Sugarmen "Dirt" [single] (Poor Old Soul Records)

This is that rock n roll sound that has groovy bass lines and the vocals sometimes go back and forth between singing and speaking.    It is no coincidence that the name of this band is Sugarmen because it sounds like "Sugar High" by Coyote Shivers and just that overall feel of being part of the "Empire Records" soundtrack.    Will it be on my mixed tape?  Absolutely!   This song rocks.    I want more more more.

I, Us & We "Mono"

Is it odd to anyone else that this band name includes every pronoun of the sort except for "me"?   Is it just me?   Okay then, I'll move on.    These are four songs from I, Us & We- which reminds me of "Me, Myself & I" but isn't.     They have a low-key vibe to them, churning out the softer side of electronic pop.   With piano keys and vocals that can remind me of Muse these are carefully crafted between Blue October and the more redeeming qualities of U2.

In some ways, this reminds me of something more on the electronic side of the coin, such as Twin Shadow or one of those producer types who creates all these beats and uses keyboard and synth.    But then there are enough guitar riffs in here, slow and cutting, that I'm hesitant to put an electric tag on it.     This is especially apparent in the song "Free", in which he can really sing so beautifully about how he is free.

"Lanterns" is a good example of the somewhat electronic side of these songs as it reminds me of Stabbing Westward without all of the teenage angst.     This also somehow brings out hints of a slowed down Duran Duran, which is never really a bad name to find popping up in your head when listening to music.

       As "Lanterns" sings about love being the cruelest game to play and being for dreamers, he ends with "I would say that love brought me to you".    An email, followed by a link I opened, a file I streamed and then a .ZIP folder I chose to download based upon the fact that I liked the first song I heard was what brought me to I, Use & We.    If I am to be what brings you to this wonderful music then so be it, but whatever path you should take I hope you do find this one.   

go nogo "New Folks Remixed" (Emerald and Doreen)

[https://soundcloud.com/emerald-and-doreen-rec/sets/go-nogo-new-folks-remixed-ep]

I had never heard the go nogo song "New Folks" before this EP and as it turns out, the original mix is not on here but rather there are three different remixes of it and two remixes of other songs by go nogo.     The first remix of "New Folks" is by Mal Holmes and so in some ways I do like to think of that as being the original, although I have since tracked down the original and listened to it.     Perhaps because I heard it first though it just kind of became somewhat normal to me, yet it is still a good song.

The second remix is by Ummagma and I'd be lying if I said I wasn't listening to this EP just to hear this Ummagma remix.     If you've never heard Ummagma you're really missing out, but if you have heard them before then it would seem as if you should add this remix to your collection.     Oddly, the third remix is by Go Satta, who I am not really familiar with but has other music on Emerald and Doreen that I will be listening to now because I really liked this remix.    I think going in I knew I'd enjoy the Ummagma mix- which I did- but I had no expectations for any of the other mixes and as such Go Satta just blew me away.

"Let It Show" is remixed by Statickman in a complete pull from the 1980's/The Wedding Singer soundtrack.   I love it.   It's so Human League.    But then the last remix, which is of "Sweet Lullaby" and is by Haioka, is slower, more drawn out in an electronic sense with big beats in the background.    I don't know if there is a proper term for this, so I apologize but you know how rappers figured out that their music would sound cool if they slowed it down and they called it "screwed"?  Does that term apply to electronic music as well?   Because I feel like that's what Haioka is doing and it's simply wonderful.

So this isn't really an EP by go nogo because all of the songs on here are remixed, though the originals are by go nogo.    And there are five different artists having their go at these songs, and the fact that the first three remixes are of the same song by go nogo doesn't seem to matter as each track stands out just as well on its own.   Whatever you call it, you should be listening to this one for sure.

"Pop Does Not Mean Popular: A Polite Introduction to Hussalonia (2004-2014)" (Hussalonia)

[$9 to Download // $12 for CD // https://hussalonia.bandcamp.com/album/pop-does-not-mean-popular-a-polite-introduction-to-hussalonia-2004-2014]

I'm not really sure what I was thinking going into this album.   It's a collection of songs that span ten years and I'm still not really sure whether the term "Hussalonia" refers to the artist name or the label that these songs appear on or perhaps in some weird way both.   None of that matters though, and neither does my preconceived notions going into this.    The fact is it threw me for a curve because it isn't pop in the traditional sense of the radio sound (Ummm... Let's say One Direction for right now) but yet it does have elements of pop to it.

There are many kinds of music that can be tagged as "pop".    This has pieces of them with it being a cross between pop rock and bedroom pop, but as it likes to point out- and something that I really never think about- is that in these instances "pop" is never in reference to "popular", which is how it is traditionally used in music.    When was the last time you actually heard a bedroom pop album that was popular?    Even, for all of his many wonders and delights (and as he comes out in these songs also), Elliott Fucking Smith himself isn't really all that popular still.

I suppose I thought that this album might take sounds of a different variety and mix them around to sound like what is considered to be popular music.  (see: hiyohiyoipseniyo)  These are beautifully crafted songs that remind me of an acoustic Weezer, Buddy Holly, Bruce Springsteen, Lou Reed or something from Happy Happy Birthday To Me Records.   The fact that these songs can stay so off the radar for all of these years (and I'm just hearing about them now) does prove the title correct.

It's strange to think that your music can be catchy and all of the things you think of when you consider what the term "pop" represents musically, and yet they can just seemingly go by unnoticed.   And it's not just this-- there is so much more.    It's everything, man.    Should we be renaming bedroom pop to something else?   I'm not sure who to contact about that, but these songs are magnificent and I think we should spread them around so as to try and prove the title wrong: let's make them popular.

Hannah Epperson "BURN"

[$5 CAD to Download // $15 CAD for 7" Vinyl // https://hannahepperson.bandcamp.com/album/burn]

I've been trying as much as I can in recent months- and really it was most of my mantra for the end of 2014 going into 2015- to not compare artists with other artists in a negative way.   This is simply to say that I no longer wish to say: "This sounds like <fill in the blank> only better!" because it's kind of that belief of putting someone else down to pick yourself up.    (Though I'm technically not picking *myself* up, just the other artist who sounds how I would like the first, not as good artist to sound)

These two songs from Hannah Epperson begin with beats, strings and an overall mix of electronic pop rock that musically has the makings of something like Gotye.     As strings are delicately plucked in the second song you can hear this as well.    It's very easy to please the ears with these intricate wonders of music on both of these songs.   I've listened to this through at least once trying to focus only on the music and pretend that the vocals do not exist (I sometimes wish I had the technology to pull the vocals out in some sort of music program way) and it is just fascinating to hear the many layers at work here.

On one hand, you have earth-shattering beats that make you believe this could be some sort of hip hop, and yet the style and grace of something classical in the string sense.   Now just imagine the stereotypical person who you would think of as liking classical music (snooty) meeting the stereotypical person who you would think of as liking hip hop (gangsta)   They seem so different, but when these two sounds clash on "BURN" it creates an all new form of beauty.

As you stop picking apart the music, listening for the various levels on which it operates, you do realize that, yes, this does indeed have some beautiful female vocals singing over it as well.    It reminds me of the first time that I heard Polly Scattergood or Kimbra, but back to what I was saying in the first paragraph-- one song particularly stuck out to me when listening to this and that was the theme song to the Netflix original series "Orange Is The New Black".    Of course that song, easily searchable for the artist behind it, is a song that I do enjoy because it gets stuck in my head when I binge watch OITNB but I am not a fan otherwise of her music.

Now I'll say something tired and cliche about how if that other artist sounded more like Hannah Epperson then I would certainly be listening to her as well.    But it doesn't really get much better than these two songs right here and regardless of what other artists you happen to like or dislike or maybe have just not heard of yet, "BURN" should be in your playlist if not your vinyl collection.

Boom! Bap! Pow! "So Heavy"

[https://soundcloud.com/boombappow/sets/so-heavy]

Somewhere between the dreamy rock of something out of the 1940's or 1950's (Think Buddy Holly era, but not) and the more recent ska revival of a band such as Save Ferris comes the music of Boom! Bap! Pow!.   The multi-instrumental songs with vocals that would make Gwen Stefani herself blush could be the soundtrack to a great spy film or simply contest with Jessica Hernandez & the Deltas.

How do you describe something that borrows from genres but doesn't have one of its own?   You can only say what it isn't, rather than what it is.   This isn't Shannon and the Clams.   It's not Save Ferris or No Doubt.    It's not quite doo-wop and it's not any of the pop acts from when songs like "Teen Angel" were first tearing up the radio waves.  (Though sometimes, yes, this does sound like the soundtrack to "Cry Baby")

As strange as it may sound, a song like "My World" can also pull out those hints of The Jackson 5 and, wow, the fact that a band can stay true to their own sound and yet cross these various genres just shows you how incredibly talented they are musically.    This is just overly addicting.   I don't want to write about it.   I just want to listen to it.   You should be listening to it too.   Hear her belting that line out?   If that doesn't convince you then nothing will and you're not worth my time.

Crimson Calamity "All In The Cards"

[http://www.crimsoncalamitymusic.com/] 

Back when it was all the rage to sing songs about the President of the United States, there was a group called the Dixie Chicks who seemed to be rather outspoken and I do believe- though I'm not entirely sure why- I actually even watched their documentary "Shut Up and Sing".   Unlike those who took political sides with the Dixie Chicks, I chose not to like them because of their actual music because it just wasn't for me.    There was something that it seemed to lack and Crimson Calamity seems to find it on "All In The Cards".

The vocal patterns can remind of me Delta Dart, though this is more of a country feel overall.   It has some elements of pop mixed in as well because these songs both get stuck in my head and are fun to sing along with as they blast out of my speakers.  

These songs may or may not have a country comparison that I am simply unaware of due to my lack of country knowledge, but I don't like to think of it as sounding like anyone imparticular anyway.   These are songs that are delivered in enough harmony that they are easy on the ears.  Combine that with the fact that these ladies are singing about guns, playing cards and booze and you've got yourself a combination that I want to be a part of for sure.

You just have to imagine a time in the old west when a group of women would have walked into the saloon and asked to play cards.   The men would all have a good laugh, but when they flashed the cash they'd say deal 'em in.   When the men realized they'd been taken it'd be too late because the women are just quicker to draw their guns.   So then they all buy a beer and have a laugh together about it.  

That's one of the songs is about and maybe even the plot of that one movie about all the cowgirls (Was it called "Bad Girls"?)  Either way, even the most jaded of country fans would certainly find something to enjoy about this because it isn't as much country to me as it is a story being told in the old west.     If you can't appreciate that I don't know what to tell you because really it's just history.