Parallel – Orchid
Genre: Slowcore, Shoegaze, Dream Pop
Similar artists: Slowdive, Whirr, Them are us too
One of the dreams of the original punk bands was to get rid of everything that comprised a rock song. That was a fine idea. But, even The Clash and The Sex Pistols, essentially, just played rock n’ roll riffs really fast. It was up to a different breed of musicians to make the change.
Some of the groups that followed the punks finally gave their guitars a new language to speak. They were labelled, degradingly, as “shoegaze”. The sounds that they created turned the guitar into something more akin to a smoke machine than a fireworks contraption. They finally made classic songwriting redundant. What mattered was the texture that even a regular pop-rock combo could create.
Parallel’s Orchid is a tune that doesn’t just wander through the mist but flows through it perpetually. It’s a slow, meditative sound that embraces the listener that is prepared to offer it their undivided attention. This is songwriting that is as gentle, and fragile as a melting ice sculpture.
Family Time – Das Risiko
Genre: Post-Punk, New wave, Indie Pop
Similar artists: LCD Soundsystem, Rheingold, Alex Cameron, Baxter Dury, Metronomy
In many ways, pop music always returns to its origin. No matter how far, modern music most adventurous creative minds stretch it, like a rubber band, it goes back to its initial position. Regardless of how much technical innovation is involved, pop music trends always go back to their very first iterations.
Pop and rock music were, essentially, designed for dancing. They serve the same purpose in the Western world, as music does everywhere else. It’s entertainment, a way for people to embrace the communal spirit, and it’s something spiritual. But, above everything, it is dance music.
Now, German dance music, as one would expect doesn’t swing as wildly as in other places. Family Time’s Das Risiko takes a long look at the innovators of pop music and takes it back to the dancefloor. It’s a militaristic, cold sort of sound, but certainly one created for people’s movement in unison. Family Time are looking toward the future, as all post-punk groups do. But, in doing so they must also approach their past.