Methodist Girls opens with Sloppy Love. For me this doleful beauty elicits a poignant depiction of our human hearts. How emotions get jostled from lover to lover. Eventually we grow jaded, lovelorn and even cynical. But we plod on hoping and searching for love, and at times we find it no matter how fleeting or lopsided.

The pluck and spring of Paulding Light arises and dances shyly … You were looking for something I didn’t have… and I was looking for something you didn’t have.

Temporary bleeds into the white cloth of our mortality reminding us to discard our clothing unremember prayers and skinny dip into the unexpected. Another round of Two Hearted Ale, right after I finish a shot of Jameson with the friends I bring in the weekend with. The song Smoke is unspooling and curling about my ears in a bar not unlike the ghosts bumming drinks and laughter in a favorite haunt near you.
 

 
And so Nathan sings on, his is a voice that isn’t so much unleashed as it is poured straight from an oaken cast centuries old. A voice in possession of a timbre blue as the depths of Lake Huron, glint of lighthouse shine and truthful as cold bitten winters. Most Birthdays unravels it’s ribbons and wrapping paper only to discover the offering is only as appreciated as the heart and hands which hold.

So, after the party is over, the smell of nicotine is a stale cologne upon the soft skin of a drunken lover. We lay beside them upon sweat stained sheets. And as they mumble something indecipherable yet endearing we trace the rusty watermarks on ceiling constellations with our eyes. The track 1993 isn’t so much a song as it is a sign post, a mile marker biding us to look back smile through the tears.

Family Photo

Will you dance with me in this family photo? Ring your arms in mine
and hold my head up high. Oh the music is so sweet and this family
photo is fading clean. But the memories have released bleeding tears
for all to see. My heart is open wide, could be the flash of time in my eyes.
Yes, things will never be the same and that’s who we’ll blame when the dusts
forgets our names.

One of things I love about Nathan is his ability to coin lyrics like Michigan miners once hauled copper out of the Upper Peninsula. In a time capsule measuring 2:07 across I find my hands tied and I am blindfolded by simple and precious beauty.

More than anyway life is about the furtherance of love. Live given and love taken. We all got the sickness and if we stop lying to ourselves we’ll cozy up the most immutable law of them all, love can heal all wounds.

Telephones is playing as the light is being sifted from the our Michigan sky the twin gods of time and miracle. The horizon is going all pale pink and watercolored orange. The clouds are buoyant and suffused with gun metal grays and edged with pure lit light. I pass wood shaded greenery and I realize July is the pinnacle of summer and it is all downhill from here on out. But right now, I got music to settle into, and right now I am alright with all of that.

Methodist Girls closes with the bonus track Brightly and like the rest of the gorgeous every person’s album we’re reminded to take the good and only the good. Everything else is a distraction and a unwanted burden. Yes, the good, the bad and the ugly of life happens to us all but..

I didn’t catch that sunset yesterday
I couldn’t find the time but it found me today
It kept reminding me of when you walked away
You were so beautiful but then you left just like a passing day

So now I’m left with all the stars for company
6,000,000 broken little hearts they comfort me
We’ll wait around just for another chance to see
The sun arise again to give us hope we need

Shining brightly in my eyes, you woke me up to realize
That these moments come and go just like the wind, the rain, the sun, and the snow

Tomorrow’s forecasted to be a cloudy one
And though I love the clouds that don’t sound too much fun
You might’ve said goodbye and told me we were done
This game is over but my life has just begun

Shining brightly in my eyes, you woke me up to realize
That these moments come and go just like the wind, the rain, the sun, and the snow

So go on and enjoy your life, it’s going pretty fast
In all of these relationships so few of them will last
Back then these days were future, soon they’ll be part of the past
So please just make the best of them oh girl that’s all I ask

Shining brightly in my eyes, you woke me up to realize
That these moments come and go just like the wind, the rain, the sun, and the snow.

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I got the wonderful All The Pretty People EP in my e-mail inbox several days ago and I’ve been (hoarding) listening to it ever since; while running random and mundane errands aplenty. Christopher Norman & The Reverb Junkie (aka  Michelle Chamuel) are a match made in music heaven, and this EP is a living and breathing testament to how seamlessly their respective styles coalesce into a gratifying and wonderful sound. Although the EP contains only three songs and a couple of remixes a listener can easily envision something bigger and broader in the works from this talented twosome.

The opening track, “You Don’t Know” features the fantastically seductive vocals of The Reverb Junkie, it settles somewhere near your endorphin center and pretty much stays there. The following song “Keep Pace” finds Christopher Norman‘s voice matched perfectly alongside each note, with The Reverb Junkie offering glints and shiny facets along the way. But, when Christopher sings, “I was never good at staying put…” you get the feeling he isn’t speaking of geography. It is more than evident this artist is evolving, and continues to push into uncharted territory. The maturity is evident as both of these artists showcase their individual strengths as producers and songwriters.  On track number three we’re treated to more of what works well here, the beyond excellent singing of Michelle Chamuel swimming amongst the white-water electronic orchestration of Mr. Norman.

This in more than a debut release, it is a solid statement by the duo. It is the charming and beatific voices of Christopher and Michelle commingling and complimenting each other, but it is also a combination of slow-motion-dream and the frenetic-electronic-cloud rain dripping musically all over the place. It it both bright and clever. But this isn’t the stuff of trite and mercurial hipness, it is something more enduring. This collaboration is stalwart and self-assured, very easy to listen and dance to. I think this is the beginning of a wonderful musical relationship between Christopher Norman and The Reverb Junkie. Now, I’m just hoping they’re planning a full length LP in the near and dear future. Peace.

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It is some kind of wonderful when dj/producers like Poolside remix legendary dj/producer/ extraordinaire Matthew Dear. In this case listen to the track,
“Her Fantasy” and experience how good paying homage to a such a pivotal entity as Matthew Dear sounds. Her Fantasy is the first single from Matthew Dear’s forthcoming album Beams, look for it August 24th via Ghostly International. For more please check out and download the track In The Middle I Met You There. Peace.

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I am always amazed by the skill of this up and coming creative force Jeremy Malvin better known in certain circles as Chrome Sparks. He’s a young loin from Ann Arbor, Michigan with talent galore. I’ve written about him before, and now with his latest, “Marijuana” prepare to be totally blissed-out with the unofficial video directed by the vigilante cinematographer David Burkhart. The song “Marijuana” is taken from the latest BRL MTN compilation AAURAL II. Peace.

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The Detroit-based beat collective, formed in 2011 by Shadow Attack and Jaws That Bite. This is the house that groove and is a beacon for massively sick beats in the Midwest and beyond. The economy in The Motor City may be on the ropes but the beats are alive and kicking. Peace.

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Here in Michigan you kind of know what you’re getting into, we got four seasons. At times though, it seems there is only two; a hot, too muggy season, and a bitterly (schizophrenic) cold season. Pretty simple right? But when listening to the sunshiny music of Ann Arbor, Michigan-based electrolyte-synth duo Nitelife, it is easy to imagine tropical-esque weather the whole year round. Darin Rajabian and Caroline Myrick are the figurative gas and pedal propelling this bright shiny new musical vehicle forward. And as frontwomen go, it is easy to get lost in the flurry of sweetness that is Caroline Myrick’s vocals. Vocals I might add, which are perfectly counterbalanced by the clever and whimsical synth-work of Darin Rajabian. And with a sound reminiscent of 80’s electro-pop (think New Order meets Erasure), and add the echoing vocals of a 90’s Artificial Joy Club, but with the edges all billowy cotton-ball soft, and your pretty close. Regardless of musical references, you’ll not only like the first single release “On The Run,” but the whole kit and kaboodle of their Radio EP is not only good, it’s highly recommended. Check it out after the jump, and after you click play, this chilly Michigan weather will be a distant memory. Peace.

Go to nightlifepop.com for so much more. Enjoy!

Radio EP (2011)

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Born in Traverse City, Michigan but currently residing in Ann Arbor, MI the ingenuous and highly catchy music of Christopher Norman has burrowed its way into my head … and I like it. This bright new up and coming singer/songwriter/producer is well on his way to gaining, not only recognition here in Michigan, but he is more than poised to make a huge splash elsewhere as well. Want proof? Listen to his indie-produced single “Connect Me” and if it fails (it won’t) to get you moving and smiling, then you my friend may be in need of a defibrillator or an hearing-aid. Also, check out his sonically well-crafted EP2 released September 2011, this is 5-beautiful songs shot through with enough giddy frisson to last you long after the songs have ended. Yes, you may have guessed, I’m a fan. Peace.

“Connect Me” (2012)

EP2 (2011)

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