I'd highly recommend checking out the Nujabes' full discography, he's an excellent artist with a ton of great compositions (Feather, luv sic, shiki no uta). If you find yourself liking him, check out DJ okawari too, he also makes some great stuff. In the style of chill out/work music, Kashiwa Daisuke has to be my favorite
I actually don't like this song all that much, but the video is stunning. Also, KPop has no problems admitting how dumb it is.
I like the song fine enough, it'd be good in a mix.
The video is probably one of the first KPop music videos that I can kinda take, well, seriously? There's plenty that are fun, or sexy, or silly. This one is way awesome and visually cool and the imagery is compelling... I've watched it a few times now.
Anyone else listening to the new Gary Clark Jr album, The Story of Sonny Boy Slim? I posted my review to the Greg von Teig Facebook page, but I'll also post it here.
Back in 2012, I saw a post to /r/ListenToThis about this rising star Gary Clark Jr (this was back when the cringiest aspects of Reddit were still avoidable). He had begun his career playing the coffee house circuit in Austin at age 11. In 2001, at age 17, the mayor of Austin declared May 3, 2001 to be Gary Clark Jr day. All this would make one expect a young star following a career path like Taylor Swift. However, this was not the case. Aside from a few lost or unofficial recordings, Clark wasn't recorded until 2010, when he released two EPs, which, combined with his rising status in the festival circuit, earned him a spot on Warner Bros Records. His debut LP, Blak and Blu, marked the beginning of what I've been calling the 2010s blues renaissance. It offered a unique balance of Chicago blues and soul/rhythm and blues, almost as if Muddy Waters had done a collaboration with Marvin Gaye. Naturally, I was very very excited when he announced his follow up album, The Story of Sonny Boy Slim. As it turns out, I should not have been.
The issue with The Story of Sonny Boy Slim seems to me to be that Clark doesn't know his own strengths. He is, first and foremost, a guitarist. He rose to fame through many shows that featured exclusively him and his guitar. Even into the Blak and Blu period, he played gigs like that, as you can hear for yourself on his stellar Live at KUT album. On Blak and Blu, his strongest moments were those when he flexed his guitar muscles. Tracks like Travis County or When My Train Pulls in would leave you to get completely lost in the riffs and solos. The more downbeat songs, like The Life and Blak and Blu, still utilized Clark's mastery of his instrument, but sparingly as to build a diverse soundscape.
The problem is not that Clark doesn't play guitar, tho. There are plenty of other instruments to fill that void – but he doesn't employ any of them. Stripped of spectacle, the new album is lackluster at best, and frustrating at worst. I read in interviews with Clark that the new album was largely based in hip hop, and that is present throughout the album. From the beginning, he employs the most irritating rap innovation, singing the inspiring lyrics “yeah/yeah/oh yeah/yeah” over an otherwise pleasant intro. Clark is clearly out of his element. Without a lead melody to guide him, he is lost in a sea of rhythm and beat devoid of anything more.
The songs feel empty. They each have a good beat, and Clark is a fine singer, but it is deeply disappointing to hear him doing so little when I know he can do so much
I was feeling like some jazz the other day, so I fired up Spotify's Jazz channel. After aggressively removing all smooth jazz and Sinatra, it threw this guy named Adam Baldych at me:
Contemporary Polish jazz violinist. This is some awesome instrumental jazz with a sound that reminds me of The Goat Rodeo Sessions.
And now I'm diving down a rabbit hole of modern Polish jazz.
Man Alan Lomax is such a double edged sword. On one hand he introduced so much music that I would have never found myself. Yet on the other hand he fucks over the people he samples or takes the music from (e.g. Solomon Linda's -Wimoweh).
Comments
If you find yourself liking him, check out DJ okawari too, he also makes some great stuff.
In the style of chill out/work music, Kashiwa Daisuke has to be my favorite
Ahhhh yiss!
Chiptunes = Win volume 4 just was released.
And these are the Wonder Girls from 2015
Sam Smith, Sam Smith, Sam Smith, Disclosure. Eargasms
The video is probably one of the first KPop music videos that I can kinda take, well, seriously? There's plenty that are fun, or sexy, or silly. This one is way awesome and visually cool and the imagery is compelling... I've watched it a few times now.
I gave in and checked 'em out.
Holy shit. This is some top-notch despair-laden black metal. No nonsense, no poseurs, no wimps. Just pure unadulterated bleakness in musical form.
You can stream the entirety of their latest on Bandcamp.
http://no-solace.bandcamp.com/album/exercises-in-futility-lp-2015
Back in 2012, I saw a post to /r/ListenToThis about this rising star Gary Clark Jr (this was back when the cringiest aspects of Reddit were still avoidable). He had begun his career playing the coffee house circuit in Austin at age 11. In 2001, at age 17, the mayor of Austin declared May 3, 2001 to be Gary Clark Jr day. All this would make one expect a young star following a career path like Taylor Swift. However, this was not the case. Aside from a few lost or unofficial recordings, Clark wasn't recorded until 2010, when he released two EPs, which, combined with his rising status in the festival circuit, earned him a spot on Warner Bros Records. His debut LP, Blak and Blu, marked the beginning of what I've been calling the 2010s blues renaissance. It offered a unique balance of Chicago blues and soul/rhythm and blues, almost as if Muddy Waters had done a collaboration with Marvin Gaye. Naturally, I was very very excited when he announced his follow up album, The Story of Sonny Boy Slim. As it turns out, I should not have been.
The issue with The Story of Sonny Boy Slim seems to me to be that Clark doesn't know his own strengths. He is, first and foremost, a guitarist. He rose to fame through many shows that featured exclusively him and his guitar. Even into the Blak and Blu period, he played gigs like that, as you can hear for yourself on his stellar Live at KUT album. On Blak and Blu, his strongest moments were those when he flexed his guitar muscles. Tracks like Travis County or When My Train Pulls in would leave you to get completely lost in the riffs and solos. The more downbeat songs, like The Life and Blak and Blu, still utilized Clark's mastery of his instrument, but sparingly as to build a diverse soundscape.
The problem is not that Clark doesn't play guitar, tho. There are plenty of other instruments to fill that void – but he doesn't employ any of them. Stripped of spectacle, the new album is lackluster at best, and frustrating at worst. I read in interviews with Clark that the new album was largely based in hip hop, and that is present throughout the album. From the beginning, he employs the most irritating rap innovation, singing the inspiring lyrics “yeah/yeah/oh yeah/yeah” over an otherwise pleasant intro. Clark is clearly out of his element. Without a lead melody to guide him, he is lost in a sea of rhythm and beat devoid of anything more.
The songs feel empty. They each have a good beat, and Clark is a fine singer, but it is deeply disappointing to hear him doing so little when I know he can do so much
Contemporary Polish jazz violinist. This is some awesome instrumental jazz with a sound that reminds me of The Goat Rodeo Sessions.
And now I'm diving down a rabbit hole of modern Polish jazz.
Here's a sample:
On one hand he introduced so much music that I would have never found myself.
Yet on the other hand he fucks over the people he samples or takes the music from (e.g. Solomon Linda's -Wimoweh).