The Useless Critic 2.0

Step into another world with dream pop duo Portland's "Sensational" (despite their name, Portland is NOT from Portland, and actually Belgian!) The single is off their sophomore album "Departures," slated for a March 2023 release.  And although Portland is primarily a dreampop act, I definitely hear twee snippets come across, at least in "Sensational." The band themselves acknowledged the song can sound melancholic, but as member Sarah Pepels explained, "If you listen to the lyrics, they're quite hopeful. It's the ideal combination of a modern song. It's about not giving up." The song is reminscient a bit of bands like Kisses and In Coma, with maybe a touch of Wild Nothing thrown in for good measure.  As for the band's name, that comes from the duo Pepels and Jente Pironet's love of Portland-based singer-songwriter Elliott Smith. Their debum album, "Your Colours Will Stain," was released in 2019 to much critical a...

Arrange is just one person: Malcom Lacey. And he, for being as young as he is, makes some great, dreamy music a la Maps or Ulrich Schnauss. Odds are you may not be familiar with him, so here you go: Before my family emergency & hiatus, I got to ask Malcom several questions. He responded while I was in Erie, hence the delay. Read on to get a better understanding of Arrange/Malcom Lacey (as well as a film suggestion). UC:  What compelled you to start creating music? What inspired you to start? Malcom:  Hurt. There was so much going on in my life when I decided to pick up the guitar. I had just gotten back from a four-month stint at the wilderness therapy program my mother had sent me to. My lens had changed. I saw things a lot differently. It was jarring even having to navigate all of the pain I still felt even then after all of the help the program was to me. I needed a way to talk about it. I needed to be able to scream and to whisper and to bang around on...

Before I devote my attentions to Zooey and her recent social media invasion, I would like to address the free show at Central Park I went to to FINALLY see the jazz/world orchestra, Pink Martini, a band I've liked since (I believe) my sophomore year of college. Each summer I kind of went through a musical phase. There was the French music phase, there was the Scott Walker phase, there was the Lee Hazlewood phase...I won't drone on. But yeah. Pink Martini was a result of my bossanova period and have remained one of my favorite "different" kind of groups since. Their sound is very refreshing, very invigorating. When you look at the span of popular music right now- and I don't mean just the shit they play on the radio, but who honestly listens to the radio anymore?- Pink Martini manage to stand in an unique corner of it. Meaning:  I can't think of many other bands that compare to them.  First things first:  MY GOD IT WAS HOT YESTERDAY. seriously, I always u...