Matthew And The Arrogant Sea – Santa Isn’t Happy, Baby
Similar artists: Built To Spill, Clem Snide, Slaughter beach, dog
Genre: Indie Pop, Alternative Rock
Depression rates skyrocket around Christmas. Of course, they do! Not only are most miserable just as much as they usually are. But movies and commercials tell them that if they feel this way, surely there’s something wrong with them.
Since The Pogues made it alright for Xmas singles to be about misery, the pop world has accepted begrudgingly that this, too, was a market with which they had to work.
But what about songs for people that are neither depressed nor excited about the holidays? What about the ones that are just unexcited or mistrustful of these made-up reasons for joy and jolly?
Matthew And The Arrogant Sea’s Santa Isn’t Happy, Baby is a tune about wishing that Christmas could be over sooner. It’s about wishing for a better, or at least more entertaining world, outside of the Xmas Buyathons. It’s a song for everyone that isn’t planning to have a good time this December.
Das Kope – Pacific Coast Highway
Similar artists: Men I Trust, Crumb, Tame Impala, Mac DeMarco, Gum
Genre: Lo-fi Rock, Indie Rock, Dream Pop
In the future, some musicians will need to be outlawed by the state, and others’ work will be pushed on the public just like medicine. Look at the effect some songs can have. It’s practically inevitable.
It takes about half an hour for the effects of alcohol to kick in. It takes a few minutes before weed kicks in if smoked. The effects of modern music, on the other hand, are often instantaneous.
Never has music been designed more cleverly to enhance a mood, or to alter it. Never have been listeners, potentially, exposed to as much music. Hearing songs online is a lot like getting a freebie look through the drawers of your local chemist.
Das Kope’s Pacific Coast Highway is a multicolored dream to be had while clicking along to your favorite retro computer game. It’s music that comes on as barely a whisper. It’s music designed to take the listener far away from anywhere they might be at the moment.
