[fingertipsmusic] corrected typo -- This Week's Finds: March 29

From: Jeremy Schlosberg <fingertipsmusic@xxxxxxxxx>
To: fingertipsmusic@xxxxxxxxxxxxx
Date: Fri, 30 Mar 2012 09:02:44 -0400
A small but important typo was brought to my attention, and being the kind
of thing that really bothers me (and-- note to all-- escapes spellcheck),
it warranted in my mind a re-send of the review in question. I had
mistakenly written "Black City Nights" as the artist name in the song
title. Here's what it should have looked like:




[image: Black City
Nights]<http://www.fingertipsmusic.com/wp-content/uploads/blackcitynights.jpg>
 “RIVERS” – BLACK CITY
LIGHTS<http://www.starsandletters.com/downloads/black-city-lights-rivers.mp3>

I am a patient person—except when it comes to music. Songs that delay the
entry of sensible structure or noticeable melody tend to annoy me, if I may
be blunt. So I’m not sure how I managed even to listen to “Rivers”—with its
30 opening seconds of ambient electronic sounds and 30 additional seconds
of instrumental introduction—without hitting stop and delete and moving on
to the next thing. Sometimes, it seems, my ear hears things that my brain
doesn’t initially latch onto. And I am in any case very glad I didn’t throw
this one in the scrap bin, because that opening minute leads us into
something grand and memorable.

It turns out this song, musically at least, is all about delayed
gratification. After the long (long) introduction, the melody, in a series
of ways, keeps edging near resolution and backing away. You can hear it,
maybe, at 1:20, and then in an extended way at 1:40—note that Julia
Catherine Parr then literally starts singing about being “so lost,” as the
music retracts into background noise. We wait and wait and find deliverance
with the line she belts at 1:57. I can’t understand the words but the
music, at last, tells us the wait is over, and at 2:01 we plunge into
something that feels deep and grounded, while also kind of sparkly and
flowy. We are led to a point of resolution at 2:11 (on the words—no
coincidence—”take you home”) that feels both solid and liquid: we resolve,
and yet we keep flowing. The second half of the song is like that, at once
robust and feathery, and the fact that it leads to a coda of heavenly
voices seems exactly right. I suspect that not one moment of this song is
accidental. It’s a fine ride, and reminds me to be patient in music as in
life. At least sometimes.

Black City Lights is the project of Wellington, New Zealand producer Calum
Robb and vocalist Parr. Either a sign of the times or a complete
aberration, Robb just began writing and producing music late in 2010.
“Rivers” is one of six songs on the Black City Lights debut EP, *Parallels*,
released last week on Stars & Letters <http://starsandletters.com/>, a
small NYC-based label. MP3 via Stars & Letters.


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ok, carry on...



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[fingertipsmusic] corrected typo -- This Week's Finds: March 29

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