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Category Archives: Recorded Music
Album Review: Virgin of the Birds – Numberless Needs
Virgin of the Birds returns to Seattle for their first Pacific Northwest show of 2019 at the Conor Byrne on May 11, joined by The Foghorns (also playing their first show of 2019) and Sam Russell’s new old-soul band Doug … Continue reading
Album Review: Darryl Blood – Parse
Darryl Blood – Parse (2019, self-released) Darryl Blood’s works are often based around piano motifs or chords (major, minor, 7th or augmented, jazz, and a kind of “dark jazz”) played straight on the beat, and this works perfectly as both … Continue reading
Ball of Wax 55 Songs: Levi Fuller – “Fuck Your Wall”
You remember that guy in high school who used the ubiquitous sex bomb as an intensifier to the point that it lost its impact and became indistinguishable from the rest of his drivel? How about the girl who uttered it … Continue reading
Ball of Wax 55 Songs: Behind These Scars – “This Is Just Dirt”
Ahhh, remember way back before 2016, when people weren’t screaming and foaming at the mouth about all the bad people trying to come across our border? Ha ha, just kidding. The origins of this current wave of xenophobia stretches way … Continue reading
Ball of Wax 55 Songs: Jacopo Andreini – “9 borders to cross”
Jacopo Andreini‘s “9 borders to cross” is, alas, the only track on Ball of Wax 55 to come from outside the US border. Jacopo is Italian, but the music he makes crosses many borders, as you might guess from the … Continue reading
Ball of Wax 55 Songs: Green Light Cameras – “Hurricane Fence”
“Subdued ebullience” is maybe a bit of an oxymoron, but it’s the phrase I would use to best describe Green Light Cameras’ “Hurricane Fence.” A scintillating piece of slow pop pleasure, “Hurricane Fence” comes in at the pace of a … Continue reading
Ball of Wax 55 Songs: Peter Colclasure – “Synth 3”
[Disclaimer: this review contains homework.] Peter Colclasure’s “Synth 3” is the story of modern America encapsulated in a five-minute tonal work centered in A minor, its primary i-VII-III-v (V? I can’t tell because Colclasure maddeningly/wisely avoids establishing that third interval … Continue reading
Ball of Wax 55 Songs: Drekka – “Frozen Watercourse”
Drekka‘s “Frozen Watercourse” is a dreamy meditation for piano, bowed ukulele (played by our old pal Darryl Blood), voice, and other sounds. The vocals are buried deep in the mix, adding subtly to the wordless, layered, pulsing thrum of the … Continue reading
Ball of Wax 55 Songs: Danbert Nobacon and Kira Wood Cramer – “Building a Wall”
I could write a few words here about the impressive musical pedigree of Danbert Nobacon and let it speak for itself, but that would detract from the wry humor and restrained angst of the smartbomb singalong protest song that is … Continue reading
Ball of Wax 55 Songs: Grumpy Bear – “‘Our Land'”
“‘Our Land’” (placed in double quotes because the title itself is properly written with quotation marks, for all you punctuation-heads out there), is a new slice of dark pop genius – extreme emphasis on the dark – from our dear … Continue reading