Bandcamp Picks of the Week 11/23/16
Bandcamp Picks of the Week features two stellar records for you to check out!
Royal Canoe – SOMETHING GOT LOST BETWEEN HERE AND THE ORBIT
Genre: Experimental Pop
Favorite Tracks: “Living a Lie,” “Checkmate,” “I Am Collapsing So Slowly,” “Holidays,” “Bicycle”
For me, the magic of Royal Canoe has always been in their chaotically organized synthesis of genres and musical surprises without becoming necessarily hackneyed or esoteric. The Canadian outfit mixes elements of pop, rock, hip hop, jazz, and electronic in a way that always cooks up a layer cake of catchiness and groove. Somehow, they consistently construct every sound around a degree of danceability that is altogether calculated, accessible, and incredibly unique. One moment they are humming over plasticine horns, the next they are chirping like Flight of the Conchords over groovy snaps and whistling synths, and the next they are banging pots and pans behind a vocoder that speaks only in riddles. If it all sounds messy to you, it’s because you have yet to listen to the orgiastic playground that is Royal Canoe! Check it out here.
Thick Business – LIVE DOG GARBAGE
Genre: Psychedelic Rock
Favorite Tracks: “Laura,” “On The Wire,” “Super Heavy Mom Vibes”
Whether described as sad psychedelic jam, or “future classic rock”, Boisean quartet Thick Business know how to draw a song out in a hypnotic delirium that manipulates gravity with the dexterity of a marrionettist. LIVE DOG GARBAGE is a whopping three tracks, each ranging from eight to 13 minutes each; what they do with the clock comes out as if an effeminate Elvis Presley fronted Cream while covering Tame Impala. Frontwoman Sarah Pincock’s voice is full and sweet atop a guttural electric guitar that leaves you woozy and fuzzed out like acid at Woodstock. However, they always take care of you in the end: Just when you think you’ve jumped over the peak, the band rocks you to sleep in the waves of a slow jam, all to hike you back up into mushroom mode all over again. The heavy drawl of the bass and snare drums is always crawling below the weightlessly soulful “oohs” of a ‘50s slow dance, while synth-y keys pepper the dizzying climaxes of Pincock’s belt. OH NO — my face just got melted off again! Thick Business plays the listener like a goddamned instrument; join the band here.
Sienna Kresge
Sienna once drank a cup of bleach as a toddler and has believed time to be a flat circle ever since. Her style goal is Agent Dale Cooper from TWIN PEAKS and her life goal is to live in forested seclusion à la Henry David Thoreau.
