PREMIERE: Pet Moth Sprouts Wings on Tiny Wishes

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By Andrew McNally

Local indie duo Pet Moth is following up the release of their recent single “Dreamtime” with their first full studio album, Tiny Wishes. The album expands on the ambient dream-pop hinted at on the brief single, which also serves as the album’s opener. Tiny Wishes is a warm and patient invitation into a wistful world, as well as a candid release for its two performers.

Pet Moth was founded by Joshua Elbaum and Will Lynch, two friends who met while studying music in school. While they never played together there, they reconnected in the winter of 2016 when they were both looking in need of a new direction. A few months later, the EP The World As It Was was hatched. Taking inspiration from Joanna Newsom, Akron/Family and “Fleetwood Mac witchcraft conspiracies,” the EP was more structured than Tiny Wishes but hinted strongly at the bedroom-pop sound to come.

Although the album’s two opening tracks both barely eclipse two minutes, Tiny Wishes has a very relaxed feeling to it, especially as the songs stretch out later on. Songs like “Dreamtime,” “Tooth” and “Brake to Reverse” all show a precise and learned devotion to the mood, choosing not to involve themselves in any traditional structure and disregarding any sort of huge moments. Roughly half of the album’s ten songs do not build to any sort of emotional climax, letting the atmospheric tone serve as the entertainment.

The songs that have a confident lack of structure highlight a veteran patience from Pet Moth, and they only bolster the songs that do build to a larger payoff. The album’s third song, “Landscaping Season,” is the first one with more of a focus on the music and structure rather than the tone, and it perfectly complements the two openers. The use of a tantric crescendo is best deployed on the title track “Tiny Wishes,” a longer offering with a very chill vibe that slowly builds up into a grander climax. The duo is at their loudest – on a relative scale – on the penultimate song “Half Alone,” a song just shy of six minutes that features some carefully-controlled chaos right at the midpoint before slipping away into some of the most somber music on the whole album.

The album always feels like a full band project, in that there are only a few times where one instrument is heavily favored over others. The vocals at the end of “Need You In My Life” and the groovy guitar rhythm of “Love Like That” feel especially important because of this distinction. These small moments help to break up the pace and keep the listener on their toes. Otherwise, Tiny Wishes is more than happy to have one merged sound, with everyone contributing to one unified atmosphere. Elbaum and Lynch are joined on the album by Sam Franklin (Birchfire) on guitar and Collin Dennen (Ellen Siberian Tiger) on bass, and as a quartet they gel wonderfully.

Tiny Wishes is a very cathartic moment for Pet Moth, and this catharsis is palpable. While nearly everything about the album feels methodically relaxed, there is still a sense of urgency behind it, as if the band needs the album for their own emotional release. Still, for the listener, Tiny Wishes is a rewarding listen, one that serves equally as background chore music as well as an immersive experience with eyes closed and headphones on. Tiny Wishes is available now, via their Bandcamp page, as well as on major streaming sites (and TikTok!) Listen below.

Saying Goodbye to Great Scott (Part One)

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By Allston Pudding Staff

Photo by Joe Difazio

Having one final night at Great Scott without knowing it’s a goodbye leaves a lot of emptiness but also makes us hold on to that night more tightly. Knowing those nights were our last ones, in retrospect, feels unfair, but it allows those memories to live untainted and as they were. Savoring those times through shared words and photos offers respite and a form of collective healing, a sense of closure which we may not accept but does feel comforting. When reading the many stories shared by you all — Bostonians, writers, DJs, artists, the word “community” comes up again and again. Are you surprised? Of course not. For many of us, sharing that room with each other and performers pulled us into the heart of the Boston music community. Although we’re suffering a loss, that community will not be lost. These stories promise that.

Editor’s Note: We are still taking submissions to our Great Scott benefit compilation until this Wednesday, May 27. Please email a song to christine@allstonpudding.com to submit. We will also have the second in our livestreams to benefit Great Scott and O’Brien’s staff that evening with Vundabar, Jamie Loftus, Future Teens, Sidney Gish, Grace Givertz, and Raavi and the Houseplants. We also invite you to keep sending us Great Scott stories like the ones below! The more the merrier!

“Great Scott is impossible to eulogize, and I’ve found myself misty eyed more than a few times this week while trying. I keep coming back to one memory in particular: Emperor X’s show on January 4, 2015. Like most people not trying to leave their couch the Sunday night after New Year’s Eve, I frankly didn’t really want to go to a show, but I went because Allston Pudding has promoted it and despite our efforts only a handful of tickets had been sold. I couldn’t talk anyone into going with me, and going to a show alone was hard for me back then, but I felt okay because it was Great Scott and I could count on knowing at least a few folks in the crowd and hopefully whoever was behind the bar.

I didn’t know what to expect from that show, and I’m not going to try to describe it here, but by the morning I had talked a handful of friends into driving to his Providence show the next night (it was that good). Great Scott was an incubator for sacred moments, and I’m grateful to have a lot of memories, not a single one bad, to flip through right now.”

—  Ellie Molitor, Allston Pudding co-founder

“1. I saw Pile for the first time at Great Scott in 2015. I had just gotten into the Boston music scene and found out about them after randomly seeing Rick play a solo set. I hadn’t seen the full band yet, but everyone was raving about them. I didn’t know what to expect. I was explaining all this to a friend when someone — overhearing us — excitedly jumped into the conversation, grabbed me by the arm, and pulled me to the front of the crowd. “Watch the drummer,” he said. So I did. I’ve been a Pile fanatic and Great Scott patron ever since.

2. New Year’s Eve 2017, I was dealing with some hard personal stuff. My friend James and I didn’t have any plans, so we went to Great Scott for Allston Pudding’s big New Year’s bash. Everyone was incredible that night, but we were especially blown away by Sammus, who we’d never seen before. After the show, we went down the street to get dumplings and talked through the night. A perfect New Year’s.

3. My first time playing Great Scott was strange and beautiful. I played a solo set opening for a guy who’s name I forget. All I know is he was apparently in Spider-Man the Musical. When I took the show, I was told not to mention Spider-Man on-stage, which was no problem for me. I played my set to a small but excited crowd — all theater fans who drove in from out of town to see this guy. They didn’t know me, but they all came up to me after my set, complimented me, and bought my dinky homemade CDs. It was so sweet and pure.”

— Matt O’Connor of Tuxis Giant

Photo courtesy of Yasmina Tawil

“My strongest memory of Great Scott is the Ty Segall show in 2014. This was the tour for the release of Manipulator and Mikal Cronin was playing in the band. La Luz and BoyToy opened the show.

Ty could’ve definitely sold out a venue many times the size of Great Scott, especially since he rarely played the East Coast at that time, but for some reason they chose to stay small and handily sold out the venue. It was packed to the rafters, maybe the most crowded show I’ve ever attended there.

I went with my friend Pat who had introduced me to Ty’s music 3 years prior when we were freshmen at BU. We wedged ourselves into the front right corner of the audience and it was straight up insanity. One of those shows where everyone was pushing and dancing and it was hard to stand. Pat is tall so people kept grabbing on to him and his shirt was stretched out about twice its size at the end of the show. I remember people swinging from the bars on the ceiling and Ty crowd surfing.

I don’t have the rights to these two photos but I love them and wanted to share them with you. They capture the feeling so well. You can see Pat in both pictures with short reddish-brown hair and a bright blue tee. In the second picture I’m the person in the black tank top beneath the crowd surfer, clinging to my phone for dear life.

I could not tell you a single detail about that set except that it was rough and sweaty and painful and oh so joyous. I got to see Ty again two years later on the Emotional Muggers tour but at Royale where the feeling was nowhere near the same. A great show but the all the intimacy lost. The opportunity to see someone so big in someplace so small is an absolutely incredible treat. To this day I can’t get over how the Great Scott not only booked bigger touring acts like Ty and Pup and Sheer Mag and Iceage and whoever else but still supported the little guys, the local guys. I had gone to so many local shows there that I once forgot I might have to buy a ticket ahead of time for a bigger touring act instead of just paying at the door like I usually did. No other place in Boston really had this dynamic and I don’t feel like any place in New York does either. If any place in New York did (maybe Death By Audio or Brooklyn Bazaar) they’re also gone now.

My final memory of this night was after the show. Pat and I stood outside the venue, drenched in sweat, cooling down, and out walks Ty and Mikal to their van in the parking lot. Ty and I had a contest to see who could wring the most sweat out of their t-shirt (he won). ”

— Yasmina Tawil, former host of the Allston Pudding Radio Show on WTBU

“I could talk for many days on end about the fabulously insane nights I experienced within the walls of 1222 Commonwealth Ave., from pulling up to the Pill to making connections @ the annual July 4 BBQ. The greatest Great Scott memory I have, however, was made on July 25, 2012, spinning for Night 3 of WFNX’s Funeral Party. I was invited to be the Night 3 DJ that week by Michael Marotta, then of the old Boston Phoenix. As a listener and supporter of FNX for many years, it was my honor to accept and celebrate Boston’s alternative radio station behind them 1s & 2s. I ended up joining the already-announced lineup of Gentlemen Hall, Bearstronaut, Black Light Dinner Party and Stereo Telescope. Great Scott was packed the fuck out to celebrate FNX one last time. Had the best time spinning decades of FNX joints all night long between bands, from the Modern Lovers to M.I.A. Great gratitude always to Great Scott and Michael Marotta for having your boy on the decks for FNX’s last stand. Respect and love to everyone I got to connect with every night I came through for a Great Scott event. Big facts, Allston City will never see another live music venue quite like it.” 

—  Sterling Golden, Boston DJ

“After the Boston Marathon bombing, there was only one place I wanted to be, and it was at the Great Scott. The show where Fat History Month was playing. Will it be their last show together in Boston? When Lou Barlow released Brace the Wave, a local college station was giving away free tickets, and I won. There were only about eight people there, and I handed Lou a 7” of something that he had cut in the early 1990s, and he hadn’t even seen it. I think I freaked him out.

When Pile had their Big Web 7” release show, I wasn’t 21 yet, so I couldn’t go to the show at Great Scott. I remember going to Great Scott right before and being let in to buy the 7”. I remember going to both of Krill’s last shows at Great Scott. I remember seeing Cloud Becomes Your Hand and them sounding incredible in that room. Great Scott was the place where touring bands would come. You can mess with the technical abilities of bands such as Harvey Milk, Gnarwhal, Palm, and Priests. There was part of an Ovlov video shot there. Back in 2010 to 2013, everyone was going to house shows. Great Scott would be the place where those bands would eventually go to, and you’d feel like you actually made it. Despite the fact that we live in a bubble, and that’s not necessarily true, but you start naming off names of bands, it’s just going to be names of bands that have been in Allston for the last 20/25 years. So long live Great Scott! Thank you, Carl, and the rest of the team, especially Dan G.” 

— @allstonratcity

Photo courtesy of Katherine Hepburn

“In 2015 (my freshman year of college) I got to see Darwin Deez and Charly Bliss at Great Scott. It was one of my first concerts since moving to Boston and it was a dream come true because I had been listening to Darwin Deez since 2010 and they are, to this day, one of my favorite bands. Since I was new to the city I ended up going alone. I never felt unsafe or unwelcome. I stood in the very front of the stage and even managed to get his setlist at the end of the show. After the show, Darwin stuck around at the door and talked to every single person on their way out! I got to tell him that he inspired me to start making music when I was in high school. It’s rare that you get to see artists after a show let alone talk to them. That night I left Great Scott with two t-shirts, a memorable pic, and a smile on my face :)” 

— Katherine Hepburn

From Theatrical Dreams to “The Aura Sessions,” A Look Behind Red Shaydez

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By Katie Ouellette

Photo by Emily Gringorten

COVID-19 has derailed countless musicians’ live performances and touring plans this summer, but for Red Shaydez, it also crushed the rollout for her second album, Feel the Aura. The Boston-born rapper had polished off her film degree to transform Feel the Aura into a full movie experience. The movie script she wrote prior to quarantine followed her life story, from the days of old home movies through her journey as an artist, focusing on the pivotal moments that got her to where she is today. This album acts as a sequel to her 2016 debut album, Magnetic Aura. (Her 2019 EP Chillin in the Shade is a standalone project, but she would have woven some of its songs into the video.) Social distancing precautions forced her to scrap her filming plans, but Feel the Aura is just as impactful in portraying her triumphant origin story even without visuals to accompany it.

The album begins with an echoey voice repeating “Feel the Aura” like a mantra, and the track crackles like there’s a storm brewing. Then Red Shaydez is out of the gate with a bombastic introduction to herself, spitting, “They call me Shaydez, my aura is red, fuck up the stage, check out my bag.” She’s all swagger telling you, “fuck what you think,” but she’s also quick to reference her calm, rational side, saying, “If I am silent, just know I’ll get back to you.” Red has grown her music career through calculated determination, and her naturally meditative nature was a strength that helped propel her forward. 

On her first album, Red was a bedroom artist. She recorded Magnetic Aura alone with only two features on the whole record. Seclusion may have been her origin story, but now, she’s fully immersed in community. Feel the Aura has ten features lined up who are exclusively Boston-based artists. Half of Red’s production team are Boston-based too, including producers like Rilla Force, Buddha Beats, Mor Shabazz, and more. This album is not only a celebration of Red’s individual successes but also marks the way she has grown to bring the arts community together.  

Photo by Emily Gringorten

Her career-centric songs center around the theme of delayed gratification because she feels her momentum as an artist started very late. Red has been rapping since she was seven years old, but she has only been pursuing it professionally over the last four years. The songs talk about how people try to get close to her now that she’s successful, but in truth, the “secret” to her success is a lot of hard work. Feel the Aura also deals heavily with love, loss, and anxiety. “Still I Love You” illustrates a painful memory from her childhood, but ultimately ends on an uplifting message about how the memories of her loved ones give her the strength to forge onward. “Steppin’ Out” feels like the spiritual sequel to her “Self-Care ‘18” single, recognizing that some days are okay to indulge in the self-care of chilling at home, but other days, self-care means you should get off the couch, meditate, or maybe even exercise to help ease your mind’s anxieties. There are so many topics to dig into on this album — that range from the poignant to the fun and flirty — and Red Shaydez masters them all with equal authority.

Red Shaydez announced yesterday that every Sunday for the next two months leading up to the release of Feel the Aura, she’s sharing a surprise pertaining to the album. Each week she’ll reveal different collaboration videos she dubs, “The Aura Sessions: Behind the Shaydez,” where listeners will be able to see how the songs evolved from scratch. Pre-COVID-19, she invited her featured artists to collaborate at her apartment under an atmospheric red light. Stay tuned to her Instagram, Twitter, or Facebook to see the world through Red Shaydez’ eyes.

You Oughta Know: bark dog

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By Ben Bonadies

Photo by Jeremiah Matos

Every week, we’re here to remind you of the Boston artists we love and think you oughta know.

Gabe Jasper thinks they need to read more books. Staring at a shelf stacked with works by Kurt Vonnegut, Jonathan Lethem, and David Sedaris, they note that they’ve yet to read any of them.

The allure of auteur novels — often a lonely pursuit for both author and reader — seems obvious for Jasper, who records music as bark dog, given that they choose to work alone almost exclusively. “Music for me has always been a very solitary thing,” Jasper says. This is a big statement for someone whose early creative pursuits included theater and improv comedy, two modes of performance that are perhaps the most reliant on other people. 

Musically, Jasper veers toward the auteur as well. They freely quote Jeff Mangum and sing the praises of Panda Bear and Phil Elverum. A Bandcamp comment on one of their early EPs reads, “Comparable to Rules by Alex G in a lot of ways.” But Jasper doesn’t shy away from the comparison; they embrace it. They’ve uploaded a cover of Alex G’s “Change” to their SoundCloud and cite him as a key influence. 

The comparison to the Philadelphia DIY hero isn’t completely warrantless: both have a tendency to include seemingly disparate sonic ideas on the same album, preferring to find cohesion in mood and low-fi earnestness rather than genre. On their latest EP waterways, you’ll find Jasper alternating between woozy electro-pop, slacker rock, and hip hop. The EP plays like a frantic flip through an old AM radio player, and the DJ on every station has the same sense of paralyzing unease.

Check out the waterways EP below and follow bark dog on Twitter and Facebook.

Mission: Music Showcases Local Musicians In COVID Relief Effort

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By Harry Gustafson
 
mission: music unbeatable

The longer that the coronavirus pandemic goes on, the more imperative it becomes to find solutions to help keep creators afloat. For musicians, not being able to tour and play shows has created a huge vacuum in terms of financial income, notability, and in many cases mental health. That’s why it’s been so amazing to see organizations and individuals step up to the plate with relief efforts to try to fill that vacuum until things can get back to normal. 

Mission: Music is stepping up in that way on the local level with the goal of saving music during this strange time. Launched on May 7th by a team of hardworking folks from Union Sound, Dust Collectors, and Flagg Street Studios, the initiative seeks to raise money to benefit local musicians. 

To kick things off, on May 22nd, Mission: Music is posting a playlist of all-new songs performed by a roster full of Boston musicians. The playlist – titled Unbeatable – is available via Spotify and Apple Music. One hundred percent of the royalties collected from the project will be donated to The Record Co.’s Boston Music Maker COVID-19 Relief Fund. 

The playlist looks like an All-Star team of Boston artists, with contributions from Cliff Notez, Forté, Rah Zen, Red Shaydez, Rilla Force, Brandie Blaze, Latrell James, Luke Bar$, 7L, and so many more. You can stream the playlist via Spotify and Apple Music. 

Interview: Sully Banger Leaves The Wrestling Ring to Jazzy Hip-Hop Beats

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By Harry Gustafson
 
sully banger providence

Sully Banger, Providence EP

We’re all searching for ways to be productive, to find a little peace of mind in a troubling time. That was at the forefront of Sully Banger’s mind when he set out to create Providence, a five song EP of relaxing, jazzy hip-hop instrumentals that he released at the beginning of May. “I hope that when people are cooped up and listen to my music, they’ll feel a little bit better, or at least productive.”

Named for the city he lives (and is currently quarantining in), the EP represents a foray into new territory for Banger. While he’s got a musical background, his main job is a professional wrestler, which probably isn’t the first career that comes to mind when you think “chill lo-fi hip-hop beats to study to.” He’s played in bands before, but those were mostly punk and hardcore outfits, which feels a little more synonymous with the bombastic aggression that gets tossed around the wrestling ring. In the past, Sully has popped up as a surprise act at music gigs, staging a wrestling match in the pit, like he did when Camp Blood and La Neve played Great Scott back in 2019. But even over the phone, there’s a gentle and understanding kindness in Sully’s voice. 

sully banger wrestling

Photo by Emily Gardner

On the shift to a different genre, Banger said, “I don’t think it was something I needed right now, to play loud, aggressive, and fast music. I’ve been having a hard time- I think everyone’s been having a hard time. I needed something that was really calming, to make me feel productive.”

“”I think a lot of people have a hard time dealing with themselves, being alone for a while. But it’s not something that should warrant being a danger to your community.””

Utilizing electronic production styles helped Sully tap into his spontaneous creativity, especially when it came to sound design. He utilized a field sampling technique, going around his household and recording percussive sounds that he could layer into his tracks. “There’s a couple instruments that are in my audio program, but I tried to customize everything, even if it was a built-in preset. I made it exactly how I wanted it to be. Most of the percussion is like, shaking a box of D&D dice or clinking on cups. That was the fun part of it. Walking around, hitting stuff with sticks. Everything was an instrument.”

Playing off the stereotype of this kind of music, he refers to Providence as “lo-fi beats to pandemic to.” He sought out to create something grounding and relaxing that would give him something to focus on and be productive. He stresses the importance of finding ways to relax, clear the mind, and get something done: “Even if it’s in the background, you feel a little inspired, you can get into a groove. It doesn’t need to be the focal point of what you’re doing. I think if you’re listening to something really laid back and drawing, you’re going to be in a better headspace. I was trying to accomplish that for myself, then I thought other people might benefit from that too.” 

It’s definitely a feat he’s achieved with the EP, and it’s for the best that he was able to do so. The past few months have been hard for countless people across the world. After his partner’s father died from coronavirus the other month, she and Sully felt the full brunt of the tragic reality we are collectively facing. At first, Banger dealt with this loss with some degree of (understandable) escapism. He says, “The first month of everything, I just sat on my ass and played video games and farted around. That was my way of coping, just tuning out and not doing anything. My partner is super productive and doing stuff all the time. She said, ‘you can totally do that, that’s a valid reaction. But at some point, it’s going to make you feel worse, and when you start to feel worse, you’re going to need to recognize it.’”

Being so closely affected by the virus, Sully understands – probably better than most – how important it is to take social distancing protocol seriously. He’s a little confused and unnerved by the very vocal groups of people who are protesting the shutdowns of the last few months. “ I don’t understand why people want to rush it. I think a lot of people have a hard time dealing with themselves, being alone for a while. But it’s not something that should warrant being a danger to your community.” Sully cites his experience in the wrestling community – which isn’t strictly left-leaning – as a lens through which he can see the divides in the current social and political discourse. “I think my bubble is a little bigger than a lot of people’s on the progressive-leaning side. I have wrestling fans in my social networks who are plandemic sharers. How do you reason with someone who has that mindset? The line is almost exactly the same as the political divide, I think.”

Despite his efforts in terms of his own productivity, Sully still stresses being understanding and gentle with yourself. “I don’t think people should feel guilty for not being productive or not doing stuff during this. You make art in private when you’re able to go out and function in society. If you’re stuck at home the whole time, you shouldn’t be expected to write a book. But there’s a pressure people put on themselves.”

Stream Sully Banger’s Providence EP below via Spotify.

PREMIERE: Maeko Raps About Good Grief on New EP

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By Natalie Marlin

Boston rapper Maeko has been grappling with grief, but he’s using his music as a means to process his bereavement. His new EP Good Grief collects five songs about “loss, acceptance, and finding hope” that channel his personal challenges into larger reflections about mourning and coping. Pairing his poignant lyrics with instrumentals that blend clean guitar riffs with lively beats, Maeko has created a striking near-seamless DIY hip-hop record whose words stick just as intensely as the music backing them.

Good Grief comes from a deeply personal place for Maeko, stemming from a difficult 2019 for him. “Between my grandfather and father passing away, my band going our separate ways, and ending a long-term relationship,” Maeko says, “I was (and still am) grieving a lot.” His most recent loss was his father’s unexpected death in September – “that was what really inspired Good Grief.” Three weeks later in October, Maeko recorded the EP over a long weekend in California with his friend Dave Chapman. “I didn’t know at the time that it would be a project, but here we are!”

One of the ways Maeko explores grief on the EP is by delving into romantic breakups as their own form of loss on “Raspberry” and “Weep,” which “is a different type of tricky” for his writing process. “Any topic where you’re going deep is bound to make you feel vulnerable, but something about a ‘breakup song’ is just hard for me to pen. I feel like we don’t often consider the metaphorical deaths that we face. I thought it was important to explore the more nuanced losses we all face.”

EP closer “Weep” also features a spoken work outro where Maeko muses about how people aren’t often taught how to grieve in healthy ways. “Although I’m lucky enough to process a lot of hard emotions through music,” he says, “I didn’t necessarily grow up with my heart on my sleeve, especially when it came to grieving.” Explaining how his suggested method of practicing grieving regularly has helped him, he adds, “I think it’s important that we embrace all of the feelings that surround a difficult loss and not put a timeline on it. The idea of normalizing grieving has helped me stay more sane through it all.”

Standing in contrast to the songs about grief is “Brighton Sunset,” a laid-back “little breather” of an ode to the Allston-Brighton area. Maeko says that he wants the song to serve “as a break from all of the difficult topics/feelings I’m navigating on the project” and wanted to dedicate a track on the EP to the neighborhood because “Allston-Brighton holds a special place in my heart. Beyond living in Brighton for the past three years, I have so many good memories growing up seeing shows at Great Scott, Brighton Music Hall, Paradise, etc.”

Bundled with the EP exclusively on Bandcamp is a photo booklet made by Maeko of images tied to the record. Maeko says he’s particularly “really excited about the booklet” and thinks “Good Grief is best experienced if you listen to it while flipping through the booklet.” Speaking about what the photos he included mean to him, Maeko says, “It was important that I struck a balance between old photos with family & friends [and] different landscapes and scenes that would allow someone to get lost in their nostalgia. What people, places, things have you lost? What have you gained in the process? It’s all about finding the good in our grief. I hope this project serves as a trail map for that.”

Maeko’s new EP Good Grief is out now. Stream it via SoundCloud below, and check out his new website www.frommaekowith.love launching with the release of this EP.

Maryze Releases At-Home “Muse” Video

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By Harry Gustafson

maryze muse

Maryze’s “Muse”

It’s strange to see a new Maryze video where the singer is confined to the indoors. Her previous visual releases – which have included “Dis-Moi,”Boy,” and “Soft” – have all featured extensive use of natural space. But with times as they are, and everyone finding ways to stay creative and keep the mind at busy during quarantine, it’s still refreshing to see the Montreal pop R&B singer leading the charge in a collaborative video project. 

Produced by Super Plage, the electro-pop track features French vocals and pulsing synths that drive the song melodically. The video – Maryze’s first self-produced visual companion – features the singer joined by 65 participants from around the world, all under COVID-19 lockdown. “I wanted this collaborative project to be a way to create and connect with loved ones far away at this strange time. The video features family, old friends I haven’t seen in years, and people I’ve never even met expressing how they’re staying inspired in self-isolation.”

The title “Muse” feels all too appropriate, since so much of the footage features its subjects doing things to keep them grounded: dancing with loved ones, cuddling with pets, assembling creative arts and crafts projects. With everyone feeling trapped and overwhelmed by forces outside their control, the simple act of finding inspiration in immediate surroundings becomes a necessity. Maryze reports that the response to participate in the video was overwhelming, in the most positive sense. “It grew far beyond what I’d anticipated! I think people were excited to channel their energy into something positive. The song is a celebration of self-expression, queer love, and being your own muse. I hope it can help create some sense of community right now.”

Before quarantine went into effect, Maryze was set to embark on a North American tour, but is still holding out hope for an upcoming European tour soon. Plus, she’s got a debut full-length album on the way in 2021. 

Watch the video for “Muse” below via YouTube. 


 

Boars Go Boring in Fred Cracklin’s “Boar Drill” Video

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By Andrew McNally

Northampton-based experimental jazz duo Fred Cracklin have released their new album Anxiety Kinship and are championing it with their new, wild video for “Boar Drill.” The duo, consisting of Adam Bosse on guitar and Max Goldstein on drums, delivers with a manic guitar and drum episode that twists and morphs with each passing measure. It lives up to the album’s title – two people in kinship delivering an anxiety-inducing thrill ride that is more indebted to the noise-rock of Lightning Bolt than it is to any traditional jazz. The song buckles at any hint of an ongoing rhythm or tempo, constantly warping itself to maintain an aura of chaos over complacency. The music video couples this with an animated psychedelia trip through an apocalyptic revolution in the animal world.

The title “Boar Drill” sounds like a play on a simple boring drill device, but the video, expertly animated and directed by Wishbone Zoe, proves otherwise. Almost immediately we see that this is a world ripped from a gory B-movie fantasy where wild boars wear drills on their noses. And drill they do, through the earth and the clouds, under the watchful eye of three oppressive supervisors.

The video, much like the song, is constantly evolving. The dull grey of a drill digging into the earth’s underbelly is suddenly replaced by vibrant, eye-candy shots of boars dancing. During a climactic point in the song, the boar world suddenly becomes coated in a harsh red as a monolithic drill tears up from below. The animation in this video is at times serious and at times silly, but maintains a frenzied and hallucinogenic atmosphere where no one is truly safe. It mimics the tyrannical and environmentally destructive world of bureaucratic capitalism that we’re all too familiar with, even through the lens of psychedelic boars. In the end, after the monolithic drill crashes, we see some boars riding off, hopefully to freedom, in a literal purple haze. A ton of beautiful, trippy animation and pounding percussion are packed into this four and a half minute ride.

Fred Cracklin’s second album Anxiety Kinship is out now through Midnight Werewolf and Sad Cactus Records, and the video for “Boar Drill” can be watched below:

VIDEO PREMIERE: Carve It Up with Yuika’s “Surfboard”

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By Katie Ouellette

Photo courtesy of the artist

Singer-songwriter Yuika has a knack for transforming seemingly mundane objects or memories into poignant reflections on mental health, self acceptance, or even cultural barriers. On her as-of-yet untitled debut EP, due out this summer, the song “Microwave Tea” mirrors her life right now, repeating the same patterns like reheating a cup of lukewarm tea, which isn’t as satisfying as something fresh. “Obento” reflects on her assimilation to the US at age four and her growing appreciation for her mother, who lovingly packed her lunchboxes of rice. And the music video we’re premiering today, “Surfboard,” can be summed up by the chorus: “Help a girl out, ’cause she’s on a surfboard and you’re on a motorboat.” 

Harkening back to the original pop surfers, the “Surfboard” video opens with the Beach Boys’ “Surfer Girl” before someone snaps off the radio with a psychedelic transition to Yuika’s light jazzy twist on the singer-songwriter genre. Wistful guitar and low but thudding drum beats abruptly transition to jaunty piano chord progressions and smooth snares. Director Henry Caughey pairs the song’s seeming lightness with scenery on beach boardwalks and carnival rides, but Yuika maintains a pensive expression as she sings.

The song is about carving the waves of life — its ups and downs can be a little too much for the surfer girl. From far away, she might seem like a happy and sweet love interest, but when you look up close, she’s struggling and feeling a little awkward. When the surfer sees someone on a motorboat, he cruises on by without offering a lifeline. Juxtaposed against the carefree Beach Boys, “Surfboard” frames the surfer girl of yore as her own person with her own needs and wants and gripes. 

The lifelong pianist tries not to stay in the same place, style-wise, but she admits that can be hard sometimes. Collaborations have helped her break out of the singer-songwriter mold. She says collaborating with friends such as Jordan McLean from System Dialing Records, “pushed me in a direction I never explored for myself…It still felt very me, but channeling a different part of me.” You’ll hear some electronic influence in “Surfboard,” but be sure to tune into Yuika’s EP to hear how she’s expanded her sound beyond her early inspirations of Regina Spektor, J-pop classics like Yumi Matsutoya and Shiina Ringo, and more recently, Mitski and Hiatus Kaiyote. 

Yuika, born in Japan, says she was a really quiet kid because she didn’t speak much English when her family emigrated. But she always loved music. When the opportunity came to perform in the first grade talent show, singing about an acorn sprouting into an oak tree allowed her to grow confident in herself.  “Singing gave me a voice I thought I didn’t have. It made me want to write songs and express my thoughts. It was where I was most comfortable being myself.” By age 9, she wrote a song about how much she loved her mom, accompanied by her dad playing chords on piano. Her own piano lessons that soon followed carried her through her popular music degree at Goldsmiths, University of London and her studio composition MFA at SUNY Purchase.

In a pre-quarantine world, Yuika had the chance to return to Japan as a musician to perform at Saravah Tokyo. “I performed with these talented Japanese artists. I was just happy to be a part of it. Growing up, I didn’t think I had a part of any community in Japan, so being with people who appreciated my music was nice for me.” Sounds like wherever Yuika points her surfboard, she’ll be able to carve her way forward.

Photo courtesy of the artist