#also feat. my keyboard's rhythm section

[mishalikessoundsandcolours]

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Have some sax didallydoodle from last night :D And here's also my ig if you want to follow it lol

[wavetapper]

OK ok ok my bof:nt personal top 5 under the cut for people who want to knowww

5. MORNINGLOOM - saaa

SUPER fun charts i really like anything that lets me feel like a monkey hitting a keyboard for juice reward. song is also fucking good legendary fantastic i need to listen to mechanical armageddon in full actually. good music vid i like this dude

4. God-free - Zris

only reason this and morningloom are in this order is because god-free has one of the best 11s ive ever played so. also nice to hear something house-adjacent this gets stuck in my head all the time

3. Overjoy ★ OVERDOSE!! - Luna Fozer

#LUNAFOZERSWEEP

2. Assault TAXI

i dont remember where i placed this on my initial thoughts ranking but yeah this is. really fucking fun i love the stupid horn sound effects and i love the music video and i really love the charts so. win

Belle de Nuit - 黒皇帝 feat. AKA

im never going to shut up about this song. literally ever. not once ever. the charts are very good and the combination of simple rhythms interrupted by sharp density spikes + that scratch section towards the end is really fun and keeps me on my toes but honestly Fucking Honestly the charts could just be replaced by a screen telling me to hit myself in the head with a baseball bat and id still rate this #1 you will never understand a warrior's bond (me and this song)

[8dpromo]

Juan Hoerni feat. Terry Dexter - Stuck In The Middle (Cha Cha Project Recordings)

8DPromo · Juan Hoerni feat. Terry Dexter - Stuck In The Middle (Cha Cha Project Recordings)

Once again, Los Angeles house music don Juan Hoerni joins forces with singer Terry Dexter for another uplifting slice of dancefloor bliss. "Stuck in the Middle," released on Juan's Cha Cha Project Recordings imprint, features immaculate performances from both the players — including Scott Wozniak on keys — and Terry Dexter. The accumulation of soulful expertise helps to welcome the warm summer air as things heat up on the floor. A disco-accented rhythm section drives electric piano chords and swirling organ riffs, laying down the perfect musical bed for Terry Dexter's emotive, memorable vocal performance. Top-notch all around.

The legendary Jovonn, an undisputed pioneer of the '90s' NYC/New Jersey house music sound, is on hand for a trio of prime-time remixes. Jovonn's Main Mix toughens the rhythm and accompanies it with a staccato synth bass line. The vocal is solidly at the fore, with the organ and key melodies providing support. Jovonn also supplies a Dub version of this mix, as well as a Stripdown Mix. The latter really shows off Terry Dexter's incredible vocal, pushing it further up in the mix while downplaying most of the keyboard elements. Superb all around.

Hector Romero (Def Mix) – “Right on. I’m feeling this. Nice one to all involved.” Frank Situation (Situation) – “This is deep fire! Great work.” Brad Eller (Glass Slipper) – “Right up my alley! Love the vocal, and Scott’s keys are dope as always.” Michael Fossati (Spirit of House) – “What a paramount release.” Edground (Brazillian Soul Crew) – “This is an amazing release. All mixes are perfect.” Niall Redmond (The Digital Groove) - “Nice vibes on this release, Classy.”

Available Now From: Traxsource, Beatport, Apple Music, And Spotify.

[ivanfuller]

2020 Concert #6: Scott Sharrard Trio and Stolen Rhodes

Mar

Last night I traveled to Wayne, PA’s 118 North for some great wings and an electrifying opening set from Philly’s own, Stolen Rhodes. Was lucky enough to score a seat at a high-top table nice and close to the stage and settled in for the main reason I chose this concert -- Stolen Rhodes. I last saw them as the opening act for MMRBQ’s summer of 2017 event at the BB&T Pavilion in Camden. They blew me away then and I’ve been trying to see them again ever since. And they were definitely worth the wait! Sounding a lot like the Allman Brothers Band with incredible vocals, guitar solos, solid rhythm section and one of my favorite Philly keyboard players (Mark Brown from the band, Hambone Relay). These guys tore through a 45-minute set that I only wish had been longer. Can’t wait to see them again!

Oh, and here’s a sweet clip of Mark tearing up the Hammond-ish keys:

I was also looking forward to seeing Scott Sharrard who was guitarist for the Gregg Allman Band and recently joined Little Feat. Unfortunately, I had to leave early because of an early work day the next morning, but I also wasn’t that drawn into the songs that he played before I left. I guess I was expecting more Allman-esque jams and it just wasn’t quite clicking for me. The clip below, though, does show how awesome his bass player and drummer were (as well as a little of Scott, too.)

So a pretty decent night (and good food) but not quite one for the ages! I’ll continue hunting up that one!! Maybe it’ll be tonight!

[musicbyaimee]

Week 11: Short films, Popular music and more networking

It is now Week 11, The major project is coming to an end and I am excited to finish the project. I continue to press on with the work I have to do. Coming in to the final weeks, I have a growing number of pieces and media.��

Last week I was able to complete a a project for a new clothing line, and this week I have the task of putting music to a short film. The film was a project completed by a London University student. I came across the piece on youtube and was interested in it immediately. It stood out to me as there was no dialogue and not much action in the film. These elements let the subtle parts of the video shine and made for a powerful message. 

The film showed the story of a lady, in debt, who has a husband frequently missing. As the film progresses we are shown bills, gambling sites and text messages on the husbands film, we also see childrens pictures. through these images we are able to learn the story of this lady, as a desperate mother, with gambling debts and a cheating husband. The film ends in disaster with the Husband walking away and the lady losing her house. 

Now, following this backstory, I am tasked with making music to fit the film. I have decided to write a popular track. The video is obviosuly very sadd and portrays hopelessness and despair. I think it also leads us to think about what the ladies life might have been like before all this misfortune. Given all of this I decided to write a song about hope dying out, of looking back on to the past and watching it slip through your fingers. 

I did not want the lyrics to directly correspond with the video, e.g. I did not want to tell the story of the video directly in the song. I didnt want the song to mention gambling or debt or adultery. But i did use the theme of losing hope as a more general idea for the song. 

I have reached out to my colleagues and have a vocalist and guitarist willing to help me to achieve my desired sound for the song. I am excited to utilise logic to record in the guitars, piano and vocal. Also it will be a challenge to compose my own lyrics and music for a popular cause. 

I have looked to inspiration in acoustic tracks that tell a simple story with the lyrics. I took inspiration from the band ‘Rend collective’. I felt as if their acoustic tracks such as ‘Simplicity’ and ‘Yahweh’. The acoustic guitars in these songs were a big inspiration to me and I played both to my guitarist in order to gain the sound and feel that I wanted from the piece. 

Another piece that was a big inspiration for me was ‘Come to the river’ by Housefires. I love how the repetitive nature of the lyrics and how each line the words only have a small change. I also thought that the short lines were very effective to set a mood.  I had seen this band live in March in Derby, and so the track that I was hoping to write was greatly inspired by this band. 

Bibliography: 

Housefires (2014). Housefires - Come to the River (feat. Kirby Kaple). [image] Available at: https://youtu.be/IKVHGi1iRLE [Accessed 6 May 2019].

Rend Collective (2019). "Simplicity" from Rend Collective (OFFICIAL LYRIC VIDEO). [image] Available at: https://youtu.be/d8p3n5wzFpM [Accessed 6 May 2019].

Rend Collective (2019). Rend Collective - Yahweh (Audio). [image] Available at: https://youtu.be/qd7R1H79Vok [Accessed 6 May 2019].

UPDATE:

I have successfully written some lyrics! I started with the idea of a candle slowly burning out. This was the starting point for my song. Next I thought of some more images of the kind of emotions I was trying to portray. I thought of the ocean tide getting closer and closer to the shore. From these images I was able to start writing. I also had the image of a vicious cycle in my mind. 

See below my processes, and how I wrote, recorded and edited this song!

1) I wrote  a chord progressions, utilising my keyboard skills and knowledge of popular music. Looking to inspiration for popular tracks being utilised on social media, to artists that I personally enjoy listening to, and to artists who have found success through their emotive content.

2) After a chord progression was written, I then played and recorded this and spent time playing and humming melodies that would go over these chords. I had already settled on a simple structure, and i had already decided to have short lines to show the hopelessness of the message.

3) The next thing I did was to ask my colleague to record the vocals, she looked at the lyrics and melody that I had written and we decided to takw the chorus up a major 3rd, to add and take away a few syllables and to cut out the last verse. This was very useful to me, as I was able to get a second opinion on the subject and listen to her advice and act on it to get a better product.

4) After I had consulted with my vocalist, I then went to ask another colleague to record some guitar parts for me, I wanted simple strumming chords in the verses and choruses, but I had fixed on a melody line for an introduction and ending. My colleage kindly listened to my ideas, listened to my inspiration and recorded some chords and melody lines for me to use.

5) After the guitar parts were recorded I then added a piano part, using it as a counter melody to the guitar melody in the introduction and in the verse using arpeggios to give the piece some rhythm and a more interesting texture.

6) Once those were completed I imported the video, and I spent some time chopping and changing my parts ad structure, adding and taking away small sections in order to fit the video. At this point I added a small interlude after the first chorus in order to make the piece sound less rushed and to fit the media better.

7) The next thing I did was to record some guide vocals, this was so that my vocalist could easily understand how I would like her to sing the track, and also it was helpful to me as I was no longer waiting on vocals to proceed with editing my track. Adding these vocals helped to give me a glimpse of the finished product and I was able to move forward, editing and syncing the piece

8) I added pads to my piece, this gives the piece a more interesting texture, these build up in the chorus, and fade out in quieter sections. I used ‘Alchemy’ for this SCREENSHOT and created some layers of pads.

9) Next I added an amp head to the guitars, alongside a reverb effect. This improved the sound of the piece and gave me the effect that I desired. 

10) I also changed the piano to a piano in Kontakt plug in that was more realistic, and lowered the velocity of the piano chords, to make them sound less harsh. The piano parts now blended better and I felt as if I was getting closer to my desired result with the track. 

11) My colleague recorded the vocals, I adjusted the levels on the piece,Mastered the track and then exported the file to MP4, and added the finished work on to my portfolio website. 

[theloniousbach]

Fifty Years of Going to Shows, Pt. 1: The First Decade in Kansas City (mostly)

A photo of a flyer of Led Zeppelin’s 11/3/69 show at Memorial Hal in Kansas City, Kansas, showed up in my FB feed.  I was there; it was my second concert; and I was 14 years and 6 weeks old.  So the first one, Johnny Winter, was somewhere in the late summer or fall before then.  I declared the 9/4/19 Hot Tuna show as the 50th Anniversary but that’s not strictly accurate.  It will do just fine though.

It prompts this series of reminiscences of the magic of live music in my life.  That was the intoxicant (well, except for that Jefferson Airplane show in October 1970), but it still has been addictive.  But--and this is speaking as a Deadhead--seeing the show has always been more important than the party.  I’ve only recently taken to writing my souvenirs and even setlist curation came along later, thanks to the Dead.But I do have these memories and will indulge myself with a series of souvenirs.That Johnny Winter show got my hooked (blues, guitar solos on top of guitar solos, and loud).  Winter slid along the stage in a trance; I somehow even recall a purple velvet jacket setting off his long white hair.  Brother Edgar came out to play organ, including on an extended “Tobacco Road” that was part of the show in those days.  I would see Winter again a couple of times in KC, mostly with And, made up of Rick Derringer and other members of the McCoys.  Those were more rock’n’roll (hoochie koo, don’t you know) than deep blues but he was a hell of a player.  He was here in St. Louis just a few months before he died.  I considered going but didn’t and so missed closing that circle.

That Led Zeppelin show sucked.  It was short, they used borrowed equipment, and Bonham was drunk and knocked over a cymbal stand more than once.  

Somehow I wasn’t deterred.Memorial Hall--3500 seats maybe, also home to professional wrestling--was the primary venue for my very early days in the 1970s.  Show <5 was Delaney and Bonnie and Friends, including Eric Clapton.  That was my only time to see him and it was right at the time when he just wanted to be a member of a band.  So, he did do “Crossroads” as a showcase but he was restrained and tasty, dammit.  I wish I knew their repertoire and appreciated how those players were interchangeable on albums by Dave Mason, George Harrison, Joe Cocker, and again with Clapton including in Derek and the Dominoes.

We snuck in there to see the end of BB King’s set one night and wished we’d paid for the whole show.  This was pre-celebrity days, so it was a Black crowd and I have to think the show was better for it.

Memorial Hall is also where I sort of saw Jefferson Airplane, hampered by empty stomach excitement, Ripple, and brownies.  At the same time, though I felt very small and the music was very loud, it is the 10/24/70 set list that survives that is the one I remember.  So maybe I wasn’t as brownied as I thought.  The “We Can Be Together>Volunteers” opener was striking and “The Fat Angel” (Casady on a droning rhythm guitar) was hypnotic.  It was enough though to shift exclusively to booze and keep my head at shows.

I also recall a wonderful Dicky (well, actually, Richard for this tour) Betts show with a large band that did bluegrass and country (Vassar Clements was in the band, but I think there were some horns) as well as blues and rock and a gigantic “In Memory of Elizabeth Reed.”

My one bit of the Dead early was seeing the New Riders of the Purple Sage with Loggins and Messina as a warm up act.  It was an actual date with an actual young woman and, though I saw her for a while more, I was a bit too transfixed by the music.  Misplaced priorities.  I saw Loggins and Messina another time in that venue and the horn section was particularly developed in making the tunes so unique.  A middle show along the lines of their live double album with the wonderfully jammed out “Vahevala” was perhaps elsewhere (I nominate Cowtown Ballroom of which I will say more shortly).

Bonnie Raitt with Jackson Browne was a good pairing, though she was better.  And there was  Poco still doing the core repertoire with that long jam tune that came from Messina and relied on Rusty Grantham pulling magic out of the pedal steel.

I did finally the Grateful Dead in that good old hall twice in 1972 and once in 1977, but there is at least one separate installment on that universe to come.

But what a place!

Cowtown Ballroom, an old skating rink, run by a veteran of Bill Graham’s operation was a slightly later haunt.  It stands  out for 11 pm Hot Tuna shows that went on and on.  That was my regular taste of San Francisco.  Loud, loud, loud and maybe too jammy.  That is, I sensed that between Jorma jamming on and Papa John Creach’s fiddle, poor Jack Casady had to play three dimensional chess to anticipate the note that would pull it altogether.  It was brilliant but not a powerful as him at full throttle.  Still I loved those shows for the promise of the possibilities

The other Cowtown act was the Nitty Gritty Dirt Band in the classic “Uncle Charlie and His Dog Teddy” quintet, doing Kenny Loggins songs before he was Kenny Loggins, all sorts of roots music before that’s what we called it, and great versatility with some jaw dropping fiddle excursion and/or with other instruments from John McEuen.  Now their warm up act for 4 shows in 14 months was a comedian named Steve Martin who was really funny the first time and I wanted my friends to hear it the second time.  By the third time, it was stale.  By the fourth time, I started doing punch lines ahead of him first to my friends and then to a wider circle.  I was getting his laughs from 20-30 people just enough of the rest of the crowd to throw off the rhythm.

But, I’d go to lots of Cowtown shows: Badfinger (Beatle tinged, but not the Fabs themselves, and I’ve never seen any of them, not Macca nor even Ringo’s All Starr revue), the KC Symphony playing on the floor to reach a new audience.   Zappa twice--with Flo and Eddie in the band and Steely Dan on its first tour (Zappa was sneering) and the Waka Jawaka big horn section show--enough to convince me that he was quite a guitar player.

Freedom Palace was another venue for a while, bigger than Cowtown, maybe even than Memorial Hall.  It was certainly easier to spread out in.  I remember it for guitar shows, Johnny Winter And and Mountain.

Municipal Auditorium was the big venue of 12,000.  It was cavernous and sound wasn’t good in those days.  Stephen Stills on the tour that included a set with the Memphis Horns was a little clunky.  Neil Young supporting Harvest was better in the same space, but it wasn’t Crazy Horse.  Crosby and Nash were next door in the Orchestra Hall and they were magical with the same show as “Just Another Stoney Night.”  Crosby wisecracked (except there was a standard bit of interchangeable patter it turns out) and the acoustic guitars rang over glorious vocals on the key parts of that fabulous repertoire. I saw Crosby and Nash with Jeff Pevar in Pittsburgh courtesy of Ellen’s brother in the 1980s and that was pretty special.  

But I saw all 4 as part of that groundbreaking 1974 tour, one of the first big Bill Graham national tours.  Jesse Colin Young and then the Beach Boys opened fabulously.  The churning guitars from a dark stage hinting at a tune that I couldn’t quite place before Bam! lights on and it’s “Love the One You’re With” is as dramatic as anything I’ve seen.

I need to get back to Municipal Auditorium but let me stay outside for a lackluster Allman Brothers Band show with the Brothers and Sisters line up.  Dicky at least, possibly Gregg too seemed off and maybe Chuck Leavell hadn’t quite found his place.  But that was a hard time for that band.  Over at the football stadium, the Rolling Stones did not deploy the inflatable phallus for us in 1975 but they kicked it out hard following Chaka Khan and The Eagles as openers.  Jagger’s energy was amazing and Keef had that band, including Billy Preston on keys and at least Bobby Keys on sax, able to turn on a dime.

Okay, I had learned the Municipal Auditorium lesson and knew to sit on the floor as close as possible.  That worked on back to back nights for Stevie Wonder the first night for a heavy “Innervisions/Talking Book” set list with maybe some of “Fulfillingness First Finale” songs being road tested.  It was funky and loose for us hippies but the Motown professionalism was something to behold.  The next night was Weather Report for the first time, Jaco was there but more restrained than a later show at an old movie theater, The Midland.”  Opening for Weather Report was a Richard Thompson-less Airport Convention.  But Dave Swarbrick was leading the festivities and I mentioned this show to him when he was at Focal Point here in St. Louis with Martin Carthy.  It is both true that he barely remembered it but that, yes, it was weird.  I wish I paid more attention.

Besides Weather Report later at the Midland, I best remember there a strong strong Little Feat show building on the momentum of “Waiting for Columbus.”  I guess Lowell George was not that happy then, but that was one of my favorite eras for the band with a double jointed rhythm with guitars, keys, and George’s voice sailing over it all.  For both shows, I was sitting fairly high overlooking the banks of keyboards Joe Zawinul and then Billy Payne had deployed.  My favorite Weather Report era actually is with Alphonso Johnson rather than Jaco, so the earlier show at Municipal Auditorium suited me better.  Jaco’s flash was still unique and “Birdland” was catchy not an ear worm, but on the whole Wayne Shorter was given less and less space.  Still, Shorter and Zawinul together on “Badia” or even “In a Silent Way” leading into “Boogie Woogie Waltz” was a high point at both shows.

Since I’m fusioning, I liked Chick Corea’s Return to Forever tour in support of “Romantic Warrior.”  Though Stanley Clarke showcased “Bass Folk Song” mostly solo and the acoustic but bombastic “Romantic Warrior” grabbed me more than guitar, piano, synthesizer surges.

I saw two Headhunters shows from Herbie Hancock with lots of rhythmic fun/k and even pyrotechnics.  He couldn’t help but play beautiful Fender Rhodes.  But what I really liked was seeing the Mwandishi band at a proper jazz club with sit down dinner courtesy of a friend’s parents.  That band had all the fusion elements, rhythm and electronics, but there were three horns for Hancock to arrange and an acoustic piano so that he could work into and out of “Maiden Voyage.”  

One of my most favorite shows ever but obscure as can be was somewhat fusion-y, The Jerry Hahn Brotherhood playing to 100 people max in a funny little venue in a converted dry cleaner establishment near 39th and Main in Kansas City.  Hahn had played with Gary Burton after Larry Coryell but before Pat Metheny and had been at Monterey with John Handy.  He was playing a Les Paul in overalls and grew a beard.  Mel Graves, bass, and George Marsh, drums and who showed up with David Grisman in the 1990s, were also jazzers gone to seed.  Hahn was from Wichita and they hooked up with an organist/singer who played with Dave Mason and then the 1980s Crosby Stills and Nash named Mike Finigan.  He had been in a Lawrence, KS, band with Lane Tietgen who had a batch of countryish songs that nonetheless had both clever words and similar spaces for soloing.  I was captivated and saw them two nights in a row.  Only a few of us in the world ever saw them, but they were an amazing amalgam of sounds.

I had to leave town to see Bob Dylan, but see him I did by going over to St. Louis to see him on that stunning tour with The Band.  They’d settled into them opening and closing the first set together with a The Band interlude.  The second set was Dylan acoustic, the Band, and then a burning ending.  I recall that our show got “Desolation Row” in the slot that often went to “It’s All Right Ma (I’m Only Bleeding),” so that was a treat.  But, the key songs from both of them were there.  I saw a 1979 show in Chicago courtesy of a friend there, a more sprawling set and band, plus more songs from albums I didn’t know as well.  I wasn’t drawn back into the Dylan universe then and really haven’t been back.  I did see a couple of Never Ending Tour shows--2004 and 2007 with Elvis Costello--but I am once again in the midst of passing on what could be my last chance to see such a seminal influence.

But I have my memories.  Dylan and others are part of this first decade of listening.  I never saw a Beatle or Paul Simon or Joni Mitchell or Van Morrison.  But I did get into this game when giants walked the earth.

So I have my memories.

Next, probably, more jazz and fusion in KC and Chicago; Focal Point and its predecessors; jam bands; separately, the Grateful Dead cosmos; and jazz recently.  Possibly, European Tradition Art Music (lobbying for this as more accurate than “classical” because only a small part of the tradition is Classical)