springtide – Fall Asleep Under Millions of Stars
Genre: Alternative Rock
There’s remarkable plasticity when it comes to the realm of pop songwriting. Basically, it can withstand everything, changing shape with each shock that it receives. Anything can stick to it, And, try as they might, nobody can truly replicate the fingerprints of another songwriter’s work.
If that wasn’t enough, pop songs tend to be short. It’s not like having to pretend to have read Gravity’s Rainbow. On a daily basis, listeners all across the world pass through the collected works of a myriad of songwriters, picking up some of their traits, combining them with their own, and helping form new and new languages for pop songwriting.
This is what Tokyo artist springtide has done with lo-fi ramshackle of Fall Asleep Under Millions of Stars, a tune that feels influenced heavily by the large city, and inspired by the desire of the serenity and the freedom of country living. The tune features an orchestra of electronic elements, noisy guitars, and sharp percussion noises. springtide may not be the first to include this combination, but he is surely the first to do it in this way.
The Chaw – I’ll Row
Hard Rock, Psychedelic Rock
The music industry is much more conservative about the path its stars are supposed to take. Are there any serious, Oscar-awarded actors that have not tried their hands at a silly comedy, or a musical? It’s to be expected. And, although the results are often terrible, it helps show that these people do not leave exclusively with the desire to please the memory of Lee Strasberg.
Now, the same can’t exactly be said about music’s great character actors. When is the last time you played Leonard Cohen’s appeal against typecasting, the album Death of ladies’ man? Folks love to talk about Tom Waits and Nick Cave’s courage, but when are their children’s songs or comedy albums about to be released?
The Chaw’s I’ll Row sounds like the product of someone that has dared ask these questions. There’s a gravelly preacher tone to the vocals that feels lifted straight out of a Robert Mitchum production. But, there’s a danceable groove that leads this song and almost a party vibe about it. This sounds like the first dance at a mortician’s convention.
