https://www.facebook.com/thisyearinmusicxx
thisyearinmusic on Kindle Blogs
26/07/2018 – Le Bas Fond-Star Commmand
Leave a comment
Tag Archives: Dreampop
07/04/2018 – Azarias-Bless You
12/09/2017 –Colorvsn-Where Are We Going?
05/12/2015 – Still Parade-07:41 (2015)
Berlin based Still Parade release penultimate single in Art is Hard’s Hand Cut Record Club
2015 has been a great year for Art is Hard. They’ve released a slew of killer singles, EP’s and albums, most recently Shunkan’s the Pink Noise, and the Hand Cut Record Club fastly became a reason to look forward to Friday’s, as well as, you know it being Friday. The honour of penultimate release belongs to Berlin based Still Parade. For those of you who don’t know about Still Parade, firstly what have you been doing since 2013?, and secondly their brand of dreamy indie pop sounds like the most luxurious and airily decadent desert you’ve ever had. The music is exquisite and washes over you while Niklas Kramer’s vocals melt in your ears.
07:41, sadly not the length of the song, is about the alienation of society, but there is an upbeat, almost optimistic twist to it, but don’t take my word for it, here’s what Kramer has to say about it “07:41″ is about this weird feeling when you’re new somewhere. You feel like a stranger and no one really seems to care about you. But there’s also the chance to build up something new. It’s the point when you just don’t know what’s going to happen. Can be quite scary and exciting at the same time.”
Still Parade are a band that you can get lost in and so far they haven’t released a duffer. 2016 looks set to be the year when they fulfil their potential and hype. The talk around the campfire is that Still Parade will release their debut album next year, but until then at least we have their gracefully elegant singles Actos, Fields, Hunter and Concrete vision to tide us over.
https://www.facebook.com/thisyearinmusicxx
https://uk.pinterest.com/thisyearinmusic/
12/11/2015 – Ummagma-Lama (2015)
Ummagma create fifteen minutes of retro dreampop on new EP Frequency
Some EP’s, when you first hear them, make you think of your current surroundings and how it fits into this world. When you listen to Ummagma’s new EP Frequency, you’re thrust back into a battle with your mind that brings up the past, whilst reminding you this is a new EP, and you could not have possible heard it before. Finiding this hard to understand, read on…
Lama sounds like Sarah Cracknell or Beth Orton guesting on an ethereal Underworld track. The rippling melody carries the track along, while the vocals float delicately atop it all. The instrumental sections, especially the break, showcase Ummagma’s ability to convey feeling and emotion without saying a word. Orion sounds like the title suggests. No not a clapped out car from the 1990’s, but celestial and majestic, and never losing sight of the song itself. By the end you’re captivated and looking forward to what’s the come.
Galacticon sounds like Vangelis circa 1976. The synths stalk broodily over everything, casting long mournful shadows over a stark, but strangely inviting landscape. It’s the stand out track on the EP. Winter’s Tale carries on the motif’s laid down in the opening two tracks. Minimal beats give way to a galaxy of delayed vocals and woozy synths. While there is nothing tangible to grab hold of, this is fine as the vocals are the main event here. Sounding somewhere between a Grecian siren and a femme fatale in a film noir, they pull you up then bring you down again all through effortless control. If Galacticon sounded like Vangelis, Ocean Girl sounds like a mixture of Eric Serra and Gabriel Yared. There is something very French about it, but you can’t really put your finger on what makes it so. Maybe it’s the faux accordion and swirling synths conjuring up Parisian streets, or quaint mountain villages, but you can almost smell the Gauloises in the air.
While the Frequency EP is dripping in 1990’s sounds and charm it is a rewarding EP. The more you listen to more you pick up in the deft composition and production. Light flourishes add shading here, vivid shakes there add texture and evocative hue adds a deep emotive vibe. All that Ummagma have done is re-interpret dreampop through using 1990’s indie references. Saint Etienne rub covers with The Orb, while Vangelis look on from the control room and smiles.
https://www.facebook.com/thisyearinmusicxx
https://uk.pinterest.com/thisyearinmusic/
thisyearinmusic 