Endless Valley – Opportunistic
Have we written all of the pop songs yet? Probably. Young songwriters just need to play dumb now and rewrite them. While that should be enough to keep them employed, and many modern pop fans won’t find, there are still some left wishing for more.
When there’s nowhere to go forward, where do you turn? Running backwards seems the smartest. What will you find there? Certainly nothing as friendly as pop songs, but perhaps more truthful.
For centuries, music has been a tool. Sure, it was used to make people dance. But it was also used to terrify, to heal, to bind things together and to split them apart. Some of this primitive music and its intentions have been kept alive by folklore.
Some bands are smart enough to study that folklore and tease us with their findings. Endless Valley are one of those groups. Unlike contemporaries of theirs, such as Goat, Endless Valley don’t have a clear target in mind for where they need to build their diamond mine. The sound of “Opportunistic” sounds like a compilation of shamans from around the world meeting for a work conference in the Peruvian jungle. But it’s enough to stir the senses.
Data Animal – Chemical Cowboy
Working yourself up to the point where a doctor can confirm that you’ve turned deranged isn’t much. But, at least, it’s an objective and not one that can be achieved simply by sitting on your couch doing nothing.
It can even be treated as a scavenger hunt in the same way that the record label Dedstrange does. First, you need to earn enough cash for a plane ticket to Berlin. Housing isn’t cheap there anymore so you may need to locate a welcoming squathouse.
You’ll then need a funny looking guitar a synth and someone working knowledge of those instruments and a record collection that includes bands like Suicide and The Velvet Underground. You’ll then need enough chemicals and a willingness to put all of those elements together. The result should be deeply psychedelic.
Data Animal are taking the psychedelic route and just hope that they can make the way through their dark Lou Reed glasses. “Chemical Cowboy” is noisy and unfriendly. It’s the kind of music adventurous young artists might make after a visit to modern-day Berlin or Pyongyang. It’s enough to make you crack up. Bu
