Well howdy! My name is Rafael and I run a little Brooklyn-based music blog called Brighter Sounds. I definitely want to thank the kind souls at Hearing Gold for allowing me to ramble a bit about music and my writing. I started Brighter Sounds during October of last year in an attempt to bring attention to artists I would encounter that weren’t getting much coverage. Clearly not an original idea but it inspired me anyway. Brighter Sounds, as a blog, attempts to cover quality music without sticking to a certain genre. Ranging from folk to bedroom pop, I aim to challenge your taste in music, as well as my own. Well enough of my rambling, here are some tunes I have really been enjoying lately:
This is an older track but a recent discovery for me. RLMDL uses just the right amount of lo-fi hiss and recording with the right production tricks to tie the track together. The vocals swim through this sea of dynamics while being twisted to match the backing track of beautiful synths and fuzzy electronic percussion.
A near 7 minute track from Teen Daze of beautiful synthesizers and ambient textures drawn together by thumping beats. It moves slow but never makes you lose interest.
“Get Back” from Fog Lake‘s There’s a Spirit, There’s a Soul is a hazy and slow-moving beauty. Entering with a sullen synth line and accompanied by slow paced guitar strumming it’s just the beginning of this beautifully heartbreaking album. Pair this with unique vocals and this becomes an amazing piece.
4. Grandpa Was a Lion – Strawberry Fields Forever (Cover)
Grandpa Was a Lion‘s cover of “Strawberry Fields Forever” is a stripped down and passionate track. Using only his guitar and voice, Justin bleeds soul through this cover, making it his own. The breathy vocals and the slight hesitation of delivery in his voice just emit pure passion and heart.
5. The Inclined Plane – California Amps
One of the less fuzzy and distorted tracks from The Inclined Plane‘s recent release, “California Amps” is a simple and straightforward guitar-driven track. Sometimes I forget music like this exists. It’s nice to remind myself of it. Takes me back to my roots.
Again, I have to thank the lovely folks at Hearing Gold for allowing me to entertain you guys for a bit. I have nothing but respect and love for this blog and I expect all of you to have the same. I hope you enjoyed these tracks or at least found something that interests you. Until we meet again…
Rafael G. – Brighter Sounds
Guest Post 002: Brighter Sounds was originally published on HEARING GOLD