This is the 1st imaginary mixtape on this blog.
Well, it’s Friday the 13th, but if you like Track-By-Track, today will be a lucky one. For September, since it’s a kind of new-beginning time of year, instead of reviewing albums or EPs, I’ll turn you on to 10 great tracks each week, from different albums and compilations I’ve found over the years, for the duration of the month. Don’t worry, I’ll return to album/EP reviews in October, time willing.
I realize I’ve been giving the whole of indie music a bit of a hard time so far. Many of these tracks have indie influences, and they sound great because of it; so don’t think I’m against the genre, I’m just against it being where it doesn’t sound good, like any other genre.
Here's my TBT:
1. “Dreaming” by Adam & The Amethysts, from the compilation album Foreign Trade - A Music Exchange Between Minneapolis & Montreal [CJLO 1690AM (Montreal) & Radio K (Minneapolis)]
Dreaming is a soft new-wave/old-school dream pop track. The lyrics are great, with a storyline about some kind of archeological site. A slow, relaxed beat mixes with soft guitar and bass, and natural, harmonized vocals. No extreme processing of any kind, but the style sneaks up and relaxes, like a chillwave take on 80s ballads. Adam & The Amethysts are from Canada, which makes them the first band I’ve reviewed from my homeland, astonishingly. What sounds like a sax brings the end home, and makes the over-six-minute length seem short and worthwhile. “If it seems like I’m dreaming, don’t wake me.” (http://cjlo1690am.bandcamp.com)
2. “Flourish” by Jesper Lundager, from I Could Fall in Love Again EP (2011)
This is an old-school dream pop (very little synth, more guitar processing) song, very reminiscent of 90s dream-pop band Cocteau Twins. Despite what might be a dark tone lyrically, it’s uplifting musically, and really otherworldly with acoustics heard through chorus processing, and soft, unusual, and fitting vocals. There’s either a slide guitar, or a synth that sounds like it, that really drives the emotion in the song, and as bass and bass synths soothe, a certain sadness also comes through the nostalgic and upbeat song. Lundager is now in another band, Tusindfald and I can’t wait to hear more from either. “See her candle light calling out for you.” (http://jesperlundager.bandcamp.com)
3. “Double Vision” by Hunting Club from Mosaic (2013)
And now, this is what I call new-style dream pop. There are definitely indie influences in the track, and at times it reminds me of Arcade Fire’s “No Cars Go”. Vocals are like pop vocals, pre-pitch correction, with enough warm, resonant reverb to really get that indie feel. The beat is fast, guitars are repetitive and Summery, bass creates the real base of the melody, and the synths show why digital, done right, can be just as good as analog. “I cannot forget with double vision.” (http://huntingclubmusic.bandcamp.com/)
4. “Know Me Right” by The Sorry Shop from Mnemonic Syncretism (2013)
“Know Me Right” is definitely shoegaze, but indie comes through as well. Awash in reverb, the track starts off with over 40 seconds of shoegaze guitar, bass, and drums (and tambourine). Then comes the pitch-treated vocals, which emphasize a kind of Jesus and Mary Chain atmosphere already hinted at with the music. Fortunately, lyrics are included, so you can understand a kind of agoraphobic story nicely playing with the static and energy of the song. “Why will I ever need anything from the outside when it’s so good in here”. (http://thesorryshop.bandcamp.com)
5. “Headcleaner” by Hypermagic from Sugar (2011)
“Headcleaner” is an instrumental shoegaze/drone/ambient track by Hypermagic, that mixes the sound of heavily-driven tremolo-effected guitar, soft vocal trails, an interesting and kinda syncopated beat, and great resonant sounds all around the ears. It’s drone in a way, because it doesn’t change the main chord structure, yet it also reminds me of ambient tracks, and shoegaze, with a very slight touch of indie in the vocals and mixing. Hypermagic has since released more music, with their newest 3 track EP, Of Marsh and Mallow. (http://hypermagic.bandcamp.com)
6. “Saint Étienne” by Abiku from Techincolor (2011)
Where would my blog be without great Italian music? Well, let’s put aside that scary rhetorical question, and look at this track. Abiku’s “Saint Étienne” opened my heart through this song so much, that I wish I knew more Italian than what digital translations tell me. It has a rich sound like a fine wine, or perhaps something finer, and both relaxes and invigorates. There are touches of indie without being overbearingly so. Beautiful vocals, a perfect and prominent bass, and warm textured synths in the beginning make it very warm and sunlit. Drums bring out the energetic side, and just when you think it’s set in a certain sound, distorted and inverted-sounding guitars enhance the mood. There’s really no way to describe the full sound, but needless to say once you’ve heard it, it’s bliss. (http://abikuband.bandcamp.com)
7. “Alpine” by Apollo Vermouth from Burning in Heaven (2012)
It was hard to choose which song off Apollo Vermouth’s Burning in Heaven release I wanted to review for this imaginary mixtape. “Untitled” was a runner up, but “Alpine” took the cake for its strong shoegaze sound. “Alpine” is an instrumental shoegaze/drone track. Through its repetitive drone nature, and huge distortion, a relaxation sets in, like a kind of obliteration of the senses (or at least one). It’s like a My Bloody Valentine coda, and a bit like their “Sometimes”, in the way of relaxing distortion that most people would use in harsher rock. You can tell some of the indie edges in the track, even through its meditative and pensive overall sound. (http://apollovermouth.bandcamp.com)
8. “I’m Not Talking” by AC Newman From Shut Down the Streets (2012)
AC Newman released Shut Down the Streets last year, and “I’m Not Talking” starts the album off on the right foot. The beginning has some great analogue-sounding synths, and soon the song explodes with the full energy that’s throughout almost all of the song. The beat has lots of 60s-style tambourine, and the song screams indie done properly. It’s warm and full of heart, with great harmonies, and an overall great focus on melody. The classic sound of acoustics and bass, give the song retro flair, and I’m happy that this sound was made in Canada. “I Like the way things are, I say abandon the search, for an author of small work.” (http://www.acnewman.net/)
9. “Sunlight” by Yuno [single] (2012)
“Sunlight” is another alt-rock song with great melodic sense. Vocals with heavy reverb, layered guitars, warm bass, and an addictive beat. The song is nostalgic and hi-frequency tones make it sound both back and forward looking. It’s definitely a hit, but like a like a lighter, more shoegaze or dream pop style version of an older one. (http://yvno.bandcamp.com)
10. “Untitled” by Sea Oleena from Sleeplessness (2011)
The last track by someone from my homeland in this imaginary mixtape, is a song titled “Untitled”, by Sea Oleena (writer/performer Charlotte Oleena, produced and mixed by her brother Luke Loseth). It has both background noises that enhance the track’s indie/lo-fi vibe, and music that sounds professionally constructed. The writing and style reminds me of Leonard Cohen, which is a big plus lyrically and musically. It has a certain sparseness, enhanced by guitars (acoustic and processed) and soft evocative vocals sung through airy reverb. The bass is addictive, just like the beat, made up of strange sounds sometimes with interesting delays on them. “Untitled” is from Sea Oleena’s second release, Sleeplessness, which I highly recommend for ghostly alt-acoustic tones. (http://seaoleena.bandcamp.com)
Overall, these are inspiring and amazing indie-alt-rock crossover songs that you should check out right now. I mean it, right at this moment.
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