I’m always amazed at the ingenuity of creative people, and what they can produce with limited materials. I found this video for Kids- The PETEBOX MGMT cover, which is an awesome continuous shot of Pete as he uses only his voice, a guitar, and a loop pedal to create what I think is a song that’s almost better than the original. I’ve always been fascinated with the use of looping and technology for the creation of complex music with very few tangible instruments or components, and out of all the artists I’ve found doing this, The PETEBOX is by far my favorite. continue reading →
I’m not going to sugar coat it for you, this is a really bad video. Pound On My Muffin by Shira (no relation to She-Ra of 80s cartoon fame) is a song about the rigors of running a muffin shop in the ghetto, and the frequent shenanigans that the owner often finds himself in. As you’ll quickly realize, the song has absolutely nothing to do with vaginas… no metaphorical references to them in any way, shape, or form.
If you’re brave enough to click the play button, prepare yourself for an aural assault by a woman who – as my girlfriend aptly puts it – looks like a continue reading →
I’m always on the lookout for new music and bands that I hadn’t heard of before. There are many places to find new tunes on the net, but what I value most is a playlist of music from a like minded individual. Recently my girlfriend told me about a site she found called 8tracks (not to be confused with eight-track) and it’s brought me to a whole new realm of music discovery.
8tracks is an online music platform that allows users to create their own internet radio mixes and share them with the world. This isn’t exactly a unique concept, with many other sites doing something similar – such as Grooveshark – but what I like about 8tracks is the simple interface, and the surprising amount of high quality mixes. Sure, it really depends on what your taste in music is, but given that there continue reading →
I enjoy almost all genres of music and I consider myself to be pretty open-minded when it comes to music. I grew up on Rap, Hip Hop, and R&B from the 90’s and 2000′s. Jazz music has never been really my cup of tea but I certainly appreciate it. I’ll listen to it but won’t go out of my way to seek it.
A few months back, I was looking up some throw back songs from Usher on YouTube when I accidentally came across a few versions of Usher’s song ‘Nice and Slow’ done in a “saxophone version”. It kind of caught me off guard to see that and I decided to check the songs out because I always wanted to learn to play the Saxophone. In my mind, the Saxophone seems like the perfect instrument to sweep a girl off their feet. A few of the versions of that song were pretty bloody good and two artists really stood out. One of those artists is saxophonist, Jafar Idris. After checking out his songs and enjoying much of his work, I decided to contact him and throw some questions his way. continue reading →
It’s rare that I get excited about artsy experimental web projects, but InbFlat - a collaborative YouTube music project conceived by Darren Solomon and developed with contributions from users – is one of the most interesting projects I’ve seen recently, and possibly the most relaxing too. The site is essentially a collage of 20 YouTube videos featuring music recorded in the B flat key. There’s no melody to speak of, and the entire experience is extremely soothing. Users can click on the videos they want to start playing – in any orders they like and each video works well with every other video. I’ve tried dozens of combinations, and none of them sounded jarring.
I find this project interesting from a music consumers perspective, because it’s not as passive as simply listening to a song. Though I’m not playing any of the instruments, I do get to choose the volume and sequence of each of them if I so choose. If I’m in the mood for a more randomized experience, a helpful contributor created a Buddha Machine version that starts the videos in a random sequence for you, instead of you having to choose the order. I find this useful for when I’m planning to work for a long stretch of time and simply want the music to loop. With the original version, the videos do end and don’t restart, meaning that you’ll have to start new ones by hand every so often. continue reading →
I heard Pop Culture by Madeon a few months ago and it immediately got in my head with its crunchy synth and infectious dance styling, so when it came up in my playlist today, I decided to check for a video. When I found the official release on YouTube, I was blown away by what I was seeing. I knew it was obviously a mashup, and could pick out bits and pieces of songs I like, but I didn’t realize just how deep this rabbit hole went. The seamless editing blends 39 separate tracks from artists ranging widely from ELO and The Who to Chromeo and Nero. Watching Madeon’s fingers dancing across his Launchpad and trying to figure out how he’s keeping track of the samples and levels while playing a freestyle organ solo is nothing short of amazing. And then, I found out he’s only 17 years old – queue puff of smoke leaking out my ears. Hit the jump and turn it up for a great party track, an unbelievable visual use of musical technology… and bonus utterly ridiculous dance video . continue reading →
I recently watched a movie called Drive with my girlfriend. The film stars Ryan Gosling of Breaker High “fame”, and a slew of other notable actors, such as Ron Perlman and Bryan Cranston. The film was absolutely stunning and worthy of its own review, but what really struck me was the musical score. The Drive soundtrack is composed of 19 songs – most of which are composed by Cliff Martinez, with a spattering of other songs by the likes of Kavinsky and The Chromatics.
Drive centers around the life of a mechanic who moonlights as a getaway driver, and all the songs lend themselves exceptionally well to the tone of the film. Though the movie isn’t set in the 80s, some of the tracks – such as Nightcall – have a sweeping synthy sound that reminds me of a something you would hear in an early 80s nightclub. Given the directors propensity for neon pink font, these continue reading →
So I was watching the premier of The X Factor earlier tonight featuring judges Simon Cowell, Paula Abdul, Nicole Scherzinger, and LA Reid. The X Factor is a talent show just like American Idol and America’s Got Talent. As some of you may know, I am always on the lookout for new artists.
The one artist that really stood out for me on the season premier was Chris Rene performing an original song called ‘Young Homie’. When Chris Rene first said that he will be performing an original song (especially the name of the song), the judges sort of rolled their eyes and already started to judge him before he even sang. To everyone’s surprise, Chris Rene did an awesome job and got a standing ovation. His vocals on the audition really reminded me of Mike Posner. continue reading →
You know those sad scenes in movies where someone realizes that they’ve wasted their life? Or the type of scene where a person has just done something they regret and reminisce about better times? Well, if you ever want to experience that same sort of feeling, try watching one of Lana Del Rey’s music videos. It was only moments ago that I heard about this singer, but I quickly realized what the hub-bub was about. Simply put, her music is incredibly depressing. continue reading →
Back in March, I had an opportunity to interview a Vancouver based musician, Terell Safadi. At the time, he was gaining popularity thanks to a cover song he did of “Black & Yellow” by Wiz Khalifa. His was dubbed as “Black, Red, Yellow”, a song dedicated to the Vancouver Canucks and the city of Vancouver, BC.
At the time of the interview, he had a new single out called ‘Tonight’ and was working on his full-length album – Champagne Dreams. The Album is now available for purchase on iTunes and Terell has also just released his official music video for his latest single, ‘One Day’. As you can see, he is still hard at work and keeps pumping out tracks for his fans. Enjoy the video below. continue reading →
