If you haven’t found the time to watch the short film, The Privates, inspired by the band of the same name; do so stat. If you have watched it, you’ll want to steer yourself over to the Original Score now available on Bandcamp and revisit the three main pieces from the film as well as two outtakes that fit right in with the sci-fi world but just didn’t make the cut.

Bonus: the score includes two actual songs from The Privates, which you can never hear too often.

I know very little about Jonesiii From the Moon, aka Dedrick Jones, but the four tracks he’s posted on Bandcamp as a preview for his forthcoming album, The Moon is Watching Us (due Sept 10th),  is a compelling argument for learning more. The overall tone is laid back but he’s managed to mix mysterious spacey vibes both into the music (see the three minute outro on “Black Moon” or the staggering vocal track on “Afraid”) and into the lyrics – a thematic element that runs throughout the preview tracks. 

The full album will be 17 tracks that likely maintains a similar vibe. That won’t be easy to pull off but I imagine there’s plenty of compelling tricks up his sleeve to keep it interesting.

Total honesty policy, typically when I hear a group of songs that begins with a soft acoustic guitar coupled with hushed, intimate, vocals I tend to skip ahead to the next thing. Fortunately, when listening to the Demos from Dark Party, aka Carmen Canedo, I forced myself to indulge a bit further and discovered some wonderful vocal overlays, swirling guitars and a voice that is reminiscent of Sharon Van Etten in terms of the mournful weight it can carry. 

The tracks were recorded by Todd Tidwell and I can only hope they continue to be fleshed out, though there’s a magic to them as they stand now.

The tags for Night Machine’s first batch of demo’s describe the band as “metal”, “retro” and “synthwave” – a combination that can be embarrassingly cheesy when not correctly balanced. Fortunately, based on these three demo tracks, the band seems to have figured out the right formula. It’s certainly over the top at times but that’s an intentional dramatic flair, not an accidental one.

The final track, “Gunslinger”, is the black sheep of the three. While it feels in need of the most polish, it certainly shows a band willing to investigate all sorts of genres. 

Speaking personally, a little self-deprecation goes a long way in stirring my interests. The sophomore LP from Vekunin is described as “not so highly anticipated” and his bio describes himself as “a bored teenager.”

DANCE-2NITE is a pleasant dose of Vaporwave, complete with the DIY production, slowed down vocal tracks and Japanese album title translation. The album hits its stride about mid-way through with the title track and rounds out with a ‘West End Girls’ sample coupled with Pulp Fiction snippets. 

While the album may not have been highly anticipated, it’s appreciated.