SubmitHub – Page 235 – Queen City Sounds and Art

IVATU’s “Haunt” is a Chilling Trip Into Personal Nightmare

IVATU5_sm — IVATU, photo courtesy the artists

Eava Tuevskaya’s vocals on the IVATU single “Haunt” (from its recent Enormous and Mild EP) recall those of Karin Dreijer of The Knife in sounding distinct but mysterious. But the music is an entrancing blend of downtempo, Goblin-esque synth screams and dark neofolk. The title suits a song that is about the existential fears and insecurities that come to erode one’s confidence and hope like the ghost of a vampire come to drain your emotional and spiritual energy. The fog-enshrouded melody and the way the percussion beats in the distance like the clack of the last train out of a land about to be overtaken by the worst blizzard in three hundred years is downright chilling. It is perhaps the sound of the personal nightmare you can’t escape but must. Fans of the star and gorgeous soundscapes and vocal heft of artists like Jenny Hval, Chelsea Wolfe and Marissa Nadler would do well to seek out Moscow’s IVATU. Sample the track and follow the band at the links below.

https://ivatu.bandcamp.com/track/haunt
ivatu.bandcamp.com
facebook.com/ivatu.msc

“Molly” by Velcro Mary is a Tender Ballad to a Relationship Gone Awry

velcro_mary_cbg_sm — Velcro Mary, photo courtesy the artist

Velcroy Mary may be “the only band in North Carolina that did not record their last album with Mitch Easter at The Fidelitorium” but maybe it’s single “Molly” was recorded with Chris Schultz at Wavelab Studios in Arizona because it’s melancholic anthem is reminiscent of DeVotchKa circa How It Ends. The doleful accordion melody and the words of resignation and yearning bracketed by gently strummed guitar spells out a message meant to offer comfort and reassurance to someone who might be going through a period in life fraught with insecurity and emotional fragility. Tender and touching it’s simple structure and graceful performance makes what is hinted at by “this time apart’s supposed to help us grow” and “the apple doesn’t fall far from the tree” and a troubled relationship that has all but drifted apart for good. Listen below and follow Velcro Mary’s excellent string of singles at the links following.

VelcroMaryMusic.com
soundcloud.com/velcromary
velcromary.bandcamp.com
twitter.com/VelcroMary
facebook.com/velcromary

cityGirl’s Poignant “Curled” Embodies the Concept of Saudade

cityGirl_crop — cityGirl, artwork, cropped

Although the main melodic line is a bright toned keyboard figure on cityGirl’s “Curled,” one gets the distinct impression of this song coming from a place of pain. Maybe not anguish or the sharp kind that comes from losing someone forever. But the kind where someone who made a strong impression on you who helped define an important period in your life in a way only someone with whom you’re spending a great deal of time can. And when that person exits from your circle of relationships, for whatever reason, instead of being angry you can only feel sad and a little confused as your affection for that person would be dishonored with unworthy and aggressive emotions. In Portugese there’s a word “saudade” that means, according to Wikipedia, “a deep emotional state of nostalgic or profound melancholic longing for an absent something or someone that one loves.” The mood of the song conveys well a bittersweet sensibility that expresses the good times not forgotten but overshadowed in the moment by the feelings of loss. It is kind of a simple pop song but given all the elements it expresses a complex state of mind and being that is often challenging to articulate. Give the song a listen and follow cityGirl at the links following.

soundcloud.com/citygirl-2
artists.spotify.com/c/artist/2XkJtfRO0ldQw3CjNGZ5hN/profile

D.D. Island’s Manifestation of the Halcyon Days of a New Love on “Sawtooth Sunshine”

DDIsland_LostDog_sm — D.D. Island *Los Dog* cover

“Sawtooth Sunshine” by D.D. Island is something best heard in headphones to take in the full range of the sounds of the song. It’s main guitar melody, reminiscent of “Carolyn’s Fingers” by Cocteau Twins, and the texture of the acoustic strum, electronic drums and Brandon Rhodes’ wistful vocals sketch out the emotional image of the early, fresh stages of a new love when everything feels good and right. In the context of the new full length Lost Dog (released June 8) it’s part of a natural arc of the human experience and not a place to get stuck and hung up on like your lowest points. And yet one to enjoy and savor for as long as it lasts. Listen to the track and explore D.D. Island’s work further at the links below. Also, look out for the band live around the USA in 2019.

open.spotify.com/artist/3vuZryGDMqcVxiAiBvNi5X
https://ddisland.bandcamp.com/album/lost-dog
facebook.com/d.d.island.music
instagram.com/d.d._island

“TIIMALASI” by Roca. is Evocative of Urban Isolation and a Yearning for Connection

Roca1-lg — Roca., photo courtesy the artists

Roca.’s latest music video for “TIIMALASI,” with clear visual references to Georges Méliès’ 1902 landmark film Le Voyage dans la lune, is a surreal collage of colors, imagery about time and the rushing about of humanity in groups rushing about but emotionally and socially isolated from one another. There is a bit of the aesthetic of the mediated experience one sees in the horror films of Koji Shiraishi and Norio Tsuruta and that gives the experience of the song an unsettling, haunted quality. Musically it echoes a bit of mid-80s Kate Bush minimalism and evokes the emotional isolation depicted perfectly. The incandescent bell tones, ambient washes of sound, warm keyboard drones and high and low arc of the vocals is the sound of modern urban life in Twenty-First Century oligarchy in which true connection to others is discouraged but now more necessary than ever. You can explore more from the Tokyo-based duo and its recently released Gene EP at the links below following the video.

rocabandinfo.wixsite.com/rocaband
soundcloud.com/rocaband

Obstacle’s “Unknown Number” is a Free Flowing Puzzle of Ambient, IDM, No Wave Funk Noise

Obstacle1_sm — Obstacle, photo courtesy the artist

On “Unknown Number,” instrumental trio Obstacle brings to bear technical chops both in performance and in post-and-live processing of sound to create this brilliantly strange and always evolving track that one wants to call ambient, post-rock, IDM and No Wave funk. And it’s all of that with the finely processed and reassembled bits of sonic texture and architecture. Each fragment of sound is vivid and intersecting with what sounds like a natural rhythm with every other and placed expertly in the mix. In that way it is somewhat reminiscent of Sirens-period Nicolas Jaar minus vocals—where even the most outré sound is intentional and helps to draw you into the songs specific experiential world. What Obstacle is doing here straddles the world of musique concrète, noise and experimental electronica with an exquisite compositional balance. Listen for yourself and follow Obstacles further adventures into the artful assembling of sound at the links below.

obstaclemusic.com
open.spotify.com/artist/4Jf2iLfFvViJO0ApXPDqJ5
obstaclemusic.bandcamp.com
instagram.com/obstaclemusic

Friends of the Bog Wax Poetic With Wit and Charm About Love Lost on “Earthworm”

FriendsOfTheBog1 — Friends of the Bog, photo courtesy the artists

What makes “Earthworm” by Chicago’s Friends of the Bog is that it uses some of the instrumentation you might hear in a folk or Americana song (banjo, accordion, gently strummed guitar, piano, violin, brushed drums et. al.) but as simple elements that contribute to a greater, well-orchestrated whole with a few changes. This is no mean feat for a song that is all of one minute fifty-three minutes long. The vocals, winsome and introspective, emotionally generous, stand ever so slightly in the foreground as if you can almost visualize the band on stage un-mic’d. Fans of early Jenny Lewis solo records will appreciate the songwriting here as well as Beth Hyland’s spare yet warmly expressive vocals and native wit. Released as one side of a two song single “Glow/Worm” (the other side “A Glow”), “Earthworm” is practically a master class of brevity and poignancy. Give this charming song a listen and follow the band’s further adventures at the links below.

facebook.com/friendsofthebog
instagram.com/friendsofthebog

“Sniper” by Color Theory is a Brilliant Cyberpunk Synthwave Story Song

ColorTheory3_sm — Brian Hazard of Color Theory, photo courtesy the artist

Brian Hazard as Color Theory has in “Sniper” a fast-paced electronic pop song that combines minimal synth dance sensibilities with some 8-bit tones. Difficult to say if he used a modified Famicom to put the beats and sounds all together but fans of Depreciation Guild will appreciate the modes and tones employed here. By using digital noise elements in an otherwise melancholic melodic song with a fairly dark theme, Hazard is showing how, like Kavinsky, you can do a kind of cyberpunk short story collection based in an 80s that never happened. With the first two Color Theory singles from the forthcoming eleventh album (tentatively titled Lucky Ago) “Backward” and “Feral” Hazard is developing a bit of a conceptual narrative that interrelates while each song stands very much on its own. For the project, Hazard has some strong ideas about how he put the record together and conceptualized it beginning to end and after listening to the song you can explore the artist’s richly imaginative body of work and progress toward the release of the new album at the links below.

soundcloud.com/colortheory
open.spotify.com/artist/7uWMG0Go7YMKqVG1fbsOBO
youtube.com/colortheory
colortheory.bandcamp.com
twitter.com/colortheory
facebook.com/colortheory
instagram.com/colortheory

“Unfinished Love Song” by MBG Hits All the Right Notes About the Complexities of Romance

MBG2_sm — MBG, photo by Shireen K. (IG: shireenkphotoz)

Yearning, wistful, introspective, resigned, accepting—Leena from MBG packs a lot of emotional mileage into a spare and soulful song about love and how we often question ourselves in how we fit into the relationship and sometimes realize that we can’t live up to expectations because we have to be who we are and honest with ourselves more than fulfill someone else’s fantasy. Somewhere between a country song and bluesy folk, “Unfinished Love Song” may live up to its title because your life and your connections with people rarely end with the kind of manufactured closure that you might find in a movie, a novel or a hackneyed pop song. With its expressive guitar lines and nuanced vocals, “Unfinished Love Song” also has the subtext of a reminder to be gentle and kind with yourself even as you question it all. MGB’s new EP Have a Alright Day recently released on Spotify and you can listen to “Unfinished Love Song” below and follow MGB’s work and happenings at the links following.

twitter.com/mbgisleena
Have a Alright Day on Spotify
instagram.com/mbgisleena

Heron’s “The Glow” Evokes a Peaceful Summer Sunrise

Heron3_sm — Heron, photo courtesy the artist

Prior to the July 19 release of its second full length album Sun Release, post-rock band Heron from Warren Pennsylvania set forth the single for “The Glow.” Perhaps a nod to Microphones, the song itself begins with a dawn-like shimmer to the sun rising on a peaceful day of feeling whole and well-rested and motivated to do something as if, yes, one has a glow emanating from within to drive a spirit to living fully. Maybe that explains the title of the album as well. The ethereal echo of sounds at the end definitely sounds like someone or something has launched toward better places. Listen below and keep up with the band at the links provided as it prepares to roll out the new record and the more than likely series of live dates in support.

heronband.com
soundcloud.com/user-376736334
open.spotify.com/artist/1eDflyuVvl6VwwEmm1NQXM
heronband.bandcamp.com
twitter.com/weareheron
facebook.com/weareheron
instagram.com/heron.band