Nicolai Dunger – To Be Tough
Similar artists: Van Morrison, Calexico, John Craigie, Rufus Wainwright
Genre: Americana
The future of music may well sound very retro. But don’t stop and worry about that. It’s always been this way. Ever since Bob Dylan or Van Morrison stopped appealing mainly to teenagers, record companies have sought to replace them. Don’t think that they’re doing it out of a desire to keep music pure and true. More than anything, it’s a desire to fulfil the public’s expectations.
By now, we’re talking about a great tradition that involves rootsy pop-rock music blended with poetry. It’s music for travellers, for seekers, and for healing a wounded soul. And because so much is asked of it, the musicians who venture out into this world must come equipped with their own desire to seek and find their own wounded souls.
It’s hard to imagine that Nicolai Dunger’s “To Be Tough” won’t appeal to fans of classic folk-rock. It sounds almost like Calexico is having another go at covering Bob Dylan. The singing and the instrumental are world-weary, beaten up, and troubled. But rest assured. There’s redemption further up the road. The closing moments of the song are meant to raise your spirit and, if you’re in the right disposition, even offer some of that elusive healing.
Ames Harding & the Mirage – The Governor’s Dead
Similar artists: Manu Chao, Paul Simon, The Beatles, Vampire Weekend
Genre: Indie Pop
Write one truly memorable pop song, and you will have improved the planet more than the vast majority of us. But are pop songs really put together in a recording studio? Are great novels written at the writing table? And don’t get me started on hot dog-eating contests, either.
By now, everyone knows that you need to learn to steal like an artist before dreaming of becoming one. But where do you learn when it’s worth digging into someone’s pockets? Most would-be artists don’t travel much, don’t learn how to envy others’ work, and, frankly, don’t develop the intelligence to dispossess others of their works gracefully. The ones who put themselves through all of this eventually fall upon the pop song that enriches the world.
There’s no mistaking that Ames Harding & the Mirage are wearing their influences on their sleeve on “The Governor’s Dead,” a tune that sounds like Paul Simon trying to hide out from Art Garfunkel in the Guatemalan jungles while obsessing over Garcia Marquez. But like a Latin desayuno, this one is easy on the stomach. “The Governor’s Dead is quirky, easily written, and easy to hear and might make quite an impression on your playlist.
