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Rewind. Rosali
How
did a 11 year old Italo disco song wind up in this list?, I was
wondering to myself, only to notice that I had typed Rosalie in my
overview. Lucky for me and Rosali (Middleman) I noticed my mistake,
searched again and found a very nice alternative folk, pop song. The
execution of the music moves towards slacker, with a singer that winds
herself around the music, bringing it together as truly hers. The video
shows a very unhappy woman in a record store. If Rewind is as a promise
for her upcoming album 'Bite Down' (22 March), then a trip to a store
like that is recommended, lifting her mood immediately. The band accompanying Rosali, is almost wild
and certainly considering the music. An electric guitar refuses to be
contained. Rosali undertakes a valiant attempt, succeeds for a while
before the song goes off into the wild. To me Rosali is a new name, but
what an introduction.
Have
we musically visited New Zealand already this year? If not, Office Dog
makes up for the omission. The Crater is a tough song in the mid tempo
range, with a heavy guitar and a very present bass and drums. The Flying
Nun band released its album 'Spiel' already last year down under. The
global release was this weekend. Single The Crater released to celebrate and
announce it. The singer sings with a slightly dreamy voice, almost
detonating with the tough guitar(s). It's all over before 2.30 minutes.
The ride up there is good to follow. You will have heard this kind of
song before, but who cares when it comes this nice. In the fall the band
was on this blog with the single 'Big Air' in a very positive way. I missed
the album though. It looks like it's time to check it out.
'Hush',
'Tattva' and all the other hits from around 1996 (was it?) will never
be surpassed. The Indian sphere around the band worked for a short time
and then it was all over. What happened after 1998, I have no clue. The
band disbanded and was never heard from again by me, until I saw this
single in the side line Google presents as suggestions. Four middle-aged men rocking out,
with a lot of Indian and psychedelics in the video. Natural Magick at a
minimum is able to create that vibe of enthusiasm the early singles
had. That is the positive news on Kula Shaker. The song could have been a
minute shorter, that is certainly true. That said, this is a nice
re-acquaintance. So, welcome to the blog Kula Shaker. (I checked to be
sure and then noticed how many times I've referenced the band over the years.
That tells you something alright.)
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If
'Natural Magick' wetted your psychedelic appetite, then you are at the
right place here. Expect jumping off the deep end though. Faye Webster
and her guest Lil Yachty play a game, in the music video within a music
game. Lego Ring really shoots into all sorts of directions without ever
losing control. The tempo goes up and down. Webster sings and Yachty
sings with an autotune (enriching that Dutch engineer a little more).
Thus Lego Ring moves between a ballad and a rocksong the whole of the
time. Mixing delicacy with full force on and off. It works though. Lego
Ring is a rich song, in which several ideas come together and different
decades of music. It all blends into a modern kind of ballad and an
alternative rock song, not forgetting the dance like deep synth sounds
in between. Fascinating I opt to call it.
Wes
Hoffman and Friends is a band from St. Louis and is around since 2017.
Since the pandemic it is travelling up and down the Mid West and hoping
to break out further soon. This has to happen on the back of the band's
first full length album 'How It Should Be', slated for this winter. A
Minute To Breathe is the first single from that album. Expect a punkrock
storm that starts at 0.00 and ends at 2.37 minutes. Loads of energy,
fast paced drumming, distorted guitars, a driving bass and a tough voice
singing about "why are we waiting for tomorrow, when we're living
today". An important lesson in life, all have to learn and Wes Hoffman
and Friends are teaching it to all who care to listen. Note the female
voice on the song, which is a nice decoration in between the raging
punkrockers.
Peace Sign. Ride
"Give me a peace sign". Here you are. Have your pick.
A
dark song about a dark topic. Elvis Is Alive and living as a demented
89 year old on a smaller Hawaiian island, next to an 80 year old Jim
Morrison. Something like that. The Crayon Set takes on conspiracy topics
one by one, all accompanied by a sad tune. Things are not well in The Crayon Set's
realm and be warned, you can fall off a flat Earth. Read Terry Pratchett if you
don't believe me. They all sound so familiar, the theories the band
almost talks me through, somewhere between singing and talking. "The
ozon is fine and the sea will never rise", you know what I mean. In the
between the repeated verses, perhaps choruses, a sad, distorted violin or a slide guitar, I am not 100% certain, interrupts
the singing. The biggest conspiracy theory is very personal: "and you are
still mine", explaining the sadness. Yes, conspiracy theories can make
one sad but not like when it becomes personal. Elvis Is Alive is just a
way to express personal sadness.
Some
more punk rock from Germany. Not for the first time this year. Dead
Years is a trio from Bielefeld in Germany and about to release its debut
album called 'Night Thoughts'. Based on Just Then, expect rolling and
pounding drums, a tight rhythm guitar and a driving bass, together
creating a lot of energy. Also expect two singers, alternating the lead
vocals. A female and a male voice, giving the song two very distinct
flavours. Just Then starts with a relatively long intro. So long in fact,
that I started to think I'd be reviewing an instrumental punkrocking
song. Just under one minute Julia starts singing. Followed later by
either Hannes or Jonas. By then a modest storm has been unleashed on the
listener. The trio has played in many other bands over the years. This
has not taken anything away from the enthusiasm in which they approach
Just Then. It sounds like a band of puppies going at it.
With the album almost around the corner, another single makes it to this blog. Pilgrimage is an almost jazzy outing. It is very easy to imagine one of the female jazz singers of old singing this song. In a slightly different arrangement of course. Elephant Stone is tremendously laidback here. The song seems to float ever so slowly down the totally flat river. A saxophone meanders through the whole of the song as a lead instrument, while the band pretends to be George Harrison, in The Beatles, in his most relaxed mode. Pilgrimage is the kind of song to close your eyes to and just go with its flow. As listener you can follow the bass, the sax, the vocals or the whole. All four will satisfy and relax you. And psychedelia? Search and you may find.
In the end we go back to the beginning. Brown Horse is a new name to me. The band's single finds itself somewhere between country, americana, folk and singer-songwriter. I'm almost forgetting a rocking electric guitar. In short, this is a very interesting combination. Add a somewhat wining singer and you will have gathered that Reservoir is not your average song. To my surprise Brown Horse is not a U.S. band but hails from Norwich in the U.K. The song progresses ever so slowly but so much is happening, instruments pop up disappear or become prominent later on in the song. The song is intense, because of the way of singing and the slow way of playing. This band knows how to draw an effect from the listener. The bio calls the band a sensation. That is too early to concur with. I am attracted to the band and certainly want to hear more when the album's there.
Wout de Natris
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