Well friends, its been a while since I’ve been standing on
this here soap-box, pawning off advice about new tracks and
vids in the Austin scene. Luckily, since that time a slew of
new releases has taken us out of a mild drought of local
music. Today, we’ll see new releases from The Calm Blue Sea
and New Roman Times (a release I’ve been waiting for for
what seems like years now) and a video from the Octopus
Project.
New Roman
Times - On The Sleeve
It’s been a few years since New Roman Times up and made the
move here from Orlando, Florida to heed the familiar call of
Austin-town. Since they’ve been here though, it’s been only
a long stint of live shows and a few press mentions that’s
kept them above a whisper. Well, no more: Recently, as you
may have heard, the band dropped their sophomore album On
the Sleeve.
And it was definitely worth the wait. In the hands of a new
bright and roomy production, the band is free to fill up a
space they’ve never had before, sending dance-rock rhythms
howling and careening both through an all-too-brisk ten song
set. The band manage to strike a fine line down a mixture of
qualities that lend themselves to reckless dancing, and
intimate Sunday-morning listens, managing a large cast of
complexly intertwined elements of both but unafraid to turn
to central casting for a quick punchy guitar solo or two. The dark underside of both the music and the lyrics (which
aren’t required for total enjoyment) grantees repeat
listens, and repeat albums I hope, but let’s start with
Bells.
:New
Roman Times - Bells:
The Calm
Blue Sea - Siegfried: An Original Score
If you remember back a few months, I
mentioned and interviewed the Calm
Blue Sea while they were gearing up for a performance of an
original orchestration to an old silent film, which they
premiered in March at the Alamo Ritz. It appears the band
has been hard at work again (let’s not forget last year’s
excellent self-titled album), finally putting the
orchestration down on tape for our fortunate posterity.
At over an hour and a half and 17 songs, the score stretches
through monumental changes, beginning softly with bells and
a snare cadence morphing through bouts of channeled, burning
energy, but soon settle just as eerily into serene silences
that, like the surface of a calm sea (as the bands name so
expertly references), suggests hidden violence and turmoil
lurking ominously underneath. Sounds like the plot to a good
movie, actually. Apparently a copy of the album synched up
with the movie is floating around the internet somewhere, so
be on the lookout. For now though, try this song, The
Treasure, one of the longer ones on the album. The band kick
of a tour soon, with a date in Austin later this month that
you should make a showing for if you know what’s best for
you.
:The
Calm Blue Sea - The Treasure:
Octopus
Project - Wet Gold
Suspicious as I was about the Octopus Project adding vocals
to their trademark friendly-ghost instrumental pieces, but
now having heard the new ideas in full embrace on tracks
like this one, I feel a little silly for having doubted the
band in the first place. Of course they’d incorporate vocals
in a way that accented that trademark sound of theirs. Watch
the video for Wet Gold below.
John Michael Cassetta keeps his own blog, Big
Diction, and writes for the local website Austin
Sound. Comments, complaints, and solicitations
may be directed
here.
- John Michael
Cassetta -
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