sweet voice – Page 2

Free and legal MP3: Monophona (acoustic electronica, w/ elusive melodies)

Claudine Muno sings with persuasive sweetness, providing a strong handhold for the song’s inconstant melody lines.

“Give Up” – Monophona

With an acoustic heart and a blippy-trippy soul, “Give Up” moves with a purposeful stammer, creating dynamic momentum out of some intimate, creative percussion and an evasive, uneven melody. I am enchanted for reasons which remain unclear.

Things begin in a gentle swing, with singer Claudine Muno emerging out of muffled distortion. At 0:38, the track slides into place, but remains noncommittal, blurry in intent however crisp and engaging the sound. Muno sings with persuasive sweetness, providing a strong handhold for the song’s inconstant melody lines, which are abetted by her overlapping vocals. The layered percussion pounds and twitters as she purrs and mumbles, coming occasionally to the forefront with a trenchant phrase—when she sings, now in harmony and unison, “Stop pulling at yourself” (1:21), the song locks in with unexpected force, one of those moments you long to hear again, suspecting however that it’s not coming back (it doesn’t).

Monophona is a Portishead-ish trio from Luxembourg featuring Muno, DJ/producer Phillippe Shirrer (who goes by Chook), and drummer Jorsch Kass. Muno previously fronted a folk-pop band called Claudine Muno & the Luna Boots, which released five albums between 2004 and 2011. Muno is also an author (she has published seven books to date, in four different languages) and a teacher. Schirrer has previously released one album, called The Cocoon, in 2010; a subsequent single called “You Are All You Have,” released two years ago, featured Muno on vocals—if you listen you can sense what Muno brought to the table for the collaboration on Monophona. Kass was previously in a Luxembourg band called Zap Zoo. “Give Up” is from Monophona debut album, The Spy, which was released in Europe in November. You can download the song as usual by right-clicking the title above, or by going to the SoundCloud page. And while you’re at it, you can listen to the whole album, and buy it, via Bandcamp.

photo credit: Joël Nepper

Free and legal MP3: Tideup (lo-fi electronica w/ lovely vocals)

Singer Noelle Indovino’s voice floats with airy grace above the swells and clatters of the electronic backbeat.

“Walk” – Tideup

Despite the volume of lifeless electronica and/or electro-pop that has flooded the internet over the last 10 or so years, let us not ever give up on the basic sound, which in the proper hands can still deliver fresh and delightful music. File “Walk” under fresh and delightful, thanks in large part to the clear sweetness of front woman Noelle Indovino’s voice. Draped in a bit of reverb, she still sounds present and crisp, a tone rarely heard in the overcrowded world of DIY electronic duos. And apparently this is no accident. Tideup mastermind/producer/multi-instrumentalist Ben Guzman spent two years searching, via Craigslist, for the right female vocalist to buoy his electronics-oriented landscapes, inspired by music he admired from the Dirty Projectors. Indovino answered his ad in December 2011, as well as his musical prayers. Her voice lends a seductive humanity to Guzman’s adept textures, floating with airy grace above the swells and clatters of the electronic backbeat.

But Tideup isn’t just about a pretty voice. “Walk” is a sturdy song, with lovely, rubbery melodies and thoughtful touches like that vivid three-note melisma in the chorus at 1:53 (melisma: one syllable held through a succession of notes), the thoughtfully sparse instrumental break at 2:20, and what sounds like the ongoing addition of organic drumming on top of the electronic beat. Listen closely and you might also notice how the verse melody is different the second time through, always a sign of a thoughtful composition. And one of the most appealing extras in “Walk” stems again from Indovino’s singing—that lovely wordless vocal she offers us ahead of the verse, which is an unusual and enticing moment. Let this one wash over you a few times and you might start glowing.

“Walk” is a song from Tideup’s debut EP, In Curses You Came, which was released digitally at the beginning of the year. You can listen to the whole thing, and buy it, via Bandcamp. Guzman and Indovino are based in Orlando, Florida.

Free and legal MP3: Aly Tadros and Ben Balmer (sweet, effective singer/songwriter duet)

A singer/songwriter duet that’s as sturdy, genuine, and endearing a song as can be.

“Whim” – Aly Tadros and Ben Balmer

An easy-going singer/songwriter duet, “Whim” has all the makings of the kind of thing they will play too often on your local adult-alternative station (if you happen to have a local adult-alternative station), and therefore, alas, all the makings of a song I will not like very much: the acoustic guitars, the male-female vocals, the folk-based melody. Not that I have anything against any of those things per se, at all; I’ve just been negatively trained in recent years to expect only the most tiresome and ersatz material of this ilk based on what tends to get pushed for concentrated radio play. And yet “Whim” turns out to be as sturdy, genuine, and endearing a song as can be. Go figure.

The voices are good, to begin with. Not showy, but with impressive character. Balmer, an Austin-based musician, opens the piece, and right away I am charmed by his plainspoken tone. I often enjoy singers who sing with such clarity and ease that it sounds almost as if they are still talking; it’s a characteristic I find more often with women singers than men so here it’s especially engaging. Tadros, on the other hand, sings with unaffected richness; her first solo words here are “I was singing my song/When a man came along/Said he liked the sound of my voice,” and because as a listener I was coming to that same conclusion just as she sang it, the effect is powerful. I am won over. The stories each singer sings—simplified, but with well-chosen words—are parallel but dissimilar tales of asymmetrical relationships: in his case, the woman was in for a brief kick, then left; in her case, the man keeps her as a trophy, with no heart connection. Both of them take turns singing the same chorus: “I’m a whim, I’m a whim/Just a passing thought/In the mind of the girl (man) I love.” Note when Tadros takes the lead, the chorus’s melody slips into the space between their harmonies, a move perhaps too subtle for heavy-rotation radio play. The chorus ends with a lyric both unassuming and brilliant: “I ain’t much/When push comes to shove”—spot-on both as character self-commentary and as lyrics that scan with impeccable grace.

Tadros is an American singer/songwriter with an unusual interest in international music, prompted in part by her father’s Egyptian heritage. She was born in Laredo, got started as a musician in Austin, and now lives in Brooklyn. She released her second album, The Fits, in January. Balmer was born in Michigan and lives in Austin; his debut album, Dug In, came out in October 2012. They wrote the song together in a couple of sessions while at music festivals they were each playing.

Free and legal MP3: She and the Sun (voice and guitar, w/ enhancement)

Although obviously electric, the guitar has an organic glow to it, ringing with a palpably physical vibration, so different from the flat sounds that too often emerge from today’s laptop music.

“Bad Lover” – She and the Sun

At first, I’ll admit, this sounded a bit unvarnished for my tastes. But “Bad Lover” wins me over through the hypnotic power of its central motifs, not to mention the appealing, unaffected tone of lead singer Melissa Ahern. And even though I’m not sure I am on board with all of the production decisions made here, in the end, count me as a fan.

I think it’s that lovely descending guitar melody, itself comprised of delicate, ascending arpeggios, that worked steadily on my resistance. Although obviously electric, the guitar has an organic glow to it, ringing with a palpably physical vibration, so different from the flat sounds that too often emerge from today’s laptop music. I love how the guitar plays in and around the beat with almost a sense of swing, as its melody repeats and repeats through the length of the song. Note too that each iteration sounds distinct and handmade, with subtle variations in how the notes are being played and enhanced. With just the guitar playing, a sparse beat, and Ahern singing her counter-melody, we’ve got pretty much of a win right there.

But there is in fact more. For one thing, keep an ear on the bass, which asserts a melodic presence in the chorus starting at 0:55. A second guitar sound enters just after the two-minute mark, and this is when the song for me acquires a sense of rootedness. The second guitar scuzzes up the soundscape at first, comes front and center for a short instrumental, then grounds the rest of the song in the hint of its droney edge. At 3:22, the two guitars at last enter into direct relationship with each other, and their interactions, while not flashy, provide splendid closure to a subtly powerful piece. I don’t think these guys are perfect yet (and who is?), but there’s something wonderful, already, in the music of this still-developing duo.

Ahern and bandmate Andy Stack are half-siblings. Originally from Western New York, they are now based just outside New York City. “Bad Lover” is a song from their debut album, which they self-released with the help of the fan-funding sit RocketHub. You can listen to the album and/or purchase it via Bandcamp.

Free and legal MP3: The Spring Standards (evoking bygone folk w/ up-to-date flair)

A song about leaving, evoking bygone folk music but with a 21st-century attitude.

“Only Skin” – The Spring Standards

There’s something tender and unfinished about “Only Skin.” Fading in at the beginning, the musical setting (piano and percussion, and a bit of guitar later on) is a tentative one, the instruments sketching rather than fully painting the scene. The feeling is not minimalist—there is a full-fledged sense of musical warmth here—but the restraint feels introductory, as if we are waiting for something larger to happen.

It turns out that what is larger that happens is Heather Robb’s voice, a wise and honeyed instrument itself. The arrangement leaves her so exposed you can hear her breathing. She sings about leaving, and the lyrics evoke bygone folk music, both for the way the verses begin and end with the same lines (hey, M. Ward did this last week too) and for some of the lyrical conceits, notably the way the song’s narrator urges the lover she is leaving behind to “Remember me with yellow hair and freckles on my nose.” And then the song takes an abrupt and delicious turn into the 21st century: “Remember me in purple shoes and turquoise pantyhose.” The lover who is leaving is determined to the point of harshness; the titular phrase arrives in the guise of one of the greatest lyrical kiss-offs I’ve yet heard: “Your name is just a noise now/Your face is only skin.” (Ouch.) And yet it comes wrapped in that careful melody, and embellished by those aching, wordless harmonies. Does the narrator mean it, or is she trying simply to convince herself? One can’t be sure, but the bittersweet gentleness of the nearly nursery-rhyme-like music suggests heartbreak under the bravado.

The Spring Standards are three musicians who have been playing various instruments together since their teenage days growing up along the Pennsylvania/Delaware border. They are now located in New York City. “Only Skin” is a track from their double-EP release yellow//gold, which is coming out in May on Parachute Shooter Records.

Free and legal MP3: Laura Stevenson & the Cans (engaging songwriting, genuine performance)

“Master of Art” is no internet sensation, no technology-friendly song-as-trinket to engage those attracted, like crows, only to shiny things they can dive for and tweet about. Above and beyond the solid songwriting (and of course you do need really good songs), there’s something genuine going on here, something homemade and unprocessed that’s incredibly heartwarming.

Laura Stevenson and the Cans

“Master of Art” – Laura Stevenson & the Cans

I don’t tend to be very album-oriented here, as regular Fingertips visitors are well aware. I’m just looking for good (free and legal) songs week to week. I don’t seek albums; if nothing else, I just don’t have much time to listen to them.

Every now and then, however, I manage to let my guard down. An album slips through. I listen, get drawn in, and, sometimes, at least temporarily, am returned to those ancient days when that was how we processed music—album by album. Not even sure how I happened to decide to sit and listen to the entire Laura Stevenson and the Cans album, Sit Resist, but I’m really glad I did. Stevenson’s isn’t the kind of musical personality—and, to my discredit, I’ve almost forgotten such people existed—that is fully contained within the context of any one particular song. With her kittenish voice—happy with songs that swing, whisper, or stomp—and her tendency to call upon noise or gentleness from her band at a moment’s notice, she really comes to life in the context of an album’s worth of songs.

That said, “Master of Art” is itself a terrific effort, and a good introduction to what she’s up to, showing off both her pensive and her ardent sides in one four-minute package. The intro’s Phil Spector beat surely got my attention (I’m a sucker for the Phil Spector beat), but the song doesn’t wallow in it, using it as a springboard rather than a crutch. I’m still absorbing the lyrics but I think it was when I heard her sing, “You should know/That I am often difficult” (1:11) that I knew she had me. The depth of character in her voice there is unteachable.

Free and legal MP3: Amy Bezunartea (strong, swaying, poignant)

“Doubles” – Amy Bezunartea

Even now, in 2010, there are untold gazillions of singer/songwriters out there singing acoustic-guitar-based songs. The robots haven’t won yet. Then again, most of these songs are earnest and forgettable, so maybe those robots are wilier than we already think. But the glimmer of hope, every year, is that there are four or five or six that turn out to be almost mysteriously wondrous—not just songs that are pleasant enough to hear once or twice (there are plenty of those), but songs that strike deep within the soul, songs that become part of your life. Here is one of 2010’s best.

With a swaying, mournful melody, “Doubles” hits home hard for its offhand lyricism. The narrator sings of the harsh, unexceptional struggles of daily urban life in America in the 21st century with the deft touch of a short story writer (“Taking orders in her sleep/All those hours on her feet”). And I have to say, I more than ever appreciate the singer/songwriter—someone who takes her troubles and finds poignancy and humanity in them (“Some girls they like to win/But instead they’ll serve you lunch”) rather than fear and suspicion, someone whose intelligence naturally seeks connection rather than someone whose ignorance flails them towards divisiveness. Maybe you see what I’m getting at.

Anyway. Bezunartea’s voice is the marvel here that seals this song’s fate. She sings with the unadorned, reverbed loneliness of a standard-issue DIYer with one big difference: she can really sing. I mean really. It’s almost a revelation to hear someone with a plain-spoken voice like this with this level of tone and control. I can appreciate a good off-key indie moment as much as the next guy but it’s a subtle relief to the brain not to be continually if unconsciously waiting for that next moment when the note the singer hits doesn’t quite match the melody.

“Doubles” is from Bezunartea’s debut CD Restaurants and Bars, coming out in November on Kiam Records (a label run by singer/songwriter Jennifer O’Connor). The album was produced by John Agnello, who is known for his work with Dinosaur, Jr. and Sonic Youth, among many others. MP3 via Kiam; thanks to Largehearted Boy for the head’s up.

Free and legal MP3: Buried Beds (upbeat, off-kilter, semi-Beatlesque)

“Breadcrumb Trail” – Buried Beds

So we already knew that Eliza Jones (nee Hardy) has one sweet voice. Buried Beds was featured here in 2006 for the gorgeous, melancholy “Camellia,” and her pure-toned but lived-in presence gave a beautiful song extra depth and meaning.

This time, the band cranks and swings and bashes around a bit, orchestrally speaking, all in the service of some upbeat but slightly off-kilter, semi-Beatlesque pop. It’s less obvious than last time but I think the song still revolves around Jones; she’s a powerful singer, without having to belt or bray to demonstrate command. Her prowess is on display instead in subtle moments, like the way she drags the phrase “He can’t find the man he was” behind the peppy beat (0:14) or the abruptly delicate manner in which she delivers the song’s interesting punchline at 2:29.

Buried Beds is a five-piece from Philadelphia, where the band stays active on stage even as the recordings have been few and far between. “Breadcrumb Trail” is from the band’s just-released second album, Tremble the Sails. MP3 via the band’s site. Thanks to Bruce at Some Velvet Blog for the head’s up.