Tag Archives: paper lights

Paper Lights!

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Paper Lights are probably one of the best indie bands of this decade. They have a great sound. The first time I heard their tracks I compare it to watching a beautiful sunset as stars start to appear one by one. Really atmospheric and dazzling! The beauty of their every song leaves you breathless. I have not heard that kind of thing in other bands except Coldplay, perhaps. Songs like Always In My(2014) Head and Caverns(2015) are memorable. There are alternate vocals of male and female and this kind of arrangement adds to the expressive power and diversity of their every release.

They’ve just posted their pledge campaign this week called Great Escapes, via YouTube, and I think that is something that indie music lovers should check out. I’ve been listening to their music for weeks but I decided to forgo writing an entry to let their art soak up in my head. And think their sound is at home anywhere. I bring their music when I go to the gym or when I go on a picnic with friends. I think it’s also due to the beautiful rendering of the keys and the beats. They this huge sound when it comes to bass and percussion. That is my kind of style.

I would describe their lyrics as introspective with bouts of melancholy and strong emotions. Although I am not really a lyrics guy so they can sing about anything and  the music would still grab me.

Buffalo Souls by Dan Snyder: A Ride Into Beautiful Sonic Places

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Wow, who is Dan Snyder? Listening to Buffalo Souls is like riding a spaceship. It all takes off with the first track Beneath Our Dan SnyderVeins. And then it progresses from there. There are little sounds that sparkle throughout this recording. They are like fireflies or planetary rings that shine. If you listen to in-ear headphones you can really hear them as Buffalo Souls is filled with nuance as it is brimming with cinematic explosions. It is a complex album with many textures and sonic landscapes and this is the kind of music that I gravitate too. It has a lot of room for exploration. For instance, in Mt Rainer, the thundering piano brings fourth the little layered voices and beautiful percussion that sounds like an extraterrestrial has landed. Still this is a marriage of electronic and acoustic sounds. There are instances where I marvel at the arrangement of the drums like in So Close where they are made to sound distant. His wet vocals float around like blankets of mists longing for a resolution in a world filled with maybes.

The floating feeling is consistent throughout the albums. And this is what excellent albums should be about-distinctive style or theme and coherence. The Herd sounds pastural and angelic. If this is the style that he is developing then I say he has a chest of golden sounds. If he continues in this path then I will pursue in collecting his albums as Buffalo Souls created an aesthetic impact in me. And in the closing track getting started, it feels like the journey is just enough. It makes you long for another one, yet the experience is satisfying-not to grandiose and not too humble.

Dan Snyder has a gift of beautiful songwriting. And I think his edge is his being able to use his voice as another instrument. And this is refreshing in this decade where every singer sounds like the last guy you’ve heard.

Links: http://noisetrade.com/buffalosouls

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