Iuliano – Stay Where You Are
Genre: Progressive Rock, Indie Rock, Alternative Rock
Similar artists: Radiohead
Modern tech was absolutely hated by pop-rock purists by the time it moved music-making past the guitar-amp-arms setup. In fact, as late as the 90s you could hear the same crowds howling. Using keyboards in a song was superfluous. Opting for synths for restricted to hacks with no talent. And, don’t even get them started on drum machines.
Those people are still stuck with listening to their Ccrosby, Stills and Nash records, and giving away a fortune in vinyl purchases. Sure, there’s a place for grumpy, old men in the music ecosystem. But, they’ve certainly contributed little to music moving forward.
Technology has done a lot for prog-rock, especially. Technology has allowed Iuliano’s complex, thought-provoking compositions to become a reality. Stay Where You Are goes to prove that there’s more emotion to come out of a tune created with mathematical precision, than one that merely praises the benefits of long guitar solos. This Radiohead-inspired, indie-prog number may just be enough to make your grandpa check out some new tunes.
Earl Grey – Holding On And Letting Go
Genre: Latin Rock, Indie Rock, Alternative Rock
Cultural appropriation is a ridiculous subject to discuss when it comes to rock music. Sure, there is a case to be made about the world of entertainment swiping cultural identities and using them for their own ends. Yeah, there’s a lot that can be said about the people that never received their just rewards after having their cultural identities stolen.
But, rock music is something different. If we were to all agree that musicians should exclusively stick to the music of the country in which they’d grown up, we’d all need to throw away most of our record collection.
It would also be the first step to embracing a brutal form of cultural dictatorship. During the 1970s, for example, in Romania, pop music could only be made if it embraced aspects of the country’s folk music. Most of what was made was terrible.
Early Grey know that in order to create yourself, first, you need to try on a whole bunch of disguises. The clever American quartet take their pick of Latin music, indie and 90s alt-rock for their single Holding On And Letting Go. The result is a promising sound, one designed to hold listeners’ attention. Should Early Grey have stuck to rehashing Woody Guthrie tunes? Not on our watch.
