. Watch the video one gets a sense of not so much the bleak and troubled world we live in now but of a world in the aftermath of the current drama and one where building a creative and hopeful future will require not just bold action and imagination but the intelligence and sensitivity Charm the Riot displays all across the track. Watch the video for “Out There” on YouTube and follow Charm the Riot at the links below.

Charm the Riot on TikTok

Charm the Riot on Instagram

Charm the Riot LinkTree

“Lover’s Eye” by moondaddy is a Gorgeously Gloomy Ride Through One’s Past and on Into Pursuing the Life One Wants

“Lover’s Eye” by moondaddy exudes a weariness with being held back by the past and memories of a time one has outgrown and from which one has already moved on in fact even if those ties linger in the heart. Its moody tones and downward progressions convey a heartsick melancholy that comes from being hit by memories that have such emotional weight you’re forced to reckon with them right there and then. Its blooms of sharp guitar and slow, swirling rhythm feels like being caught in a spiral of reverie but as the song goes on the spectral keyboard melody and shift from dark melodic rock to something that feels more electronic has the effect of leaving that time behind having reconciled with what you can’t go back to and what made aspects of it seem special and magical like the line “You were my kaleidoscope, beautifying my dreams” and its suggestions of someone who had the ability to allow you to influence your aspirations but also to follow them. Cara Potiker’s unique vocals are the perfect vehicle for this insightful and poetic set of words both self-aware and capable of uncovering old pains to move past them. Listen to “Lover’s Eye” on YouTube and follow moondaddy at the links provided.

moondaddy on Instagram

“City of Angels” from Ladytron’s Forthcoming Album Time’s Arrow Evokes a Hazily Dreamlike Cinematic Mood

Ahead of the January 20, 2023 release of its new album Time’s Arrow, Ladytron offers a glimpse of what we’re in for with the music video for the lead single “City of Angels.” Directed my Manuel Nogueira the video shows figures caught up in a dance in a dimly lit underground setting like a a forgotten dance club out of a dystopian science fiction film. The haze and shadow fit well with a song that while buoyant and pulsing with a subtle momentum is an orchestration of sonic opacity between vocals and layered melodic lines that are reminiscent of New Wave era synth pop so that one has a sense of navigating not just an environment the likes of which is depicted in the video but the social landscape as well with its competing demands on your attention and regularly evolving signifiers. If the song references Los Angeles it does so in capturing how a big city built on both traditional commerce and the entertainment industry is always more complex and nuanced than any romanticizing or cynicism is adequate convey with accuracy. Rather, Ladytron’s gift for crafting colorfully atmospheric rock music is akin to the way William Friedkin imbues his own films, and his own depiction of Los Angeles as a kind of character as well as setting, with grit, deep mood and an eye for fine details. Ladytron’s cinematic sensibilities have been there since its 2001 debut album 604 and it appears Time’s Arrow as hinted at by “City of Angels” will be full of the band’s signature set of observational stories set to evocative soundscapes. Watch the video for “City of Angels” on YouTube and connect with Ladytron at the links provided.

Ladytron on Facebook

Ladytron on Twitter

Ladytron on Instagram

“REINCARNAGE” by mirrored fatality Subverts Conventions of Punk, Industrial and Noise to Challenge Our Internalized Hostility Toward the Natural World and Ourselves

mirrored fatality, photo courtesy the artists

“REINCARNAGE” finds mirrored fatality utilizing layers of drone and textural rhythms in a hypnotic drift to draw you into its ultimately harrowing examination of the destructive impact of modern human civilization and our internalized attitudes of hostility and consumption toward the natural world, what we often perceive to be outside of human culture, and within ourselves. What starts as gentle and tender shifts to reflect the brutality humans have come to accept as the norm in conceptualizing the natural world and our collective existence as necessary sacrifices for the almighty “economy” as a higher nature than nature itself. The song disrupts being able to hold to that mode of thinking by subverting conventional song structure and aesthetics and inviting one to take on the song on its own terms outside of any settled genre but with a distinct identity that isn’t ossified into fixed categories. Yes, if you’re someone that appreciates noise, industrial music, glitch, grimier hyperpop and outsider punk you’ll find some touchstones of appreciation. But really its a listening experience that is about something and evokes that perfectly. Listen to “REINCARNAGE” on Bandcamp and follow mirrored fatality on Instagram.