You’re so funny 😂 I liked the way this band was the unifying thread in a sea of chaotic emotions over a vast expanse of time, some bands are like that for me too.
The transformative power and beauty of music is encapsulated profoundly here, and I really like how your asides make my mind go what? Why?!
I checked them out, and they’re pretty fun. I know I’m hitching a freight train somewhere in the Deep South of my mind playing a beat up acoustic with the drifters, but this saccharine pop is tasty ear candy. I also love melodic things, and this band is good at that.
So many bands make me feel similarly unhinged and I have to go check out everything they’ve ever done and latch on for a while. This exact kinda thing happens to me more or less every week!
I can’t understand the boredom at gigs thing, and will end up going to most that even closely resonate. Live music is completely where it’s at, records are great, but nowhere near the beauty of witnessing several people who may or may not know each other struggling against entropy on a (usually) raised platform in front of a crowd of innocent bystanders.
This band sound like they are astounding live, and am really gutted I’ve not checked them out before in that respect mostly.
Thanks for sharing the love, it’s so refreshing to read really well written articles describing what it’s like to be going crazy over music. This type of thing you’re doing is highly potent and original, and really resonates with me!
Now I’m curious what “asides” you mean that make you go “what” and “why”!
I fall in love with music very difficultly I must say! I like a lot of music but it definitely takes time for me to LOVE music 👽 and I find it pretty rare to witness an artist go through such a steep development.
Like with Magdalena Bay, it just gets better and better, I’ve heard a lot of people say: “I don’t know how they’re gonna top this last one but I know that somehow they will” 🙃
I’m always super interested in songwriting that defies keys and this is exactly where this band is at. It sounds so effortless with them 👽
And I cannot recommend ENOUGH that you check them out live! It’s so trippy and so so cool!
Nearly every paragraph has one, maybe aside is the wrong word, more like statements that you make that you don't really explain, it's just a by-product of your writing it seems. I like the mystery you weave, and wanna continue that, so I'll leave it up to you to figure out.
Ah I don't get that at all, it's like I instantly love a band or artist, oftentimes even maybe it takes a bit of time, yet when I do get it, I love it. And that happens literally all the time to me. I guess there's a lot of music in the world and I know what I'm looking for, discernment is a good thing to develop.
I agree, a lot of the bands/artists have that sense of particular records being the height of their career, and sometimes it's difficult for them to get better, and when they do it's also really cool. It happens way less now because record companies aren't focused on artist development any more tragically, it used to be the case that it wouldn't really matter if the record flops if they really liked the artist, nowadays that's basically reversed.
Having said that, steep development is now even easier than ever, thanks to the wonderful internet, take zach bryan for case and point.
Yeah songwriting that isn't stuck to one key is kinda another thing that doesn't really happen so much any more either, and I really like that too.
Specifically, I like tonal ambiguity like in the beatles, beach boys, I mean, most of 60's/70's music, and obviously, radiohead a lot.
I guess that's what you mean about defying keys, although you seemed to talk more about actual key changes like in that Neon song. Either way, yes it's super fun and interesting to just be free and mix modes, shove random notes in, as you know.
Yet I absolutely love a simple diatonic pop song with a great melody. And also, you can absolutely harmonically be basic diatonic and straightforward, and still throw in a non-diatonic melody note, and that to me is even more powerful and fun, gotta thank the blues for that one (although using dominant 7 chords all the time definitely does stretch things harmonically outside the diatonic).
Ohhh yeah, I think I have to go see this band now, so thanks for the recommendation! I know you're biased, but your enthusiasm for the live show has transferred. I may have mentioned, I absolutely love live music, it's the best!
I love it...I have been wanting to ask where your band / project name came from, but was too shy to ask. NOW I know...and it was such a fun way to find out ! I think we've bonded because you feel and live music the same way I do...and I turned 62 this year, but music has always been my life, my caregiver, my refuge. May it always bring you the joy and creativity it gives me !!!
That is wonderful! I hope I can carry music throughout my whole life just like you’re doing it 🙂
This is probably a bit of a simplification of how my project name came to be for dramatic effect cause I think I first wrote it down at that show as a potential record name. The nickname Riri also has a bit of a history that I didn’t delve into here. But it is a 100% true that I was listening to “Death and Romance” when I decided this is gonna be the project’s name as well 🪐
Well I usually just rant emotionally instead of going to far into the dissecting ;) I like to keep my writing a bit more on the entertaining side, but I’m happy you found the little music theory bits interesting, too!
Mag bay is sooo goood! I only found them recently and am desperately searching for groups that scratch my brain like they do. So far The Marias and Crumb are the only two I found. Any recs much much much appreciated!
Okay, I have to say this: Sometimes I really, really love the internet.
I liteally stumbled upon one of your Notes, decided to reply, ended up here. Now, after having read this awesome piece I'm jamming to music I never thought even existed. I turned on "Neon" as soon as I saw the embed link. Now I'm on a Magdalena Bay binge and It's awesome!
Am I saying this just to sound nice? NO!!! I've been searching for this type of music for a looong time. It sounds really vaporwave-y - exactly what I've been craving. It's amazing how, by chance, you can just find gold among the rubbish of today's internet.
I literally can't wait for it to get even warmer so I can drive around town with the windows down, at sunset, Mag Bay on full blast, feeling like I'm inside a retro sci-fi universe where everything is pink, purple, and yellow.
I’m releasing my first cover on Friday! It’s gonna be “Space Song” by Beach House 👽 I’m gonna be posting a whole essay about it probably, complete with the YouTube link. It’s a huge new frontier for me 💙
Alrighty, will definitely keep an eye out. Good luck with YouTube, I'm also planning a channel and it's definitely as exciting as it is anxiety-inducing!
Yeeeeesss! Once Magdalena Bay gets a hold of you, you can’t escape anymore!
I’m so happy we happened upon each other then! I know what it feels like to hear a life changing song 🌝 it’s amazing and especially so in May when the summer is just around the corner! If you can, do go see them live! It’s quite an experience 👽
I've actually never been to Berlin, even though it's like 3 hrs away, but very much would like to. Perhaps if they play there I could do a double whammy. Or, you know, I could just check out some other tour dates.
They’re playing a festival here in July if I’m not mistaken (it’s called Lollapalooza) but I’d definitely prefer seeing them solo which will probably be on the next album cycle to be fair.
So worth it! Their genre is pretty specific I’d say but I think behind it all there’s always the level of songwriting as such. And their level of songwriting is awesome, it’s all just so clever 💙
Your fascination with music once again reminded me of my younger self, where I tried to dig out everything about cinema, animation, video games, look up all the books, art books, podcasts, and interviews I could find and read/listen to them all.
I too thought I had a voice in film/animation/video game making, that I could FIX the industry, RESTORE BALANCE to the universe, and DESTORY everyone who dared to stop me.
and I couldn't find my way into the industry, rejection after rejection....was told I don't have it in me, I should just get a real job, which I did....cuz I still need to pay my bills!
you referred yourself as a pariah, I referred myself as a ronin samurai, not until I met my Yoda, who trained/guided me to get me started....and then I thought I MADE it, I am gonna be HAPPY forever! the WORLD IS SAVED!!! I AM SAVED!!!
NOPE, it was another chapter full of traumas and toxic shit for the first 3 years of my animation/film career haha....it only got a whole lot better after I finally made it out of "elo hell"....13 years later...I am still a ronin samurai, except, battle hardened, am I worthy of the title of master? still not sure...haha
anyway, ever since you introduced me to Mag Bay, I went from playing none stop with "nothing baby" several months ago, to playing "dreamcatching" none stop recently.
and their “Mercurial World” website reminded me of old school websites from 90s/2000s....it was a thing at the time...that people do this kind of "loop" or some fun stuff with their site since the tech was very new still.
I think you generally like the old stuff right? Mag Bay has that vibe....I like films from 80s/90s...some go further back...they were so much better, and have "souls" to the medium.....I am still not there with music....but I do find myself starting to find mainstream music boring now....
Hopefully they will have a tour in Vancouver soon...
i am sure they will tour vancouver one day....that's the problem with Vancouver, bands don't really come here....they usually do a detour trip to Van when they visit Seattle.
Mainstream music is amplified 10X in West Coast...so its a bit jarring after being in Montreal for so long....I forgot how it just blasts into your ears regularly here lol
Haha I was about to thank you for such a compliment but then I realized you must be referring to the song “All You Do”, not whatever it is I do musically :D just without the quotation marks 🙃
You’re so funny 😂 I liked the way this band was the unifying thread in a sea of chaotic emotions over a vast expanse of time, some bands are like that for me too.
The transformative power and beauty of music is encapsulated profoundly here, and I really like how your asides make my mind go what? Why?!
I checked them out, and they’re pretty fun. I know I’m hitching a freight train somewhere in the Deep South of my mind playing a beat up acoustic with the drifters, but this saccharine pop is tasty ear candy. I also love melodic things, and this band is good at that.
So many bands make me feel similarly unhinged and I have to go check out everything they’ve ever done and latch on for a while. This exact kinda thing happens to me more or less every week!
I can’t understand the boredom at gigs thing, and will end up going to most that even closely resonate. Live music is completely where it’s at, records are great, but nowhere near the beauty of witnessing several people who may or may not know each other struggling against entropy on a (usually) raised platform in front of a crowd of innocent bystanders.
This band sound like they are astounding live, and am really gutted I’ve not checked them out before in that respect mostly.
Thanks for sharing the love, it’s so refreshing to read really well written articles describing what it’s like to be going crazy over music. This type of thing you’re doing is highly potent and original, and really resonates with me!
Now I’m curious what “asides” you mean that make you go “what” and “why”!
I fall in love with music very difficultly I must say! I like a lot of music but it definitely takes time for me to LOVE music 👽 and I find it pretty rare to witness an artist go through such a steep development.
Like with Magdalena Bay, it just gets better and better, I’ve heard a lot of people say: “I don’t know how they’re gonna top this last one but I know that somehow they will” 🙃
I’m always super interested in songwriting that defies keys and this is exactly where this band is at. It sounds so effortless with them 👽
And I cannot recommend ENOUGH that you check them out live! It’s so trippy and so so cool!
But maybe I’m just hyper-biased hahaha 🌝
Nearly every paragraph has one, maybe aside is the wrong word, more like statements that you make that you don't really explain, it's just a by-product of your writing it seems. I like the mystery you weave, and wanna continue that, so I'll leave it up to you to figure out.
Ah I don't get that at all, it's like I instantly love a band or artist, oftentimes even maybe it takes a bit of time, yet when I do get it, I love it. And that happens literally all the time to me. I guess there's a lot of music in the world and I know what I'm looking for, discernment is a good thing to develop.
I agree, a lot of the bands/artists have that sense of particular records being the height of their career, and sometimes it's difficult for them to get better, and when they do it's also really cool. It happens way less now because record companies aren't focused on artist development any more tragically, it used to be the case that it wouldn't really matter if the record flops if they really liked the artist, nowadays that's basically reversed.
Having said that, steep development is now even easier than ever, thanks to the wonderful internet, take zach bryan for case and point.
Yeah songwriting that isn't stuck to one key is kinda another thing that doesn't really happen so much any more either, and I really like that too.
Specifically, I like tonal ambiguity like in the beatles, beach boys, I mean, most of 60's/70's music, and obviously, radiohead a lot.
I guess that's what you mean about defying keys, although you seemed to talk more about actual key changes like in that Neon song. Either way, yes it's super fun and interesting to just be free and mix modes, shove random notes in, as you know.
Yet I absolutely love a simple diatonic pop song with a great melody. And also, you can absolutely harmonically be basic diatonic and straightforward, and still throw in a non-diatonic melody note, and that to me is even more powerful and fun, gotta thank the blues for that one (although using dominant 7 chords all the time definitely does stretch things harmonically outside the diatonic).
Ohhh yeah, I think I have to go see this band now, so thanks for the recommendation! I know you're biased, but your enthusiasm for the live show has transferred. I may have mentioned, I absolutely love live music, it's the best!
You probably mean statements about my personal story? :) I guess I do like to weave some mystery into it!
Mag Bay do both full key changes and chromatic borrowings, depending on the song :)
But I mean, Radiohead are obviously certified masters of shitting on the concept of the key 🤓 in a good way, naturally!
I hope you get to see this band, it’s a sight to behold :)
But now I need to be off to record my hyper-chromatic depression song! 👽
I love it...I have been wanting to ask where your band / project name came from, but was too shy to ask. NOW I know...and it was such a fun way to find out ! I think we've bonded because you feel and live music the same way I do...and I turned 62 this year, but music has always been my life, my caregiver, my refuge. May it always bring you the joy and creativity it gives me !!!
That is wonderful! I hope I can carry music throughout my whole life just like you’re doing it 🙂
This is probably a bit of a simplification of how my project name came to be for dramatic effect cause I think I first wrote it down at that show as a potential record name. The nickname Riri also has a bit of a history that I didn’t delve into here. But it is a 100% true that I was listening to “Death and Romance” when I decided this is gonna be the project’s name as well 🪐
It's interesting to watch you dissect music
Well I usually just rant emotionally instead of going to far into the dissecting ;) I like to keep my writing a bit more on the entertaining side, but I’m happy you found the little music theory bits interesting, too!
Mag bay is sooo goood! I only found them recently and am desperately searching for groups that scratch my brain like they do. So far The Marias and Crumb are the only two I found. Any recs much much much appreciated!
Omg Crumb is the shit! How about Night Tapes? :) Pearly Drops? ;)
Night Tapes yes! Pearly drops is immediately going on the playlist! I also have Pond and Animal Collective
Okay, I have to say this: Sometimes I really, really love the internet.
I liteally stumbled upon one of your Notes, decided to reply, ended up here. Now, after having read this awesome piece I'm jamming to music I never thought even existed. I turned on "Neon" as soon as I saw the embed link. Now I'm on a Magdalena Bay binge and It's awesome!
Am I saying this just to sound nice? NO!!! I've been searching for this type of music for a looong time. It sounds really vaporwave-y - exactly what I've been craving. It's amazing how, by chance, you can just find gold among the rubbish of today's internet.
I literally can't wait for it to get even warmer so I can drive around town with the windows down, at sunset, Mag Bay on full blast, feeling like I'm inside a retro sci-fi universe where everything is pink, purple, and yellow.
I also hope to get to cover “Neon” sometime in the near future 💙
Where do you share your covers? Got a YT or something?
I’m releasing my first cover on Friday! It’s gonna be “Space Song” by Beach House 👽 I’m gonna be posting a whole essay about it probably, complete with the YouTube link. It’s a huge new frontier for me 💙
Alrighty, will definitely keep an eye out. Good luck with YouTube, I'm also planning a channel and it's definitely as exciting as it is anxiety-inducing!
Absolutely accurate, the exact mix of emotions I’m experiencing! Thank you ✨
Yeeeeesss! Once Magdalena Bay gets a hold of you, you can’t escape anymore!
I’m so happy we happened upon each other then! I know what it feels like to hear a life changing song 🌝 it’s amazing and especially so in May when the summer is just around the corner! If you can, do go see them live! It’s quite an experience 👽
Yesss, I'd love to hear them live!
I've actually never been to Berlin, even though it's like 3 hrs away, but very much would like to. Perhaps if they play there I could do a double whammy. Or, you know, I could just check out some other tour dates.
Definitely on the bucket list!
They’re playing a festival here in July if I’m not mistaken (it’s called Lollapalooza) but I’d definitely prefer seeing them solo which will probably be on the next album cycle to be fair.
I saw they're playing in Prague as well, so maybe that's where I could catch 'em. Time to get some of my music-junky friends hooked! :D
Awesome! That time I accidentally started a Magdalena Bay cult! 😅
Fun story! I must give them a listen.. they are one of those bands whose name I’ve heard on the periphery but I can’t point a finger to..
So worth it! Their genre is pretty specific I’d say but I think behind it all there’s always the level of songwriting as such. And their level of songwriting is awesome, it’s all just so clever 💙
Another fun read.
Your fascination with music once again reminded me of my younger self, where I tried to dig out everything about cinema, animation, video games, look up all the books, art books, podcasts, and interviews I could find and read/listen to them all.
I too thought I had a voice in film/animation/video game making, that I could FIX the industry, RESTORE BALANCE to the universe, and DESTORY everyone who dared to stop me.
and I couldn't find my way into the industry, rejection after rejection....was told I don't have it in me, I should just get a real job, which I did....cuz I still need to pay my bills!
you referred yourself as a pariah, I referred myself as a ronin samurai, not until I met my Yoda, who trained/guided me to get me started....and then I thought I MADE it, I am gonna be HAPPY forever! the WORLD IS SAVED!!! I AM SAVED!!!
NOPE, it was another chapter full of traumas and toxic shit for the first 3 years of my animation/film career haha....it only got a whole lot better after I finally made it out of "elo hell"....13 years later...I am still a ronin samurai, except, battle hardened, am I worthy of the title of master? still not sure...haha
anyway, ever since you introduced me to Mag Bay, I went from playing none stop with "nothing baby" several months ago, to playing "dreamcatching" none stop recently.
and their “Mercurial World” website reminded me of old school websites from 90s/2000s....it was a thing at the time...that people do this kind of "loop" or some fun stuff with their site since the tech was very new still.
I think you generally like the old stuff right? Mag Bay has that vibe....I like films from 80s/90s...some go further back...they were so much better, and have "souls" to the medium.....I am still not there with music....but I do find myself starting to find mainstream music boring now....
Hopefully they will have a tour in Vancouver soon...
Regarding those people I was writing about, I’ve moved away from that clique a long time ago and oh well, I’ll just have to go it alone!
I wish you to see them some day, it’s so worth it!
Also wow, finding mainstream music boring now? Haha sorry if I ruined it for you!
On the other hand, happy for your obsession with “Dreamcatching”! Such an odd song and so good!
One of my favorites right now is probably “All You Do”!
i am sure they will tour vancouver one day....that's the problem with Vancouver, bands don't really come here....they usually do a detour trip to Van when they visit Seattle.
Mainstream music is amplified 10X in West Coast...so its a bit jarring after being in Montreal for so long....I forgot how it just blasts into your ears regularly here lol
all you do is nice and smooth to the ears!
Haha I was about to thank you for such a compliment but then I realized you must be referring to the song “All You Do”, not whatever it is I do musically :D just without the quotation marks 🙃
Yes, I was referring to the song.
I have yet to hear your latest songs/demos...so.... maybe they sucked 💀🤪🤣....nah.... The ones you showed me last summer was good!
Hahah what can I say, maybe they do! We will have to see 😵💫