“Throwing Stones” by Empathy Test – A Song Review

     “Blade Runner” was a science fiction movie released in 1982. Various bands have used the film as the inspiration for selecting their band names. With only a small amount of fact checking, we can verify that bands have performed as Blade Runner, Bladerunner, Replicant, Replicants, and Kick Kick Murder Squad. But until recently, the bands linked to the film haven’t been particularly interesting to us.

     Enter Empathy Test. In Blade Runner, an empathy test was used to distinguish a human from a bioengineered replicant. The questions of an empathy test often related to the treatment of animals, since replicants were less empathetic toward the mistreatment of animals. So, why is that important? Sheepishly stated, it isn’t – sorry.

   Empathy Test is a London Electronic Pop group formed of Isaac Howlett (singer/songwriter) and Adam Relf (digital composer). The song “Throwing Stones” is a single on Empathy Test’s upcoming EP, which is scheduled to drop on December 9, 2014. The vocalization is the greatest strength of "Throwing Stones."

     “Throwing Stones” by Empathy Test

Facebook: https://www.facebook.com/empathytest

Website: http://www.empathytestmusic.com/

“Dazzle” by Oh Wonder – A Song Review

Contributor: Karen M.

      “Dazzle” by Oh Wonder was released this weekend --  November 1. It’s the third song from this London-based pop duo that was previously known as Wonder Wonder. It turns out another band had the name Wonder Wonder; so drop the first Wonder, replace it with “Oh,” and a new name is born.

     Not much is known about this duo, other than that they will release one song a month while they work on an album. I’m a fan of the band XX, specifically the harmonization of the male/female vocals.  While “Stars” by XX makes the listener wait for the prolonged pairing of the vocals (at 3:40), “Dazzle” begins with the beautiful harmonization of a deep male voice and the purity and lightness of a soaring female voice.

     “Dazzle” is presumably about gambling, but it could easily be about any pursuit where one is pulled forth with a promise of something more dazzling, knowing you may lose yourself in the chase.  Lyrics refer to “give me neon lights”, “I can feel the dice cooling me, see the plastic life, through my blood shot eyes” and consistently thread in the word “money.” Behind the harmonization, one can sporadically hear the ting of coins, and other subtle sounds that you would hear in a casino (check out 1:03.) It’s at 2:05 where I’m captured by the clarity of the female vocalist, which appears shortly after “Dazzle me with gold, you’ll never be what what you’ll want to be with all that money, that money.”  This duo has lured me into their neon lights as I look forward to next month’s release.

     "Dazzle" by Oh Wonder 

Facebook: https://www.facebook.com/ohwondermusic

Website: http://ohwondermusic.com/

October Songs that Bear Repeating

     As a welcome to the new month, here are favorite songs from October posts of Indie Obsessive.

     “Chrysalis” by The Cold Start (from the post of October 8)

     “Heavy Metal Thunder” by Young Tongue (from the post of October 18)

     “Fell in Love” by Jen Wood (from the post of October 18)

     “Continental Shelf” by Viet Cong (from the post of October 20)

     “Summer Day Charade” by Just Walden (from the post of October 18) - Currently available as a free download.

     “Slow Knife” by Roadkill Ghost Choir (from the post of October 31) - A sound similar to that of The War on Drugs.