In this month's edition of 3 Songs, our monthly look into the Denton music scene, we've got a subtle introduction to the Denton shoegaze/noise/doomgaze/whatever scene for you featuring tracks from three North Texan acts. So spark up your fireplace, sit down in your favorite chair, and prepare for a good stiff drink as we delve into the euphoric soundscapes of Glasir, Michael Barber, and Riftworm.
Michael Barber employs aspects of electronic drones, like white noise and running water, washing them out through long, gain-heavy chords with drums weaning in and out of the track, leaving broken down, minimal, intently-placed pieces to focus on. The soft slide of a finger on a string and the faintest broadcasting hiss dance beautifully between drawn out bass and guitar notes. "Blanco (Part 1)" is kind of like the gateway drug of doomgaze; it's a soft, warm tune and if you've got an extra eight minutes, we think you should definitely check out the second half of it, "Blanco (Part 2)." Barber's latest EP, "Flyer 2," was released January 16th, 2016.
Riftworm takes a deeper step in the doom direction, looping layers of distorted, reverb heavy guitar chords over a drum machine producing simple, industrial-like beats. His latest release is a split with McKinney band, Edifice, but we're still stuck on the opening track, "Hollow Way," from his last solo EP, "Household." We've seen Andrew of Riftworm do his one-man sesh a couple of times, once at the now deceased Lions Den and most recently in the hot new living room of House of Rot. Riftworm is making more than incredible music, he takes a minimalist approach to creating an atmospherical experience during live performances. Begin by placing a single lamp in the middle of the room above a small pedal board, dim the remaining lights in the venue, plug in the half-stacks and let the fuzzy warmth of Riftworm's doomgaze symphonies take you away.
Glasir is almost along the lines of doom classical, they're a three piece "post-rock" band with gripping instrumental build-ups which steadily wind together, slowly coming to fruition as a single force on a central path, like scattered birds drifting together into a flying v formation. While they're technically from Dallas, at least according to their Bandcamp, they still play heavily in the Denton scene. We're shinging the spotlight on their track, "Precipice," of their "Unborn" EP, and while they're probably the heaviest sounding of the bands on our list this month, overall, it's still very chilled out. They've also got one of the best album covers we've seen in a long time, featuring an illustrated women curled up into the fetal position, with her back, shoulders, arm and thigh creating a clenched up fist, perfectly summing their sound up into a single image.
Thanks for reading and supporting your local music scene, y'all. Check back next month for 3 more local tunes. We'll take a look at three electronic tracks and focusing on a few local producers who deserve the spotlight.
Nathan Williams is going on his seventh year livin' in Denton. He's 24, an avid moped rider, screen printer, local music enthusiast and runs his own blog, Sad Boys Club. You can follow him on Instagram @Sundayprintshop, another small company he runs and a great place to get your merch made.