William Bleak – Tiles
Similar artists: Deftones, ✝✝✝ (Crosses), Massive Attack
Genre: Shoegaze
William Bleak write songs as if recalling the most traumatic night of their lives and all of the bad decisions that got them there.
Frequently, when degenerate gamblers are about their motives, they answer that everything felt as if it was part of a movie scene. And they, of course, were the starring players in that production. Now, Hollywood movies have a rule written in them whereby everything has to turn out alright. It’s easy to understand how this would calm the mind of someone that is about to do something wrong.
Living through one of these “scenes” is the easy part. Recalling how it all unfolded and making sense of it all is not easy. Retelling the story through words and/or music adds a new layer of complexity to what was an already difficult situation. People don’t give up on writing great things because they have nothing to write about. They don’t do it because they forget how it all happened.
William Bleak’s “Tiles” sounds like a detailed recollection of a terrible night out on the town. The dark, feedback-powered sound works well in this context. The band avoids some of the cliches that it could easily face. This is, after all, a Berlin-based band in which every member dresses in black and looks like they live and die by the rules and regulations decided by Lou Reed or Echo & The Bunnymen. It works, though and, as it turns out, it pays to be able to recall every detail of such an event. Whether or not it’s the truth hardly matters.
Michelangelo Hyeon – Latyr Traveler Satyr
Similar artists: Jeff Buckley, Nick Drake, Led Zeppelin, The Doors, Cream
Genre: Psychedelic Rock, Alternative Rock
Michelangelo Hyeon dares to be as pompous and bombastic as a reggaeton singer composing a symphony. And we might just need more of this.
A generation dreams of stardom. In that respect, little has changed. There are kids who haven’t entertained a fanciful illusion of one day becoming well-renowned celebrities. Just think of all the attention, the money, the gourmet dinners.
But the same generation thinks 15-second Tik Tok videos are the most likely way to achieve that. The sad part is that their observation may well be correct. It is born, after all, out of thousands of hours of research and observation.
Our modern stars have to be relatable. No movie star can avoid filming themselves baking cookies or scrubbing the floor. No rock star can deny the public an intimate knowledge of their private lives.
“Ambition” may be a dirty word in today’s music climate. But Michelangelo Hyeon is having none of it. “Latyr Traveler Satyr” is purposely pompous and exaggerated, but that may be exactly what the world needs. The vocals line up like the mermaids’ call-over backing that recalls classic rock, and there’s no attempt to clean this up for widespread consumption. The world’s had it too easy to begin with.
