Insight & Critique
  • DAC
  • Indie Music Album Reviews
  • About
  • Submissions
  • Top albums
  • Features
  • Contact

The Radio Hour - ​Radio Power

2/29/2016

0 Comments

 
Picture
The Radio Hour

​Radio Power
self-released; 2015

3.8 out of 5

By J Simpson

What is Radio Power?

Radio is a strange thing - part water-witching, deriving signals from the ether; part clairaudience - hearing distant sounds, clear as day; part random encounter, inviting a stranger into your living room to hear their stories and listen to their songs.

For the longest time, radio was one of the only ways to discover new, unknown artists - expertly curated by pro DJs (whose favor may or may not have been curried with a line of coke and a stack of cash). In the 21st century, however, radio runs the risk of obsolescence with nearly every album ever made being available at the click of a button.

The downside of this mass availability is the danger of solely running through the rat maze of your own obsessions. The lamentations over people staring at their screens while in public is so-often-repeated, at this point, as to not be worth mentioning - and it's not necessarily a bad thing - but you might miss some moving story of a troubled refugee, sitting right next to you, or miss out on glorious, life-changing music while you're too busy listening to Taylor Swift on repeat.

A pre-programmed life limits the opportunity for wonder, for revelation, while hardening our walls to the life spinning around us. That's part of why it's fun to be a reviewer - you're guaranteed to hear sounds from all over creation, widening your scope & vision.

Radio Power from Chicago's The Radio Hour, is a reminder to let down your guard and really listen. The Radio Hour is predominantly the work of singer/guitarist Tim Hort, whose elegant, electric garage anthems are fleshed out with a supporting cast of backing musicians.

The Radio Hour deserves major props for not being afraid to blend the bitter and the sweet, which always makes for the best pop music, in my opinion. In the artist's own words, "But the material is both nihilistic and foreboding, weaving together stark storylines ranging from abandonment to BDSM. Hort's extremely personal material brings its own brand to the term "loneliness" while unapologetically using pop hooks to keep your attention riveted on the melancholic lyrics."

The subject matter may be bleak and ominous, but it doesn't sound it. This is no grim black metal, instead sounding more like an ethereal garage rock, full of twanging, reverbed guitar, nicely buttressed with some simple but great-sounding bass lines. Everything is mixed to perfection, as smooth as silk but energizing as White Lightning, which makes multiple listens a pleasure and a delight. With each subsequent spin, the album grows on you more and more, like a fine patina sheen on a copper garden statue.

I don't know what it's like, but when I lived in Chicago, I found breaking into the local music scene to be difficult. The Radio Hour is definitely drawing on Radio Power, in that regard, introducing their maudlin meanderings to a wider global audience.

The Radio Hour invites us to lower our defenses and LISTEN, to wander aimlessly, and rediscover wonder.
Become A Fan
Tweet
0 Comments

Your comment will be posted after it is approved.


Leave a Reply.

       Critique/insight

    We are dedicated to informing the public about the different types of independent  music that is available for your listening pleasure as well as giving the artist a professional critique from a seasoned music geek. We critique a wide variety of niche genres like experimental, IDM, electronic, ambient, shoegaze and much more.

    Tweets by divideanconqer
    Are you one of our faithful visitors who enjoys our website? Like us on Facebook


    Archives

    April 2021
    March 2021
    February 2021
    January 2021
    December 2020
    November 2020
    October 2020
    September 2020
    August 2020
    July 2020
    June 2020
    May 2020
    April 2020
    March 2020
    February 2020
    January 2020
    December 2019
    November 2019
    October 2019
    September 2019
    August 2019
    July 2019
    June 2019
    May 2019
    April 2019
    March 2019
    February 2019
    January 2019
    December 2018
    November 2018
    October 2018
    September 2018
    August 2018
    July 2018
    June 2018
    May 2018
    April 2018
    March 2018
    February 2018
    January 2018
    December 2017
    November 2017
    October 2017
    September 2017
    August 2017
    July 2017
    June 2017
    May 2017
    April 2017
    March 2017
    February 2017
    January 2017
    December 2016
    November 2016
    October 2016
    September 2016
    August 2016
    July 2016
    June 2016
    May 2016
    April 2016
    March 2016
    February 2016
    January 2016
    December 2015
    November 2015
    October 2015
    September 2015
    August 2015
    July 2015
    June 2015
    May 2015
    April 2015
    March 2015
    February 2015
    January 2015
    December 2014
    November 2014
    October 2014
    September 2014
    August 2014
    July 2014
    June 2014
    May 2014
    April 2014
    March 2014
    February 2014
    January 2014
    December 2013
    November 2013
    October 2013
    September 2013
    August 2013
    July 2013
    June 2013
    May 2013
    April 2013
    March 2013
    February 2013
    January 2013
    December 2012
    November 2012
    October 2012
    September 2012
    August 2012
    July 2012
    June 2012
    May 2012
    April 2012
    March 2012
    February 2012
    January 2012

Company

About
Contributors

Newsletter

Newsletter
Book Your Band

© Divide and Conquer 2021. ALL RIGHTS RESERVED.
  • DAC
  • Indie Music Album Reviews
  • About
  • Submissions
  • Top albums
  • Features
  • Contact