Month: October 2016

1. “Fallen” – Gert Taberner. Subtlety is difficult and underappreciated, which makes it pretty unappealing. However, Taberner here masters subtlety. From the careful, gentle strumming to the unadorned, direct vocal performance to the earnest, honest lyrics, every piece here has touches that belie the great amount of work that went into it. Fans of Glen Hansard, Damien Rice, and Passenger will find themselves in love.

2. “Photographs” – Chloe Jane. Chloe Jane’s interpretation of acoustic pop in 2016 is absolutely lovely, incorporating the best of what we’ve come to expect from acoustic pop. Immediate production, catchy melodies in the verse and chorus, glockenspiel, a great arrangement that adds to the quality of the song but doesn’t get in the way, and an overall sense of happiness, even though the song is sad. This is how you do acoustic pop right.

3. “Farewell Teddy” – Patrick Eugene. A quirky, unusual tale of paranoia written in the style of 1920s/1930s comic pop, the sort that descended from old-school burlesque theaters and the like. Adventurous listeners, rejoice.

4. “Any Town” – Joey Salvia. Hollering is the time-tested weapon of the folk protest singer, but Salvia shows here that an incisive set of lyrics and a calm delivery can be just as devastating. This one’s about suburban sprawl and the loss of distinct places in what I like to call “big box America”–but it’s also just a really great sounding song.

5. “Noah Jade” – Dog Mountain. A humble little song: a companion for the road, a friend in time of need, a fragile peace, a warm fire, comfort.

6. “The Northern State” – Jordie Saenz. This tender, intimate eulogy for a lost loved one features tape hiss that provides warmth, but the rest of the instruments are clear and bright. The fingerpicking and free-floating arrangement are reminiscent of early work by Sufjan Stevens and his collaborators.

7. “Exposta” – Johnny Fox. Have you ever heard an Irishman sing in Portuguese? If you click the link, you may have the experience for the first time. The acoustic-based arrangement falls somewhere between the perky-yet-subdued work of Lisa Hannigan and the enthusiastic cultural melange of Beirut.

8. “Hey There Miss” – Eric Smith. A little bit coffeeshop singer/songwriter, a little bit Laurel Canyon alt-country, a little bit Dawes, and a little bit Billy Joel love song results in a song with a whole lot of heart.

9. “Gold Ring” – Redvers Bailey. The oft-goofy, oft-ecstatic Bailey calms his work and produces a lovely acoustic singer/songwriter song anchored by a remarkable falsetto. It’s closer to Brett Dennen than Kimya Dawson, but it still works beautifully.

10. “Better Lands” – When Tomorrow Becomes Yesterday. A delicate, fragile acoustic tune featuring a beautiful trio vocal performance that evokes the uncertainty of climate change in sound and lyric. The kalimba only adds to the fragile otherness of the piece.

11. “Cave” – Matt Millz. Sometimes all you need is a trembling voice, a guitar, and an opening line of “I had a cave / that was three years deep” to suck the listener in.

12. “In Your Name” – Tyson Motsenbocker. Grief, faith, doubt, and politics are all often all wrapped together, and Motsenbocker’s tune balances them all in this moving singer/songwriter tune.

13. “Luna” – Akira Kosemura. Patience–this clip does start out with 20 seconds of silence and the image of birds flying. That enforcing of peace is the essence of the lo-fi piano composition that follows: amid the sound of piano pedals working and Kosemura sighing, a tranquil piano elegy unspools.

14. “Death” – Theo Alexander. This piano piece is anchored by an ostinato mid-range note pattern but not dominated by it–there’s a murky sense of change and uncertainty that course through the piece as the sections change. There’s a touch of John Luther Adams’ emotive clouds at the back half of the piece as well, making this a diverse, intriguing piece over the two and a half minutes of the work.

15. “Black Water” – James McWilliam. A yearning, searching orchestral piece driven by a forlorn violin solo, this composition balances tension through the continuous movement of the orchestra and despair through the soloist.

16. “Take Me In” – Broken Stems. I don’t usually mix my media in these posts, but this song is elegant and the video is haunting. Both are very much worth your time. The video is especially powerful: I can’t watch it without shivers. Don’t multitask this one–dedicate the 3:27. It’s worth it.

1. “kid.” – Arwen & the Mega Reset. Man, I was super-into Braids when Native Speaker came out, so I am predisposed to like any spacious, dreamy, female-fronted indie-rock. Arwen & the Mega Reset (what a rad name, btw) here take a more direct approach to vocals than Raphaelle Standell-Preston, creating a nice tension between the wisping, chiming, processed guitar sounds that form the mood and the powerful vocal lines (a la Lake Street Dive, maybe?). Also, the artwork for this song makes me totally want to try riding down a hill on a mattress held up by skateboards. In short, this is totally rad. Check it out.

2. “Hyaena (Vols. 1-3)” – Naked Waste. This tune has a lot going on, so you’re going to have to prepare yourself. Naked Waste uses mostly just a bass guitar (awesome!) by manipulating the sounds that come out in a wide variety of ways. So it actually doesn’t sound like there’s a bass guitar at all in the song. The vocals here are very idiosyncratic, especially in the verses–but they resolve into a glorious chorus melody that hooked me. There are also three parts to this song, and one of them is a gospel-style chorus of people who sound more traditional than lead vocalist Paul Cumming. It’s a five-minute journey that I highly recommend that the adventurous listener take.

3. “Company” – Pepa Knight. Pepa Knight’s run of infectious singles continues with a tune that meshes huge tom percussion through burbling, low-key electro work to create a carefully-managed tension between electronic and organic sounds. Knight’s vocals fit perfectly over the arrangement.

4. “Bottles” – Bad Pony. Here’s a live band fusing mid-’00s dance-rock enthusiasm with tasteful, accentuating post-dub electronics. Nerdy connection: Anyone remember Head Automatica? I immediately thought of Beating Heart Baby when I heard the tune. This is nothing but a good thing.

5. “Getting Through” – Inspired & the Sleep. Sometimes you just want to hear a stuttery, low-key indie-pop song a la Generationals. Eat it up.

6. “Long Way to the Moon” – Alright Gandhi. Bass guitar, skittering beats, squiggly synths, and commanding female vocals drive this atypical indie-pop song. Totally interesting.

6. “Take Me Away (ft. Filous)” – Tigertown. And sometimes you want to hear a danceable yet low-key electro-dance song.

7. “The Wicked” – Ender & Valentine. A careful fusion of acoustic, electro, and pop-rock results in a song that’s a lot of fun but also wistful and resonant. The delicate balance pays off in a fantastic tune.

8. “Always on Fire” – Troup. The aura of Bruce Springsteen floats above this intense, earnest roots-rock tune, but never gets in the way. Instead, the punchy percussion and deft vocal performance take front and center. The engineering work on this pushes the bass way up in the mix, which I love.

9. “A Beautiful Mystery” – Katie Costello. Cars-esque New Wave meet ’00s guitar pop (a la KT Tunstall) for a chipper, perky blast of pop that yet resists being saccharine.

10. “Float” – Silver Liz. Adds scuzzed-out garage rock guitars to feathery female vocals and some woozy synths for a stomping, punchy rock tune.

11. “Who’s Afraid of Sarah Little?” – Tim de Vil and His Imaginary Friends. A manic fever dream of a song, with singer Justin Robbins speak/singing (and then hollering) over an stoic-by-contrast acoustic indie-rock backdrop. It packs more punch in two and a half minutes than many bands can in 10 or 20. There’s some unavoidable Nick Cave comparison to be had, but unhinged modern indie rockers like The Yellow Dress and MeWithoutYou are closer to the core.

12. “Scarecrow” – Apricot Rail. What if The Album Leaf included a clarinet? This freeflowing, wide-eyed, soothing instrumental answers that question.

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1. “Bones” – Lowlight. The female vocals here are just dripping with emotion, touring the listener through distinct, evocative spaces. The video is enigmatic but similarly suffused with emotional images. A great example of a tune that clearly has a folk tune soul, even though it’s set up in an electro environment.

2. “Fountain” – Démira. A zeitgest-capturing piece that’s just specific enough to relate to a lot of things going on in the world today. The mantra/hook “My hands are up / my hands are up” seems like direct appropriation of language included in the ongoing policing discussion, but Démira immediately following it with “for both of us” complicates the relationship. (The ongoing refugee crisis seems to be relevant here as well.) Ambiguity, purgatory, and surrender weave their way through the lyrics. The piece is an electro-pop work, but it doesn’t announce itself prominently; it keeps the song flowing, but at times melts away to give the stage to the engaging vocals and lyrics. A fascinating, deeply interesting song. The video gives even more layers of complexity.

3. “Back to Earth” – Jackie Venson. The patter of hollow toms matches the subtle strumming of the rattling electric guitar, creating a feeling of rushing water that Venson’s voice dances over. It’s a dramatic song without going for any of the normal high-drama approaches, and in that way it is spectacular.

4. “WIRES” – SNOWDRIFTS. The heavy, buzzy synths and wavering vocals seem unmoored from the beats, creating the impression of a School of Seven Bells song being played slightly out of phase. It’s an intriguing, enveloping soundscape.

5. “Carry Me” – Heart Years. At its core, this is a dreamy indie-pop tune, but it’s got layers of static, zipping arpeggiators, and other effects that create a mysterious, engaging mood.

6. “[Re]Cycle” – Lunacre. The dusky, too-cool atmosphere of trip-hop is combined with the subtle motion and gentle beats of electro-indie-pop for a lithe, smooth, headbobbing experiene.

7. “Macroburst” – Scaphoid. Post-rock? Prog-rock? Rock? Whatever this winding, twisting, riff-heavy, dramatic piece is, it’s certainly not ambient in the Brian Eno sense of the term. Although, if Eno’s original intent was to create a tint for the room, barely noticed, but changing the feel, this could work, if your room was an tension-ridden action film in a dark, gritty, nighttime urban environment. Semantic quibbles aside, this piece captures the drama that post-rock is often going for by leansing on intricate riffs rather than the soft/wall of sound/soft trope. A fascinating piece.

8. “Molded Ocean” – Candy Cigarettes. The sea shanty is often exaggerated for effect, but here Candy Cigarettes turns the oft-careening form into a gently swaying, carefully-crafted, thoughtful acoustic indie song. Even with the occasional towering percussion line and the giant crescendo ending, this is probably the sweetest sea shanty I’ve ever heard.

9. “Psycho Killer” – Smoke Season. Turns the Talking Heads’ jittery art-rock into an ominous, slow-motion, post-dub electro biopic. There’s a lot of people who want to pull this sort of cover transformation off, but few really take a song and own it the way that Smoke Season does here.

10. “Heathens” – Blondfire. The ominous hip-hop of the Twentyone Pilots original is transmuted into a desperate plea over an acoustic guitar.

11. “Autumn Falls” – Erik Jonasson. There’s a remarkable tenderness all through this tune that sets this folk/electro ballad apart from the pack. The ending goes a bit stadium, and it still sounds intimate. Wow.

12. “Wrapped Up” – Allen Tate. If you’re a fan of The National but think that their theatricality can get a bit out of your depth, this low-slung, unassuming, yet very thoughtfully created indie-rock tune will hit the spot perfectly.

13. “Dissolving the Dream” – Scaphoid. Here’s another side of Scaphoid: this version draws on acoustic sounds, especially flowing Spanish-inspired ones, to create a distinct, unique mood. This one is more “anxiously searching a forest for a downed technology before the enemies find it” in the images it evokes for me.

14. “Henry Green” – John White. Somewhere between between Simon & Garfunkel and Irish folk, this tune sounds like a traditional sea/murder ballad of an imagined country.

15. “You Are Here” – River. Any ballad that includes a harp has a lot of good going for it, de facto. This ballad has more than just harp, but everything flows from that smart inclusion in this piano-led piece.