Thantophobe – Esteban
Similar artists: Alex G, Blur, Bartees Strange, The Replacements, Elliott Smith
Genre: Indie Rock, Alternative Rock
It’s not easy to emotionally interact with your memories, but it’s an important step to understanding yourself. What if you simply do not have many memories of the past? As it happens, it turns out that this is no problem. Studies have shown that under strain, the human mind can create faux memories and convince itself that they are true.
That’s fertile territory for artists, songwriters, especially. If anyone can make up things and use them to touch the hearts of millions, it’s them and the professional politicians. Yet, don’t be surprised when you take a peak at the songs lining up the charts. The vast majority of them concern themselves with banal things that are hard to get emotional over.
Thantophobe’s “Esteban” is a powerful and melodic indie-rock tune complete with the kind of earnest emotion that suggests it’s been inspired by some deep-rooted trauma. It may all be a fib, though. But that doesn’t matter much. The effortlessness with which this is written, that little cry captured in the vocals and the clever guitar-pop ought to make us believe this and not ask any useless questions.
José Leguina – Cyanide
Genre: Americana, Surf Rock, Alternative Rock
What if movie production teams had access to an inexhaustible supply of sets, props and costumes? Surely, they’d be excited about the prospect of many types of movies without having to worry too much about budgetary constraints.
This is a pipe dream, of course. The cost of all of these things is what is first considered when deciding to make a movie. However, musicians do have access to all the props needed to set their stories up in new worlds all the time. However, only a few of them choose to use these tools.
Bands are restricted merely by their imagination or willingness to allow new elements to enter their creative process. If they have the capacity to play convincingly, they can summon faraway places, ancient times, or even dream up future worlds. Few of them choose to do this.
José Leguina’s “Cyanide” uses surf-rock guitars, Latin grooves, and even an Eastern European sensibility as props for the play that the singer-songwriter is staging. With all of these things coming together at the same time, there’s less need for unimportant details. On “Cyanide”, the exoticism of the music helps drop you into the middle of the story. It’s only up to you to dream up the missing parts.