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.Rai

By .Rai
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.Rai

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https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=6AhXSoKa8xw


Pretty much as far as Kendrick could possibly get from releasing i last year. Big fan of the track though. Production is absolutely spot-on: tons of spiralling guitars and brass over it all, and that cool reverb-drenched preachy hook thing. And it's just so lyrically dense. So, so lyrically dense. Like, Kendrick really lends a well spoken viewpoint to the racial tension that bubbled over last year. "I'm the biggest hypocrite of 2015", that's a line and a half. Really sets up the nuance of the track. Really like the soul 'n' jazz snippet at the very end too.
 

http://youtu.be/ThUtI7LB17Y

 
Chill. Not exactly like a revolutionary tune, but this is some quintessential, very well done deep-house style stuff. Best thing about the track is that throwback early 00s synth that comes in about 1:45. I mean, that is some nostalgic stuff. As always, these kinds of tracks have some absolutely gorgeous chord work. You'd figure they'd pop up more in modern pop music, but alas not. More so in the UK, where we're having a bit more of a dance revival (and obviously acts like Disclosure making the crossover to the US at the moment), but I would not mind a bit more jazz influence in the charts at all. Guitar was a cool addition at the end, and of course the vocals are dreamy. Certain nuance to finding a male vocalist like that too.
 

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=BFXhid3IYpw
 
Because he has amazing word play in his lyrics a lot of the time.


As close as light comedy music gets for me to subtlety and listenability for me. I do love a good bit of wordplay, and stuffing a song full of it is clever stuff. Gimmicks do end up being very gimmicky, but this was done with sufficient finesse, I'd think. Less said about that production though, the better. That was a little dodgy. Then again, adds to the charm though, so.  
 

[media]https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=rYc_wtSV-Wc[/media]

[media]https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=fablzPZTJiw[/media]


The production of this band is weirdly delicate. Super interesting though. Big fan of that. Especially considering that there's a little bit of screaming at times. Lot of rawness in the singer's voice. Everything sounds a little bit muted, like it's across a wall, slightly earthy, which is fun. The sound is obviously hugely influenced by folk and other folk artists, but the band have obviously carved out a very niche space for themselves. Probably the other way round really: an emo artist influenced by folk. Total downers though. I probably couldn't listen to them for long though. They would absolutely ruin any happiness I had!
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Susie Newbie

Susie

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The production of this band is weirdly delicate. Super interesting though. Big fan of that. Especially considering that there's a little bit of screaming at times. Lot of rawness in the singer's voice. Everything sounds a little bit muted, like it's across a wall, slightly earthy, which is fun. The sound is obviously hugely influenced by folk and other folk artists, but the band have obviously carved out a very niche space for themselves. Probably the other way round really: an emo artist influenced by folk. Total downers though. I probably couldn't listen to them for long though. They would absolutely ruin any happiness I had!


Foxing are an Emo Revival band which is influenced by the 90s Midwest Emo bands which in turn takes from a lot of Post-Hardcore, First Wave Emo and Indie Rock as well as Alternative Rock, i dont see much Folk in there, but im not too well versed in it and i guess some Indie Rock takes from Folk, so i dunno, Foxing remind more of American Football, Tigers Jaw, Snowing and other bands from their scene, but i guess Folk could make sense too.
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https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=LQGeXkCusG8

(Also, "Der Weg" is about the narrator living in disbelief after someone important to him dies, and how much that person lit up his life. The chorus goes something like "You filled every room with sunlight/turned every problem around" Grönemeyer's wife, I've heard)

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.Rai

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bish bash bosh

[spoiler=woop]

[media]https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=2m0xsr3IVGo[/media]
 
[media]https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=BmxXHF9C3Yg[/media]


That first track, super chill. First third reminds me a lot of Becky Hill's Caution to the WInd. The synth and chord progression are almost identical, just slowed down suitably. I love that chill electro stuff always a bit of a jazz influence in there, with gorgeous chords, and stuff. If there was one complaint, these tracks always seem to have a totally indistinguishable female vocalist: nothing against them, of course, they do a great, great job, but it's difficult to tell any of them apart.

And a good bit of Portishead. Portishead properly gave a voice to trip hop, of course. Good track, really there's a good old Americana vibe to it, strings, reverb-laden guitars. It's possible that I associate that sound with Americana, because of Lana del Rey. Indeed, a huge amount of Lana del Rey's sound comes from trip hop. Despite the downtrodden feel, it does have a great sense of groove. A slow one, but it's there nevertheless. I'd pin it down on the melody's flow, and the trip hop beat.

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=8Zx6RXGNISk


Super neat, super simple hard rock song. It's not the most adventurous song I've ever heard (it pretty much follows pop-rock verse/chorus/bridge structure to a tee), but it's very effective. Not to mention that the melody and instrumentation are executed with Classical-level precision and elegance.
 

Can get feedback on my brand-spanking-new track? 
https://soundcloud.com/the-deaf-aids/red-crimson

 
Cool track. Manages to be very upbeat, and fairly uncluttered in its harmony, but obviously still has a lot of subtleties. The harsh trip-hop beat is great, especially when contrasted against the neater, cleaner march beat that comes in a little later into the track. Very repetitive and simple structurally, but there's lots of nuance, and enough little details to make it interesting throughout the track.
 

[media]https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=TeoUpQj7KvI[/media]


Not bad at all. There's an airy, almost shoegaze quality to what is otherwise fairly standard rock music. I'm not sure how apt the comparison is, but it does remind me a bit of some of earlier Coldplay and Radiohead as well. It's a fairly standardly structured song, so the sonic palette of the song is what needs to be interesting. I'm a fan of the echoed guitars and the pad-like textures throughout. There is a sense of subtlety here that other rock bands lack sometimes.

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=DQvFYNT7ZPE

 
I'm not a huge fan of pop-punk, and I don't really listen to lyrics enough to get into the message that a lot of these songs offer, so take my opinion with a pinch of sugar. It's a pretty concise little standard pop structured song, essentially. Not a big fan of the vocalist's screamy approach to a fairly melodic top line, but it's fine. I get a Mr Brightside vibe from the track. The guitar detailing is cool though.
 

So this showed up in my news feed this morning:

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=9wh8FgsEtNQ

 
genuinely the weirdest video i've watched this week.

What a great track. Firstly, what an incredibly catchy chorus. Disturbingly so, for how ludicrous this track is. It intersects the line between disco and rock almost perfectly, channeling both a lot of the indie rock trends (that have resulted in indie rock gravitating towards funk and R&B rather than classic rock's old guard) and a lot of j-pop's theatricality (or the music of the big Japanese video game composers). For the former, the layered harmonies (as HAIM have proved, fusing 70s rock with 90s girl-group harmony), for the latter, you only have to look at those ludicrous modulations and chord progressions and the horns. Not surprised that this is an anime opening at all. Love it.
 

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=imi9Smkt_cI

 
This was definitely one of my favourite singles of that year. This channels old-school James Brown/Marvin Gaye unapologetically and absolutely amazingly. Playful shifting-tonality verses, and one hell of a chorus. The funk riff and huge horn accentuations give the song a good sense of nostalgic goodness, but yet a sense of freshness (kudos to Pharrell for that one, the bits of dialogue and shouting interspersed in the track lend a hand). Oh, and the cowbell. I had been waiting for Paloma to get her hands on a good funk track for a long time.
 

[spoiler=Something sexy]
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=L76mr0WW2ro
[/spoiler]


I shall agree that this is sexy. Hilariously cheesy, but that gives it its appeal. Absolutely unapologetically indulgent saxophone line there, and some great jazz-infused chords. This is a tried and tested combination (synths, piano, kit, good rhythm guitar, fuunnkkk bass).
 

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=iZscWmIizzw


I like the talky nature of the verses a lot. Reminds me a lot of old folk and Americana songwriters, which is never a bad thing at all. Does a great job of capturing a slightly weary, dulled emotional state, and indeed a general denseness in feeling. And even with that, it's still pretty catchy and to-the-point with its chorus-writing. 
 

adding another Menzingers track here
[media]https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=RhE2XaxLkTg[/media]

 
A lot of what I said of Dae's track applies here for obvious reasons. This is a bit more energetic, bit more momentum. This reminds me a lot more of 00s rock and punk-influenced bands. I think accentuation of the qualities in the previous track would do a lot to differentiate the band a little, which I think is important in this particulary genre.
 

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=mAQMv_U7dz0
your welcome

 
This was essentially 50 seconds of music since it was the same thing looped twice. It does fit a lot in though. A lot of good, if not formulaic, thematic material. Lots of chromatic, descending melody line, which climaxes into a more dramatic, theatrical bit at about 40 seconds.
 

[spoiler=Great dance music]
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=YRUB5taG3xw
[/spoiler]

 
Once again, ludicrously archetypal of its time. So 80s rock, it's almost hilarious. It's hard to hate this type of music though. They write great choruses, and evoke a sense of epicness that's really hard to beat.
 

Going back to 2012, man
 
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=bxV-OOIamyk


Gym Class Heroes do tend to produce very generic pop, but it's not bad at all. Ryan Tedder definitely helps, since he's also made a name for himself writing trillions of great pop melodies. Beat packs a lot of momentum for its simplicity. I think the cool thing about this track is the little synth flourishes that bubble up from the background every once in a while. 
 

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=QBsPQbEpTss


I can't tell whether it's supposed to be funny, but it must do. That delivery is way too offbeat and odd to not be intentionally so. It does have a very strong late 90s alt vibe to it (and unfortunately kinda sounds like everything else from back then), but it doesn't fare too badly at all. The melody and little bits of backing harmony are quite charming.
 

http://youtu.be/5w0E6y01OuQ


how is that his hair that's so silly
 
Essentially everything I said about the other Bradio track applies here. What this track sacrifices in sheer bombast gains in a better sense of streamlined structure. The horns take a backseat for heavier guitar, what I'd consider a slightly better groove, and a bit of edge too. Instrumental break is super cool in this track.
 

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=LQGeXkCusG8
(Also, "Der Weg" is about the narrator living in disbelief after someone important to him dies, and how much that person lit up his life. The chorus goes something like "You filled every room with sunlight/turned every problem around" Grönemeyer's wife, I've heard)


Fairly standard pop ballad stuff here. The chord choices are a bit more adventurous though including a weirder modulation into the chorus, and the melody is slightly more interesting, goes in unexpected places at times which really does work. Ends in a really cool vocal flourish as well. 
 

[media]https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=zBGic4I-4Ig[/media]
 
Rai pls

 
oh this is weird. Weird funk/disco hybrid with healthy helpings of Spanish folk injected in there. The tones that folk scales imply work really great in funk like this. Flamenco guitar also makes for a really interesting contrast with a horn section actually. Essentially replaces the spot keyboard would have in most normal ensembles.
 

hows this Rai?

[media]https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=tdVobP7DegY[/media]


Now, there's an adventurous structure. 9 minute tracks need to have some variance in them to keep your interest. I think this just about does it. There's enough rhythmic and timbral variation to keep it interesting. The chord progression is pretty standard, as is the instrumentation, but the instrumental solo sections are quite cool. And the quality of the voice and its position in the mix is interesting. Slightly lofty quality to a lot of it.
 

http://youtu.be/d6dumEmsv5U


I'd call this remix self-indulgent. It's got a really great melody to work with, which in turn gives the track a lot of space to mess around a bit of play with sounds and shifting things up a bit. Which it has done a lot and to great effect. Those bubbling synth ascending progressions at the beginning are brilliant, and a lot of the chopped up vocals, scalpel-precise bursts of synthy goodness, and on-point bassline show that the song has boatloads of style, and can also afford to focus its efforts towards its vibe rather than progression. It does fit in a few last tricks in the last 30 seconds or so. Some more organic-sounding, mechanical percussion, quite minimal, very cool overall.
 

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=yWbMz_aBlMU


It's not a bad song, but I don't think it's Kelly Clarkson's best (I think that goes to her earlier material, Breakaway etc.). This is pretty much Kelly Clarkson song formula in a bottle. Absolutely everything she does sounds like this, so it's a matter of how good is the melody. The verses are a little weaker than normal (I think it's partially just due to not being structured enough, and partially that the chord progression deviates from the pop chord progression with slightly average execution). That said, the chorus is very catchy indeed. Ranks up there as a Kelly Clarkson song with shedloads of momentum (sort of like a streamlined, less clunky What Doesn't Kill You). As always though, vocal delivery is on point. She's a very strong singer.[/spoiler]
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