NAILED Songs of the Week #25
“chanting lyrics that speak to the loss of someone or something formerly close”
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MATTY:
"Peace On The Rise" -- Chad VanGaalen
There is something vaguely insect-like about the main riff in Chad VanGallen's "Peace On The Rise" from the 2011 Album entitled Diaper Island. Spindly, thin, barely distorted de-tuned guitar chords tramp out a repetitive melody, providing a Sonic Youth-esque bed of lacey tones that carry the song along. Vocals are laden with reverb and sound as if they emanate from several miles away, chanting lyrics that speak to the loss of someone or something formerly close. "Remember how we'd sleep so still / trees were singing love songs / drowning in the maze of a summer / i can see it in your eyes." We can't quite know what's being referenced, but the sensation of it is there, lingering in memory and fading, tinged with sadness.
At around 2:19, the song threatens to fall apart. The twangy guitar riff falls away, and we're left with mere sonic texture, not overbearing and caustic but somehow a combination of out-jazz and dark classical mood music, like there's alien oboes taking over the song, singing it to us in another language. Then back comes the guitar riff.
We've survived the bleakness... this too shall pass.
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CARRIE:
"Main Roads" -- Karate Dancer
I particularly love the simplicity of the high guitar strum and docile quality of the vocals in "Main Roads." But Karate Dancer's jumping, meditative upper doesn't forget to also take us to a "darker place." That thorough, heavy beat reminds of a crowded club or venue, and encircles the listeners in anonymity which could be isolating, but it also offers the feeling of being a part of something larger than yourself.
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SHENYAH:
"Balance" -- i am Love
"Balance" was recently pre-released from their newest self titled album i am Love, which was later released January 20th, 2015. From the two song sneak peak they have given us, I am really excited to see what the album as a whole has to offer. This is one of those songs where the resolution sits somewhere inside the song so when it ends, you are left wanting a little more so you repeat. Perfectly simple and strange. The chorus lifts me off into a lovely dance with a ghost, I'm swept away and then back again...I sense their upcoming LP will be good stuff for the imagination!
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KEVIN:
"Sparrow" -- St. Vincent
Recording an album and touring with David Byrne changed Annie Clark, permanently. If you’ve followed St. Vincent since her debut, Marry Me, you’re already familiar with her style: Disney Princess meets Big Black. But while Annie Clark was once a pre-slipper Cinderella, post-Love This Giant, she’s become the villainess. Ursula the sea-witch. She’s hidden behind crazy silver hair, bright purple makeup, over-the-top costumes. Her relaxed, small-stage shows are gone, rigid full-band choreography their place. All in service of a performance you can see from the back of a festival.
Luckily, what hasn’t changed alongside her outward transformation is the quality of her music. The B-Side from St. Vincent’s Record Store Day single, Sparrow, is all slow-burn menace, beauty smashed up against the ugly. Clark’s absurdly powerful guitar chops (which you need to see live to truly appreciate) take a back seat to low, buzzing synths, a sparse, repetitive drumbeat, and Clark’s Disney Princess voice. Her too-beautiful voice is the sparrow, the prey. The music behind it is the hunter.
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