Chris Cunningham – Queen City Sounds and Art

ALIAS’ Avant-Synth-Pop Single “COCKTAILS AND DREAMS” Lures Us Out of Our Own Emotional Status Quo Into a Burst of Joyful Ecstasy

ALIAS brings to bear rich and saturated tones in “COCKTAILS AND DREAMS” with warm low end to help the low key vocals stand out before the song kicks into high gear in the last third of the song. The music video looks a bit like if Chris Cunningham and Terry Gilliam collaborated on a short film set in a 1980s bureaucratic office. The soft lighting a parallel to some of the tonal haze in the song’s soundscape. When the monochrome computer monitor scrolls “EMBRACE_CHAOS” repeatedly to the pulse of the accelerating pace and spectral yet uplifting, sustained synth melody it certainly feels like something of the status quo in the setting of the song has been disrupted. And the song itself is one of breaking from one’s everyday habits in favor of something that stirs the heart as embodied by initially dispassionate vocals to those shouted with a spirited gusto. Is it a synthpop song? More a conceptual avant-pop composition? It can be enjoyed on multiple levels and its easy for the song’s shimmery melodies and sensual rhythms to get stuck in your head. Watch the video for “COCKTAILS AND DREAMS” on YouTube and follow ALIAS at the links below.

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AUS!Funkt Challenges Us to Choose Engagement in Life Over Wallowing in Jaded Acceptance of a Diminished World on “Turn To Rust”

A figure that looks corroded by life walks through the neon/LED sign and street light illuminated streets of a major city, at times at a casual stroll and then with more urgency, looking over his shoulder. What is this scene about in the music video for AUS!Funkt’s video for “Turn To Rust”? The industrial disco beat and the hushed vocals with the lightly distorted bass line is reminiscent of Nicolás Jaar’s “Space is Only Noise.” Except that this song has a more exuberant melody that gives an uplift at key points even though the lyrics seem to be about feeling eroded by the demands and travails of life and a world that seems to be falling into a similar level of disrepair and disuse. And the challenge to do something about it or any other aspect of life or just succumb to crumbling to rust and “Gathering dust.” The simple drive of the song suggests a favorable choice without spelling that out. Watch the Chris Cunningham-esque music video for “Turn To Rust,” the title track from AUS!Funkt’s new album, on YouTube and follow the Toronto-based post-punk band at the links provided.