Sunday 21 April 2024

2024. Week 17, 10 singles

A week when spring is turning colder than the average winter's day this year. Hail, wind, rain and thunder, alternating with a clear blue sky. That old Crowded House hit is totally in tune with this week. Musically, you will find me all over the place once again. There's even an almost 20 minutes long "single" in here and two EPs. More than double the regular joy, so enjoy.

Kabatomushi EP. Mei Semones

Mei Semones, the 23 year old singer-songwriter from Brooklyn of Japanese decent, can be spotted on this blog with three singles from her five song EP that was recently released. The three songs, 'Wakare No Kotoba', 'Inaki' and 'Tekami', all held this promise of exotic adventures. Mei Semones blends genres as if the borders between them do not exist. The closest in my discotheque is Steely Dan. Mei Semones goes a few up in genres and may not match this level of quality (yet) but certainly in adventure. The songs on Kabatomushi (Rhinoceros Beetle) all mix jazz with pop and rock or bossa nova. In fact anything can happen in Mei Semones' musical universe. She sings in Japanese and English, making it partly impossible to understand, while she sings over a song that would have surprised Astrud Gilberto but would have suited her perfectly. 'Takaromono' moves from jazz to bossa nova to rock and somewhere in between. Mei Semones has no limits it seems to where her imagination takes her. It may be awkward music for purists but as soon as they free their minds from the inhibitions stopping them to appreciate something new, they will find that Mei Semones delivers the goods. Kabatomushi is the EP of a very talented your artist who is not afraid of experimenting within her artform. As that is what the music on Kabatomushi is, an artform.

Intangible. Personal Trainer

Will Willem Smit ever stop to amaze me? With Intangible Personal Trainer moves into a funky kind of disco track. It is the more surprising after the huge intro that promises the listener everything but the empty beat coming after it. It takes some time to get into the groove of Intangible because of that huge intro that promises a huge over the top party. Instead the listener gets his own private party. No huge rave. Over a year ago Personal Trainer showed the promise the band holds in a sold out Paradiso that was ready for a Personal Trainer party. The next record will be very decisive for the growth potential of the band. It holds that promise in Intangible. Whether it's shown more in the huge part or the empty funk, is to be determined.

Bird. Megan de Kruijf

The contrast between the harrowing video and the song is huge. Megan de Kruijff appears to be chased through the woods, looks like a soldier without battle dress and is ready for conscription should it ever return. The song is a softly driven alternative pop-rock song. The drums and bass have this relaxed beat, slowly but very determinedly pushing the song forward. In short interludes everyone gets a breather before they continue and the song is set back into motion. Electronic elements make the song sound modern. Be on the look out for very short contributions of other instruments. It can be just a few notes before the instrument disappears again. Over it all Megan de Kruijf sings her song about a bird, building its nest, while she is contemplating what the rest of her life will be about from her dark and cold home. Listening to Bird, the positive energy the bird gave her, leads to very positive results. Bird holds a promise for the future in a few ways.

Human. Lenny Kravitz

It's been a while since I last heard a new song by Lenny Kravitz and what I heard after circa 2006 did not exactly make me run to the record store. Let's face it, he will never make another 'Are You Gonna Go My Way', which will probably remain my all time Lenny Kravitz favourite. I heard Human come by on the radio and thought it was not too bad. Listening repeatedly for this review, I'm not completely certain any more. It is ok but also remains a bit bland. Even the solo is, although nicely played, not exactly inspiring. Human has a soul element but also a part of this percussive bells that get on my nerves a bit once I seriously noticed them. All in all, Human does not make me curious for more new songs, but it won't be the first nor the last time an artist I've known for decades does return with a great song. That song is not Human unfortunately.

Clear. DAIISTAR

Texans Daiistar return to the blog with a super dreamy song called Clear, released as a 7" with a remix of 'Sonic Boom' on the flipside. Clear is clearly a psychedelic song. One of the kind that is a smooth continuous trip of the kind where this person is just sitting and smiling at the world marvelling at everything going on about him, without a worry in the world. In Clear it is all about watching the ocean and not much more. Listening closer into the song, you will find that Daiistar has found all these nice little melodies surrounding the drummer who just keeps going. The steady basis for the smooth sailing trip and keeping it all together. Daiistar's Alex Capistran (guitar/vocals) says that "the idea behind 'Clear' was to write the perfect song for a perfect day". I can only answer, mission succeeded. No matter how wavy the song is, perfect pop is perfect pop.

All Business EP. Robotic Hawks

Put on All Business and within seconds you know you've heard it all before and from Boston as well. In the next five seconds you'll start moving and after fifteen you'll know you are going to be alright. Robotic Hawks know where Abraham found his alternative rock mustard and dipped its writing pen deep into that mustard well. You will hear everything from Buffalo Tom to Gin Blossoms and back and on the side you'll find a short detour to stark punk rocking. 'Further', is the song in which the Bostonians really let go and start rocking with lead-filled riffs. The most surprising is the cover of 'Wishing Well', one of the four or five hits of Terence Trent d'Arby's debut album. The song is turned into a huge rock song without any trouble. The huge guitars fit it easily. The lead song from the EP is the opening song 'High Maintenance'. The band rocks in a melodic way but to me appears as the least itself. (I know, it's hard to judge based on four songs.) This is something different than not having produced a good song. 'High Maintenance' rocks, period. Add the fourth song 'Cab Ride', a cover of a The Squaeky Fromme song, and All Business becomes a highly entertaining alternative rock EP with more than enough songs worthwhile to get to know and to sing along to.

Drifting. Schedule 1

Schedule 1 makes its debut on WoNoBlog. The Vancouver, Canada band is ready to release its album 'Crucible'. Expect the clock to strike rock. Schedule 1 finds its inspiration in punk and post punk from the 1980s. The song kicks off in a stormy manner. An instrumental intro with the band fully going at it. When the singer joins the music does not leave off in any way. The punky vocals come straight out of the U.K. 1976-77 punk song book. The music is more from the 1980s what bands like Killing Joke played. In 2024 the combination of loud instruments, a few good riffs and a strong melody remains unbeatable still. Drifting contains it all. All through the song a new melody pops up underwriting the strength already there. Schedule 1 has released a very strong single that makes me more that curious to learn more. 'Crucible' it soon will be.

Hidden Sun. Dreamwave

Previous single 'Mindcave' was described by me as "a fierce uptempo psychedelic outing". Hidden Sun is all but. The psychedelic track sounds like French duo Air having started a psych rock band. The music floats more that it rocks, finding the perfect middle between the two acts. So expect a nice guitar riff leading the song towards the softly sung verse and chorus, under which the riff returns. Because of it I'm inclined to write that Dreamwave makes dreampop in this song. Well, my definition of it, as all the bands my colleague reviewer on this blog calls dreampop, do not exactly excite me. To me this Hidden Sun is dreampop. The Brighton, U.K. band has shown two different sides of itself but both make me curious to get to know more. We will just have to wait for that EP coming soon.

Joan In The Garden. The Decemberists

What, a single of 19.21 minutes? I already have reviewed a song of 18.22 minutes this week, 'Flight Of The Sloths' by No Man's Valley. Now, The Decemberists had an album years ago that was sort of one song. (I was sure I had it on cd but can't find it anywhere.) With 19 and a half minute the band nearly has a new cd already. The beginning sounds immediately familiar. Exactly why I like this band so much over the years. Nothing happens in a way, yet every second somehow counts. The melody is pleasant Colin Meloy's voice sooths in a roughish kind of way. The accompaniment is all soft, nice and so melodic. In the arrangement all sorts of melodies meander over and through each other. Meloy stops singing and the listener enters a mix of Pink Floyd with Mike Oldfield's 'Tubular Bells'. The melody on the tubular bells in Joan In The Garden is lifted from 'Welcome To The Machine'. The song rises in volume and denseness and becomes darker fast. Only God knows where this is going. Well, I know, The Decemberists are honouring Pink Floyd, Roger Waters and David Gilmour here. This is simply a huge surprise, as I have never any association of these two bands with eachother. From there it becomes The Decemberists' 'Echoes', sound experiments and all. Like with 'Echoes' something like too much of a good thing exists here as well. The instrumental freaking with electronic instruments is just not that interesting, I'm afraid. Before the sixteenth minute the band returns and turns into a heavy metal version of itself. Quite convincing by the way. Compensation for the previous 10 minutes is justified. The drumming is the loudest this band has ever presented. The end of Joan In The Garden is the equivalent of racing a horse on the prairie. There's nothing stopping it. Summing up, this is a composition with four very different faces.

I'm Not Hidden. Two Headed Horse

Two Headed Horse is a new folk pop band from London formed only in 2023 and already it has worked with Ride's Mark Gardener. The debut album's release is scheduled for this summer. I'm Not Hidden is the band's first single and shows that the band is a part of a long tradition and on route to its own sound. The song reminded me first of what would have happened had Steve Winwood decided to make his hit song 'When You See A Chance' as an acoustic folk song. There's a connection here to my ears. And of course the hey ho influences, translated here into ooh ooh ooh. The intro is somewhat disconnected from what follows. It sets the listener on the wrong foot. Two Headed Horse starts to trod a fine line between alternative and folk. But then listen to that piano coming in. As if heaven opens up and the clouds are gone immediately. Yes, I can mention a few names here, but I want you to focus on the strength of the song and not get distracted. I'm Not Hidden shows a few sides to Two Headed Horse that all score well. What more can you ask of a debut single?

Wout de Natris

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