As the summer slowly winds down here in the Western Hemisphere, or so it seems, and the calendar tells us, we slowly start to change our mood to an autumnal one. Somehow, we seem to choose our music accordingly.
Most of the music composed, recorded, produced, and directed by one Kip Hanrahan, an artist who seems to have a better stature among the artists than among a wider audience he deserves, comes up very often to mind and ends up playing, here at least.
Actually, the word directed is not here by accident, since in the seventies Hanrahan worked in France on films with Michel Contat, Jean-Paul Sartre, and Jean-Luc Godard, no less. He transferred this directing concept to the series of brilliant records he recorded under his name, which often combined top jazz artists like Carla Bley, David Murray, Don Pullen, and Derek Bailey with pop/rock/roots ones like Sting, Alex Chilton, Jack Bruce, and Taj Mahal to name just a few.
He was also instrumental in recording and producing some of the best music by tango master Astor Piazzolla at the same time. The wider audience has yet to catch up with him.
Night Walks - Sidelines
This Baltimore quartet is of a more recent date, but they obviously took their cues from masters like David Bowie turning that sound here into something a bit akin to War on Drugs. Works in any case.
Caleb Nichols - Demon Twink
Nichols is one of those guys enamored with all things great melody and power pop and for a good reason too. And he seems to have the exact right touch for such music.
Deena Abdelwahed - Fete
Abdelwahed is a Tunisian electronic artist who combines modern electronics with those intriguing sounds of the Middle East and listening to ‘Fete’ here, you realize she has a perfect touch with both.
Teeth of The Sea - Megafragma
You can hardly call a nine-minute track (a composition would be a more fair tag) a single, as this electronic trio goes into a wide-screen dub experiment that is still very listenable.
Sea Lemon - Vaporized
Sea Lemon is one Natalie Lew who goes for that border between twee and bedroom pop, this time though with a clean studio production that works quite well with her excellent sense of melody.
Alex Amor - Super Sonic
This Glaswegian goes more for the dream pop guitars and sweet vocals and it seems to work so well for her on this track from her most recent EP. The more current production touches added that extra touch.
Curling - Patience
This post-everything band is formed by one guy from the Bay Area and another from Japan, something that has made their shoegaze-based sound a bit harder to define.
Arkells - Skin
This band has such a number of online streams that they have already made quite a name for themselves. This pop/rock ditty shows why that is the case.
Stephen Steinbrink - Poured Back in the Stream
You really have to be good with your words, melody, and vocals to make it as a singer-songwriter today, as it was yesterday. And Steinbrink on this track from his excellent new album shows that he certainly does.
Sedona - Touch & Go
There is no problem with pure pop when it is done well or excellent, and Sedona here reaches that quality. Formula - Yes, it is here, but if you respect its rules fully it works for both you and the audience.
Loyal Lobos - El Rio
This Colombian-born singer now resides in Los Angeles but combines her Latin heritage music with all that L.A. studios can offer to come up with a truly modern sound here.
Brand Brauer Frick - This Feeling (Grandbrothers Remix)
Turning a neo-classical composition into a chill-out track that can also work as a dance floor relax moment or introduction is quite an art in itself and Grandbrothers are able to do exactly that with this Brauer Frick composition.
Meagre Martin - Please Clap
This all-American trio now works out of Berlin, and they seem to have incorporated the pop sounds from both sides of the Atlantic on this mid-tempo ballad.
Metro Riders - Aenigma
Yes, this track sounds like a part of a soundtrack for a movie that has quite a few scenes happening in the subway. Ambient with a movement you could say.
Arabrot - Horrors of the Past
You get that David Bowie/Brian Eno vocal albums feel here, with quite a few Gothic touches along the way, but in many ways transported to right now by this Norwegian combo.
Christina Martin - Storm
This Canadian singer-songwriter seems to take a page from the songbook the great late Scott Walker used on his first four solo albums and it really works for her on the title song from her upcoming album.
Sing Leaf - Blizzard Island
The blizzard may be coming later in the year, but Sing Leaf, aka Canadian artist David Como, is rightfully in a more tropical/exotica mood here and it fits a year-round mood so well.
The Record Company - Dance on Mondays
Yes, there is always a place for a great roots rock song, any time, anywhere, and this one by The Record Company trio fits the bill perfectly.
Truth Club - Exit Cycle
This North Carolina band supported by Indigo De Souza presents their version of the the slowcore sound that seems to suit them quite well, and this brooding track is something that fits that autumnal mood quite well.