SubmitHub – Page 212 – Queen City Sounds and Art

kyaro. Brings Swagger and the Urban Asian American Experience Into Vivid Detail on Jazz Rap Track “Forever Jaeyoung”

Kyaro2-sm — kyaro., photo courtesy the artist

“Forever Jaeyoung” isn’t just a play on words, it reflects the background and life of Korea Town, Los Angeles rapper kyaro.. Taken from the recently released album The Choom Gang Chronicles, the track has kyaro. spitting bars over downtempo jazz beats about his life and adventures at home and in his journeys living in various parts of the world and picking up local slang and forming observations about culture and society to weave into his storytelling. Apparently kyaro. was once a boxer and some of the necessary combative attitude transformed into the swagger he brings to his vocal deliver. Though a Korean American, kyaro. references “gaijin goons” invoking the Japanese word for “foreigner” but often adapted as an ironic pejorative term for wack white people, inverting the sense of who is a foreigner and where. Featured vocalist Mzee Macharia talks about being tokenized when he was about five, as often happens to people of color in general and articulates an experience that isn’t often addressed in music. But most of the story in “Forever Jaeyoung”is a relatable story of coming up needing to be tough and navigating where one belongs and if indeed one does belong in the context of American society. The specific biographical details of the story, as with any artist worth listening to, are what makes the song stand out but its core meaning about identity and figuring out how to get through life is universal. Listen to “Forever Jaeyoung” on Spotify and follow kyaro. at any of the links below.

open.spotify.com/artist/6J1Z7HEQ67KGuzt3mITHJw
youtube.com/channel/UCHjT7bn_VcVJrLRFt9gmOcg
twitter.com/kyarorap
facebook.com/kyarorap
instagram.com/kyarorap

“Deaf Ears” is Kevin Bowe & The Okemah Prophets Spirited Rejection Letter to Destructive Relationships

KevinBoweAndTheOkemahProphets_EveryPartOfTheBuffalo_lg — Kevin Bowe & The Okemah Prophets, *Every Part of the Buffalo* cover (cropped)

It would be impossible to not compare Kevin Bowe & The Okemah Prophets’ song “Deaf Ears” to The Replacements because of the sheer grit and attitude yet irresistible tunefulness of the song. At the same time the cadence of the vocals and the way the lines are arranged in the context of the song is reminiscent of Bob Dylan circa Street Legal but with more urgency. The guitar chords are struck with an offhanded fluidity and left to hang as the distorted glitter of the jangle-y dynamic rings out between the complimentary riffing as if to reflect a sense of being completely and utterly done with the deceptions, other mind games and the self-sabotage in giving a relationship that was always toxic yet another chance. Listen to “Deaf Ears” on Soundcloud and follow the band on its website.

https://kevinbowe.com/okemah-prophets

Rich Field Recordings, Flute and Organic Percussion Help Make DJ Zeyhan’s Trance-esque “Sri Lanka” Into a World Beat Synth Pop Dance Track

DJZeyhan2_sm — DJ Zeyhan, photo courtesy the artist

DJ Zeyhan used field recordings captured in the place for which “Sri Lanka” was named in the mix for the song. Combined with flutes and organic percussion, the song has a multi-dimensional quality that strongly suggests place and context, particularly at the end when insects are sounding out into the night. Zeyhan’s trance-like synths, shakers, robust, melodic low end synth melody and intertwining with the flute and undercurrents of bright electronic tone drone convey the jungles, wetlands, rivers and dynamism of a place like Sri Lanka. Altogether the song hits your ears like a world music synth pop song created after the 90s when Future Sound of London’s “Papua New Guinea” did a similar mixing of aesthetics and concepts. Listen to “Sri Lanka” on Soundcloud and follow DJ Zeyhan at the links provided.

beatz4freakz.de
soundcloud.com/dj-zeyhan
open.spotify.com/artist/1CVs58PrLbZ4Y4sylFhmd4
facebook.com/DJZeyhan

Trovato’s “Crash” is Like the Soundtrack to an Automated Sentient Terraforming Project

Trovato1_sm — Trovato, image courtesy the artist

The texture of Trovato’s new single “Crash” is metallic. It begins with string tones processed through reverse delay to suggest latency in the launch of what’s to come. Then, like robots building a new city from the ground up in the foothills of a vast mountain range, the song unfolds and develops with pounding bass, spring-like sounds, gently whorling guitar like fiber optic lines coiling out and put in place as the central nervous system of the nascent urban center. The cybernetic bird chirping is like the cadence to which the robots work away the day as if part of the design of the program of instant-city-assemblage in case someone were to come along and encounter the project and instead of necessarily thinking it a purely destructive and exploitative endeavor, more like an unusual, automated art project. It’s reminiscent of Ian McDonald’s 1988 novel Desolation Road about the terraforming of Mars and the cultures that develop out of it in that that novel doesn’t focus so much on the ooh wow technology aspect of the story so much as the impact of those events on a macro, historical scale without ignoring the micro and deeply personal. Listen to “Crash” on Soundcloud and follow Trovato at the links below.

soundcloud.com/trovatomusic
open.spotify.com/artist/68HgefrInFm8lY0y4MEEgG
facebook.com/trovatomusic
instagram.com/trovatomusic

Rob Simonsen’s Enigmatic Video for the “Coeur” Single Reflect’s the Song’s Sense of Acceptance of Life’s Ambiguities

RobSimonsen2 — Rob Simonsen, photo courtesy the artist

Rob Simonsen’s enigmatic composition “Coeur” leads us through a desolate emotional landscape with minimalist piano and electronic sounds and tones with the texture and analog of breezes and wind. The music video for the song shows two sets of seekers, mystics, coming together at a sacred spot marked by a spiritual symbol where they enact an ancient ritual of grounding and reconciliation between the dark side and the day side of the psyche in, coming together in a dance from which one of the seekers walks away preferring to shoulder a mysterious burden to the blissful state offered. Perhaps it represents taking on the challenges of knowing and of creative fulfillment over comfort and too easy answers. The video also made by Simonsen leaves the interpretation to the viewer but it fits well a song that seems resigned to its own ambiguity much as the lead subject of the video. Watch Simonsen’s videographic treatment of “Coeur” and follow the artist at the links below. Simonsen will release his debut solo album Rêveries on September 6 through Sony Music Masterworks.

open.spotify.com/artist/2ZeUaZT3s3NSbeV7OS094J
twitter.com/robsimonsen
facebook.com/robsimonsen
instagram.com/rob_simonsen

Doomed Romance Never Sounded so Sweet or as Hopeful as on Stevie Zita’s “Anastasia.”

StevieZita_Anastasia_cover_crop — Stevie Zita, “Anastasia” cover (cropped)

Stevie Zita strikes an adroit balance between the sardonically amused but not jaded, resigned acceptance and hopefulness on “Anastasia.” It’s a song about a troubled girlfriend who seems unaware of her own worth and potential and self medicates with the 80s drug of choice—cocaine. Of course that’s one substance that has come back into popularity with a vengeance in this era of being pushed to do and be more and to go, go, go at a bare minimum at a pace that will burn out any normal human eventually. The tone of the song is a tacit acknowledgment of letting go that demented way of being. This song captures the mixed emotions and the perhaps doomed romance in the musical parlance of the glam and dream pop end of post-punk. It’s lush and gentle melody almost makes it seem possible that the subject of Zita’s song will indeed discover a way back home to stay after all. That Zita named the song “Anastasia” which means “She who is reborn” suggests that potential not just of Anastasia’s inherent potential as a human but her potential to recreate her life on a healthier basis. Listen to the track on Soundcloud and follow Stevie Zita at the link on the same website below.

soundcloud.com/steviezita

The Minimal Beat of “Sage” by Human Age Allows the Vibrant Melody to Dance Freely

HumanAge_SafeEmergencyEP_cover_crop — Human Age, *Safe Emergency* EP cover (cropped)

The minimalist percussion of “Sage” by Human Age, is an interesting foundation for the flaring, colorful melody to unfold upon. It provides the texture and the momentum of the song while sounding so delicate itself. Like one of those wire frames of large sculptures, the weak nuclear forces without which matter cannot exist. It’s reminiscent of the way Four Tet will hang an extended panoply of sounds and moods on a spindle of rhythm to keep time while modulating that rhythm slightly while the melody and atmospheres take the foreground and dance about and fill in the sonic framework. The melody here feels like taking in a breath and noticing nuances of flavor and texture in your lungs for the first time and the minute diversity of each with every breath with each passage. That the song reflects a psychedelic experience the composer had at Joshua Tree should come as no surprise but it is incidental to the enjoyment of a short song that seems so simple but offers an ever changing array of sonic experience. Listen to “Sage” from Human Age’s Safe Emergency EP and follow the artist at the links below.

soundcloud.com/humanagemusic
open.spotify.com/artist/2Xv8LwqhmKSjRB5K2vCYCV
instagram.com/human__age
https://linktr.ee/HumanAge

Emiji’s “Ambient Trip” Iteration of “Mystical Thoughts” is Like a Cleansing Stream of Tranquil Waters

Emiji1_crop — Emiji “Mystical Thoughts (Ambient Trip)” cover (cropped)

This “Ambient Trip” iteration of Emiji’s song “Mystical Thoughts” reflects is reflected in the various permutations of the cover art to give a different cast and emphasis on a theme. The geometric artwork suggests Emiji hears the mathematical roots of the sounds and their connection to one another and their relationships and put the track together with the organic flow in mind the way one might model weather systems, the way Ryoji Ikeda has mapped out generative sound that seems to follow no formal logic but whose vectors are explicable through mathematical modeling and representation with a visual component. But without knowing any of this, Emiji’s song can be enjoyed as a blissful, slow moving cascade of soothing sound that flows over your conscience like a tranquil water, cleansing the mind of anxious thoughts. Listen to “Mystical Thoughts (Ambient Trip)” on Soundcloud and follow Emiji at the links provided.

emijimusic.com
facebook.com/emijimusic
instagram.com/emijimusic

Haneke Twins Bring a Broad and Powerful Tonal Range to its Urgent and Harrowing Classic Post-Punk Sound on “Deep”

HanekeTwins2_sm — Haneke Twins, photo courtesy the artists

Swiss post-punk band Haneke Twins may channel or tap into some obvious musical reference points on its new single “Deep,” like Paul Banks’ rich baritone in the vocals and the driving, melodic bass line that is the hallmark of any post-punk worth listening to. The drumming, though, pushes the headlong urgency of the song and accenting the momentum of the beat with splashes of cymbal like heavy rains. The guitars are cutting and seething like the high end got the boost. This mix of sound allows for the bass, vocals and guitar to occupy distinct frequency ranges giving the track some subtle power. “Deep” may sound like it could have come out in post death rock 1983 but the way the band has arranged where the sounds lie speaks to a knowledge of modern production techniques and the influence of newer music and thus it never really sounds like Haneke Twins are trying out a style du jour. Also, compliments on the name referencing controversial filmmaker Michael Haneke. Listen to “Deep” on YouTube and follow Haneke Twins at the links below.

soundcloud.com/haneke-twins
haneketwins.bandcamp.com/releases
twitter.com/HanekeTwins

Daddy Who’s Hypnotically Looping “Space Jam” is Like Hold Music For Making Reservations at the Restaurant at the End of the Universe

DaddyWho2_crop — Daddy Who, image courtesy the artist

Not to be confused with the Quad City DJ’s song of the same name at all, Daddy Who’s “Space Jam” is like a loop of shimmering synth over bursts of ascending horn samples, a downtempo jazz rhythm and vocals that almost come across like voice synthesizer pieces or odd artifacts from pre-recorded announcements processed to fit that perfect tonal and textural moment at the beginning and at the end of the track. Is it a ring tone for an incoming call from another galaxy or hold music for The Restaurant at the End of the Universe. It could work as either because the loop fools you into a sense of generative composition as it makes its way hypnotically into your brain. Listen below and follow Daddy Who at the link provided.

Space Jam by Daddy Who

open.spotify.com/artist/35LuXmFMMue04hCQ48qFpR