SubmitHub – Page 113 – Queen City Sounds and Art

London Plane Tries to Coax Disaffected Visionaries and Creatives From Self-Imposed Exile on “Come Out of the Dark”

London Plane, photo courtesy the artists

London Plane employs a lo-fi sensibility on its psychedelic post-punk single “Come Out of the Dark.” With the imaginative music video for the song one gets a taste of what feels like a more humanized science fiction concept album that is its new record Bright Black (which released on June 17, 2022). It’s not really comparable sonically or songwriting-wise to Failure’s 1997 masterpiece Fantastic Planet. But conceptually and in terms of how some of the imagery and language used makes for a more colorful storytelling and the ability to tell stories of human psychology and relationships in ways that don’t seem hackneyed or trite. “Come Out of the Dark” deftly incorporates electric and acoustic guitar with synths, drums, bass and poignant vocals for an effect like Siouxsie and the Banshees’ “Dazzle” but repurposed as more modern indie pop space rock song. The easy sweep from major chord progression to minor and back throughout the song at unexpected points enhances the emotional impact of its layered melodies. The message of the song encouraging a specific person or the generalized you for whoever needs to hear the words to stop being disengaged, jaded and above it all when you can “be cool” and “come out of the dark” and “be adored,” “Be a defender,” “be a hero.” Yet the tenor of the song is one of understanding of a desire to disconnect with the world and events and community because of how it can wear you down or alienate but if you have some great personal qualities and skills and knowledge it’s wasted in wallowing in cynicism and bitterness when you can enjoy putting that all into the world in a productive way. Even if only a little. The music video is like something that Panos Cosmatos would make if he were in the business of such things and really captures a desire for isolation when the human community needs people of creativity and imagination more than ever. Watch the video on YouTube and follow London Plane at the links below.

London Plane on Facebook

London Plane on Twitter

London Plane on Instagram

Big Empty Zero Expresses the Spirit of the Future Smart Cities on “Push”

Big Empty Zero, photo courtesy the artist

Listening to “Push” by Big Empty Zero one hears a softly industrial beat like something that might have been conceived in experiments with 8-bit sounds and early video games but paired with luminously moody synth lines and an abstract, extended melody that gives a sense of being pushed along through a near future cityscape where automated processes see to the maintenance of urban spaces and can thus seem like living in an MMO or the world of an old cyberpunk video game but without the menace, just the sense of ambient and steady movement. The track has momentum but it never reaches the point of urgency, just a solid sense of energy and place that continues on day and night often unnoticed unless you take the time to be aware of those things around you that make your way of life flow more efficiently than it would be otherwise. Listen to “Push” on Spotify and follow Big Empty Zero at the links below.

Big Empty Zero on Twitter

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bigemptyzero.com

Shintaro Sakamoto Invokes Early Forms of Popular Entertainment as a Path to Joy in a Time of Troubles on the Psychedelic Folk Song “Like a Fable”

Shintaro Sakamoto, photo by Takahiro Wada

Shintaro Sakamoto was the vocalist and guitarist for Japanese psychedelic rock band Yura Yura Teikoku (“The Wobbling Empire”) for 21 years from 1989-2010 when the group amicably split. Since then he’s embarked on a solo career with music that has gone stylistically well beyond that of his former project. The title track for Sakamoto’s new album Like A Fable (which released in June 2022) finds the songwriter sounding like he’s making music for relaxing at a seaside resort in the evening. But as with the earlier parts of his career the lyrics are more existential and this time around speak to an anxiety that emerged perhaps unbidden and mysterious in origin. He sings about taking a trip back in time the way stories were told in the kamishibai style where illustrations were used on cards to give the stories a visual component and it was a form of storytelling most popular in the 1930s but of course when the art form was taken on by future manga artists like Shigeru Mizuki it was a direct predecessor of what would become manga. Sakamoto is invoking going back to roots and falling in love “like in a fable” as a way to figure it all out or at least to connect with the spirit of a time and place that seemed free of being “Plagued by terrible thoughts.” And all to get to where one can feel an excitement for life instead of the wave of despair that sits like an ambient energy on a lot of the world by reconnecting with older forms of popular entertainment. With this blend of psychedelic folk, lounge jazz and that era of Japanese folk rock embodied by Happy End’s 1971 album Kazemachi Roman and the strange, otherworldly yet playful music video Sakamoto is creating a passage to a headspace that may make it possible to have a respite from the stress of dire world events and sometimes that’s what you need to get through it to be able to face what has to be done. The video looks like something that was shot on a Betamax machine yet benefits from modern video production while maintaining the aesthetic and there’s an undeniable charm to this eccentric visual presentation of the song. Watch the video for “Like A Fable” on YouTube and connect with Sakamoto at the links below.

Matthew And The Arrogant Sea Envision a Future Past Walls of Generational Bravado on “D F K”

Matthew And The Arrogant Sea, photo from Bandcamp

Matthew And The Arrogant Sea did something unusual with its song “D F K” (perhaps from the opening words of “Dumb fuck kids”) by writing a melancholic and beautiful psychedelic folk pop song that turns generational bravado on its head. You see too many people having really idiotic discussions about what generation is best or worst and why when it doesn’t matter. Different social, economic and political forces are at play at all times and putting anyone on a pedestal or self-aggrandizing or any of it is just another effort at self-defeat or blowing up someone’s ego for your own selfish purposes. But in “D F K” at least the self-critique is one that seems regretful and empathetic. And in that mix is a level of self-reflection that keeps it from slipping into maudlin self-pity. When older people talk about the mayhem young people get up to and an impatience with seeming and too often actual lack of action even when such is absolutely called for without only following official channels and established methods for doing so. There is an admission at a little jealousy at how clever someone’s approach to things might be and the audacity to do something you might have done yourself at a younger age. When you’ve essentially passed on to just doing the basic in getting through life under the impression that being active in society even if just expressing resistance to a status quo that has become destructive due to the complacency of well-meaning folks what can you expect from people who feel things so immediately. The line “Don’t matter at all, we’re only just existing” is a kind way of stating that self-criticism. Later in the song the bit about “In the midst of it all, it feels like the worst thing, walls closing in” is a direct result of embracing one’s comfort a little too closely when perhaps pushing back when you could while still possessing a bit of one’s youthful spirit might have made a difference before things got too intense. Within that realization, though, is the implicit acknowledgment that despite having hit bottom too many times in life, despite having become a touch jaded about life and society, it’s still possible to stop hoping for a younger generation to take care of the problems you helped to generate and do at least a little something yourself even something as minor as a change of spirit and outlook. The song’s sweeping vistas of emotion and texture and contemplative tone makes that realization not hurt but is a salve to a psychology that has maybe taken a few too many blows and remains tender but can be nudged to a better place. The title is thus a bit of a self-deprecating joke about a mindset and sentiment that is too common but has long been outmoded. Listen to “D F K” on YouTube and follow Matthew And The Arrogant Sea on at the links provided.

Matthew And The Arrogant Sea on TikTok

Matthew And The Arrogant Sea on Instagram

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Endearments Offer a Lush and Heartfelt Post-Break-Up Song For Adults on “Too Late”

Endearments have tapped into a certain aesthetic of 1980s New Wave/synth pop sound for its single “Too Late.” That mix of lush, atmospheric melodies, soulful vocals, soft but finely accented percussion and palm muted guitar followed by elegant and minimal leads giving definition to the more ethereal synths. That sound is suited well to nuanced takes on the complex interpersonal politics of relationships especially those that have fallen apart in ways that leave at least one of the people hurt and confused until they sort out what it is they wanted all along and more importantly what they don’t want. In this song when Kevin Marksson sings “That is not the way to love me at all” it’s a declaration of self-worth. The earlier part of the song describes the awkward conversations in which the person who has transgressed against the formerly shared trust of the relationship tries to explain themselves with excuses that amount to insults by way of rationalizations. The perspective of the song seems to be an interesting emotional place of having gone beyond the initial hurt and pondering what went wrong to embracing what’s best instead of what once was but is now broken. It’s an important psychological turning point for anyone that’s been in a relationship gone awry and essential for moving on to better places in one’s own heart and perhaps better recognizing earlier when things won’t work out. There are a lot of love songs, a lot of break-up songs, a lot of songs about missing someone, a lot sitting in a place of anger and betrayal but this one is about loving yourself and being adult and we could use more of that sort of framing in pop music. Fans of Washed Out and Future Islands will appreciate the sounds and sentiments in this song. Listen to “Too Late” on Spotify and follow Brooklyn-based Endearments at the links below.

Endearments on TikTok

Endearments on Facebook

Endearments on Twitter

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The Wheel Workers Rally to Burn Past the Creative Doldrums on “Suck It Up”

The Wheel Workers, photo courtesy the artists

“Suck It Up” might initially get The Wheel Workers compared to the Pixies or some older alternative rock band and not just because the group has been around since the turn of the century. The loud-quiet-loud dynamic is there but the Pixies didn’t invent that. That was another Boston band called Mission of Burma. But obvious comparison aside, this song has a wonderfully demented structure so that its buzzsaw guitar riff hovers above and then below the vocal line and the frantic keyboards, which get to shine in spectacular fashion mid-song going off the rails and circling back on track, while the drums and bass seem to guide the arc of the song and anchor it as it seems to threaten to fall apart at any moment. The vocals, both the leads and backing, are anthemic in their enthusiasm in expressing a fairly complicated emotion seemingly jaded but ready to pick oneself up to try the things you love again even if you have to coax yourself into even making the effort. Lines like “Stab deep until can’t bleed anymore” and “All the dreams, unstuck, unstored” really capture that moment in life when you really do need to put effort into endeavors you take for granted and have been through countless times. When it’s a creative project you need to summon a bit more of actual juice from your psyche rather than depend purely on going through the motions ritual or it feels like and comes across like phony bullshit and this song is very much in form and spirit the opposite of approaching the music from a place of psychic numbness. Maybe you need to give yourself a little tough love and knock the dust off as the title suggests to get going but it seems obviously worth it. Listen to “Suck It Up” on YouTube and connect with The Wheel Workers at the links below.

The Wheel Workers on TikTok

The Wheel Workers on Instagram

Miu Haiti Flips the Power Dynamic Script on Fools in Power on “In ‘Em Face”

Miu Haiti wrote “In ‘Em Face” as a “reminder for anyone who listens to it and for myself to celebrate tour victories shamelessly. Whatever you accomplish, you deserve it, show it off.” And in the course of the music video and in the lyrics of the song she discusses the various way people will try to take, downplay or deny your personal power and trivialize who you are and what you’ve done and dismiss how often you have to be more capable, skilled and gifted in any endeavor to even get to the most meager status. With a jaunty and whimsical yet menacing piano figure and a steady yet low key relentless beat Haiti brings enough attitude to completely derail the train of disrespect with a powerfully irreverent spirit and says how it’s completely okay and even necessary to “rub it in ’em face,” using a touch of that Haitian patois to own a way of communicating that some people might want to use to denigrate your status as well. At the end of the video the old white man captain of the music industry gets a pie in the face and none of the frustration and anger he was anticipating but rather the ridicule he deserves for having the nerve to try to take advantage of another artist in whose league he is not. It’s beyond a hip-hop diss track, it’s a stylishly delivered take down of an entire way of operating whose time is and should be over. Watch the video for “In ‘Em Face” on YouTube and follow Miu Haiti at the links below.

Miu Haiti on TikTok

Miu Haiti on Facebook

Miu Haiti on Twitter

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Flightless Birds Take Wing Craft a Deep Ambient Track of Minimalist Complexity on “Latrobe”

Flightless Birds Take Wing, photo courtesy the artists

Flightless Birds Take Wing bring together distorted, warping drones that course through the soundscape, a pulsing, abstracted bell tone and the sound of a device that makes noises like something has gone wrong with its internal workings and the satisfying hums and automatic rhythms go off course. This is “Latrobe,” the first track off of the project’s debut EP Taking Flight. The song eventually progresses to a place of more vivid musical coherence but still an assemblage of sounds intersecting from independent sources to create a sense of place both physical and psychological. In the last section of the track a more formal melody forms and has such an unconventional tonal structure it takes you out of a conventional music absorption mode as it moves from major to minor key while the more textural sounds hover around and move off. It’s a fascinating piece of work that establishes atmospherics in a way that utilizes the suggestion of a tactile element to the music rather than one purely auditory for a hybrid aesthetic that lends its minimalism a dynamic complexity like the analog of the collection of processes that make up a living being. Listen to “Latrobe” on Spotify where you can further explore Taking Flight and connect with the Australian experimental duo Flightless Birds Take Wing at the links below.

Flightless Birds Take Wing on Facebook

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Flightless Birds Take Wing on 4000 Records

Beth//James’s Warmly Ethereal “The Sun” is a Gently Powerful Testament to the Acceptance of Love

Beth//James cover of 2022 album *Get Together*

Madeline and Jordan Burchill of Beth//James (whose song “Lion Eyes” appeared in Spike Lee’s BlacKkKlansman) wander through a light woodlands in the morning in the music video for “The Sun.” The songwriters directed the video with filming by Madeline Northway and the spare percussion and guitar work ease into and out of the song like waters coming in and out with the tide and the sun creeping over the horizon and back at dawn and dusk. The vocal harmonies the duo brings to bear with a warm elegance suits well the metaphor of the sun with the love of one’s beloved and how it might have been something of which one was wary not sure to trust it and its potential as a steady nourishing presence but accepting it as a benevolent energy in one’s life that illuminates the darkest moments and shins on those more celebratory. Watch the video for “The Sun” on YouTube and connect with Beth//James at the links below where you can listen to the rest of the duo’s new album Get Together.

Beth//James on Facebook

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“Covered Me” Has elison Using Fuzzy, Energetic Melodies to Help Push Past a Dysfunctional Relationship and Its Gaslighting

It’s not too often a song about being in a relationship with a narcissistic people pleaser who gaslights a romantic partner sounds so driving and upbeat. But elison’s “Covered Me” has some energetic, fuzzy guitar riffs and hazy vocal harmonies in the choruses like a dream pop song with a bit more of an edge. The guitar solo toward the middle of the song sounds like something out of an 80s pop tune the likes of which you might have heard in a Kim Wilde song. But contrast in energy between the progressive pace and Marissa Kephart’s strong yet wistful vocals and lyrics that really capture the portrait of a person who lies all the time in order to maintain a self-image and an illusion for others of a lovable person who is popular with everyone and whose lies are so pervasive that the person with whom they’re involved in an intimate relationship never really knows where they stand and can’t trust their own feelings especially upon witnessing the faux charm exercised with others and the emotional abuse delivered in private. That contrast of moods and sounds is a little reminiscent of the way Rilo Kiley would have some of the most emotionally devastating and sharply observed lyrics paired with beautiful and uplifting songwriting. Which in the end makes the musical complexity implied by that contrast all the more effective. Listen to “Cover Me” on Spotify and follow the duo of Kephart and Scott Yoshimura as elison at the links provided.

elison on YouTube

elison on Instagram