Dreamwave – Dragging The Rain Down
I don’t feel bad for not being able to remember people’s names anymore. Sure, that doesn’t reflect well on me and might not put my mnemonic skills into too great a light. But who remembers anything anymore, unless they can receive a phone notification about it? The days of people imprinting maps in their memory or being able to recite T.S. Eliot poems are gone.
You’ll remember Dreamwave once you hear the band. But what else? Most music nowadays is designed to be an appetiser, not a full course. You hear it as you check out TikTok videos and soon forget ever having listened to it. The music goes through your ear canals as you do your shopping. But there’s little reason to make an effort to recall what you heard.
Dreamwave take a classic approach to their sound and the way that fans can interact with it. The Bristol band gives them a clear choice. Either they focus all of their energy on the music being played, or they are not welcome. But the rewards are there. “Dragging The Rain Down” is a psychedelic/prog-rock affair that requires you to be there before you can get lost in it. Once you do, however, you’ll easily lock in a groove with the band’s Pink Floydish music. Best of all, you’ll even remember enough of it to tell your friends what and who you’ve heard.
Sonic Transistor – Welcome to Darkness
There’s a point in nearly every live show that you’ll ever see, when, for a moment, you just hope that the band will stop playing songs and just ride a comfortable wave of noise. You’re not alone in feeling this. Every member of the audience desires that kind of relief.
It’s also true that the majority of musicians dream about that moment as well. They also want to create one single coherent sound that encompasses what they, together with the audience, feel. Few, however, with the notable exception of Soni Transistor, ever capture that sound.
In fact, few even try. For the most part, concerts are an opportunity to showcase songs. It’s the songs that, typically, get a band noticed and, with luck, may make the group members wealthy. Who has the time to invest simply in one sound and one feeling?
Sonic Transistor bravely work to shape sound and silence on the sonic drift of “Welcome to Darkness.” Much of this piece of music feels, in truth, like a murmur. It’s a gentle sigh, and a way to orchestrate the sounds of the unknown. And if this stirs something in you, it means that the Italian musician responsible for this has read the room correctly and delivered what was most needed.
