caed – throw me in
Did Beethoven and Shostakovich really exist, or did history make them up so that kids at fancy music schools would have enough composers to worry about when working on their homework? And if they did exist, so what?
We’ve got our own classical music to worry about, and it’s been an eternity since that was created. I’m talking about the music made in the 1980s or ‘90s, sounds that we’re all just getting ready to understand recently. That’s something worth focusing on, isn’t it?
caed is one of the artists stunned by the beauty of 1980s bands dubbed as shoegaze, dream pop, or alternative rock. And caed isn’t the only modern artist who hears all these sounds and believes that they have plenty more to offer to the world.
What’s brilliant about caed’s “throw me in,” is that this certainly isn’t music that could’ve been made in the same period as my bloody valentine or lush. But, certainly, this is music that couldn’t have been made without those bands. “throw me in” uses shoegaze as a compass and creates something wholly contemporary, dreamy sounds for a generation who get theirs through the internet, not a record store. And, at the end of the day, isn’t this what respecting the classics is all about?
Ryan O’Connell – Peak Gold
You do have to worry about the people who are just a little too smart for themselves and who spend most of their days locked away and trying to make sense of the world through their poetry.
You start acting like their mother and worrying if they’re getting enough vitamins, sleep, or simply if they get anyone to talk to other than the mailman. Certainly, the moment that you read their latest creation, you lose all hope that they’ll be spending Summers on a beach somewhere.
But the world can surprise you, and so can its more creative inhabitants. Ryan O’Connell, just like some of his more obvious heroes, David Berman or Frank Black, functions well enough in this world to be able to report on it, even though he has to, occasionally, sacrifice some of his brainier ideas to get through with things.
“Peak Gold,” begins by offering a glimpse into Ryan O’Connell’s inner world and into the kitchen in which he sits most of the time scribbling words for songs. But, whadda ya know, before you’ve sighed deeply, the kitchen transforms into an abandoned church bombarded with colorful lights and filled with danceable shoegaze sounds. It’s all going to be alright for O’Connell, it seems, and you’re invited for whatever ride that’s in store.
