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Another Day Another Time. The Third Sound
On
the day that Wet Leg debuted on this blog with 'Chaise Longue', The
Third Sound also did with 'Your Love Is Evol'. Admittedly, I have less
recollection of the latter single. What I read is that it is a
psychedelic song with little patient for subtlety. This is totally
different for the band's latest single, Another Day Another Time, a song
from its upcoming album 'Most Perfect Solitude' (26 April). The sus4
and 2 chords are all over the place, creating those fine little melodies
around chords, simply by adding or lifting a finger. The band from
Berlin, led by Icelander Hakon Adalsteinsson, has a clear love for 60s
psychedelic rock. The vocals are muted as it were. The keyboards have
that floating feel over them. The song as a whole is totally trippy. At
the same time the music has this pleasant pop feel. The singing could
have been lifted from a postpunk doom band from the early 80s. The
combination works in a most pleasant way.
Cigarettes
After Sex? No thank you, I stopped at least two decades ago. The band
name rings the faintest of bells but not more than that. At the same
time I read the band plays the Ziggo Dome, the largest indoor venue of
this country, in October. So, it must be me. I am listening to a song
that is so soft, modest, small, it is very easy to miss. Tejano Blues is
an artist at his/her most vulnerable. Stop listening and it's no longer
there, if people talk through it, it's gone and during shows with the
Dutch disease, I don't even want to contemplate the effect on the music.
The music and voice sound like they were recorded in a large hall with
the vibes of the song returning through different mikes, creating an
endless echo. The atmosphere of this vulnerable song is excellent,
creating exactly the right mood.
Do
aliens exist? And if so, do they make music? While listening to Felt
for the first time, I'm posed to answer: yes! Kee Avil seems to come
from outer space. Felt does sound as strange as I've ever heard.
Remember that episode from the original 'Star Trek' series, where they have a
party and dance? The music was as strange as they could imagine circa
1968. Enter Kee Avil. This music can be put in the re-run of the series.
This music is as strange as it gets. Her small guitar riff that opens
Felt and returns throughout, borders beyond dissonant, the bass note is
off. What sounds regular, is her voice that sings hesitantly, somewhere
between a whisper and talking. The album 'Spine', which will be released
on 3 May, is announced as "a stunner of a record that stands on its
own, a bracing and thrilling listen". For one, on the basis of Felt I'm
sure that as a minimum it will be an experience.
Sarah
Julia is a duo, sisters Sarah and Julia Nauta from Amsterdam. They sing
about the famous mountain near Tokyo, that I saw from several directions
in October last year. This fact made me want to listen to the song
already and I'm glad I did. The sisters present a beautiful and serious
ballad. The acoustic guitar lays the bottom of the track, a cello is the
lead instrument. There's more, but you can listen to that yourself.
Over a sober orchestration the two sisters sing their tale. They take
their time. It's like two old people climbing the mountain, slowly but
surely getting to the top. In this same slow but sure style Sarah Julia
delivers its song. I notice an association with Chantal Acda and the
latest solo album of The Walkabouts' Chris Eckman. A story that has to
be sung, no matter what. Mount Fuji is a part of the EP 'How Do We Go
Back To Being Normal?', released on 10 April.
Ears
Were Growing is a weirder kind of pop single. Expect the unexpected in a
pop song and you may hear what I hear. This is a weird but fun song,
worth listening to, repeatedly and when I let go, like Dana Gavanski
sings here, I may even start singing along at some point. Dana
Gavanski was on this blog before, in 2020 when Erwin Zijleman wrote a
post on her debut album 'Yesterday Is Gone'. He wrote that he was
surprised by what he heard, after having read the bio. I wonder what he
thinks of Ears Were Growing, as this has nothing to do with
singer-songwriter music. Ears Were Growing is full of keyboards and a
weird rhythm. It's almost like one of those extreme and small, yet
fairly hard bouncing balls that once thrown could destroy anything in a
living room. I hear a little Wet Leg in the song, yet slightly, only
slightly, less exuberant. Will 'Late Slap', out on 5 April, be as
surprising? In a few weeks we know.
Can
we go weirder than Kee Evil? I did not expect so, at least today. Yosa
Peit is competing though. Is World Eaters a song? Let me answer that
question first. I do tend to answer yes. There is a melody and a vocal
melody. Underneath are totally broken rhythms, that are replaced later
in the song by a loud distorted guitar that plays huge notes and power
chords. The rest suggests that there may have been more but was cut out
of the mix, to escape for the flimsiest of moments, in unexpected
moments. Broken music could be a sufficient description. The whole does take getting used to but certainly is
intriguing. Yosa Peit manages to capture my attention with the weirdest
of sounds, almost beyond what I call a song. Her worldview may be as
bleak as the Earth's future may be, she has enriched the lives of people
who want to listen to World Eaters no little. The album, 'Gut Buster',
is out on 26 April.
mui
zyu, a Hong Kong artist living in London, like some artists preceding
her in this post, plays an alternative form of pop music, that reminds
me most of an album I bought in 2016 by duo Carol Cleveland Sings.
Sounds that seem to have been made on children's version of
synthesizers, as if it is not truly serious that is on offer. mui zyu's
song is though. You can hear it in her somewhat aloofly sung vocals and
the oomph in the rhythm that is added her and there to underscore the singing and music. Underneath it all,
she lets all sorts of sounds meander in a playful way. Little melodies
come from everywhere, the whole of the time. Nothing remains as it is,
the whole of the time. In the outro, it all seems to come together and then
spins out of control, totally. Before it truly can, the plug is pulled on all
instruments, including the recording device it seems. the mould may be
an electronic song, the pop feel is there and mui zyu manages to wrap it
all into a layer of mystery. The mysteriously named album 'nothing or
something to die for' is slated for 24 May.
It's
been quiet for a few weeks where New Zealand was concerned. Earth
Tongue shatters that silence with its fuzz infused rock song Bodies
Dissolve Tonight. Blood Red Shoes was my first thought. The second as
well, but like the girl witch Tiffany Aching, from Terry Pratchett's
inimitable 'Disc World' series, taught me, always beware of that third
thought whispering in the back of your head. That thought told me that
Earth Tongue is more theatrical in its expression. Earth Tongue, Ezra
Simons, drums and vocals & Gussie Larkin, guitar and vocals, play
psych-infused rock primarily, but listen a bit more closely and what I
hear is symphonic rock from the 70s and punkrock, spanning decades to
make a loud landing in 2024. Bodies Dissolve Tonight is an exciting
song, sizzling like the car in the video is. Quite some introduction to
the upcoming album, 'Great Haunting', 24 June, this single is.
Coffee
is not and has never been for me, but this coffee I can take every day.
Hinds presents its new single as if it has never been away for four
years. The atmosphere is not unlike that other song with coffee in its
title, 'Coffee And TV', one my favourite Blur songs. It has this great
alternative pop feel, while having credibility as an indie rock band.
The Madrid duo, Carlotta Cosials and Ana Perrote, have shed the other
two members somewhere during the Covid period. Musically it does not seem to
make a lot of difference. Coffee sounds like it takes Hinds no effort
at all to produce a great song. The fun the video shows is also the fun
that shines through the music. It is so incredibly light, in both ways.
Both previous albums can be found on this blog, so thanks to Coffee I'm
looking forward to number three alright.
Next year it is 30 years ago Mark Oliver Everett or 'E' and his band EELS entered my life with that famous single 'Novocaine For The Soul'. Come 2024 and this ultimately small song Time is released. Playing a resonator guitar in the video, with its steely sound, the same few notes are repeated over and over and over, until there's a minor chord progression. A few instruments come in, a bass, strings, but that underscores the resigned atmosphere of Time more than enhance it. EELS is at its smallest here and yet every note is in its right place, with a maximum impact. Some songs do not need anything else of more. The only disconcerting thing is that after in the video having shown photo's of himself with his child, he sings that he has the ones he loves near but "maybe there's just some way, dear God, I can stay". Is this an ultimate message to his fans? If so, what a way to do so. In the meantime, let me share with you that the album 'EELS TIME!' is slated for 7 June.
Wout de Natris
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