BIIANCO – Teeth Bared
On Alt77, we cover a lot of music that is seemingly born out of severe nervous tension and that typically is accompanied by some form of physical movement. Yet, we somehow rarely go for the more graceful facets of dance. And, while moshing and choreographed dancing may well be born out of similar emotions, they hardly look the same now, do they?
BIIANCO’s Teeth Bared is a modern dance number, sure, and one that is very hard to ignore given the excellent execution. From a musical standpoint, this is sort kind of post-pop melange (notice that you can easily add “post” to just about any genre these days). It goes over the abundant lexicon of pop and dance music accumulated through recent decades, crosses most pages out in black marker and reassembles it as per personal preference. The result is both catchy and avantgarde, a characteristic of much of the best pop music made in recent years.
Then there’s the video. Visual accompaniment is always a plus in terms of a single’s ability to succeed. However, this is the case where the video production, with its storyline of love and loss, told through the medium of choreographed dance, is nearly too good and risks overshadowing the music.
With that being said, I predict that if you’re at all familiar with modern or older pop productions, and it’s difficult to imagine you would have been able to escape them, then there’s something in here for you.
STARMOB – Dreamlyfe
Some people treat 1967 like Year 0 for popular music. They are, most often, especially enthusiastic by the Beatles’ trip to Rishikesh and the pop-world adherence to psychedelic elements. I like those people!
STARMOB is one of the classy groups of dreamers treating songwriting as an excuse to dive head deep into some serious technicolour dreaming. The band’s desire to also stay close to the sonic textures that informed most of those old-records further adds to an atmosphere where sounds seem to possess their own shape, weight, and they vibrate wildly.
The mellotron dominates Dreamlyfe providing memorable lead lines, while the bass and rhythm section sets content to add colour to the arrangement. The vocals sound comfortable and homey. You can almost smell the incense in the air as this is playing.
STARMOB are doing it for the right reasons. They are off looking for the most attractive sonic details that the 60s and 70s may have scattered away and they’re ready to take the time to painstakingly put it back together again.
