Twin Bridges – Carbon & Dust
Similar artists: Andrew Bird, Kishi Bashi, Bon Iver, Takénobu, My Brightest Diamond
Genre: Indie Folk
Yes, there are plenty of indie-folk acts roaming the art and collecting checks from car companies for services rendered in providing ad soundtracks. But Twin Bridges has determined that any comparisons with music that is chilling and recalling older, much worse days.
Traditional music is frightening. Just like fairytales. There’s always the threat of violence looming ominously. Sometimes, it’s implied. Most often, it is expressed directly. People die terrible deaths in folk songs and tales or succumb to even worse tales.
Somehow modern folkies have found strategies to paper over these issues that would otherwise force them to watch from the sidelines as the big pop stars order their fancy prawn sandwiches. Modern folk is pop music.
Twin Bridges’ “Carbon & Dust” may sound, on first listen, as if it’s built on using common indie-folk materials. But there is something far more sinister at play here. These folkies care about tradition, are spooked and want to tell you all the gruesome details. Chilling stuff!
Adrian Marner – Illusions and Delusions
Similar artists: Elliott Smith, Sufjan Stevens, Elvis Depressedly
Genre: Indie Folk, Folk
Adrian Marner’s heart is weary from all the effort it’s been put through. Luckily, there’s still enough hurt to make it into his sensitive indie-folk songs.
I once read a book that contained nothing but biographies of famous writers. While going through the pages, a thought struck me. It turns out that I was reading the same story. Each writer had been depressed, had abused love and other substances, had felt lonely and had written their best work when under this spell.
Naturally, a regular person would look at this novel information and question the very nature of creativity or why certain industries opt to promote certain people ahead of others. Still, most would-be artists, myself included, would look at this and decide that they might just have a shot. This is proof that living with a broken heart and empty pockets can really get you somewhere.
Adrian Marner’s “Illusions and Delusions” is a highly controlled sound of melancholy featuring the songwriter’s gift for melody writing. It’s a recording that sounds brittle on purpose. And, most likely, it is a culmination of all the tiny, upsetting things with which Marner has had to deal with and which now find their way onto a record that can be enjoyed by many. It’s funny how things work out in the end.
