
The Beard and the Bird – Dust If You Must
Nobody is really sure why certain styles of music are retired. It’s not like someone asks a commission to study the songs of that genre and conclude whether it should continue to concern modern audiences. It’s not like the audiences themselves write letters to the artists and the record labels asking them to stop making this music and replace it with something fresh-sounding.
It’s generally accepted that, like most things in this world, music styles also have a lifespan. No matter how good they may sound or how important the message of the music is, they’re bound to be forgotten by people who, eventually, give up on pop music altogether. But, of course, there are those in a minority that won’t accept this cruel fate.
The Beard and the Bird treat the old-timely mix of jazz, blues and country as a modern, pressing issue. They play the music proficiently, charming as if every listener is dressed in an appropriately tailored suit and pretending that it’s 1951. “Dust If You Must” is, of course, a beloved poem about not wasting time with useless things and one that feels especially appropriate in this kind of context. The Beard and the Bird perform it beautifully, with music seemingly intended for some kind of theatre stage production. And, if this proves anything, it’s that alternative music comes in many forms, and that things only really go away if we let them.
YZAPE – Without Hands
There’s an old gothic story where a character keeps a violin by his side at all times. He does not know how to play the violin well enough to entertain an audience. But he believes that by playing the right sequence of notes it may open another, magical realm. Of course, that person is believed to be mad and we’re never told if he ever gets to play the right notes.
But in that simple way, the old gothic tale describes the magic of songwriting. Most of the time, people just write songs using certain formulas, and their results are of little importance for those around them. Still, on occasion, using systems and methods that aren’t any more complex of sophisticated, someone comes upon an extraordinary combination. It’s just magic, for lack of a better term.
YZAPE’s “Without Hands” takes the blues and 90s alternative rock and blends them together. It’s not the very first time that a songwriter has had the urge to do this. And there’s no reason why it should work this well. What YZAPE ends up with is a sound that is spellbinding. It ends up sounding like holy verses or like a mysterious murder ballad. The vocal melodies are great, and the repetitive acoustic-blues riff only helps add to the overall atmosphere. It’s just the right sequence.