Must give credit where credit is due, local pop punkers Vista Blue teamed up with Connecticut-based The Zambonis to release a split entirely about the sport of curling. Yes, the timing with the Olympics was intentional and, yes, they’re capitalizing on the absurdity of everyone’s favorite ice bowling sport.
The songs are straight forward rockers with a bit of doo-wop harmonies. It’s like a modern day sock hop inspired by Weezer. Not your typical offering but, hey, neither is curling!
The Grape Lung EP from Gram Ash is a scant four songs but manages to dig deep into some well executed psychedelia in its runtime. The pace is a refreshing combination of upbeat drumbeats, exploding guitars and thick basslines all mixed with drowsy vocals.
The last two tracks of the release take a more subdued route, going as far as delving into contemplative spoken musings. Typically this is not something I’d endorse but Ash pulls it off.
For those unfamiliar, D. Striker is a country western act that only performs on Friday the 13th. These festivities are entitled “The RR Party” and D. Striker himself creates a zine for every performance and a setlist of often humorous, completely legitimate, classic country tunes.
This forthcoming April 13th, 2018 will be a Friday and you can catch D. Striker over at Dee’s Country Cocktail Lounge. In the meantime, you can partake in his latest single, “Take Your Time“, a road song featuring some blaring horn parts, fancy guitar work and gang vocals.
As with all things D. Striker, there’s a perfectly amusing air to the whole thing. The song is fun. The video is fun. The whole damn thing is fun. Look at this gif! Or this one! If that’s not fun, I don’t know what is.
Joe Pisapia is likely best known for his production work with Ben Folds, The Silver Seas or Drew Holcomb (among others) but he’s an accomplished songwriter in his own right. His 2015 album Nightvision is a densely layered collection of songs that runs the gamut of introspective melancholy songs to explosive all-out rock numbers. With his latest, Connection, he reigns in the stylistic variety for a more laser-focused, no less dense, pop experience.
The word “pop” in this context can be a bit misleading; as it’s not referencing some sugar coated musical treat manufactured to prick at your earworm sensors but, rather, it’s a style of music that is hook laden and memorable but isn’t a rock record with searing guitars and driving drums. It’s a softer, gentler, record of confessions and observations but still catchy.
Pisapia has a mild Randy Newman vibe sometimes; both in vocal quality and in penchant for song quality. The record is a worthwhile listen from top to bottom but if I had to guide you through some convincing highlights I’d say start with “Feels So Good To be Understood” for a frolicking piano number cut with Jon Brion guitar warbles, dive into “Beautiful Re-arranger” for a pleasant instrumental diddy and give “Nashville Melancholia” a spin for some soaring melodies.
Happy to announce a brand new limited series on the We Own This Town podcast network – Vidalotry. This ten episode transmission tackles the wit and wisdom of famed intellectual Gore Vidal in his own words, through clips of interviews, public speaking and TV show appearances. The first teaser is available now and will give you a great overview of the kind of entertainment Vidal can provide.
The show is created by Ryan Breegle, a writer and musician from the Nashville area that you might know from the likes of Tipper Whore or nightblonde. His perspective on Vidal’s openness on the topics of homosexuality, creativity and politics will prove to be pertinent in our tumultuous times.
The show is available on all major streaming podcast networks. So, by all means, fire up your favorite podcast software and subscribe. Then go follow @vidalotrypodcast over on Instagram. Official episodes start Feb 19th.
Podcast: Download
Subscribe: RSS
Introducing Vidalotry, a new ten-part series podcast from Ryan Breegle that examines the wit and wisdom of famed intellectual and public persona Gore Vidal. Using a multitude of recordings, interviews and talk show appearances, Breegle examines Gore’s insights on homosexuality, politics, clashing opinions between creatives and much much more. This preview of the show gives you a taste of what to expect with forthcoming episodes.
Coming February 2018.
Back in September we heard the debut single from Yon Ort, aka Eric Wilson. The track, “What You Feel”, is a mellow groove mixed with psychedelic vocals with lyrics proclaiming that our reality is not reality at all. It’s some heavy subject matter for a pop song but that disparity is exactly what makes it work so well.
The full EP supporting that track is now available for your enjoyment. The remainder of tracks don’t tackle our futility in the same way but there is a rather clever persistence of pondering our place in the world and trying to know the unknown. If lyrics aren’t your thing, rest assured that there’s plenty of thick bass lines, rolling guitars, swirling keyboards and creative vocal takes throughout.
It’s a highly successful first release as it keeps it interesting from start to finish. Picking a favorite isn’t easy but with just five tracks, thankfully you don’t have to.
The debut release from The Drowsees is an all-too-short single of two tracks that manages to pull all the right inspirations from shoegaze, dream pop and synth pop all at once. Both tracks are an exercise in detached, melancholy vocals backed by a wall of guitar, occasionally unleashing a wall of feedback and reverb.
Two tracks isn’t a whole lot to go off of to judge the merit of a band but if they can manage to write eight more of these, they’ve got themselves an incredibly enjoyable album.
Daniel Pingrey has a rather fascinating discography over works. BIG CHANCE TIME BABY is a series of “re-imaginings” performed via the “Electronic Toys” settings on his Kompakt. Christmas Eve at the Castle Orchestration is a delightfully executed collection of traditional Christmas songs, existing on the opposite end of the spectrum of the prior release.
His latest, Shorts, is another entirely new entity. This ongoing gathering of tracks are, as the name implies, quite dainty in length but still manage to set an enjoyable mood in their brief lifespan. Hopefully he makes good on his promise to keep adding to the collection, as 3 tracks is simply not enough.
In 2017, Hammock managed to release two full-length records; Mysterium and the Columbus original motion picture soundtrack. Both are meticulously crafted, deliberately paced, sweeping records of ambient post-rock instrumentals.
With that in mind, it’s pleasantly surprising to see that they’ve already released another EP this early in 2018 with Repeat/Texture. It is four compositions of more quality ambient music. Their album description says each track was built around a sound meant to induce a specific mood but that’s certainly in the ear of the beholder. These tracks are excellent companions for quiet contemplation and staring into the void.
Our aim at We Own This Town is to give voice to the talent of our city that may otherwise go overlooked. While they aren’t renowned performers in the music world or up-and-coming comedians in the burgeoning Nashville stand-up scene, Hott Minute hosts Ashley Spurgeon and Jamie Bradley have been contributing their unique talents to enrich our city in plenty of other ways. With the release of their third episode, it’s high time we got to know our illustrious moderators of hotties a bit more.
Ashley Spurgeon is likely best known for her Nashville recaps over at The Nashville Scene but she’s been contributing plenty of additional pop culture commentary for ages. Fun fact: She was one of the founding members of Rock ‘N’ Roll Trivia at the Mercy Lounge that spawned a thousand spinoffs. She’s also a living Bible of Simpsons quotes and all things Anglophile. Her Twitter feed is objectively hilarious and her audacious insights on TV Shows vs Movies will never fail to entertain.
Jamie Bradley is a Texas native that found her place in Nashville contributing to a number of unique creations during her tenure. In Terminator: The Second, the stage play mashup of Shakespeare and Terminator II, she led the cast as John Connor. In the spy-vs-spy absurdity series The Agents of Fortune, she played the straight foil to Dean Shortland and Mac Cushing’s antics. You might have also spotted her in this How I Became the Bomb music video. Her encyclopedic pop culture knowledge reaches from Garry Shandling to the Kardashians.
All that being said, they’re also armed with lightning fast wit and a wellspring of knowledge outside of pop culture. Their powers combined make the Hott Minute podcast an alarmingly amusing off-the-cuff conversation. We’re overjoyed to have them aboard and proud to contribute in some small part to aiding the humorous side of Nashville to be heard by as many folks as possible. By all means, dive into their show.
Podcast: Download
Subscribe: RSS
Jamie opens up about a very specific photo of Martin Landau, Ashley goes to bat for Ray Romano, and the girls deep-dive discuss Dwight Yoakam and Lorde. Plus! Blake Shelton, Prince, Ted McGinley, Alf, and an alarming Suits update.
Artwork by Elizabeth Williams
Music by Ryan Malina
