Aquamarine – Looking In
Similar artists: Mapache, Spencer Hoffman, Ryan Pollie, Real Estate, Buck Meek
Genre: Indie Folk, Psychedelic Rock
Singer-songwriters are a bit like the folks who obsessively visit flea markets. On most of their incursions, they will just end up finding the things that they passed up last week and a whole bunch of junk beside them. But, on rare days when fortune truly smiles on them, they may find a real treasure that they can share with the world.
This sort of appreciation for potential gems doesn’t merely involve a fine deal of talent. It also requires the kind of patience that, apart from New Delhi taxi drivers and coal miners, few people possess or want to acquire. It involves shifting through piles of unusable material and the ability to hide the disappointment of not always being blessed with a jewel.
Aquamarine found something special as they went out looking for a song, having to mature inevitably, against one’s will. “Looking In” excellently captures the confusion of this kind of realization. The gentle singing blends well with the acoustic guitar backing while the rest of the instrumentation creeps in like a late autumn afternoon. Sometimes, musicians go searching for something special and actually find it. Aquamarine had that kind of luck here.
Large Brush Collection – It’s Only a Matter of Time
Similar artists: Hannah Frances, Adrianne Lenker, Macie Stewart, Haley Heynderickx, Nick Drake
Genre: Indie Folk, Math Rock, Indie Rock
The classical composers have the accuracy of sheet music to thank for the fact that their works survived up until the point that they could be properly recorded. And, ask even the most fervent admirers of Bach or Schubert, and they’ll tell you that finding differences between various performances of the composers’ work is nearly impossible. If anything, Bach and Schubert’s work can be perfectly understood by someone that can very accurately read sheet music.
Oh, thank the Lord, things are much more complicated when it comes to quasi-modern music. Why, just cast a glance over the lyrics to Van Morrison’s masterpiece “Astral Weeks.” Then read the chord the sheets. Nothing too out of the ordinary is going on there. Just folk songs. And who the hell is Madame George anyhow?
The magic of some of the best modern songs comes because of the intricacies of the performance itself. It’s the singer taking an extra breath between lines. It’s the guitar player strumming extra hard on a chord. Large Brush Collection’s “It’s Only a Matter of Time” makes mighty fine use of the elements that only the musicians who have potential or greatness consider. It’s one of the songs that needs to be experienced in order to be understood. Sheet music would never do it justice.
