Joseph Shabason – Queen City Sounds and Art

Rindert Lammers Eases Us Into a State of Tranquil Restfulness on Ambient Jazz Track “Sleep Well Hiroshi Yoshimura”

Rindert Lammers, photo courtesy the artist

Peter Marcus’ video treatment for Rindert Lammers’ “Sleep Well Hiroshi Yoshimura perfectly captures the tone of a transitional time of day at dusk and the air of peace that can permeate the landscape. At the beginning we hear a recording of a woman talk about how she slept in the back of her car on the streets of Tokyo for two years and having the greatest time of her life. It sounds like what it is, a speaker reading the words of a comment on a YouTube video, in this case one for Japanese ambient legend Hiroshi Yoshimura. This narrative gives way to soothing soundscapes and rhythms joined by Joseph Shabason’s warm saxophone melody sitting well within the incandescent tones, spare and hushed percussion and sketches of guitar. Altogether it establishes a calming pattern like the mind transitioning from wakefulness into the realm of unconsciousness as you drift off into unknown vistas of restful dreams. The light in the video fades into darker night in the video and all we hear is the vestige of the aforementioned voice and the abstract remnants of music. The song is part of the debut Rindert Lammers album Thank You Kirin Kiki which became available April 18, 2025 on Western Vinyl. Watch the video for “Sleep Well Hiroshi Yoshimura” on YouTube and follow Rindert Lammers at the links provided.

westernvinyl.com

Rindert Lammers on Instagram

Cici Arthurt’s World Weary Jazz Pop Single “Way Through” is a Song About the Inspiration Deficit in a World Plagued With Marketing

Cici Arthur (L-R: Thom Gill, Joseph Shabason and Chris A. Cummings), photo courtesy the artists

The title track to Cici Arthur’s debut album Way Through (released via Western Vinyl on February 21, 2025) has an easy pace to it like some kind of lounge pop song from the 1960s. But the production and quality of sound is more modern even if the sensibilities of the song suggest something more resonant across time. It’s a song written from the perspective of someone who has had a lot of life experience and is used to finding inspiration and creative stimulation just going through life and stumbling into it. Which is a function of being new to all kinds of experiences. But the song’s lyrics suggest a more deep world weariness and one that hangs heavy on most people now as so many things that are shallow and hyper marketed compete for and in fact are pushed into our attention and thus consciousness. But we have an underlying sense of it being utter nonsense. At least if you’re a thoughtful person that craves deeper experiences at least once in awhile. But when so much pressure is put upon to create fluffy content that has no real depth of thought or feeling much less creativity behind it, the cultural creations to which we have access can be watered down and when we’re being manipulated to be distracted and unsatisfied and or satisfied with a temporary dopamine hit the world can seem flat and low key hopeless. The songwriters seem aware of this phenomenon of modern life on a profound level and yearn for a path through this period and this haze that is weighing down the ambient human energy level. The song also hints at a personal revelation that often what we expect can warp our perception of how things are and may blind us to something we’re actually looking for but our ways of seeking are outmoded and the way we’ve conditioned ourselves might be ditched in favor of newer ways of being and seeing. And yet it’s hard to start over and this song’s tone in its downtempo fashion in a classic pop mode honors the humanity of wanting to find something to stir the imagination without having to toss out what you’ve already built up in your mind. Watch the video for “Way Through” with its vintage landscapes, human and otherwise, on YouTube and follow the members of Cici Arthur on their social media accounts linked below as well as find ordering information for the record on Western Vinyl’s website also linked.

Cici Arthur on Western Vinyl

Chris A. Cummings on Twitter

Joseph Shabason on Instagram

Thom Gill on Bandcamp

Cici Arthur’s Baroque Jazz Pop Single “All So Incredible” is Brimming With Warmth, Intimacy and Emotional Nuance

Cici Arthur is a project featuring Toronto musicians/composers Joseph Shabason, Chris A. Cummings and Thom Gill. The trio is set to release the album Way Through on February 21, 2025 via Western Vinyl. The lead single “All So Incredible” is accompanied by a music video directed by Nicholas Krgovich that is comprised of footage shot by artist and activist Gary Whitefield Coward (provided courtesy his daughter Mara Coward) in the 1960s. It pairs well with the baroque pop hush of the song and Cummings’ slightly husky and rich vocals. The backing vocals provide harmonic contrast and support for Cummings mixing well with the sparest percussion and languid yet lively piano work and horns. The song sounds like something from another era as well with sensibilities that allow for elegant details to enrich the songwriting like the musical equivalent of a vibrant painting, reminiscent of vintage era Frank Sinatra or Tony Bennett with tones trailing off and a feeling of emotional warmth and intimacy that can go by the wayside when songs are perhaps written to be disposable or consumed. “All So Incredible” is imbued with a spirit of writing to express enduring human emotional experiences in their depth and nuance as suggested by the title. Watch the video for “All So Incredible” on YouTube and follow the artists at the links below.

Cici Arthur on Western Vinyl

Chris A. Cummings on Twitter

Joseph Shabason on Instagram

Thom Gill on Bandcamp

Joseph Shabason Pairs His Cosmic IDM Jazz With Elegant and Graceful Skating Footage on the Video For “Jamie Thomas”

Joseph Shabason, photo courtesy the artist

Joseph Shabason’s new album Welcome to Hell (released on October 20 via Western Vinyl/Telephone Explosion Records) is a tribute to and reinterpretation of the 1996 skate video from Toy Machine that propelled skaterboarders Mike Maldonado, Elissa Steamer, Brian Anderson and others including Jamie Thomas. In the video for the song named after Thomas we hear the intricate rhythms and dusky atmospheric melodies, wordless voices and lush vibraphone setting a mood like a cosmic after hours jazz session in an IDM mode. It has a cool elegance that pairs well with Thomas’ own series of navigating stair rails, streets and other environs by day and night seemingly able to make those landings with relative ease but not without the element of danger inherent to the sport and the wide variety of landscapes we see Thomas make look like no big deal, no sweat. Many people got introduced to great, cutting edge music through skating culture and skating videos from the 1970s onward and this is an example of that tradition but with not the traditional forms of music often associated with the culture. Watch the video for “Jamie Thomas” on YouTube and follow Joseph Shabason at the links below.