By Nick Rattigan
Photo courtesy of bandcamp.com
In “Three Love Songs,” Ricky Eat Acid, aka Sam Ray (Teen Suicide, Starry Cat), creates a beautiful and haunting atmosphere through electronic music that blends elements of both ambience and dance. The album begins with a dark ghostly voice narrating, “ I can hear you moving around downstairs, sagging your feet as you walk back and forth through the house. Running your hand over the piano keys absentmindedly as you pass by…”
Quietly, as the sound of piano keys build up, so does the tension in the narrator’s voice until it comes to a grinding halt with the sentiment that, “There is only you and the light and nothing else.”
With the first 30 seconds, Ray establishes that his album is not for the casual ear. He urges the listener to dig for meaning in each track as if one was pulling apart a piece of literature or assembling what went wrong with your last relationship.
The first half of the album is surrounded with these sorts of nostalgic soundscapes, which entice the listener to ask thought-provoking questions about isolation, admiration and abandonment. It isn’t until “It Will Draw Me Over to It Like It Always Does,” when the ambient tension is broken and the album reaches its climax through addicting beats and samples that we as listeners are far more familiar with.
Shortly after, the album reaches a calming conclusion with ambient soundscapes, which leave the listener exactly where he or she started. This blending between two genres creates an entirely unique listening experience. In a time when most electronic music lacks any creativity or passion, Ricky Eat Acid leaves his mark on the musical community with “Three Love Songs,” as more of a love poem than an indistinguishable drop.
By Thomas Snider
Photo courtesy of bandcamp.com
King Krule, otherwise known as Archy Marshall, grabbed our hearts with one of the most honest indie rock albums of 2013 with “6 Feet Beneath the Moon.” The record solidified the artist’s place as one of the most eccentric musicians out of England, due to his heart sunk lyricism and unconventional mix of live instrumentals alongside a drum machine.
After five months of promoting and touring as King Krule, Marshall is back as part of a new laid-back hip-hop collective under the name Sub Luna City. Edgar, Rago Foot, Jadasea, and Black Mack make up the group which dropped their first mixtape, “City Rivims MK1,” on January 10. The hip-hop collective’s debut showcases Marshall as a musician and producer with dreamy boom clap beats along jazzy samples that will take the listener straight to the streets of the U.K.
The riveting beats project a nostalgic old school hip-hop feel, creating a state reminiscent of Dilla joints. Lyrically, the crew bounces off each other with references to classic hip-hop, such as Nas, as Marshall recites “The World Is Yours.” Thanks to a diverse array of lyrical topics and classic nineties-style beats, “City Rivims Mk 1” is an engaging and thoroughly catchy mixtape.
By Berkley Bragg
Photo courtesy of bandcamp.com
Morgan Delt’s debut record, “Psychic Death Hole,” is sure to propel the budding artist to the forefront of the psychedelic rock scene.
The opening track, “Make My Brain Green,” immediately strikes the listener with a multitude of different instruments from tambourines to fuzzy guitars and synthesizers, all reminiscent of the 1960’s psychedelic movement. Every song on “Psychic Death Hole” incorporates Delt’s influences from 1960’s psychedelic groups such as the Grateful Dead, The Jimi Hendrix Experience and even slight hints of The Beatles. It is apparent that Morgan Delt has created his own unique psychedelic flare with “Psychic Death Hole.”
The album’s first single, “Barbarian Kings,” is a slow, melodic psychedelic trip that is more reminiscent of a long and hot journey through the desert than anything else. It first opens with a twangy and fuzzy guitar riff that harkens back to Jefferson Airplane’s, “White Rabbit.” “Barbarian Kings” proves to be the darkest and most sinister song on the album as it paves way for the rest of the songs to follow.
In all, “Psychic Death Hole” gives us a whole new idea of where psychedelic rock is headed. “Psychic Death Hole” is sure to please those interested in classic psychedelic and its more modern variants alike. Be sure to check out The Nevada Sagebrush’s official radio show every Tuesday from 4:00-5:00p.m. where we discuss the news of the week, conduct sports analysis and much more!
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