ryan-holmberg-blog
ryan-holmberg-blog
"da chills"
13 posts
songs that impress me more than your average banger.
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ryan-holmberg-blog Ā· 10 years ago
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RYAN HOLMBERG / APPRECIATIONĀ 
Just found this Gem of a track while watchingĀ LocalBandSmokeoutĀ Ā He’sĀ ā€œOrganic/Alt/Electronicā€ from Moorpark, CA and definitely something worth checking out! CLICK HERE FOR SINGLE
Links: SOUNDCLOUD / TWITTER / INSTAGRAM
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ryan-holmberg-blog Ā· 10 years ago
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SONG #10
Stumbled across this just now as a related video to some phantogram stuff I was watching. To be honest I haven’t even finished hearing the song for the first time yet haha but I knew immediately that it was worth posting.
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ryan-holmberg-blog Ā· 10 years ago
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SONG #9
I was at jury duty a few months ago and somehow my friend Tyler had it the same day and so we just kicked it for a few hours and talked about how rad it was that we didn’t have to be there alone. While we talked there was a girl who sat across the room from us and most of the morning she slept on the chair. When she woke up I asked ā€œHow did you sleep?ā€ and ultimately we got to talking about music and what each other liked. I told her some of mine like Radiohead, James Blake and others that I have posted here on this blog. She told me a few of hers including Cage the Elephant, and one that I hadn’t heard of called The Japanese House. She had mentioned that she had been binge listening to them for a while now and like most times when I hear about a new recommended artist I jotted it down in the notepad of my phone. I kept contact with this girl and we ended up going out one night later on. To be honest I liked her a lot, and I think she liked me too, but it’s never that simple, so now we don’t really talk. After I stopped talking to her I found this note in my phone and decided to check them out. Now they’re one of my favorites as well, but its a little sad to listen to them cause it reminds me that I can’t always have what I want.
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ryan-holmberg-blog Ā· 10 years ago
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SONG #8
I don’t even know where to begin with this one. First off, I have been listening to this song nonstop since Christmas when it was released, and I love it more now after 20-30 listens than any song I have heard that many times. For this song Radiohead was asked to write a song for the new Bond film, so this is what they made, but it didn’t end up getting used, unfortunately. The producers ended up using Sam Smith, who I personally don’t care for (especially after hearing that Sam doesn’t care for Radiohead). I put myself into debt in 2012 over Coachella the year Radiohead was a headliner, and that was one of those decisions that was really stupid that I will never regret. I wish I had more of those kind of decisions in my past. I’m highly anticipating their new album, which I hear is supposed to be out any day now. I’m sure I’ll show this band more love on here once that comes out. I could probably make this whole blog about Radiohead, but I’ll spare everyone and not be that guy. Like I said, I can’t emphasize enough how much their music has continually inspired me over the past 5 years more than anyone else. I’ll stop there, enjoy the song.
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ryan-holmberg-blog Ā· 10 years ago
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Annie Clark of St.Vincent
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ryan-holmberg-blog Ā· 10 years ago
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SONG #7
These two fellas who go by ā€˜The Milk Carton Kids’ have clearly mastered the art of performance, harmony, and feeding off each others vibes. I have listened to many of their studio recordings, but I have to say that I definitely prefer this live recording better because it captures the strong bond and balance between them. This video contains 3 songs, but the song that is responsible for me posting it is the first one calledĀ ā€œMichiganā€. I’m the kind of guy that listens to lyrics just as much as the song, so with that being said these lyrics hit home with me. I think one of the most impressive parts of the performance is that the lead guitarist can play such intricate and (most likely) improvised parts while singing all the harmonies right on point. The first time I saw this video I was in my friend Taylor Borsuk’s bedroom (front man of a folk duo called Skin & Bones) when he was on a tiny desk concert binge watching all the amazing artists who went in for sessions, and I’m really glad I walked in to see this one. I believe we watched it 2-3 times over that day because we were so damn perplexed. Hope you enjoy what these guys have in store.
Side note: their banter and sense of humor is on point.
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ryan-holmberg-blog Ā· 10 years ago
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SONG #6
Hope everyone had a great start to the new year! Today I’m posting about James Blake. James is amazing. So minimalist, yet complex. So carefully put together and yet it feels so effortless. With a combination of his soulful voice, UK accent, powerful synths, simple beat, and heavy bass, each of his songs bring something new to the table. I discovered his stuff a few years ago and have been hooked ever since. I always emphasize the importance of listening to music on proper speakers and at a proper volume, but out of all the music I’ve posted so far, James’ music is the most deserving of a set of speakers with good low end/sub. I am lucky enough to have had the pleasure of seeing him play at the Hollywood Forever Cemetery, and words cannot describe the beauty of seeing/hearing it live, especially at such a great venue. Also, if you haven’t been to Hollywood Forever, I highly recommend it. It has been a while since James’ last release (Overgrown 2013), but he has an album coming soon this year that I am very excited for. Until then, here is ā€˜The Wilhelm Scream’.
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ryan-holmberg-blog Ā· 10 years ago
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SONG #5 I discovered this song on spotify’s radio station when I set it to a James Blake station (amazing artist who I will post soon). This was in a time of my life when I was working a full time job serving subpoenas, and on this particular day they sent me to Palm Springs (fuck that). On Palm Springs days I had to wake up at 4:30AM in able to leave in time from my house to get to the city by 8:00AM, so that was terrible in itself even before mentioning that at the time I was driving my good old dream machine (’91 Toyota Corolla) that had no A/C. Needless to say, I could have legitimately died from passing out and crashing my car. For me the only way to get through the day without feeling like a robot was to listen to music. Sometime in the afternoon this song came on and it really helped me stop feeling so negative about shitty Palm Springs, so I saved it and went to look up more of his music, only to be disappointed with his lack of released music. Maybe one day he’ll put out more stuff. Hope you like it as much as I do.
Oh yeah and ignore the music video, its not very good.
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ryan-holmberg-blog Ā· 10 years ago
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SONG #4
Tonight I’m throwing it back to my high school days when I used to listen to Bright Eyes religiously. At one point I used to call ā€œI’m Wide Awake, It’s Morningā€ my favorite album due to the power of the lyrics, production/dynamics, and overall amazing song writing. Even though I don’t listen to much Bright Eyes anymore, I still consider this album to be the most influential on my juvenile mindset, and eventually who I became as a person. The lyrics are full of colorful metaphors and bold imagery which shines light on self awareness, spirituality, a wide spectrum of uncertainty, and an endless desire to find a purpose. All of these words were heavily analyzed by my 16-17 year old Mormon mind. Bright Eyes and my Sophomore history teacher Mr. Jones were actually the 2 main reasons that I ended up questioning my religious upbringing, which led me to cut ties with my uncomfortable existence as a member of the church. Hearing these songs always brings back some nostalgia. Alright, that’s enough of my bizarre childhood haha hope you like the song.
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ryan-holmberg-blog Ā· 10 years ago
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SONG #3
This week I have been on one of my several extensive Jaga Jazzist binges. This band is from Norway and they make heavily orchestrated, melodic, electronic jazz progressions. About 5 years ago I used to record all my music with this guy named Don Mckay and he used to always show me badass music when we weren’t recording, and I’m really glad he showed me this group. He and I were lucky enough to be able to go see them play at the Troubadour, which I believe was the first show they played in LA. I was so high and they were so insanely good that I’m pretty shocked that my head didn’t explode. When they played I thought it was interesting that the drummer was the one with the mic and seemed like the ā€œfrontā€ man. After they started playing it was clear why. In their recording the drums are mixed fairly modestly, but seeing it in person the drums were phenomenal. I’m not trying to downplay the band at all by saying that, because each of the 13 musicians on stage switched instruments 2-3 times per song. I could go on and on, because I can’t say enough good things about this band and their songs. Also, they just put out their first new music in about 5 years and the album is calledĀ ā€œstarfireā€, so check that out and some of their older records if you like this song. Enjoy!
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ryan-holmberg-blog Ā· 10 years ago
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hi ryan! so far great picks! you know those "chill" vibes are always an A+ in my book! i curate my "indie cindy playlist" for this retail shop i do social media for, you should check it out! its on soundcloud !
heyyyy, thank you!! not sure why I felt the need to make a tumblr for this, but what the hell? why not? I checked out your mix 4 and it’s rad! not surprised, though. you’ve always had good taste in music :)
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ryan-holmberg-blog Ā· 10 years ago
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SONG #2
This is the best song I have heard all year. I know that’s a bold statement, but it’s true. I first heard it during the week the album came out last October, and it was too good not to show all my close friends. Thanks to Court Lum of the band Private Island for showing Caribou, and this album, to me. The synth sounds are perfect, the beat progression is incredible, and the lyrics also really hit home with me as he sings about tainted relationships: ā€œhow can we fix our love now that we know it’s broken? I can only do so much, your kiss and your touch are both like a poison.ā€ I think most of us can relate. Turn up the volume and get sucked into the depths of this masterpiece.
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ryan-holmberg-blog Ā· 10 years ago
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SONG #1
On this chilly Thursday evening I’ve been browsing through related artists of caribou and four tet on spotify when I stumbled on this song. At first I was paying more attention to my phone screen than the song, but by the time the male (male sounding?) vocals were in full force I noticed the hair on my arms standing on end, so immediately I restarted the song and pulled up the lyrics to begin analyzing. The smooth vocals, minimalist beat, choppy electronic piano, and nostalgic relate-able words captivated me. The way the syllables flow adds to a catchy rhythm, and the progression stays simple through the whole song, but I felt the power they intended with the song at a high volume. All music is meant to be played at on good speakers and at a high volume, sometimes we forget that. When I hear new music it goes one of 4 things. Either: 1.Ā ā€œnahā€, Immediate skip 2. ā€œright onā€, skip halfway through. 3. ā€œoh my godā€, show someone who would think it was as funny as I did. 4. ā€œwait...do I actually like this?ā€ and if I’m asking myself that then 9/10 times it becomes my next obsession for however many times I can listen to it without making my ears feel uncomfortable. 4th is the most unlikely, but when it hits me, it hits hard. I have noticed that the more I practice audio engineering and sound design, the more critically I analyze music and the less I think sounds good (relative to my ever-expanding values). I have become pretty damn specific about my critiques, and now it is less common that I hear music that impresses me with everything it offers. At first it was hard to see the positive in being a picky asshole about new music, because I do love finding new great artists. The silver lining that I eventually found is that I get more excited than I used to get when I finally come across something that catches my attention. This is example #1 for what gives me the chills.
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