New York, NY (Top40 Charts) After the halcyon folk-rock & roll of his self-titled debut album on BYM, Scott Ryan Davis returns with an engaging record that sprawls on early proto-punk and garage jangle that resemble the easier, yet jagged sounds of The
Velvet Underground,
Neil Young & Crazy Horse and 80s alternative rock staple Flying Nun Records. Old teammates Chris Millstein and Jimy Seitang (Psychic Ills) join the ride, delivering a poignant, earnest haven of yearning songs.
Vincent's Playlist began when Davis had the idea to make a record for some songs that had been hovering around, with the intention of honing a more personal sound which, in the end, translated into straightforward pop tunes with a rough edge. After a couple of sessions throughout the spring of 2019, Millstein and Seitang came along for the rhythm section and quickly went on to record at Second Base studio, with RJ
Gordon (who also worked on the first album) engineering and mixing. The songs unfold as naturally as they were conceived; they come tumbling out easily and without beating around the bush.
Album-opener "High" sets the scene of throbbing riffs dueling with fuzzy, feedback-driven guitar fillers, taking you straight back to noisy, garage jam summer days. The same goes for "Between You & Me" with its sharp slopes of overdriven, amped up guitar licks courtesy of Chilean stalwart musician Sam Maquieira (The Ganjas, Wild Parade, Yajaira). Though these roughed-up visions of clangly rock'n'roll soar on the album from time to time, Scott manages to complement them to a body of airier tracks that unspool freely for a brighter emphasis on musing lyrical odes about love, loss, books, and art. Subtle saxophone and clarinet arrangements by Ryan Weisheit reveal spontaneously along tracks like the ruminative melodies of "Hello Lou Reed" and "Sway," creating a gauzy and lush atmosphere of psychedelic jingle-jangle reveries that echo the likes of Real Estate and 80s indie legends Felt and The
Dream Syndicate. All in all, the tunes embody a sense of routinely walking or meandering around, whether it's an inner-city landscape or pastoral sunny days throughout the countryside. A shelter from everything that's happening without necessarily becoming untethered from reality.
Teaming up again with BYM Records for a new LP release, Virginia Trance's new album tightens the link between Davis and Chile's music scene. Last year, we saw the release of A Full Cosmic Trance, an unexpected collaboration between Scott and Chilean ambient-psych gurus A Full Cosmic Sound. The entrancing and hypnotic improvised session was recorded live at BYM Studio and released as a limited edition cassette through Davis' own release platform, with distribution by the DIY Santiago-based label ETCS Records. Having recently celebrated their 10th anniversary, BYM carries on with the search for new and consistent musical paths, rejoicing on the look for an easy rock ethos that delights on day to day experiences and blossoms with fresh releases by bands like Las Flores Silvestres, Mr. Ray and Chicos de Nazca.
