Meat in Space and the artful alt rock whimsy of "Ruby Tourmaline"

 

"Wish it didn’t have to be this way / But there’s nothing I can do / Wish it didn’t have to be this way / But there’s nothing I can do..."

The wonky whimsy of "Ruby Tourmaline" by Meat in Space, the solo rock project of Bay Area multi-instrumentalist Shawn Stedman who 'helms guitar, bass, drums, vocals, tape recording, Casio drum machines, synths, mixing and production' feels incredibly vibrant and artfully raw. The urgent acoustic guitars, boomy back beats, dreamy drones of sound, electric guitar free falls and sort of busker punk vocals has the kind of immediacy and subversive streaks that to me feel like the kind of song that would grace a Wes Anderson flick.

There are other things happening in my head that feel so artfully potent like seeds of late 70's proto punk when artist were breaking standard rock conventions and while listening I thought of an amalgam of artists like XTC (circa Mummer -1983), The Soft Boys (circa Underwater Moonlight -1980), Magazine (circa Real Life -1978). Tangentially I also thought of Broken Social Scene,
Ugly Casanova and oddly enough (or maybe not) early Simon and Garfunkel and The Kinks, maybe not as much sonically but attitudinally. 

Come back and do it again
In seventy-nine
Unwind this ball of twine
Wrapped around my spine

All I ask of you
Is that you make it through
Castles crumbling down
Shadows surround
You Ooh
Ooh Ooh

Ruby tourmaline
Ruby tourmaline
Ruby tourmaline
Ruby tourmaline

A lovely new discovery. 

-Robb Donker Curtius

THE FACTS AS WE KNOW THEM 

https://open.spotify.com/artist/3yVXVgaTOvTP9Yt4iEl6kQ

https://soundcloud.com/meatinspace

https://www.instagram.com/meatinspace/

https://www.facebook.com/meatinspace

https://twitter.com/meatinspace

https://meatinspace.bandcamp.com/album/ruby-tourmaline


ABOUT

Meat in Space is the solo rock project of Bay Area multi-instrumentalist Shawn Stedman who helms guitar, bass, drums, vocals, tape recording, Casio drum machines, synths, mixing and production.

What are your main influences?

"I'm heavily influenced by early 90s heavyweights like Dinosaur Jr., Nirvana and Smashing Pumpkins, as well as garage rockers like Jay Reatard and Ty Segall. I like guitar heavy music and genre-wise I draw from a blend of punk, stoner metal, shoegaze, slacker rock, indie, experimental rock, DIY 4-trackers, Spanish guitar, and all musicians with a strong melodic sensibility."

Meat in Space, alt rock, alt pop, lo-fi rock, avant pop, indie rock, psychedelic, Bay Area artist Shawn Stedman, "Ruby Tourmaline",