Global Texan Chronicles Avant-garde Picks for 2019 and more @ GTC.

It wasn’t all indie rock, Americana and synth-heavy music in 2019. There were out of this world left-of-center options as well. Great albums the mainstream press is heralding as minor masterpieces. Works from Thom Yorke, Poppy, King Gizzard, and Bent Knee are all making best-of lists. Which they unquestionably deserve, but we the GTC have a set of releases that you may have missed but should certainly check out.

Here are our Top 5 Global Texan Chronicles Avant-garde Picks for 2019!

NUMBER ONE

FREDRIK KINBOM

Krumme Lanke (single)

Fredrik Kinbom’s ‘Songs For Lap Steel And Harmonium’ is a serious album. Complicated and beautiful. A significant work of art that transcends what the formulaic pop landscapes have become, depthless. The latest single “Krumme Lanke” is no exception. A song that examines the ever-increasing need to not know, or care. Walking past a scene a thousand times and not understanding the histories that have unfolded on that very spot.

Kinbom explains, “Like the song, inspired by the Berlin lake of the same name, and the city’s often hidden layers of history, in this case, a WWII British Lancaster bomber which crashed into the idyllic lake in 1944 and the picturesque settlement of residential houses next to the lake, which was in fact built by the Nazis for SS-officers and their families. Both facts far from one’s mind when visiting Krumme Lanke on a summer’s day today.”

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Music and lyrics written by Fredrik Kinbom.

Produced and recorded by Fredrik Kinbom at Eisack New Tone, Berlin, Germany, July 2017-March 2018.

Mixed by Joe Talia at Good Mixture, Tokyo, Japan.

Mastered by Joe Carra at Crystal Mastering, Melbourne, Australia.

NUMBER TWO

ALDOUS HARDING

The Barrel (single/video)

Harding, who has a storied history with wordsmithery, continues her enigmatic approach to lyrics in her track “The Barrel”. And although this song is fastly becoming her signature tune, it’s the beautifully odd video that has tongues wagging.

Co-directed by Martin Sagadin and Harding, herself, the artist’s unique brand of expression is on full display. Decked out in bewitching Puritan garb as the vocalist shimmies just offbeat enough to make it mesmerizing. Seriously bizarre akimbo movement throughout that can not be unseen nor forgotten. All set in what I perceive as an antique white drop cloth clad set, reminiscent of a strange, undefinable dream. Conjuring something forgotten.

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Directed by: Martin Sagadin & Aldous Harding
Cinematographer: Kirk Pflaum
Line Producer: Jessica Todd
Editor: Adam-Luka Turjak
Art Director: Nick Lowry
Costume Design: Steven Park
Make-up: Brae Toia
Camera Assistant / Gaffer: Zac Beckett Knight
Production Runner: Greta Evans

Set Photographer: Max Lester

Thanks: Adam Hattaway, Emma Grace Shine, Julia Sharp, NG Space, Thomas Barrer

Made with the support of NZ On Air

NUMBER THREE

MURMUR TOOTH

Dropping Like Flies (single/video)

The imagery that one’s mind will conjure up when hearing Murmur Tooth’s cinematic single “Dropping Like Flies” will certainly vary with each listener. Perhaps, hypothetically, you will sway toward dark and twisted thoughts played out like cobwebs in the faint light. Casting reaching shadows that form shapes and textures open for everchanging interpretations.

Whether it’s the song’s tone or the deeply personal lyrics that guide your processing, one thing is for sure…something real and beautifully eerie is looming.

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Written, recorded and mixed by Leah from Murmur Tooth, Mastered by Allan Shotter, video animated by Ellie Moonan

NUMBER FOUR

GLASS HEART STRING CHOIR

Light + Your Voice (singles)

Unfortunately, we hadn’t the chance to formally review these two alternate singles. But we have been listening to GHSC’s stunning 2018 EP ‘Light‘, the album you’ll find their more pop-centric counterparts.

“In a vast sea of disposable music, every once and a while something comes along that notches out its very own immaculately unique nook. Seatle’s Glass Heart String Choir has just released their debut EP ‘Light’. A five-track ode to the beauty of voice and the instruments that cradle it. Vocalist Ian Williams carries notes like a penetrating whisper, reminding me of the delivery sensitivities of Zach Condon and Markéta Irglová. Accompanied by the remarkable multi-instrumented Katie Mosehauer, these two are composing truly beautiful cinematic sounds. Breathing fragile breezes into existence.” – Walter Price

These ‘stripped-down‘ emotional tracks are strikingly beautiful, delicate and moving. Yet, sadly, there aren’t many places that’ll play, for the public, classic art like this. So, do yourself a favor and soak in these sounds and share them with a friend or many.

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Your Voice was written by Ian Williams and Katie Mosehauer.
Vocal and acoustic guitar performance by Ian Williams.
Violin, viola, cello, piano, organ, and harmonium performance by Katie Mosehauer.
Recorded and produced by Katie Mosehauer.
Mixed by Pierre Ferguson and Katie Mosehauer.
Mastered by Pierre Ferguson.

NUMBER FIVE

COMFORT CREATURE

Pyramid Room Exit video / Comfort Creature LP

Directed by Sabina Maselli, the film for Comfort Creature’s “Pyramid Room Exit” is hauntingly eloquent. Images reminiscent of the moments you try to recall a dream soundtracked by what ethereal shadows would sound like if they had a voice.

“Comfort Creature is an offering of hidden textures, vulnerability, and sensuality, nested delicately among an experimental indie-pop tapestry. The self-titled album is the brainchild of Icelandic-born Auður, whose upfront and intimate vocal stylings feature as a through-line across each track. Within each performance, Auður places the listener a mere breath’s distance from her quiet, feminine strength, guiding your passage in and out of the album’s multitude of colourful sonic spaces.” – Comfort Creature

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Produced by Steven Socha and Auður

Aaron Barnden: violin
Adam Casey: voice
Anita Quayle: cello
Auður: voice, piano
Dan Richardson: drums
Genevieve Fry: harp
Georgia Harvey: voice
Lily Thornton: cello
Steven Socha: no-input mixing board, guitar, voice

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Top 5 Global Texan Chronicles Avant-garde Picks for 2019!