FIVE FAVOURITES: Vyva Melinkolya

By tethering gauzy reverb and delicate vocals together with her intimate lyrics, American slowcore/shoegaze artist Angel Diaz aka Vyva Melinkolya sculpts emotive soundscapes that explore the awe and sublime terror of the human condition. Her second solo album, Unbecoming (2022), and her collaborative EP Orbweaving – which she co-wrote with multi-instrumentalist and audio engineer Madeline Johnston aka Midwife – both pacify the pain of the past, traversing shadowy territory in both a physical and emotional sense.

This weekend (17th-20th April), Vyva Melinkolya will be performing two sets at Roadburn Festival in Tilburg. Her shows are set to be a highlight of the weekend and we urge you to see her if you are lucky enough to have a ticket for the festival!

We think one of the best ways to get to know an artist is by asking what music inspired them to write in the first place. We caught up with Angel to ask about her “Five Favourites” – and she picked five albums by an eclectic range of artists who have inspired her songwriting techniques. Check out her choices below…

 

1. Grouper – AIA:Dreamloss
There is no single musician as important or influential to me as Grouper. I’ve spent nearly a decade of my life listening to her everyday, especially before sleep. Dreamloss found me in late 2018 during the start an extremely dark period in my life. Earlier in the year, when things were less dire, I was obsessing over the other “half” of the double album – AIA: Alien Observer. Alien Observer, in every sense of the word, is dreamy. It has an effervescent quality to it, it can feel like a collection of “tape-saturated” lullabies. As my life began to change however, and I became more and more honest with myself about the things happening to me and around me, Dreamloss was somewhat of a reality check.

When Brian Eno described the genesis of ambient music, he talked of wanting to create sounds that didn’t impose themselves in a space, that could exist as a backdrop. My experience with Dreamloss, especially those first few lessons, couldn’t have been more different. The album opener ‘Dragging the Streets’ starts with the line “can you hear the sounds they make at night” which, still terrifies me. Speaking of lyrics, the words to ‘Soul Eraser’ are almost all intelligible. I have this fantasy of sorts that if I’m somehow able to figure out what she’s singing, I will disappear. Orbweaving (especially the title track) would not exist without this album.

2. Low – Curtain Hits The Cast
If Grouper is the most important solo musician to me, Low is the most important band . First of all, the title is extremely ominous, even kind of “Doomy”. I consider the first four tracks of this album to be one of the strongest side-As in alternative music. ‘The Plan’ is maybe my favorite “Mimi” song, her voice is at its warmest and has a sort of “wisdom” to it, even if the lyrics are mostly questions. Her voice always feels “motherly” to me. This album has just as many “loving” moments as it does “dark”. Two songs later, ‘Mom Says’ (one of my favorite “Alan” songs) is eerie in a way that’s hard to describe. It ends with the line “mom says, we ruined her body”, jeez.

Side B is incredible as well, with ‘Do You Know How To Waltz’ feeling like both an ascent and a descent into the cosmos or the ocean. The album ends with a song called ‘Dark’ which is essentially a children’s song about “how to not be afraid of the dark” – that one makes me tear up the most I think. I was listening to this album a lot in summer 2020, I have a very specific memory of putting it on during a drive to Bloomington, Indiana. Now I can’t do any sort of drive over 3 hours without it. Especially when it’s warm out. Low sounds best in the midwest and pairs best with the sounds of crickets and trucks going by.

3. Nicole Dollanganger – Natural Born Losers
Another album I fell in love with in summer 2020. I had listened before, but that’s when it fully “hit” me. I was spending a lot of time outside, especially at the skate park until the very early hours of the morning. It couldn’t have sound-tracked that time better. If you haven’t heard this album yet and want to (you should) wait till late May or June (it’s to be enjoyed every season though). This album is sensual, it’s yearning, it’s violent, it sinks its claws into you from start to finish. The final chorus of ‘Mean’ makes me feel like I’m being dragged across pavement, while ‘You’re So Cool’ feels absolute soaring and it’s one of the most “devotional” love songs ever.

I’ve truly learned so much from this record – and from Nicole’s music in general – about song writing. Especially how to set a scene and keep that scene in people’s minds. Production wise, the album has my favorite examples of “ebow” (device that vibrates the guitar string using a magnets) use. A lot of times when people record with it (myself included) it sounds harsh and awkward, but it just floats over this album like a cirrus cloud. Track for track, never have “pop” caliber vocals and post-rock instrumentals had a more beautiful marriage.

4. Giles Corey – Giles Corey
I think the term “concept album” is used inappropriately at times, so I shy away from using it. But if you held a gun to my head and asked me my favorite concept album, I would say Giles Corey. First of all, one of my favorite things about the record is the companion book, which I have annotated and dog-eared excessively. I would love to do something like that with a Vyva Melinkolya album one day. I’m a fan of big sounds, and as a musician I sort of default to maximalism. Giles Corey is an absolutely massive album with absolutely titanic sounds. ‘The Haunting Presence’ and ‘Buried Above Ground’ are perfect examples of this, heavily layered but with all sounds 100% essential. The album is also a thorough depiction of depression that feels universal without ever feeling “cliched”. There will definitely be some Giles Corey worship on the next Vyva Melinkokya album.

5. Lisa Germano – In the Maybe World
Though as a listener I have a preference for bigger sounds, Lisa Germano does an incredible job of making superficially “smaller” songs hit like a ton of bricks. If Natural Born Losers is a perfect summer album, In the Maybe World is the perfect winter album, and not just because the cover art is a winter scene. I got into this album in late 2022. I had spent a couple years before that enjoying her earlier albums like Geek The Girl and Slide which are more lively and gritty in comparison to her later work. In the Maybe World is sort of mutable in the respect that, if you’re listening for the textures it reads like an ambient album (I fall asleep to it sometimes), while if you’re giving it your full attention, it’s a body of work that’s deeply confessional and heart wrenching.

Lisa Germano has an honesty to her song writing that’s a lot to reckon with at times, but validating as well. When she says “go to hell, fuck you” on ‘Red Thread’ (a beautiful, almost medieval sounding guitar ballad) I feel so vindicated every time. It’s a perfect album for breakups and troubles of the heart and when I found it back in 2022, it was relatable to a painful degree. To me, it’s also an album about isolation and a fear of the world outside — which I currently relate to, painfully. As a musician, both as a lyricist and a multi-instrumentalist (violin, piano, guitar, accordion, mandolin, other things I’m sure) I look up to her a lot and I feel like she deserves a lot more credit and exposure for decades of amazing albums.

Thanks to Angel for sharing her favourites with us!
Listen to her album Unbecoming here

Follow Vyva Melinkolya on bandcamp, Spotify, Instagram & Facebook

Photo Credit: Hayden Anhedonia

Kate Crudgington
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FIVE FAVOURITES: bedbug

Developing from a lo-fi bedroom-pop solo project into a fully fledged indie rock band, LA based group bedbug shared their fourth album, pack your bags, the sun is growing, via Boston label Disposable America earlier this year.

Along with bandmates Owen Harrelson, Minerva Rodriguez, Meilyn Huq and Drew Cunningham, non-binary front-person Dylan Gamez Citron fleshed out bedbug’s new sound in the studio, and the result is an infectious blend of indie guitar riffs, confessional lyricism and surrealist storytelling, which marks their most “ambitious” work to date.

Having previously supported the likes of Japanese Breakfast, Grouper, Lomelda, Snail Mail, Strange Ranger, yourarmsaremycocoon and Frog, with their new fully fledged sound, bedbug are sure to capture the ears of a new set of fans.

We think one of the best ways to get to know a band is by asking what music inspired them to write in the first place. We caught up with Dylan to ask about their “Five Favourites” – five tracks that have inspired their songwriting techniques. Check out their choices below and scroll down to listen to bedbug’s latest single ‘halo on the interstate‘ at the end of this post…

1. Julia Brown – ‘Bloom’
This list is as much a list of my favorite songs as it is equivalently a list of my biggest inspirations when songwriting. So, it only makes sense to start here. This track is the closing track off of an album I can only describe as a modern opus, An Abundance of Strawberries. When I discovered this album (and consequently this song), I was slowly assembling an arsenal of songwriting and production elements that I felt would fit together and that I personally loved. Acoustic guitars, drum machines, synths, cassette warmth, vocals that aren’t overwhelming. Then I found this album. Honestly, at the time I couldn’t believe it existed, like it was just a perfect culmination of my favorite musical stuff. I still feel that way! And this final song sticks the landing like none other. Perfect track!

2. Modest Mouse – ‘Edit the Sad Parts’
I love discovering music, but in many ways I’m a victim of my own sentimentality. Most of the tracks on this list are high school discoveries. This track was my go-to reply to the all-to-common question “what is your favorite song” in high school. And yet, if you were to ask me why, I’m not sure I could explain it! Modest Mouse is still my favorite band (I have the tattoo to prove it), but I love dozens of their songs. It doesn’t have the best riffs (that would go to ‘Broke’ or ‘Talking Shit About A Pretty Sunset’) or lyrics (that’s ‘Bankrupt on Selling’). But I do think it’s the perfect snapshot of what I’d consider a perfect band. To me, this is the most “Modest Mouse” sounding song at all. Slightly emo, scrappy, full of youthful energy, it’s the perfect song to blast out of the car window on a visit to your hometown.

3. Cap’n Jazz – ‘Ooh Do I Love You’ (Acoustic)
When I was in high school, I discovered 90’s indie rock greats like Pavement, Built to Spill and Guided By Voices. My mind was blown (obviously). And then a few years passed. Nothing was scratching the same itch! Modern emo felt too whiny (though I still loved it at the time), indie rock was too produced and bombastic. Hardcore/punk was too angsty and angry for me. I wasn’t really pissed off, mostly anxious and lonely! Indie music in general was grandiose and trying really really hard. Stark contrast to the 90’s era. Fans of Cap’n Jazz can tell where I’m headed with this. A band of high school students, a single poorly recorded anthology record. Bursting with heart, full of beautiful imperfections and esoteric lyricism. And that’s all laid bare on the acoustic version of ‘Ooh Do I Love You’. Why couldn’t all emo be like this?

4. The Radio Dept – ‘Lost and Found’
Something I’m currently realizing, as I type is that every single one of these songs is an album closer. I’m not sure that’s a coincidence. Closer tracks fill the role of the final chapter of a good book, tying up loose ends and making the artist’s intent clearer. I love full albums, and the first Radio Dept album is one of my favorites of all time. I think this is the most beautiful track on it. I can’t think of another track that layers instrumentation to create such a gorgeous soundscape. The lyrics are sad but hopeful, lonely and sentimental. It’s really one of the most therapeutic songs for me.

5. Brave Little Abacus – ‘Orange Blue With Stripes’
This song is really lightning in a bottle to me. The songwriting process for that whole record feels elusive and mysterious, like the songs emerged fully formed out of the ether. How in the world is there lyrical interplay between the vocals and pre-recorded samples from Malcolm in the Middle? Do the repeating lyrical motifs mean anything? Typically, I’m not one to overanalyze a metaphor, I certainly have my fair share of abstraction in lyricism. However, something about the writing on this record begs to be interpreted. And I hope it never is! The mystery is so much more fun. And all of those unresolved melodies and lyrics culminate in ‘Orange, Blue With Stripes’. It was a really special song to me as a teenager, and only became more special at my final show in Boston before I moved. Thanks, Adam.

Thanks to Dylan for sharing their favourites with us!

Listen to bedbug’s latest single ‘halo on the interstate’ below

Follow bedbug on bandcamp, Spotify, X & Instagram

Photo Credit: Dustin J Watson

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FIVE FAVOURITES: Kira McSpice

Finding strength in vulnerability is something that multi-instrumentalist Kira McSpice has been carefully leaning into, on both an artistic and personal level. Her beautifully titled new album, The Compartmentalization of Decay, is a poignant reflection on trauma and life after sexual assault, which she personifies through the natural protective and healing mechanisms of plants, in particular, the maple tree. Her exquisite voice and dynamic string arrangements make for striking and hypnotic listening.

Plant pathologist and biologist Alex L. Shigo writes: “Animals heal, but trees compartmentalize. They endure a lifetime of injury and infection by setting boundaries that resist the spread of the invading microorganisms.” Kira McSpice draws on this natural phenomenon on her latest record, slowly becoming more resilient in the process.

We think one of the best ways to get to know an artist is by asking what music inspired them to write in the first place. We caught up with Kira to ask about her “Five Favourites” – five tracks that have inspired her songwriting techniques. Check out her choices below and scroll down to watch the video for Kira’s latest single ‘Knife like a Spile‘ at the end of this post…

 

1. Kate Bush – ‘Hello Earth’
Kate Bush is my very favorite. When I was 19 I got her album, The Kick Inside, on CD and drove around blasting it and trying to hit all the high notes. I can’t really explain how much her music means to me. She taught me how to sing. Before I found her I thought I was supposed to have this kind of low vocal fry thing going on with my voice but once I found her I realized I was supposed to go higher and weirder and it felt like I had discovered who I was. This song ‘Hello Earth’ makes me crazy. It’s part of her album, Hounds of Love, and within the album there’s this 7 song story about a person lost at sea. It’s such a beautiful concept and basically ‘Hello Earth’ is when she’s floating away and losing consciousness and becoming detached from the world. She’s drowning and there are these huge waves in the song that come over and over as she’s drifting farther away and it’s just so powerful and emotional.

2. Joanna Newsom – ‘Only Skin’
Probably the most beautiful song ever. Every time I hear it I discover something new. I feel like it’s one of those songs that will be with me all my life and mean different things to me as I get older. Sometimes when I need a good cry I’ll listen to it and when she gets to that part about 6 minutes in I let loose. It destroys me. I think it’s the melody that does it during that part. Her melodies and the instrumentation and the lyrics… I just love it all so much. Also these lyrics: “While down in the lowlands the crops are all coming; We have everything/ Life is thundering blissful towards death/ In a stampede of his fumbling green gentleness” those lyrics… are insane. Her lyrics changed the way I thought about lyrics. I really take them seriously because of her.

3. Elgar – ‘Cello Concerto in E minor, Op. 85’ (played by Jacqueline du Pré)
I started playing the cello when I was really young and Jacqueline du Pré was (and will forever be) my favorite cellist. Her performance of the Elgar cello concerto is her most famous and the concerto breaks my heart every time. When I was growing up, I would move around in a really dramatic way while playing the cello – she was famous for her dramatic movements and I thought that one day I’d be just like her. There was a movie about her and her sister called Hilary and Jackie, and in the movie she wears a shiny green dress while performing, so I wore a shiny green dress for my performance of Twinkle Twinkle Little Star when I was 4. The way she plays the cello is unlike any other. Her performances were full of so much emotion and energy, so much drama and sadness. She taught me that emotion is essential in performance.

4. Stravinsky – ‘Firebird Suite’
I played Stravinsky for the first time in high school with the symphony I was in. It was insane. We ended up touring with it in Europe and got to play this piece every night. ‘The Firebird’ changed me and how I thought about orchestral music. I hadn’t been introduced to the cool composers yet and when I finally got to play him it was a door into a very exciting realm for me. It felt like my world had expanded/shifted, like I realized the symphony could be used in a crazy way. It was the beginning of my discovery of more modern composers and more experimental music. I’ll always remember playing the very beginning of the piece. It’s so brooding and evil sounding. I fell in love immediately and wanted to recreate that feeling in different ways. I think I like Stravinsky because he does a lot of weird stuff but it doesn’t feel distracting, it feels like it has a purpose.

5. Talk Talk – ‘New Grass’
I chose this song because I always come back to it. I think it left an impression on me because of how sad it feels while still also feeling hopeful. I’m always drawn to music like that. It’s also got this cyclical structure that goes on and on. I remember when I first heard it I was hypnotized and didn’t want it to stop. Didn’t want to leave the world it created. I also hear little secret sounds? Loops? Tremelo strings? going on underneath everything and I think that’s genius. Those details create such a wild landscape that the songs live in. There’s so much existing in it, making it feel so full but at the same time it feels spacious. I don’t know how they do it. I’m always striving for that I feel like. I want to produce a record that feels like that.

Thanks to Kira for sharing her favourites with us!

Watch the video for her single ‘Knife like a Spile’ below

Follow Kira McSpice on bandcamp, Spotify, Youtube, Facebook & Instagram

 

Photo Credit: David Weindorf

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FIVE FAVOURITES: Holly Munro

Intricately blending electronic elements with folk-pop sensibilities, Irish songwriter Holly Munro crafts tender, deeply intuitive music. Her debut EP, Up Against Your Nature, is a gentle exploration of the power of self-love and the healing and guiding qualities of nature; themes which she explores further on her recent single ‘Dead Ends’.

“I wrote this song after finishing a meditation that involved seeing my footprints in the sand from above,'” Holly comments about the track. “It got me thinking about my life as one big journey with all these powerful detours along the way – some paths you start on but never continue, just as some parts of yourself remain unexplored. It’s about questioning the choices you make and reflecting on how they shape your future in ways you can’t always predict or control.”

We think one of the best ways to get to know an artist is by asking what music inspired them to write in the first place. We caught up with Holly to ask about her “Five Favourites” – and she picked five Irish artists who have inspired her songwriting techniques. Check out her choices below and scroll down to watch the video for Holly’s latest single ‘Dead Ends‘ at the end of this post…

 

1. Rachel Lavelle – ‘Eat Clean’
‘Eat Clean’ stands out as my favorite track from Rachel Lavelle’s debut album, Big Dreams. Witnessing her perform live is an experience like no other – her stage presence is hypnotic. She has a real talent for world-building, and I’m excited to see her artistic journey unfold.

2. Maria Somerville – ‘This Way’
Maria Somerville’s album, All My People, is one I go back to. I first listened to this when I moved back to Ireland after studying abroad, I remember being so impressed it was an Irish person haha (I was not in touch with the music scene here then). I just love the record, it really takes you somewhere else. She’s someone I really wanna see play live!

3. EFÉ – ‘Truth Truth’
This is a new find for me that came up on my TikTok for you page. All I can say is I’m in x

4. Coolgirl – ‘Gaussian Blur’
Coolgirl aka Lizzie Fitzpatrick is an amazing musician and person. I’ve had the honour of playing with her in the past. She has so many musical projects on the go. She was in Bitch Falcon, now Coolgirl, 7of9 and a new band called Dose – it’s all so good – follow her!

5. Saint Sister – ‘Irish Hour’
I loved the Saint Sister record, Where Should I End, released in 2021, it’s a beautiful listen. I’ve also had the pleasure of hearing some of Morgana’s solo music recently, and can’t wait for that to be released!

Thanks to Holly for sharing her favourites with us.

Watch the video for her latest single ‘Dead Ends’ below.

Follow Holly Munro on bandcamp, Spotify, X, Instagram, TikTok & Facebook

Photo Credit: Kate Lawlor

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