Three recent releases from the Virginia
based Custom Made Music label have found their way into my music listening
sphere, each with their own unique take and update on venerable
genres.
Emerging from the fertile North
Carolina music scene, Free Electric State presents their musical ideas via
traditional rock band structures. On "Yr Last Mistake" Vocalist/bassist Shirle
Hale sings in a vocal timbre that falls somewhere between Beach House’s Victoria
Legrand and Rush ’s Geddy Lee . The instrumentation is classic guitar, bass and
drums that evokes the late 70’s feel of U2 or even the aforementioned Rush . A
sweet sonic interlude plateau to half step-up positions the track more firmly in
the modern era, however.
Free Electric State - "Yr Last Mistake" from Duotone Films on Vimeo.
Ride cymbal, tom toms and bass drum
drives the forward momentum on "A Matter Of Time," while triumphant guitar
chords chime behind smooth blended vocals. Buzzing, foreboding ambient textures
are provided via the barely-over-a-minute "Blue Outing," suggesting early
Krautrock pioneers like Neu! as possible influences.
An angular, syncopated progression, pairing clean and harsher
guitar patterns against tandem vocals are the stand out qualities of "All Done
Before." Guitar layers take center stage as this one drives hard via a mostly
instrumental raveup. "Better Planes" rides a ticketty-tacketty percussive
high-hat pattern while guitars chime along aggressively. Lyrics about having a
"destiny" hint at song title’s meaning.
"Mt Dream" starts out at a slow, dreamy pace, with rough hewn
vocals singing about "drifting down the stream" to the "mountain dream." The
intensity builds till it ultimately explodes into full throated bombast. The
cleverly titled "We’ll Have A Great Funeral (When You Die)" stomps along pulsing
a bass pattern and chugging guitar chords. Roughed up high end guitar textures
shatter the stasis, creating an excited listening point that pairs successfully
against the more controlled vocal passages. The bass guitar in particular takes
a star turn during the end out.
"Angel" drives along a syncopated drum
progression, with throttling bass guitar rumble and distorted guitar figures
setting up a male vocal turn. "Song of Joy" closes out the album with Shirle
singing over a mid-tempo rocker about how "I ain’t crying no more" because "my
heart is breaking with joy."
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Hypefactor have been making
music for a decade, releasing a number of quality recordings along the way.
Their latest project comes as a series of creative remixes to the single
"Descriptive."
The bands own single mix pays homage to the Depeche Mode/Orchestral
Manoeuvres In The Dark (OMD) school of sonic design. Bringing to mind that
quintessential 80’s era of Duran Duran/Howard Jones/Thompson Twins – especially
via the percussion sound (the processing on the toms), sequenced background
keyboards and bassy keyboard melody lines. However, more modern pulses can be
heard, evoking the Swedish electronic music duo The Knife.
"The New Division Remix" is
immediately brighter. With background keyboard sequencing still firmly in the
80’s, it’s now even more upfront – like what's heard on The Eurythmics "Here
Comes The Rain Again." The male/female vocal lines are presented in tandem at
points, and then broken out separately at others.
"Screen Vinyl Image" remix
focuses on an initial singular guitar melody line, before trading it off for a
buzzy background texture. Softer string pads are introduced into the mix, along
with panned left-right drum fills.
"baye + deckard" open their remix with the female vocal
standing alone in a reverberated chamber. Both voices (male and female) soon
emerge with similar FX textured qualities against sparse instrumentation.
Coming in as the longest track
overall, "Clan of the Xy" mix focuses on an icy descending melody line. The
vocals are processed and distorted, giving them a robotic quality. A myriad of
potential sonic references run through ones mind when hearing this. Anything
from Depeche Mode's "Enjoy The Silence" to everything Nick Rhodes, Simon Lebon
and Roger Taylor did on their one-off "Arcadia" album (while John & Andy
were off doing Power Station with Robert Palmer).
"Teff Teff" slows
the progression down to a chillwave meter, while adding an additional female
vocal line. The final remix by "Dossier" is more playful, funkier and dance
floor ready, especially with the added "Ohhhh" vocal hook.
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Last Remaining Pinnacle has been the musical outlet of Custom Made Music founder
Dave Allison for over 15 years. Last year guitarist/recording engineer Dave
Dembitsky joined on as a permanent member. This latest release - "Visitors" -
delivers 8 tracks of gloriously dark soundwaves.
Opening track "7 Dollar Room" propels
foward on a JAMC "Blues From A Gun" mechanized percussion track. "Don't want to
see you die, don't want to watch you cry, don't want to say goodbye" is the
lyrical sentiment expressed.
"Start" slithers along via a heavy,
rubbery bass pattern. Guitars fuzz and moan above and below that. The vibe
inhabits a place somewhere between The Velvet Underground and A Place To Bury
Strangers.
"Lies" is a heavy goth guitar stomper that
channels Andrew Eldrich's early Sisters Of Mercy visions. Before there was a
"vision thing" - there was a minimal Dr. Avalanche driven, heavy menacing guitar
process. Dave & Dave seem to have inheritied this spirit, at least here on
this one.
"They Are Lost" presents a dark and
ominous take of a "quest for gold" and how these searchers are "twisted and
old." Lovely. The rhythm is clacketty-thin, allowing deep guitar tones to take
center stage.
"Mantle Rotation 3" builds around a
humming undercurrrent, while textured guitar patterns float above. Experimental
in that Brian Eno sense. "Everynight" brings back the bombast via thundering tom
toms and distortion powered guitar crunch. The jungle drums create lively
patterns (which oddly brings to mind AC/DC's "Hell Ain't A Bad Place To Be") but
the vocals are delivered more from the Ian Curtis/Joy Division school.
Though the state of mind presented in
"Students Of The VU" may pay tribute to Lou Reed's legendary and still
influential to this day band - The Velvet Underground never sounded this heavy.
The deep guitar rumble on display here reside much closer to the aforementioned
APTBS and even darker death-metal elements.
"Visitors" situates itself in
the more mystical areas popularized by Jim Morrison and The Doors. "I think
you're afraid of what you think you'll see," and "I know you're afraid of what
you think I'll be" are the ominous, acid-enduced questions. Utimately summed up
by the statement "still we walk and continue to dream."
Find out more about this band here:
And all the artists on Custom Made Music here:
