So it's obviously been way too long since I did a music post. But Sweden has been keeping me busy and time for detailed reviews has been far and in between.
Actually I shouldn't even be writing this, I have exams in a few days and I'm just procrastinating.
eh. Whatever.
Too Much by Lofty Labz
Nick Tann out of Vancouver, Canada has blown the LID off of a sweet but way to short career as a producer on Soundcloud. This tune, out for less than a month now, is not getting the attention it deserves -- as is the producer. I will be following Nick very closely, the tracks he is pushing out, though far and in between, are GOLD.
In Too Much, the intro begins with a tinny, sampled soulful tune before exploding into a grandiose shower of punchy bass rhythms accompanied by chopped brass and piano -- all backing up the aching, expertly sampled wailings of a mo'town style singer. This track, too short and sweet for its power, hits you with full force and keeps you flying through its waves of hip-hop brilliance up until its ending beat.
Sticking with the soulful hip-hip theme I'd like to introduce ChromadaData -- Ian Jones of St. Augustine, Florida. A true hands-on producer, ChromadaData creates all his beats using an MPC5000, a music production machine. His music can be described as a balancing act between smooth rnb flavors and the high tension of sampled, complex contemporary beatstrumentals. Truly a producer of high caliber, his beats always carry a melody that sticks in your mind and keep you movin even after the music has stopped.
The One Ive Got showcases the eclectic, funky style that ChromadaData has developed for himself. Sampled screaming crowds, afro-rnb melodies reminiscent of gospel halls and 60's funk layered atop fast-paced, high energy hi-hats and snare drums all built on top of that familiar punchy hip-hop bass beat serve to conjure up a slick, cool-cat beatstrumental unique only to ChromadaData.
In a change of pace to a slower, more ethereal realm comes Lunova Labs. Based out of Franklin, Tennessee, LL is one of those artists I admire personally for their motivation in making music. Rather than subscribing to a particular genre or style of sound, Lunova Labs' objective in sound production is creating aesthetically pleasing soundscapes. Experimental by nature, radically designed by choice -- artists who aim for this echelon of production have a supreme level of respect in my mind.
Vieux Nouveau has been on repeat in my playlist for some time now. From the start the unique atmosphere of this track sets a precedent few can follow. A crescendo of ethereal noise opens this track leading into a deep, immersive punch of bass that is followed by white noise and vibrant, reverberating chords and tailed by piano. Just as the tone is set for an ambient styled track the bass kicks in and floating, metallic percussion brings out a melody that is set in the same mood as the mysterious piano progressions. An enigmatic, foggy soundscape soon emerges as Lunova Labs continues to tinker and experiment with the visual image produced from this conglomerate of sounds. Absolutely brilliant.
Finally, I'd like to leave with you a podcast I have started listening to. Radio Love Love, a german weekly-or-so podcast of a wide range of artists from hip-hop to trip-hop to classical piano to live performances. It's reall y a grab bag of music, but it's all high quality and excellently chosen. Check out the podcast at http://radiolovelove.blogspot.com/
So that's it for now. I have so much more to share but no time to do it in. Maybe I'll find more time now since it's getting so cold outside!
Week 4 or 5, I'm not even sure at this point. I've settled in and think I've hit the stable point. Honeymoon period is over but I still love it here. In fact I still love all of Scandinavia.
I could definitely retire here.
Music to come if I find the free time and motivation to write some entries. Soundcloud has been ALIVE with incredible music lately.
It's been a nutty two weeks. Two think that 14 days ago today I was still in Marietta -- it seems like only a dream. 30 hours, 3 cities, 2 flights, 1 train, and a missed stop and have placed me in Karlstad, Sweden for the next 5 months. New faces, new languages, new tastes, sounds, and temperatures. I've come severely under prepared but recklessly open and am ready for anything. Friends, I've made many, new connections, I've forged them. I hope this is an opportunity to begin anew and start strong. Only time will tell, här ärtill Karlstad.
As promised(though I'm sure no one was keeping record) here is my monthly picture post.
Every day I am learning more and more about photography. I truly think this is the hobby I've been missing out on my entire life. I've played guitar, piano, attempted sports, had a hand at writing -- all of these I enjoy and feel I am comfortable with, but I have never felt that spark that drives me to peruse each on a deeper level. This is not the case with photography though. The whole process is incredibly therapeutic to me. From scouting locations to composing a shot to processing and tinkering, each step in developing a final picture is sublimely enjoyable and just makes me feel good.
To add to the personal enjoyment of the workflow is the amount of knowledge I still DON'T know about photography. I've recently joined a few photo forums and taken upon myself to embed deeper in flickr and Google+ now and the sheer amount of techniques, styles, and nuance to both composition and processing I do not understand is astounding. I love this though -- having a field I can so readily thrown myself in to head first is a joy to me. Each day is a new quest for knowledge and I have an unquenchable thirst for it. Photoshop, Lightroom, masking, hues, exposures, layers. It's all mindblowing and far beyond my reach....for now. Watch out world, here I come.
Oh. And my title is a request for Anonymous from my last picture post to reappear. Who are you? More advice please? I relish it.
I'm in the music listening business and let me tell you, business is booming. I've got a veritable honeypot of excellent artists that are long overdue in garnering some praise. So without further ado, let's dive in! (P.S. Next post will be pictures, stay tuned!)
Zach Saginaw, aka Shigeto, is a Michigan-bred electronica genius. Known by his middle name, which means "to grow bigger", he has definitely lived up to his moniker. With a solid library of stunning tracks under his belt Shigeto is a superstar in the field of modern electronica. Characterized by rich, textured beats and powerfully nuanced melodies brought forth through a multitude of mediums and sounds Shigeto stands on a high pillar, his style is unique among his peers. Two EP's and a full-length album, Full Circle , have carried Shigeto to new heights as he continues to shatter the norm. This is an artist you do not want to miss out on.
Shigeto's remix of Dennis Coffey's "All Your Goodies Are Gone" pays homage to his early childhood influences of motown and funk by taking the soul of this smooth heartbreak ballad and catapulting it to new heights. Cascading bass beats and twitching percussion layered atop spacey guitar samples and brass set the atmosphere for this tonal masterpiece. As Dennis Coffey's aching voice enters the aural landscape the mood is finally set, the smooth style of the original piece is preserved yet enhanced by the funky manipulation of Shigeto. Absolutely brilliant.
Hanbook, a UK-based beats maker and producer, has been on my list for a long time now. Cranking out new sounds like a madman this avid beat wielder has been developing a sound and following on Soundcloud for quite some time, even collaborating with rappers on a few songs to create absolutely sick tracks.( <a href="http://soundcloud.com/handbook/water-molecules-feat-shuteyes">Water Molecules</a> , I'm looking at you). However with the release of a new track just days ago I figured it is about time to feature him, as the future may be a-changin.
Amnesia is a chance of pace for Handbook. As mentioned in his description it is the first track he has produced in awhile that contains no samples -- original sounds only inquire within. Brimming with waves of electronic sines and heartfelt strings this track takes a different turn from his usual, evoking an nebulaic image that is completed by the presence of eastern-eque string plucking. A refreshing deviation from the norm, I'll be eager to see what else Handbook is cooking up. Stay tuned!
Next up is Shlohmo, an LA-based trip-hop and electronica producer. With a plethora of tracks behind him and very little bio info to be found, Shlohmo comes off as the kind of artist who focuses on the music, not the publicity. From the wedidit collective of which Shlohmo is a part of ," Wedidit is a collective of dudes and guys, mostly from the LA area, who make shit and want to give you the shit we make. -Professionally Unprofessional since 1990"
And that just about sums up the intro for Shlohmo, let's let the music do the talking now.
In his remix of the classic "Shell of Light" by Burial Shlohmo takes the already ethereal and minimalist style of Burial and brings it to a new level. Complete with sparse percussion, deep, penetrating bass lines, and a level of reverb reserved for the only best of trip-hop and minimal dubstep Shell of Light is transformed in to a other-worldly, floating abstract of musical euphoria.
Make sure to watch for more Shlohmo soon, his Soundcloud tracks are few, but their quality is immense.
A recurring favorite of mine, Max Tannone is the creative genius behind Mos Dub, a mashup of Mos Def lyrics and fantastic reggae/roots, Dub Kweli, a fusion of Talib Kweli and reggae, and a multitude of other mashups featuring the Beastie Boys, Radiohead, and Selene. Among the mash-up scene Max Tannone stands alone as one of the most innovative and talented in his field. He has a knack for throwing together clashing genres and blending the two in to a work so superbly addictive and surprising you can't help but raise your eyesbrows on every track change.
In his newest project Max combines the forceful rhyming of Ghostface Killah with retro afro-funk and psychedelic rock to forge an high-energy, fantastically spunky jumble of organ solos, cowbell, and heated words. Funky Criminology, the last track on the album, upholds the quality mashing skills Max is so known for and keeps you nodding your head the entire span of the track.
In a change of pace, instrumental artist Clear Blue sets the stage for a new take on Hip-Hop. Based in New Jersey this creative force and musician-for-hire has been blowing my expectations out of the water for some time now. His style, though backed by standard rolling/off beat percussion so familiar to the instrumental hip-hop genre, presents an element of off-the-beaten-path production that is new, at least to me, for hip-hop. A mix of samples, synths, and targeted, themed continuity to his beats breathe a magic in to his style that keeps me coming back for me.
In his latest release, Awakenings, a wall of unique, droning synths and sitar-style melodies emanate from the background of this mesmerizing intrumental. Along with perfectly inserted bass and a tamborine that constantly unwinds like a toy the atmosphere set in this track is dreamy, yet powerful and very much danceable. The subtlety found in this track keeps me coming back for more, I hope to see great things from Clear Blue in the future. Keep an eye on this one!
Wow. What can I say about this track that doesn't include the word STUNNING? Imogen Heap, known most for her song Hide and Seek, is so much more than that. Since her first album, Speak for Yourself, Imogen Heap has released two albums each trumping the last in creativity and individuality. Now, as she approaches her 4th solo album, she has taken a new approach to sound shaping.
As exhibited in Propeller Seeds, Imogen Heap has developed an incredibly strong sense of sound staging and story telling through her music. Though the concept is not new, her use of these elements is unprecedented in today's mainstream culture. To see a relatively pop-music associated artist change her sound so vastly over the course of her career, and explore such strong concepts is deeply touching to me and greatly deserving of respect. From the ambiance of a restaurant to the perfectly crafted sounds of limbs creaking and leaves rustling, every second of this track, and what I am assuming will be the album, is expertly crafted and painstakingly attended too. This album will be phenomenal.
So Part 1 was all about the beats, this post is all about the....treats? The photographic treats I guess. A few weeks ago I acquired a Canon T3, as photography has been a long-standing passion of mine, and have been putting it to good use. This post is just to show off, shamelessly, some of the pictures I like the best.
There's something to be said about small aperatures and me. As a commenter mentioned on my last picture post, I like close up shots of objects. I feel this stems from a lack of focus in my life in general. I've never had the capability to throw my creative passion in to an outlet and never been able to focus it well. I constantly see images, places, scenes in my life that I wish I could capture and mold, in order to express my own world view but have rarely had the chance to. I guess that since I've bought this camera I've been overcompensating, purposefully focusing in on the little details around me to make up for the time I haven't had the ability to do so before. So for right now a bug, a leaf, someone's smile, a railing, whatever I see and want to focus on will be my subject. At least until I fufill this desire to see the fine details and allow myself to take a step back and look at the bigger picture. Until then, this is what you get:
I also got(as a steal) a telescopic lens. Canon 70-300mm USM. It works well when its bright outside, other conditions not so much.
Jeykll, Island, GA
Direct Positive is a fun filter
The cottage we stayed at in Nova Scotia
Fort Liousberg, NS
On Cape Breton, NS
Sunset in Inverness
House down the beach from our cottage, what a view!
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