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Talking It Out. Aura Blaze
Aura Blaze has featured several times on this blog. You will even find an interview with Rhode Rachel, the man behind Aura Blaze who plays all instruments and takes care of all singing. With Talking It Out he releases a new single that takes on an even more poppier and 60s influenced song than ever before. Talking It Out starts slightly darkish. Just Rachel singing over a piano. But slowly yet surely a The Beach Boys sound is brought to the song, Harmonies all over the place and 60s sounds from a old-fashioned sounding organ. The Beach Boys of circa 1970 were less sparkling than they used to be and certainly more complex musically, but creating songs at an artistically high level. Aura Blaze manages to creep in between the two The Beach Boys styles and present both angles in one song. Simply well done and nice to listen to as well.
The Crystal Ship. Aura Blaze
More
recently Aura Blaze released another single with a familiar title. Of
course The Doors' The Crystal Ship it is I'm referring to, one of my
favourite songs on that band's debut album, 'The Doors'. But is this a
cover? I don't know. It starts off as an extremely psychedelic track,
somehow reminding me of 'Triad', by Jefferson Airplane somewhere deep
under the atmospherics Aura Blaze presents. As soon as that dies away and Rhode Rachel
starts singing, there's no doubt left. This is The Crystal Ship alright.
That beautiful, dreamy, psychedelic ballad gets a full treatment. Just like a The Doors live show used to draw certain songs out of
their familiar habitat, Aura Blaze simply goes off into uncharted territories where The Crystal Ship is concerned, underscoring the lyrics I might add. Yes, folks, things really, really go over the
top here. As if in an afterthought Rachel shows how sound he is as a
drummer. To think that this is not a live show going out of bounds but
one man in his private studio totally flying off in all directions. Too
much of a good thing? Yes, of course, but several parts of the song are
showing Rhode Rachel's talents alright. In part he makes the song fully his own
by changing the melody as well. An experience as well as a satisfying
listen.
Home. Teenage Fanclub
Accompanied
by a corona virus one and a half meter apart video, Teenage Fanclub
reenters my llife with a beautiful, unassuming single called Home. At a
time we are all confined to our homes for most of the time, the band
sings "I don't know if I'll ever be home again." Somewhere around the
year 2000 the band slowly left my conscience. Having entered it with the
beautiful 'Thirteen', showing me the way to a great band I had never
heard of before, Big Star, now one of my favourites of the 70s. On Home
the band just plays well and sings beautifully. "Simply" doing what it
is good at: crafting a beautiful and free flowing song, but never forgetting
to give it a little bite. In this case that edgy sound of the guitar in
the outro. All through it the warm sound of an ancient Vox organ sounds
out, making the song even more enticing.
Make Worry For Me. Matt Sweeney and Bonnie 'Prince' Billy
Collaborating
with Matt Sweeney expands Will Oldham's musical universe. His usually
alt.americana is set aside for a brooding, soft form of alternative
rock. Guitarist Matt Sweeney creates an alternative environment for
Oldham's voice to creep and crawl around in. Make Worry For Me is such
an example. Sweeney starts the song off with just a guitar over which
Oldham starts singing. Slowly but surely the song expands and expands.
Although the song comprises of basically two chords and some changes,
slowly but surely a deceptive kind of warmth is created by the Hammond
organ. Make Worry For Me is the kind of lyric that fits the brooding
atmosphere the song holds inside itself. "I've got monsters inside me", Bonny 'Prince'
Billie sings and the music shows it. The lead guitar is like poisonous
snakes crawling up someone's leg, while being tied to a tree. That kind
of song. It's as intriguing as it is good.
Compersion, Part 1. Arab Strap
Compersion?,
that's a word I've never heard before. This goes well with Arab Strap.
Although I've heard the band's name years ago, perhaps in the 00s, for the
first time, not for the life of me I can remember having heard music.
So, that changed with this single. With a mild Scottish accent a singer
works himself through the song. Sing-talking is the right description
here. A guitar plays a nice but somewhat off kilter melody. Around it a
stiff bass and drums lay down the rhythm. An organ takes care of the
melody as does a distorted lead guitar. Compersion, Part 1 isn't an
extremely alive single but more than enough happens to make it a great
listening experience. Alternative sounds can be mixed with a pop feel
alright. What Compersion means, you can look up yourself, right?
Piece Of Mind. The Straights
Piece
Of Mind was the second single Boston released from its eponymous album
of 1977. The Straights song isn't even that far apart from the classic
rockers around Tom Schultz. This Piece Of Mind is more punky but
obviously melodic and influenced by bands like Boston as this is far
from a punk band. This U.K. band taps into decades of pop music, not
unlike Taymir did in this country about seven years ago. With a youthful
exuberance and self-confidence The Straights simply shakes existing
music around with wild abandon and comes up with an enthusiastic song of
its own. Bam, 5 and a half minute full of pop, rock and dynamics is thrown towards unsuspecting listeners. The
kind of song that is simply great to listen to. If I were to listen
critically, I would hear a thousand references but when a song is so
enthusiasticly played and sung, who cares? Relax, piece of mind is all that is
called for here. And lots of dancing of course.
Going Surfing. Templo Diez
From
straight forward rock we move on to a song that hides many facets of itself in
atmosphere and subdued sounds. It may be called Going Surfing,
it's not like the singer, nor band, seem to be having a good time. Drawn from memories of a youth spent in a French surfing resort, I can't suppress the impression that the singer did not like it there particularly, singing and writing about surfing this way. The contrast with the late 70s hit 'Windsurfing' could not be much further apart, so to say. If anything, the
less is more principle is guiding on this single. The wildest
contribution are the little bells that are played. Like a guiding light
in a dark night the little bells sound clear in the subdued darkness
around it. After a few listening sessions I'm still not certain what to
make of the single. On principle this is beautiful music. The way the
song is presented is very well done and with a lot of taste. There are a
load of beautiful sounds on the song, but is it worthwhile to really
invest in? I'm not certain when finishing this little piece.
Caroline. Arlo Parks
A
few weeks ago we've met for the first time with Arlo Parks on this
blog. A positive introduction it was. Today she returns with a new
single called Caroline. Again a modern song but mixed with so much from
the past that in essence this could be a decades old song with one major
difference. There's no singer from 50 years or a little less ago, that
managed to sound and sing the way Arlo Parks can record her voice in
2020. It all results in a beautiful, dreamy song. She swears to Caroline
and God that she tried. Whatever it was, that needed swearing on, it
results in a beautiful song. The music is somewhat murky. A lot of
sounds all heaped together, with the drumming sounding clean and right
in the middle up front. Over it all the voice(s) of Arlo Parks dreams
on. No, this is far from a song that fits my overall taste, but I can
only conclude that this is the second song of Arlo Parks that really
goes down well with me, making me really curious for the album that is
to be released early next year.
I Don't Know What I'm Doing. Maxïmo Park
In
this tempo Maxïmo Park will have released the whole album as a single,
as it is only to be released late in March. Again, I have to write that
the band will never write a new 'Apply Some Pressure' again. This
forever will be the band's top song. But what I've heard so far from the
up coming album, things will be alright. I Don't Know What I'm Doing is not only a
nice, nervous song, like it should be with Maxïmo Park, it also sounds inspired, alive. The song rocks
out in the right kind of ways and it is hard to predict what will happen
next hearing it for the first time. The lead guitar is totally erratic,
as is the chorus that cries out in a kind of desperation. The solo is
totally weird and kind of far out. It rocks but is also totally psychedelic
in a Maxïmo Park kind of way. The song simply flies off in all sorts of
directions until the end of the elastic band is reached and is reigned
in to fit in again. Really promising for what is to come next.
Death Engine. I Break Horses
Death
Engine is a mix of heavy 80s synth music and the mystic singing of Kate
Bush. With this conclusion I can basically stop writing. Orchestral Manoeuvres in
the Dark, the not pop single side of that band, to name a band and Kate
from around 'Hounds Of Love'. The music is all from machines, sounding
heavy and downcast. A drum computer may be added and the words are about
suicide and running straight into the light. Only logical that the
music reflects the words. This is heavy stuff. Do I like it? I notice
mixed feelings. It is well made and this is not just synthesizer music.
There's a melody and obviously worked out with care. It's simply that I miss a ray of light,
a glimmer of hope and that makes it long seven minute something to sit
out. Should you think this is a long song, the remix closes in on 10 minutes.
Listen to our Spotify Playlist to find out what we are writing about:
https://open.spotify.com/user/glazu53/playlist/6R9FgPd2btrMuMaIrYeCh6?si=KI6LzLaAS5K-wsez5oSO2g
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