Comma Sutra – Human Nurture
Similar artists: Stereolab, Palm, Mogwai, Animal Collective
Genre: Progressive Rock, Math Rock, Alt Pop
There are plenty of people who choose to ignore the world around them and substitute it with one that they’ve dreamed up. Rock musicians are the only ones that get any respect from their peers for doing that.
Everyone else gets nasty stares or, at worst, a comfortable stay in an institution. And when they’re asked just what this imaginary world looks like, the question is asked with contempt or genuine concern.
The same doesn’t happen to rockstars. If they really like it, people will throw money at them. They’ll encourage them to go away and live even less in the real world while they trace the imaginary borders of their dreamland. It’s good to work if you can get it.
Comma Sutra’s Human Nurture may sound like music built off of strong, proggy foundations, but dig deeper, and you’ll witness something that resembles a child’s drawing of their neighbor drifting out into the sky in a floating house. There’s logic to this, sure. But it’s made up entirely of rules that Comma Sutra have built for themselves.
Strange Weather – The Canary
Similar artists: Devotchka, Timber Timbre, Gogol Bordello, Deerhunter
Genre: Psychedelic Rock, Indie Rock, Alternative Rock
We’ve been trained by our schools and parents to avoid dangerous characters. It seems to make perfect sense. Just avoid the people that are bad news, and you’ll be able to get on with your day! Don’t walk into trouble if you can avoid it and all that jazz!
The vagabond feeding pigeons and having lengthy conversations. The drunk on the subway train murmuring stories about his first wife. Also, the woman talking to the moon while walking barefoot in the park. Those are the kinds of people others ignore and feel they have a good reason for it.
On the other hand, we reward true eccentrics that can entertain us. In fact, admirers of modern music and all other forms of art will tell you that there’s a growing shortage of these kinds of characters.
Strange Weather’s The Canary sounds like music made by the kind of offbeat character that doesn’t get invited to breakfast with polite company very often. What the writer is able to offer instead is a journey. The exploration is conducted through sounds that flow like water tumbling off of cliffs. It’s mad journey to the bottom, but only these kinds of visionaries can guide you.
