Queen City Sounds and Art

Jenny Kern’s Artful Restraint Gives “Build a Bridge” Enhances Its Message of Grace and Mutual Kindness

JennyKern1_crop — Jenny Kern, photo courtesy the artist

Jenny Kern’s “Build a Bridge” is subtle in its unpredictability. The dreamy finger picked, guitar figure that gets the song off to a start with Kern’s breathy and expressive vocals and minimal percussion–kick and a touch of washboard-y snare. But in the background simmers a mysteriously melodic sound that becomes more prominent as the percussion, live kit and electronic, becomes more complex with the addition of nearly abstract but unmistakable bass. The building of layers is masterful in itself but even more so with the restraint that Kern exerts as a songwriter. There is no big blow out or performative melodrama near the end. Rather, the song crescendos with a grace and gentility perfect for a song about taking steps to rebuilding a relationship and not rushing back into it. Listen to “Build a Bridge” on Soundcloud and listen to more of Kern’s new EP through the links below.

jennykernmusic.com
soundcloud.com/jennykernmusic
open.spotify.com/artist/4SuBL2GsDPfdX1oeOUDvA0
twitter.com/jennykernmusic
facebook.com/jennykernmusic
instagram.com/jennykernmusic

Richy Mitch & The Coal Miners Blur the Lines Between Pop, IDM and Folk With the Sublimely Lush “Ivy”

RichyMitchAndTheCoalMiners4_sm — Richy Mitch & The Coal Miners, photo courtesy the artists

The chime-y guitar opening “Ivy” by Richy Mitch & The Coal Miners sounds like it has to be some sort of keyboard but it’s one of the elements song that renders it more than a nice folk-Americana. The dusky keys and wisps of synth accenting the between spaces of the melody give the song a great sense of physical and emotional space within the context of a composition that also feels warm and intimate. The lushness of tone and the downtempo beat blurs the line between a sort of indie folk with electronic elements and pop IDM for a song that takes you from a sense of the organic and up close to a the tranquilly sublime. Which is an interesting progression given the subject of the song going from initial infatuation to a deeper kind of love and appreciation of another person for who they are completely. The group recently released the aptly titled full length, Subliming on June 20 from which “Ivy” hails and it’s a record that isn’t short on inventively atmospheric pop songs with a sense of something larger than one’s immediate context. Listen below and follow the band and check out the full album at the links provided.

rmcmband.com
soundcloud.com/richy-mitch-and-the-coalminers
open.spotify.com/artist/4qU7IJSReZnsLy5907Mtau
youtube.com/channel/UCBddROx669SGoP4aMaGP_lw/videos
richymitchandthecoalminers.bandcamp.com/releases
twitter.com/RMCMband
facebook.com/RMCMBand
instagram.com/rmcmband

Since November Considers the Folly of Imagined Universal Expertise on “Airplane Astronaut”

SinceNovember1_sm — Since November, still courtesy the artist (from the video for “Airplane Astronaut”)

“Airplane Astronaut” by Since November is in some ways the manner in which we elevate people in certain professions with a greater degree of generalized expertise than they necessarily deserve. In this case, an astronaut who wasn’t necessarily a Chuck Yeager type who was one of the greatest airplane pilots of all time (and didn’t become an astronaut but whose pioneering work in flight helped further progress toward space flight) or he was and that skill set isn’t built for piloting commercial aircraft. This astronaut figures sure why not Google how to do it and that’ll be good enough. But as you can see in the video he comes to accept his limitations and his true destiny as a traveler to the stars who doesn’t and doesn’t need to know everything. Set to beautifully melodic, ethereal pop music fitting the idea of fantasy and reconciliation with one’s actual abilities, “Airplane Astronaut” is the third single of Since November’s fascinating “space saga.” Musically more Peter Schilling than Bowie, Since November uses the language of pop music to comment on human folly in a thoughtful and kind way. Watch below and follow Since November’s musical navigations into the great beyond at the links provided.

sincenovember.com
facebook.com/sincenovember
instagram.com/tomimakila

“gen” by iuky Has a Hazy, Drift-y Melody That is Both Intimate and Otherworldly

iuky2_sm — iuky, image courtesy the artist

Madrid-base iuky has in “gen” written a song that is couched in sort of bedroom post-chillwave electronic pop. But in many ways its organic quality and dream-like shrouds of hazy tones is reminiscent of both Animal Collective and Pygmalion-period Slowdive. That its about the feeling of being in a dream from which one cannot awake is telling because it has the tone of being trapped inside one’s head and cast adrift on emotions and memory. The falsetto vocals swim slowly through the fog of slowly arcing synth drones giving the song an intimate yet alien quality that is itself hard to shake like a dream that won’t let go when it’s time to get on with your day. Iuky has an EP due out later this year and for now you can watch the surreal video for “gen” below and keep track of iuky’s musical adventures at the links provided.

open.spotify.com/artist/0DSyNVb6qcsOmbTTN1Yzs9
youtube.com/channel/UCOOx9WsB3OESLXOcYI3ok4g
instagram.com/iuky.io

“Silicon skeleton” is Arthrn’s Melancholic Ode to an Idealized Love Lost

Arthrn_cover_lg — Arthrn, image courtesy the artist

“Silicon skeleton” has a beautiful desolation to its hush, downtempo beat. Like the memories of something long lost but also cherished in a way you keep to yourself because it’s so pure and close to your heart you want to protect it as a place to return to that isn’t tarnished and sullied by too much examination and the tarnish of intervening life experience. It’s almost mournful in tone acknowledging that nothing else has quite measured up and that maybe nothing ever can despite any flaws that didn’t matter at the time. But in that realization that it’s possible again. Sonically it’s downtempo IDM with hip-hop-flavored vocals but the song transcends narrow genre designations in its ethereal beauty. Listen below and follow French producer and composer Arthrn at the links provided.

soundcloud.com/arthrn
open.spotify.com/artist/567CiwwIX4AhlOQ8qYivml
youtube.com/watch
twitter.com/arthrn_

“I’m Gone” by Ginger Cowgirl is an Anti-Ode to Fragile Tough Guy Masculinity

GingerCowgirl_cover_crop — Ginger Cowgirl, image courtesy the artist

Stacy Antonel of Ginger Cowgirl minces no words on “I’m Gone.” She starts out singing about how she’s tired of the endless disappointments and her tolerance for them in an ex-lover. And of the culture that produces men whose range of outward emotional expression goes from simple lust to a charade of strength that is really an unwillingness to be vulnerable and, in the end, real and giving. The stoic tough guy thing gets old and tiring to maintain when you are a man but having to deal with that nonsense across a lifetime when you want genuine connection with someone has to be incredibly frustrating. How many times have you had conversations with men who talk about how women are emotional but they’re not and yet get upset about anything at all? Best to drop the facade and live like a human and risk getting hurt and feeling that in the moment and having a dynamic inner life that you can share with others and not feel ashamed about letting it show. This song is about that from the perspective of someone who has had more than her share of it all. For fans of Neil Young at his most world-wearily tender. Listen below and follow Ginger Cowgirl at the links provided.

gingercowgirl.com
soundcloud.com/gingercowgirl/sets/ginger-cowgirl-ep/s-4VJPm
open.spotify.com/artist/0jNIIsjRvChD5NDEUgDenA
gingercowgirl.bandcamp.com
facebook.com/gingercowgirl
instagram.com/gingercowgirlband

Idem Zerum Takes Us On High Tech Thriller Trip on “A Healing Place”

IdemZerum1_sm — Idem Zerum, photo courtesy the artist

The intro to Idem Zerum’s “A Healing Place” sounds like the beginning of a soundtrack to a high tech thriller taking place in Cairo. The song edges into a progressive techno beat with a sound and feel like you’re in a transport rushing through night time skies past the city lights and hints of massive human activity headed to where you destiny awaits you. Idem Zerum has crafted a song that clearly has a footing in different strains of EDM including progressive trance and techno. But in aiming to avoid the sonic tropes and utter predictability of so much of the commercialized end of that music he has made a track that is both of made up of the stuff of modern EDM and a step into its future.

soundcloud.com/idemzerum
youtube.com/channel/UCeBTelOos6Me8MjPR8Pgsgg
idemzerum.bandcamp.com
twitter.com/IdemZerum
facebook.com/IdemZerum

The Disaffected Surreal Pop of King Ropes’ “California Stars” is an Ode to Personal Misadventure

KingRopes_GravityAndFriction_sm — King Ropes, *Gravity And Friction* cover

There’s something wonderfully slightly off to the tone of “California Stars” by King Ropes. It sounds like King Missile tried to write a typical country song but gave up on that idea and went for something more in the realm of Americana pop. Then failed at that stylistic mistake and simply wrote something that sounds more like a chamber pop band making post-punk in the style of Camper Van Beethoven. The languid pace gives the song an introspective and wistful quality while the finely accented and brooding bass provide a foundation over which the mutely bemused, somewhat disaffected vocals could opine over foolish misadventures, misguided wanderlust and a sense that in spite of perhaps unknowingly modest, low rent dreams the world could end at any moment and we could have done ourselves the favor of aspiring for better for ourselves years ago. This single is from Gravity and Friction which comes out on July 26 and if the rest of the record is as strange and as off angle from typical indie rock and pop of late it’s bound to be worth more than one spin.

www.kingropesband.com

The Sun Bleached Psych of Corniglia’s “A Lost Forgotten Dream” Is Like a Cherished Buried Memory Just Out of Reach

Corniglia1_crop — Corniglia, photo courtesy the artists

In its driving rhythm there is a nevertheless a nearly hypnotic quality to “A Lost Forgotten Dream” by Corniglia from Perth, Western Australia. The meditative drumming against the undulating, droning guitar lines sounds like something coming to you from decades ago like shadow of memory of a summer that never was and a sense of nostalgia of memorable times just out of reach. It’s not unlike waking from a dream that seemed so strong that your conscious mind retains an emotional impression of that subconscious experience. You can listen below and check out the entirety of the forthcoming On/Off album due out July 5 with more information on doing so at any of the links provided.

soundcloud.com/cornigliamusic
open.spotify.com/artist/7j9w3ZdRfX9yqzC0Gjbyrl
corniglia.bandcamp.com
facebook.com/cornigliamusic

STK Sound’s “Do You Feel My Love” is a Dream Flight Into Subconscious Realms of the Imagination

STKSound_Reincarnation_lg — STK Sound, *Reincarnation* cover

A drifty loop of melodic percussive tones runs through “Do You Feel My Love” to ground the arcs and swells of synth and impressionistic vocals. It feels like a journey flying through breeze swept landscapes in a dream but cross over into the hypnogogic state and wake briefly with memories of the experience and your brain misses the feeling enough to take you back in and you’re able to flying again into skies of permanent twilight. The band’s new album Reincarnation feels like many of the songs are opening up beautiful, buried memories of subconscious experiences that remind us of mysterious depths of the universe and existence that are not part of the our logical, linear experience of what we perceive as reality during our waking hours. In that way the music operates much as does that of Boards of Canada—tapping into the part of our brains where emotion, memory and imagination combine to shape our associations of experiences. In doing so, drawing forth a sense of tranquility and wonder. By naming the album as they did, STK Sound are clearly giving reference to knowledge of experiences beyond the limitations of the current manifestation of this mortal coil. Give “Do You Feel My Love” and the rest of the album if you’re so inclined a listen below.