Elroy – Worth The Wait
Genre: Dream Pop, Chillwave
If nobody is going to steal my idea before I actually get the time and finances to do it, I plan to write and direct a movie consisting of vignettes of new bands arguing about what kind of music they should play.
Unless the musicians are well-established and the group is to be a continuation of their previous work, it is inevitable that first, the band members will throw genre types around. Once those options are exhausted they’ll start name-checking various artists, usually ones that have little connection with the styles previously mentioned. Finally, musicians will usually conclude that the music has to “sound good”.
I can translate the last part for you. Bands need someone to write them good songs. These songs usually contain memorable melodies, an art that few have mastered. Elroy, the project of Crowded House drummer, has terrific melodies to spare. The beautifully orchestrated, confident performance of Worth the wait proves this.
Find Elroy on Instagram.
Teppei Takahashi’s Gumbo Session – Toast
Genre: Psychedelic Rock, Garage Rock, World Music (South Asian)
Similar artists: Earl Klugh, Tommy Guerrero, Gábor Szabó, OPEZ, Khruangbin
Somewhere, someone is writing the script for an incredible movie that they also plan to direct. They’ve started out with a few great ideas and an original vision, but they’re getting stuck. They start to question themselves and their talent.
They then realize that they’ve lost the mood that they were looking to evoke when first beginning to write their oeuvre. They meditate, take long walks, and talk with friends. Then, one day, a song that seems connected with nothing else other than the ideas in their mind creeps into their life. They finish the script.
Teppei Takahashi’s Gumbo Session’s Toast sounds like that kind of song. It’s an instrumental. Much like most songs that do not feature a lyric, or a clear indication of concept it works similarly to abstract art. Some works like this stick to your mind and are able to communicate more than back-breaking tomes. This is what Teppei Takahashi’s Gumbo Session is able to do. Now, it just needs a great script-writer/director to make it the focus of visuals that are just as expressive.
