Trombone Shorty, real name Troy Andrews, is a jazz-funk trombone player from New Orleans. I discovered him several years ago when I came across a live performance of him on TV. His style is a combination of jazz and funk spiced up with some rock and hiphop influences. Unfortunately he doesn't have many videos on YouTube, but you can find some footage of several jazz festival performances. After a silent four years he finally released his fourth album earlier this year.
Alice Vicious, formerly known as LiVii, released her debut EP 'Alice In Plastic Land' earlier this year. On it she sings in Korean, Japanese and English. Watch the title song Golden Blood below.
Today I'd like to introduce a new Weekly Sounds concept called a 'Short'. As you might have noticed the amount of blogs I've put out lately is a bit low. There are several reasons for this: Sometimes I discover an artist which hasn't made a lot of music yet, other times I find myself lacking the time to do research and write a proper post. In times like these I will upload Shorts;short posts that contain a music video and possibly some basic information but no elaborate link-filled article. You can recognise them by the Short-logo in the picture and (Short)-addition to the post title. In this way I'll be able to provide you with a more continuing flow of new music. Hopefully you'll enjoy them.
Back in 2008 my brothers and I used
to play the game Guitar Hero 3. It's a rhythm game featuring a guitar
controller in which you have to press coloured buttons in the order that they
appear on screen. As you progressed through the game the songs became
increasingly difficult to play, with at its pinnacle: Through the Fire and Flames by DragonForce (watch this video to get
an idea of what I'm talking about). My hands still hurt thinking about it, but
what a great introduction to a new band.
DragonForce is a power metal band
originating from Britain and was already founded in 1999. Power metal
distinguishes itself from other heavy metal genres in that it's faster and has
a more uplifting sound. In contrast to other metal styles power metal also
relies more on the use of keyboards, though some bands use them more than
others.
DragonForce's first relative success
came with the 2005 song Fury of the Storm,
although it didn't manage to chart. On year later the band released Through the Fire and Flames which seemed
to undergo a similar fate, until 2008 when it was featured in Guitar Hero. The
song, and the band, blew up and reached the Billboard Hot 100. And for good
reason I might add, every metal fan can't help but be impressed by the insanely
awesome guitar solos.
After their major success DragonForce
released several albums and had some personnel changes, including their lead
singer. In 2015 DragonForce's guitarists Herman Li and Sam Totman collaborated
with the kawaii metal band BABYMETAL (read more about them in my earlier post) on
their song Road of Resistance, which
indeed has a very DragonForce-like sound to it.
Last month the band released their
latest album entitled Reaching into Infinity. It's their longest album so far
and features great songs like Curse of Darkness
and my favourite Ashes of the Dawn. I
hope this album brings back the recognition this band, in my opinion, deserves.
I don't
know exactly why, but when YouTube suggested Downby Marian Hill to me I figured it would probably be a cliché
ballad. The start of the song seemed to confirm this since I only heard a piano
and a female vocalist. It sounded nice but not really remarkable. I kept
listening however and it's a good thing I did, because when the beat dropped,
at 56 seconds into the song, my opinion changed completely. If you're a regular
visitor of my blogs you've probably noticed that I'm a fan of hip-hop and trap
beats as well as electronic parts. Down
manages to combine these elements with cut up vocals, reminiscent of C2C (see
my earlier blog) while at the same time maintaining a relaxed feel. I fell in
love with the song.
Marian
Hill, consisting of producer Jeremy Lloyd and vocalist Samantha Gongol, is a
relatively new group that started out in 2013. My two favourite songs of their
debut EP 'Play' are Loveit and
especially One Time. I like the jazzy
feel that both songs have due to use of a saxophone.
In 2015
the group released a second EP with several new songs, but it wasn't until 2016
that they released their debut album 'Act One'. The album contains a nice range
of songs, from the relaxing I Know Why,
to the urban Mistaken and the
swinging I Want You. This last song
reminds me a bit of the electro swing produced by ProleteR.
Currently
their latest released song, the earlier mentioned Down, has almost 21 million views on YouTube so it's safe to say
the group is blowing up. I can't wait to hear more of their saxy songs.
The Eurovision Song Contest, the
longest-running annual international TV song competition in the world, was
broadcasted again last week. This year several hundred million people watched the
42 participants put on a show on the stage in Kyiv, Ukraine.
Many people however, especially the
ones that call themselves music fans, don't like Eurovision. They
associate it with bad (read: commercial) music, crazy outfits and stupid
dances. I have to admit this is partly true, but in recent years the amount of
good acts is certainly increasing.
The reason I still watch the event
every year is because it's an excellent way to discover new music. On the one
hand there's the traditional/folkloristic songs like Belarus and Hungary, while
on the other hand there are the modern ballads as performed by Poland and
Denmark (coincidently both were playboy models, but that's beside the point). Both
electro (Norway) and rock (Ukraine) fans could also find something to their
taste. Norwegian EDM producer JOWST was actually granted an exception for the
use of pre-recorded vocals, which is normally not allowed. There's also room
for different singing techniques as shown by the opera singer from Croatia and
the yodelling duo from Romania.
The winner of this year's contest is
an eccentric singer from Portugal named Salvador Sobral. His song Amar Pelos Dois sounds like it was
composed in the 1960's but at the same time doesn't sound outdated. It's a
beautiful composition that had the power to completely relax me amidst all the
hard hitting dance tracks. A rightful winner if you ask me.
Other favourites from this year's
show:
The Netherlands (the girls from
O'G3NE have hands down the best harmonies in the competition)
Iceland (Svala brings a retro 80's
electronic sound)
France (A catchy pop song sung by
the beautiful Alma)
I believe it was a Thursday or
Friday morning some weeks back, when I walked into the laboratory I work in.
Most of the times the radio is tuned in to a pop or rock station, playing all
the regular hits. This particular morning however something else entirely was
playing.
What I heard was one of the most
unique voices I've ever encountered in music. The arrangement itself had a
relaxing downtempo drum beats, beautiful moody strings and
several layers of mellow synthesizers. The music was such a perfect fit to my
end-of-the-week-tiredness that I stopped walking and just listened to it for a
while.
The song that played was Mend (to Fix, to Repair) by the Canadian
duo Elsiane and is featured on their 2007 debut album Hybrid. It's a great album
that showcases the diversity of Elsiane's sound. There are some easy listening
pieces like Across the Stream and Prosaic, but also some more experimental
works like Ecclesia and my personal
favourite, the title song; Hybrid.
There's even a cello solo on the album, In a Crisis...
In 2012, five years later, Elsiane
released their second album: Mechanics of Emotion. This album is a lot more experimental, featuring
several songs which are not much more than some ambient electronic chords, and
thus not really my cup of tea. That is not to say that the album does not
contain any nice songs at all, Slowbirth
and Acceptance are both quite
enjoyable.
Last month, again after five years,
the group released their third album: Death of the Artist (they're nothing if
not consistent). I like this album
better than the previous one since it's less experimental, the songs have a
longer duration and feel more rounded. My absolute favourite work on this album
is Fragilidad which has a cool bossa nova
drum groove accompanied by some sweet woodwinds giving it somewhat of a
tropical vibe.
Many thanks to my colleague for introducing
me to this unique sounding duo! Let's hope we don't have to wait another five
years for their next album.
One of the first genres I discussed on
this blog was country rap. It might therefore not come as a surprise to some
readers that I'm a fan of country influences in music. A genre that also
incorporates elements of country music, but is completely different from the
earlier mentioned country rap is southern rock.
Southern rock is best described as a
combination of country and hard rock. Often people confuse the genre with
country rock which is similar, but milder sounding due to its more frequent use
of acoustic guitars instead of electric ones.
I discovered Black Stone Cherry 4/5
years ago in an unlikely place, a Kung Fu video game, where their song Rain Wizard was featured on an in-game
radio station. The song came from Black Stone Cherry's eponymous 2006 debut album
which also featured Lonely Train. While
both songs, and others on the album, are great they don't necessarily clearly
showcase the southern rock vibe. The country influence is perhaps more clearly
visible in White Trash Millionaire
and even better inLike I Roll. My all-time
favourite song of the band however is Meand Mary Jane which is a kick-ass song with an addictive hook.
The
latest album from the band titled 'Kentucky' dates from 2016 and contains Soul Machine and Cheaper to Drink Alone, among others. I for one have added them to
my playlist. Does anybody else have a sudden craving for beer and summer?
Seoul, or the 120 Days of Sodom, the latest single from San E, is a
song that describes the vices associated with fame; alcohol, drugs and sex. It
stands in stark contrast to the poppy start of the rapper.
Back in
2010 Korean born, but US raised rapper San E signed a record deal with JYP
Entertainment, one of the three biggest record labels in Korea. As you might
know the Korean record industry tightly controls every aspect of their artists,
from their music to their image. In the case of San E this resulted in his
debut single Tasty San, a song that's
mostly just comical and meant to reach a large audience. Even though he had
some minor success San E's ambition and style however made him decide to leave
JYP Entertainment in 2013 and join Brand New Music, a label focusing on hip hop
and R&B. This change was accentuated by the release of Rap Circus, a hardcore hip hop song in which he criticizes his
previous image. This was quickly followed by his first #1 charting song Story of Someone I Know, a serious but
more accessible song.
San E's career
took off, he collaborated with many
Korean rappers and singers to create hit after hit, including: Where Did You Sleep (with label mates
Verbal Jint and Swings), A Midsummer Night's Sweetness (a sugar sweet duet with singer Raina) and the sexy Body Language.
Everything
seemed to go well for the rapper. He released an album in 2015 and was a judge
and host on TV shows like 'Show Me The Money' and 'Unpretty Rapstar'. By the
end of 2016 however all the fame and money started to go to his head. He became
arrogant, depressed and addicted to alcohol and drugs. This process and how he
overcame it was conceptualised in his latest EP 'Season of Suffering'. In the
song Seoul, or the 120 Days of Sodom
he describes the first stage, as mentioned earlier. In Counselor he acknowledges that he has a problem and discusses his
condition, playing both the patient and the counsellor. Finally in I Am Me he accepts himself and overcomes
his depression.
The
'Season of Suffering' EP is probably one of my all time favourite K-Rap releases.
I'm glad to see San E is recovered and can't wait to find out which hits he has
in store for 2017.
This
post is part of my Classical Music Series. Read more about it in the
introduction.
Baroque
is the name given to music composed from 1600 to 1750, a period during which the
foundation was laid not only for classical music, but for Western music in
general. Composers started making use of basso continuo (also known as figured
bass), in which a group of instruments (usually harpsichord, lute and cello)
play a fixed bass line on which the chords and melody are improvised. This
melody was usually played counterpoint, meaning that two melodies differ in
their tempo and direction (for instance one melody going up, while the other
goes down) but still sound harmonious or good together. Probably the most influential
early baroque composer to implement these techniques was Claudio Monteverdi,
who was also responsible for composing one of the earliest still surviving
operas: L'Orfeo.
Thanks
to Monteverdi baroque music gained attention and became highly popular by the mid-1600's.
To be able to satisfy the public demand composers started to downscale the
orchestras hereby creating chamber music, which could be played in smaller
settings. In Italy the most influential composer at the time was Francesco Cavalli,
a student of Monteverdi, who wrote more than 40 operas for small orchestras.
Meanwhile in France Jean-Baptiste Lully, royal composer for king Louis XIV,
mainly focused on ballets and comedies. Lully was also what we would nowadays
call a conductor. He used a large staff to maintain the rhythm. Unfortunately
for him this practice literally killed him. During a rendition of Te Deum he hit his foot with the staff,
which resulted in gangrene and ultimately his death (who'd have guessed being a
conductor was such a dangerous job?!).
Of
course the pinnacle of baroque chamber music is the very well known Canon in D Major by Johann Pachelbel.
Besides being one of the most played classical pieces during both weddings and
funerals its chord scheme also inspired many pop songs over the years including
Ralph McTell's Streets of London,
Green Day's Basket Case and the more
recent Bad Things by Machine Gun
Kelly.
At the
start of the 18th century baroque music reached its apex, with dozens of
composers creating pieces still well known today. If I say for instance "Quattro
Stagioni" you say.... Antonio Vivaldi (or granted, pizza if you're hungry).
TheFour Seasons is Vivaldi's most famous work, and rightfully so. He really manages
to capture the feeling of each season in the music. We hear birds in spring,
experience a thunderstorm in summer, join the harvest festivities in the autumn
and seek shelter for the gruelling snowstorm in winter, the last being my
personal favourite. Of course Vivaldi composed many other pieces, mainly
concertos and sonatas, most of which have a very bright maybe even playful
style.
A lot of
Vivaldi's works were transcribed for organ by another great composer: Johann
Sebastian Bach. Bach's works generally sound a bit more serious than Vivaldi's.
This is not because Bach was German, but rather the fact that he composed many
cantatas, masses and passions played in churches which required a more
dignified sound. Nevertheless there are plenty of compositions in his 1000+
work oeuvre which sound uplifting (for example his Brandenburg Concertos).
The last
composer I'd like to mention is George Frideric Handel, for one because he's
one of the first composers I've ever attended a performance from (the
Messiah), but also because he's one of
the greatest composers of the Baroque era. Born in Germany in 1685 (same year
and country as Bach) Handel moved to Italy in 1703 before ending up in London
in 1710. As such even though most of his works have been composed in England
clear German and Italian Baroque influences can be heard in his music. Handel's
most famous work is without a doubt the Hallelujah Chorus from aforementioned
Messiah. Another piece worth listening to is Water Music, composed especially
for King George I who requested a concert on the river Thames.
It's a
difficult feat to try and summarize 150 years of music in such a short post,
but I hope I've managed to peak your interest in Baroque music and maybe even
taught you some music history.
If you
want to hear more baroque music there are fortunately many ways to do so.
YouTube of course is filled with music from all great composers. Some channels
specialise in composers or certain instruments. Plenty of playlists can be
found on Spotify and last but not least you can go old-school and turn on a
classical music radio station. To help you get started I've listed some great
works below.
During
the past couple of months I have written posts on many different artists and
genres. It might be difficult to imagine, but most of these diverse styles find
their origins in the same music. Music that is nowadays known as classical
music.
When
people use the term classical music it is usually an umbrella term used to
cover all music composed during a period spanning roughly 400 years. I find it
therefore strange to hear people say they do not like classical music. It is
like saying you don't like modern music, it just does not make any sense to
reject such a wonderful and vast collection of works based on several individual
pieces.
Classical
music can be differentiated into the eras during which it was made: Baroque,
Classical, Romantic and Impressionism to name a few. Each era had its trendsetters,
innovators and perfectionists. In this series of posts I will highlight each of
these periods and explain what separates one from the other, in the hopes of
making you understand what it is exactly that you are listening to. Part I - Baroque
Like many aspects of life music is subject
to trends, what's hip, what's cool, what's dope, and changes accordingly. In
the 1960's much of the music being played on the radio could be classified as
'orchestral pop'. Composers like Henry Mancini, John Barry and Burt Bacharach wrote
hundreds of songs, featuring large symphonic orchestras, which are still well
known today. However like most trends come and go, so did the orchestral pop
when it was replaced by the funky disco tunes of the 1970's.
Lately I hadn't listened much to
orchestral pop, that is until YouTube recommended Hooverphonic to me.
Hooverphonic is a Belgian band consisting of the two musicians Alex Callier and
Raymond Geerts, supported by several vocalists. Although they've already been
active since 1995 I'd never heard of them. Even though their early work features
some characteristics of orchestral pop it can't really be classified as such
and tends to be a bit more dreamy (for instance 2 Wicky and Eden). Over
the years however their sound started to change, gradually getting a more
dominating orchestral sound. Mad About You and You Hurt Me are great
examples of this.
In 2012 the group collaborated with
an orchestra (unfortunately I couldn't find the orchestra's name) and cleverly
named the album Hooverphonic with
Orchestra. The videos of their concert in Antwerp are the ones that caught
my ear. The orchestration of these pieces is beautiful as is Noémie Wolfs' voice which is never overpowered by the orchestra. La Horse, George's Café and Danger Zone all sound
like timeless pieces, although this might also be partly due to the black/white
filter that the videos use.
In 2015 Wolfs left the group but
this didn't stop them from making new songs. Their latest album was released in
2016 but doesn't quite capture that classic orchestral pop sound that I love.
However maybe you like their slightly more modern sound: Deep Forest.
Often I
discover music through association, for instance by looking at related videos when
browsing YouTube. Other times it's because artists I know collaborate with artists
I don't know yet. This last example was the case with SEKAI NO OWARI who I
discovered while doing research for my blog about Clean Bandit. SEKAI NO OWARI,
Japanese for 'End of the World', started out in 2010 as an indie-pop band. They
released several songs, most of which are decent sounding like Angel and Devil, but they're not really
my cup of tea.
Now try
to imagine combining an auto-tuned voice, marching music, a choir and classical
piano. Sounds interesting right? Well that's exactly what the group did in 2013
for their song RPG. It's a sound that
works well and the group continued to use it in songs like Snow Magic Fantasy and The Flame and Forrest Carnival. However the group didn't sit still and started
collaborations outside of Japan to diversify their sound. Dragon Night for instance was produced by Dutch DJ Nicky Romero,
while Mr.Heartache was produced by
Adam Young of Owl City. Nevertheless I like the band best when they do their
own crazy Japanese thing with instrument playing animals and folk-dancing
wolves in fairytale surroundings (look at Hey Ho and you'll understand what I mean).
SEKAI NO
OWARI has announced that they'll release a new album this year and I for one
can't wait until it's released. Meanwhile I'll keep listening to my favourite
song of theirs, ANTI-HERO, which
features one of the fastest piano-parts I've ever heard in a pop song.
Other
favourites: Death Disco(gives an idea of their live-show)
The
first thing you will have noticed when you started reading this post is that
the genre is missing from the title. This is not a mistake, but a conscious
choice. In preparation of my blogs I usually do some research into how other
people classify the artists I discuss. However nobody seems to know how to categorize
Alon Mor, a young and very talented producer from Israel. "What am I
listening to?" is what I was thinking the first time I listened to Alon's
song Jasmine. It starts out with a
jazzy/Latin intro, followed by a middle-eastern sounding synth-melody and turns
into a future house track. At 1.40 minutes there's a breakdown where the jazzy
part returns, followed by ambient music and some classical strings which seamlessly
flow into the house part again. I fell in love with the song and it became one
of my favourite tracks of 2016.
In the
10 minute long song Demons Alon
manages to put in even more genres. The song starts out with a spacey bass line
followed by some dark techno but is then followed by middle eastern sounds,
classical piano, Spanish guitar, chiptunes and even an church organ.
Two
other superb songs are When Silence Kicks In, which is a blend of a fairytale soundtrack and future bass, and Adra De Khal, a very moody, more
classical song featuring a concert flute.
You'd
think that combining so many different styles, genres and instruments would
result in a messy track, but I think that Alon manages to mix everything
together in such a way that it becomes a very coherent piece. To get an idea of
Alon's versatility check out some more songs below, each one is completely
different from the others.
If
you've ever seen the movie 'How the Grinch Stole Christmas' you probably
remember the cute little girl with the blond hair. Well that cute little girl,
Taylor Momsen, is all grown up now and has become the lead singer of
post-grunge band The Pretty Reckless.
The
first song I ever heard of the band was Make Me Wanna Die which played during the end credits of the 2010 movie 'Kick-Ass'
(which by the way is a very entertaining comedic/action movie). Even though I really
liked the song it didn't hook me in immediately. I felt that other songs from
the band's debut album, like Miss Nothing
and Just Tonight, while still nice felt
a bit too generic as well. Several years later, in 2014, however the band
released their second album from which the title song Going To Hell clearly is an example of their newer, harder sound. I
do however also like the slightly more poppy Messed Up World which has a really nice breakdown at 2.15 minutes
in. Last October The Pretty Reckless released their latest album called Who You Selling For with the fast-paced Oh My God and the more classic hard rock
sounding Take Me Down. Because of the
broader sound now, almost six years after first hearing the band, I can finally
say I'm a fan.
