Here is the fifth edition of Honey on the Knife Radio. As per usual, we’ve got 11 songs, some new, some not as new, and all of them great.
Listen to Episode 5 here:
If you’d prefer the print format of this episode, continue reading below.
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Matthew Cardinal – “May 24th”
An asterism is usually defined as a group of stars that make up a pattern in the sky, but in the case of Matthew Cardinal’s upcoming album, they exist as “captured moments of experimentation and expression… drawing attention to where I was musically, mentally and emotionally at very brief passages of my life.” The title of each song/asterism on the album exists in the form of a date, and lead single “May 24th” feels as expansive as the night sky itself, with synth tones slowly twinkling like stars amongst the slow dance of the northern lights.
Asterisms arrives October 27th. Until then, hold yourself over by diving into Cardinal’s Bandcamp catalog and his work as part of nêhiyawak, the moccasingaze group whose debut album nipiy has been nominated for the 2020 Polaris Music Prize.
The OBGMs – “Not Again”
I found out about The OBGMs through an article by Daniel G. Wilson for New Feeling, in which he highlighted several of the BIPOC musicians making waves and changing the face of historically whitewashed Canadian rock music. Vocalist/guitarist Densil McFarlane is very aware of the significant role his group is playing in changing the guard. Talking to Exclaim, he said, “This is a Black-fronted punk band, and that’s really important. Rock’n’roll is mostly white suburban kids — that’s what gets promoted. But we are Black and we out here. I was inspired to make rock music when I saw a Black guy on stage, and if someone sees that in us, I hope it will inspire a new generation to go after this.”
“Not Again” comes from the band’s upcoming album The Ends, which is set to be released on October 30th. The track’s raw garage punk energy and body-shaking groove are punctuated by the fiery vocals and earworm chorus provided by McFarlane.
The Cool Greenhouse – “Alexa!”
Given the fascination with technology as a means to a better tomorrow, you’d think that more big brain people in Silicon Valley would be using their resources to develop solutions to the countless societal, economical, environmental problems that many people face in this world. Yet despite all the possibilities with tech, we are left with many consumer products that exist to solve small inconveniences for middle class people, or offer a cheaper alternative to an existing service by further exploiting those work to provide it and rendering small business competitors unable to complete (see the brutality of Uber, Amazon, Spotify, many more).
Yet, perhaps the most pointless of these “innovations” is the virtual assistant, which, when it isn’t eavesdropping and sharing your private information for marketing purposes, is there to tell you the weather, press play on your favourite album, or set an alarm. You know, things you could do yourself in the same amount of time with 100% accuracy and 0% invasion of your privacy.
The Cool Greenhouse describe “Alexa!” as “a modern love song dedicated to the 14% of men who have found themselves aroused by their virtual assistants during lockdown and a characteristically sardonic investigation into the sly corporate invasion of domestic space”, with a cyclical riff and steady-going beat laying the base for wry observations on the “stereotypically subservient female automaton that’s unbelievably bad at its job”.
Black Nite Crash – “Wrong”
Speaking of pervasive watching eyes, Black Nite Crash describe “Wrong” as “a simple yet scathing indictment of the surveillance state and a government that, even then, did not speak for the people, and has only worsened in that regard over the ensuing years.” These modern critiques are cloaked in a classic sound, as the Colony Drive EP calls to mind the proto-shoegaze of the late 1980s with noisy riffs smeared in a layer of spaced-out psychedelia.
Hunting Dog – “Hyperstitions (Black Snow Edit)“
An album from 2019 that I’ve been spinning a lot lately is Hunting Dog’s Body. Speaking about the creation of the album’s hypnotically disorientating sound, they said “I usually make a track from scratch, then take it into a dj mixer or something and make a crap ton of remixes until the song becomes unrecognizable…With this release i wanted to be a lot more influenced by the techniques used to make dance music and see If I could put that into ambient.”
On this alternate version of “Hyperstitions”, we see a collision of danceability and distorted shoegaze textures in trance-like auras of sound. The original presents the busy thump of a kick drum pulsing through a blur of disembodied vocals. With the remix, the haze gets thicker but the strong rhythm remains in ambient yet exercising form.
Sylvia Robinson – “Pillow Talk”
Sylvia Robinson was a musician, songwriter, producer, and record label owner. She broke into the music industry after dropping out of school at age 14, and began recording under the alias of Little Sylvia in 1950. In 1954, she began collaborating with Mickey Baker, who taught her how to play the guitar, and the two began a successful run performing together under the name Mickey and Sylvia. Several of their songs charted on the Billboard charts, with 1957’s “Love is Strange” reaching the top spot on the R&B charts and 11th on the Hot 100.
Sylvia and her husband Joe Robinson opened the Soul Sound studio and then founded the All Platinum record company in 1968. She was one of the few women working as a record producer at the time, and in 1972, she sent a demo of “Pillow Talk” to Al Green, hoping that he would perform it. After he turned it down, citing that it would go against his religious beliefs, she decided to restart her solo career and record it herself. The track would reach the third spot on the Billboard Hot 100 in 1973. One of the most notable features of the song is Robinson’s moans and sensual heavy breathing, which predate those of Donna Summer on her international disco hit “Love to Love You Baby”, released in 1975.
In addition to her work as a solo artist, Robinson is oftentimes regarded as the “Mother of Hip-Hop”. She and her husband founded Sugar Hill Records in 1979. The label’s first record, “Rappers Delight” by Sugarhill Gang, was released the same year and became the first hip hop record to hit the Top 40.
In 1982, Robinson would produce “The Message” by Grandmaster Flash and the Furious Five, a track that marked a pivotal moment in hip hop history. Earlier hip-hop songs tended to be self-celebratory in nature, as the genre had earlier roots in house parties, and the role of the MC was typically secondary to the scratching and mixing performance of the DJ. “The Message” differed in its emphasis on socially-conscious lyrics describing inner city life in the throes of crime and poverty. The track transformed hip hop by pulling the MC to the forefront of the music and laid the groundwork for future rappers with political and socially-oriented lyrical platforms.
It is important that we recognize the vital contributions that Black women like Sylvia Robinson have made in the development of popular music, as too often they are erased in whitewashed patriarchal tellings of music history. Check out this article to learn more about Sylvia Robinson.
Apoc Krysis – “Targetspotted (prod By DeejayRust)”
Apoc Krysis dishes a cold and menacing flow over a metallic Memphis/phonk style beat provided by DeejayRust. This cut appears on the Age in Decline compilation from Natural Sciences, a Manchester, UK-based label celebrating their fifth year of putting out fascinating dark hip-hop and electronic sounds.
Also worth noting, Apoc Krysis and Kreayshawn run a Youtube channel called Phonk.rip, where they upload phonk and lo-fi house mixes they’ve put together. The 𝓬𝓱𝓲𝓵𝓵 house 𝓶𝓲𝔁 no.1 is a good place to start if you like your grimy house bangers cocooned in the soft fuzziness of tape hiss.
Archie Sagers – “Blue and Green”
When I look at the cover of Happy New Year, the debut album by Archie Sagers, the multicolored holiday lights suspended in a jet black sky remind me of the cover of The Clientele’s Suburban Light, one of my all-time favorite albums. And with both, the nocturnal location is reflected in the warm and intimate dream-jangle sound.
Chiming and brightly reverbed guitar notes may be a staple in amongst artists that intersect the lines of post-punk and dream pop, and they are a musical characteristic that I always appreciate. What separates Sagers from his contemporaries is his distinctly rich vocal tones that weave through the ricocheting riffs with an air of romanticism that is especially apparent on tracks like “Blue and Green”.
Sagers says that the album is about “the period between childhood and adulthood. Questioning yourself, meeting new people and finding a purpose all impose looming challenges. It is about accepting change around you and enjoying experiences for what they are.”
Funeral Lakes – “Earth Falls”
Regarding the title of their Golden Season EP, a press release from Funeral Lakes explains:
“The Golden Season is a period of transition. A period of reflection. A time to hold dear the things we love. The gentle glow of foliage before the fall, the sunset years of life as we know it, and the distant glimmer of hope that we might forge a path forward.”
It very much seems to signify the crossroads we as humanity find ourselves currently at, set either to continue further into the downward spiral of destructive and dehumanizing capitalist world order that got us to this present moment, or towards a more sustainable and equitable future where human lives and the natural world aren’t squandered in favour of overproduction and profit. And while we are wrestling with the weariness that comes with knowing just how precarious of a position the world is, there remains the everyday struggle of just trying to get by and remain hopeful as a human being on this planet. As Chris Hemer puts it on “Earth Falls”
“I’m getting by but we’re barely breathing
I eulogize what I’m now seeing
I am alive in this golden season”
On Golden Season, Hemer and Sam Mischo provide pointed critiques of petro-nationalism, toxic masculinity, and the heteropatriarchy. It’s a release that resonates deeply in its ability to urgently convey justified anger and existential anxiety in these times, while still holding onto a sense of optimistic for the birth of another world.
Ground – “Almost Life”
The practice of making music, while incredibly rewarding as a solo venture, takes on a special power when done in collaboration with others. Feeding off each other’s ideas with the right amount of harmonious tension can produce amazing things when minds come together. I think often of how many creative co-practices were disrupted by the inability to safely gather in a room to write, improvise, erase, and revise together. Yet, musicians are resilient and many have found a way to generate amazing works together from a distance.
Benjamin Kitchens and Eric Brannon, the two members of Ground, constructed the Correspondence EP via email and phone call. It was a necessity given that they live on different coasts, and it doesn’t obstruct them from synthesizing a calming four song offering of post-rock ambience. Instantly its atmosphere swallows you up, slowing down heart rates and seemingly time itself before releasing you on the other side feeling soothed and renewed.
Queen Sophie’s VCR and the Bright Side of Hemisphere 5 – “Endless Pride”
In September, Queen Sophie’s VCR and the Bridge Side of Hemisphere 5 released an EP titled fuck you i fucking hate you so fucking much (sorry). As suggested from the title, volatile levels of raw aggressive energy explode out in screams that pierce through an explosive frenzy of overdriven bass and shard of glass synths.
I believe Bandcamp user vertigoawayfan sums up this project best with this comment:
“This EP is glorious distorted beauty that floods into your ears and commands you to realize, “hey, ur a fucking fool.” and your instinctual response is to immediately implode in awe of something so impossibly unfeasible. fucking. Art.”
https://qsvcr.bandcamp.com/album/fuck-you-i-fucking-hate-you-so-fucking-much-sorry-ep
Find the fucking fool in yourself via this harsh and heavy experience.
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If you are a musician and you would like to submit your music to be featured in a future edition of Honey on the Knife Radio, send an email to contact@honeyontheknife.com