Richardine Bartee
Geoff Ong – Fingerprints (Submission)
If you are the type of person to judge based on what you see, you wouldn’t think Geoff Ong is capable of belting out lyrics the way he does. The New Auckland, Zealand-based musician released a selfie video for ‘Fingerprints’, an infectious Dance record bound to get any party started. As he travels through the streets, his mind is on someone he loves. Watch the visual below. The lyrics are at the bottom of the screen. Learn the melody; you can sing along.
The Holy Gasp – Simple Pleasures (Submission)
Is it me or does the best music come from inebriation or a wrecked existence? (Hey, I don’t make the rules up. It’s just an observation, but how extraordinary is frontman Benjamin Hackman’s voice?) Quite literally, he could sing about anything, anything at all, I’d listen. The drama of it all is right up my dark alley. According to the artist, he wrote the song after his brother’s wedding. He described himself as “drunk as a goddamn sailor.”
Hackman continued,
As the car picked up speed I opened the window and surrendered to the breeze, which poured over my face and neck and cooled me. It just felt so good after all that dancing. I started singing. I couldn’t help it.
The singer’s former wife recorded it on her phone. The next morning, she shared it with him during breakfast.
I was looking at the moral responsibility of the mentally ill, how hurt people hurt people, and how our loved ones suffer as a result of our suffering.
It’s a deep song.
Slothrust – Double Down (Submission)
I am a fool for breathtaking moving image and photography. (It’s the art student in me.) Maintaining my transparency, I am here to tell you that image and presentation are everything in design, and the same applies in the entertainment industry. So, whenever an artist is willing to step out of the norm, it excites me. It forces me to think outside of the box and get creative. Everything about the video for ‘Double Down’ is delightful. It finds the singer-songwriter and guitarist Leah Wellbaum in a laundromat, acting out.
Give everything you’ve got to the Boston-based trio. It’s worth the watch, entirely.
Milos AsianSound System – DIG! (Submission)
Is this a song about slaves escaping from their master? Why, yes it is. According to the songwriter, the track denotes that a brother and sister, who are slave children, devise a plan to run away from their master with a pocket full of diamonds. Hey, I’m not an expert on slavery, but it sounds like a far-fetched outcome based on the movies I’ve watched and the literature I’ve read. But if we want to tie the remnants of slavery into modern day scenarios, we, Black Americans are running off with pockets full of diamonds. I’m just not sure if we are taking from our masters, or if they are giving it to us. Be the judge. Watch the video.
wwoman – FOA (Submission)
Right now, I am rolling my hips to the beat. Everything is alright in the world. The beat says so. Although wwoman’s music has been categorised as ‘depression pop’, I feel everything except depression when I listen to it. I think their sound is motivating and the current record sounds like what one should play when they are on the journey of finding themselves. For some reason, I think about Oakland-native band Persephone’s Bees when I hear this one. God forbid the wwoman collective does find a way. There would be ‘suicide soul’ for everyone to consume and digest.
