Tinges of Soul

Here are some tracks with definite soul/blues/R&B vibes, but expressed in very understated fashion. I would not hazard to call these artists "soul" artists, as each of them cherry-picks and blends multiple musical influences silkily together. However, there are tinges of soul imbued in their work, and what gorgeous tinges they are. These four selections are downplayed and smooth, with very minimal “band” sounds about them. Just vocals, maybe some bass or piano, and very balanced drums carry the songs lightly and completely. Sparse, simple,...

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Toy Music

A couple bands I've been watching, and I figure that this would be a great time to bring them up. These two bands are unique for the fact that they both use toys to make music. One band plays on a toy pianos, toy xylophones, toy guitars, toy trumpets, and the other band plays on circuit bent toys to make music. If you don't know what circuit bending is, there is a DVD made entirely showing how it works and what it does. DJ Daedelus, glitchcore musician using samples of music from the 20's and early jazz, show us what circuit bending is here. Yes,...

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Whales & The Fertile Crescent

They Might Be Giants and Modest Mouse are two alternative bands who still manage to keep afloat quite nicely. TMBG employs quirky lyrics and rhymes, and have recently dived into music for children with very fun results. MM is steadfastly doing what it's always done: alternavating. I'm not a gushing fan for either band--some of their songs are too vocally strange for me--but if I'm in the right mood, this pair consistently offers dozens of songs (has for a decade-or-so now) with mind-sticking melodies. So if you haven't yet been introduced, here's...

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Danger!

Danger is a France-based dj who has been steadily gaining a global popularity.His music is licensed by an indie label and as of January 25th, has a new album out on vinyl.The music he's been trying to imitate and pay respect to is that of 16-bit video game music, the style is also referenced in his promotional videos for the album.I recommend you give him a list...

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Catchy Machinima Beats

Machinima--the capturing of video game footage to create films--has stayed pretty popular these past few years. One current series is called "Phil" by Black Light Productions, and the group who writes music for the episodes is "Hypothesis." These guys have a very wide range of styles, but these two tracks are some of their smoothest, catchiest creations (most of their songs are loops). I highly suggest searching for "Phil" on YouTube, as it is silly fun, but also so you can hear their stuff and download their entire first season soundtrack, gratis.--The...

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New Meets Old, The New Genre: Two Examples

Genre are starting to more and more become undefined. It's getting closer to the point where R&B meets hip-hop meets pop meets classical meets rock. Two examples of this genre breaking artists:BT is an electronica artist. He did most of his work with House/in the greater idea "Techno" music. However, after most of his work was stolen, he worked on something quite amazing. True U-Ziq, Aphex Twin, and Venetian Snares did highlight how easily classical goes hand-in-hand with electronic, glitch-styled music. However, BT's album This Binary Universe...

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Miss Mae's Many Modes

Vanessa-Mae's been around for a long time. She's a classically trained concert violinist who still receives criticism for stepping through borderlands that classically trained violinists are not supposed to tour. She writes her own music, performs fantastic covers of century-old classical masterworks, and endeavors into country, jazz, hip-hop, rock, and others. Her style can be a bit showy, a bit hyperbolic freelancer, but regardless she has enormous talent, and unfortunately continues to be slighted by "purist" musical types. Despite these senile...

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Charitable Swamp King Resuscitates Pop

From the festering mire of modern music, the shallow, excrement-laden pools of Soulja Boy and Diddy, rises a savior, a transformer, a mud-molder of cacophony into delectible, blooming, bobbing-head beats.All right, so this amalgamation is pretty mainstream, but hear me out. DJ Earworm does the impossible here, kiddos. By combining all Top 25 Billboard Hits of 2009 into one 5-minute video, he single-handedly makes them worth listening to. To be fair, some of these songs are moderately decent on their own merits. However, most are pretty, pretty...

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Thanks

Before reading this entry, please hit play on the track below.To the viewers reading this blog, thanks! Heh, we're trying to get it off the ground, but we NEED more writers, and we NEED help advertising. So, what is this blog about? Well, unlike other music blogs, this is just about the music itself. It's about the knowledge of how the music got here, songs that are good AND bad, and more importantly, this blog DOESN'T TELL YOU WHAT TO LISTEN TO! It just finds music. All genre. All music. We dig so you don't have to, and we try to mix it up so...

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The Calming Storm

South Carolina has two callings to me. One is rather personal, and the other is the music scene that has come out of there. My goodness, has avant garde noise rock never been cooler than these past couple of years in college rock, and my has most of the best of it come out of SC. Dream rock, as it's been dubbed, has also taken a major play in the UK too, just look at the band Glasvegas.I can only describe it as something new that feels like it was old. You'll understand after a couple songs:Toro Y Moi - Timed PleasureWashed Out - New TheoryNeon...

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My Flag Boy Told Your Flag Boy Imma Set Your Flag On Fire!

Ah, a song about rivalry. Jock-a-mo or Iko Iko is a classic song, originating in New Orleans about rivalries. Though the song did have racist implications, it still is pretty damn catchy and pretty damn dancable. So, why not thank Philadelphia based DJ Diplo for giving it some base and clubbing it up?(Almost original artist)Dixie Cups - Iko IkoDiplo Remix - Iko Iko (Is the first few minutes, then it goes into the next song on the alb...

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Dirty, dirty, DIRTY, hip-hop.

I do say, if there's been one thing that's gotten me through nights where only me and my thoughts are left to stir alone, it has to be dirty hip-hop. No, I don't mean lyric wise dirty. I mean... well, just the grit of it. How dirty can you make a song, and no one seems to do it better than Flying Lotus and SAMiYAM. And when they team up... it's just wonderful and everything else melts away, no? It can be dirty and relaxed too, which is what is great about Flying Lotus. And it can be dirty and upbeat, which is great about SAMiYAM.So, here's a couple...

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4 Rap Songs That'll NEVER See Manistream Radio

Keep an open mind, and your soul and mind will never eat the same meal twice. So just because its rap doesn't mean you need to dismiss it, ok?That being said, lyricism is an important part of hip-hop. The poetry and meaning of the words sometimes carries a song greatly.. But it's not just the words that are important, but the flow of them with the production and beat. So here are four examples of rap songs you'll never hear on mainstream radio that just flow like water over slick rocks. Ok, so they don't flow that well, but never-the-less they...

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Alternative/Country band Roman Candle

So, country, just like rap, is often claimed to be hated and is greatly overlooked. The music itself inspires an entire culture in itself. Many country bands have teamed up with Rap artists, almost seemingly all at once right after Snoop Dogg's infamous country album. In fact, both genres of music have gone into great detail of making songs about substance abuse, women, and money. However, there are many artists that have seemingly kept to a different style of country. After alternative rock music took a good stand in the U.S., thanks partially...

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Nothing Musical Here...

Well, not yet. I'll post music and other such music-related things here very infrequently. Hope you sort off like them in a "Just Friends" way. Bai-bai.FACT: Moslows are highly endangered. Please be delica...

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Múm- I'm 9 Today

I'm 9 Today - MúmFun little song by icelandic group Múm. Somewhat childish, but that doesn't seem to clash with the IDM/Glitch-beat style.-Minimal ...

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Aphex Twin - Une Femme N'est Pas Un Homme

A very fun song from Richard, Aka The Aphex Twin, AKA AFX, AKA... well you get the idea. This song comes in particular from the album 26 Remixes For Cash, and well, as Aphex Twin legend has it, you can never really hear the original song in the remixes. Aphex Twin is resoundingly known for submitting remixes that are actually original pieces as his own little joke to the world of music. That being the case I do rather like this one much. Here's the original song for comparison, by The Beatniks (You can hear some parts of the remix in it, but truthfully,...

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Note written in "Sweet Disposition"

Four words: Temper Trap, Famous SongStrangely hasn't hit the charts in the U.S. at all...-Minimal ...

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Note to make you scream, "Give It To Me"

Timbaland! What can I say about you? You're a good beat crafter when you want to be. Other times, you're a can of old soda. No sizzle or pop, just kind of stagnant. With that said, I do believe your best hit had to be this one:Give It To Me (Album Version (...Oh Timbaland, where did you run to? -Minimal ...

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Note to look "Up"

Australian DJ, Pogo, has made a song entirely out of samples from the movie up.Rather cute I think. Clever idea too.-Minimal Fox (in Durango CO, where internet is shod...

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