Seven Layer Piano Cakes, photo courtesy the artist
Through his musical project Seven Layer Piano Cakes, Justin Hoyt offers us his single “Remy” about his young son. Plenty of artists have written songs about and/or for their children to the point where it’s all but a subgenre. But Hoyt begins with “Hey little man, the clothes I bought don’t seem to fit” and later “did your growing up have anything to do with me” and for a moment you may think there was some kind of separation but it’s really about how quickly your kids can grow up and you as a parent are usually just doing the best you can without much in the way of having a map for doing things right and never certain if what you’re doing is adequate or appropriate or helpful or nurturing the way maybe you should be or which would be optimal. Hoyt ponders these insecurities while hinting that being concerned about all of these things probably means you’re at least trying to do things the way you should and that will always mean more and be more effective than giving up and not trying to be at least a halfway decent parent. The melancholic tone of the song matches the uncertainty Hoyt expresses so well and the dynamic of the song shifting from slow moments of contemplation to urgent passages marking the seemingly impossibly rapid passage of time is a great evocation of how the pace of being a parent feels in the living it. Watch the luminously beautiful visualizer video for “Remy” on YouTube and connect with Seven Layer Piano Cakes at the links provided.
Duchamp-Killer’s new single “Life in the sounds” is a bit like taking a journey through the composer’s usual Rube Goldberg-esque soundscape: looped, introspective guitar, sampled bubbles, various percussive sounds, rain stick, processed bird sounds echoing. All with a sense of motion and at one point the whole thing sounds like it’s being played in reverse order with some signal processing indicating the same. Like an ever evolving collage of sounds suggesting a tropical setting at twilight. It is as mysterious as it is playful, as simple as its aggregate of sounds reveals an expressive complexity that never seems overwhelming. And then toward the end this song that seems to be its own sonic ecosystem starts to unravel in organic fashion and dissolve into its component parts. Listen to “Life in the sounds” on Soundcloud and connect with Duchamp-Killer at the links below.
Although from New Zealand, Tablefox channels strands of 90s Britpop on its new single “Keep Them Guessing.” The driving, atmospheric melodies and soaring yet grounded vocals and searing guitar work brought to bear also seem to evoke a sense of running ahead of a brooding menace and escaping just in time. What that threat might be doesn’t matter as much as the energy of that sort of motivation and eventual triumph gives the song an irresistible momentum. The song seems to be about that old chestnut about faking it until you make it and that elusive quality today in the age of social media accessibility of maintaining a mystique about oneself so that can be an asset even if it’s essentially a pose as much as projecting an image of glamour and all good times all the time. But hey if you’re one step ahead of your troubles and of people figuring out you’re not as cool as you’d like them to think or that they might initially think of you when they don’t see the real person maybe you’ll be alright. But is that a worthy goal and use of your time and energy in life? The song doesn’t answer the question but it does express some sympathy with the social rat race forced on most people these days in one way or another and in doing so the song honors the struggle even if it doesn’t quite celebrate it. Watch the video for “Keep Them Guessing” on YouTube and connect with Tablefox at the links below.
Adam Sherburne is perhaps best known as the charismatic frontman and guitarist for industrial/hip-hop group Consolidated. Known for its radical activist political stances focused on human and animal rights, ecology and a sustainable civilization including advocacy for vegetarianism and the perils of capitalism and nationalistic chauvinism. Listen to any Consolidated album and there are no bones made, no vague mincing of words and yet all informed by a sharply observed statements and a playful sense of humor that is as inviting as it might put off those who for whatever reasons oppose a more progressive political worldview aimed toward making the lives of all and not just humans better.
Early on in the live Consolidated live performances the group passed microphones to people in the audience to discuss and comment on the songs as part of a process of “inter-active democracy” (according to an article in Trouser Press penned by j. poet and Ira Robbins). This attempt to blur the line between band and “audience” with a paticipatory approach has been part of what has made Consolidated different from many of its peers. And in recent years Sherburne has come up with a concept he calls Free Music that takes that concept to another and deeper level as a way to deconstruct and transform the way music is made, shared and distributed as a collective, culture project rather than simply a commodity. Below is his chart of “Music Industry Vs. Free Music” plotted out with a direct simplicity that, whether you agree with him or not, is easily accessible and easy to implement. It may not be an approach for everyone but anyone who has been part of the music world in recent years or really for decades the industry, such as it is, has been largely dysfunctional, predatory and anti-art and culture in the end. Seeing one’s way past the context of one’s existence in the capitalist paradigm can be challenging and tricky but once you can conceptualize a path out of that and being defined in terms directly relatable to that paradigm it’s not so tricky to understand that your whole life can be liberated in ways you had perhaps not thought of before. Even if you have to keep participating in that system to survive or even to function as a musician and artist you need not have your aspirations and imagination colonized by it to the level of your identity and system of values. Should anyone’s life and all things in the world really defined by your temporary utility to the dictates of an arbitrary and far from benevolent economic system? Whether or not you end up subscribing to the ideas of Free Music it’s a question implicitly posed by its theoretical foundation in praxis.
Back in December we were able to discuss these concepts with Sherburne at length and a bit about his development as an artist and activist in the wake of seeing Consolidated live with Front 242 in September. Consolidated released its latest album We’re Already There in 2021. You can listen to the interview on Bandcamp below the chart and also linked are the new album as well as the group’s active Facebook page.
Richard Talbot aka Prospector Sound, photo courtesy the artist
The visualizer video fro “Nord View” by Prospector Sound (aka Richard Talbot) gives some context to the track’s gentle sweeps of white noise like a distant wind and winding tonal blends that convey a sense of translucent layers of color and sound. The title too hints at a possible inspiration being that of witnessing the Aurora Borealis in the middle of a clear night with no distractions from the ambient light of cities and human-made noise. Even if you’ve not been privy to such an experience this track delivers that feeling to you and a sense of mystery, wonder and tranquility that washes into and through you in moments when you get to be around as natural wonders manifest that you don’t see every day or take for granted until you’re in the proper setting and can forget the intrusions of demands on your psyche placed by your life in the context of your participation in socially constructed economic relationships that did not exist when humans were first exposed to these things and took time out to let their imaginations ponder their beauty and conjure from within their creative interpretations of the significance of the various phenomena of the world. The song is one track from Prospector Sound’s new album Red Sargasso out April 29, 2022 through The Ambient Zone. But for now watch the video for the song on YouTube and follow Prospector Sound at the links provided.
Wave 21’s live performance video for “Way Far Back” she’s the group in fine and lively form. Rather than it’s usual storytelling mode, the song is more like an anthem that connects other songs together while also being able to stand on its own. Vocalist Mary-Lynn Doroschuk brings great energy and presence to the performance as she sings about “going way far back to where it all started and even further than that.” What that exactly means it’s hard to say but the song sounds like a compelling blend of power pop and country and so that song might be thought of as embracing roots in songwriting and perhaps the kinds of places you play live when you’re starting out as a way to get back to where you want to be. Doroschuk’s father Stefan was a member of well-known Canadian New Wave band Men Without Hats and he and his brothers had a band called Wave 21 that was the precursor to the band that earned them some degree of fame. But Mary-Lynn Doroschuk isn’t musically tapping into her father’s style or accomplishments as a musician so much as having forged her own creative identity and one that has been going on long enough where she and her bandmates have a sense of their own history the celebration of which in the fashion of this song is a way to utilize current musical chops and sophistication to revisit the spark that got them going to where they are now as a source of inspiration. The rest of the album Brace Yourself is sonically more intricate and atmospheric. But “Way Far Back” with some great, fiery solo work by Steve Hill is raw and brash and a vehicle to showcase how the band rocks as much as it is capable of delivering thoughtful and sophisticated, folk-inflected pop songs. Fans of Lone Justice will appreciate the songwriting acumen and warm sensitivity Wave 21 has to offer. Watch the video for “Way Far Back” on YouTube and connect with Wave 21 at the links below.
Longtime Radiohead creative director Dilly Ghent commissioned Ellis Chai Bahl and Johnny Chew to do a video treatment for 1st Base Runner’s busy yet brooding single “Near Me.” Songwriter Tim Husmann is seen sitting in the dark contemplating his insecurities and late night fears amid the trappings of the neighborhood bar: pool table, dart board, headlights shining through blinds off mirrored sections of wall, a tiny ballerina figure spinning in front of him, a cigarette sitting in an ashtray with a spindly plume of smoke. Chairs disassemble and then reassemble. He sings “Will you come near me, would you come for me, would you come?” like a mantra holding himself together while ghostly guitar work rings out in a reverberating arpeggio and staccato riffs over shuffling rhythms. These simple elements suggest hazy and dreamlike experiences that comfort you while you’re stuck in your own thoughts before sleep takes over. The whole thing feels like nothing happened yet emotionally it conveys an undeniable feeling of release. It’s rare that a songwriter can lay out his anxieties and insecurities so vividly yet effect a subtle catharsis. Watch the video for “Near Me” on YouTube and connect with 1st Base Runner at the links below.
With a title like “Can’t let U go” one might expect a different style of music going in. But composer Alvinos Zavlis brings a looped piano figure that suggests endless cycles of seemingly infinite variety. This while wind instrument drones drift in and out while a female vocalist sings in a fashion both ritualistic and classical. Lingering piano notes mark time later in the track and distorted violin adds dramatic texture alongside slow bursts of synth tones. The vocals layer and double to create a sense of experiences and memories outside of linear time and in fact the song feels like something written in compound time akin to something you might have heard from late 80s Dead Can Dance or Heilung. The net effect is majestic and transporting while meditative and tranquil. The image for the single of a figure crying out to reveal spiral staircases within spiral staircases truly evokes the impression of the song expressing the idea of countless multitudes and depth within everyone. Listen to “Can’t let U go” on Spotify and connect with Zavlis at the links below.
The video for Divorce’s single “Services” (as created by Clump Collective) gives us a glimpse into a past decade style-wise in a small flat with a small television on a scene of domestic turmoil. The song is clearly about that sense some people have that the little things they do to make their partner’s or family members’ lives easier that can be taken for granted but which are really the oft unrecognized glue that makes life simpler and smooths over minor challenges that really do take up a lot of our days when we have to take them into account ourselves. Little things some people never think about and stumble through life somehow getting by despite lacking every day skills that they should be glad someone else is willing to take on. Though the song seems to be one of the accumulation of minor conflicts and annoyances being what breaks so many people up in the end it is a humorous reminder to maybe not be an ungrateful boor because no one can do it all well and if you can find someone to be with either in a relationship, friendship or mere roommate situation that complements well your weaker areas count yourself fortunate. Musically it is a nicely dynamic pop song reminiscent of Rilo Kiley in its sharply observed lyrics and facility for expressing the nuances of the details of personal interaction and where things fall apart. All while offering an eclectic flavoring of Americana, rock and classic pop. Watch the video for “Services” on YouTube and follow Divorce at the links below.
“Friendly Skies” opens Monggrel’s new album Urban Strata with tones that sound ever so slightly smoothed over and out of focus for a few moments before a crystalline, distinct melody takes the foreground and syncs well with the other synth line like you’re waiting at some kind of docking station in a future metropolis. It sounds welcoming and indeed friendly like the dynamic and the notes working together are designed to put you at rest and in a contemplative state of mind. The rest of the album is akin to a journey through a technologically advanced and culturally developed and diverse large city like something Oneohtrix Point Never might have done for an Anthony Bourdain limited series about Asian street food that never happened. But “Friendly Skies” is the gateway to that journey and it immediately brings you on board for what’s to follow by cleansing the psyche of preonceptions. Listen to the track on Soundcloud, listen to the rest of Urban Strata on Bandcamp and connect with Monggrel at the links below.
Queen City Sounds and Art 
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