eashfa
Head is alive. Hence the sound of music.Archive for folk
Canon(ball) blue
Canon Blue sounds like the party’s been going on in the kitchen with folks playing spin-the-bottle between shots of tequila and maybe milk, and all silently wishing they could run in the fields/forest/Iceland (ok I want to run around in Iceland). Rum Diary can only agree with the circumstances. Then it moves on to the bowels of the house, with a living room you’re seeing at lightning speed and a basement that sends your pace from horizontal to vertical. Yeah, you can jump now to Battle Hymn.
There’s definitely something atmospheric that’ll prevent you from just plugging in directly. But don’t you just wish that once in a while your music player can surprise you? (I know you said yes damn it). That said/Still you should cop this. Which is why downloading from blogs is so much more fun than from music stores.
Now. It’s morning. Around 5 am. Writing a story about the kitchen with alcohol stinging the air you remember — White tea with mango bits anyone? Or maybe just some Pilguin Pop.
Mechanical Bride
A glockenspiel. A computer. A guitar, and Lauren Doss make up Mechanical Bride (myspace). Remember my penchant for Transgressive Records? Lauren’s been signed last year. As much as I like my voice-deprived songs, where instruments roam free like bunnies hopping around a field, I find shivers down my spine when I least expect it- from a girl’s mad-haunting song called Chapel. It’s stripped down in the percussion department, just enough to let the voice feel its way around until it echoes back and forth; it sounds like mourning for love, a mourning that’s not entirely grey and sombre. And it’s different because her voice stems from solace, and not sadness.
I’ll soon give up this putting things into words business, the artists I really like I can’t really write about - from so much awe that I’m immersed in. I learned a word for alien in Japanese today -うちゅうじん・uchuujin- and its sound reminds me of Mechanical Bride.
This was my first bubble of awe. It’s an experiment; I want to do bubbles that take five minutes to write - so you can find out about the music, and I have an excuse for not feeling literate.
Aaron Schroeder - So you wanna be a bard?
The only reason I haven’t listened to all of Aaron Schroeder’s LP, Southern Heart in Western Skin, is because I knew it would take too long for it to arrive here in Romania, and then all my original epiphanies while hearing this kid out would have faded, as well as his status on my to-blog list (quite a bulging one at that).
Aaron Schroeder’s debut LP is not what I usually go for. It’s got all the makings of something I would steer clear of really. Folk, Americana (is there a scarier word in my musical vocabulary?). But a true talent mixes up influences into something unrecognizable. Read the rest of this entry »
Oh but I guess you’ve heard this before
The Romanian musical landscape moves around the principle of concentric circles. The robustly-diametered outward circles are the masses listening to a strange breed of pop culture and gypsy music that I will not post. Then there's the mediocre brand of pop, substandard and all. The more you get to the center of the circles, to that one throbbing disc of lava that I like to pop my toe in, you either burn your skin or start dancing (after the convulsive twitching). Yes, bingo, adapting is the word. Again, I hope you haven't gone away. If you're still here…
Exhibit A. proto pop
Here we have a circa 1980s pop tune from a communist-era teeny bopper flick, "Liceenii"(The Graduates). Not as scary as it sounds, the film is a classic and so is this kitschy-catchy electro-pop-for-your-nan song. I still dig it.
Exhibit B. The Take-A-Stab at Indie Rock
Moving on to latter days in rebeldom, here's a band called OCS [formerly Omul cu Sobolani (The Man With The Rats), inspired by Steinbeck's Of Men and Mice]. This song expresses the struggles of having two emptied beers before you and the wish to exchange them with a new foamy pint.
OCS - 2oua beri goale (two empty bottles) mp3
You can buy OCSTV (concept album, la-di-dah) here.
Exhibit C. The Underlying Electro protest
Sometimes I find myself surprised by what my fellow-countrymen conjure up. There's an astute affinity and a growing understand of electronic music here in Romania. I know, shocking. The thing is, this goes beyond that. This, in my book, is genius. This is music for partying, sleeping, being disheveled, being a butterfly, looking at the sky. You have to download this next song. Just trust me. If you hate it, say so. (But you won't). Have you ever discovered music you just wish everyone would love? This is my pet-hype for today. Shukar Collective. Shukar is the gypsies' (Tamango, Napoleon and Clasic sing on this record) clan.
Shukar Collective - Malademna mp3 ESSENTIAL
Here's the iTunes link for the LP Urban Gypsy.
Exhibits D & E (for lack of time)
Folksy: A fable with vivid voice makeovers. Ada Milea - Greierele si Furnica (The Cricket and The Ant) mp3
Electronic: And finally. Music for art's sake with no hidden agenda. Șuie Paparude - Pentru inimi mp3
Du must lernen. Every day in every way.
