
Arthur Moon – Lately
Genre: Alternative Rock
I do hope that when I am finally kidnapped and made to write Katy Perry reviews for the rest of my life, my captors will consider how the place where I will be held is going to impact my writing.
I doubt that they’ll choose an urban environment as that might make it more difficult to have me abandon myself to my fate. Instead, I’d prefer it to be some kind of tropical island. And, since I assume that playing punk-rock music will be out of the question, I hope that they’ll also be considerate of the pop music that they choose.
My strange new home might do with some gentle, retro-sounding pop that feels like a radio transmission from another era. Arthur Moon’s Lately would qualify brilliantly, particularly, given the pop/alternative-rock direction of the composition. I may be forced to write odes to the devil for the rest of my existence, but at least I’ll have Lately and some exotic-tasting drinks to ease me through my castigation.
The Mask Of The Phantasm – Like A Wraith…
Genre: Psychedelic Rock, Post Rock, Emo
Similar artists: The Mars Volta, Don Caballero, At The Drive-In, Pink Floyd, Led Zeppelin
As comedian Dylan Moran poignantly says, you need to be careful when it comes to ambition. This will reveal your true potential. Potential is one thing, but it doesn’t always go the way of proving your abilities as being those of a person capable of doing tremendous things.
Sometimes potential is best left a mystery. This is, particularly, true of rock music where the mystery is of the engine fuels on which the whole music industry works. Of course, some artists have taken the deep plunge. Omar Rodriguez-Lopez, for example, was known as a hardcore guitarist known to inflict terrible torments on furniture while playing. His vision of channelling Pink Floyd and Led Zeppelin into his music lead him to the creation of the trippy and mysterious Mars Volta. The gamble paid off and the move earned him a whole new music career.
Others have taken note and have opted to jump into the same deep waters. The Mask Of The Phantasm’s might be inspired by the same kind of large-scale vision on their song Like A Wraith. Latin-rock mysticism aside, you may be tempted to give this a shot because of the great production values and inventive playing. Sometimes you need to gamble on your career.