Ellery Twining – A month of Sundays
Genre: Acoustic, Indie Pop
When not casting the I-Ching or furiously meditating, Beatle George would try to write songs. Supposedly, the advice he received from one of the gurus was to write the first thing that came into his mind. Sometimes he’d just open up a book and write a song based on the first line that he happened to see.
Not many songwriters apply this technique. Sure, there are some whose automatic pop writing you may have heard. But, for the most part, modern pop music is carefully structured and folded like a napkin at a fancy dinner. There’s no room for error, and thus, no room for spontaneity.
Ellery Twining’s A month of Sundays sounds written on the spot. I’d be surprised if it weren’t. It’s a short story. A short audiobook with Donavan-like guitars accompanying it. But, it also happens to be a very interesting, well-written, and heartbreaking short story. It’s a song meant to capture listeners by surprise and give them no hooks or riffs on which to rest. Ellery Twining is brave and has a few stories to share.
I liked the song from the very first line. I waited for the hook and was glad it never arrived. Now, set a few chords behind that!
CDSM – GFH
Genre: Psychedelic Rock
Similar artists: Viagra Boys, The Voidz, Warmduscher, Fat White Family, Gorillaz, MGMT
There’s no going back to the original psychedelic era. Nobody wants to protest the wars. There are few who still enjoy wearing tie-dye shorts. The drugs are much more potent. And, the trippiest things most people see are on the internet.
If one wants to trip hard enough to reimagine the world, they’d have to take these into account. Musicians looking to reinvent psychedelic rock will have to play it as if trying to entertain a biker gang floating on Zoloft.
CDSM’s GFH is a great, cruel psychedelic song. It sounds like someone playing mischievous tricks on someone who is tripping. CDSM take the barbaric gracelessness of modern punk bands like Fat White Family and Viagra Boys and create their own, unignorable musical universe.
