The Pithy Degenerate

It’s so heartening to see great music being championed by record labels when they don’t necessarily fit the mould of chart-topping hit or indie rock catered to the masses. Sometimes, stars that don’t shine the brightest are the real treasures... so I was pleasantly surprised to hear Alex Izenberg pop up on my feed. 

His last two singles, Grace and To Move On, have been released on Domino Records. Both tracks lead heavily with piano, and paired with his soft pining vocals, they’re a wonder to behold. As its name suggests, To Move On laments a break up disguised as a jaunty ditty, helped along by tidy piano chords and short triumphant bursts of trumpets. 

While the production provides a convincing whitewash of the anguish of relationships, Izenberg doesn’t mince his words as he sings “you don’t know what it’s like to move on, from a name you despise, it’s true love”. The irony of love isn’t lost on him. 

“Harlequin” comes out on 18th November on Domino Records and you can pre-order a copy of the album here: http://smarturl.it/IzenbergHarlequin

There are probably comparisons flying around between R.LUM.R and Gallant after the release of the former’s new track, Frustrated. Future R&B, soulful crooning and spine-tinglingly beautiful falsettos as he slams head-first into a spell-binding chorus. I think Nashville-based singer, R.LUM.R holds his own though.

The Magic Gang - an indie pop band from Brighton (where else?), dropping dreamy infectious melodies on our metaphorical interweb doorsteps. 

The band have already come off a tour with Wolf Alice who seem to have taken them under their wing, endorsing their knack for songwriting and catchy singalong choruses. You can read a Wolf Alice recommendation here. 

Toronto musician, Charlotte Day Wilson, sings like she’s endured decades of pain and strife. Her voice is low; heavy and dripping with sorrow (she’s mentioned she’d been listening to a lot of Rhye).

Work is a track that is at once melancholy and up lifting. We’ve all been through the pangs of heartache and fallen into the relationship rabbit hole of clinging onto someone even when we know deep down it’s not right. “People come and go” is the refrain, reminding us that life moves on, without the person who once played such a central part in our lives. It’s not all bad though, because as we learn, it eventually brings us closer to the the one who might actually be, THE ONE.

Work documents CDW’s attempts to move beyond her past, to take things slow, and most importantly to give this particular romantic endeavour the time and space it needs to flourish. 

The organ in the backing track acts as a reminder of the almost divine intervention love can often seem like. The sparse instrumentation, the slow muted hi-hat and CDW’s hollowed out vocals add an extra dimension to this track, allowing the song to breathe, carving out a space for the listener, enabling those lyrics to really sink in. 

Today I begin a new chapter. 

I’ve been meaning to start REALLY discovering new music. In my head, this means uncovering lesser known musicians and bands that might not have had their chance in the spotlight just because the big dogs in the blogosphere have passed them by or simply not yet latched on to the next young thing because someone up there in the editorial team said no.

So here I am, a tiny fish in an ocean of music blogs, writing about smaller bands who very much mimic my own situation... ha. Here we go! 

I’ve been having Peace by Little Oceans on repeat for about the last 2 weeks. I probably make up much of those 5600 plays, thank you very much. Little Oceans is an alt-pop outfit from New Zealand, headed by a guy called Matt. That’s about all I know! As far as I can see, they’ve released three tracks in total, of which Peace, their latest, dropped a year after their last song. 

Again, it seems, I am late to the party. The mysterious LA duo, Oyster Kids, has been making waves in the blogosphere and I’ve been none the wiser. Except for today, because now I’m fully aware of this psychedelic pop duo and I won’t be tuning out any time soon.

I don’t normally post about music in this genre, but when you feel compelled to do something, then you just have to go with it. 

🔥 🔥 🔥 🔥 🔥 🔥

Did someone say Nick Drake? 

This is some kind of killer remix by French producer, Yuksek, which absolutely brings out the best (or funkier) bits of Keren Ann’s original and really quite morose Where Did You Go. The original track is a beautiful song comprised of some lovely instrumentation with a string quartet and a flute (?).

I think I finally understand why the best blogs post so rarely... because there’s so much music around it makes it twice as hard to find something really special that manages to hold your attention longer than 5 seconds - that is the sad reality of entertainment these days.

“Need to Hear” by Goldwash is one of those tracks that is arrestingly captivating within the first second. Those light xylophone-like keys playfully tease your eardrums like fairy nymphs followed by a cacophony sounding drumbeat that is at once all over the place but also tightly placed.

Goldwash’s vocals are gorgeous, backed by complex production which really lifts this song to a place in my head that’s as pleasurable as it is exhilarating. 

Yesterday we heard about the tragic news of the deaths of Viola Beach and their manager in an unfortunate car accident in Sweden while they were on tour. 

I didn’t know the band members or their manager but the British music industry is small, and undoubtedly people I know would have met and known them. I can’t imagine the shock and devastation their loss of lives has left in its wake for family, friends and fans. It only highlights how short life is and how important it is to keep reaching for your dream and doing things you love, whether that’s travelling the world, writing a record or spending time with loved ones.

The only comfort I take is hoping that the band and their manager were pursuing careers and dreams that they wanted, and that they enjoyed. Viola Beach were undoubtedly destined for huge things; they were four young lads with so much going for them and unrivalled talent in creating upbeat pop melodies that brought a lot of heart and soul into their music. 

If you haven’t heard the news, Youth Lagoon will be dissolving his project after his upcoming tour. I’d like to imagine Trevor Powers, the man behind those powerful and gorgeously melancholic melodies, announced the end of his project, as I took the news, with a heavy heart.

I don’t want to exaggerate the extent of my sadness but Youth Lagoon has touched me in many ways and Year of Hibernation is a beautiful piece of work and an album that I could listen to on repeat for the rest of my life. 

Unfortunately for fans, there are two distinct parts to the process of music; its inception at the hands of its creators and its reception by audiences. Music-making can be an arduous process, not simply because of the lengths musicians go to piece the perfect song together but for many, because of the intensity of the feelings that bring these creations to life in the first place. 

Understandably, and thankfully, Trevor Powers has come to the end of what I’ve always thought must have been a painful phase of his life. His songs under the moniker Youth Lagoon have always had an underlying current of unease and tension, and demonstrated an artist of extreme self-awareness who turned inwards for his inspiration. An artist whose entire and consistent repertoire revolves around such an attuned sense of self would be hard pressed to keep finding original ideas within such limited confines, placed on him undoubtedly by labels, fans and, to some extent, themselves. People change as they grow older, and so should artists. The very best have - Madonna, Bowie, The Beatles.

Youth Lagoon might be no more, but the brain behind it is still very much alive and kicking.