SubmitHub – Page 101 – Queen City Sounds and Art

Jovi Skyler Speaks to the Excitement and Exhaustion of a Tumultuous Relationship on the Fuzz Punk “Evergreen”

In “Evergreen” Jovi Skyler takes the format of a two minute, fuzzy punk song to make some comments on the kind of relationship that feels exciting and passionate but which because of its ups and downs becomes exhausting in the end. The music video deftly uses a wide range of colors and imagery and motion to depict how while there can be much motion it is essentially the same in the end. And sometimes when you don’t know that things can be different and you are able to somehow forget the low times it does seem new again when it’s at the high point and when you can feel like things are stable only to have that emotional carpet yanked out from underneath you yet again. It’s like a mantra of self-destruction, a habit of a narrative one repeats to oneself about how things are fine and that’s how all relationships go until you get to the breaking point and it’s that reality as well as capturing the dynamic that makes Skyler’s song so poignant. Fans of Dead Milkmen and Jay Reatard may find much to appreciate here. Watch the video for “Evergreen” on YouTube and connect with Skyler at the links below.

Jovi Skyler on Facebook

Jovi Skyler on Bandcamp

The Last Days of Our Past Creates a Sense of a Calm Shoreline at Sunset on “Timeless”

The Last Days of Our Past, photo courtesy the artist

There may be a bit of cheek in titling your song “Timeless” when your project is named The Last Days of Our Past. But this song uses a white noise like the sound of a distant wind blowing in as incandescent tones hover in sequence and a subtle trio of drones flow over one another. The imagery around the single are of tranquil views on or from the water and that lends the white noise another interpretation of tides coming into shore toward sunset. On hears what sounds like distant bird sounds toward the end giving this composition not just a vivid sense of place but of a specific emotional resonance for anyone fortunate enough to experience a time on the shoreline when the weather is calm and you can indulge whatever thoughts or feelings come to mind or to let go of those that have been intruding from having to be on task or distracted from your inner sense of being. The sounds of this song filter out the usual demands for your attention with a sound of cycles and natural processes that go back beyond a time of human reckoning. Listen to “Timeless” on Spotify where you can also listen to the rest of the album Cycles which was released on July 27, 2022. Connect with The Last Days of Our Past at the links below.

The Last Days of Our Past on YouTube

The Last Days of Our Past on Instagram

The Last Days of Our Past on Apple Music

“Sonny” by casey anthony is a Sludgy, Noisy Post-Rock Evocation and Exorcism of Personal Hell

“Sonny” by casey anthony has a grimy brutality reminiscent of mid-90s Unsane. But here the post-hardcore sound is infused with noisy electronics and even the slow pounding percussion sounds like it’s being put through some processing. In moments it has that borderline psychotic break quality one hears in Daughters circa Hell Songs but when that music is slow and surreal and here there is a sludgy quality that feels like being dragged through a personal nightmare. Within and on the edges of the song are sounds like if rapidly reverberating springs were captured and put through a pitch shifter to give them a mechanistic yet otherworldly tone and though the song has a monolithic vibe it is one seething with sonic and emotional detail. Listen to “Sonny” on YouTube and follow casey anthony from Los Angeles at the links below.

casey anthony on Instagram

casey anthony on Apple Music

Waves_On_Waves Taps ORAX and Crimewave For Darkwave Breakup Track “Stab Me In The Back”

Waves_On_Waves tapped 23 different producers for the album Synthony of Destruction (which released on October 21, 2022) so that each track has a distinctly different quality and character. ORAX and Crimewave worked on “Stab Me In The Back” and brought to it a sound that splices together aspects of 1980s synth disco, 1990s industrial dance music and modern darkwave. The result is glittery guitar work interweaving with layers of synth both atmospheric and orchestrated tonal arpeggios creating a dramatic backdrop haze for a song about a bad breakup either romantic or other partnership and the way a person who knows too much about you can betray you in specific ways and cause you social and psychological harm. In the song the vocals call for a clean break and not hold on in a co-dependent dynamic of manipulation with one person thriving off the negative attention that doesn’t serve them so well in the long term either even if it might seem thrilling and rewarding in the moment when just letting go would be a better use of time and energy. Fans of late 90s and early 2000s industrial rock will find something to like here though its flavor is more post-punk and vulnerable rather than aggressive in its approach to the subject matter. Listen to “Stab Me In The Back” on YouTube and follow Waves_On_Waves and ORAX and Crimewave at the links below.

Waves_On_Waves on TikTok

Waves_On_Waves on Facebook

Waves_On_Waves on Instagram

wavesonwaves.com

Waves_On_Waves on Apple Music

Crimewave on Bandcamp

Crimewave on Apple Music

ORAX on Bandcamp

“floor 20” by fearofmakingout is a Sultry, Moody, Post-Punk R&B Journey Into Quietly Desperate Urban Melancholia

fearofmakingout, photo courtesy the artists

The enigmatically titled “floor 20” by fearofmakingout seems to come from mysterious realm of music where moody post-punk, sultry R&B and hip-hop production aesthetics weave together as a coherent whole. Its wide ranging lead guitar is melancholic and traces the outer edges of the song while keyboards accent the rhythm and processed vocals sound like something you might have heard on a Eurodance or progressive house track. But together it gives the song a unique emotional resonance like a song you’d expect out of a UK indie band from Bristol or Manchester rather than an outfit from Tucson, AZ. It establishes a strong mood and a hook that keeps you into the song until the end. It sounds like the tale of a life permanently unsettled and on an endless hustle trying to find one’s footing not knowing if you can depend on anything or anyone. Sounds like the world today for many of us even if there are clearly specific references and inspirations for the track. Listen to “floor 20” on Spotify where you can listen to the rest of the 2022 album Secret Third Thing and connect with fearofmakingout at the links below.

fearofmakingout on Facebook

fearofmakingout on Twitter

fearofmakingout on Instagram

“Over an Old Road” by The Bodies Obtained is Like Library Music Crafted by Dali’s Melted Clocks Gone Sentient

Sustained, paradoxically gentle bursts of bright cycling melodic tones fused with the sound of bell tones counting time in a drawn out shimmer are the backbone of “Over an Old Road” by The Bodies Obtained. Sure maybe the project takes its name from a line from Joy Division’s “Day of the Lords” but this track sounds like some demented, broken library music sourced mash-up that brings together distorted haze and sharp, metallic sounds like music you might imagine an animated version of Dali’s melted clocks to make if they had somehow attained sentience the way Voyager I did in Star Trek: The Motion Picture. It’s strange stuff that wouldn’t be out of place on Warp Records and fans of that label’s more challenging outer edge stuff should give this song a try. Listen to “Over an Old Road” on Spotify and follow The Bodies Obtained on Soundcloud.

CUTLIST’s Downtempo IDM Song “Generator” Conjures Visions of a Chill City Nightscape In Your Mind

“Generator” finds CUTLIST easing us into the track with a bit of minimal techno before around the minute mark when elongated melodies form joined by a spiraling, bubbling hovering tone and drops of bright tonal coloring like a sudden sprinkle of rain. It has a sound that suggests space and a visual sense like looking out a window onto an active cityscape at night and imagining the dots of lights generate an image like urban pareidolia. Fans of Plaid’s more chillout moments will appreciate how the arrangements of sound on this song implies a physical dimension that your mind will fill in as the song progresses. Listen to “Generator” on Spotify where you can listen to the rest of the album Almanac which released on October 28, 2022.

Truehoods Drop Knowledge About Cultivating Self-Protection on “Polymer”

Truehoods condensed a lifetime of lived experienced into “Polymer.” The track is only one minute thirty-seven seconds. It begins with a simple bass chord and tambourine that loops across the song in hypnotic fashion with little samples of noise and subtle scratches dropped in to give the song some variety in the beat. The two rappers offer a perspective of people who have seen the degraded temptations of the world around them to lose sight of goals and of one’s humanity when trying to navigate a society that doesn’t offer many people much of anything in terms of a way of making an adequate living with integrity and certainly no guidance or nurturance. Often we have to discover our paths for ourselves and why it can be more rewarding and important than what might seem exciting for some on a trail chasing after elusive and dubious rewards. The line about “Self-protection from nonsense” and “Loch Ness monster swimming outside” speaks to the ways which one must cultivate to avoid foolishness and self-destructive ways. And later “I’ve got the fire leading the way” points out how an inner guide and self-motivation can too often be all you have to keep yourself from taking council with scoundrels. But in the song we also see how we also don’t exist without connections and the lyric “family ties keep me going when the darkness arrives” refers to our genuine social connections that can help sustain us when we’re faltering. It’s a line about being willing to be vulnerable and to be able to trust people that care about us in our time of need and the importance of these personal ties. And closing with the bit about “say a prayer then say adios” the rappers tell us that sometimes we have to wish people well but not get mired in habits that diminish our horizons. The song says a lot in such a short time with an immediate accessibility that makes repeated listens not only easy but desirable. Listen to “Polymer” on YouTube and follow Truehoods at the links below.

Truehoods on Instagram

Truehoods on Apple Music

Shilpa Ananth Personalizes the Nature of and Desire For Power on Art Pop Song “The Search (feat. Riatsu)”

Shilpa Ananth, photo courtesy the artist

Shilpa Ananth examines the nature of power and the making of it and seeking it out on “The Search (featuring Riatsu).” A percussive synth melody frames the song as she sings lines exploring the pursuit of power on a personal basis beyond immediate experiences and what she might do with that power and if she’s worthy of the journey in taking on power and its responsibilities. She mentions the concept of reincarnation and having lived many lives though one might take that in the symbolic sense as all of us live multiple lives in one lifetime if we have lived a path of growth and often when we don’t consciously do so because the nature of living is working through change. And in that idea is the implication of what we learn and the thoughts that come out of what we think we know and how our inherent shortcomings as mortal beings should give us pause in seeking power without understanding it and how it can be used and abused and how even possessing various kinds can change a person whose character is not suitable to a proper use of power and prestige. The video treatment directed by Suruchi Sharma is reminiscent of early Kate Bush music videos in the use of symbols and repetition including a large wire frame of a person reminiscent of The Wicker Man and its own symbolic resonances for the use and abuse of power and the seeking thereof. And that visual sense parallels the art pop sensibilities of the song and how its emotional colorings contain nuances of meaning reflected in its especially through-provoking lyrics. Watch the video for “The Search” on YouTube and connect with Shilpa Ananth at the links below.

Shilpa Ananth on Facebook

Shilpa Ananth on Twitter

Shilpa Ananth on Instagram

Jack Skuller Turns Heartache Into a Vision of Hope on “Echo”

Jack Skuller uses a simple device to bring an added layer dreamlike whimsy to his song “Echo” from his debut album Draw the Lucky Card (which dropped on October 15, 2022) with a drawn out note that sounds like a chord stretched out. This thread of a musical idea runs through Skuller ruminating on a love that has perhaps fallen on challenging times or faded off for the moment but which comes to visit his idle thoughts drawing him in to romantic reverie and symbols of a future for relationship. The line about “When I’m down in the valley and the grass is green” and the concept of the echo as a reminder in a positive sense with the suggestion of a depth that we can take for granted especially in our low moments and for Skuller in this song it seems to be one of a connection that he can’t forget and doesn’t want to let go even though things might seem at an ebb because it was genuine and strong. Skuller’s album seems to be a series of reflections on his life and the quirks of fortune that can shape character and his knack for a contemplative yet warm melody is one of its finest features. Listen to “Echo” on Soundcloud and follow Skuller at the links below.

Jack Skuller on TikTok

Jack Skuller on Instagram