Jazz is an extremely versatile genre of music. Some of my favorite jazz songs are on the calmer, more melancholic side of the genre. These songs are perfect for sitting inside on a rainy day and watching the raindrops stream down the window.
Bill Evans and Jim Hall are masters at creating songs for quiet contemplation on a rainy day. This song, like every song on “Undercurrent”, only features the piano of Bill Evans and the guitar of Jim Hall. There’s something isolated about this song that is similar to walking outside on a rainy day with no one else around.
This song’s highlight is its guitar. Montgomery’s style of picking his guitar was a clear inspiration for Jim Hall and this song has much of the same appeal that “Darn That Dream” does. Instead of being paired with a piano, “Days of Wine and Roses” is paired with drums.
Most well known for his work in the Dave Brubeck Quartet, the saxophone of Paul Desmond shines on its own. This song is great for reflection. Paul Desmond once said he wanted to sound like a “dry martini” and I think he accomplishes that sound excellently on this track.
This song, originally created in Durham, is the quintessential rainy day jazz song. No song quite creates the feeling that “In A Sentimental Mood” does. Coltrane’s saxophone and Ellington’s piano perfectly complement each other, with Elvis Jones’ drums and Aaron Bell’s bass truly gluing them together. It perfectly elicits the sentimentality that is often associated with a rainy day.
Dehd is a Chicago based band that features three members, a bassist who sings the majority of the songs, a guitarist who duets the bassist in certain times, and a percussionist who uses a floor tom drum, snare drum, and a MIDI controller.
There was a bit of delay between the end of Nation of Language’s set and their’s, most likely due to the amount of rain that was being poured upon everyone. After which the members came out for their sound check which was lengthy but was worth it. It was clear that when they started playing that every bit of adjustment was necessary.
The timbre of the vocalist as well as the sound that the guitarist was able to achieve gave the feeling of the 2018 and 2019 indie scene. The band was able to move to the music without struggling at all to play the music. The guitarist had a way of hopping around and moving that went well with the upbeat that most of the songs had.
It was great to see a band that is able to move to the music so fluently that the songs they are playing can be seen as an expression from all of them.
The bassist took time between a few songs to say what was on her mind in an effort to get the crowd laughing and distracted from the fact that we were all soaked in rain. In terms of who engaged with the crowd it was pretty much all done by the bassist.
I think even though the morale of the crowd wasn’t very high given the weather conditions she did a great job relating to everyone and the rest of the band helped with keeping the show enjoyable and entertaining.
A triumphant Mike Hadreas captured by Doris Enochs.
Last week’s Hopscotch 2022 had some big names in indie music, and their performances were electric. Perfume Genius gave us his heart, Kim Gordon shredded my ear drums, Dawn Richard got me groovin’ in new ways and Black Country, New Road had epic sounds exuding from every one of their members.
Instead of elaborating on any music festival set up or random whatnot, I will jump right into the artist and bands’ performances:
Perfume Genius:
With lots of personal bias, I have to say Perfume Genius’ set was my favorite one I saw at Hopscotch this year. Mike Hadreas slowly and softly destroyed the stage with his magnetic vocals and stage presence.
Hadreas slings his mic cord across the stage. Photo by Doris Enochs.
Opening with “Your Body Changes Everything”, he immediately captivated the audience not only with smooth, hard hitting beats, but also with his suave, baby-blue, tailored suit and white button down. He constantly switched between old tracks and some of his new, popular releases.
Hadreas’ rendition of “Jason” and “Normal Song” were melancholic and angelic as his voice drifted down and graced us all. For “Normal Song”, he shooed everyone off stage except Meg Duffy (Hand Habits) who played a saintly guitar and accompanied Hadreas’ with their own backup vocals.
Hadreas giving an emotional performance. Photo by Doris Enochs.
To finish off the night, Mike Hadreas brought out a light, silky white sheet and played a few of his newer tracks from “Ugly Season”. His sheet was a mask and tool of pure beauty as it covered his face and floated in the air, almost reverberating from the sheer power of the performance.
I have never seen an artist efficiently play some of their best music on stage in my life. There weren’t any hiccups or pauses throughout the show, and Hadreas wore a brilliant blazing smile the entire time. If I could continuously relive that entire performance, I would.
Black Country, New Road:
I was scared of the Black Country, New Road set. I didn’t know how good the band was going to feel on stage after their initial lead singer left, but my fears were almost immediately dispelled.
Every single member of this band brought some sort of key talent that helped make the whole band shine like stars. May Kershaw (keys and vocals), Tyler Hyde (bass and vocals), and Charlie Wayne (drums) were outstanding. These members specifically stole the show for me.
Kershaw’s keys and vocal mixture brought an antsy and dramatic flow to the band’s sound that was beautiful and unique. Wayne’s drums were attacked relentlessly, which brought forth an epic beat. And, Hyde’s bass was the background glue that held everyone together perfectly.
One of my favorite moments during their performance was when Kershaw had a long solo performance, which is still too elegant for me to put into words appropriately. Her soft piano opening led into focused, serene vocals and a chaotic, triumphant closing act with the entire band joining in.
Dawn Richard:
Dawn Richard with backup dancer in the background giving an earth shaking performance. Photo by Doris Enochs.
As you might be able to tell from the above photo, Dawn Richard’s stage presence was unmatched. With her incredible backup vocalists and dancers, she mesmerized the crowd by merely stepping on stage.
Richard performed a few of her hit songs like “Bussifame” and “Nostalgia”, but her true power came in getting the crowd (including me) to start grooving and warming up to the music. Preceding her set, I noticed a majority of concert goers had locked hips and knees for most sets. Many people only bobbed their heads a teensy bit.
Then, Dawn Richard took the stage and began to set the night on fire with some delicious vocals, bars and beats. The neon suits and flashing lights were like eye candy, and her funk-inspired, bass-bumping tunes eventually got the crowd all sorts groovin’.
I’d like to think her set was the heat that made Perfume Genius’ set really explode into a wealth of success, so thank you Dawn Richard for that.
Kim Gordon:
Kim Gordon’s performance physically rocked my head and made my eardrums ring for hours after she had finished. Unfortunately, going into her performance I had not sampled enough of her work, and I really wish I had done so.
Gordon’s raspy, sometimes scratchy vocals were intoxicating. Her jumpy and stalky motions used on stage sometimes made for a wonderfully terrifying sight. Honestly, the horrifying sounds and glitchy art she brought to Hopscotch was a sight to behold.
A lot of those words might make the performance seem unsavory, but I had a blast watching her make her art. Her musical beauty comes from the discord she delivers us.
Last Ticket:
If you ever have the opportunity to see any of these wonderful people live, I highly recommend doing so. All of their performances had a wonderful uniqueness that made each artist more loved and cherished.
Of course, I wish I could have gone back in time and appropriately learned all the words for all of these artists’ songs (besides Perfume Genius because I got them on lock already), but I can’t. It doesn’t mean I was unable to enjoy their sets. I thought all of them were perfect for who the artist or band is.
Synth Pop can be a fine art that is easy to come by but not always easy to pull off. The wide range of possibilities that can come from the genre makes it hard to put together something that a large portion of people will like. You can either end up sounding like another new wave band or something that would be played in a Target commercial.
Nation of Language does a great job of putting together a mix of sounds that traditional and new synth pop fans can agree is enjoyable. They combined sounds from the classic days of new wave with feel good lyrics and beats with only three members that someone without an 80s background can enjoy.
Even in the live setting, Nation of Language did a great job of giving the same feeling you would receive if you were listening to their music with airpods. The only real noticeable difference between the live performance and their music recordings was the crowd noise and the rain pouring down throughout the performance.
Even the lead singer, Ian Richard Devaney, was able to replicate his impressive vocals that I figured would require some studio effects. His movements also complemented the music and helped achieve the hopeful synth pop feeling that people love.
Nation of Language went through their set for the necessary amount of time and engaged with the crowd when they needed to. They were able to keep the rain soaked crowd moving. They even stuck through the rain to watch the headliner of the night, Kim Gordon, perform.
I think that it is clear that Nation of Language has a clear understanding of what has been done in the genre they are entering and what should be done in the future. Their 2020 and 2021 albums, “Introduction, Please” and “A Way Forward” contain a bit of good tracks and they even have a cover of The Replacements’, “Androgynous” that has recently been released.
Sprints is a garage punk band from Dublin, Ireland.
I first discovered this excellent band when creating my very first set for WKNC. As my right of passage into the WKNC realm, my DJ mentors assigned me to make a punk set. I had no idea where to start. Besides the classics, I didn’t listen to many punk bands I felt particularly passionate about.
When I started listening to Sprints that quickly changed. Punk quickly became one of my top genres and this band opened me up to many other female-lead punk bands.
Sprints is Karla Chubb, songwriter and lead vocalist, Colm O’Reilly on guitar, Jack Callan on drums and Sam McCann on bass. All of these musicians individually bring a lot of power.
Discography
Naturally, the first track I heard by Sprints is “Little Fix”, their most popular track, and rightfully so. This song has so much lyrical and vocal power.
“So tell me, doctor, how do you fix / A problem they don’t seem to think it really exists? / Should a stupid little girl / Ride backseat of a car / Wearing shame like a shawl and her body like a scar”
They have such a weighty sound. Karla Chubb provides such authentic rusticity and grunge to their music.
This band is also relatively new, forming in 2019. Although they have released some of their best music in 2022. Including their newest single, “Literary Mind”.
“Literary Mind” single cover art
In 2021 they release the EP “Manifesto”. This EP was filled to the brim with rusticity. Particularly in the opening track “Drones”, I loved their use of guitar in the backing track. Their is a rich exploration of noise making within “Manifesto”.
The track “Swimming” off of “Manifesto” is my favorite compositionally. The opening strings are simply zesty. The vocals are really stripped to compliment the more rigid backing. This is a track I would love to hear live in the middle of a pit.
They have yet to release a full album, but I am sincerely hoping 2022 or 2023 is the year. This band certainly has a lot on their horizons.
Philadelphia-based pop-emo band Sweet Pill released their debut album with Topshelf Records in May of this year. Sadly, I had not gotten the chance to listen to it until recently. Since I first gave the LP a listen, it has been on repeat.
Coming in at 30 minutes, this album kept me entranced throughout the entire listen. Tracks flow from one to the next with great fluidity. The utilization of pop elements and structure over the emo instrumental and vocals make this record so replayable for me.
Lead singer Zanya Yousseff, guitarists Jayce Williams and Sean McCall, bassist Ryan Cullest and drummer Chris Kerneymakes make this album special. You can tell from the first listen that this passion project has been in the works for over two years.
Favorite Tracks
“Blood” is my favorite off of this album. Coming in off the title track, this song is about the anger that comes with a falling out and it does not mess around. This song utilizes breaks and a gritty, distorted rhythm guitar to really make each drop feel like a gut punch.
The song “Sometimes” also really stands out to me. I can’t help but bob my head when this song comes on. This song masterfully blends pop and emo to create something that’s fun to listen to but with a certain heaviness that’s unexplored in pop.
Conclusion
This album consistently uses violence to express anger and unfulfillment with life. I really appreciate Sweet Pill’s ability to use violence and make it effective consistently. They utilize this explosivity to such a degree that it’s impossible to skip one of their tracks when it comes on.
Sweet Pill’s work is filled with so much energy and enthusiasm and I can imagine them evolving their sound into something truly unique to them. I can’t wait to see what they come up with in the coming years.
