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TV Celebrity. The Anaesthetics
A new Dutch band signed to the Rotterdam based label Gentlemen Records. The Anaesthetics are from the Limburg town Horst aan de Maas and will release its debut album '1080' in May. Listening to the first single, I have the feeling of having been put into a time machine with the dial plus/minus on 1980. The dark electronic wave music coming out of my speakers hold everything from Tubeway Army to China Crisis. Like many song from the day, the sounds all come from synths, the melody, the bass pulses, the drums. That sounds cold, and often it is/was. What can make a positive difference, is the melody. The singing is the characteristic dark wave sort of thing, bats everywhere in the mid-80s. Since a few weeks the world has caught up with the dark wave styled music that is in fashion for a few years already. With a mad man, out of madness or (mis)calculation, waving his nukes in the face of the world, we are all of a sudden there. The Anaesthetics without a doubt oblivious of what about to happen when they wrote TV Celebrity, but catch today perfectly. The synth melodies actually assist in making the song sound a little lighter and stand out. TV Celebrity is not the most joyous of songs. However, with a debut single like it The Anaesthetics can be quite content with themselves.
Forty years in business The Dream Syndicate is and still going strong. Admittedly, the band totally passed me by in the 1980s. Somehow, it never came my way, despite buying dozens if not hundreds of albums from the day. Come 2022 and Where I'll Stand landed in my digital post box. The dark song has a Bowie kind of attraction. The Bowie from around 1980, again that year, yes. 'Lodger'. 'Scary Monsters', those albums. Where I'll Stand is a dark song, with the drums and bass in a prominent role. The guitars are mixed somewhat behind the rhythm section, spacious and drawn out, until the lead guitar steps forward in a Robert Fripp/Adrian Belew guitar style. Steve Wynn's voice is older and sober. He's not doing anything extra. The antics are all left for the guitar (overdubs). It makes the single decent, not spectacular.
Point Of View is the kind of song that allows the listener to surrender and go with its flow. Listen to how the electric guitar is played. It's like lapping water against a boat. Softly caressing, warm, lulling someone to sleep. This song is totally in control of the mood it brings you under. Beharie is the Oslo, Norway based singer-songwriter Cristian Beharie. Enveloping in a somewhat jazzy, R&B and when all is said and done a 1950s pop, without sounding like it for a second. It's all in the mood and a little in the vocal style of Beharie. Harry Belafonte, Pat Boone's 'Love Letters In The Sand', that sort of thing. There may be a thousand other singers like Beharie, this single reached me and I think it worthwhile sharing my ideas about it. Point Of view is beautifully and obviously lovingly made. Cristian Beharie fully believes in his song and that is why we can too.
It's not just ZZ Top's Gibbons and Hill who can grow large beards, someone in Highwalker sports an enormous one as well. Is Highwalker the first Finnish band on this blog? I have no way of telling after over ten years. It may well be. What it certainly is, is the first band with an instrumental debut single lasting over 13 minutes. Created during a jam session somewhere in 2017, it was released this month. What to expect? Deep, dark chords that chug along. Huge drumming on dry and dark-tuned drum skins and an even deeper bass guitar. Was this music made for me? No, it was not. This piece is more about the 13 minutes the single lasts. The "stoner doom" band makes a statement with a first release like this and announces what it is about when its still unnamed debut album is released later this year. Burning Temple is huge, as dense as the air in a small room with loads of people partying and smoking, and determined like a slug crossing the road. I hope you get the picture.
Will French sigh girls ever go out of fashion? My guess is no. As long as French and others longing to be French girls love to sing in this breathy, girl-like fashion, there will be sigh girls music. Melody's Echo Chamber is Melody Prochet, a French singer-songwriter who is active in music since 2010 and releasing records since 2012. April release 'Emotional Eternal' will be here fourth album. The single Personal Message has a lot of the classic French sigh girl elements in it. Of course this starts with the Serge Gainsbourg/Air bass guitar. It has a special suave sound and is played unlike a bass in other music somehow. Suave and psychedelic, I should add, as it sounds like a trip alright. What is more modern is the way the guitar weaves itself though the song, slowly but surely pushing itself forward in the musical ranks later on in Personal Message. I hardly know any Tame Impala songs, but the one I do now, 'Let It Happen', is the one that comes to mind here. The combination is simply charming.
"Well, I don't know why I came here tonight", is the line I keep wanting to sing listening to the middle part of Another Man's Jeans and I can't imagine that somebody does has that inclination. The rhythm, the sound of the lead guitar. Ashe is a new name to me, but the Californian singer-songwriter has scored a huge hit on streaming services with the song 'Moral Of The Story'. Some songs pass one by. Yes, even me. Another Man's Jeans starts as strange as it ends. The jazzy-surf guitar beginning totally belies everything coming behind it and the electronic dark vibes at the end is even weirder. In between is a poppy song with a strong 70s vibe and especially one of Stealer Wheel's hits, as I indicated. Another reference is Sheryl Crow's 'All I Wanna Do'. If you like a combination of these two songs and a sexy singing, but relaxed singer, this may be your song to check out. Personally, I'm not fully convinced yet, but nice sometimes is good enough.
Some more darkness can be heaped on this edition of singles. It's week 13 of the year, so why not? Julia Gaeta is from California, but lives in Paris by way of Berlin. She certainly brought some of the Berlin vibe that became more apparent to the world through David Bowie's Berlin trilogy from the 1970s. Yes, once more it does this week. Weight Of You is less experimental that circa 50% of Bowie's first two Berlin albums 'Low' and 'Heroes', but the dark synth vibes are certainly there. In her debut solo single Julia Gaeta certainly decided not to show herself from her lighter side. With her single she totally caught the dark patch the world is moving through since a few weeks. The rhythm makes the music danceable in a slow, determined way. Played loud enough, the dark synths will totally envelop the listener, catching it without a chance of letting go. When Julia Gaeta catches you, you're without a chance. You'll be dancing to/with her all night, the dark, darker, darkest night.
Phase. Bloomsday
Judy Blank shows another side of herself with Confetti. Her new single is an extremely vulnerable song, an empty ballad where a piano plays the central role. All happening around it is pure embellishment to give the song a little extra, which as such it does not truly need. The vocal melody has enough impact as it is. Confetti is a song about life after the party is over, so in a stark contrast with another song of Ms. Blank I really like, 'Mary Jane', where the party never seemed to end. But, "if every day was a party, it wouldn't be that fun to go ". Events in life only get a true meaning because of the contrasts life provides with all its ups and downs. This mood of introspection is caught beautifully in the arrangement around the piano and voice. Confetti is a beautiful song, giving a strong sense of what Judy Blank is capable of. EP 'Saddies' will be out on 22 April.
Als laatste nog een slow song, zoals Joe Jackson ooit zo mooi zong. De Toegift is een Zeeuwse band, die met Nollestrand haar tweede single presenteert op weg naar de debuut EP 'En Ik Kon Alles Zien', die uitkomt op 1 april. Qua sfeer komt Nollestrand bijzonder overeen met Judy Blanks 'Confetti' hierboven, maar is veel breder van opzet. Hoe melancholisch de single ook klinkt, er is alles aangedaan om het, in alle bescheidenheid, een groots geluid te geven. Denk een saxofoon, zoals The Rolling Stones groots inzetten op een van hun fraaiste ballades, 'Waiting On A Friend'. De Toegift weet die sfeer succesvol neer te zetten. Langzaam, de tijd nemend om het verhaal te vertellen en muzikaal helmaal uit te spelen. Saxofonist Franklin Schiemann als Sonny Rollins? Ik denk dat hij wel blij zal zijn met deze associatie. Aan de basis staan zachte, jazzy drums en bass, met een piano die elementaire akkoorden speelt. Daar overheen waaiert de viool van Hester Julia Voddé breed uit, met de sax natuurlijk. Soft jazz kan een omschrijving zijn, maar 70s pop zoals Billy Joel kan zeker ook als een vergelijking dienen. De Toegift heeft veel in haar mars lijkt het en maakt zeker dat de EP in volle verwachting tegemoet gezien wordt. 'Zo Waren De Dagen', de eerste single, staat in het overzicht van week 9.
Wait, there's an eleventh this week, but for a different reason.
In the past week I have listened to Complience several times. It holds Muse elements that are instantly recognisable. But where is the energy, the surprising antics, the drive? The song simply bores me, I'm sorry to say. A bit like a lot of songs on 'Black Holes And Revelations'. An album that I never got to the end of. It made me miss what I think is Muse's best song, 'Knights Of Cydonia'. To make sure I will put on the last song of the upcoming album first.
It's not that Complience is a bad song, it's just not exiting enough for Muse's standards. Too slick is the word I was looking for. Spotify starts playing Midnight Oil's 'All The Time Of Writing' out of its own accord and I'm pricking my ears up immediately. I'm awaiting the review of 'Resist' anxiously. My ticket for the farewell show early July is in the pocket. Any other day, I'd say that the average Muse song has a higher impact. Not Complience.
Wout de Natris
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