This week’s Monday blues is dedicated to all those who have to walk in the rain on their daily commute. This song is an optimistic look at the weather that might get you down. It’s almost too ironic that blues could have such a happy feel to it.
“Just lay back and groove on a rainy day”
Fat Freddy’s Drop has always been my go-to when I’m in the mood for some Dub (Not it’s briefly famous evil retarded step-brother, Dubstep). The production value of their tracks is always great and their dynamic style is always refreshing in a world dominated over compressed electronica. The vocals always stick out in their tracks because they’re so smooth. There is a heavy R&B influence behind their vocal style. If you get bored listening to the song then you’re obviously not listening. Towards the end of this song is the best part, so be patient you silly millennials.
Have you ever heard Reggae in odd metre? Well you have if you know this song. The hook of this song had me scratching my head for a while. How did they do it? It’s a very rare thing to find a song that combines easy listening and confusing time signatures. Strange timing also usually throws of any kind of dancing/head-bobbing but this isn’t the case for ‘Catch A Star’. Men At Work are a legendary band and it’s not just because they endorse Vegemite in the ‘Land Down Under’. Their vocal melodies ride perfect phrasing and hold beautiful harmonies. The production value for it’s time is also amazing. Everything sits in its rightful place. Choose an instrument to concentrate on and you’ll hear it. The Aussies really do know how to make music so well. No wonder we’re seeing so many Australian bands rocking up in South Africa.
C’mon, Eagles of Death Metal, you say you don’t want the girl to fall in love and then you drop the groovy grunge chorus: “I only want you”. Make up your minds, rock legends. I’ll forget your indecision just this once. This song is just so Rock ‘n Roll that a bit of inconsistency in the lyrics is pretty much expected.
This song is for all you World-Music-phobes out there. The Cat Empire will deal with you, culture ignoramus, and then they will make you dance to the the tropical rhythm of Latin, Ska, and Spanish music with a whole lot of soul. They might even throw you a classical piano solo. It doesn’t what banner they fall under in anyone’s opinion. Their music is a month long holiday in your ears. Oh… you think their lyrics and melodies are cheesy? I invite you to go back to your formulaic electronic radio music. I’ll be over here listening to real instruments being played by sesoned musicians. I’ll have a stupid smile on my face cause this emanates so much happiness that it annoys me when I’m in a foul mood (either that or I’ll forget what I was angry about).
This South African duo is new on the scene but in the last couple months they have dropped some quality Hip-Hop tracks. All their tracks are available for download from soundcloud for free so grab them while you can. This particular song ‘Over The Horizon‘ has such a catchy sax melody that I’ve been singing it in my head all day. The Dirty Bandits consist of:
Jethro Lock (founder of The Indie Collective and The Night Owl, bassist for Hey!Bang!Dead! and fearless leader of The Tazers)
Oliver (chess master extrodinaire and sexy sax player)
Blues doesn’t always have to have a gravelly voice and a sultry guitar playing the typical 12 bar. Feist’s voice is as sweet as a lifetime supply of honey. The minimalistic drumming is tighter than america’s national debt. The subtle guitar and piano parts in the song have such great dynamics. The song swells up and down in a slow swing that moves your entire body like it would in a gentle sea swell.
Noisey just posted a video of musicians talking about the illuminati. Are you happy now, conspiracy theorists? Personally, I think it’s possible that the illuminati do exist and I do see the merit in using the generic commercial music scene to perpetuate their weird signs and obsession with power and money. It just seems a little too easy to blame a mysterious ‘secret’ (not) organisation for the various injustices and cavernous wealth gaps we ignore on the news.
Hey, Illuminati-boss-villan-rich-guys, would you pay me to sing about how rich I am? I promise I’ll make it as four-on-the-floor-tits-and-ass-look-at-me commercial as a Coke Cola ad with Kim Kardashian getting her bare ass slapped at 120 BPM. Shweet. Done Deal.
If you have the privilege of saying you saw this band live then you will know exactly what I’m talking about when I say that Rival Sons is highly above average. This song in particular grabbed me with that epic guitar tone and took me right back to my dusty Oppikoppi experience. I remember just standing there, chin on the red dust, basking in the huge sound their guitars made and imagining Robert Plant re-incarnate on the stage. To be completely honest, even this great record doesn’t do Rival Sons justice compared to the live sound they smashed me with at Oppikoppi. Listen to the song right through. You wont regret it. 8 Rock ‘n Roll minutes well spent.
This throwback is 17 years old. The flow of this song is unstoppable. Wu-Tang doesn’t need your musical arrangement norms. All they need is a solid swing-heavy drum loop, a simple two note bass riff and minimal samples as the foundation. Bring on the rhymes and rhythm mah-fuka. (Disclaimer: I’m just a white boy trying to appreciate good hip-hop so dont hate my craka ways of describing it.)