Scoping the Shameless

By RingMaster Review on June 23, 2024 • ( 0 )

Welcome to another eager dip into the creative bounty sought out and shared by one half of mesmeric Canadian dreamscapers UMMAGMA and SHAMELESS PROMOTION PR honcho, Shauna. Basking in and feeding off her hard and eager work, we again put the kettle on, warmed the teapot and plunged into her latest selection of possibilities, coming up with a quartet of tracks that have haunted our imaginations and listening pleasure with increasing potency.

Not so long ago, we shone a spotlight upon Nebula, the latest Stratis Capta Records released single from San Francisco post-punk outfit OCTAVIAN WINTERS. It was a track also accompanied by a remix of one of their other songs that had provided a particular peak within their acclaimed debut EP, The Line or Curve. That song was Velveteen and such the captivation of a remix by Mark Pistel we have found ourselves being drawn back to it time and time again, a pull suggested that its own spotlight is more than warranted.

For newcomers, OCTAVIAN WINTERS consists of guitarist Stephan Salit (Thrill of The Pull), drummer Randy Gzebb (Thrill of The Pull, Love Club), bassist Jay Denton, and vocalist/keyboardist Ria Aursjoen. Emerging in 2022, the band with a post punk seeded, atmospheric and ambience wrapped sound drew keen attention and eager plaudits especially around their 2023 released first EP. Having recorded The Line or Curve with William Faith (The Bellwether Syndicate, Faith & the Muse, Christian Death) at Mark Pistel’s Room 5 Recording studio, the band invited him to remix a track from the release. Renowned for his part in CONSOLIDATED and MEAT BEAT MANIFESTO and his ‘pioneering’ explorations within Electronic-industrial/EDM realms, Pistel jumped at the chance to record Velveteen, a track he found a particular love for.

Velveteen is a song as tenebrific as it is melodically and vocally radiant, its realm bound in shadows and dark suggestion but one also atmospherically enlivening and ethereally compelling. Pistel’s version keeps, almost highlights its dark possibilities but aligns them to nagging electro resonance and dance floor inciting rhythmic pulsation. He has cast a new aspect to the rich intimation of the track and a fresh captivation to its presence yet its warmer and new strain of virulence does nothing to deflect or diminish its evocative half-light and crepuscular beauty.

Another two-track release that we have constantly been lured back by is the Riptide/Hey Candy 7” vinyl released single from 9-VOLT VELVET. We plucked out Riptide a few looks ago but its companion has been like an itch so again we share a deserved light upon temptation-loaded Hey Candy.

Dallas-based 9-VOLT VELVET is made up of Mark Cross (lead vocals, guitar, bass, keyboards, percussion), Donnie Robertson (drums, percussion, keyboards) and Kevin Robinson (guitar, bass, keyboards, vocals) and count the sharing of stages with artists such as STARFLYER 59, SPOON, THE DANDY WARHOLS, JIMMY EAT WORLD, SUNNY DAY REAL ESTATE, KILL HANNAH, LUXURY, LUGSOLE, THE FEATURES, BLEACH, and MORELLA’S FOREST as part of their combined histories experiences that also take in being part of bands like VIVA VOCE and THE NORTHERN LIGHTS. The trio cast a sound that is a fusion of alt rock, post-punk, shoegaze and darkwave but equally ventures an even broader landscape.

As its companion on the single, Hey, Candy is taken from the band’s January released album Nude Beaches and shares a climate of fuzz lit grooves, rhythmic tenacity and ethereal vocal tempting. It is a track as sonically vaporous as it is rock ‘n’ roll dextrous, its nagging groove and jabbing beats proving addictive incitement as the imagination slipped into its warm yet rapacious enterprise. Quite simply, it is a song that more than stands out from the crowd.

RIDE’s MARK GARDENER has very often cropped up among the releases we have explored over the years within Shauna’s discoveries, either as producer or contributor. He is both and indeed co-songwriter in the case of Everything Turns, the new single from progressive shoegaze outfit A SHORELINE DREAM.

The Colorado hailing duo of multi-instrumentalist and vocalist Ryan Policky and guitarist Erik Jeffries release their eight full-length digitally and on limited edition white vinyl LP on July 19^th via Latenight Weeknight Records and have linked up with Gardener for a trio of tracks within Whitelined that see Policky and Gardener as co-writers and co-producers. Everything Turns is the first glimpse of their collaboration and indeed of the album.

A SHORELINE DREAM weave a sound also seeded in shoegaze and ambient suggestiveness but with just as keen progressive and alt rock inclinations and prowess. It has nurtured a host of acclaimed releases from the band and though a lone moment, Everything Turns suggest that Whitelined will be just as persuasive.

The track immediately and calmly strolls through ears with a melodic radiance over rhythmic shuffle, its ethereal shimmer echoed in the harmonic lead and union of vocals. Wrapping itself around ears like a radiant mist of possibilities and promises, Everything Turns continued to bewitch and radiate captivation. It has an almost haunting presence that is matched in calling by its physical virulence, and a creative adventure that we anticipate being further unveiled and explored within Whitelined.

Lastly, we present Too Civilized, the new single from experimental electronic artist PAS MUSIQUE and a first preview of his upcoming July 12^th, Alrealon Musique released new album, Come Follow Me. It is fair to say that we were as drawn to the single and its possibilities by the new album being described as paying tribute to Frank Tovey a.k.a. FAD GADGET, he one of our favourite eighties electronic artists, as from our rather enjoyable outings with the project previously; real curiosity dictating play.

PAS MUSIQUE is the creation of Robert L. Pepper and a project influenced by artists such as FAUST, COIL, ZOVIET FRANCE, NEU and obviously Fad Gadget. Formed in 1995, the band has seen many different line-ups and “variations of experimental electronic iterations” but now is solely a one man exploration of abstract-sound and electronic examination.

Exploring the theme of human civilization not seeing the consequences of its actions, Too Civilized aligns the synth pop industrial aspect of Tovey’s distinct work and essences akin to the aberrant industrial punk of ALIEN SEX FIEND with minimalistic yet experimental aspects often tagged as Krautrock. It is a fusion though that Pepper turns and casts with his own particular individuality and invention, the song evolving by the minute from a cold wave/post punk kilned protagonist to an ethereal psychedelia teasing realm of shadows and possibilities.

From start to finish it is one inescapably compelling proposal, nostalgia nurtured essences colluding with modern creative threat and intimation, a rhythmic pulsation all the while nagging away under the skin. Too Civilized is superb, a track that will prove raw addiction if its flavours and breeding echo with one’s own creative instincts.