What is “summer music” exactly? Should summer tunes cool you off on a hot day? Should they be background noise while you lounge next to a fan or AC? Vancouver’s Teen Daze respond to these inquiries with “all of the above” — and also, “none of the above.” “Saviour,” from their upcoming debut EP Four More Years, serves both of these functions — and many more. The soft beats, plucky keyboards, and hazy synth lines can either wipe away your sweat, soundtrack a dance party on a late summer night, or provide the perfect compliment to a late-afternoon beer. Like many other artists, Teen Daze assert that “Music is [their] saviour.” So let’s get saved.
Teen Daze, “Saviour” (Four More Years, Arcade Sound Ltd.)
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Nobody seems to know squat about Guards. Not even yvynyl or No Modest Bear — who first linked followers to their debut, self-titled, free digi-EP — seem to have any info. No biggie: the tightness and immediacy of songs like “Sail it Slow” speak for themselves. With vocal help from their colleagues in Cults, Guards construct an ominous and menacing stomper. Accusatory guitar chords and a simple rhythm layer atop distant keyboard sounds as you’re begged to “sail it slow.” If your mind is anything like mine, you may begin to construct a movie trailer in your head. For me, “Sail it Slow” would be a good soundtrack to a dramatic cliff scene, or perhaps a montage of a protagonist overcoming obstacles, full of patience and determination.
Guards, “Sail it Slow (ft. Cults)”
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Green Gerry’s Odd Tymes, a self-released, GarageBand-recorded digi-LP he recently sent my way, locks in to the more introspective side of summer. “Cozy Space Mugz” sends me back to July in Western Massachusetts — biking alone to a watering hole of uncertain name, running brown water through my toes, and turning a single song over and over in my mind as though it held the keys to the cosmos. Like Simon Finn, Alexander “Skip” Spence, and Dear Syd himself, Green Gerry doesn’t need more than a guitar, some drowsy vocal leans, and his own warped sense of the world to make everything around you — rocks, trees, computer chairs, you name it — start vibrating with slanted and enchanted truth.
Green Gerry, “Cozy Space Mugz”
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At the end of a high energy night at Sync Space, this set by M. Geddes Gengras (also of Pocahaunted, Robedoor, and Talisman fame) was just what the doctor ordered. I have streamed his music on many occasions from the comfort of my home computer, and have always found it to be really beautiful. But when you are listening to this music with three Gchat windows open and an episode of True Blood loading in another tab, a certain amount of the magic is lost. You see, although Ged Gengras seems like a pretty unassuming guy, he is an architect of mood at heart, armed with a moog synth and a fierce sense of composition. The crowd of kids who had hung around after shaking their collective behinds to Warm Climate, Soft Healer, and Sun Araw, now sat on the ground in various stages of blissful calm. It was like we’d all gone back to the kindergarten nap times of our youth. However, this music is not for passive listening; the tones oscillate between effervescent and piercing in a way that requires full-body focus. Plug in your headphones when watching the video above, and let yourself fall into a trance. (more…)
Some songs you like immediately. Others grow on you. Songs like “Surveying Revelations” by Johnston, PA folk group Emmet & Mary do both. Hearing it for the first time one morning shot me out of my half-sleep quicker than any cellphone alarm clock ever could. Bright brass lights up your ears. A cacophony of who-knows-how-many-voices rushes into your brain. True to form, “Surveying Revelations” even slows down a bit before a jarring end. The words that come to your mind are, “Well, that was interesting” — but also, “This is kind of cheesy.” Upon repeated listens, however, you begin to buy into the Microphones-meets-Neutral-Milk folk epic that Emmet & Mary are pedaling. It’s too sweeping — and adorable–to leave you on the fence.
Emmet & Mary, “Surveying Revelations” (Emmet & Mary, My Idea of Fun)
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As much as I’ve come to love the city of Los Angeles, I’d be a liar if I said that a certain amount of my experience here hasn’t been characterized by feelings of displacement and alienation. Sometimes the feeling of being a small, isolated dot on a large map is too much to bear. I felt this feeling quite strongly on July 4th, 2009. I was at a party on Venice beach thrown by a friend of a friend. We went up to the roof deck to watch the fire works that were being set off in Santa Monica.
As a native New Yorker, I’ve grown up with the Macy’s fireworks extravaganza that (usually) happens over the East River. Although there are some entertaining amateur pyrotechnics going on in certain sections of town, it is all about everyone in the city watching the same bright lights for one night. Obviously the bar was set high, so I was pretty let down when I saw how far away — and relatively puny — the Santa Monica display was. A friend turned to me and said, “this sucks.” I couldn’t help but agree.
Sometimes when you’re searching for the “ultimate” experience here in L.A., it is easy to find yourself feeling let down, left out, and turned off. This city is large, fractured, and easy to feel lost in. The feeling of a communal love fest can be found, but it does not come as quickly or easily as in some metropolises.
But feelings of bliss burn strongly when you learn to love this strange place for what it is. I had an extended moment of happiness on July 4th weekend, 2010. After a relaxed BBQ in a Silver Lake backyard, three of us headed for the Elysian Park Hills to try and scope some fireworks from Angel’s point. As we looked over the hills, we didn’t see one centralized fireworks show. Instead we saw a profusion of starbursts, all obviously products of amateur displays being set off from lawns, porches, roofs, and even from the street. The quality varied, but the volume was unreal.
At that point, something kind’ve clicked for me. These fireworks weren’t as sleek as what I was used to in New York, but with each blast I felt a sense of some individual setting it off. From where I was standing, I could see many of these displays, but the intended audience was more likely the people in the immediate vicinity of the person setting them off. There was something magical about imagining these little microcosms and experiencing the collective energy that they gave off on that special evening. We revelled in thus further as we roamed the streets of Echo Park, where you could find someone setting off a blast nearly every 20 feet. My friend Molly joked that it was like a really pretty war.
What I’m getting at here is that every person is capable of having an audience, even if it is a tiny one. Whether its your lover, your best friend, a room of people, or a huge crowd, you’ve got to do your thing for your audience with as much organic enthusiasm as you can. If you keep at it, and make it count, the energy you give off might gradually cause your audience to grow, but even if it doesn’t you’ve got to keep doing it for the people who are already there. Sometimes the search for the “right” place or experience proves futile and you’ve got to start from scratch wherever you are, and create your own environment. This kind’ve approach to life is essential to the LA experience. As these thoughts took over my head, I was brought back momentarily to the previous evening, when I was watching and taping Sun Araw at Synchronicity Space.
I’ve seen Sun Araw many times over the course of the last year. In fact, I’ve probably seen Cameron Stallones & co. more times than any other L.A. band. Sometimes the room is packed, and sometimes there are only around 20 people in attendance. As time has gone on, Sun Araw has continued to gain fans, and almost all of them are quite enthusiastic. There are lots of reasons for this, but one of the main things that gets me excited about Sun Araw is the persistent passion and energy he channels into every recording and every performance — no matter how many people are listening.
The July 3rd show at Sync Space was no exception to this. Those of us who crowded into that small DIY venue that night were treated to a tight, rousing performance that came equipped with highs, lows, and all the things that remind us why we love music. The venue wasn’t huge, but the performance and the vibe it created were. At one point, Cameron thanked the crowd for making the show into a really amazing zone. When you approach your creative output with passion, energy, and rigor, the space around you will become worth spending some time in. You can feel some of that by watching the riveting performance by Cameron and Nick Malkin in the video above. In the mean time, start engineering your own starbursts. (more…)
There is something about the song “Embassy” by Laurel Halo that makes me feel like I am listening to a soundtrack — not necessarily the soundtrack to a film, but the soundtrack to an idealized way of life. The airy synth tones and Halo’s angelic vocals reminds me of getting a back rub after a day of swimming and spa-ing. It almost feels like a play on the zen notion of Utopia, as marketed to Western consumers.
In Josef Kraska’s video for the song, he takes this mood to the next level. We are shown a montage of close-ups of women’s faces. Most of the images look as though they’ve been taken from 1980s television commercials, and the women are prime specimens of the red-lipped, smiling, squeaky clean standard of beauty that was prevalent at that time. These images are quite ephemeral, and it seems we aren’t meant to relate to them. The glowing starbursts, kaleidoscopes, and other geometric shapes that loom over the women’s faces are both beautiful and sinister. They seem to suggest an impending erasure, as if our “heroines” are headed for an ending of the Logan’s Run variety. (more…)
I had the honor of ringing in the fourth of July this year on one of the best rooftops in New York — a giant graffitied basin within eyeshot of the fireworks on the Hudson River, and an eye within a secondary Brooklyn storm of small-scale explosions, spiking up from sidewalks, public parks, and residential balconies. The word on the street was that the man with the “best sound system” in the borough” — Nihiti’s Dragan O. — was hosting a fourth of July BBQ and 6th floor dance party. About fifty people were gathered there when the fireworks started inscribing misshapen U.F.O.s in the skyline, and I was beginning to wonder where our beloved host was hiding when I received the following song from him on my Blackberry, straight from an improvisation he had done that very day in Berlin (!), with expat artist Viktor Timofeev.
Looking back, this slow-grind dance track feels just as suited for staring up at the smoke-choked orange moon as Deutsche Wertarbeit’s Deutschewald, which soundtracked the serendipitous moment when I received it. Against that backdrop of permanent daylight, the title of the jam it was excerpted from — “German Sunset in an American Heart” — couldn’t have possibly felt more meta.
Nihiti/Viktor Timofeev, “Hymn Divisions” (Self-Released via SoundCloud)
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Unlike the weather in Los Angeles, Warm Climate are very unpredictable. Their work ranges from heavy drone to gorgeous acoustic folk, sometimes evoking Tyrannosaurus Rex. When I saw them past weekend at Sync Space, I was expecting one, or the other, or something in between. Instead, they performed a set of lyrical Prog anthems featuring Geddy Lee-esque vocals from singer Seth Kasselman. I’m certainly not complaining; an artist who can’t be pinned down so easily is always interesting, and genre hopping can be a great thing — especially when it drives home the skilled musicianship at play. This new identity fits the Southern California trio quite well, and I hope they stick with it for a little while longer. That being said, I won’t be surprised if I am served up some romantic folk next time around. (more…)
I don’t know anything about Leland — the artist who originally wrote “I’ve Got Some Happiness”– but I do know a few things about L.A.’s Puro Instinct, although I have no idea why they changed their name. Oh well. Let’s talk about what I do know. Puro Instinct’s take on “I’ve Got Some Happiness” is just right, adding a bit of murkiness to the mix with some synthy flourishes and a touch of vocal reverb. But the guitar riffs, bass lines, and solos are all kept relatively intact. The overall outcome is just enough to bring Leland’s summer jam into the 21st century and showcase Puro Instinct’s talent for tight and concise arrangements. It’s 100 degrees, but I’ve got this song and about 5000 BTU’s worth of happiness.
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Words: Marc Picciolo
Puro Instinct’s self-titled EP will be out sometime in July on Gloriette Records. You can stream it now here.
What is “summer music” exactly? Should summer tunes cool you off on a hot day? Should they be background noise while you lounge next to a fan or AC? Vancouver’s Teen Daze respond to these inquiries with “all of the above” — and also, “none of the above.” “Saviour,” from their upcoming debut EP Four More Years, serves both of these functions — and many more. The soft beats, plucky keyboards, and hazy synth lines can either wipe away your sweat, soundtrack a dance party on a late summer night, or provide the perfect compliment to a late-afternoon beer. Like many other artists, Teen Daze assert that “Music is [their] saviour.” So let’s get saved.
