Archive | Archives RSS feed for this section

Bonobo

22 Dec

Ever realize that something that you had previously addressed quickly actually has deeper implications? Like a feeling you felt in the past actually has a name which only now you are coming to terms with, something you previously refused to acknowledge or were too ignorant to do so? A clear example may be the feeling you receive from an acquaintance that you always thought acted quite strangely. It felt strange then, but maybe now thinking back you are hit with a sudden realization that, that person simply may not have liked you. I am not specifically talking about this example, but of all of such occasions.

You left something simply as a feeling in your mind, failing to put any words behind it to back it up. Usually this happens out a lack of necessity. You leave it in your mind and talking about it isn’t something you have to worry about. But what brings you back to it? Maybe it was actually brought up in conversation, in which case you stumble and improvise. Sometimes however you revisit the topic in your own mind, and this time because you are wiser, you name the feelings or ideas. But what brings you back there in the first place?

My idea is this: We as people think in spirals. If you consider any idea which does not directly affect your future, you are bound to forget about it until you return to that thought naturally. There is inherently a plethora of such emotions which one encounters on a daily basis, but individual ideas pop into your head as if on cue. Surroundings and situations definitely help speed up this process, as does experience, but it is also necessary to notice it. Realizing why you are thinking something at a given time and place allows you address it on a deeper level and help you grow as a person.

What is my point? The thinking mind has a design different from the non-thinking mind. I actually have no point with this other than that. Just practicing some philosophical writing I guess.

*********

Never mind anything that I have just written though. Today, I have for you a UK electronic producer by the name of Bonobo. He has been described as a pioneer of down-tempo music and his chill, beat driven music has received the attention of many major labels. These words are definitely well justified. This is the music that I listen to when I just want to relax.

This first song, “Recurring”, starts out like a lullaby. The beat allows the song to progress beyond that title and becomes an entirely new song. The cello like instruments that enter just as the beat slows down create a great relaxing tension. The song continues on, growing softer and more bassy until it eventually dies out with some more cello and some tribal vocals.

This song is great to have playing while you do work or just want to sit back and relax. Also it is a great place to start if you usually do not indulge in machine-made music.

This is actually the songs “Prelude” and “Kiara” combined, but they might as well be the same song. “Prelude” is essentially a very nice sounding piano-driven string segment. It fades away at the end to darkness and a heavy hip hop beat that is “Kiara”. The vocal samples which he introduces combined with the synths sound amazing together. A quick stall at 2:09 re-emphasizes the beat and the perfect use of claps. It also never seems to end.

The song continues on in what seems like a blur, one that is very well produced and a pleasure to listen to.

“Noctuary” opens with an eerie harp loop. The beat wastes no time and picks it up and carries it along like a river supporting a boat. The sounds at 2:10 sound like the boat has arrived at some foreign land. The entire song is like some dark and lazy dream. I think it is a very good show of proper beat making and also a case for the idea that beats can make pretty much turn any collection of sounds into a song.

This last song, as well as the others, is amazing in the fact that it seems to slowly evolve, gaining new parts but losing others. You can never tell what is going to happen next, no matter how many times you have listened to it. It gives it this feeling of being alive with some sort of musical spirit. Some of his songs also feature singers, which can perpetuate that feeling even more so, I’d imagine.

-oko

P.S. Okay, as some of you might have suspected, here is a song with a singer. Be sure to notice the heavy bass, because it’s pretty much almost dubstep. And the attractive shaman woman. Please don’t fail to notice her either.

Tags: , , , ,

Streetlight Manifesto

4 Dec

I drove down the dark winding street wearing a grey suit and holding a grenade in one hand. I paid attention intently to the road as the streetlights blurred past. The artist sitting in the passenger seat was speaking to our dear friend on the phone, persuading him not to fall yet. With his free hand he sketched what he saw through the windshield with a dried up pen. In the back seat the two oblivious lovers drank champagne and laughed as they ate the stolen cake and waved to the car fast on our trail.

“Keep a steady mind, don’t lose focus, we’re almost there,” whispered the artist in to the phone. I heard the two in the back tumble towards the right as I twisted the steering wheel left. The lights were starting to blur from the speed so I kicked the car into second gear as we flew down towards the cliff. I heard the screeching of the breaks behind me so I looked to my passenger and said “Now.” The artist repeated the word into the phone and the couple began to weep passionately. With my teeth I pulled the pin of the grenade and cut the wheel. The artist threw his drawing out the window just before we started rolling violently. The car chasing us flew by with a whiff of burnt rubber and rocketed off the edge and into the opposing cliff face with a bright explosion. The lights looked like a pretty blur as we tumbled; we were all smiles, eating cake, numb with anticipation.

The grenade exploded. All four of us were launched into the sky like cannonballs. We flew towards our friend the pilot as he parachuted down from the sky. He caught us all in his arms. We fed him cake and he told us about the fun time he had watching the heist from above. We descended slowly towards the streetlights below, upon their silent manifesto.

*********

Yo. Okay, time for a ska post. It is pretty much impossible to enjoy a good dose of ska. Especially if you find yourself wearing a suit and about to rob a bank. If you, however, are unable to enjoy ska and such things, then I will have to unfortunately inform you of your soullessness. But don’t worry, because it’s really hard.

Streetlight Manifesto is from New Jersey. The front man, Tomas Kalnoky, used to be the front man of another popular ska band Catch 22. The band is actually considered punk, with influences of ska. Basically, the music consists of many horns and fast, bass driven, chord progressions.

The songs which you may have already heard, or are still listening to, are from their albums Everything goes Numb and Somewhere in Between. The albums are fast paced and epic. The themes are dark and the lyrics depressing, yet the nature of the type of music prevents it from being perceived as anything other than happy.

Just in case you do not know how to read Youtube titles, here is the list of songs I used. “We Will Fall Together.” “Everything Went Numb.” “A Moment of Silence.”

This is the type of music that anyone can get into. It is instrumentally amazing. The man has that perfect punk voice. The themes approach something directly opposite of the vibe that the tunes puts out, a yin and yang rarely seen in the music scene. Most of their songs are pretty much about dying, yet they keep it cool with talks of guns and horns. What more can you ask for?

-oko

P.S. I ate the cake before it was a lie.

&)

Tags: , ,

Hudson Mohawke – FUSE

27 Nov

Keep this on the down low.

Sorry about last week’s post, but never mind that. I have to make this terse. I apparently have something that the government wants and am on the run for my own dear life. I honestly don’t even know what it’s about, but I have 27 dead federal agents in my house after what can only be described as Home Alone 5, and am going into hiding in the morning.

I do however have time to review a song.

Let’s see here. After a great deal of magic one night, a good friend of mine played “FUSE” by Hudson Mohawke. My mind proceeded to be short-circuited by rainbows, or something of the sort.

It starts out with light clapping and an ethereal neon flute. It boldly wastes no time as it drops into some ridiculously nice hip-hop. Grandiose as all hell, the corny preset brass in the background and the vocal “doo-wop’s” are so over the top that the song almost comes off as a joke.

It doesn’t move forward at all really. After the second verse, another vocal sample is introduced, which I honestly cannot place for the life of me, its purpose unknown to me as well. But the song picks up the beat immediately afterwards. It feels like a glorious transformation is about to take place, like the song got into a fight with the high speed drum and bass genre and is about to lose.

But lo and behold it actually wins and again we are graced with the same instrumental chorus. Just as it is getting old and you begin to notice how slow it actually is, a child whispers something and the song ends. If you aren’t confused, then you aren’t getting it.

Gotta go, snipers.

&)

-oko

P.S. The government is after my delusions of grandeur.

Tags: ,

Warning: Not for Children

18 Nov

There’s going to be a slight tangent tonight.  Instead of my usual spiel about music and attempting to place it in some sort of musical metaphor, I’m going to talk about bits.  More specifically, I’m going to talk about my favorite men (not a sexist term because this list is solely men) of comedy and hope benevolent editor Matt Coleman is cool with it.

3. My newest addition to this list, Daniel Tosh, wasn’t at all like I expected him to be.  Having seen “Mind of Mencia” and “The Sarah Silverman Show,” it seemed to me that Tosh. O (and its host) would do what all the other Comedy Central shows had done: try so hard to be funny that they forget how to do it.  But that isn’t the case at all.  Tosh’s standup combines two of my favorite things: politically incorrect humor and witty observation.  At no point can Tosh be considered politically correct because his comedy delves straight into the realm of insulting and yet, he doesn’t spit out insults for insults sake.  His incorrect jokes are normally grounded in witty observation which is what makes them so damn funny.

2.  Bill Hicks is a paradox, sort of like a warrior poet influenced by both the beautiful and brutal.  On hand hand, Bill was one of the greatest political satirists of all time, looking at political topics, consumerism and culture through the most cynical of views.  His ranting and raving as if his blood was boiling is stuff of legends.  And yet his message, which emerges out of the flames, is the exact opposite of his act.  Whereas his act is chaotic, almost violent, directed at things he views as violent, stupid and unauthentic, his message was one of compassion, lashing into such topics as war with such ferocity you might think he was fighting one.  He espoused freedom from oppression, doing the right thing so I say that  Bill Hicks was just as much a philosopher as comedian, his great treatises not bound volumes but comedy… with some dick jokes thrown in.

1.  The funniest man I’ve ever had the pleasure of watching, hands down, is George Carlin.  Like Hicks, Carlin explored topics outside of the mainstream and critiqued things such as the political system, religion and corporations and yet whereas that is mostly what Hicks did, Carlin also provided witty observations on both language and psychology.  But I can’t really explain just how funny this man is you will just have to see for yourself.

Tags: , ,

Great Acoustic Guitarists

11 Nov

If you’re lost, just read the title.  It’s short, sweet and right to the point about certain guys you don’t normally hear about and about guys that make me realize that there are heights that I can never reach as a guitarist, even if I played every hour of everyday for the rest of my life.

There’s a story that’s been lost in the annals of history.  I don’t even believe it’s true but Phil Keaggy’s talent makes it remotely possible.  The story goes that Hendrix asked what is was like to be the greatest guitarist in the world and said something to the tune of I don’t know-ask Phil Keaggy.  The first time I ever heard Keaggy was when I was listening a Dispatch live album, and his skill and melodic lines just blew me away.  Just wait until Keaggy plays (he’s the old guy in the video).  I think it’s one of the sweetest sounding solos I have ever heard.

Nobody, NOBODY, plays like Andy McKee.  The man can hold down a drum part on his guitar.  I will repeat that.  He makes the guitar into a bongo.  And what makes it all the more incredible is that tapping on the body of the guitar doesn’t interfere with him doing things like fretting entire chords or playing a melody simply by tapping it out without a strum.  Pretty great stuff.

Now the following video I think I first discovered as a “greatest guitarist ever” link and I was intrigued and while he may not go down the greatest guitarist ever the following song by John Butler alone should place him among the best.  The dude taps out a rhythm and melody at the same time without missing a beat.  The only thing that bothered me about the video is his nails, but you all can exhale, their fake because as you will see he just hits the strings so damn hard.

Tags: , ,

← Older Entries
Newer Entries →