Glitch hop: Virtual Riot

Not too long ago I was going through my YouTube back catalogue (a playlist in which I keep songs I encounter but haven't properly listened to yet) when I stumbled across Everyday by Virtual Riot. It's a glitch hop song with a cool beat but also with some surprisingly tranquil elements. The bird sounds make you long for spring and the calm voice of Yosie has a very soothing quality to it. This prompted me to look further into Virtual Riot.

Virtual Riot, real name Valentin Brunn, is a producer from Germany who released his first music in the early 2010's. He started out with some Pendulum-like drum 'n bass work but rapidly moved towards the dubstep sound made famous by Skrillex. And while I'm not the biggest dubstep fan I really enjoyed some of this early work. Especially Evil Gameboy, which as the name implies incorporates some retro-gaming Gameboy sounds, and Creepstep which has a ghostly piano melody in it. In the years after he kept perfecting the genre, releasing more balanced songs like Fuck Gravity and Lunar. These songs alternate more calm melodic parts with hard hitting bass.

The change to a more glitch hoppy style became apparent in his collaborations during the last couple of years. Songs like Flutter, Lost It and Still Kids have found themselves a permanent place in my playlist. Whenever I'm feeling low on energy these days I put on the peculiar blend of calm and energetic parts and I'm good to go again.

Other favourites: Earth & Sky, Paper Planes and Turn Up

Check out more videos on Virtual Riot's YouTube channel

Bolero: Mon Laferte

Last year Despacito by Luis Fonsi became the most viewed video on YouTube, gathering a massive 4 billion views. The song was played on every radio station and was in that sense quite the exception since, at least here in The Netherlands, not much Latin music is played. Especially not the type of baladas I stumbled across recently.

In my recommended YouTube videos I found Tu Falta De Querer by Chilean singer Mon Laferte. The song is very dramatic sounding, especially during the chorus, and accompanied by a ditto dramatic video. The husky and emotional voice of the singer lured me into discovering more of her work.

Mon Laferte released her first album back in 2003 but her first big single dates from 2011 and is called Soy. It's a nice pop rock song, but not really unique. She released two more albums however her big break came in 2015 with the album Mon Laferte, vol.1 (very original title). The album contains a whole range of different sounds. Besides the earlier mentioned ballad Tu Falta De Querer the album contains some Johnny Cash-like rock 'n roll (Si Tú Me Quisieras), ska (El Diablo) and of course some bolero (El Cristal). On this album Mon Laferte used a more traditional Latin sound, which is what I, and many fans with me, came to love.

In April 2017 she released her fifth album entitled La Trenza, on which she collaborated with several people including Juanes (Amárrame, a cumbia style song) and Enrique Bunbury (Mi Buen Amor). Other songs on the album like No Te Fumes Mi Mariguana and title song La Trenza are great as well.

The album went platinum in both Chile and Mexico and was nominated for five Latin GRAMMYs. Nevertheless in a recent interview Mon Laferte announced that she will go on a hiatus to recover from her busy touring schedule and take time to write new material. I'll be here patiently waiting for more dramatic baladas.

Other favourites: Tormento, Yo Te Qui and Que Sí

Check out more videos on Mon Laferte's YouTube channel

Funk: Trombone Shorty

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.

If you like Trombone Shorty you might also like: Sharon Jones and the Dap-Kings

R&B: Alice Vicious (Short)

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.

Watch more videos on Alice Vicious' YouTube Channel

If you like this artist you might also like: Jay Park

Country Rap: Bubba Sparxxx (Short)

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.



If you like this you might also like: Yelawolf

Watch more videos on the Official Bubba Sparxxx YouTube channel.

Power metal: DragonForce

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.

Other favourites: Heroes of Our Time, Cry Thunder & Seasons

Check out more videos on DragonForce's YouTube channel

Alternative R&B: Marian Hill

I don't know exactly why, but when YouTube suggested Down by 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.

Other favourites: Got It, Lips and Wasted

Check out more videos on Marian Hill's Official YouTube Channel