
It’s been a while since I posted something from Mikey Maramag (aka Blackbird Blackbird) partly because I imposed a self-enforced moratorium on tracks by him: the dude just churns out mp3s right-and-left. After giving “Tear” a listen though, I knew I had to throw together a few words and pass along the track for others to hear.
One thing about Mikey is you can never peg a label on him: for one track he’s chillwaving it up with synths out the wazoo, the next he’s sounding like the next iteration of El Guincho tropicalia (not to mention the endless amount of remixes scattered across the interwebs). With “Tear” you get to view yet another face: electro indie-rock (instrumental). The opening harmonies sound like a slowed down, marimba version of Sunset Rubdown’s “You Go On Ahead (Trumpet Trumpet II)” — seriously, listen to the original on youtube — before evolving into a swirl of sound Blackbird Blackbird is best known for.
Maybe I was so caught up on the Sunset Rubdown thing, but I couldn’t help to think about how interesting a “traditional” rock cover of the song would sound. Mikey provided a pretty good baseline to build off of (for example, he seems always at the cusp of belching out the opening words to the first verse, but restrains himself) and I just think it would be great to hear what some good ol’ fashioned guitars, bass, and drums could do with it. Idk, maybe I’m crazy…
Anyways, check out the track below and look out for it in vinyl form in early 2012:






