SubmitHub – Page 141 – Queen City Sounds and Art

Mount Mural Reconciles a Conflicted Psyche on “Sickboy”

Mount Mural’s use of two seemingly opposite dynamics in “Sickboy” highlights its theme of conflicted feelings and self-examination. One of those streams of sound has a simple guitar line that traces a clear musical path and other is noisier and messier. Like one line is where one wants to be and the other is where one often is in one’s head. By the end of the song, though, it seems as though there is a reconciliation of these urges of the emotional self and not a rejection of one as both come together to work in tandem to move forward into a healthier headspace. Perhaps at that point the titular persona comes to accept himself as a being who is not just imperfect but that the antagonized aspect of his mind is really perhaps an unconscious message and impulse, an energy, to deal with issues long neglected. Fans of the more melodic end of late 90s emo and 21st century experimental guitar bands like Ought and Pile will definitely appreciate the vibe of this song. Listen to “Sickboy” on Spotify and follow Mount Mural at the links provided.

Mount Mural on Facebook

Mount Mural on Instagram

Mount Mural on YouTube

“Mirror Tooolz” Finds Ehiorobo Brilliantly Synthesizing Hyperop, Leftfield Underground Hip-Hop and Glitchcore

For the uninitiated, go into Ehiorobo’s “Mirror Tooolz” with an open mind and for just over two minutes you’ll hear a flurry of musical ideas that tie together surprisingly well even though it seems to be one string of free-associating words and ideas. The vocals have a dreamlike tenor and sound like a list of thoughts on the concept of dance and the mash-up of that and the trappings of dance culture and stylistic permutations over the last twenty-five years. Ehiorobo quite succinctly and deftly brings that together with a condensed expression of the heady emotions involved all while bringing us back to a chilled out contemplation on the future of dance. The song’s synthesis of hyperpop, leftfield underground hip-hop and glitchcore can seem disorienting at first but once the brilliance of its composition and genuinely creative use of tone and rhythm hit you in a way that makes this song an earworm. Listen to “Mirror Tooolz” on YouTube, give the rest of the Joltjacket album a listen and connect with Ehiorobo at the links provided.

Ehiorobo on Twitter

Ehiorobo on Facebook

Ehiorobo on Instagram

The Frenetic Cool of Duchamp-Killer’s “BDA – Domestic affairs” is Like the Soundtrack to a Noir Set in a Bustling City

There is an undercurrent of menace and unease in Duchamp-Killer’s song “BDA – Domestic affairs.” The trumpet sample that runs through with the fragmented and off-kilter piano loop and the piano figure near the beginning that goes off of any standard melody with the start and stop percussion all while a spectral drone resonates underneath identifies this as a jazz song in the expanded sense of that genre. Like an experimental, samples based jazz song that could serve as the opening sequence soundtrack to a gritty modern noir. Though highly detailed and packed with musical elements the song has a cool vibe that would suit an Ed Brubaker graphic novel set in a busy metropolis rather than the sleepy settings and quiet, dark underbelly environs that are usual for him. Listen to “BDA – Domestic affairs” on Soundcloud.

Bank Myna’s “Aurora (Vi Ska Sova)” is a Primeval Sound Ritual for the Awakening of the Ancient Mind

A tremulous drone and the sound of a chime being struck ease us into the action of Bank Myna’s song “Aurora (Vi Ska Sova).” The song pulls us further in with clipped, crunchy guitar riff and female vocals that float over the ensuing flow of distorted drones and processional percussion. Before you’re fully aware of it, you are in for that journey of the song to a deeper place in the earth and in your own mind in connection with the primordial and transcendent side of your consciousness and aspect of your identity that predates the imposition of modern civilization onto your psyche. It is an introspective yet liberating sensation that seems to have no formal beginning and no formal end. Fans of SubRosa and Dead Can Dance will find much to like here. Listen to “Aurora (Vi Ska Sova) on Spotify and connect with the Parisian band Bank Myna through the links on it’s Linktree below. Also look out for the group’s forthcoming album VOLAVERUNT due Feb 25, 2022.

Bank Myna Links

Asher Fleming’s “sorenashi” is a Genre Bending, Chill Synth Pop Standout

Asher Fleming, photo courtesy the artist

Asher Fleming is a producer and songwriter from Atlanta, GA whose supremely unconventional songwriting style is evident from the beginning of “sorenashi.” Drawing inspiration from electronic music including the EDM variety Fleming, who grew up and still avidly plays drums, has stumbled upon a very individual style of synth pop that recalls the early witchhouse stylings of Pictureplane and the glitch-pop work of Killd By. There is an effervescent playfulness to the music that is refreshing to the brain and this unique take on sampling and collage of sounds including Fleming’s sister Isabella on vocals. While very different from it shares an unpredictable expansiveness of spirit and unalloyed creativity and genre hopping heard in artists like Ghösh and 100 gecs. Listen to “sorenashi” on Soundcloud and follow Asher Fleming on Spotify.

“Satellite (Sputnik mix)” by Anthony Watkins Embodies the Broad Vistas and Possibilities of the Human Imagination

Anthony Watkins, photo courtesy the artist

Anthony Watkins’ slowly evolving dynamic on “Satellite (Sputnik mix)” evokes a sense of elegantly fluid movement. The building and dissolving tone over and around the minimal techno beat and rapidly echoing and decaying vocal sample marking the paces conveys a sense of wonder and openness appropriate to the title of the song. Like a snapshot of the life of that early satellite invoked in the sub-name of the mix as it traversed the sky marking an era of Cold War paranoia but also human technical achievement and in itself in the popular imagination the suggestion of endless possibilities of human achievement through creative use of technology. Surely an apt symbol for a song assembled from very basic elements but expressive of so much more than each alone. Listen to “Satellite (Sputnik mix)” on Soundcloud where you can hear some of Anthony Watkins’ other fine work in the realm of minimal techno.

Matt Monsoor’s “Fog” is a Short and Deeply Evocative Tale of Engaging With a Life Worth Living

The rapid cycling drone the introduces us to Matt Monsoor’s “Fog” is an apt introduction to a song and video like a diary entry of from the beginning of a novel about loss, wasted time and the will to find and create meaning in a world of deep uncertainty. The images of spider webs catching the dawn sunlight and of a graveyard in the early morning and a house and a town on a hill in the distance as the day begins serve as the contextual backdrop in the video so that immediately the lonely piano figure that comes in and runs through the majority of the song has a pastoral aspect that when coupled with the simple guitar line toward the end of the song lets us know this isn’t a tale of tragedy ahead but of exploration and perhaps redemption of self and forgiveness of past failings of one’s dreams. With words written by Jeff Skemp and echo plex performance by Casey Virock this song is more like a short movie or a tone poem than simply a song and even without the video it is powerfully evocative in a way resonant with the material Slint wrote for Spiderland. Watch the video for “Fog” on YouTube and follow Matt Monsoor at the links below.

comfortablylostart.com

Matt Monsoor on Facebook

Comfortably Lost Art on Instagram

“Åter åter” by Aina Myrstener Cello is a Manifestation of the Mind Waking to a New Day

A shimmery keyboard echo runs through the duration of “Åter åter” by Aina Myrstener Cello. Over the top of this repeated motif a cello resounds sharply in drawn out notes as percussive accents of plucked and struck strings alongside organic sounds like the crinkling of paper to simulate fire or an abstract texture and distant voices anchor the ethereal drift of the song. It sounds like the half remembered images of dreams as you awake from a night of slumber. The mood here is pure tranquility and an awareness of ambient sounds and energies like the sun through curtains and the movement of the world stirring into the new day. Listen to “Åter åter” on Spotify and follow the links there to other tracks by the artist or listen on YouTube linked below.

Ay Wing’s Succinct and Open Pop R&B Song “Ego” Is a Discussion on Letting Go of a Self-Corrosive Mindset

Ay Wing says so much in such a short period of time in her song “Ego.” The chill R&B beat around her warm, contemplative yet active vocals serves a song well in which Wing comments on the various ways in which our ego tries to control every situation and impose a way things “should” be and hold oneself to standards that have no relation to our lived existence like an internalized task master that reflects a culture and mindset that asks us to be on task in circumscribed ways that try to fit us into molds and modes that don’t suit our organic selves and a healthy emotional life. That conditioning Wing speaks of casting off by bringing the anxiety that comes with it under control because it not only interrupts sleep it also warps natural human emotional responses like sadness and anger because we’re so often encouraged to believe those to be negative emotions rather than a part of life that are normal if we don’t get stuck there and nothing to be ashamed of or to question oneself over. In the line “Why can’t I surrender to a place where I can be,” Wing touches on the path to get there because her instincts already know it exists, an important breakthrough when you feel stuck. Watch the video for “Ego” on YouTube which features the dancers Nora Hertwig and Francesca Farenga and connect with Wing at the links provided.

Ay Wing on Instagram