Jon McKiel/Wares
Jon McKiel
Bobby Joe Hope // You’ve Changed
I have to say this is one of the most exciting reviews I’ve been able to write so far. Simply for the fact that it’s such a unique creative concept... my ears were just begging to hear it.
You’ll need the back story first...
So Jon McKiel had purchased an old Teac A-2340 reel to reel tape recorder online and it came with some tapes. What he heard on the tapes was quite a find. He found samples on these tapes which were made by an unknown stranger. He used these samples and intertwined them into his own music and created this album. Work of Art really. Within each song are samples from this unknown stranger. That itself gives this album something extra. I feel the album leaves me with so many questions....
Is the unknown stranger still alive?
If not do they feel honoured in the afterlife by the new life breathed into their samples. Perhaps some of their works that were never finished and now their soul is complete and at rest. Who knows what became of the unknown stranger but it certainly lets my imagination take flight.
So about the album....
Side A
Mourning Dove - A dreamy little number to start off the album. Very soothing vocals. Sunday afternoon kind of vibe and feel. I dig it!
Object Permance - Has a Byrd’s vibe to it. Nice baseline and loops. 60’s feel to it. Groovy Baby!!
Management - This one’s got a real chill vibe and something kinda sexy in the vocals . Music to smoke to or maybe kick back with your lover for some afternoon delight.
Cold Hand Becomes The Master - Oooh I feel some Paul Simon undertones paired perfect with some harmonies like finding that perfect wine/beer or strain.
Night Garden - This one is spooky. Haunting keys and breath loop. Horror movie material or very suspenseful. I’d be nervous to wander that garden at night.
Side B
Private Eyes - Little bit spacey and experimental. Sounds like hot summer night. I miss summer.
Deeper Shade - Hypnotic number this on Something about the vocalists tone feels trance-like... like a pepper that gets hotter and hotter. This one gets a little spicier at the end.
What Kind Of Light - Oh what a trip!!! What’s going on here? Woooo......I either really blew my brains back in high school or I need to microdose some fungi for this one.
Secret of Mana - Well that was quite the trip after the last song. But I think I found enlightenment in this song... I found Mana. Beautiful way to end this album.
I very much enjoyed this album for all that it is!! I especially liked the way this was created with new and old. Bits of yesterday and today to create new memories and feelings. Truly a sound all it’s own! I hope you love this one as much as I did!
Sincerely,
Noreen Hurst
Wares
Survival // Mint Records
Survival is a powerful album in every sense. It balances beauty and anger, and vulnerability and hope, in a musical package that also totally shreds.
The opening track, “Hands, Skin,” is a blistering recollection of front person, Cassia Hardy’s assault and it sets up a lens through which to understand the album. Although the energy changes immediately as “Tall Girl” begins, the intensity doesn’t necessarily let up. But the shift signals the rest of the album’s range and emotional dimension. In the press, Hardy has explained that the songs tell stories of various aspects of her recovery from past trauma, and this is ultimately intended to be a hopeful record. This feels most evident on “Surface World,” a song that frankly makes me want to dance around my apartment.
As well as bringing this emotional intensity, Survival is packed full of memorable guitar riffs, surprisingly dreamy melodies, Hardy’s clear and passionate vocals, and organ flourishes throughout. You could label it indie rock, but there’s a punk sensibility throughout the record that elevates it to a unique place in terms of genre. “Tall Girl,” a personal favourite track, contains sonic elements of shoegaze. Meanwhile, “Jenny Says” approaches the territory of an acoustic ballad until Hardy breaks you out of your head, sing-shouting “Why’s it hurt so much to get out of bed sometimes/Why do people scare me so much I can’t ever go outside.”
It’s really fucking good.
Overall, Survival is an excellent use of the album as a medium. Each song brings something different to the narrative, but thematically and sonically there’s an arc. The songs are great as individual pieces, but they benefit from the context of the album in a way that feels kind of rare. In the liner notes, Hardy dedicates the record to “decolonial activists, anti-fascist agitators, and paririe queers fighting for community and a better life.” It’s a crucial listen that will speak to anyone who’s ever felt personally or emotionally overwhelmed, or just generally angry about a world where the deck is stacked in favour of privilege.
- Natalie Corbo
