Hey...wasn’t anyone listening to the words in that last song...? The way they lurched out of his mouth like wounded beasts shambling to their ancestral death grounds? But, hold. Perhaps I’ve gone too far. True, his delivery’s akin to a sopping wet kazoo. But I’m here with you, so this night’s been upgraded to a standard-issue guilty pleasure. The rhythm of the hospital (Run around, run around until these errands are done) departs so slowly from us now (Come around, come around to this one). Heads pump to serviceable beats. The music threatening to speak to me. It’s letters vs. numbers. When you turn to me and laugh so loud you drop your battered crutches to the ground, it’s letters vs. numbers. And I fear I’m on every side. You, in the years I’ve been around, you’ve skirmished with death and defeated it somewhat, though it does creep back through tiny cracks that have somehow been left unattended. So, though it’s vanquished once again, sometimes the most harmless things adopt a sinister resonance. But let this doubt be balanced out with recognition of its absence. The rhythm of the hospital (Run around, run around until these errands are done) departs so slowly from us now (Come around, come around to this one). Get-well cards on the windowsill obscure the phalanx of impending bills. It’s letters vs. numbers. When the meniscus of our cheapest wine drops below a certain line, it’s letters vs. numbers. And I think I’m on every side. I watched cartoons on hospital TVs with academic solemnity. It’s letters vs. numbers. Now you’re asleep between familiar walls. I feel the sweet math of your pulse. It’s letters vs. numbers.
New on the always-great label Velvet Blue Music is “Slow Parade” from Gileah Taylor, boasting warm songs built on piano and guitar. Bandcamp New & Notable Apr 26, 2024
Delightfully unpredictable debut from a New York electronic producer and composer with backgrounds in psychedelic rock, jazz, and indie pop. Bandcamp New & Notable Apr 25, 2024
Toronto rivals San Francisco as the North American capital of jangle pop as evidenced by this new record of sunny jams from the Motorists. Bandcamp New & Notable Apr 16, 2024
Guitars sparkle like distant constellations on the latest from Scythe, who delivers dazzling space rock on their latest LP. Bandcamp New & Notable Apr 3, 2024