wtferrothorn: Share Some Singles Vol. 3: Submission Thread

wtferrothorn 08.18.17	inb4 UniqueUniverse
SandwichBubble 08.18.17	inb4 me
wtferrothorn 08.18.17	touché
Papa Universe 08.18.17	Damn, I got restrictions? I call this a discrimination!
SandwichBubble 08.18.17	Wolf Parade - Valley Boy https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=lRslooNX4Js After releasing a pretty good comeback EP last year, Wolf Parade have finally announced a brand new album (their first in 7 years) and they're running on all cylinders with their latest single, Valley Boy. It's a perfect storm of stellar guitar work and ear-catching vocals, and with lyrics referencing late singer-songwriter Leonard Cohen, the song packs quite an emotional punch. It's comforting to know that even after such a long hiatus, the band has not lost their touch when it comes to their brand of infectious, stirring, grab-your-friends-and-sing-along songwriting. Cry Cry Cry is out October 6 via Sub Pop Records.
wtferrothorn 08.18.17	@UU Not a restriction, more like a reminder. Last time your submissions flowed into each other, which won't work due to the way the blog is posted.
Papa Universe 08.18.17	But you didn't update the blogs...or where are these submissions going? Into your personal playlist or is there some kind of special place on Sputnik or somewhere, where it's all kept in archive?
Papa Universe 08.18.17	Also, I'm cooking up something big, since I can't make multiple interconnected entries, this one will be something else...
SandwichBubble 08.18.17	Guantanamo Baywatch - Video https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=XhxNcZj6GmQ There's goofy, and then there's Guantanamo Baywatch goofy. Don't let that descriptor fool you though, this band is just a blast to listen to. While it has been a while since I've heard their debut, this track of their latest record is making me wonder why that is. It's an upbeat psuedo-doo-wop/surf combo, which just sounds delightful, doesn't it? Do yourself a favor and give this a listen, preferably surrounded by cacti and shaking your ass on some rocks (just watch the video and it will all make sense). Desert Center is out now via Suicide Squeeze Records.
Papa Universe 08.18.17	Protomartyr - A Private Understanding I've talked to death about this song, but there is a good reason why. It is fantastic. There's something you need to know about me, and that is that I adore Post-Punk. It's the first genre I've ever been a "-head" of. It's what I grew up on, being brought up in the golden age of the genre I pretty much lived for any new experience and variation of the thing. Now, keeping this in mind, you can see that it might be a little harder to impress me beyond "Yes, it was good." within the genre's borders. So this song must be something outstanding for me to have to praise it as much and as often as I do. I've heard it to death at this point and you better believe that I loved every second of it. This song is not just probably the greatest song of this year or of recent years, it immediately sprung up to become one of my all time (Top 10 easily) favourite Post-Punk and not only songs. That's how incredible it is. For starters, let's look back at Protomartyr's discography. They have never been something I would personally adore above a simple admiration for their craft. The band just never managed to strike me as something outstanding, although the clashing of styles they attempted to conduct was certainly intriguing. They had their phases, from everyone's first Joy Division-esque mixed with the Smiths' glamour, through the more upfront and raw aggression with influences from the likes of This Heat, Swell Maps and such underground menaces, to a much more lush and polished delvings into a somewhat New Wave-ish territories. But if their newest record is going to be anything like this song, I think they might have just stumbled upon the one true sound, one pure to them, one that is theirs.
Papa Universe 08.18.17	...CONTINUED... Now, let's dissect the tricks and tropes of Post-Punk, ones in particular that evoke the biggest joy in me. That is the dysrhythmic and irregular instrumentation all set together to create a certain atmosphere of disrupt and chaos, while still mainatining cohesive and compelling sound. That is hard to pull off. A labyrinth of instruments all flowing together at the same time into one obscure hodgepodge of ideas, all of that needs to sound structured, otherwise it'll just be a disorganised noise (sidenote: That's actually how Noise Rock was created). The next, more often used trope, is a deep nonchalant voice displaying all cascade of emotions that you as a listener need to decipher; all the torment and pain within, hidden behind the wall of cynicism and apathy. It's a particular kind of performance that really needs a patient and careful ear. Moving on, another peculiarity I enjoy to hear, but one that is not all that popular (unfortunately), is a sound shift. That's when an already established pattern of sound is suddenly interrupted for a whole different soundscape. It might turn into a completely new melody or it might continue what it had, but with different arrangement. It's a little odd and severely underused technique that is usually deemed as an atmosphere-breaker. People usually think "Why would you build up an already well-crafted sound, in order to completely dismiss it afterwards?" And that's an understandible concern. This sound is not exactly easy to pull off either. But the harder the technique, the better the music is for it, once it is done right. And why take the easy way, if you can have the hard one, right? And finally, my favourite of them all: The Repetiton. Now, this has only two possible ways it can go. It'll either be completely dull, tedious and excruciatingly boring, OR it can turn everything around and enthrall you with sound you cannot experience anywhere else in any other genre. If you have a good hook, you put it on loop and wait until it deteriorates, dissolves into atmosphere, gradually adding, replacing and highering the volumes of instruments surrounding the hook, which ultimately sucks you as a listener in more and more. It's like a limbo, a coma you can all but escape. You feel the despair, the weight of the world and the chagrin all crushing down upon you as you drown in the sound engulfing you like water from all sides, cold and relentless.
Papa Universe 08.18.17	...CONTINUED... So now that we know all that, let's see what this song does. It starts off with the irregular and right after that menacingly distressed instrumentation. Check. The vocals are deep and almost distrurbingly senseless. Check. The chorus that is defined by a sudden switch from threateningly disrhytmic guitarwork to saddeningly dramatic acoustics and then back into hard-hitting straight-forward musical spectacle. Check. And finally, the crown jewel, the repetition. And normally I'd be happy as is, but here it flows so perfectly with the lyrics that you can't help but notice the symbolism, patterns and the interconnected moods. As if the last cry for help in lyrics is intensified by the ultimate desperation in musical form, the Post-Punk hook repetition (as mentioned above). And of course those lyrics. I already poured my soul on the virtual table, explaining what I believe the themes and messages to be and just why it resonates with me as much as it does, in combination with the near-perfect musical arrangement. If you want to know what I think about it, go find pretty much any thread about songs in 2017 that has anything to do with Post-Punk. In short, I feel like it's about a general disconnection from the outside world, the inability to find common grounds, the raging inescapable feeling of isolation that comes with age (also known as mid-life crisis), the dizzying feeling of obsoleteness of one self as he comes of age. It's an immaculate piece worthy of all the attention in the world.
Papa Universe 08.18.17	...CONTINUED... It's clear at this point that Protomartyr have learned from their past mistakes and on their journey to find the one true original sound they ventured into all sorts of edges, and now finally they have embraced their selves and become what they were always striving to become. This song is nothing you can just dream up in your head. It doesn't have a particular melody or a refrain you can simply think of one day. This song was not born in the way tha someone just played a tune on a demo and then they added instruments to it to make it sound full. These lads did their homework, attributed all of their musical knowledge into one and created a masterpiece. I can liken it to the masterpieces of cinema, in which you observe a scene and upon further inspection realise just how brilliantly it is constructed and wonder just how did the director think of this sort of solution. Exactly like this. It's a process that takes time and knowledge. Summing up a myriad of different influences and analyse what makes them special, submitting your work to countless tests and finding the best way of transmiting the idea onscreen or on the record. This is not something you can create with your friends in the garage. This is made by Musicians with a capital M. These people have acquired all they needed from years of experience, successes and failures and are now ready to put it all into one, professionally and masterfully constructed work. Come on, lads, show us what else are you hiding on that album of yours. https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=yWdLpIITqsQ
Papa Universe 08.18.17	Is this too much?
SandwichBubble 08.18.17	Mister Heavenly - Beat Down https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=rdXm7IwZuNs Indie supergroup Mister Heavenly has always held a special place in my heart. Maybe it's the throwback sort-of feel they exude, maybe it's the dark undertones their music seems to contain, or maybe I just really like the guys in the band (Ryan Kattner, Nick Thorburn, and Joe Plummer). Whatever the reason may be, the band never fails to put a smile on my face. After taking an extended leave from recording, the boys are back up and ready to get beat right back down again with a new single and album. Another thoroughly-deranged and expertly-crafted pop throwback for the history books. Boxing the Moonlight is out October 6 via Polyvinyl Records.
SandwichBubble 08.18.17	Okay I'm done for this edition, you can cut one or two of mine out if you'd like though @wtferrothorn Also I now understand why unique needed his leash tugged
Papa Universe 08.19.17	Wait till tomorrow and I shall bestow upon you more of my rhetoric spewing.
wtferrothorn 08.19.17	@UniqueUniverse "But you didn't update the blogs...or where are these submissions going? Into your personal playlist or is there some kind of special place on Sputnik or somewhere, where it's all kept in archive?" I don't know if you just haven't seen them there, but you can find the segment the same place you usually find Statnik and Sputnikmusic News. http://www.sputnikmusic.com/blog/ Ctrl + F "Share" and you should see the various ones posted already. Second point: dude. Don't you think that four full comments for one song is POSSIBLY a bit too verbose? Just because you wrote down a lot of material, it doesn't mean that it's ALL needed: quality over quantity. I'm going to need you to HEAVILY cut that down. You don't need to dedicate a whole paragraph on how this is your fave song of all time. You don't need to go into arguous detail about every single element of the track. Just summarize what makes the song so good in 4-5 decently-sized sentences; this is a recommendation, not a full blown analysis. And if the rest of your submissions are as long as this one, cut them down to their essentials before even posting them in here because I will not be accepting one essay-long piece, let alone more than one.
Papa Universe 08.19.17	Protomartyr - A Private Understanding It's a fantastic Post-Punk beast, one of the best, not just this year, but of all of 'em times. The band has matured and learnt from their past mistakes and now they emerge with a wholly new sound and songwriting finesse. https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=yWdLpIITqsQ Also, if you want to see a deeper analysis of the track, here it is: http://www.sputnikmusic.com/list.php?listid=176741
Papa Universe 08.19.17	Is that better?
wtferrothorn 08.19.17	Yup! Thank you. You can still submit more, as long as they're also reasonably sized.
Papa Universe 08.19.17	I'll just release that essay as a standalone post...
dimsim3478 08.19.17	Dotsuitarunen - BOY https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=UsF81JIbGpY Dotsuitarunen made a name for themselves by creating some of the most unabashedly amateurish, obnoxiously idiotic music that's ever been heard in the Japanese rock scene. Hence, it's strange to be able to say that, over the past few years, these eight punk-indie-R&B-funk-dance-rappers have somehow become one of the most consistent songwriting outfits around. Their outstanding ninth studio album "COLOR LIFE" stands as a testament to that fact, but although it's only been on the shelves for about six months, Dotsuitarunen are already prepping their major label debut, and "BOY" is the pre-release appetiser. Thankfully, the song plays to the strengths of Dotsuitarunen's members. A sweet hook from Watoson, a brilliantly ridiculous Senpai verse, slick guitar and bass lines from Matsumoto and DaBass, and just one instantly memorable line from Yama-chan: throw 'em all together with rousing "We Will Rock You"-esque drum samples and a fast-paced closing freakout and you've got "BOY". It's a tasty first single from a practiced balancing act, with the band laying punk/indie vocal melodies over the R&B instrumental, and embracing enthralling beauty without sacrificing fun and silliness. The result is a diverse yet focused number, competently executed by a band at the height of their career and continuing to ride that hard-earned wave into the future. But don't take my word for it, check out the music video; come for the cute Japanese girl in the tight pants enduring an enema, stay for the great music... ...and the promise of poopy noises at the end of the video. ;)
Papa Universe 08.20.17	Naive New Beaters - Words Hurt http://www.wordshurt-lefilm.com/ Naive New Beaters, while not being particularly well known to the point of not even having their own page at the biggest and best music registry website that is Sputnikmusic, decided to pour all of their ambition and creativity into this track and the accompanying music video. The song is a catchy and accessible little tune with lush beats, nice production and infectious chorus chanting "Words hurt, but feeling right...", but its most notable feature is the video or rather the music video game that serves as a companion to the song. It's a fun and creative interactive game that requires you to visit a website built specifically for it, in which your decisions directly affect which way the story goes. There's also a shorter version on Youtube: https://m.youtube.com/watch?v=0iPDj2u973w
dimsim3478 08.20.17	Wallflower - Nowhere https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=6QcpfOBiyqk Wallflower's latest single is dead simple, inoffensively sweet pop done in all the right ways. There's not more than a handful of different melodic ideas utilised over the course of the song's five minutes, but contrary to the suggestion of its title, "Nowhere" is a track that's definitely going somewhere. Propelled by subtle yet inspired variations and the sheer disarming beauty of its melodies, "Nowhere" is arresting from the outset and only manages to steadily tunnel its way further into your heart as it goes on, until that last chorus hits and you're helplessly caught in a joyous, heartbreaking, bittersweet singalong: "I need to leave some words to my friends / keep calm and not afraid / then I get on a train bound for nowhere".
dimsim3478 08.20.17	the pillows - Be Wild https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=lCJs-CcDLEY As their 30th anniversary nears, The Pillows are surprisingly doing the opposite of what would be expected of a group of guys on either side of 50 playing energetic, emotional, driving alternative rock. It's 2017, and The Pillows are picking up momentum yet again with the best live performances of their entire career and a spot soundtracking the sequel to the anime that brought them much of their fame almost two decades ago. But best of all, the band is releasing some of their best material since the late '90s, newly reinvigorated after a long creative slump whilst on the roster of a major label. Case in point: "Be Wild", the best song from the band's latest album "Nook in the Brain". Reconciling hard-hitting alternative rock with a swift and graceful vocal performance from frontman Sawao Yamanaka, "Be Wild" brings together and balances the very best aspects of the band: beautiful pop melodies, and kick-ass rock-outs. It's fitting that "Be Wild" was initially featured in a commercial for Olympic gold medal wrestler and Pillows fan Eri Tosaka: the song is a testament to The Pillows' triumph in a fight of their own against the adversaries of failure, age, and irrelevance. 21 albums and almost 30 years into their career, The Pillows are standing strong with gloves up, sounding as if they're ready to take on another 30 years of rockin'.
dimsim3478 08.20.17	GEZAN - Absolutely Imagination https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=OK0CP9PdGkA "Absolutely Imagination" showcases every hallmark of GEZAN's sound that has made them one of the most exciting bands in post-hardcore at the moment. Sick hardcore riffs, gnarly lead guitar lines, almost poppy vocal melodies, gang shout-alongs; all of it dripping with urgent emotion and fist-pumping, blood-pumping energy. To top it all off, the band's also got a kickass new drummer in tow who ferociously rips through his kit on this latest single, proving himself to be a perfect fit as he and the rest of GEZAN prepare to chainsaw their way to the next level of notoreity in the Japanese punk scene.
dimsim3478 08.20.17	Have a Nice Day! - Fallin Down https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=C_Qq1j2aMdM Have a Nice Day! write pop songs for the dance floor; top 40 hits that would never make it into the top 40 because they're not fucking stupid. What they are is a brilliant display of musical tactics: with some of the best hooks ever sung in a voice as flat and monotonous as that of frontman Asami Hokuto, Have a Nice Day! infects listeners instaneously, and attempts to resist the band's extremely danceable instrumentation are thereby rendered futile. "Fallin Down" is one of the best examples of Have a Nice Day!'s foolproof game plan; try not to fall prey to the pure pop goodness of the synth and vocal melodies or the hypnotic four-on-the-floor kick and rolling drums. It's all designed to inflame the senses, but I think you'll find that escape is quite impossible.
JamieTwort 08.20.17	Are two sided singles acceptable or do we have to specify one song?
dimsim3478 08.20.17	Liam Gallagher - For What It's Worth https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=oAVlZxt1GHU Maybe Oasis breaking up was the best thing for the Gallagher boys. Noel's been making his best material since "Morning Glory" or "Be Here Now" (depending on who you ask), and while Liam had a bit of a false start with Beady Eye, his October solo debut "As You Were" is shaping up to be a work that could very well rival his brother's third High Flying Birds record, tentatively set to follow about a month after Liam's. "Wall of Glass" and "Chinatown" were fairly good pre-release singles, generating at least the impulse to give the album one playthrough when it comes out, but "For What It's Worth" is the first of them that's truly special. It boasts Liam's best performance in God knows how long as the aging legend tackles immaculate melodies with impressive vocal agility and well-struck high notes that he would have been hard-pressed to hit even in his younger years. Liam being up to the task in his mid-40s is already unprecedented, especially given his poor performance on those couple of Beady Eye records, but the fact that Liam himself wrote "For What It's Worth" makes it all the more exciting to hear the former Oasis frontman back in fighting form, perhaps ready now to finally step out of the shadow cast by Noel's songwriting ability. That will remain until October to be seen, but for what it's worth, this latest single from the younger Gallagher certainly stands up against the very best material that either of the brothers has put out since the mid-'90s.
Papa Universe 08.20.17	Wolves in the Throne Room - Born from the Serpent's Eye https://wolvesinthethroneroom.bandcamp.com/track/born-from-the-serpents-eye Wolves in the Throne Room are back with another atmospheric piece that might just set things straight at last. After all, this song does sound like your good old Atmospheric Black Metal epic. It's vibrant, dismal, dizzying and instrumentally rapid. What else do you want from a good Black Metal song?
Papa Universe 08.20.17	Monolord - Where Death Meets the Sea https://monolord.bandcamp.com/track/where-death-meets-the-sea Swedish Hard-Psych Stoner Doom outfit Monolord are at it again and are fully ready to release another heavy, muddy and dissonant record. This song teases up a certain pulsating harshness, what with its distroted and piercing guitars, echoic drums and subdued distanced vocals. If you like yourselves some heavy Stoner, look no further.
Papa Universe 08.20.17	Gravemind - The Deathgate https://gravemindau.bandcamp.com/track/the-deathgate Technical Death Metal at its most standard, but also most hellish and insane. This track displays a collage of different brilliant guitarworks, rapidfire drumming and a scale of vocal talent that could rival that of, say, Cattle Decapitation.
Papa Universe 08.20.17	Pia Fraus - Mountain Trip Guide https://seksound.bandcamp.com/track/mountain-trip-guide Estonian Shoegaze outfit Pia Fraus are seemingly about torelease their dreamiest and most lightweight record yet. Or at least so the singles tell us. This song is as soft as it gets, while still maintaining a certain level of roughness in its instrumental arrangement. It's the production and the vocals that make the experience so pleasantly tender.
Papa Universe 08.20.17	Deep Sands - Without You Lately https://deepsands.bandcamp.com/track/without-you-lately-2 I believe it's only fair that a fellow Sputnik's project gets a feature in here. Deep Sands is definitely one of the better projects masterminded by a Sputnik regular, DrGonzo1937. This song and the EP it comes from combines Hard-Psych, Stoner and some good old Hard Rock. And of all tracks on the EP, this song also has an overwhelmingly beautiful atmospheric outro that goes on forever as if to drag you into the obscure world the music was spawn out of.
Papa Universe 08.20.17	The Stargazer Lilies - Enter the Black Lodge https://graveface.bandcamp.com/track/enter-the-black-lodge Ever since their 2016 release Door to the Sun, which featured some outstandingly blissful melodies and heavenly instrumentation/production marriage, the band has set out to create something even more sun soaked and levitation-evoking. The teasing track Enter the Black Lodge pretty much tells us that that is exactly what we are going to get. This song is an echoic, calming and atmospherically divine. It's the one creation that puts 'Dream' back into Dream Pop.
Papa Universe 08.20.17	Turnover - Super Natural https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=M6PpLn_6Sa4 Shoegazing outfit Turnover have blasted through the world with their much appraised album Peripheral Vision and now they are back with an active music-making mood. They seem to have ditched all hints of Emo in their music for a much subtler and tender Pop approach. We'll see what fruits it will bear.
Papa Universe 08.21.17	When's this closing?
ZombieToyDuck 08.21.17	Converge-Under Duress https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=rFmMswcPPzs Noisy and cacophonous as ever, Converge release a crushing track that follows suit of their previous release All We Love We Leave Behind. The oppressive, slow chugging, and feed back laden riff that begins the track sets the tone in a way only metalcore master's Converge can. Jacob Bannon sounds as furious as ever paired with the equally aggressive backing vocals of Kurt Ballou. Pounding drum beats, abysmal yet effective bass riffs, vicious vocals and a fair share of guitar licks add interesting melody to an already massive track. What more can you ask of the clear leaders of the metalcore scene?
dimsim3478 08.21.17	^ Noisy and cacophonous "abysmal bass riffs" i like this expression but am worried that it might be construed as takin a shit on nate's playing
ZombieToyDuck 08.21.17	good point, I'll adjust it a bit maybe I can add to that, thanks for the edits as well got a case of the mondays haha
wtferrothorn 08.21.17	@Unique Probably gonna close it either the end of the 21st or early 22nd.
Papa Universe 08.21.17	St. Vincent - New York https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=n48vQgfXygc If you're anything like me, St. Vincent is one of the best Pop artists in recent year. Her ability to transform her style from one to another, while still managing to stay true to herself in songwriting, making every stylistic transition still instantly recognisable, is at the very least admirable. She went from semi-orchestral naivity, over distrurbed whimsy, through velvet fantasyland to blissful futurism. And with New York, it seems that she ditched her signature obscurist guitarwork for the sake of much more lush, heavenly and clear tendreness.
Papa Universe 08.22.17	together PANGEA - Kenmore Ave. https://open.spotify.com/album/2bMNyqcaR5bWIPl7ZZrTpJ together PANGEA and their lightweight brand of Indie Rock are cooking up another album for us. This song is catchy, fun and has a interesting background instrumental palette.
wtferrothorn 08.22.17	Alright, I'm gonna close this thread. SSS3 will be out in a couple of days, thanks to everyone for participating.

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