Soulflex

Breakfast Music

2007-12-30T22:15:00.001-05:00

Mmm... breakfast. Delicious, right? But you might ask yourself, what's a good breakfast without some ridiculous music to get yourself going while you eat? That's right, it's nothing without some ridiculous music to get yourself going while you eat. And that's why I'm going to give you this quick guide to breakfast music:

Pink Floyd gives us a decent concept to start with, Alan's Psychedelic Breakfast. A time-honored classic, this song gets major points for actually being breakfast-themed. However, for some listeners the sounds of breakfast are too strange and disturbing to actually allow them to keep their breakfast down. Thus, we don't like marmalade, and shall continue our search.

An energetic morning starts with an energetic track. Kellogg's took this idea to heart when they selected Do Your Thing by Basement Jaxx as the music for their Special K commercial last year. But spend enough breakfasts with that in the background, and you'll easily go insane, thinking it's mocking you for eating your breakfast, "Do your thing" implying that you're just off in your own little world. We are not special, so the search moves forward yet again.

For the forward-thinking man, breakfast songs ought to be about eating, and have only a loose connection to it. Skindred has the perfect track for cleaning your plate: for a speedy breakfast and a happy stomach, look no further than Nobody. Crank it up loud, pull out all the stops and shovel that food down your throat! With this song to pump you up for it, you won't leave a single crumb on your plate.

Favorites end...

2007-12-06T13:18:00.000-05:00

The songs I have posted about all belong under a commonly known genre as techno. I hope that the ~1100 visits this blog received have at least added trance and electronica to your listening genres.

Open yourself up to try new stuff :]

The songs I posted are a few great samples the abstract, relaxing, and uplifting music of the wonderful world of trance. Have fun... blah blah blah... God bless... blah blah blah... all that other farewell stuff blah blah blah... etc.

Happy listening!

Favorite(s) cont'd

2007-12-06T13:02:00.000-05:00

Song is by Airwave called "When Things Go Wrong"

Like the title suggests, this is the song to listen to when things go wrong. I first discovered this song in a long drive with my friend. I was looking out the window and this song started to play without me knowing. After a few minutes, I found myself bobbing my head and everything. Also, the zooming-by scenery fits perfectly with the style of this song. As a result, this track is not only for the times when the world feels like it's going to end, but it makes a great driving track also.

The repetitiveness of the amazingly addicting melody is not annoying, but I actually want the melody to keep going on full repeat. Combined with a gradual crescendo where the melody, bass line, and other ambients get louder and louder to a climax that reduces the volume and repeats until the end.

Notice the rapidly triplet sounding cymbal taps from the start of the song. It extends throughout the song until it is replaced by crystal like sounds at the end where they are clearly heard. Slowly, the cymbal taps are joined by a simple crystal like melody until the main melody comes in. Like all of my favorite songs, this song does not start with a drum beat, but instead everything fades in gently. The main melody is a hovering sound that sounds very grand and elicits a sense of serenity. The song breezily blows you up and forward. By the end, you will be both physically or mentally ready to move on from whatever stress that knocked you down.

Just listen and relax. Have fun!

Favorite(s)

2007-12-06T10:49:00.000-05:00

This is the only music video on youtube that is not ruined by a poorly done video consisting of cartoon or anime clips.

Its been several years now since I first heard this song. I heard it under the name "RAVE TECHNO HOUSE - Matrix II Trance Mix" as it is titled in this clip. Like most favorite songs, I decided to look for the remixes, but no luck because that is not the real title of this song. After some searching I found out that it is actually a song by The Cynic Project called "Grid (Trance Remix)". Naturally, after discovering the artist, I went ahead and obtained a copies of their albums. Many people claimed that they have heard it in shows such as "Buffy the Vampire Slayer" and in the movie "The Matrix" that's why it was improperly named. I can tell you that those claims are false as this track is has not been on television nor in a movie.

A little background... The Cynic Project was started in 1999 whose music predominantly progressive trance with extremely relaxing and spirit lifting melodies that you just won't get tired of. In the fall of 2007, The Cynic Project released a free album available for download called "Soundscapes 2000". "Grid (Trance Remix)" sits comfortably at track number 3 where most of the following tracks are extremely good dance tunes and progressive relaxants. It will be a hard task to find a copy of the album right now, but good luck with that anyways! You can try your luck on various P2P softwares, but beware... there may be booby traps and viruses in the files.

From the beginning to the end, this song is mixed flawlessly. When you first hear the song, the catchy and 'different' beat makes the listener want to keep going to see what else is in stock. Unlike many trance songs nowadays where it starts off with a heavy 4-4 drum beat and bass line, this song fires off with a simple melody as the intro. When the body is done being introduced by the piano, everything from there is a blissful sedative. The melody in the body that sounds like a high pitched hovering sound is comforting because of its fluidness and the range from one note to the next is not too far apart. At the breaks where a xylophone sounding instrument kicks in allows the listener to relax in various stages. The relaxant starts off in a strong volume for a more heavy duty calming session. As the song progresses, there is a subtle decrescendo where the volume is gradually lowered until the end. A few reasons for this:

1. To prepare the song for a easy transition from the end to the beginning again if it is on repeat, or simply to help introduce the next track by fading in the following track. Fade out and fade in is the most common way of outro-ing and intro-ing another song.

2. Once relaxed, you no longer need a powerful volume. The reduced volume actually helps maintain and sustain your state of peace and comfort. If you have the song on repeat, you can go for another round of peace, but the second time around will usually make you a bit jumpy since you eased yourself out of stresses and the repeat is for pure enjoyment of the bliss. If it is not on repeat, then the soft volume simply helps introduce the next track of any genre on your play list.

In this song, the best part is that every body and break in between the bodies are always different and evolving. The song gets better and better. You would expect the same melodies in the breaks, but every break is unique in its own melody and/or instrument. The piano in the ambient is not as strong in the beginning, but it slowly gains volume throughout the song until it is quite noticeable in the background. Combined with the happy and contented high pitched hovering melody, this song is better at relaxing you than classical music, which does not give you an energy boost. Happy listening!

Numa Numa in English

2007-12-01T23:51:00.000-05:00

I don't know if Ozone sang this song, but here is the numa numa song or "Dragostea Din Tei in English. Might be a bit cheesy for some, but ignore the lyrics and focus on the beat if you don't like it. Enjoy!

Bonus!!!!!!!!!!!!!! Not sure if you have heard of it. Old news, but apparently... Dell laptops can explode on your lap or suddenly catch fire. Here is the parody.

I find the... "My pc... my ah.... my pc.... my ah" part very catchy... maybe its that simplicity factor eh. Whether this is an amateur home creation or a professional one, its all good! The support being the awesome beat... make this song good no matter the lyrics. In addition, the flute sound and the remixed melody make this version a bit different in a good way that is catchy in its own way.

Ozone - Despre Tine

2007-12-01T23:28:00.000-05:00

This is a far more enthralling song than Dragostea Din Tei. When the song fires up, the melody that sounds like a controlled scratch sound from a broken record in the high pitch range instantly grabs your attention. In the video, that sound seems to be created by the electric guitars, but I am pretty sure it is just a synced sound for video effect. This song simply conveys a good mood and is a very good song to dance to or bob your head to. To me, the most interesting part lies in the whistling. The simplicity of the short phrase can be easily whistled by the listener. Since everyone can make a noise by blowing wind through their mouth, this song in a way commands you to do so also. In a way, this song sneaks up behind you and takes on the role of a favorite song that you tend to hum when it plays on the radio. If not immediately after the first listen, maybe after the second repeat. In addition... in trance music... you rarely hear whistles as part of the ambient.

Another good aspect is the part where the guys go "WOAAAAAA....... HEYYYYYYYYYYYYY!" at the end. I'm sure everyone has a favorite song that contains some very high pitched notes that they attempt to sing out loud for the heck of releasing the tension built up from the song. This little detour also has that same effect, I mean you can't help but try to yell out WOAAA and HEYYYY and then throw in song whistles. By the time you realized, you are creating your own version of the song. Most probably, you are in a very blissful mood after a few listens.

Another thing I need to touch on is the simple "la la, la la lay!" parts of the lyrics. It is also something simple that you can also sing out with ease that is actually quite enjoyable to do so. I think its mainly the way its sung that makes it especially enticing. I mean... the guy sounds like he's got something stuck in his throat that makes him sing his lungs out.

Overall, this song is beyond captivating, it is more like a song that lets you become your own musician for the duration of the song. The catchy beat and simple lyrics make this song fun and addicting. Dragostea Din Tei and Despre Tine are the only two songs by Ozone that I have listened to repeatedly non stop for 10 to 15 repeats in one sitting before I notice and change tracks. Not that it is bad or anything, but any good song becomes boring and annoying after 15 repeats. Enjoy!

Numa Numa... AKA: Dragostea Din Tei

2007-12-01T22:55:00.000-05:00

Since I received a comment from a post from last week which suggests that I don't know my 'numa numa' songs, here is a dedicated post. Have fun reading!

This song is called Dragostea Din Tei by Ozone from the Republic of Moldavia (East of Romania) and almost naturally, the lyrics are Romanian. You don't need to understand what is being sung about, all you need to do is listen. The non-lyrical aspect to this song is anything but boring, it is very engaging and different. A few years back, if you visited the countries surrounding Romania, this was the song that you'd be listening to everywhere you went. It was simply contagious... especially when this happened...

Mr. Brolsma here single handedly popularized this song in America for all of those who do not usually listen to this genre of music. At that time, the exciting and positive energy you get form the song and a kid dancing wildly in front of his web cam got America hooked.

The way the lyrics are sung sound like as if the singer have a voice that is very robot like and that he is singing very casually and have not particular notes to aim for. The beat simply won't let you go. Combined with the awesome "numa numa" line, you will be singing this song for the rest of the day. Personally, I prefer the song without the music videos by Ozone and by Mr. Brolsma. The videos are pretty... "happy".

I believe there is one version not many people have heard of and in my opinion, this is the best version out there since I simply prefer female vocals to a guy's.

Overall... the video is better and the vocal abilities of Haiducii is simply astonishing... listen! She can hit those high notes and at the same time... blow you away with her breathtaking low notes that sounds like a guy... ironic eh? Either way, the beat and melody of this song is still surprisingly fascinating. If you listen carefully, I think the key part to the attractive beat is the very electronic sound you here that is synced with he drum beats. It sounds like what you hear when there is a constant stream of electricity from one tesla coil to another. Again, the "my ah he" and "numa numa" parts help in the captivating process. As good as this song sounds... it does get annoying after the 10th repeat.

Fun Song

2007-11-24T22:48:00.000-05:00

The video contains some similarities to the movie "The Italian Job" (The Mini Cooper and mafia?). Just watch and listen, this song is very fast paced and it keeps moving you forward. I'm not sure who the vocalist is, but her voice is absolutely stunning and the way the lyrics are casually sung goes with the video perfectly to keep moving. This song is a musical road chase, the curvy beat gives the feel of driving on a winding road at high speeds. At the more blissful moments, the video reflects that by increasing the tempo and changing the beat to a faster one, as everything cools down and the pressure is off, the beat slows down to match the mood.

Throughout the song, you are probably "stuck in the groove" and do not really focus on all the details: the beat, lyrics, and the video. It's okay, just watch it a few more items if the song has captivated you. Not sure about you, but the 3 and a half minutes of this song feels a lot shorter than the declared time. I guess this is a good way to show that a song is gripping and exciting, when you do not feel it is taking forever and the song flies by and you want more by repeating it. I think the perfect word to explain this song would be that it is very unpredictable. The beat changes without you ever expecting it and the transitions between the slow and fast beats are so smooth, you do not really feel a change in the song. Overall, this is a very simple song that is very intriguing. Have a listen. Hope you had a great holiday. =)

Making Piano/Keyboard Based Trance Music

2007-11-24T22:24:00.000-05:00

Not all piano trance music is made like this, but this is definitely a starting point. Other equipments are required to add the crazy ambients and beats you get from a professionally mixed trance track. This is a very simple method to create trance music since the basic ingredients for a dance track is a 110+ bpm beat and a very simple melody that evolves throughout the song be it a different instrument or a change in tempo. After some working out with the beat and figuring out the types of instruments you want to use to change the sound of the track throughout the play, you will get something that will sound like this.

You will need to trigger those beats when you want them to play and continue to play the melody. Throw in some time to practice playing the piano and then some emotion and feelings into making the song... and you will be able to make a audience at a club go mental such as this one in the video. One thing might be in the minds of the audience... "how did he do that on a keyboard?"

To Sum things up on how to play trance on a keyboard or even a piano. Imagine a classical piece of music. Take a measure or two of it and continuously play those measures while adding a beat of any kind, be it drums or even another piano beat as the ambient. As the song progresses, in between the notes in those measures, add in notes that flow with the overall rhythm. Sounds simple enough, but like the videos suggest, it is quite the feat to accomplish. Have fun and good luck if you ever decide to make your own music... I'll leave it for the pros.

Grooving Bryan Adams

2007-11-24T21:33:00.000-05:00

Back in the days, at the dawn of the new century... can you imagine this song playing on the radio on your favorite idea Bryan Adams was not a dance music artist. Who would've imagined Bryan Adams to have a dance song, especially such a praiseworthy dance track. On a general scale, most if not all tracks by Chicane are highly uplifting, this song is no exception especially since it has Bryan Adams in it. If you cannot make any connections between the music and a lifted spirit, then simply watch the music video. The video is nicely synced with the beat, so it is quite pleasant to watch the video and read the captions that appear every now and then.

The lyrics: "Don't give it up, you know its true... Gotta do what you gotta do.... yea....." blend really well with a dance beat. I'm not really a Bryan Adams fan... but his voice, which is quite wavy, goes really well with the 4-4 drum beat and the bass line. A reason for the successful blend of the genres is that Bryan's voice is very similar to male vocals in older dance tracks in that they sound like they are a bit blurred out or as if underwater. If you are familiar to older dance tracks, such as those by Deepest Blue (which I did a post on a few weeks ago), you will notice that only a male voice that sounds like the wind can go well with a dance tune. Today, most male vocals are deep and aggressive. There are exceptions however... such as the song commonly known as 'the numa numa song'. I believe this track was good enough to make top 10.

If you don’t like the ambient sounds, just listen or read the lyrics, they are near the level of an anthem. They are very encouraging and I believe a lot of young adults going through the education system, career obstacles, and other personal problems should listen to this song and follow the vocals. The trancy ambient sounds and melodies plus Bryan’s voice = a reminder to not give up and escape depression and find happiness by yourself. I mean… literally… don’t give up! If Bryan Adams can groove it up, I’m sure YOU can do anything.

Whether you are a fan of Chicane or Bryan Adams, the addition of the other should only be an improvement to the other artist. Have a listen and a nice day.

Dj Tiesto

2007-11-17T23:54:00.000-05:00

Dj Tiesto – Sensational!!! This is called Eyal Barkan and Yahel-Voyage(Dj TIesto Magikal Remix)

In this song by Tiesto, you as the audience is once again faced with a colorful bass line which tends to get you very jumpy as the video suggest. In my opinion, a Tiesto track usually turns out to be a really enjoyable trance track that you can listen to over and over again, or it is something that is just horribly bad to listen to. I like to say that maybe my sound system may be good as the one in concert halls, but it is decent enough to fully play out the bass. Actually, it is actually too good… the bass’s repetitiveness gets very irritating and boring after about 2 minutes of hearing it. That’s when Tiesto’s trance tracks shine like the sun after the rain.

Listen to this song, check out that idyllic yet over joyous melody that gets the crowd jumping up and down. I’m not a big fan of Tiesto, but this song just has all the elements of a good trance track: fast paced melody that changes throughout the song and a steady beat that is not mainly bass but other instruments such as a dense and rich hovering sound. Wow! IT is really magical and I mean if you know your music... this song has an increased beat to 142 bpm and not the original 140 bpm. Do not underestimate the effect of 2 more beats per minute, to some that means a few more dance moves and head bobs every second.

2007-11-17T23:41:00.000-05:00

Thrillseekers - Synaesthesia [En Motion Mix]

The title itself may be extremely difficult to understand and pronounce, but the song itself is nowhere as complicated. The En motion mix is my favorite. It possesses a few more elements that make it more emotional than the other mixes. The melody itself is composed by middle to high pitched string sounds. In the back ground, you have chimes and crystal like instruments playing loops and loops of cool feeling sounds. As a result, this song is very wintery and every time I listen to it, I get this chilled feeling. Quite literally, I get a but colder and my mood is not as hot. This is simply a very uplifting and chill-relaxing song after a long day of work or a nice cruise on the roads in the summer.

The Alaska mix has an even more chilling effect. The added piano ambient and echoed sounds create a scene in my mind: that of a frozen lakes and a tall ice mountain in the background. My mind may be biased by the very title of this remix, but just give it a listen and see for yourself. Especially since it is cold out, it is quite easy to imagine how it feels like to be chilled right now.

Well if not icy and frozen images then you may see a very rich variety of colors in different patterns that appeal to you in some way or another. Personally, I like this songs simple yet enjoyable melody and a dense and upbeat bass line that gets you very jumpy at times. If anything, this is one of those old school songs that hooked many people onto the trance music genre today. Sorry to say, today’s trance tracks are no where as good as the old ones, but eventually, some talented mixers will bring back the old with a superb remix.

Robert Miles

2007-11-17T23:35:00.000-05:00

Robert Miles – Children

If no one told you and you don’t know your trance history, you will think that this is a modern track due to its jumpy and upbeat elements. Incredibly, this song is very old school it came out in around 1996, more than a decade ago. I’m no music historian, but I can tell you that this is one of the first trance songs ever created and it is one of the best if not the best.

My mind may be influenced by the title of this song, but when the piano melody kicks in, I am reminded of the sweet innocence we all enjoyed when we were a child. This will be the first time I have seen this clip and I think the video fits the music perfectly. In this song, you can see why it is quite enjoyable to listen to a very chilled trance track while driving. However, it is slightly better to be listening to trance while being driven. Anyways, a chill and relaxing trance track plus the world outside your car windows equals a lightened mood which does everything but remind you of your stressful day.

This is the first trance track I have heard many years back that has a piano melody. I was instantaneously hooked on dance music at that point. The simple 4 – 4 beat and string solos in addition to a gratifying melody makes this song… pleasing to the ears. So pleasing to the point that my brain seems to loosen and a burst of creative juice seems to flow.

It was very undisturbed and unruffled since it was the first of its kind. Soon after this song was remixed at least a dozen times or have been used as the ambient sounds to a song. Listen to a sample remix here. Really, this song’s melody is the most attractive part of this song, any addition to it just takes away from the focus of the song. It is great that some DJs are thoughtful enough to use different instruments for the melody. However those other instruments lack that innocent factor that high pitched piano notes possess. It is a sound that pierces through the human body, processed by the brain, and directly affects your mood. Rarely in other remixes of this song do you get reminded of those sweet innocent days as a child where the world seems to revolve around you. Listening to this song, you can’t help but crack a smile at the thought of a childhood moment that is unique to you.

In Conclusion

2007-11-17T22:36:00.000-05:00

To wrap up the season's round of blog posts, I'd like to leave a few words to remember when thinking of jazz and the awesome world of music.

First of all, the idea that jazz is based around improvisation is a critical thing to know when listening to jazz. Unlike the majority of any other genre of music, jazz artists perform extensive solos that they make up on the spot. Next time you're listening, keep this in mind. Not only are the solos incredible, but they're also a one-time thing that's being created as the song is recorded or performed.

Secondly, try branching out with the music you listen to. When you turn on the radio, it's easy to find a popular music, rap, rock, or country station, but beyond those genres lie a lot more music that's waiting to be found. I'm not talking only about jazz this time. Like my fellow writers on the Soulflex blog, techno and electronica are genres that are as full of great music as any other. Focusing on one genre is not as good as you might think it is. Try a new genre sometime.

The last thing I'd like to say is to always remember "the music". Don't allow the anyone to brainwash your ability to recognize amazing music. (Sometimes people get so caught up in what's rated as 'good' by the rest of the world that they forget about enjoying the music themselves) Always remember the characteristics that musicianship, talent, ingenuity, creativity, and quality bring to creating great music. Always listen to music that you enjoy; it has more mental effects than it may seem to be able to provide. Finally, always keep the spirit of the music. If you enjoy listening to music, never let that change. If you play an instrument, never allow yourself to quit. If you collect music from a genre, continue listening. If you love going to concerts, keep going to them. Never allow yourself to lose touch with "the music".

Channel One

2007-11-10T18:21:00.000-05:00

Following a post about drum solos, it's almost no surprise that I'd mention the works of Buddy Rich. Buddy Rich is one of the most famous jazz drummers of all time. It would definitely be safe to say that if you know anything about jazz drumming, you've heard of Buddy Rich. Buddy is known for his incredible displays of technique, and also the mind-blowing speed that he plays at. Personally, when I watch Buddy, I notice how fluid his movements are. Nobody looks as comfortable with playing drums as he does. Nothing comes out as forced, unless he's really trying to fit in that last 64th note into his solos.

It's hard to talk about Buddy Rich without seeing him firsthand. When you watch the following videos, notice how easy he makes some of the most difficult rhythms come out. Also notice how much he sweats and looks like he wants to kill the drum!

The first video is of Buddy in action with his Big Band. If you've ever seen West Side Story, you'll recognize the following song, but I bet you've never looked at the song this way before. This is one of my favorite Buddy Rich solos of all time, for the fact that it shows his ability to play with a band, along with being able to bust out an outstanding solo.

This second video I posted because it displays his amazing speed. If you want proof that he's fast, compare him to another very fast drummer: Ed Shaughnessy (from the Tonight Show) This is a drum battle, where one drummer plays something and the second drummer attempts to one-up it. Seriously, just watch the speed!

The third solo is another fantastic solo. In the song "Channel One Suite", which is an incredible song, Buddy's drumming is featured a lot. It opens with a solo, has another short solo soon after, and ends with three more solos. The solo here is the very last solo, which is the longest in the suite. I love this one because it's so "diverse". He changes a lot of things while he's drumming. At one point he'll be doing a lot of tom drumming. Then he'll focus only on the cymbals (one of the only people I know to play an amazing cymbal solo). Then all of a sudden he'll do a solo with just his drumsticks! After that, he'll switch to showing off his snare skills. In my opinion, it's one of the best solos he's ever done.

Of course, anyone who knows of Buddy Rich has probably also seen the Animal vs. Buddy Rich video off of The Muppet Show, but I'll just make a link for that one. Though, it is definitely worth watching.

Telepopmusik - Breathe

2007-11-10T10:02:00.000-05:00

This is a very simple song from that past that sounds like a modern hip song. This song gives me the feel that I should pick a day, sit back, and reflect on something I have neglected for a majority of my life... breathing. The house elements, a happy melody and simple vocal, easily makes this song a very chill song for a lazy day until something happens to distract you from knowing that you are breathing.

A goal of this song is to send the message to the audience that they should believe... just as they believe. "Just" breathe" and "just believe" is trying to tell you what Nike ads tell you, just do it! Well, just have a listen for yourself, there is nothing to lose.

Deepest Blue

2007-11-08T22:09:00.000-05:00

Deepest Blue - Deepest Blue

Compared to the BT love song from the previous post, this is by far a better trance love song. One reason is that there is no J.C. Chasez in this song. I got caught by the lyrics even after the first verse:

" The sun will always shine on you
You turn my ocean deepest blue
I'll never hide my thoughts from you
You're my deepest blue"

The whole deepest blue theme to me roughly translates into someone or something deep inside your body or mind. Through the years, the human mind or consciousness is compared to an 'ocean' of memories. If you feel that deepest blue relates to love in some way, that is probably the reason why. With that in mind... even though the word deepest is directly associated with the depth of the ocean where it is dark and cold. The delicate lyrics and smooth beat makes the listener feel pretty warm.

The melody and lyrics are slightly echoed for that wavy feeling to allow the listener to rally feel as if they are really by the ocean. This is a great song to sit back and chill as you dream about the summer of your dreams where you are with that special someone or something in your mind. Really does crack a smile on your face if you imagine the beach of your dreams and accompanied by something special.

Summer or not, this song is the perfect dance song for any holiday party. It is very uplifting and cheerful. Unlike most love songs, the vocals of this song are not themed around only dreaming about that special someone, but actually having that someone to call your deepest blue. Joel Edward’s voice is amazingly soothing and fits the beat and melody perfectly.

Deepest Blue - Give it Away

In this song, Joel's voice is infectious. It sounds like a gentle breeze that ruffles the leaves on the trees in a peaceful afternoon by the beach. During those choruses, his vocal and the beat make you want to groove to the song. The whole song is simply mesmerizing. The subtle keyboard in the ambient and the obvious drum beats create multiple layers of dancey tunes that allow you to pick which one to move to.

The chorus:

" When you slowly close your eyes
Replay the moment in your mind
Just give it away
Just give it away
When you slowly close your eyes
Replay the moment in your mind
Just give it away
Just give it away"

The way Joel sings the chorus and the music that accompanying it is just pure bliss. It has a very warm vibe and is simply fetching. Deepest Blue is a one out of a few bands that can create music with a perfect balance between beat and lyrics. In addition to the balance, the beat and lyrics are excellent themselves. Have a listen. Enjoy and Relax.

BT + Pop + Trance Fusion = this song

2007-11-08T21:37:00.000-05:00

This is a fine example of BT's ability to fuse different genre's and trance them up to create something different and interesting. This synthesized pop, trance track is definitely one of BT's finest tracks. It is very upbeat, the melody is catchy by itself, but combined with a simple and repetitive lyric, this song does not get boring at all. Here is a short excerpt of the lyrics:

" some little joy some little joy...it's complicated
some little time some little time....be acclimated
some little hope some little hope...and I'm prayin' out with love (yeah)
some little time to make some change...been isolating"

If you listen to this song, I believe the only words you will hear are “simply” and “love” since they are repeated a million times. Thankfully, by the end of the song, when the vocals start to get annoying, the song is over. Interestingly, the song is better without the vocals. Listen to the instrumental here. Throughout the track, you get these broken record sounds that I found to be very entertaining because they have this ability to catch your attention. I believe that ability is derived from the fact that it is simply out of the usual and it is human tendency to focus more on new sounds.

Up until this moment when I found the video for this post, I really really liked this song. Simple, catchy male vocals (male vocals that are good are rare in trance tracks) and melody with an uncomplicated beat that keeps the song moving forward. HOWEVER... now that I've finally seen the video, I believe that is J. C. Chasez singing the vocals and I am now in awe. I don't really like J. C. and N'Sync, but BT was able to combine a "happy" (insert synonym that beings with the letter "g" and ends with "y") love pop singer with trance. BT succeeds in expressing love through trance in this track, but only in this track. The music video just ruins it. Just watch J. C... that dance is sooooooooo retarded...

I'll just pretend that J. C. was not part of this song to keep this song as one of my BT favorites...

Daft Punk: Discovery

2007-11-04T21:28:00.000-05:00

Guy-Manuel de Homem-Christo and Thomas Bangalter are the amazing musicians behind Daft Punk's robot masks. They are the incredible talent that drives crowds all over the world, moves clubbers deep inside the discotheque, yet makes music so awesome and so accessible that it's had plentiful radio airplay alongside mainstream pop, even in the USA.

Daft Punk's mix of 70's funk, edgy house beats, and simple yet driving lyrics is not only a very unique sound; it also has so much strong emotion and raw, grooving energy that I easily declare Daft Punk to be my favorite artist of all time.

I want to convert any nonbelievers, and introduce anybody who doesn't even know the name Daft Punk. To start us off, I'm going to be tackling the whole album Discovery, one track at a time. Last month, I posted about Kanye West's Stronger, which uses a track off of Discovery as its basis. If you liked Stronger, take a look at the original, get the album, and immerse yourself in the rest of the tracks on what may well become your favorite album ever.

I haven't been posting much lately, but rest assured that I'll actually get through this album. It's damn hard to convey exactly how awesome each track is, and to do each one justice in a simple blog post with just a short sample of the song, but I'm on a mission from God here so I'll be bringing you the gospel of Daft Punk. Enjoy.

Delerium ft. Sarah McLachlan - Silence

2007-11-03T23:19:00.000-04:00

This is an amazingly... insane song with one of the best vocals of all trance I have ever heard. See the lyrics here. I don;'t know if there is an official video to this song, but I doubt any video will be able to perfect match the song. This song dates back from the year 2000 and it is extremely popular among trance DJs and have been remixed a dozen times.

"Give me release
Witness me
I am outside
Give me peace
Heaven holds a sense of wonder"

I believe this would a very good opener for the Olympic opening ceremony since the lyrics asks for peace and freedom. The lyrics give that profound feel to the song while the changing beat and melody provide the rich texture to this song. Check out the extremely upbeat version by Tiesto:

Amazing how a simple bass line addition can make a song so much more upbeat eh. Technically, Tiesto didn't just add more beats, he threw in very house trance elements which are generally characterized bya 4-4 beat at about 130 to 140 beats per minute (which is also about the heart rate of a person on the dance floor in a blissful mood), simply yet misty or happy melodies, a snare drum hit in between the bass drums at time, and most importantly... female vocals. Guy vocals RARELY work out in a trance song. You may not notice in all the excitement going on during the song, but Tiesto threw in long extended string notes (I think extended notes are a favorite of Tiesto since a few of his best songs contain extended notes). Compared to the original, only short guitar notes are played along with a hovering sound melody.

This song is so good that the remixes are said to be better than many original songs out there. The original makes the audience feel very much at peace by the end of the song by featuring placid vocals and a pacifying vibe that is actually followed through in all of the remixes. Even if the song is upbeatted, the most basic elements that make this song good is kept. As a result, remix or no remix, this song beats out many more modern original tracks.

Intro to The Drum Solo

2007-11-03T22:57:00.001-04:00

Technically, a solo is defined as a piece of music played by a single player. Whether this played on its own or within a break from a full band’s song, it’s considered a solo. However, even though a single artist is performing during a solo, the artist can still be backed by multiple other artists (which is most common in jazz solos).

The great part about solos is that they are ridiculously unique. Nothing about a song is more diverse than the solo. I don’t mean only the differences between genres of solos, nor solos performed by different instruments, though they differ nearly as much as anything else would. Solos performed on one instrument are unique within themselves. The main reason behind this is “improvisation”, which was discussed in my latest blog. When an artist improvises, they invent whatever they are playing right on the spot by combining past experience with creative ideas in the present. This in itself makes every solo impossible to be the same as another one. Specifically (for the purpose of this post), I’ll be introducing the drum solo.

A drum solo is most commonly recognized as a break in the middle of the song where the drummer starts showing off his skills. Though this is somewhat true, this isn’t the entire truth. A drum solo is just like any other solo on any other instrument, but it’s usually found as something entirely separated from the played song. This is simply because drum solos don’t work well with instrument backbeats in most genres. Though, it can be easily argued and proved that there are cases that drum solos work amazingly well with a bassist holding the backbeat or with a full rhythm section and brass line playing along with their chord progressions. There are even cases which drum solos occur during the melody and “head” of the song being played (where the rest of the entire band is playing the most recognizable part of the song).

A rock drum solo will almost always consist of the band dropping out and “featuring” the drummer, as if blatantly showing off his abilities, rather than fitting in a solo that keeps the entire feel of the song together. I don’t mean to bash rock solos, I actually love and respect them as much as any other one, but I just mean to display the difference between a rock solo and a jazz solo. Another distinct feature of a rock solo is that they are usually developed and composed before recording or performing the song. The drummer will sit and practice different beats that would normally be impossible to invent on the spot. This creates a more impressive display of the drummer’s talent. It also proves how much time the drummer puts into his work.

A jazz solo will almost always focus on the beat and rhythm given by the song. When the drum solo starts, you are still able to feel the song is still going, rather than sitting there asking “so, does that mean the song is done?” Jazz solos are also frequently based on improvisation (like any other jazz solo on another instrument). The most impressive factor of a jazz solo is the ability to invent rhythms in fractions of a second.

I would normally go on to describe what a drum solo consists of and the structure that builds it, but that would be impossible. Every solo is different. That’s the simplest way of putting it.

Here’s a video of three of the greatest drummers of all time playing a collaborative solo. It’s rare to find more than one drummer playing together, probably because it’s incredibly difficult and frustrating to arrange it, but in this case there are three drummers playing side by side. Notice the structure of the solo. Dave Weckl starts out with his own solo, then Vinny Colaiuta plays, followed by a solo by Steve Gadd. After Gadd plays, all three of them start playing a simple beat that combines to form a great groove. Over this groove, each of them take turns soloing. Also notice how each of the drummers are different from each other. This might not be easy to distinguish, but Dave Weckl and Vinny Colaiuta play with very different styles. Here is one of the best collaborative solos of all time:

Clubbed To Death - Rob Dougan

2007-11-03T22:57:00.000-04:00

This is an absolutely beautiful song (released in 1995)... in a more emotional way. I first heard it in the movie "The Matrix" (released in 1999) and I was hooked onto this song. I felt that the song relates to how one person is trying very hard to put some truth into his life or the world, but it is just so hard and death must come sooner for this person compared to others around him. That was my initial thought when I first saw "The Matrix" and hearing this song, but this video sort of confirms it since the guy in the video is defying what society is doing.

Everything I listen to this song, that thought goes through my mind. It is kind of like watching a very emotional movie... sad, happy, or scary. The point is it gets me thinking. Give it a listen, see if it gets you to start thinking. The piano melody looping over and over again seems to get me thinking and thinking until suddenly the song ends and I snap out of the trance like state. When I listen to this song when the stress level is moderately high, I keep thinking of the decisions I have to make and think about alternatives... which all leads to the logical analysis part. Conclusion: Tomorrow is another hard working day. You can read all those inspirational, motivating quotes all you want, but this song tells the truth. No matter how hard you try to hide those things you want to put aside, you have to face them sooner or later. If you choose to confront them, you might fail and if you put it off, you are even in more trouble. (By the way... if you feel the statements are getting a bit profound... blame the song.)

The song overall gives a very rock-ish feel due to the drum beat and the heavy accents of each note. The heavy notes make the song very powerful, especially using a piano. The mix between rock and orchestra turns out to be pretty evened and surprisingly... the rock aspect does not overpower the piano and the strings.

DJ Tiesto - Srburban Train

2007-11-03T22:38:00.000-04:00

"About This Video
This Is Stadium Style Gig - Tiesto with 25.000 ...
This Is Stadium Style Gig - Tiesto with 25.000 Fans In This Gig , U Can See Tiesto Come Out From His DJ booth.
Video Made By TERENCETRANCE - MALAYSIAN"

This is actually my favorite song by Tiesto. Reason is that this is one of the few songs that have a nice melody to it after a long bass-filled intro. I was very impressed the first time I listened to the song. The second time I heard it, the intro built up to the body extremely well, I guess I expected a good melodic body in the first place. The primary instrument in this song, if I remember correctly was literally called 'suburban train' or hovering sounds trying to give that 'trainy' feel. Long extended notes of some type of horn and screeching sound makes it sound very much like a train... musicalized. When those long extended notes hit, I feel a surge of energy as if I grabbed onto a train and is involuntarily propelled forward. That is how uplifting and energizing this song is to me. Give it a listen even though the quality isn't so great on youtube.

Here is the song with vocals:

After the vocals are added, I believe it was unofficially named "Urban Train". I believe it was because voices tend to be associated with the more urban areas and if it was just the train, it would be more suburban since there are mroe of those there. Back to the song... The original is better compared to the one with the vocal in my opinion. The high vocal notes fit the music perfectly and add to the 'trainy' sound, but I feel that a song titled after a piece of machinery should not use vocals, but instead everything should be synthesized. Another thing I dislike is that the vocals are no where near energizing as the synthesized melody. Have to applaud the singers for creating a close bootleg version, but it just isn't the same even if it is a good bootlegged version.

2007-10-27T23:36:00.000-04:00

Armin Van Buuren – Serenity

Listen to it here.

This song’s focus is on bass. The title being “serenity” is very ironic. The bass in this song is very aggressive. A constant drum beat with a high volume makes this song very upbeat, but the serene aspect of this song comes in the form of a more soft melody. This song is for trance concerts and allows the audience to dance to the long, constant heavy beat of the song. The breaks and loops of the soft melody is long enough to let the listener get a break and rest up before the next set of drum beats get introduced.

Listening to this song with a decent sound system and subwoofer, this song’s bass is strong enough to shake the floor. However, the bass is sometimes distorted due to a low quality music file… at least that is what I heard when I listened to it at home on a set of 5.1 surround sound speakers. The song sounded very obnoxious and is nothing close to being serene. I then took the song and played it in my car during one of my car rides. When the song came up, it sounded a dozen times better than it was at home. I have 9 speakers and a sub in my car and I started to think that the song is recorded in a 5.1+ setting. As a result, the sound system at home is not capable of bringing out the full potential sound of the song.

In my car, the subwoofer was pounding as the bass beats played during the song. The melody and bass sounds were crystal clear and the vibration I got in the car was very strong. I imagine my car to be a small concert hall and the song really played well in this mini concert hall. Hearing the song in my car, the bass line is energetic and calming at the same time. When the melody hits, the calming effect reaches its maximum. When that happens, the peace of mind one experiences is what actually propels the audience to dance even harder. On a side note, the melody does still act as a breather for some people if they choose to not use the sudden surge of energy, derived from peace, to dance.

2007-10-27T23:34:00.000-04:00

Paul Van Dyk feat. Hemstock and Jennings - Nothing but you

I have been a fan of Paul Van Dyk for a long time and this is definitely one of my favorite tracks by him. The vocal loop or the chorus of this song is surprisingly addicting. Being a song I like and such, I tried to figure out what the lyrics meant. I figured it was related to the title and it would mean something along the lines of saying that the listener is one of high value. Eventually, I found the translation to the song and it means “I don’t have anything, but I have everything when I have you.” I first thought the song was sung in German or Romanian, but according to the translation, it is in Norwegian.

I actually set this song aside and had not listened to it after about a year after its release in 2003. By accident, I deciphered the meaning of the chorus and the meaning adds the emotional aspect to the song that I really appreciate. As the lyrics suggest, it is categorized under a more romantic genre. However, a romantic trance track easily takes a spot as one of my favorites. Knowing the meaning and having that meaning go through my mind every time this track plays, this song easily takes my attention and retain for some time.

So What?

2007-10-27T23:27:00.000-04:00

After searching random videos on youtube, I came across one video of Miles Davis and John Coltrane that inspired me to write of one of the most important part of “jazz” as we know it. This video is of the song “So What” by Miles Davis, performed live with the great saxophonist, John Coltrane. (I would recommend speakers with a good amount of bass for the full effect of the song.)

“So What” starts out with a bass melody that, in a way, calls to the rest of the band, which then responds to the bassist with their own, two note “melody”. The entire melody sequence is known as the “head” of a song. (I’ll be referring to this word numerous times.) The head is the most recognizable and concrete part of any jazz chart. A whole song commonly consists of a head, a solo/improvisation section, followed by a repeat of the head. Many other songs choose to mix up the order and throw in a few extras, but essentially this is the skeleton of any jazz tune. It’s the solo/improvisation section that I’m mainly concerned with, as of now.

Improvisation is, hands down, the most critical element of jazz that I can think of. Improvisation is what qualifies music as jazz. Improvising is much different from playing music in any other genre. In the head, a musician plays exactly what is written on his music, but in improvisation, the musician is required to “improvise” (or invent) everything he plays, which is much more difficult than being told every note to play.

A general improvisation section would normally consist of this: the rhythm section lays down a groove to give the soloist ideas to play off of, which the soloist listens to the rhythm section and creates and composes a solo of his own, right there on the spot. The bassist will give a distinct set of notes confined to the key that the song is in. The pianist will do the same, while throwing over chords that follow the same rules. The drummer will usually keep a straight beat while adding in his own short, light bursts of improvised playing. Whichever musician is soloing must listen to each one of these and listen to the guidelines they are giving for the solo that is to be played. This is necessary because a soloist simply cannot play whatever he/she feels like playing. It must be something that fits in with the song being played in order to produce a decent song.

Improvisation is so impressive because it calls upon a musician to be able to create music while the song is in motion. There is almost zero room for error, since all of it is live and happening right in the present. The musician must have a lot of experience with improvisation, a decent sized repertory of music to pull ideas from, and a lot of creativity to be a great soloist.

I posted the “So What” video because it perfectly demonstrates improvisation and how it interacts with the band and the song structure itself. The song opens with the “head”, placing a melody in the minds of the listeners, and the soloists who will call upon it later for their improvisations. Almost immediately, Miles Davis enters with his solo. He listens to the rhythm section, pulls ideas out of thin air, and produces a beautiful sound. John Coltrane follows later on with the same thing. After they are finished, the bassist sets up the head, which repeats the melody and closes the song. This is the basis of almost every jazz song you will hear.

BT - Flaming June

2007-10-27T16:53:00.000-04:00

This is another song released in the 1990s that I think is timeless because it has been about 10 years since release and it is still not boring to listen to. I guess during that time when trance was extremely popular, BT's Brian Transeau has created something quite beautiful. This is also one of those songs of the past that beats out most if not all modern releases in terms of creativity.

Listen carefully and you will find that this song is both very upbeat yet very peaceful at the same time. The highly melodic nature of this track combined with a stead drum and cymbal beat does just that. Especially the high pitched melody that sounds like a piano played underwater, those loops and solos are very blissful and happy. This song is very original and it is the first of its kind I have ever heard and it is the only song that I've heard that sounds like that aside from the remixes. Whenever I listen to this song, a shade of blue that is kind of like a neon sky blue, but much brighter appears in my mind and starts to equalize with the song (maybe it's because I have listened to this song so many times that I know the beat and how it looks like on an equalizer already). Listen to it a few more times and you will notice the wide pitch range. From high pitched underwater piano melody to the lower notes of a normal piano, "Flaming June" is one of the best trance tracks because of its broad melodic nature.

This video contains bits of the original video which are the water skiing bits. The title of the track fits perfectly with this music video. The water and winter activities in the video are probably what many of us wanted to do in the hot or flaming month of June. The intro is very relaxing because of the guitar melody leading into the body of the song. This version is very free flowing and very progressive in that the beat is continuously moving forward and not taking and breaks for other melodies except for a few drum solos that lead into another part of the song. When the basic "Flaming June" melody is playing, this song becomes very serene, but when the bass and drum beats kick in, this song becomes audacious.

A Clarification of Common Time

2007-10-26T22:38:00.000-04:00

After receiving comments on the last two of my "time signature" posts (see "Take Five" and "Take...Eleven?"), I realized I should post something to clean up a few miscommunications.

"Common Time" is the wording used to describe 4/4 time, and only 4/4 time. No matter how "common" a time signature might be, it is only proper to call it "common time" if it is in 4/4. This opens the question of what 3/4 and 2/4 time signatures would be called, since most people would think of those signatures as a commonly used signature. In fact, the right wording for these would be "simple" time signatures. Even 4/4 time falls under the "simple" time signature category, but seeing how the vast majority of the songs in this world are in 4/4, it's given its own distinguishing name of its own.

All of the other times are the ones that I focused on in my past two posts. These times (5/4, 7/8, 43/62, etc.) are classified as "complex" times. These are the very interesting ones that either require lots of practice from a musician working within its boundaries, or call upon a unique (and quite genius) beat or groove that allows both the musician and the listener to feel the time subconsciously.

Also, in response to a question, the Dave Brubeck Quartet released an album titled "Time Out", which was an album devoted to complex time signatures. In fact, "Time Out" is the album that contains the hit song "Take Five", which was the focus of my post with that respective title. A lot of credit goes to this album, it contains a lot of groundbreaking works that have changed the music industry as we know it. I would highly recommend listening to this album.

Hopefully this cleared up a bit of confusion about time signatures. Good luck with the listening! Be sure to keep looking for complex time signatures in songs you regularly listen to.

How to Bother Nearby Drivers

2007-10-23T13:47:00.001-04:00

When you go driving in your car, do you ever find yourself wondering, "What can I do to bother everybody who passes me?" Me too! So I've come up with a perfect solution that works every time.

One thing you can do to be obnoxious is to be an aggressive driver. But nobody really wants to be an aggressive driver, which means we have to find a different way to achieve this. And what better way to turn someone into an involuntarily aggressive driver than with loud, angry music? Bonus points for listening to music that offends others' ears, both with lyrics and volume (more bonus points for giant subwoofers)!

So, to help you all get in touch with that angry driver inside you, I present this playlist of intoxicatingly malicious music. Enjoy it while you can, which is until your car insurance starts costing more.

Drive Happy

1. Du Hast - Rammstein
This is a delicious song, it is full of anger and Deutsch. It gets started about 15 seconds in, which is just long enough for you to pull out of the driveway. You still might have to drive a little aggressively to get on the road before it starts, though.

2. Dragula (Si Non Oscillas, Noli Tintinnare Mix) - Rob Zombie
Don't be fooled by the foreign-looking text in the title, this little number is really American-Made Music to Strip by. That's the title of the album, anyway. The lyrics don't necessarily make sense, but there's lots of anger: it's a perfect addition to this mix.

3. I Love My Sex - Benny Benassi
And who doesn't? No, not a trick question: old people don't love your sex, instead it will bother them as you whiz by. Some fast, edgy electro, this track is certain to get your car and your heart going faster. Plus, more than enough bass to bother everyone around.

4. Faster Kill Pussycat - Paul Oakenfold feat. Brittany Murphy
Some more sexually-oriented music for your driving pleasure. Similar sound, slightly more sophisticated in taste. Might make you think you have lucky eyes, causing egotism and road rage.

5. You'll Be Under My Wheels - The Prodigy
Great sentiments here for driving! How can you not drive aggressively if you're contemplating running people over? The lyrics are, "I rock," and, "I roll," so your in-car egotism is further bolstered.

6. Spitfire - The Prodigy
Downshift when you really shouldn't, and you might get your car to spit fire: aggressive driving becomes more obnoxious when it's actually stupid! The Prodigy makes good driving songs that make you feel bamfy, and are best played loud. Spitfire is no exception.

7. Gunner Down - Leslie Spitzer, Brad Cross
Yes, this comes from the Descent II soundtrack. Some industrial electronic stuff with lots of overdriven guitars, this helps you think of killing robots, and other vehicles on the roadway are basically robots. At the same time, it's a delightful segue into the next couple of songs, which are angry metal.

8. 2 x 4 - Metallica
When driving aggressively, it may help some to envision beating people in the face with a two-by-four. This is the original stuff that made our elders say we youngsters are all going to hell. Try singing along, and giving people angry looks as you say, "Make my day."

9. Last - Nine Inch Nails
Angry music, with lyrics about sex and instant gratification. Screaming people, electric guitars with lots of distortion, and a regular 4/4 kick for much of the song: anger, check. It also takes a subtle lyric from 2 x 4 and shares a riff with Gunner Down, so I had to put it in here.

10. Techno Industry - Johann Langlie
(Also from Descent II) Industrial doesn't get much more industrial than this. It's a helpful song when you want to envision the other cars being rent and twisted in your wake.

11. Crawl - Brian Luzietti
This here's a slow, brooding... crawling song. But when it's through, you'll have pent-up anger, which is the best kind for bothering people on the road. You need to hate people without reason, and this song will help you do that. More importantly, it prepares you to release the anger with a stomp on the gas pedal during the next song.

12. Bidibodi Bidibu - Bubbles
Remember in Super Troopers, wenn die Deutschen go schpeeding by in der Porsche, blasting der German technomusik? This is de song zey are blasting, ja. In the world of driving out of control to loud music, the slogan is, "Crazy German techno: there is no substitute."

Don't forget to crank the volume, especially at stoplights. Have fun with your new hobby!

Remember, kids: illegal things are illegal. This means you need to stay under the speed limit, stop at any official red things, and not discharge firearms from within a moving vehicle.

2007-10-22T14:18:00.000-04:00

COKI
SPONGEBOB

DMZ

This was released about 2 weeks ago by Coki from Digital Mystikz, a dubstep due based in UK. Coki and his partner Mala host a dubstep nighclub held at the Mass club complex in Brixton, London. Dubstep is growing, and these guys are in the center of it. I was never big on the Grime/Dubstep genre until I heard side A Spongebob. This is off the chain.

There's good songs, epics, and then "tools". Its almost like its not even considered a song; every single element of this song, the tempo, the frequency, the body, the bass, and so on are all so perfectly atune to the point where its brainwashes the listiner. Honesly, from my perspective, there is no way not to dance to to this, let alone go all out. It digs way too deep into your instinctive side; deep into your subconscious.

Im playing a show in NWI this thursday, and Spongebob is going to be the highest point of the night. Ill slowly grind and start to build then finally cut all the lights and let the fog machine go full blast. Then ill dig this machine from the depths and drive people out of their minds.

Take...Eleven?

2007-10-20T21:08:00.001-04:00

As I mentioned in my earlier post, Take Five was one of the most unique and recognized songs in the jazz repertoire, mainly because of it’s awkward 5/4 time signature. You may or may not realize it, but Take Five isn’t the only well-known song with an time outside of the well known “common time”, or 4/4 time. As an echo to my previous post, this post desensitizes the idea of an uncommon time signature in our popular music realm, rather than focusing on one single song.

A quick briefing on time signatures! A time signature is a notation that helps a musician to read music by specifying how many beats go into a measure (the top number) and the value of a note (the bottom number) as a fraction. More often than not, a song will be in common time, where 4 beats are in a measure. However, on the rare occasion that this isn’t the case, as long as the composer is talented enough, an amazing song is produced with one of the strangest, yet genius, grooves possible.

In 1959, Paul Desmond and the Dave Brubeck Quartet released “Take Five” along with an introduction to the uncommon time signature. Before then, the United States had hardly even touched on the idea of straying from 4/4 time. All of this was the focus of my last post. What I left out was that the Dave Brubeck Quartet later released a song titled “Blue Rondo à la Turk”. Blue Rondo wasn’t created in 5/4 time, like “Take Five” was. It was created in 9/4. This means that each measure would be counted 1, 2, 3, 4, 5, 6, 7, 8, 9! Counting in groups of nine isn’t something that the subconscious mind can easily do, especially when it’s focusing on playing and improvising, as all jazz musicians are required to do. Just because it’s interesting: They actually count 9/4 as 1, 2, 1, 2, 1, 2, 1, 2, 3, rather than 1 – 9. This allows them to be able to count subconsciously and worry about the music they are playing, rather than where the actual beat is. Oh, and to make the song even more difficult, they decided that once into the song, they’d alternate between 9/4 and 4/4 time. It almost sounds impossible, but it actually comes together in an incredible display of music.

Most likely inspired by the Dave Brubeck Quartet, from 1959 and on, songs utilizing awkward time signatures started sprouting up all over the place. They’ve even found their way into songs that we hear on a daily basis, but most don’t realize what it is that makes them so unusual. The most popular of all of these songs is the theme from “Mission: Impossible”. I’m assuming everybody has heard this song. Duh duh, DUH DUH, etc. The “Mission: Impossible” theme is in 5/4 time, yet this doesn’t prevent the song from creating an amazing groove beat that’s been known by the majority of the nation since its existence.

Pink Floyd’s most popular tune, “Money”, is also one of the most popular songs with an uncommon time signature. “Money” is in a very unusual 7/8 time, which can be awkward, seeing how it’s only one beat short of being 8/8 (which really is 4/4). However, if you just listen to the song how it was meant to be listened to, without worrying about what time signature it’s in and how to count it, the song makes perfect sense. It grooves hard, it sounds amazing, and the members of Pink Floyd all play their part to make it a memorable song.

Fans of Radiohead, Tool, Yes, and The Mars Volta (my all-time favorite band) might also recognize different time signatures. All three of these bands love to mix and match both new and old time signatures to create some of the most genius work I have ever heard in my life. This is blatant opinion, but I’m not alone on this one. I’ll definitely be talking about The Mars Volta later on, but for now I’d like you to listen to a sample of one of their songs. Warning: This song is not for the weak, it's insane. “Cygnus…Vismund Cygnus” contains 4/4, 4/8, 5/8, 6/8, 10/4,9/16, 6/8, 2/4, and 23/8 time signatures. That is absolutely incredible for one song. I don’ expect anyone to be able to identify any of these times in the song, but I’d like to demonstrate what a band can do with all these time signatures that I’ve been talking about.

Other well-known songs with uncommon times are “YYZ” and “Freewill” by Rush, “The Sound of Muzak” by Porcupine Tree, and “The Ocean” by Led Zeppelin. Next time you’re listening to a song, try counting with the beat and see if it would make sense to count in 4. If not, perhaps you’ve found one of these incredible songs!

Hmm... interesting

2007-10-20T20:20:00.000-04:00

In last weeks post "Uh oh...", I talked about what happened to my car and what happened as I dodged a deer and went into a tree. Instead of making a post of what simply happened, I gave some detail on what songs were playing when the incident happened since this is a music blog and all...

I think it is a huge coincidence that I'm blogging on a music blog and listening to Fergie's "Big Girls Don't Cry" as I wrecked my car. I had an inkling that there was more to my previous post, but I decided not to do anything more until I was told that there was really something more. After some time spent thinking about it... here is my conclusion of that event.

The fact that "Big Girls Don't Cry" was playing was to some extent ironic. The song is about having to leave someone (or something in this case) that you really love. However, you don't want to just leave and let go, but you can't do anything about it because it has already happened and you know it. It is time to face the facts, it's over. O well... I'm going to miss my car "like a child misses their blanket", "but I've got to get a move on with my life." It certainly will be hard to move onto a new car, but like the song suggests... I should take the opportunity and see what else is out there. Maybe I'll find something better, but it wasn't the cars fault that I wrecked it.

"It's time to be a big girl now
And big girls don't cry..."

Although you might have heard it 50 times today, here is the song if you are interested...

Jakatta ft. Seal - My Vision

2007-10-20T18:12:00.000-04:00

This is called "My Vision" By Jakatta featuring Seal. This song dates back to 2002 when it was associated with being timeless because it is one of those songs you can play at a dance floor many years after the production and it is still not old or boring. The sleek and simple piano melody combined with the gentle voice of an RnB artist makes this track very stylish.

This is a very chilled out song and laid back dance song or just a normal song to listen to to relax. It is very laid back because of the slow tempo and allows a person to either cool down from the blissful dance vibe or to recover from a stressful day. For the duration of the song, the listener should feel very light and free due to the piano mixed with a mellow beat. In addition, the lyrics are very reassuring and are sung by a very soothing voice that has that soul touching element. From the sound of it, the piano piece by itself would be very slow and would be a very depressing song by itself. However, anything that is somber by itself is immediately transformed into something upbeat and joyful when it is tranced up.

Whenever RnB is merged with trance, the result is generally very satisfying. I believe it is that melodic element and simple, yet catchy beat of trance that creates an upbeat feeling which adds to RnB, consisting of blues and jazzy elements.

In the video, various elements make it very emotional and lively. One of them is the shots of Seal singing. You can see his facial expressions that show that he is really into the moment while singing the song. Everyone have the natural tendency to associate with the feelings and opinions of others, as a result; the viewer and listener takes on the mood of the video, which is very soulful, yet laid back.

Gouryella - Ligaya

2007-10-16T14:47:00.000-04:00

This is a song by Gouryella called Ligaya (2002), one of many trance tracks created almost 5 to 7 years ago. The cool thing about this music video is that it gives an idea of what people see the digital and futuristic as.

Let's focus on the music and the concept of a digital word where anything is possible, your imagination is the limit. Listening to trance, everyone tends to temporarily dive into their own imaginary world that is also a place of sanctuary. For the length of the track, the person feels relieved and unattached to the real world. How? The long string melodies and the wavy hoovering sounds along with a very strong and heavy beat characterizes this track. This track is categorized under dream house which is categorized by very dreamy elements which consist of repeating string-like melodies or piano melodies. Combined with images of a depicted digital world and hoovering elements in the video, the audience really feels some relief. There is some comfort achieved from the mysterious elements that are constantly moving in the video because it keeps everything going. Most of the time, a negative mood is imposed by the lack of ability to keep moving ahead, but this video delivers nothing but happiness by propelling the viewer forward by having constant movements that match the hovering sound and beat in the background.

There is also an uplifting aspect to this video. The listener should be absorbed in the video and the song is arranged and created so that the build up to the climax is subtle and unimportant.
When it finally hits you, happiness and bliss is thrown in your face. This is actually one of few songs I can listen to when I'm blue and make me into a more joyful mood. This song is very harmonious and mellow. I would consider this one of the best trance songs of all time because it conveys a lot of dream-like emotions that enlivens its audience.

Here is a remix.

This is an alternative version or the remix to 'Ligaya' as you can tell. In general, a remix consists of added elements such as more beats, different sounds using different instruments, and a change in the tempo, pitch, or volume of the song. In this remix of 'Ligaya' the intro has added elements such as loops of drum beats and hovering sounds that fades into the melody of the original song but the instrument sound is different. An addition to the original is that there are some string-like melodies that are played in sets of fives which is quite catchy. The original song was already very melodic, but this song is even more tuneful. Another addition is that there is a cymbal crash every time the melody loops in the body that gives the illusion of the volume increasing every time the melody repeats.

Remix or not, both of these songs bring joy and happiness to the listener despite the listener's former mood because there is a great chance that you will end up happy after you are done with the song.

Take Five

2007-10-13T21:54:00.000-04:00

The Dave Brubeck Quartet
Take Five

“Take Five” is one of the most well-known songs in the history of jazz music. In 1959, the Dave Brubeck Quartet released “Time Out”, an amazing album with “Take Five” as its most popular song. There isn’t one single reason why “Take Five” became so popular, but rather there are many. It required the collaborative talents of all four members of the quartet to create such a great flowing song. Dave Brubeck brought his expertise with the piano. Paul Desmond produced his amazing saxophone sound, along with his composition talents in writing the song. Gene Wright provided an excellent bass backbeat. Joe Morello brought his amazing talents on the drum set to give the song exactly what it needed. All of these elements were in full force in producing this song.

Here’s an old video of the song performed live. I preferred a video over an mp3 because I wanted to “show” you why this band is so exceptionally talented. I’ll talk about the details after the video. First, watch it, see what you think, and try to pick out what you think makes this song so different from any other jazz chart.

First of all, the saxophone melody is very catchy. It’s something that makes you want to sing along before you have even heard the song all the way through. The other thing about the melody is that the saxophonist, Paul Desmond, is able to produce an incredibly clear tone. Every note he hits is exactly where it should be. This allows the melody to come out with a much stronger impact than if another musician were to play it. It also evokes a more powerful emotional response by having a more “beautiful” tone.

Besides the catchy melody, there’s something else that’s even more distinct (and famous) about this song. Have you noticed it yet? It’s in 5/4 time! (Which is the cause for the title) For those who don’t understand time signatures, that means that there are 5 beats in a measure. Most of the songs in the world are in 4/4 time, meaning that there are 4 beats for every measure. If you were to count the beats to a song (go ahead and try this if you are new) it would be 1, 2, 3, 4, | 1, 2, 3, 4, | 1, 2, 3, 4 etc. However, in “Take Five”, the song would be counted 1, 2, 3, 4, 5, | 1, 2, 3, 4, 5, | 1, 2, 3, 4, 5 etc. This isn’t easy at all for a musician. The subconscious mind always wants to count in 4/4, since that’s the way they were taught and have been used to. It takes a lot more concentration and practice to be able to play a song in 5. That’s what makes this song unique.

Another distinct, and amazing, part of “Take Five” is in the works of the drummer, Joe Morello. Soloing is not an easy art to master, but Joe Morello was able to take it beyond mastery. Being able to invent rhythms and beats on the spot takes a lot of experience, background, and talent with any instrument in music. Morello somehow did all of this, in a 5/4 time signature. This means that he has just as much experience, background, and talent in a 5/4 signature as most great drummers do with the common 4/4 time.

Joe Morello isn’t considered an amazing drummer just because he’s able to play and solo in 5/4 time, though. He’s recognized because of his style as well. This is where the video comes in to play. Watch the drummer during his solo. He hardly seems phased by what he’s doing; he looks like he’s played the solo millions and millions of times before. Also, his arms are so “loose” in the sense that he doesn’t force anything out. It’s as if the rhythms he’s producing are coming naturally to him. This is what separates a lot of great drummers from the ones who have something to learn. Morello proves his experience and talent to us just by using his body language. It's truly amazing, if you ask me.

Watch the other three members of the quartet as well. Brubeck and Wright’s beats are incredibly solid. They know exactly where the beat is (even if it’s not in 4/4) and they hit all the notes as they should be played. The saxophonist is a lot like the drummer. As he enters in the song, introducing the melody to the audience, his fingers move along the saxophone as if what he’s playing is a breeze. He looks like he could do it in his sleep. Combine this with his already amazing tone and sound, and you get a great musician.

All of the musicians provide equally important elements to the song. Without Paul Desmond’s amazing saxophone work and genius melody, the song wouldn’t have gone where it has gone today. Without Dave Brubeck and Gene Wright provide a solid, catchy beat, the song would have crashed and burned. Lastly, without the amazing drumming provided by Joe Morello on the drums, the song would not display as much talent as it needed to in order to make it. “Take Five” by the Dave Brubeck Quartet is a true display of musicianship and what can be produced when four amazing players come together to form one sound.

Hard Trance

2007-10-13T17:04:00.000-04:00

This style of trance is not extremely popular nowadays, but many uplifting trance and energy trance tracks today are starting to bring back the style. This type of trance existed about 7 to 9 years ago and was slowly unpopularized as break beats and other types of techno were introduced.

Uh Oh...

2007-10-13T15:13:00.000-04:00

Artist: Fergie
Title: Big Girls Don't Cry ft. Sean Kingston

Listen to it here. OR watch it here.

This was the song I was listening to as I dodged a deer, went into the dirt, lost control of my car, and plowed into a tree. At the 2:44 mark of this song, Sean Kingston sings, " What should I do? I'm missing you and I feel so down. Now that you're gone I can't go on this must be the end". This was also the part that was playing as I gained some consciousness as my car sat on its side. The thought "What should I do... this must be the end" was floating in and out of my mind at that point.

The car stereo still works and the next song on the playlist is actually "Just Dreaming" by DJ Bigkid. This song with some other motivators allowed me to get a grip and climb to the back seat and exit the fuming vehicle. I made a post last week on "Just Dreaming". This experience really shows how songs can be motivating and uplifting enough to let you get a grip in the worst situations. The combination of strings, piano, and xylophone never fails to calm a person's mind.

2007-10-13T15:11:00.000-04:00

DJ Loopy
Volume J
Sky High

Tracklist:
01. DJ Loopy - Intro (Loopy)
02. DJ Loopy - Islands (Loopy)
03. DJ Loopy - Take Control (Loopy & Stud)
04. DJ Loopy - Someone (Stevie So Fly)
05. DJ Loopy - Castles (Loopy & Stud)
06. DJ Loopy - Out Of Love (Filet MigNAM)
07. DJ Loopy - Drowning (Slim Tim & Fos ft Loopy)
08. DJ Loopy - Follow Me (Farm)
09. DJ Loopy - It's A Dream (Fos ft Slim Tim)
10. DJ Loopy - Rain (Loopy)
11. DJ Loopy - I Found Peace (Loopy)
12. DJ Loopy - So Long (Loopy)
13. DJ Loopy - The Way I Are (Loopy)
14. DJ Loopy - Is It Love (Loopy)
15. DJ Loopy - Desperate Religion (Loopy & Trippy)

Two tracks that I think are the best in this album:

Track 9 (Listen here): The constant xylophone ambient beat and the ambient during the breaks or short solos cause this trance-like, outer space feeling. Like the title suggests, it is kind of like a dream. Most of the time, when a title contains the word "dream", you can expect a very relaxed vibe in the song and very laid back. This track kept most of the original sounds and remixed some of the beats and ambients, but to keep the original sound of the vocals is highly respected because the DJ must then mix the beats and ambient to suit the vocals.
Track 14 (Listen here): The beat, tempo, ambients, and vocals create a very smooth song. The arrangement and clear sounds makes the track sound very fluid. At the middle of the song when the melody and bass has a volume increase, the vocals are gone so that it is not drowned out by the ambients and melody. After the quick melody and ambient break or solo, the vocals are introduced again, but the volume of the vocal is also increased to match that of the melody so nothing is drowned out. Most of the time when a DJ increases volume, the sound quality starts to get distorted, but DJ Loopy does a great job of equalizing everything so everything is balanced and results in a high quality track.

Overall, this album has very high quality sounds, no vocal is drowned out by the bass and melody. The arrangement to each song reflects a lot of effort to make the album sound clear and smooth. The happiest song in this album is Track 6 - Out of Love. When a song uses many high pitched sounds, including the vocals, the song tends to turn out to be a very festive and happy song. A con to this song is that, everything being happy makes understanding the track as a whole a very painstaking process. You will need to either just focus on the vocals or the melody one at a time to understand clearly what is sung.

The melody and vocals of this album being as good as they are is really a bonus to the main focus of the album. I've noticed that every track have a very clear bass line that is nicely matched with the surround sound effect. I'm not too familiar with the genre "beat", but that is what this album is categorized as. The beat consisting of mostly bass... I believe my statement about the focus being on bass is correct. Clear melody, clear vocals, and fluid yet changing beats make this an excellent album. This would be a 9 out of 10 on my scale because nothing ever gets boring due to changing beats and fun melodies. This album also contains tracks that are relaxing yet happy at the same time and some gives a space like, dreaming feeling. Also, I'm a big fan of clear vocals and smooth transitions from song to song that makes listening to the album enjoyable since it feels like one big song. A smooth transition from a relaxing song to a hyper happy song is very hard to do due to tempo and beat differences. The outro of a former song must be slowed or sped up and silenced to match the intro of the next. This sounds easy to do, but it is difficult. Just imagine trying to transition an opera song into a hip hop song.

Gateway Drugs

2007-10-11T14:07:00.001-04:00

Kanye West
Stronger

You know what's tragic? Ask someone if they like Daft Punk and you might find out. The problem is certainly not that you'd get a no, it's that they probably don't even hardly recognize the name. If you're one of those people, then this post is for you.

But don't let me get too far into why Daft Punk is freaking awesome just yet, let's start far away and close in on the good stuff. That's not to say our Billboard Hot 100 chart-topper du jour isn't good stuff...

That's right, you've all heard it, most of you liked it, and a few of you undoubtedly were compelled to dance to it: Stronger by Kanye West. It's a song with a good beat, reasonable lyrics when compared to other hippity-hop (Soulja Boy is such a tragedy... please do not superman your hoes), and most importantly heavy sampling of Daft Punk's song, Harder Better Faster Stronger.

So if Stronger got you dancing, it stands to reason that with a title four times as long, Harder Better Faster Stronger would get you on the floor and out the roof. Here's a piece of the original. Clearly a song carrying different emotions, relying almost entirely on musical merit rather than lyrical.

Now, to mention Harder Better Faster Stronger and not mention that it samples another song itself might be a little mean. Cola Bottle Baby, by Edwin Birdsong, is the origin of some background that you mainly hear at the beginning. Daft Punk just did what Kanye later did to their song: they used a part of Cola Bottle Baby and remixed it into their own stuff to make it sound awesome.

I'm going to be writing about Daft Punk a lot in the next couple of weeks, and so I might have to reference the following video a few more times. It's just some examples of Daft Punk songs and clips of the songs whence the main samples came, and since Daft Punk does a lot of sampling of various songs made since the advent of synthesizers in funk, there's a lot of samples to speak of.

Guitar Hero

2007-10-10T23:34:00.001-04:00

The guitar is one of the most unique instruments because of its incredible diversity. If there is a genre of music, there’s most likely a specific guitar style to fit perfectly with it. The reason behind this is that the guitar is a hybrid instrument. It combines the quality of a “natural” instrument with the power of computers and technology. I stretch to use the word “natural” to define an instrument, because all instruments are essentially manmade tools. However, when comparing digitized music and sounds to instruments utilized by humans themselves, “natural” seems to fit in quite well.

Guitars can connect to amplifiers, which are simply large boxes that take the sound of the guitar and make it louder, or “amplify” it. Since this sound must first be translated to an electrical signal and sent through a wire to the amplifier, computers (and pedals) are able to alter the sound. This is where the digital world combines with the natural world. Once the sound is converted to a signal, it can be bent, pulled, twisted, and reshaped to create any sound the artist wants. It is even possible to mimic that of a completely different instrument. This creates infinitely many possibilities for tones and styles to be created with the guitar, and it’s this reason that the guitar’s diversity can fit in with any genre of music.

As I said earlier, each genre has its own style. Basically, a genre defines a set of boundaries that the tone produced from the guitar must fit in to. Heavy rock songs usually distort the signals to produce fuzzy, crackly, screaming tones, which are perfect for the loud and hard tendencies of rock music. Funk songs require an entirely different tonality. In your mind, try to think of any funk song. More likely than not, you’re thinking of an upbeat, clean, “wah” type of guitar sound. The sound comes out as smooth (or clean of crackling and fuzz) and usually intentionally wavers from the desired note.

Believe it or not, jazz has its own standards for guitar as well. When most people think of jazz, they don’t even hesitate to remove the guitar from the overall sound. This is probably because the most popular jazz hits don’t FEATURE the guitar, but just because the guitar isn’t featured, that doesn’t mean the guitar doesn’t play a critical role in the group’s mix. In jazz, rhythm is the key component. A guitarist is recurrently found laying down the time along with the bassist and the drummer. The good guitarists are the ones who are able to venture out from the simple time, create improvised rhythms, and still maintain a solid sense of the beat.

Now I suppose you want to know who these “good guitarists” are. In my opinion, one of the greatest guitarists of all time is Pat Metheny, the front man of the “Pat Metheny Group”. He created one of the most unique and distinct sounds in all of jazz guitar history. Imagine what it would sound like if Carlos Santana was born in New Orleans and produced records in the 40s with the biggest jazz giants of the time. That’s what Pat Metheny sounds like. I’m assuming everyone knows of Santana. His songs have instantly recognizable, no matter who is singing. Santana usually finds popular singers to lead them on a single hit, while Carlos accompanies them with his distinct guitar tone and style. As soon as he starts playing, simply because of the specific recognizable way the sound is altered, Santana can be identified with whoever he plays with.

Pat Metheny provides the same amount of recognition with the sound that he produces. The only difference is that Santana and Metheny are working with two completely different genres, yet somehow they both manage to produce the distinct, amazing sounds that they do. Out of all of the songs I have on my iPod, as soon as the guitar starts playing on a Metheny chart, I instantly know what I’m listening to (I tend to throw my iPod on shuffle and see what it spits out at me).

Besides the distinct sound Metheny can produce, he also accomplishes a few more outstanding things. Distinctness isn’t everything. The noise from a dying cat can be considered distinct, but in no way does the awful sound qualify as decent music. Metheny is able to form the most creative solos out of nowhere, while maintaining a sense of rhythm within the band. He successfully manages to act as the rhythm section and metronome of the band, while being the leader and front man of the entire band.

Word hardly imply anything when describing music, unless the reader has a trained background in the field. Therefore I found a couple videos that demonstrate what I mean with Pat Metheny and his group:

This video displays Metheny’s incredible ability to lead his group, while still providing the pulse required to keep the song alive. Not only does it show that, but it shows how amazing of a player he really is:

This one immediately sets a groove with Pat acting as the rhythm section, giving 8^th note clicks on his guitar with a catchy rhythm. This allows the rest of the band to ease into the song, and it gives the keyboardist space to add his intro solos leading up to Metheny’s real entrance at about 3:45. Don’t mind the large hair, if it’s really that bad, just close your eyes:
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=zn3zIBBmXiU

Hopefully you’ve been able to pick up on the ingenuity of Metheny’s playing, along with his amazing ability with improvisation. If not, then you probably can’t even tell the difference between this and this.

Balanco Trio

2007-10-08T21:51:00.000-04:00

Very rare Brazillian Bossa. Got the samples from Sabadabada a few years back. The trio did two records, Casa De Bamba in the 70's and Ritmo...Bossa...Balanco in 1965. Sorry, Its really really hard to find info about them. I will try to ask Saba for info in the near future.

Track 1 (sorry cant find correct name)

from Casa De Bamba circa 1970.

Some Best Selling Reocrds This Week

2007-10-08T20:12:00.001-04:00

Some Best Selling Records This Week
(according to Juno Records)

Reflekt feat. Delline Bass - "Need To Feel Loved" (12" club mix)

Floor filler. Released in 05 and still on top. Tight beat and awsome vocals by Delline Bass. Does the main orchistral sample sound familiar? You might have heard it in the movie Road To Perdition.

Dubfire - "RibCage"

Just released intense beat by one of the members of Deep Dish. This will probably be one of the biggest club hits of the year. Catchy 808 drums and resonated hits and stabs sounds like jingling bones and are apparently driving clubs crazy. RibCage at Womb, Tokyo. I rest my case.

Pryda - "Muranyi"
For those that dont already know , Pryda is Eric Prydz record label. Nothing huge, but the synth line is catchy. I used to be a huge fan of Cirez D, another alias of Prydz, with some fresh house beats, but lately it seems like he has been producing too much, and I just hope he doesnt dry out. Apparently the record getting alot of attention from Carl Cox and Sasha, and other mainstream DJ's.

High Contrast - "If We Ever"

Some seriously fresh Drum and Bass from Hospital records. High Contrast just wont dry out. I Honestly dont understand how he doesnt run out of samples. I cought on with Racing Green about 2 years ago and have been hooked ever since. The vocals are from Diane Charlemagne, if your wondering.

"Till We Meet Again" (feat Inner City - Carl Craig remix)

Another great remix by Carl Crag, a producer based in Detroit. His style is very minimal in all of his remixes. He is also bringing back the deep deep kick that he used in his In The Tree's remix. In The Tree's just so happens to be Juno.co.uk 's best selling record of all time. Maybe this one will do good aswell.

Example of Hip Hop and Rap with Remixed Original Beat

2007-10-06T23:39:00.000-04:00

Sean Kingston
Beautiful Girls ft. AC

Sample HERE.

Just decided to give you guys an example of what a remixed original beat of a hip hop song is like. In addition, modern remixing of rap, hip hop, and R&B involves featuring another rap artist and throws in some rap.

Original

2007-10-06T23:12:00.000-04:00

DJ Bigkid
"Just Dreaming"

This is the best song I have heard in a while that is original. Listen to it here.

The song starts off with a xylophone sounding instrument that is backed by a piano-like sounding ambient that is soothing. The song starts off with a very dream like trancey theme by subtly soothing the audience in the back ground as he or she enjoys the melody.

All the beat and ambients goes quiet while the only sound you hear is the xylophone like sound continues. This also creates a very uplifting effect because it causes that feeling you get when you gasp due to surprise when something suddenly goes missing. The melody is alleviating and calming.

As the song progresses, another melody is introduced, this time is a mixture of strings that provide an easing feeling. In general, strings are used in uplifting trance, but the effect it causes in this track is simply beyond uplifting. It is warming, tranquilizing, and... hypnotizing.

This song also has no vocals, another characteristic of an uplifting trance track. Without words and voices allows the listener to just focus on the musical aspect and not have to interpret the lyrics. In addition, vocals don't add any more emotions that can remove the uplifting effect of the song. By that I mean that if the lyrics are saddening like the ones you hear in modern R&B love songs, you will become depressed after being uplifted. Being such a good song, you will probably keep listening to this song.

At the 2:50 mark, a piano melody is introduced after a wide variety of string melodies are used in the first three quarters of the song. Piano being one of the most common instruments in a uplifting trance track helps bring back nostalgic memories that further uplift you. The reason why piano is uplifting and allows that nostalgic effect in this song is because you as the audience is probably probably forgot or did not know that the piano existed because you enjoyed most of the song before.

Overall, this is a very good uplifting track and really uplifts. This is one of the few songs that actually can uplift by choice of instrument , organizing the introduction of specific instruments, and a soothing beat. Like the title suggests, listening to this song is like when you are 'just dreaming'.

Review on DJ Xoduzz - Paul

2007-10-06T16:58:00.000-04:00

DJ Xoduzz
Paul
2Hype Ent. / bb&co.

You can get the album here. The following is a review of a few selected individual tracks that I found fascinating. Reason for not having just a general review is simply because I thought that every track is unique in its own way.

Track 1: A very rappy and hip hop beat that is not my really my normal preference, but this song is fetching in that it has a lot of tempo changes and minor beat changes that song as if nothing really changed. You can hear the difference if you start the song, listen for a few seconds and then going to the end of the song. There are some ambient sounds that actually travel from the left to the right and vice versa. They are not loud so that the balance of sound is off in the other ear when no ambient happens in that side. A very active track overall.

Track 2: This is a fine example of one of those songs that you tend to dread to end because it gets so repetitive. The beat is literally the same throughout the track and it is the same beat when the song ends. The song does not have anything interesting to make up for a boring beat, even the melodies and ambients are boring and repetitive.

Track 3: The beat in this song does not last through the whole song, but the bass is a bit loud. Starting at 2:20, there are some sounds that sound like a piano underwater played through tubes. There are a few of these solos throughout the track and they move the song forward because it goes with the beat so well that you anticipate the short solos.

Track 4: This song is similar to track 1, the variety in beats and melodies make this song very upbeat, it never gets boring. I have noticed that in a few of the songs, the beat, melody, and ambient are all recreated by DJ Xoduzz. In the past, many DJs simply remix the beat, but the beats here are original to some extent. In this track for example, the beat is clearly not the original because during the rapping parts, the beat and melody is more old school funk than a hip hop style.

Track 6: I have almost all the remixes there are to this song and there is something different about this version of "Because of You" by Ne-Yo. Around the 1:50 mark, the melody there is actually from another song, but it goes well with this song. The piano-ized version of the beat and melody of the original is new and refreshing.

The rest: The songs started to go downhill from here. The bass and beat in each song after was decent because an effort was made so that it was not constant throughout the song. However, the ambient and the overall song sounds like rap with a rock band and orchestra playing the ambient and making the beat.

Overall, the style of creating a new beat and replacing the original rap and hip hop beats with a new one is very refreshing. The style of the past was that the beat is simply remixed and not completely recreated. By beat being remixed, the tempo is changed and the drum and bass line is simply modified by adding a few extra beats. The beats are recreated in that new instruments are used and in most of the songs the beat is not what you will hear in the original. Most people will not enjoy this type of remixed beat and original rap combination because this is a more modern style of break beating and the more old school style is just remixing the original beat.

A Simple Example of Sampling

2007-09-30T11:46:00.000-04:00

"beautiful mystery"

"Rap 5"

from Curtis Live by Curtis Mayfield

"I'm Gonna' Love You Just A Little Bit More, Baby"

from Music for Soulful Lovers by Cecil Holmes

Put this together around 2004 under the alias DJ Mango. If you preview the samples I upped you should be able to see where I drawed the samples from. There were other samples, but I have long since forgotten them and the synth was done on a yamaha psr. If you like the style you could always check out the DJ Mango myspace for more mellow beats.

Slow Down, Mix it Up

2007-09-29T23:52:00.000-04:00

With all of the upbeat, pumping music in our life, sometimes we just need to take a break. I don’t mean take a break from music; I mean to allow the beats to relax and soothe your ears for once. Our brains are like muscles. Imagine going to the gym for 10 hours a day, every day, for an entire year. Is it possible to even get past the first week? No, it’s not, but trust me, this is going somewhere. If you constantly blast your mind with upbeat music your mind will cramp up. That’s why muscles need massages and minds need slow music.

Everyone has their own interpretation of what “slow music” really is. Some consider it as anything in the “classical” genre. Others might consider it as a song with literally a slow tempo. Others might even wrongly think of slow music as music that is boring and doesn’t go anywhere. Note: This is NOT slow music! It’s what we like to refer to as “bad” music.

In my own opinion, slow music doesn’t fall under any of these categories. Slow music is music that induces relaxation and (almost literally) gives the brain a nice, well deserved massage. When listening to exceptionally good slow music, I find myself closing my eyes and falling into a trance. I let the music do all the work, rather than trying to listen in on everything.

I would not ever consider myself a “pianist” (though often I do play), yet the most common form of music that really induces this relaxation to me is piano music. I sometimes even find my fingers patting along my side as if I actually am able to play the chart I’m listening to. (ha)

Misty is a very well known jazz piece. It has to be one of the most recurring cover songs, or original songs changed and performed by other artists, that I have ever heard. This specific rendition is a piano (with bass accompaniment) by Will Foraker and “Da Bologne” in a cover band called “B4”.

There’s just something about hearing a familiar tune arranged for piano, or as any slow jazz tune. I’m pretty sure you could take any song at all, from pop to death metal, and turn it into one of the most beautiful arrangements you’ve ever heard.

Surprising?

Unbelievable?

I have PROOF!

I know that most of you have never heard of “Misty” before, so I’ll demonstrate my point with more familiar tunes. I’m sure you all know of “My Favorite Things” from “The Sound of Music”. John Coltrane took the melody and created his own rendition of what he believed it should sound like.

An online blogger named Arksino took did the same thing to a very popular song by “Tool”. If any of you know of Tool, you know that you wouldn’t associate them with relaxing massages… He took the melody and, all by ear, transposed it and covered it on the piano. Listen to the first link and then listen to what Arksino was able to do with the hardcore melody here.

This example itself ties my whole mess of a blog together. Slow music provides relaxation. You might love Tool with all your heart, but how did you feel after hearing Tool on piano? It was pretty dang cool right? Of course, I’m assuming that you took the experience the same way that I did. Slow music really does provide an emotional output unlike any other music. For me, this is induced through simple piano renditions or smooth jazz charts. For others, this might come from hearing soft words spoken by a beautiful singer. Give me feedback on what you felt after hearing the melodic renditions, and I might even be surprised at the range of emotion given by this slow music.

Trance Energy 2007

2007-09-29T15:38:00.000-04:00

In a performance with lasers, flames, and pumped up people... it is easy to be hyped up too without the aid of certain drugs. The sound systems at trance performances enhance the music several folds. Even though it is repetitive, the simplicity of the melody makes it catchy and easy to dance to.

One DJ Better Than Two

2007-09-29T14:42:00.000-04:00

Here is a song that is remixed by 2 DJs playing at the same time. Song is here. In this setup, there are more than 1 turn table and more than 1 mixer involved. Both DJs will layer sounds over each other on their respective turntables and create different arrangement of melodies, beats, and ambient sounds.

In this song, which on my scale is around a 5 because it is not bad in that the melodies are catchy and delightful. Overall the song is upbeat, but due to two different DJs layering sounds, there are just too many things going on at once for this song to be a chill song. Also, the melody echoes after every note for about 1 to 2 seconds. This effect along with a lot of different ambients cause even more headache. In addition, the quality of the vocal in this song is not the best since it is drowned out by the ambient sounds and melody most of the time.

The length of this song is slightly longer than other remixes by other artists. This might be due to two artists trying to finish their beats and matching each other. As the vocal repeats along with the melody over and over again, the song gets pretty boring after a while. The song tries to climax by repeating the vocal and melody again, but increasing volume. However, at this point the climax is not noticeable because you have probably heard the loops a few times already and have gotten bored of the song.

In this song, which is an 8 on my scale, the DJ demonstrates a good balance of the ambient sound, melody, and vocals. When the vocal starts and followed by the melody, you can hear both clearly and neither drowns the other out. The track is clear and fluid. The beat, ambient , and melody compliment and match each other. For example, the melody and drum beats will start and end on a down beat.

This song has an echoing melody fits the song perfectly. The echoes allow certain sounds to fade in and out. This DJ uses the echoes as a cover to fade in vocals and ambient beats and to fade out the melody and drum beats. A technique that makes the song very pleasing and en-trances the audience.

The track being at around 3 minutes will spell bind the audience to the artist's style because 3 minutes is just the right time to demonstrate style in one song before moving to another song. The song also does not get tiring to listen to from all the repeats. Even one extra repeating loop of bars is enough to ruin the track.

Conclusion
One DJ: The song tends to be more clean and easy flowing where one DJ's style is clearly emphasized.

Two or more DJs: The song will turn out to be a mess if the DJs can not synchronize the performance and perform their own part to layer the sound. From the sample above, the layering is not completely bad, but it is enough to create the all-over-the-place feeling in which you don't know what to listen to.

Remix Artists are Lazy

2007-09-29T11:30:00.000-04:00

Remix artists or remixers nowadays are getting lazier and lazier. Most, if not all, of their songs are either a remix of a song another DJ have already remixed. Many albums out there have at least one song that have been remixed already. It would not be such a big deal if the remixes are of epic quality and can captivate the audience, but that is not the case for about... I'd say 80% of the remixes of a song out there.

Why 80%? Personally, I download one song, then a few other remixes if I like the song. Most of the time, a song in one album is also remixed in another. It's a sign that the song is popular and hip. Popular means good right? Not really... eventually when everyone has the same song in their album, the song becomes played out or not so hip anymore. Out of 5 remixes of the same song, I usually end up with one song to put into my playlist. The other remixes are either of bad quality, similar sound to other remixes, or fail to wow audiences.

Why does this happen then? There are many possibilities, but here are some reasons I came across that seems logical.

Artists today are just too lazy to look for original material that has not been remixed yet.
In the process of remixing songs for an album, a particular song may have been remixed already, but the artist did not know.
Many DJs out there are not really DJs. Many will try to remix a hip song in an attempt to be hip in a community of remixers.
When artists remix a song, they usually need an acapella version of the song, which is a song with no beat and ambient sound that only has the vocals. Now in a community of DJs and remixers, when a certain acapella is shared amongst this community, the result is a dozen artists getting a copy of the acapella and a dozen remixes are thrown out there.
Copyrights. Some originals may be protected by the law and some artists like a majority of the remix industry, refuse to pay money for albums they release for free.

Let's just pretend that every single remix of a song out there is able to captivate and en-trance an audience, but even the most tolerable of us would from time to time get tired of something that is constantly repeated. Originality is important in all the businesses and industries of the world. Sometimes the remixes are so similar that it feels like a form of music plagiarism and it is basically like reading one news article on five different newspapers.

2007-09-28T12:47:00.000-04:00

Mothers Pride

Learning To Fly

I would like to open by saying Learning To Fly, in my opinion, is the best trance song ever recorded. I found this sample on Johnny Monsoon's Live Uplifting Trance Set recorded in 3.5.2005. The track comes from a white label single that I cant find, so if you are reading this and you have any info about it please contact me. I believe this is the original recorded in 1998, but it’s hard to be sure because of the many different releases and remixes.

It’s stays simple and clean and flows like water. Not to mention the mesmerizing vocals and hooks that put you into another state of mind. The arrangement of the song is very impressive. This is the main reason to me why it stands out from other trance. It’s like it has two phases, each with a buildup and resolution. Its songs like this that make me wish I born earlier to be able to enjoy them.

When I first heard this song, I was already thinking of ways to remix it. At first, I wanted to do a simpler house mix, but after seeing all of the other house-like remixes released, I decided to take a different approach. Learning to fly (sensual mix) was born. Still, not much in comparison to the original, but its fresh. It stays simple and clean, while produced in a hip hop, or "crunk", if you will, fashion. Like the original mix, the sensual mix is a floor filler. I have tested it myself.

If you like my beat please check my myspace for some other remixes.

Ratatat

2007-09-27T17:11:00.001-04:00

Ratatat is a small band with a great sound, just two guys who started recording on a PowerBook in 2001. Their indie rock/electro sound is unique for the way the chord choices create a musical atmosphere of whimsical fantasy, melancholic reflection, and often both.

There are a lot of reasons why anyone in particular would enjoy Ratatat. Maybe you're the sort of person who wants a little of everything in their collection. Maybe you're the type that avoids the plague of throwaway pop tracks, trying to find artists that don't receive the listenership their glorious indie sound deserves. There's even a fair chance that you'd like them just because of the whole they-sound-good thing. I'd guess they're never going to have a Timberlake-esque fanbase of girls swooning over their hotness though, as they don't really seem to be going for that in their photos:
Ratatat hasn't put out a whole lot of albums, and honestly I don't have them all so I can't say what their remix albums sound like. What I have is their album Classics, which is fairly uniform in terms of sound and quality. For some that'll be a good thing, and for some, less so. For me, it's good news because I can review an entire album with the effort it takes to tell you about a single song.

Classics
Simply put, it's a sound I like. When I listen to music, I choose the playlist based on what I want to hear. Sometimes I want to hear happy lyrics and catchy melodies, sometimes I like something that lets you forget about what's going on and just sucks you into a half-listening state of trance. When I want to get some work done and not pay too teribly much attention to what music is playing, I can put on Classics.

The effect of the uniformity of the album is that you don't notice a major change when the next song comes on. It's like listening to Dark Side of the Moon, but without such musical genius that you're sucked away from your work. Having Classics on seems to acknowledge the menial, depressing aspect of your homework, but the emotion of the music keeps you moving on because despite the melancholic overall tune, the chord progressions are full of hope and the music continues on. I like Tacobel Canon for its opening, and I just like the energy of Lex in general, so those are my favorites off Classics. Finally, here's the iTunes link. Take a look, hopefully you'll like them.

Beethoven VS. Remix

2007-09-22T21:18:00.000-04:00

vs.

Click on image for sample of...
Beethoven
Moonlight Sonata

Just decided to post a quick example of an original and a remix.

Original: Self explanatory, very sad piano piece or as some call it... "emo classical piece".

Remix: Add in the drums, some vocal of a guy screaming, speed down the moonlight sonata melody, then throw in some Fur Elise melody subtly and you have created a song that is upbeat and relaxing instead of depressing.

These Two Songs Sound Almost the Same

2007-09-22T18:53:00.000-04:00

Markus Gabriel & Dresden Schulz

Without You Near (Coldharbour mix)

Dream Dance Vol. 38

Click on Image for sample.

Whenever I find a song that I like I tend to always look for the remixes. For this song, a sample of the other remix is here, which is from an earlier post. What's up with all the different remixes? The concept behind a remix is to add a different element to a song such as making it more upbeat by speeding up the song a little bit and a stronger bass. The body of the song is the same and the melodies are the same. If you liked the original, listening to a remix of a song is very enjoyable most of the time.

These two songs sound almost the same! The remixes may sound the same, but the remix often items sound very different from the original song. Just imagine a piece by Beethoven remixed.

The sample you get by clicking the image is a "coldharbour mix" whereas the other remix is a "sacred light mix". The difference lies in the ambient sounds during the melody. The melody in this song is the high pitched string sound you hear that starts low and slowly loops toward higher notes. In the coldharbour mix, the sound of the melody is very clear and crispy as you can imagine the water to be at a 'cold harbor'. The ambient sound is only the 4-4 drum beat, an occasional vocal, and the echoes of the string notes. In the sacred light mix, there is also a 4-4 drum beat, an occasional vocal, and echoes of the string notes. However, there is shuffling sound throughout the body and during the melodies, there is a soft violin ambient that adds that uplifting element to the song, hence the reason for 'sacred light remix'. If you really pay attention, each remix has an element that makes it its own remix. For these two remixes, the coldharbour remix is clear and crisp like the cold air that literally is a 'chill' song and the sacred light remix has an uplifting aspect to it that restores energy. Even a little tweak in a song is enough to influence your mood in a different way.

2007-09-22T13:56:00.000-04:00

DJ Monk One
Funk/Soul Mix

The samplers delight. This mix by DJ Monk One, from Hiphopmusic.com radio show , contains clips of about 50 records worth of breaks and beats, some of which are extremely rare and difficult to name. The records are all from his personal collection and mostly from the 60's and 70's.

DJ Monk One works his way into some massive breaks. It’s impossible to miss track 5, where he drops I'm Gonna Love You Just a Little Bit More by the Cecil Holmes Orchestra. It’s an epic stick slinging drum break with catchy electric guitar chords. He also flaunts some breaks by Isaac Hayes on track 30, and Chella la by Orchestra Internationale on the 34’Th track. Later in the mix on track 44, he busts Hep Squeeze by Mad Dog & the Pups with huge loose drums and the heavy bass line.

Speaking of breaks and beats, check Phat Drum Loops . It’s the largest online database of classic drum breaks sampled from vinyl. They have nearly 600 identified drum loops with previews provided and they are categorized by artists, album, and date. After hearing a lot of samples, it’s surprising how often they are used in mainstream music today. For example, the Amen Brother break, used in everything from hip hop beats to TV commercials.

DJ Monk One track list (thanks to Mwon and Martin Jay):
1 .Johnny Pate - El Jardia
2. Joe Tex - Papa Was Too
3. ? - ??
4. Cecil Holmes - Call Me
5. Cecil Holmes - I'm gonna love you just a little bit more
6. Kings Road - Keep Your Eye on the Sparrow
7. Kid Dynamite - Uphill Peace Of Mind
8. Kool&theGang - Nt
9. Wilson Pickett - Engine 9
10. David Bromberg - Sharon
11. Bo Diddley - Hit or miss
12. George Shearing - Aquarius
13. T Connection - Groove to the get down?
14. Experience Unlimited - Knock Em Out Sugar Ray
15. AM FM - You Are The One (Instrumental)
16. Majic Disco Machine - Jumbo Sam
17. William Stuckley - Disco Fly
18. Big John Hamilton - Big Bad John
19. Gaz - Sing Sing
20. 20th century steel band - heaven and hell
21. Sessomatto - Sessomatto
22. Passport -Juju Man
23. Johnny Taylor - Ever Ready
24. Pleasure - Celebrate the Good Things
25. Wild Magnolias - Soul Soul Soul
26. Son of Scorpio (with Junie throw on top)
27. T-Connection - Groove to get Down
28. Blacksmoke - There it is
29. upp - Give it to you
30. Isaac Hayes
31. Samba Soul
32. Coke Escavo - I would'nt change a thing
33. John Davis - I can't stop
34. Orchestra Internationale - Chella la
35. The Grassroots - You And Love Are The Same
36. Lincoln Mayorga - Killer
37. Melton Brothers - Ill Take You There
38. Cold Blood - Shop Talk
39. Gunther Kallmann - Daydream
40. Wet Willie - Beggar Song
41. Grootna - Funky
42. Lunar Funk - Slip the Drummer One
43. Hodges James, Smith & Crawford - Nobody
44. Mad Dog and the Pups - ' Hep squeeze ' (PartyTime)
45. Bad Medicine - Trespasser
46. The Funkees - Slipping into darkness

VibraSMACK!

2007-09-21T17:14:00.000-04:00

Have you ever been listening to music and realized that it’s missing something? You can’t tell what it is, yet you just know that if something were added, the song would become a masterpiece. I believe I have figured out what the missing element is, or at least what it is for jazz music. THE VIBRAPHONES!!!

Vibraphones (also known as “vibes”) are a mallet percussion instrument much like the marimba, the xylophone, or the bell kit, except they have a very unique sound unlike any other mallet instrument. Instead of producing a steady “ring” after being struck, they produce a very wavy vibrato sound. The only way to describe this is by having you imagine a wave (like a sine or cosine wave) that is producing a sound, and this sound keeps alternating from high and low sounds (“wee-ooo-wee-ooo”). The sound “vibrates”. It’s this metallic vibrato that gives the vibraphones their incredibly unique sound, a sound that adds more than anyone can imagine to a jazz chart.

How do the vibraphones create this vibrato sound? All mallet instruments have resonating tubes underneath the keys (the “bars” that are struck with a mallet) and these tubes help to amplify the sound of the keyboard. In a vibraphone, these tubes are fitted with rotating discs that sequentially dampen and amplify the sound by alternating between blocking off the tube and opening it to let all sound through. This is what creates the wavy sound produced. Boring, yes, but now you can go tell you’re friends that you know the concept behind how a vibraphone works!

“Hey, you hear that? Those are the vibraphones!”
“Yeah! I hear them, I wonder how they make that noise?!”
“Well let me tell you…”

I’m telling you, you’ll go far with that knowledge… Anyways, now on to the actual music. It’s hard to demonstrate the power of the vibes without real life examples. Music was not meant to be read (unless you’re a musician, ah ha ha ha…), but rather to be heard.

Wes Montgomery and his band utilize the vibraphones in almost every piece that they compose. Wes’s brother, Buddy Montgomery, plays both the piano and the vibes (which are essentially the same in their layout) and it’s because of him that the Montgomery music is so distinct.

The first time I listened to a song by Wes Montgomery, I fell into a trance and lost myself in the song, but near the solo section in the middle I noticed something distinct and was immediately pulled out of my trance. The song actually uses vibes! I hadn’t noticed it in the beginning because they just fit in so perfectly with the song, producing a very clean sound, reflective of the togetherness of the Montgomery group, or any other jazz group for that matter. One of the best songs utilizing the uniqueness of the vibes that I’ve heard by Wes is Sound Carrier off of their album “Fingerpickin”. I enjoy this song because it starts right out with all the voices of the band playing the same thing together, then BAM!, the vibes are off on their own course playing what appears to be a very early, quick solo while the rest of the band holds back to really accentuate the position of the vibes. Soon after, the real solo is introduced as Buddy shows his true talent.

Now, I’m not saying that West Montgomery is the only person to successfully incorporate the vibraphone sound into his music, actually I hope to portray the exact opposite. Many songs have fantastic vibe players accompanying them, even if they go completely unnoticed. Now that I’ve introduced the idea of vibraphone jazz, you’ll probably be surprised when you start noticing them when you listen to songs you didn’t even know had vibes in them!

Also, there are many groups based on the vibraphones as the lead instrument. I mean, the vibe player has to get some attention every now and then, right? A lot of very talented musicians have put their time and talents into becoming some of the best vibraphone players in the world. Many go on solo tours, form their own jazz combos, and some follow around some of the biggest names in jazz.

An example of a small percussive combo with the vibraphones in the forefront is shown below. I chose this video because the vibraphone player is outstanding and puts out a LOT of unique and genius rhythms. Also, the sound quality of this video is surprisingly good compared to most youtube videos, so this is a good way of getting to hear AND see what the vibes are really like at their full potential.

You should start listening to songs and see if you can pick out the vibes. Next time you hear them, you might really understand how much they add to a song. You may even feel moved by the incredible sound that’s produced! Whatever you end up doing, I hope I’ve convinced you that the vibes are a critical element in the world of music that generally go unnoticed. Give the guys some credit when you see them!

2007-09-21T17:09:00.000-04:00

Skalpel

Skalpel

Ninja Tune

Skalpel are Marcin Cichy and Igor Pudlo, two Polish jazz DJ's from Poland that want to share Polish jazz with the rest of the world. Skalpel has to date released two albums on Ninja Tune, a prestige trip-hop label based in London, Konfusion in 2005 and their amazing debut self titled album in 2004. The self titled double LP has 12 tracks packed full of polish jazz samples from the 60's and 70's that took Skalpel years of "digging the crates" to find.

When I first heard this record I was in awe becuase it was like nothing I had ever heard. The heavy beats along with the mellow instrument samples of polish jazz sound genuinely unique. Skaplel descibed their sound as "...a mixture of breaks and ambient sounds, and a hip-hop way of producing it,” , in an interview with BBC.co.uk. Check out Break In and see what you think. It’s clear to me why Skalpel wants to share Polish jazz with the rest of the world.

2007-09-20T13:10:00.000-04:00

Nujabes
Still Talking To You
on Handcuts Japan

Take the name Jun Seba, spell it backward and combine it and you have Nujabes. He is referred to as one of Japan's premier hip-hop artists by Sputnik Music. Comparable to the legendary DJ Shadow, Nujabes music consists of samples from other records. Striving to have a different sound from anyone else, he focuses on samples from Miles Davis, Yusef Lateef , among countless other modal and cool jazz artists. He has collaborated with Shing02, Five Deez, Substantial, and many other rappers from all over the globe in production. Still Talking to You, released in 2003, shows Nujabes instrumental side and his amazing collection of fresh samples. Featuring the placid cover art of Syu , only 1000 copies of the album were released in Japan. The LP consists of two tracks, Still Talking to You on A, and Steadfast on B.

Still talking to You is a perfect example of Nujabes style. The distinct loose kicks and fast hats that make his beats flow along with the rim shots that to me, add his Asian influence. Even though Nujabes has produced a ponderosa of music, his progressive style of starting out with a beat and flowing into an addicting chorus is prevalent in all of his music.

VGM (Video Game Music)

2007-09-18T20:00:00.000-04:00

Music files take up a lot of space. Originally, if you were a developer and you wanted your video game to have music, you'd have to have someone write it into a tiny little file that told the game console how to make the music. Artists working in this constrained medium, unable to use cheap effects to make their scores stand out, were forced to come up with catchy melodies and truly creative themes.

Some particularly prolific artists produced thousands of short pieces to put into games, and their work is instantly recognizable to anyone who ever played the games. If you've ever played Tetris, Mario, Zelda, or anything else from the 8-bit era, you'd not only notice the tune if you heard it, but you'd be able to name the game it came from.

These days, video game music isn't the same. A publisher can simply drop a few popular mp3's into their game, and they've got a soundtrack that they know will be a hit without having to write anything new. Some games however, such as those in long-running franchises like Mario and Zelda, stay true to their roots and use the original tunes, but reproduce them in revamped, higher-quality files. This way, the themes to the games become very distinct trademarks of the franchises, and the recognizability of the music plays an integral part in sustaining the business.

You might ask, if we don't have the same constraints of space on our video game music today, why should we look back and care about the classics? We're not publishers, so we don't need to care about sustaining their business...

Well, I want to take a look back at classic VGM for the same reasons why those tunes are still recognizable today. They're often fun, always catchy, and will forever be nostalgic, at least for me. Even if you don't think you've played many games, you probably ought to give a listen to The Games We Played for a trip down memory lane, or at least a really interesting piece of music. It's a piano arrangement of the music from many (many many) games, by Torley Wong. Careful though, it's just over 17 minutes long.

Okay, origins and nostalgia are done. Next up, some examples of video game music that are a little less likely to bring back memories, and some VGM that's been given new life through remixes, stadium themes, and heavy metal tributes.

Some songs that make me remember games I played back when I was young (younger) come from the old Descent games from Parallax, and an old Ambrosia Software game called Ares. Descent is so old that the company that made it no longer exists, so there's nobody left to sue for copyright enfringement and you can find that music (The mp3's, not just the midi's) for free. Ares isn't as old, but Ambrosia Software is cool enough to let you have the Ares music anyway.

Descent was released on multiple platforms, and at that time only some supported music in full CD-Audio format. That meant they had to compose creative music, but they also had to get it professionally remixed into full tracks. Here are two songs, one from Descent and one from Descent 2, whose industrial sound worked well with the killing-robots-in-a-mine-in-space theme of the game and has made them stand the test of time for me:
Hydraulic Pressure
Untitled 2

Ares could have had any soundtrack, but the game's author Nathan Lamont decided to create an original soundtrack with an old-school, 8-bit feel to it. You've heard arpeggios, you've heard scales, and you've heard Van Halen, but listen to F.R.E.D.'s Theme (Ares' prologue) and tell me that's not the craziest set of melodies you've ever heard.

Then there are a lot of places to find remixed game music, but the biggest and the best is ocremix.org. Here you'll find songs where the author took a song from a game's soundtrack, and modified it to some degree into something new. One example I'm familiar with is entitled Chekan Winter. It's an epic trance track that builds for a long time, adds a heavy beat, and finally explodes into something entirely different about four minutes in.

Some people, much more devotees of game music than I am, pay homage to the original soundtracks of the games they used to play composing them for guitars and drums. You might call these cover bands, or maybe metal remix bands. Metroid Metal is a project by the band Stemage, [edit: apparently I was wrong about that, see comments] where they've covered the soundtracks to the original Metroid games. The Minibosses are a group who cover the energetic scores to the frenzied sequences in many games, in which you fight so-called minibosses. NPR did a story on them, so for more info and samples just listen to that.

If somehow you've read all that, and you want to hear more VGM, there are a few more things to check out. Check out Lazy Jones on Wikipedia, and scroll to the bottom where you'll find part of the Lazy Jones soundtrack alongside Kernkraft 400, a hit song that borrows its theme from Lazy Jones. The hardcore route is to get the High Voltage SID Collection (and the SID player on the site), which is all the soundtracks to all the Commodore 64 games, ever, plus musical "demos" that show off the artists' musical ability.

Finally, more recently there has been a revival of demos in underground culture. There are competitions for programming teams to fit the best full-3D demo, complete with musical score, into a file that's really tiny, just like in the old days of VGM. For an example of what a demo is, Chaos Theory is a demo made for the competition Assembly 2006. It's very impressive, considering that it's only a 64 kB file.

2007-09-17T20:44:00.000-04:00

I'd like to elaborate on my scaling system since it sounded extremely vague in that first "explanation".

"Not something I'll listen to in my car" is something around the range of 1 to 3 on a scale of 10. On this end of the scale, the music is generally unbalanced in that the bass, treble, and voice of the song are either conflicting each other and fighting to be heard or they are off beat in a way that you feel that the song is just different sounds being played at one time and has no correspondence at all. Just imagine a band where the members all play or sing a different song, but the DJ just throw all the music elements together. Sample here.

"A good choice" is around the range of 4 to 7 on a scale of 10. These are the moderately good songs that could be improved on. These songs sound good and may not have flaws, but they lack the ability to wow the audience. In a way, you can say that these songs lack the feeling an artist is suppose to express through their works. These songs are still upbeat, but they are just remixed versions of a song in which the beats, melody, lyrics are mixed to a faster tempo and altered to sound machine like. Sample... here. The selected song may not be meant to be remixed and just listened to in a slower pace compared to the remix. The song is mixed for the sake of having enough tracks for an album and have no real purpose except to just be a remix.

Lastly, "Definitely worth your time and money" being rated with an 8 or higher are songs that clearly express the artist's feelings through their music. They do this by their selection of songs that are themed around the feeling they are trying to express. For example, an artist might want to make their songs disturbing by selecting music that are focused around bells, a slowed tempo, many ambient sounds in the music that you hear, but don't know which part to focus on and humming human voices. The little confusion factor makes the song disturbing. Click here for a sample of something disturbing. You just don't know which sound to pay attention to, this type of music will make you sit there not do anything because the song itself is confusing enough.

You can't really make a dance song out of a song that is originally meant for the opera house. The beats won't match the lyrics due to speed or tempo differences. A feeling can be expressed by a careful selection of tracks, tempo of the song, ambient sounds that set the atmosphere, and overall length of the album. If you want to express love then the remix selection would be love songs that have a mildly slower beat in which the lyrics are enhanced by the ambient sound and the ambient sound tend to be uplifting. If you want to uplift and restore energy then the selection would be one that is catchy with a constant, rapid drum beat and bass that is accompanied by a simple, yet catchy melody. Another way to spot a song that effectively expresses the artist's feelings is one where you listen to the lyrics and you automatically bobbing or tapping to the ambient sound and smooth beat of the song. The lyrics provide the mental image in your mind and the beat provides the vibe or atmosphere.

An good album that is one that has all the elements listed above and the album is thoroughly enjoyed. By the time you are done with the album, it felt like that only 5 minutes have passed. To be able to convey feelings, change moods, and not have a single track to be skipped are the elements that make a good album with good songs.

More Style Please!

2007-09-15T19:12:00.001-04:00

MILES DAVIS
Seven Steps to Heaven

Ah, good ol' Miles Davis. I figure that if I'm introducing my crowd to my first selection of music, I might as well start out big. Plus, I'd rather not have any of you getting immediately lost in my posts, wandering aimlessly around a labyrinth of jazz and running into brick walls of the musical tongue.

Miles Davis was a trumpet player during the era of Louis Armstrong and Dizzy Gillespie and has somehow been able to rise above the all-stars of his time to become one of the most influential jazz musician and composer in our history. One of the most remarkable characteristics of Davis' playing was his clear, round tone. The sound that he produced was the result of years and years of focus and discipline based solely on the idea of producing a perfect sound. This sound, in my opinion, can be described as "clean, smooth, or as I put earlier, round." In any of his recordings his tone is incredibly obvious because of how beautiful he makes the trumpet sound.

Oddly enough, as much as Miles Davis provides to the album "Seven Steps to Heaven", the reason I love this album isn't for the trumpet. It's because of the rhythm section and how it fits together so perfectly with the talents of Davis. Specifically, the song Seven Steps to Heaven (mpeg-4 format) features the drumming of Tony Williams. The chorus of the song includes a small segment of a drum solo after every voice of the horn section. This type of progression is known as a "call-and-response" where one voice (the horn section) plays a melodic rhythm for a short duration, then the second voice (in this case, the drum set) repeats the rhythm and melody in their own language.

I use the word "language" because every instrument speaks in it's own different way. A scale doesn't sound the same on a trumpet as it does on a saxophone, and certainly is nothing like that of a drum set (though this. So if a call is made on a trumpet, the response is translated into the drummer's own interpretation of what the call would be on his own drum set. This creates an effect much more gratifying than listening to the "call" repeating itself over and over in a boring system that some bands like to call a "chorus".

Aside from the call-and-response section, this song also includes a full-length drum solo about halfway in. The reason I enjoy this solo over most other solos is the result of two criteria: Sound quality and spacing. Good sound quality requires concentration of (surprisingly) the quality of the sound. Any person can walk up to a drum and beat it with a drumstick, but to have good sound quality, a drummer must hit the drum with style and color. In a more applicable scenario, a novice may pick up a trumpet in produce a sound not distinguishable from a squeaky door or a dying cow, but Miles Davis could pick up a trumpet and produce one of the most beautiful, clear tone of all time. Obviously this is a very extreme example, but the point is that it takes years of practice to be able to produce a quality sound, and this is definitely apparent in the solo in "Seven Steps to Heaven."

Spacing is one of the most interesting concepts, yet one of the easiest to understand. If a musician fires away millions of notes in a blaring, mind-splitting solo, the audience will only be amazed by the fact that the musician is playing with speed and not be able to comprehend anything else. This is why spacing becomes important in a solo. If gaps are placed in a solo, even if they are very small, they give the listener a moment to process what they just heard before being ready to listen to anything else. The drum solo in this tune includes these gaps, intentionally placed for us to stand in awe of his grandeur.

The combination of the amazing trumpet playing of Miles Davis with the genius solo work of Tony Williams creates a jazz chart that is most definitely worth opening my stream of blogs with. I apologize for the extreme WALL OF TEXT (lots of words), but I believe I would not be able to describe this chart in fewer words without doing it justice.

2007-09-15T17:40:00.000-04:00

DJ Kenny Logic
Lost in Love ( Dedication to Amel Otabachi )
Roller Entertainment, Hyatt Music, & Import DJ Entertainment

Sample here and here.

"...if you love your significant other a lot, let them know, do something out of your heart to prove it to them." - DJ Kenny Logic

This is definitely an album that I will blast loudly and bob my head to during one of my daily drives! This is "Definitely worth your time and money" and is a 10 on my scale. Had a hard time selecting sample tracks for you guys because the whole album is so good.

Let's save the music stuff for the end and focus on something not so 'musicy' for a second. DJ Kenny Logic was able to express his feelings toward his significant other through machines. Not sure about the rest of 'you-s', but you can feel this DJ's love for his significant other through his selection of tracks and the way they are mixed. Let this be some food for thought... to be able to express yourself completely and honestly is very important. To do so through sound made with machines is an amazing accomplishment imo. Anyone able to do so should be made known.

This album is mainly composed of house music and is very upbeat or very optimistic. The transitions through the tracks are perfect and occasionally the DJ will lower the sound of the outro of the previous track and introduce the intro of the next song softly and slowly increase volume for the beginning of the next track. The body of each track is very uplifting and very cheerful and consists of very simple melodies.

Conclusion: Very good album overall: expresses DJ's feelings clearly, uplifts audience, and very smooth and clean throughout. 10/10.

Disclaimer: I Own Nothing. Every track belongs to their respective owners.

2007-09-15T17:04:00.000-04:00

DJ Drumatik
A Summer of Trance
bb&co.

Listen to the two consecutive samples... The first being here and the second one here.

This would be one of those albums I would listen to in my car rides, so it is an 8 on my scale and is "Definitely worth your time and money". I posted tracks 3 and 4 for sampling because...

This DJ is very clean and clear in each of the tracks. The bass does not cover up the other parts of the song and the mixing is very smooth. The tracks in the album are lined up so that they help transition into the next song as if it is one big song. The beginning of the next track is actually played somewhere between 10 to 20 seconds before the end of the previous track, thus helping the transition.

As you get to the body of the song after fairly long build ups, it gets uplifting for most of the songs. (Keep in mind what I find uplifting might not be your uplifting.) As the body ends, the outro neatly introduces the next track.

This album has the potential to be a 9 or even a 10, but right now based on the current mood, I can only give it an 8. I believe everyone has experienced something where their favorite song is playing on the radio, but due to certain stresses or their mood, they suddenly dislike the song. Well, since I'm not listening to this album in my car, it is just different in that I'm stationary.

Conclusion: A very good selection of track to mix and that some of the mixes are originals. Most if not all the tracks are very upbeat and very uplifting. Lyrics are clear and understandable, some tracks will even get you to bob your head. For example, the second sample. Should give it a try and listen to the whole song.

Disclaimer: I Own Nothing. Every track belongs to their respective owners.

2007-09-15T15:44:00.000-04:00

Rock On DJ
The Tribute

Click on an image to listen to sample. Gray being the not-so-good sample and Orange being the better.

Let me first explain my rating system. "Not something I'll listen to in my car" is something around the range of 1 to 3 on a scale of 10. "A good choice" is around the range of 4 to 7 on a scale of 10. Lastly, "Definitely worth your time and money" being rated with an 8 or higher.

Okay... now the review. On my scale, this album is "Not something I'll listen to in my car" or a 3 in this case. I posted a sample of the best track on the album and a sample of a bad track, which is about the rest of the album.

Why? Firstly, the 3 was me being generous since the DJ is not the most experienced in the world. The bass is way too deep to hear the treble and the lyrics to most if not all of the songs. You would have no idea what the people are singing about in the song if you did not either listen very intently or know the lyrics in the first hand. Also, when the DJ ends a song and introduces the next track, he simply crossfades the songs. This method would usually work if you put songs that matches each other in some way, but this DJ simply puts the songs in random order and the transitions as a result sound really bad.

The overall album may be a "3", but track 9 I'll have to give a "4" because it does not have lyrics that you can't understand and because if the bass was weaker and the song's clarity was better, this would be a good song.

Conclusion: A good selection of old tracks to mix, but overall not too upbeat to be enjoyed the way it was meant. Not the best music to drive to.

Disclaimer: I Own Nothing. Every track belongs to their respective owners.
MY terminology and everything may be wrong, but... Oh wells. I listen to listen because I enjoy this genre of music, my lingo may be off so feel free to correct me.

2007-09-13T14:03:00.001-04:00

Audion
Mouth To Mouth
on Spectral

On a much different note from my last post, I am introducing you to the monster of all monsters. Released late in September of 2006, it was considered club track of the year by many. Although Audion, named Mathew Dear who also goes by alias False under Minus Canada, continues to produce fresh house music at an amazing rate, nothing compares to this floor filler. The LP consists of two songs, Hot Air on the B side and the notorious Mouth To Mouth on the A side.

The track starts out with a belting kick and a dark resonated bass line that pierces your ears and puts you at the gates of hell. Soon enough, the pure rush of adrenaline hits you instinctively driving you to your climax as the congas ramble on and the beat continues to flow down a spiral of darkness.

I consider this to be the best dance song ever made, just because of the sheer fact of how wild it can make a crowd of people. I haven’t been to any clubs in the USA, but in Mexico I experienced what this track could do first hand. I envy the talent of Audion for being able make music that can drive people to their limits. After all, that’s what it was engineered to do.

2007-09-10T14:57:00.000-04:00

The New Deal

The New Deal's members describe their sound as live progressive breakbeat house, which really means their musical style has too many facets to fit neatly into any genre. Some tracks have an acid jazz feel, some have a strong 4/4 beat for dancing to, and others are slow and simple chillout tracks. Hailing from Eastern Canada, the trio of keyboardist Jamie Shields, bassist Dan Kurtz, and drummer Darren Shearer gets party people dancing all over North America on their sporadic tours.

Unlike most bands that play electronic music, The New Deal doesn't use any sequencers to produce their music. Instead, everything is played live, which is an important part of their engaging, energetic stage presence. But it gets even better. When they're performing, they often improvise the songs they play. They use a system of cues to move shift from one song to the next without stopping, making their shows and their recordings sound like they were mixed by a DJ.

But, enough with telling you what they sound like. For a good sampling of The New Deal, check out Gone Gone Gone on the iTunes Music Store. The title track Gone Gone Gone and VL Tone are both energetic dance songs that show how the live bass and synth play wonderfully together, and are fun to listen or dance to. Homewrecker shows what they can do with an acid jazz concept, and A Little While is an impressive track that combines breakbeat drums, a deep groove on the bass, and smooth, hypnotic vocals to make a really great song. Perhaps the best part about The New Deal's sound is that they have a really decent track for you no matter what mood you're in.

The New Deal hasn't put out many albums, at least not in the usual sense. They recorded The New Deal in 2001 and Gone Gone Gone in 2003, and they released two EP's as well. But what you'll find in record stores barely scratches the surface of their recordings. Part of The New Deal's connection with the audience is that they encourage people to record and share their live performances. Because of this friendly policy toward taping, there are some 155 recordings of The New Deal's shows on the Internet Archive. These are available for free download, so there really isn't any excuse for having no New Deal in your collection.

Whether you get a studio album from a record store, or you browse the Internet Archive for a live jam you really like, you're bound to like at least something The New Deal offers. If you like the smooth chillout sound of The New Deal, I'd suggest you take a look at Massive Attack, Zero 7, Nightmares on Wax, and Thievery Corporation. Lotus is a band that does similar live jams, but they just don't pull off the electro sound as well as The New Deal. The Baldwin Brothers' album, Cooking with Lasers, has a similar progressive-breakbeat-house sound, but with a more present electronic feel to it.

2007-09-06T11:42:00.000-04:00

Sunrise Ltd.
Until My Love Returns
on Pizazz

My all time favorite jazz record. To me, it sounds like a funk band playing jazz, others seem to side with spiritual jazz. The LP is a private press, recorded in Detroit circa 1980, and not many copies are in circulation, aside from the one or two anomalies on eBay every few years or so. The record also has a great cover of Charles Earlands' Cause I Love Her along with 4 other smooth tracks, but nothing in comparison to the epic, Our Love Will Grow.

Let’s analyze this song. In my opinion, all epics have something fresh that makes them stand out. In this case, it’s the drums and the saxophone solo. The hip hop beat with the fast hat that keeps the track flowing until finally the sax kicks in and you get uplifted. Finally, it finishes off with a short verse. Simple and clean, yet it stands out from anything you have ever heard. This is my definition of an epic.

I have to admit that I don't actually own this record and its one of my life goals to have it in my possession. I would like to thank Wilson at Rehash Media , who actually does have a copy in his possession, for sharing it with us. Wilson was also generous enough to send me a sample CD containing 4 of the 5 tracks. As soon as I received the CD I instantly uploaded the songs to my web server and I’m pretty sure that those were the only full samples of the record that existed online. Unfortunately my web server has since been shut down and the CD is no longer in my possession. I felt obligated to pass it on just as Wilson did.

Please, sit back and enjoy the tunes and don’t be shy. Comments are always welcome. Also, if you’re still in the mood, feel free to check out Wilson’s amazing collection of vinyl at Rehash Media.

Mission: Impossible

2007-09-05T23:57:00.000-04:00

As bloggers, our goal is simple. We aspire to act as a vessel, transporting music from the depths of obscurity to the limited limelight of our bloggy pedestal.

Each of our posts will highlight music. The scope of the post may be broad or narrow, what matters is that we expose our readers to a variety of information about the music. In doing this, we guarantee that a reader of any level of musical knowledge will find something new and intriguing with every entry, every visit to the blog. This way, the breadth of our readership won't be limited to people who have been listening to some tiny, obscure genre of music and are already familiar with it. Readers with any passing interest will come to find hidden gems of music that would be nigh impossible to find without a guide, and readers with profound expertise will come as peers to discuss the music.

The overall purpose of our blog, then, is discourse. We will facilitate comments and feedback to develop a friendly, accessible blog that attracts readers. Through active commentary and open-minded feedback, we'll give our blog an accessible personality and generate credibility with our readers.

This blog won't be full of jargon and three-letter acronyms, it will be easy and quick to read. It will be an open place for discussion and criticism, and eventually it may become a small community. By posting information that people can scarcely get elsewhere, and generating discussion that is entirely unique, this blog will be a destination for many, a harbor for some, and a point of interest for everyone else.

Music played in Very Few Cars

2007-09-05T01:04:00.000-04:00

Ever had your windows rolled all the way down during a nice ride and stopping at the light? At times, you will hear what other drivers will be playing as they blast their music with their windows down also. Some people will find certain music played by others to be annoying and sometimes they might never have even heard of what is even played by the other driver.

I, for one, am one of those drivers blasting away their speakers at those stop lights and the choice of music is… not really that common. Driving to anything under the category of euro-trance and breakbeat is actually quiet an enjoyable experience. For those that have never or rarely listen to what I drive to, you will get a taste of it as I introduce to you songs or even albums that are part of an under-heard genre commonly known as “techno”.

I will post samples of songs by artists that you didn’t know even existed and through the review I will include in the post, you will understand why the song is either categorized as euro-trance, breakbeat, or other “techno” sub-genres you haven’t heard of before. Of course, my posts will occasionally be on something that I have not listed above such as greatest love songs of the 90’s REMIXED to some sub-genre.

Some might like my choice of music, some may not. Most of my entries will contain music that you may not like and feel free to throw your comments my way. I will keep the more positive ones in mind and just ignore the more aggressive ones. Though you may not like it, the goal in each of my posts is to introduce music that is under heard and to broaden your knowledge in the field of music by showing you how to differentiate different types of techno. If I’m wrong, so be it… maybe I’m not as into the whole “techno” genre as I claim to be, but hopefully you will correct me… nicely. Happy listening!

Shrouding the Noise, Exposing the Music

2007-09-04T21:45:00.000-04:00

Music is one of the intrinsic components of our generation. In a sense it is a language that we communicate with. No matter what the race, sex, location, or intelligence of a person, we can all relate somehow to music. The exact genre or style of the music is an entirely different matter of itself. It's what separates us from the public; it's what makes us unique.

Personally, I have a strong background in jazz. Yet, sadly, the jazz era has been gone for many decades, which have buried the sensation and popularity it brought to the early 1900's. As numerous other musicians would agree, I will bring back the strength and power of jazz music and introduce it to the public through the ease of the internet. I am now able to blog my way towards familiarizing readers with jazz. That is the general purpose of my additions to this website.

However, it does not specifically need to be about jazz. That single genre doesn't define me. It is only a portion of my musical "spectrum". Through other interesting genres, I can uncover hidden treasures to the public and essentially force the populace (that is stuck in a world strictly consisting of popular music) to expand upon their vocabulary and listen to different works like the classics of Duke Ellington or the revolutionary beats of Buddy Rich and Gene Krupa.

As I have spoken to other people before: just because it has been categorized as "popular" doesn't mean it is necessarily "good". As an individual, along with all the other individuals in the music world, I must bring my discoveries up from the popular "realm" to the surface. Sharing all this music allows us to communicate more efficiently than speaking itself does. Hopefully all this information can teach us more than we presently know. That is the point of my blogs and that is why I intend on blogging in my own, unique style.

Abstract

2007-09-04T19:53:00.000-04:00

Writing without purpose is simply pointless. Therefore, all the ramblings I post to this blog hereafter will be composed with a goal somewhere in the back of my mind. In general, this goal is information. I hope to be informed as much as I inform via this blog.

But thoughtful verbage aside, you still don't have any idea what I'll be writing about.

As a blogger, I want to unearth obscure music. I don't want to be a mini-MySpace, struggling to display the endless multitude of appalling songs that deserve the obscurity they wallow in. Rather, with each entry, I want to illuminate a song, an artist, even a genre that has great merit but tiny exposure.

I don't go looking for obscure music. I look for music to enjoy, and most music that I find both under-heard and enjoyable comes somewhere out of the world of electronic music. It follows that most of my blog entries will have something to do with that. The rest, however, could be about anything. Maybe some indie band in Alabama really needs your ears, or a great record from 1953 doesn't get the radio play it used to.

No matter what musical gems I blog about, I'm sure to unearth them good and dirty. I may have found the music, but comments complete the experience. Share your knowledge and tell me how wrong I am, and this blog can be a truly great source of information.

New Layout

2007-09-04T02:56:00.000-04:00

After some design work and some tinkering, our blog's layout is now entirely unique. Give me feedback, and I'll continue to update it toward bloggy perfection.