Song of the Day

Posts Tagged ‘soul’

I try not to classify artists or to translate their musical style, genre, or category of music based on their beat or the types of instruments they use, but in a way it’s necessary to help make artists more approachable. Jamie Woon’s music is backwards for me, he’s already approachable, and although his music appears to consist of a mix of pop and electronic sounds with a soul RnB and acoustic singer songwriter feel, I think that it’s not easy to classify his music into a genre. The funny thing is I went ahead and described it while talking about how it’s hard to describe.

One thing that pops out to me about his work is the clarity of the sound, it’s nice to have clear sound which sometimes gets lost among the dinge of electric guitar screams and regular percussion clashing. But without any hard percussion sounds, Jamie’s voice is given full stage. He’s got a great voice, and the well balanced studio production he did when recording his music does it justice.

Other songs I like by Cat Power:
Cat Power – Lived In Bars
I found a reason
Living Proof

Cat Power is powerful. I didn’t read up on her like I do with most of the artists I post on here. I usually read the Wikipedia article and summarize what I find interesting and say something else I find on Last.fm and what else I glean from the artist. But I’m too lazy tonight to do that. But I will say that her song The Greatest kicks my butt and that the video was just a fan made music video made by a guy with only two videos on YouTube. Pretty crazy eh? Well, I think the music video is amazing and matches the song well. k, enjoy! If you know of some other great Cat Power songs, please comment below.

The band “The xx” is from the UK and is so strange but beautiful. Are they indie, are they pop, are they soul, are they new age? Well, that’s what their MySpace page said, but whatever, music is what it is, I think it’s better to describe a bands music using the greatest number of nonsensical and disjointed words and sentences as possible. That way you’re able to accurately put your entire and complete impression of the music on paper and to have also made a total incomprehensible mess in the process.

I think Islands is the best song of theirs I’ve heard so far, but their song Crystalized also is amazing in several ways. I find the skill in their music in how it can be so good despite it’s slow, minimalistic, and repetitive nature. That it holds you in suspense of even the smallest changes in their songs. That, because of it’s uniqueness you’re pulled into it and experience the music in a different way.

After reading the review on Pitchfork, which stated that all of their songs are exclusively about sex, I decided that their entire album is perfect music for playing when you’re in your bed, and not alone there in your bed, and while you’re not sleeping but sweating (I know you know what I know I know you know I know I’m saying).

So I hope now, after my subliminal messages, The xx’s music will slowly creep into your subconscious mind and create a comfortable little place in your music collection so that you can enjoy it as often as humanly possible (I think you get my drift now). Perhaps there’s something to what Pitchfork said in their review, and perhaps the secret to unlocking the mystery messages in their songs can be decoded through some Tom Hanksian means that simultaneously alienates you from ancient religious doctrine and lets you open up some old mechanical artifact that’s been stored in a cathedral somewhere for centuries. And the key to this tremendous task lies in the name of the band itself. Synchronize your watches, you now have 9 minutes and 47 seconds to decode the message. “Good luck my friends!”

Anyway, I’m babbling. Listen to more of this band’s songs before you buy their album, because maybe you’ll have second thoughts about it after listening to the other two songs below. Or maybe you should watch these videos when you’re in your room and not alone (hint, hint), and maybe it would change your perspective on whether you like them or not.

Other music videos by The xx:
Crystalized
Basic Space

More songs and info on The xx at their website, MySpace, and Last.fm, Pitchfork.

Here’s the indie rock band Cold War Kids, maybe you’ve heard of them, maybe you haven’t. I like them. And a ton of the songs off their latest EP Behave Yourself just make me wooo and aaaahhhh. Here’s a list of the woooers and aaahhhers.

Santa Ana Winds
Coffee Spoon
This song Audience in this post … and…
Oh oops! That’s it! Because there’s only 5 songs on the EP! But wait, don’t worry, there’s a lot more fun to be had! They’ve got a bunch of other great tracks off their albums Cops & Robbers and Loyalty To Loyalty. You gotta love ‘em. Here they are.

Hospital Beds
Something Is Not Right With Me
Hang Me Up To Dry

Oh that’s tasty.

Why do I like Cold War Kids? Because they don’t look like a Coke advertisement, they yell, their songs aren’t polished to a high production T, by the sound of it they probably don’t care what their critics say, and they play with soul. Also, it disgusts me when any band represents themselves as super big, amazing, popular, or larger than life in their music, their videos, or the way they dress and act. It upsets me because it tells a lie, distorts reality, makes people idolize singers and try to be something that is not humanly possible in their pursuit to be like that person. Also, anytime a singer is representing that they are amazing and sing about how big and great they are it means they’re also saying they are better than all the other musicians out there. They want us to believe they don’t pull their pants down to go to the bathroom like everyone else. And to me, Cold War Kids is one of the bands that’s the most far removed from that marketing idiocracy. Just look at their album covers! They look like kids drawings. They don’t have self-glorifying images of themselves on there do they? They’re not making themselves feel big by making you feel small are they.

Of course in addition to all of that their music just plain kicks ass. Here’s their links.

Their website, a cool interactive website they made that lets you combine over 24 different instruments and toggle members of their band on and off while you listen, Last.fm, and Wikipedia.

Buy this: Behave Yourself – EP on iTunes