Promote This: Alex Pinto, NRVS LVRS & Wolf Prize
Promote This is a long-running NadaMucho.com feature wherein we write about songs and videos by emerging and unsigned bands. This installment includes Alex Pinto, NVRS LVRS, and Wolf Prize.
Alex Pinto – “Parkside”
“Parkside” is exquisite. I know that’s not a word you usually associate with popular music, but there you are. Alex Pinto’s new single is a fuzzed out instrumental track that starts melancholic and ends up equal parts sweet and wistful. I have a hard time with instrumental music sometimes (I’m a lyrics listener first- sue me) but Pinto’s expressive playing endows the whole thing with a level of emotional nuance that keeps it from getting boring or showboat-y. It’s just a really beautiful song. – Sam Chapman
NVRS LVRS – “End of the Night”
I’m kind of puzzled by this weird cultural moment that goth seems to be having lately, but if it means that I get to hear more things like “End of the Night,” I guess I’m ok with it. Built on a looped sample of gloomy vocal harmonies, “End of the Night” blossoms into a sexy, vampiric dance track complete with backing “duh-duh-duh-duh’s” and slippery, blown-out guitar. It’s decidedly darker than anything on their last release, The Golden West EP- more My Bloody Valentine and less Crystal Castles- but NVRS LVRS have retained their knack for creating music that reads like a melancholy journal entry and sounds like an warehouse club banger. – Sam Chapman
Wolf Prize – “Come Home”
What is it with all these young female vocalists channeling Bjork instead of more traditional inspirations like Billy Holiday, Janis Joplin, and Patsy Cline? Whatever the motivation, I love the trend. The Icelandic icon’s “zero fucks given” attitude seems to have filtered down to Wolf Prize’s talented frontwoman Tori. On “Come Home,” the music surrounding her vocals is equally moving and mesmerizing. – Tim Basaraba