Fresh Track: Esta Vivo “We Do the Skies”
Está Vivo is the project of Chicago native Ryan McMahon. As his former band disintegrated in 2009, McMahon has used Está Vivo as his sounding board. His tropical pop filled guitar riffs look to fight the frigid conditions us Midwesterners are surrounded with right now. Song, “We Do the Skies” allows me to teleport to a sunny solace. As I avoid the brisk winter, I listen to this song while reflecting in my apartment. The brackish stained hardwood floors of my apartment show their winter wear. As I peel back the blinds my imagination takes me south. It feels like a sandy beach replaces the salty streets. Each guitar note in this track allows me to look for my castle in the sky. Hallucination or not, this fantasy is not only accepted, but also mandatory for my raw winter blues. This is a remedy to help me find my rapture. For a moment this song provides me a warming relieve that even my heat vents can’t match. Join my comfort by pressing play. It is your change to let this figment scrape away your slush.
Connect to Está Vivo via Facebook | Twitter | Bandcamp
Written by Brett McGrath
Fresh Track: Geographer “Life of Crime”
Toward the beginning of December, Brett featured San Fran band Geographer in a Band to Watch post. About a month ago, the band released a new track called “Life of Crime”. You can stream the song below. The band will be on tour throughout March, making the trek through the Midwest toward the end of the month. Geographer will play Cleveland, Grand Rapids, Chicago and St. Louis between March 28th and 31st. Up-and-comers Miniature Tigers will be on hand to lend support.
Connect with Geographer via Facebook | Twitter
Written by Rob Peoni
Fresh Track + Video: Fear of Men “Doldrums”
The music video is one of the most underappreciated forms of artistry there is. Forgotten about since MTV went into the shitter 15 years ago when Carson Daly lost Jennifer Love Hewitt and sent his career from TRL to a half hour taped late night show that no one in America watches unless they are too stoned to sleep or too drunk to remember. The music video still exists today, only releases are viral via the Internet, rather than the television. The change in venue has obviously reduced the budget, but certainly not reduced the artist’s chance to express music through imagery in creative ways.
Fear of Men are quartet from London and Brighton who have only been making music together since early 2011. Their best song to date, “Doldrums”, is a relaxed lo-fi pop song with jangly guitars and somber vocals. For all you non-English majors, doldrums is defined as “low spirits; a feeling of boredom or depression; a period of inactivity or state of stagnation” and it’s music video fits this mood. Shot in black and white, it features lead singer Jessica Weiss wandering in a forest dressed in all black surrounded by visions of yesterday in the form of historical civilization statues. Figures covered in white appear towards the end, and Jessica toys with trying see what’s inside, before ultimately abandoning and moving on.
Meet me in the doldrums for a while
I’ll let it take me over
I’ll meet you in the doldrums
I’ve got to let go of everything I own
Fear of Men self-released “Doldrums” on a tape entitled Alice Munro Demos. Keep your eyes open for the band’s debut album, which is scheduled for release on April 9th of this year. If you like what you hear, be sure to visit the group’s Bandcamp page for more of their ever-growing catalog.
Connect to Fear of Men via Facebook | Twitter
Written by Greg Dahman
Thought on Tracks 