Normally I am not one for the singer-songwriter, folksy type that are prevalent throughout the 60's and 70's. It's not that I don't care about the lyrics or the vocals, I being a musician myself, tend to pay more attention as to how everything sounds together. Although, after hearing the extremely talented and breathtaking singer, Joni Mitchell, I had to reconsider that point of view. I feel as if she has the song writing capabilities of Bob Dylan but with a voice that is about 100 times better. Speaking again as a musician, the one thing that really swung me over was the octave jumps she preforms with her voice is simply amazing for lack of better term. I feel as though every song on that album (Blue) could win some sort of award or be a number one because they really are preformed that well. She uses her voice like an instrument, that admittedly, can some times be annoying but as you really listen you learn to appreciate the time and effort that she put into her craft to make it sound the way it does.
My three favorite songs from this album are probably "All I want," "This Flight Tonight," and "A Case of You." Her voice has a quality to it that could be considered by some as rough and to some even as too refined. I think that these three songs show the best of her abilities both musically with her vocals but also lyrically.
It's amazing to me how there are albums like this one everywhere and how good something you've never heard about can be. Just another reason to keep digging.
Once again, as I was messing around on Spotify, I came across a new band who calls themselves The Milk. At first I was very skeptical because I had never heard of them before or any of my friends talk about them, but I'm glad I decided to check them out. I now consider them one of my favorite bands. Out of Essex, England, the group of 4 have created a mix of classic Motown with R&B, modern pop, and neo-soul, to create an amazing blend that they call their own. Rick Nunn on vocals is by far my favorite member of the group; his voice sounding like a mix of Cee lo Green, Bear Rineheart (from Needtobreathe) and Chris Robinson (The Black Crowes). In their album "Tales from the Thames Delta," many of the soulful songs are capped off by some random outro, in some cases even a sample of electronic music like in my personal favorite song: "B-Roads."
I guess they like cats?
As I previously mentioned, my favorite song by the group is "B-Roads." The song samples random and excellently placed vinyl scratches along with a very rhythmic drum beat that carries through the whole song. Nunn's voice has a really amazing soulful and almost scratchy quality to it that creates an amazing atmosphere that goes along perfectly with the music that surrounds it.
My second favorite song would have to be a song called: "Hometown." Most if not all of their songs sound up-beat and "happy," even if the message sometimes says otherwise; this song is no exception. The subtle guitar hits and the use of keyboard adds a great deal to the soulful/rock feel of the song.
Also one of my favorites- a new aspect is introduced into their songs: rap
Unfortunately, on Spotify, there is only one album so more digging will have to be done somewhere else hopefully to find some more music. They are easily one of my favorites now.
In one of my first blogs I talked about a new up-and-coming band out of Cincinnati, Ohio and their first (self titled) album, Walk The Moon. As I was searching the new music that so happened to appear on Spotify, I saw that Walk the Moon had released a new EP entitled Tightrope EP (named after one of the songs on their first album). This EP has 3 new originals ("anywayican," "Tete-A-Tete," and "Drunk in the Woods") a re-release of "Tightrope," and acoustic version of the song, and a cover of Talking Heads smash hit "Burning Down the House."
I personally do not like "anywayican" as much as the other two so if you want to hear it you'll have to look it up yourself, sorry. In "Tete-A-Tete," they go back to their "roots" in a sense by using falsetto throughout the song, most notably in the chorus. The harder, more punk rockish guitar aspects to the song are juxtaposed with the use of the lighter and happier guitar riffs in the chorus and the use of keyboard.
(this is the band preforming the song for the first time in front of a crowd at the Forecastle Festival in Louisville, KY)
In the other original, "Drunk in the Woods," the beginning is full of keyboard and synth; this is something that wasn't used a lot by the group in the last album or many of their previous songs. This mixed with instances of a hard rock song (mostly in the drums) and a lighter indie song (once again mainly influenced by the drums) creates an awesome mood.
(the above video is a recording session of an acoustic version of their song "Tightrope," that is also featured on the album)
The one cover on the EP is a live cover of Talking Heads "Burning down the House." I preferably like Walk the Moon's version better but that's just me. I feel like Nick's vocals are much cleaner and more trained and I like the instrumental arrangement better as well.
(I apologize for the poor quality, but it was the best I could find. I highly suggest listening to it on Spotify if you happen to have one.)
This EP is really getting me excited for their new album...which is hopefully coming out soon? If not, I guess i'll just have to wait unfortunately. But until then, this EP will probably keep me satisfied.
After recording the behind the scenes disaster that was Abbey Road, The Beatles could tell that the end of an era was quickly approaching. Yet, even though this was their last album released, many of the tracks on it were recorded in very early 1969 way before Abbey Road was put on the markets (September). Even with the enlisted help of Phil Spector (session player, songwriter and producer), the Beatles rarely, if ever, rehearsed together. To add to the problems, Lennon was also deeply immersed in the "heroin life" so to speak, creating a more disjointed and inefficient group.
Even from this picture you can tell that John looks much older and in worse shape compared to Paul, Ringo, or even George.
Regardless of physical appearance, John still has an unnatural and awe-inspiring way of making absolute nonsense sounding like something amazing. For instance in the songs "Dig a Pony," (what does that even mean??) and "Across the Universe."
"Dig a Pony," I feel, is trying to come off as more of a soulful song with the begging guitar riff and the harder rock feel that is portrayed throughout the whole song, along with a guitar solo about 2:30 in. The drums are also used very heavily within the piece, accenting Lennon's vocals and the "critical points," during the track.
(such a strange song...)
John wasn't the only one to have smash hits off of The Beatles last album released, Paul also wrote and sang on some killer tracks. One of these such songs is "Let it Be," and the slightly more cheesy "The Long and Winding Road."
I love the guitar and piano mix in this song, especially with Paul's vocals.
In both of these recordings, all of the band members are spread out throughout the room, only making eye contact for cued entrances. This is the opposite from when the band first made it really big, where there was nothing but smiles coming from the group. Also I'm not sure how important or related to anything this is but all of Paul's main features on this album are accompanied with a piano and are slower and more somber than the other tracks.
The band then broke up after this album to go their separate ways musically, all of which producing some singles here and there. Paul eventually went on to another band, Wings, where he had many successful songs including my personal favorite, "Band on the Run." The Beatles era was one that will always be remembered for all that they did for the world of Rock and Roll and social culture in general.
I can remember way back when, when I hated everything about The Beatles. I now realize how completely ridiculous I was and now fully understand why they are the most popular rock band of all time.
After listening to Girl Talk (absolutely amazing artist) in class, it has inspired me to listen to more electronic music. This is also a follow up to one of my previous blogs about Fatal Dubstep. That channel on Youtube led me to find another amazing electronic/dubstep/glitch hop artist: Left Side Deaf.
(This is the album cover from their 2012 album entitled "Aurora")
Left side deaf combines aspects of dubstep which is a genre of electronic music, mostly dance music, that contains "tightly coiled productions with overwhelming bass lines and reverberant drum patterns, clipped samples, and occasional vocals," (Allmusic.com).
The song above is a perfect example of many of these characteristics; overwhelming bass lines, especially the chorus, different yet repeated (snare) drum patterns that resurface throughout the whole piece, clipped samples and occasional vocals that are combined into one entity. Left Side Deaf usually uses clips and samples of female vocals for a reason that I have yet been informed as to why but they are very good at it none the less.
One song of theirs that I really like (and so happened to find on Youtube) is called "Clutch." This song incorperates what is known to electronic music lovers as "glitch hop." Glitch hop can be described as intentional "glitches" that are put into the music that help progress the song. To the untrained ear, this might sound like a mistake but this is far from reality. Many times the artist will also add aspects of hip hop to their music, mainly drum breaks, to create an even more complex and amazing sound.
Left Side Deaf is a new and up-and-coming artist that hopefully will be able to make it in the big bad world that is music because there is definitely potential for a very successful career.
When a child, in elementary school for example, gets caught cheating or copying on a test or an assignment the teacher is most likely to tell the child never to do it again because stealing someone else's ideas is never acceptable. In high school, the penalty for cheating or copying is even worse; the student could even be kicked out of classes and organizations that he/she is a part of. But in the music industry many can argue that that is the total opposite from the truth. That copying or "sampling" another artists work can be a good thing, that it builds upon and helps create a healthy public domain.
There are many though, who believe that this is still a very bad thing, mainly the owners of that certain copyright. There is even a whole government sector that is dedicated to the stoppage of copyright infringement and to see that those who ignore their warnings are severely punished. This mainly includes a ridiculously high number of fines. I for one am able to see where each party is coming from although I tend to think that I am rooting for those who want to cut back on those copyright laws. Artists like Girl Talk and The White Panda (mentioned in an earlier blog) are technically are violating many of the copyright laws. This video below explains the situation in more depth.
The original creator of this documentary: Brett Gaylor, has allowed for his video to be cut and remixed any way anyone likes it. Above is an example of one of the remix's.
Even though Girl Talk's music is not necessarily legal, it still is pretty amazing. Anyone who see's what he does and how he creates his music is stupid to say that it's not art...in fact it's probably the exact definition of it.
As a classic rock lover, I have been waiting for a while to listen to bands like Zep and Black Sabbath. Although I think Led Zepplin has better players/musicians, I really do enjoy what Black Sabbath and Ozzy have to offer; the beginning of metalish, harder rock that was not really seen up until this point. Black Sabbath formed in 1969 in Birmingham, England as a few poor British guys. Although Sabbath is one of the most influential hard rock/metal bands of all time, they started off with many aspects of the blues in their songs, sampling themes from bands like Cream, Deep Purple, and Blue Cheer. But eventually, transitioning into the slowed tempo rock band focusing on the the "screaming" guitar solos and the kickin bass.
Although their first album was not overly successful or liked for that matter, it did have some hits that included: "Black Sabbath," (also the name of the album) and "The Wizard." Their second album, Paranoid, in my opinion was the better of the two, containing songs like "War Pigs," Paranoid," and "Iron Man." In all of these songs the drums are very heavy and dominant, leading the group (although they are a little sloppy at times). The guitar also plays a huge role in many of the songs especially with featured solos. The blues feel (mainly with the harmonica) is also very evident in songs like The Wizard, which so happens to come off of their first album.
Although it can probably be said that the members of Black Sabbath weren't the best lyricists, their music was and is still essential to the history of rock music as a whole and especially to the beginning of metal and hard rock.
During this past break, I had much time to peruse the internet and the many numerous musical selections that it so happens to offer. One day, as I was wasting time on Youtube, I came across a page whose only purpose was to give their audience a new dubstep, electronic, drumstep, glitch hop, etc. song everyday. As a electronic music fan I was highly excited by this wanting to learn and listen more. Based out of the UK, Fatal Dubstep was created to promote high quality dubstep, drumstep, glitch hop and more. Here is a link to their Youtube channel :http://www.youtube.com/user/fataldubstephd.
Even though I haven't been aware of the sight for very long, I have already found many songs that I really like for various reasons. The one above is one of my favorites because I really do like the "singing" aspect of the song and songs like that rather than just the electronic beats. I also liked how the song is set up like "normal" non electronic song with a chorus and separate and different verses.
This song, like the one before, contains aspects of female singing but also has random but very carefully chosen pauses that enhance the experience of the song by emphasizing (almost to an extent of foreshadowing) that whatever comes next is going to be big.
Another really cool thing about this page is that every so often they will create playlists that show off the best of the year (what is placed above) for example, with the track names so if you hear some you like, you will be able to find out more about that certain artist or artists. If you like dubstep or electronic music in general, this page is amazing. I highly recommend it.
