#VOL 6: SING IT FROM THE HEART — musician verse

[lvebug]

an andie eliot reading guide (tags drop pt 1)

[dustedmagazine]

Dust Volume 6, Number 2

Grisha Shakhnes

Time for another collection of short, sharp reviews, covering a gamut of styles. Our most tireless contributor, Bill Meyer, turned in a record eight Dusts this time, so if you like jazz, improv and experimental music, this is your edition. Other writers included Ray Garraty, Jennifer Kelly, Justin Cober-Lake, Tim Clarke and Ian Mathers.

Max B — House Money (Self-released)

Max B is doing 75 years in prison, yet before his bid he recorded a lot of music to be used by trusted collaborators. Last year’s Coke Wave 5 with French Montana felt authentic enough to be confused with Max’s pre-prison mixtapes, only a bit more polished. This new EP is no less wave-y and goofy, but too many guest verses dilute the fun. If French, with whom Max B recorded a lot of mixtapes together, seems like a natural collaborator, the rest of the guests are an uneasy fit. House Money is a Frankenstein-y affair exactly because Max himself wouldn’t invite them to his booth (not that they are lousy talents, they are just on a different frequency with Max B). It is probably mixed and produced by someone who thought that these collaborators would attract additional audience, yet the result is the opposite: Max B’s fans would feel alienated by impostors in his own domain.

Ray Garraty

 Jeb Bishop / Jaap Blonk / Weasel Walter / Damon Smith — JaJeWeDa (Balance Point Acoustics)

Pioneer Works Vol. 1 BPA 19 by JeJaWeDa (Jeb Bishop / Jaap Blonk / Weasel Walter / Damon Smith)

No matter how big the stage they occupy, it isn’t big enough for Jaap Blonk and Weasel Walter. Both men are masters of strategic exaggeration. Put them together and a clash is inevitable. Blonk not only spews sound poetry like a symphony of pan-lingual news broadcasts and surreptitiously recorded mouthwash experiments, he manipulates electronics with a video game controller that looks especially ridiculous in his gangly hands. Walter mugs and wallops, each movement lunging simultaneously at your ears and your funny bone. Perhaps you’re wondering, “isn’t this a record review? How will these visual descriptions clue me into the sound?” Play this record and you will know. And you will also marvel at the way bassist Damon Smith and trombonist Jeb Bishop balance the other half of the band’s nuttiness with seriousness so unfailing, you might put your money on them against Roscoe Mitchell in a game of poker.

Bill Meyer

 Ben Carey — Antimatter (Hospital Hill)

ANTIMATTER by Ben Carey

Sydney-based electronic musician Ben Carey played saxophone before he took on modular synthesizers. This may explain the quivering, palpable presence of the sounds he devises; he makes static pulse and shake like swollen lips engaged in the act of vocalizing. His deployments of attenuated tones, sudden swells, and insistent chimes are discontinuous and episodic, but also quite thoughtfully planned out. Both the sudden shifts and the long considerations of discrete elements feel as essential as the unforgettable bridge in a bubblegum cart hit, and the qualities of the sounds Carey ponders amply reward the attention required to follow their shifts in and out of audibility and back and forth across the stereo spectrum. If you’re inclined to get well acquainted with Antimatter, consider springing for the LP. Since both Carey and his label are situated in Australia, it might take some looking and spending, but Rashad Becker’s cut and the 45-rpm playing speed guarantee maximum presence.

Bill Meyer  

 John Chantler — Tomorrow Is Too Late (Room40)

Tomorrow Is Too Late by John Chantler

From the pig’s ass on the sleeve to the titles of the album’s two tracks, John Chantler’s Tomorrow is Too Late promises to deal with endings. But when you put the record on, you find yourself adrift in events that defy linear description, let alone the definition of a final point. Oh, sure, both of them end, but they don’t spend the time leading up to those terminations making sure that you know where they’re going. The title track was commissioned for the 2018 iteration of the French electronic music institution INA GRM’s Présences Électronique festival, and most of its sounds were obtained from a François Coupigny synthesizer that is over 50 years old. Rare earl synths are like worlds unto themselves, and the listener is adrift with Chantler as he invites sounds to converge, dispel, and recongregate in winking, restless masses. On “We’re Always at the End,” the electronic sound convergence make way for a pipe organ, which coheres into a solid sonic presence, but when it disappears, the piece does not. This is music to inhabit, over and over again.

Bill Meyer 

 Richard Dawson — 2020 (Weird World)

2020 by Richard Dawson

This sixth full-length from cult songwriter Richard Dawson unspools like a series of linked short stories, the characters sharing a blighted, latter-day English backdrop and perhaps avoiding one another’s eyes as they pass on the streets. Sung in Dawson’s wavery tenor — with flights up into a very uncertain falsetto — and backed with the most straightforward of rock-ish instrumental arrangements, the songs flourish in their specificity. The metal-riffing “Jogging,” for instance, tells the story of a mid-life crisis with startling exact-ness, an ex-school counselor, laid off and too anxious to leave the house, advised by a doctor to take up jogging. The story is told first person, in the most straightforward way possible, with minimal embellishments. If it weren’t for the crashing guitar chords, the squiggly lines of synth, you might be listening to a friend over coffee.  The scenarios are mostly dreary, of people stuck in soul-sucking jobs, in towns where things go wrong through neglect and inertia. Yet, once in a while the sun comes piercing through, and life, however stunted and bare and grey, turns ever so slightly hopeful. I’ll leave you with verse from lacerating “The Queen’s Head.”

“The guy from the vape shop Ferrying his chocolate labs Waves to us cheerily From a leaky kayak ‘I've lost everything apart from what counts’ Pointing to his dogs and then at his heart.”

Now that’s a pre-chorus.

Jennifer Kelly

 Frank Denyer — The Boundaries of Intimacy (Another Timbre)

On The Boundaries of Intimacy, composer Frank Denyer explores volume dropped to a soft level. The approach produces a sort of intimacy, nearly everything sounds hushed, although it remains unclear whether, as listeners, we're leaning into a confidant or cupping our hand to a wall to eavesdrop. Regardless of our position as listeners, Denyer continues his work with unpredictable instrumentation, highlighting sneh and koto playing in various places (including two version of a koto piece), and combining flute and electronics for a strange tonal study called “Beyond the Boundaries of Intimacy.” When he works with a more traditional set of instruments, as on “String Quartet,” the ostensibly comfortable sounds become unfamiliar, an experienced aided by Denyer's play with dynamics, turning from a crescendo to a near disappearance. Denyer presents those sorts of challenges across these pieces (written over the past 40 years). He requires attentive, patient listening, but rewards it with unsettling experiences.

Justin Cober-Lake

 Avram Fefer Quartet—Testament (Clean Feed)

This record is credited to the Avram Fefer Quartet, and it’s true that the Brooklyn-based alto and tenor saxophone wrote the tunes and leads the band. But he’s not necessarily the guy you will listen to every time that you play it. Not that there’s anything wrong with Fefer’s playing, which combines Sonny Rollins’ muscularity with an affinity for bold melodies rooted equally in soul jazz and West African pop music. He’s got ideas, emotion and chops to spare. But damn, what a band! Fefer and bassist Eric Revis have an association going back to the 1990s; no matter which way the music rolls, the foundation is solid. Drummer Chad Taylor is a regular member of a trio with Fefer and Revis which made a couple records a decade or so back, and he’s also a member of bands led by Revis and guitarist Marc Ribot. Taylor never misses a chance to turn the music up a little closer to a boil, and the blues-rooted tone that Ribot favors here adds steely sentiment to the blues, mass to the Afrobeat repetitions, and confident complexity to the free interludes in this music. So, if your attention wavers from the saxophone for a second, it’s probably because you’re listening to how one of his accompanists is playing off of another one. Wotta band!

Bill Meyer  

  Roc Marciano — Marcielago (Self-released)

In “Saw” Roc Marciano says, “Sometimes I pinch myself in disbelief,” referring to a level of fame he’s achieved after 20 years in the rap game. The listeners are pinching themselves as well, but for a different reason: Marciano doesn’t repeat himself. Roc Marci works with his lyrics on two levels: line by line as well as bar by bar. As defined by Marci, his songs are “poetry over beats.”Marcielago is a quieter effort, closer to Rosebudd’s Revenge 1 and 2, than to 2018’s KAOS and Behold a Dark Horse. To rephrase the poet himself, on Marcielago he’s more like a pimp than a mack. The standout here is “Ephesians” which starts with early electronica and then explodes into a full-scale attack. Marci’s long time collaborator Ka spits here a verse which does an impossible thing: Marciano is murdered on his own turf.

Ray Garraty

 Machtelinckx / Badenhorst / Cools / Gouband — Porous Structures (Aspen Edities)

porous structures by Machtelinckx/Badenhorst/Cools/Gouband

This quartet comprises two steel-stringed acoustic guitarists, one percussionist prone to placing stones on his drums, and one clarinet and a saxophone player who likes to sing. The album’s title implies permeability, and the music delivers by creating the impression of actions happen in different places at the same time. Ruben Machtelinckx and Bert Cools’ guitars create structures made of slow-moving, finger-picked patterns. Toma Gouband and Joachim Badenhorst often sound like they are playing in some resonant space outside of the guitars’ sanctuary, where their sounds can spread a halo of echo around and occasionally blow through the dry, close-miked string sounds. The former’s rattling rocks create more texture than motion; the latter’s distant croons and spare tones create a sense of distance. In their own quiet way, these musicians have arrived at a sound that can’t be mistaken for anyone else’s.

Bill Meyer

  Salim Nourallah — Jesus of Sad (Palo Santo)

The narrators of Salim Nourallah's songs don't often find things going so well. Nourallah's taken that point to its logical conclusion on new EP Jesus of Sad. Rather than indulging depressive tendencies, though, the songwriter brings his sense of humor for a parodic take. “So, you think you've suffered?” he sings to open the disc. “I sip the tears of the world from my coffee cup.” The hyperbole might immediately develops his exaggerated character. Accompanied by multi-instrumentalist Billy Harvey, Nourallah moves on to “Born with a Broken Heart,” a funky number owing something to Soul Coughing while providing one of the best bass lines in his catalog. The cut's full of wit while addressing serious questions about faith, gender equality, and more.  

“This Doesn't Feel like Peace, Love, or Understanding” (the second track here to echo a Nick Lowe title) sounds like quintessential Nourallah, with a pop-rock sound that would have fit on any of his last few records and a relatable sentiment conveyed in smart lyrics. Two versions of “Misanthrope” close out the disc. Nourallah co-wrote the song with Rhett Miller, but here he turns away from the Old 97's' bouncy version (called“She Hates Everyone”). Nourallah slows it down, building complex feelings; he can't fully enjoy his strange love now under his anxiety about the future. It closes the EP well, being yet more honest emotion that manages to misdirect and complicate things, the true heart covered by the knowing satire of “Jesus of Sad.”

Justin Cober-Lake

 Parashi—Tape From Oort Cloud (Sedimental/Skell)

When a record provokes images of a Captain Beefheart lyric turned inside out, you know its makers are on to something. The squelchy sounds that usher in “The Vanishing Coast,” which is the first of this LP’s four tracks, does not bring to mind synthesizers, even though that’s what Mike Griffin (that’s Mr. Parashi to you) probably used some time them. Nor does it bring to mind someone else’s record. Rather, I hear the words “slow and bulbous” as the music sinks slowly into its own swampy stealth. “Broadcast Failures” leaves even those alinear coordinates behind as it pings its way woozily into the depths. The titular malfunctions might be echoed calls which fail to distract the sonar-like main body of sound, or the squashed, distant carousel that follows. Or maybe it doesn’t. File this under best practice befuddlement, but be sure to tape a bookmark to the plastic outer sleeve to remind yourself of the necessity of playing it.

Bill Meyer 

Tom Redwood — The Glue (self released)

The Glue by Tom Redwood

With The Glue, his fourth album, Melbourne-based singer-songwriter Tom Redwood has tapped into a rewarding strain of country/folk that pulls hard on traditional roots, while adding a knowing wink, flowing performances, and plenty of tuneful song craft. As in Jim O’Rourke’s beloved series of Drag City albums, the music-making is taken seriously but is undercut by self-deprecating humor. On “Easy Love” Redwood sings, “When I was young I was easy loving / But now that I’m old, I’m not so dumb,” and on the title track he makes a playful reference to “round, gorgeous thighs.” He’s not afraid to play it straight, though, such as on the haunting “Cold Mother Night,” and reflective closer “Shut the Door.” There’s superb lap steel playing by Kier Stevens, smart counterpoint on guitar and “cheesy keys” from producer Matt Walker, and ethereal backing vocals from Rosie Luby, which contrasts nicely with Redwood’s aw-shucks delivery.

Tim Clarke

 Grisha Shakhnes — Being There (Unfathomless)

being there by grisha shakhnes

Being There presents the listener with a document of actor, action and the arena in which the former enacts the latter. Essentially, Grisha Shakhnes recorded himself recording and recorded the room in which he was recording. Sometimes a recording device filters the subjects of his inquiry on the way to the recorder; while the sounds were captured by a Zoom digital recorded, some of them went through a Rvox reel-to-reel tape deck along the way. Equipped with the knowledge that you’re hearing Shakhnes making recordings, you quickly find yourself making decisions about what sounds to follow, and then dealing with the consequences of the choices you made as your act of following draws you into the chain of events that made the album in the first place. You are present with Shakhnes, sharing in the creation of Being There.

Bill Meyer

 Six by Seven — Dream On (Cargo)

D R E A M . O N by six by seven

One of the great shoulda beens of 1990s British rock (on the other side of the Atlantic, it’s doubtful anyone not reading something like the NME at the time would have heard much of them), Six by Seven are also one of the few from that era to keep going in a way that’s not just repeating old glories. Now almost entirely just frontman Chris Olley (his son Charlie drums here, but otherwise it’s a solo show) you wouldn’t guess it from the massive, warmly analogue psychedelic/motorik drones and drifts here. Stylistically speaking, Olley can be a restless guy, never really revisiting the glory of Six by Seven’s first three albums (what you might call their classic period, and well worth checking out) but also covering an astonishing breadth during the years since. The recent Dream On is as good a place to dip into his stream of work as any, boasting three massive soundscapes (the best of which might be “And No One Knows Your Name” as well as briefer, dreamier song like “Hey Kid” and the title track. Both his muse and the demands of making music your day job keep Olley forever moving, though — even writing up this release was marked by the appearance of a double album-length Dream On 2, so anyone on Olley’s wavelength can expect a lot to keep up with.  

Ian Mathers

[igutranslations]

exist†trace: Towards a decision with no hesitation (Cure vol. 87, December 2010)

Their long-awaited brand new album “TWIN GATE” is finally complete!! With representative tracks leading into the present from 2009, and also even more polished new songs inspired by passionate thoughts, I had plenty to discuss with the members in this detailed interview!! What is the “decision” these women have made!? This album is loaded with the shape of the past, present, and future.

Interview: Yusuke Kato

➖What significance does the title “TWIN GATE” have?

miko: The origin is a story Jyou heard a long time ago. Before a person is born, they seem to choose between a “gate of life” and “gate of extinction”.

Jyou: For example, whether a kid will up with some future flaw, and one day end up in an accident while riding their bike around; it’s like they were asked, “What will happen after this is still unknown, but will you still be born?”

➖So after being told that you’ll be following some kind of fate if you’re born, you can choose whether to be born or not?

Jyou: Right. Although you still won’t be told how you will die yet. When I thought about how we would form a band in the future, I wondered if we were asked “What will happen after this is still unknown, but will you still be born?” and all said yes. And so, wasn’t that our first decision? We made our song “DECIDE” the first on the album to establish a theme of “decisions”, and as we remembered the story of how we met almost 10 years ago, we drew the title from there.

➖We’ll be hearing about what kind of decision you’ve made recently a little later, but please tell me about how you balanced 6 previously released songs among the 10 songs on this album.

miko: Okay. If all of the newly written songs this time are symbolic of decisions, I think these 6 songs are existences that gave us support to make those decisions. Like, because of these 6 songs we were able to make our decision now.

➖I see. Of those songs, if each of you would elevate one song above the rest for us to consider in particular, which song would it be?

miko: For me it has to be “unforgive you”. It’s a song I wrote for someone who became the reason I took a step forward into this world, and we’ve played it live a lot, even in Europe, and every time we play it, I’m saying to that person “I’ve made it this far!!”. Because of that, it stands out strongly to me.

Jyou: For me it’s “VANGUARD”. It’s always been along with us members, and along with my awareness as vocalist you could say I’ve noticed the importance of how this song draws everyone in. And so, I’m sorry everybody, but this is my own theme song.

Naoto: For me it’s “RESONANCE”. As someone who dared to seek out something so dark and negative, this song allowed me to think that it’s ok to not be like that too. When I think about that now it was a really big deal for me.

Jyou: Naoto’s definitely become a little less dark.

miko: The dark things about her haven’t changed. Or should I say, the darkness. It feels more like, some light has been added in too.

Omi: For me it’s “‘Owari no nai sekai’”. When miko first brought it to us its sound was so cheerful that I was really worried about whether it would be ok for us, but when we played it live it was like the wall between us and the fans was gone and we really became one with everyone. I was able to think again, I want to go live in “A World Without End” with all of you.

Mally: For me it’s “KNIFE”. The first place we performed it was Europe, but while you’re living your life as usual you’d never think you’d have people all the way from Europe cheering you on, right? We got tons and tons of encouragement from them, and of course our fans in Japan support us as well, but this song made me want to perform all over the world, not just in Europe, and gave me the courage to think we’ll do well no matter where we go.

➖Will you explain each of the new songs?

miko: Okay. The first song, “DECIDE”, was actually made at the same time as “KNIFE”, and I was going back and forth about which one to release as a single. The impression it has is different between back then and when we recorded it this time, and when we perform it for the first time in July during the oneman tour it will be different again.

Omi: Along with the lyrics “Put up your hands, show me proof of progress~”, I’m hoping we can feel the things that tie us to our fans more and more deeply.

Naoto: Or you could say, more and more clearly. And so when we play it next, rather than the consciousness of the listeners and the musicians becoming more and more different, won’t we be able to have even more powerful feelings together?

Mally: As for something you should listen for, the guitar solo has 2 levels. Omi plays the first half, followed by a short bass bridge and then miko plays the second half, but in the middle of that there’s piano coming in and out. It’ll be easiest to hear on headphones, so definitely try listening with headphones.

miko: I wanted to make the song so aggressive that it was like everyone’s instruments were crashing into each other, and when I was arranging it I also told everyone, “Do anything you want!!”. That took the form of a guitar solo played by both of us like we’ve never had before, and with Omi and I switching back and forth playing the main phrase, I think we were able to bring out another new side to us.

➖What about “Neverland”?

miko: I think you’ll already be imagining Peter Pan from the title, but I wrote it as the feelings of a boy who wants to be like a child forever similar to Peter Pan. But the story itself is also like that story about the two gates from before. Even though he made the decision to live as himself and to be born, hasn’t he abandoned living?

➖When you say it like that, he really did!!

miko: And so this is a song where we’re singing to people like that, “If you decided to live then come on and live your life properly!!”

Jyou: When I heard that I was like, “it’s a cute song and yet it’s really harsh”. Because we’re telling people who are denying their lives to live.

➖There’s nothing as bitter as that.

Jyou: Right. But no matter what kind of person you are, and no matter what happens, I want you to live. So I sing this song while thinking that I hope I can give people like that some support.

Mally: I’m the opposite of Jyou, because performing this song is a really good feeling for me. It gives me the sense of being a familiar scene, and because I’m able to play it while really feeling the story, if I can give you a feeling like the protagonist’s wavering heart with my drums then I’m happy.

Naoto: For me too, the hook has a light image of soaring into the sky, so I’m also really pleased with it.

➖Isn’t this that light in your darkness we were talking about earlier coming out? (laugh)

Naoto: Ah, there definitely may be something like that. I don’t think I would have chosen this phrase a while back.

Omi: For me, I really like this part in the bridge where there’s a burst and the atmosphere changes. The 2 guitars together with a clean sound give a bit of a mature feeling too, and I’m able to link with miko in a way we haven’t before which is nice.

➖What about “Blaze”, with music and lyrics by you, Omi?

Jyou: The feeling it gives me inside is similar to “Neverland”. In the end they’re both saying “you were born, so live!!”, but “Neverland” gives your back a push so you can fly into the sky while “Blaze” pushes you so hard it beats you back down.

➖The protagonist of “Blaze” is a negative person no matter how you look at it. But if you have to say that the protagonist is Omi-ish then they definitely are.

miko: But I thought this was really different. Before now Omi’s lyrics had a lot of hopelessness, but this time you could say it’s fully facing forward and continuing on, properly opening your eyes and seeing the world.

➖ Omi expressed that world as “a world that shakes with illusions”, but why is the phrase written in quotation marks?

Jyou: There’s actually a song Omi wrote a long time ago called “Under mind” that uses that same phrase.

Omi: Although when I wrote it I didn’t realize at first.

Jyou: In “Under mind” you came crashing down to earth, but in “Blaze” you can feel the intention of wanting to live properly after all. Because I thought there was a change there, I presumed to add the quotes myself.

Mally: Conversely, in the drums, there’s a turn towards hope at the end but in the first half it’s still gloomy, so I thought it would be good to express that feeling by having the same drum beat always repeat.

Naoto: Since the drums were simple like that, I thought, then I’ll use detailed movements, so I did things like play the guitar phrase from the intro and first verse during the second chorus, and because I could do things freely like that, this song might be the most fun for me to play.

➖The last song “Cradle” is just generally really good.

Jyou: Thank you. Since the title is “Cradle” and the lyrics say things like “the ocean becomes your mother”, I put all the gentleness I could now into singing it so you could all sleep peacefully, which was really difficult (bitter smile)

➖But it’s not just gentleness, I think that parts where you can feel a lot of power are really amazing.

Jyou: That’s what was difficult. Truly a powerful foe. A gentle, powerful foe.

➖I think the expression is really good.

Jyou: But, since it was good to discover another new me there, I want to sing it live properly in a large open space.

miko: To say something audacious, while I wrote this song I had an image of Jyou singing while watching over everybody in places like Yoyogi National Gymnasium and Yokohama Arena.

Mally: And that’s why for me too, with energy to the extent that “There’s really nothin’ I can do!!”, I only carved out a beat that was completely one-sided the whole time, and trusted all of the inflection of emotions to Jyou.

Naoto: Conversely I played a sub-melody to the vocals on bass so I could support Jyou, and that phrase I like itself came out smoothly, but since there are cellos and violins included there too it was really difficult to achieve a good balance.

Omi: I was thinking it’d be good to try to add a little flavour, but the very last hook kind of has the lingering smell of old man……

Jyou: Could this be Omi’s “refined masculinity”!?

Omi: Yeah (bitter smile)

Everyone: (bursts out laughing)

➖I thought, I wanted you to just keep on playing that guitar solo like that until the ending, forever and ever kind of like “Layla” by Derek and the Dominos (laugh).

Omi: No, actually it’s that, I want you to listen to this song as Jyou’s song.

Jyou: You’ll have a chance next time, ok? (laugh)

Omi: Yeah (bitter smile)

➖I definitely want to hear it live (laugh). Speaking of lives, starting on November 20th you’ll be beginning your 2nd Tokyo-Nagoya-Osaka oneman tour “DECIDE”. As the tour title states, will the meaning of the “decision” we talked about at the beginning of this interview become clear now?

Jyou: No, the meaning won’t become clear until a little while later, but we wanted to tour so that you could understand why we made that decision. Because we think there may be some of you who feel anxious about the fact that we’re making a decision. But we made the decision so that we could advance forward once again, and of course all of our fans are included in that as well. We plan to pull you in even more than we ever have before so I don’t want you to worry. So we’ll be going on tour so that you can understand that!!

[secretradiobrooklyn]

SECRET RADIO | 10.19.20

Secret Radio | 10.19.20 |  Hear it here.

1. Melome Clement & Tout Puissant Poly-Rythmo de Cotonou - “Gnon Nu To Min Lin”

One thing that consistently amazes me about this TP music is that it’s like listening to classic oldies

I just read that Melome Clement died right at the end of 2012. I hope that means he lived a long life. 

2. Fela Ransome Kuti & His Koola Lobitos - “Wa Dele”

Absolutely awesome footage of Fela Kuti, some from before and after the period of this song. Hell, it opens with a shot of him hugging Ginger Baker. He’s clearly a massively charismatic guy. There’s great footage of the horn players too, and tons of amazing dancing, both onstage and (I think?) backstage. There is also one very bad moment in the footage that is super jarring… but I think on balance the footage gives a huge dose of color to an already colorful song — I know I fell in love with this song long before I saw these shots!

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=FVYqMQ5PKXM

3. Panbers - “Haai”

One side effect of running a music magazine was that music would be sent to us, solicited, unsolicited or otherwise — and I loved it. Part of why I started writing about music was that I loved getting CDs in my literal mailbox. One set that arrived at Eleven before I got there was a beautifully made collection called “Those Shocking Shaking Days: Indonesian Hard, Psychedelic, Progressive Rock and Funk 1970-1978.” It wasn’t the kind of thing I was listening to, or for, at the time, but it made a certain impression. Now I’m amazed at how Indonesia, Turkey, Nigeria, France and Benin were pumping out great music in 1978 that all seems like they were part of the same scene… but they couldn’t have been. Right? Italians, Vietnamese, Cambodians, Estonians, Peruvians — just great music being made all over the planet at the same time. Wow.  

4. La Femme - “Welcome America”

This band seems to me like a more modern version of the band Little Rabbits from the ‘90s-‘00s, whose music I totally love. I really like the spoken style of some French pop — like the lyrics aren’t being sung, they’re being announced. I get the impression that this is an indie sort of band in modern French music but not crossed over into the French pop stratosphere.

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=KomjRIqlF7g

A Town Called Panic! soundtrack

If you haven’t seen this movie, we highly recommend it. Don’t even look it up, just pop it in at the top of your queue. It’s really weird and completely rewarding.

5. Serge Gainsbourg & Brigitte Bardot - “Initials B.B.”

This is one of the foxiest songs ever recorded, in my opinion. I mean, she’s beautiful and he’s beautiful for SURE, but also it’s written into the chords and arrangements. It’s so royal.

For the eye makeup if nothing else:

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=VPOYtC1n5bE

Paige adds:

I should note, Chris and Christine when I dedicated this to Bridget, I was only thinking of the chorus “initials, initials, initials, B. B.” Immediately when it started playing, I realized I’d completely forgotten there were verses and that I have no idea what they’re saying. But considering it’s Serge and Bardot, there’s a high chance it might be a song for grown ups. So just the B.B. part is for Bridget.

6. Betti-Betti - “Guikolo” 

From Bridget to Brigitte Bardot to another B.B.: Betti-Betti. I love the character and timbre of her voice, and the way the horn hits anticipate the beat — everything seems to be out ahead of the beat, it’s amazing. And this is only a hunch, but I think she does the amazing mouth drumming in the middle of the song. If anyone knows whether that’s actually her doing it, I would love to know. I feel like it happens in several of her songs. It just knocks me out every time.

7. Guided By Voices - “Hot Freaks”

This song will always be deep in the heart of my Seattle self. I feel like this is the moment that Guided By Voices became ineluctable. 

8. Techniques Band - “And I Love Her”

So languid, so strangely refracted. 

9. L’Oeil - “Bernadette”

 This song comes from a collection called “Wizzz: French Psychorama (1966-1971), Vol. 1.” Everyone sounds so locked in together on the groove, the vocals can go off on their own TV comedy scene. I want to know more about this band. 

10. William Onyeabor - “Tomorrow” 

The rhythm of this song grows so gradually that you don’t even feel it growing ever more complex until the backing vocals start to wind around each other in an ascending ladder of harmony. Meanwhile, the lead vocal just keeps expressing an absolute truth about life: No one knows tomorrow.

11. Marie Lafôret - “A Demain My Darling”

Lijadu Sisters - “Sunshine”

This is such a pretty song in the verses… but then it opens up into an extended instrumental passage built around this perfect little guitar phrase. I assume great hip hop songs have been built around this sample, but I haven’t heard em yet. In headphones the instruments are being slowly panned around the room in different directions, which is pretty great as well.

12. T P Orchestre Poly Rythmo - “A O O Ida”

When I’m digging around for T.P. tracks I haven’t heard, sometimes a song really lands. I make a note, come back to it a few times, realize I’m into it, cue it up and realize that I should have recognized the song from its place on a comp or something I’ve already heard. But they sound so different from copy to copy! The version of “A O O Ida” here is from a recording of the 1976 original pressing. The version I knew but didn’t even recognize is on Analog Africa’s excellent “The Skeletal Essences of Afro Funk.” At first I thought they were entirely different takes, but they’re not — just really different EQs and mastering. I love all of Analog Africa’s remasters on all of their amazing, amazing compilations, but in this case I prefer the version here. It sounds so sharp and wild. 

13. Teddy Afro - “Mar eske Tuwaf (Fikir Eske Meqabir)”

Teddy Afro must be the biggest entertainer in all of Ethiopia, and he is internationally revered as well. I first heard his music as background music in Ethiopian restaurants, but as I’ve come to explore more music around the world, I find his songs’ production to be really fascinating. He kind of floats over the top of a giant cumulus cloud of orchestral music and telling stories. In this case, he’s relating the story of Seble and Bezabih, the heroes of a famous Ethiopian story called “Love Until the Grave” that I gather doesn’t end well.

14. Salah Ragab - “Black Butterfly”

Josh Weinstein told us about Salah Ragab, and this song makes me feel like I’m living in a cartoon. 

15. Giant Sand - “Temptation of Egg”

In Seattle I went to see Grandaddy at the Crocodile, opening for a band I’d heard of but never seen so figured I’d check out. Giant Sand was touring on this album, “Chore of Enchantment,” and I’d never seen anyone play both keys and maracas AND guitar while singing and somehow seem like he was barely doing anything at all. I got the CD but it didn’t seem like the same thing… until the day after I met Paige, when we found ourselves at my place and I pulled out this album. It unfurled like a genie from a bottle.

16. Blonde Redhead - “En Particuleur”

Blonde Redhead was for a long time my absolute favorite band to see live. I think the first time was at Under the Rail, and literally the second she first screamed I burst into surprised tears. The twins looked like one angel and one devil. John Goodmanson worked with them before he worked with Harvey Danger and I was honestly in awe of them. They were also my path into Serge Gainsbourg, for which I will always be thankful.

17. Michel Polnareff - “La Tribù (Hippy Jeeeh!)”

It’s amazing how many layers of reverb this recording is soaking in, which helps keep it super spaced out, along with that synth sound firing straight up out of the atmosphere.

18. Fabio - “Lindo Sonho Delirante”

Another find via Now/Again Records. The original cover for the single featured a photo of Fabio with his arms outstretched, enwrapped in text. The breathless, almost torn quality of the backing vocals is trés classique. Also, another great example of mouth drumming.

19. Os Bongos - “Lena”

*A great find own my quest to find Muxima! I love the guitar tone on this.

20. Avolonto Honore et l’Orchestre Poly-Rythmo - “Avi Yaman Houé”

Avolonto Honore belongs to that first group of four — plus of course T.P. Orchestre — from the original “Legends of Benin” that basically makes him a saint in our book. He’s definitely one of the most amazing-looking players among them. This track they’re working is a super deep groove… and then when the horns come in, they sound surprisingly like Adriano Celentano’s “Prisencolinensinainciusol.” I believe that is Papillon on the guitar as well, another top favorite musician ever.

21. Yuri Morozov - “Neizyasnimoe”

Johnny Fantastic is probably the person we know who knows the most about Russian history and culture. Also American presidents. He is who I want to talk Russian psych and underground music with. So far, I’ve mainly found cool stuff from Estonia, which is plenty exciting, but I feel like there must be a whole Muscovite weird-rock scene that we just haven’t met yet. What do you think, Johnny?

22. Flavien Berger - “La Fête Noire”

Via roundabout paths, this one gets totted up in Julian’s column. Thanks, Julian. This was one of the first batches of songs that Paige heard of French music made after the ’70s, and it clearly stuck. Sometimes she sings along with the ending, which is my favorite. One translated lyric that sticks out is “I leave the comings and goings of the souls / On the other side of the diving board”

Hailu Mergia - “Embuwa Bey Lamitu”

We have been so glad to have “Wede Harer Guzo” in our collection. Every track is a pleasure. Great for working creatively alongside.

23. Ram Jong Vak - “Twist (Dance Twist)”

More Cambodian pop wizardry.

24. Rocky Horror International - “Alltid Lys Hos Frankenstein”

I tried to convince Paige, when we were leaving our art castle on Cherokee, that we couldn’t have Halloween that year, because we were going to be way too busy. She agreed — and then got us tickets for “The Rocky Horror Picture Show,” the weekend before, which isn’t technically Halloween… and thank god! It was my first live Rocky, and I may not’ve ever done it if I didn’t do it then. Truly a singular experience, there’s nothing like it no matter how hard people try.

Paige adds: The church of Rocky! 

25.  Arsenal - “Bolero”

Still just reading about this track. One guy wrote in on a track, asking, “Is there any place in Russia where I can still buy this music? I have been searching all over the western planets, but no success so far.” Which made my whole existence feel different. The western planets? How far do you have to go to find a copy of this record?!

[g-castel]

My Top 10 Albums of 2016

I've been wanting to post this since January 1st lol, but I never got around to it haha. I need to be better about blogging. Well, I figured that since we are halfway through 2017 it would be good to share, once again, my top 10 albums of the year (last year). I've been doing this annually for a while now and it's been fun for me. Take a read if you'd like!

Top 10 + Honorable Mentions

Honorable Mentions

-Signs of Light (Head and the Heart)

-24K Magic (Bruno Mars)

-A Seat at the Table (Solange Knowles)

-WALLS (Kings of Leon)

-The Hamilton Mixtape (Various Artists)

-The Life of Pablo (Kanye West)

-Coming Home (Leon Bridges)

-Views (Drake)

-This is Acting (Sia)

-There’s A Lot Going On (Vic Mensa)

-22, A Million (Bon Iver)

-Telluric (Matt Corby)

-Wild World (Bastille)

-Bobby Tarantino (Logic)

-Oh My My (OneRepublic)

-Stranger Things, Vol. 1 (Kyle Dixon and Michael Stein)

Passion, Pain, and Demon Slayin’ (Kid Cudi)

A Moonshaped Pool (Radiohead)

Farewell, Starlite (Francis and the Lights)

Starboy (The Weeknd)

Sunlit Youth (The Local Natives)

   indicates nearly making my list haha

Top 10

10. Home of the Strange

Young the Giant

The third studio album for Young the Giant, Home of the Strange, to me has pushed the band to become one that I will continue to listen to for the rest of my life. They are able to create a good range of styles. I think HOTS is able to listened to in so many different settings.

This California band has focused on the phenomenon of the diversity in ethnicity that the band possesses. The lead singer being, Indian-American, and other members being from across the globe plays a part in the album’s theme and dynamic.

I was super happy with songs like “Something to Believe In” (which sounds so perfect for a live performance) and “Titus Was Born”. If you are about to take a listen to Young the Giant for your first times, start from their first pieces of art and move towards their latest piece of art and you will see a fitting a beautiful revolution.

Also, go ahead and head to their Youtube channel where they post the “In the Open” videos that are stripped versions of their music and it’s record so raw and simple. Those videos have inspired me to do video work for music as well!

9. The Colour in Anything

James Blake

The music in James Blake’s album, just like before, is the some of the most unique current music. I have not found other songs out there that sound anything like his other than Bon Iver and Radiohead’s music this year.

So, so, so weird. if you’re gonna go listen this, because I said I like it, please be warned, it doesn’t mean you will, like you might hate it actually, and that’s okay. We tend to adhere to sounds that’s familiar and that coincides with our minds. This album, if you haven’t been a listener of James Blake’s previous works, will not do that for you. There are some odd sounds, weird time signatures changes, and he sings once again with beast vocoder vocals! Sometimes there are some horror silences behind nasally high frequency vocals.

It sounds like I am somewhat shoving you away from listening to this. However, do not get me wrong, I love The Colour in Anything! 

Favorite Songs:

Meet You In the Maze

Points.

The random interruptions of repeated lyrics into silence are interesting and I think they reflect perhaps the character of Blake or the anybody out there who shares the stories and feelings written in his lyrics. They’re brash and the noises are loud. & I DIG it.

8. Georgica Pond

Johnnyswim

Johnnyswim. The (Latin) American folk soul pop-duo have returned this year with a banger of an album. I think personally that this is the best work that they have done. This couple are two incredibly talented musicians and they’re chemistry in and out of the booth is something like the dynamic of a Shaq and Kobe.

“The longer you’re out on the road, it gets nicer to have [Abner Ramirez] there. Because he’s the closest thing to home I have,” Johnnyswim’s Amanda Sudano says. “Home is where he is.”

I watched the videos that they shared on Youtube giving commentary on a couple of the songs that were a part of the album. They talked about the process in the studio and the  inspirations behind songs like “Drunks” and “Touching Heaven”. One thing I picked up from what they attempt to maintain is the loyalty to the authenticity of the craft.

This was an album that I listened continuously for maybe three straight weeks. I went through phases were song after song became my new favorite. That happens a lot of times when the record is good from start to finish.

I want to be friends with them, simple as that.

#goals

7. THREE

Phantogram

I was introduced to them years ago by my brother, who I could honestly give credit to for a lot of the music I listen to now. This album, THREE, yes, in all caps, was music that I had no clue they had in them.

I definitely used a few tracks on this album for workouts. This is the album that this year I felt comfortable bumpin with both my more conserved buddies and also with some of my hood friends. After Phantogram released some music with as Big Grams in the past, you can surely feel the influence of Big Boi, a former member of the hip hop legendary group, OutKast.  The 808s on songs like “You’re Mine” and “Cruel World” are so fulfilling.

One song from this album you’ve probably heard if you haven’t heard of any of the songs on the list is the song “You Don’t Get Me High Anymore” They collaborated with other people to produce such a fire beat. The lyrics are weird and polarizing but that’s what’s great about it

On release day, I went through the entire record as I usually do with music and immediately sent Phantogram a fan girl tweet. I just had to tell them that they nailed this one and it is probably their best work yet.

6. Birds in the Trap Sing McKnight

Travis Scott

S’il vous plais. Those in favor of auto-tune, or at least okay with listening to it and not being baffled by the off-the-(traditional hip-hop)-wall that it is, take your time to listen to a few tracks of this album by the G.O.O.D. Music prodigy, Travis Scott.

I just know in 2017, this man Travis is going to blow UP! I do not know in what way, whether it’s with his music, or with his involvement with big name fashion clothing lines, he will find his way into having you know his name. It’s just the loud and abrasive nature that he possesses.

Birds in the Trap Sing McKnight to me was like a real intro to the world, though it isn’t his first album. When Ye signed him, he was doing a bunch of writing and waiting his turn to get on the map. Kanye finally did what he does best and gave him more pushes and connections. I’ve never seen someone with so much energy. Hip hop gone be alright.

Usually, I listen to albums from front to back, but I know that’s not how everyone does it. So, if you do not have much time and want to take a peek of the record, check out these three, “goosebumps, through the late night, and way back”.

5. The Human Condition

Jon Bellion

  Mr. Jon Bellion, out of New York, is the next Chad Hugo, No I.D., and Timberland, all put together, who also sings and raps on the music he produces. Riding that “come up wave”, he will be a name that pretty soon will have a bigger font size on next summer’s festival lineups, guaranteed.

This early 20s MC, is just a pure talent to say the least, and outside his talent, is seemingly a phenomenal character. He has worked so hard to make it to where he is in his music career, but has managed to stay as humble as he was when he was making beats in his college dorm room. The Human Condition was crafted and along with Bellion is the band, A Beautiful Mind, who were all buddies who have all committed to sticking together if one of them made it big in the industry which is such a noble thing to see. They have a natural chemistry.

Bellion says a lot of the people who inspired his sounds were the Neptunes, Kanye, and derivation.

So I can’t write this without giving one person credit for introducing me to him. My roommate Jeff did everything he could that season to make sure the whole world new about Jon Bellion. He played songs from previous EPs to prepare for the album release over and over. While he showered, I could here the songs including the pre-release singles. We ended up seeing Bellion live…twice actually.

I’m excited for his future, collaborations, and ideas he execute to change the way people see music. He’s got that much potential in my opinion. The dude is straight out of New York. If you haven’t heard the album yet, let me just tell you it is very evident. Jon Bellion is a multitalented artist. He’s got his hands on everything, being well-versed with the keys, vocals, and he’s got some bars too. He’ll break it down with the MPC pad too like his idol Kanye. Even on stage during his tour, homie would bring the pad to center stage and loop up the layers of his songs and the sing over the top of it brilliantly.

Bellion’s, like many of us, is also a closet nerd and loves cartoons and animation. One of his big dreams, which he might as well soon see come into fruition is to work with Pixar on scoring a film. I hope this happens! He’s a dreamer, he’s got a newfound faith, and has got a colossal muse. This artist is someone who is just peeking his head out of his egg and we have no idea what he will do once he starts flying.

4. 4 Your Eyez Only

J. Cole

This album is the cure.

Mr. Jermaine Cole. He is such an people’s person. I liked the fact that after he finished touring for 2014 Forest Hills Drive, he said “I’m out.” He had a withdrawal from the public eye. Just wanting to have a normal human experience here in America, he laid low, didn’t really share much on social media and rode his bike around the city. It gave him a fresh mind to intake life and be creative, especially in a tough all-around year like 2016. Seeing artists do that is a breath of fresh air to me. Fame is just something he doesn’t care about.

In the album, there’s a few times Cole rhymes from different perspectives apart from himself. What we have here is a real lyricist, and wordsmith. He chops up words perfectly to make them fit meter after meter. I honestly think he’s getting better and apart from Kendrick, no one out there is stopping him from being the most influential lyricist in urban culture. His mass appeal comes naturally, though he does not care about it or give into it.

Ed Sheeran said in an interview recently on the Breakfast Club that in the likes of the hip hop genre, right now he is really liking this J.Cole album. Reason why I say this is cause, Ed, too took a page from this book and, took a year off from music and celebrity living and just vacationed and traveled.

You can feel it in these songs. The calmness in the beats. There is something retro about the drums, the flows are mellow, and the vibes make me want to go for a soothing walk with headphones, or take a subway into a city like NY. I don’t know if any of that makes sense, but once you listen to a song like “Ville Mentality”,  you’ll know.

3. We Got it From Here…Thank You 4 your service

A Tribe Called Quest

They’re Back! Mr. Abstract, Phife the Five Footer, Ali! The return of the historic and legendary hip hop group, the pioneers for all current rappers today, the one, the only, TRIBE CALLED QUEST.

 Here is Phife Dawg. The Five Foot Assassin is what he used to go by. He founded this group back with Q-Tip I believe when they were in high school. Hip Hop was already on the rise and established, but it had no real characters that were unique and funky. Them comes along these gentlemen along with other members of the Native Tongues who brought a energy to the hip hop scene that was crazy and untouched. They weren’t talking about money and drinking. It was all conscious writing and fun creativity. This band is why I am a hip hop fan today.

Tribe to me is like the mantle of the earth if Hip Hop was looked at as the planet. And the core would be jazz. We hear it in all of their records, and after the band split in 1998 and after 18 years…it took the death of co-Founder Phife, for the men to get into a studio and make some powerful music for the people, for themselves, and for their lost brother, Phife.

I think it takes bravery to return. They’re a bunch of old men. They know there’s a new audience of hip hop lovers out there who don’t even know them. They know that a lot of people aren’t really gonna feel their music and rhythm. So, I commend their boldness in return and with their humility in asking a great conglomerate of artists from Jack White to Talib Kweli to help join them create their final album to send strong messages on things as simple as how it is to be a black man in America.

This band has left an impeccable legacy and imprint on hip hop music forever.

2. i like it when you sleep for you are so beautiful, yet so unaware

The 1975

You’re probably like.

Wait, what…huh?!?

And I’m sorry to put them so high, but I am not at the same time. I keep finding myself DRAWN to each and every track on this record. For a sophomore album, they definitely found the best way to expand but at the same time stay inside the realm that they created for the fans that is kind of the this imaginary “1975” world.

Kickstarting with a perfect “first single” in Love Me, to being the iliwysfyasbysu era was a pretty cool statement made because we just knew that they were bursting forth with a different brand. You’ll know what I mean if you go ahead and watch the music video. Musically, they’re was some experiments and that is always fun for me to hear. I wish I could know the terminology for what is being used to make that sort of grungy, wavy, synthy guitar sound to start and end the song, but it’s sexy and reminds me for some reason of Halloween?

Matty said that their London shows this year in the O2 were the biggest shows they did and since Vevo put on a sweet video production for it up on Youtube, I had to lay down and watch the hour-long concert. shows.

I found myself listening to the record over and over. Music doesn’t just make it into my top three just that. I really have got to like it. And I enjoy the music, simple as that. All visuals for the album certain vibe. They made a change to their brand and new look to their socials, beginning with a complete 180 of all their black and white monochrome look. It was hit with a hard flavor of flamboyant, loud, pink. That’s right, pink.

(Which, quick input, 2016 was the year of pink. Big year for pink)

Previously, on their first studio album, though they’ve been doing music for over a decade, the artwork of the album, singles, and live show light show were all bright whites and black contrasts.

Then at the end of May, we were introduced to the regeneration of the young (not-so-young) band, the 1975.

The lyrics, on almost every song, so vulnerable and loud, are what mostly impresses me about the record. Matty writes about a lot of things he deals and is trying to make sense of in morality, psychology, drugs, religion and love. Though the song titles are not as obviously direct with the messages like the first album, this album hit at so many questions that we as humans ask, or should ask.

Matty Healy’s intellect kills me. I would definitely put him in my top ten with musicians I would desire to have one or two tea time conversations with. I feel like there would be things we could teach each other. Just listening to what he has to say in interviews became quite a hobby of mine, especially the interviews where he was sober. He has interesting things to input about, love, politics, Jesus, and whatever makes the world go round. I found every lyric and every emotion put into the musically was very intentional.

They have definitely built an experience surrounding what is deemed, the 1975. It’s their own world. Everything about it. The social mediums. The twisted yet attractive persona of the lead. The sounds of the guitar that you hear in “She’s American”. It’s not much different than what you hear in “Settle Down” or even “Chocolate”. My point is, you know you’re entering the 1975, when you enter the 1975; it’s distinct.

There’s something special about that.

These are my lads.

my pics from the show*

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Processed with VSCO

1. Coloring Book

Chance the Rapper

Mixtape? Album? Whatever you call it, this body of work takes the crown for me of this year’s best musical work. Gospel and hip hop are the largest influences in my musical upbringing so, for others, this was just a good album. For me, however, this hit me in my heart strings, where my hair rises, and the bumps on my skin appear. The horns and the choir vocals are what told me that I was home.

The evolution of this young Chicago artist is major as I’ve been following Chancellor since 2013 to who he’s become today as a Grammy-nominated star. When he jump started his musical career with his 10 Day mixtape, he was just a shorty making beats in his city, snatching stages at the open mics. He released his first song on Soundcloud in 2011. The 2013 XXL freshmen article is where I realized this man was gonna blow up one day. He and his overalls, nose piercing, and whippersnapper attitude is what drew me. He was put on by Gambino, when he asked Chance to go on tour with him when Gambino had nothing but Royalty and was working on Because of the Internet.

Back then, lil Chano was a little more immature, a high school dreamer who opted out on college and grew on his experimentation of drugs. So many things has changed in a matter of three years lemme tell you.

He and his girl now have a DAUGHTER. Which he just recently is letting the world get to know through his social media platforms. “My daughter look just like Sia, yah can’t see her.” He and his friends who have been working on music producing and writing for other artist called “The Social Experiment” compiled an album for free called SURF, which ended up being a top three album for me last year if you read blog post last year. Finally, he’s cut down on the trippy drugs; he used to think that they would be his thing and something to be known for, but realized it was not something of value to him anymore. The growth mostly is shown in the music by far.

After the mixtape dropped and while Chano and his gang went of tour, they announced the Magnificent Coloring Day Festival, a festival in Chicago to end the tour. It was a day where he invited many of his musical friends, including Francis and the Lights, Alicia Keys, John Legend, Skrillex, Chicago’s own Common, Lil Uzi Vert, and his mentor Kanye West. He had the city of Chicago ‘doing front-flips’!

Undoubtedly, it can be said at least in hip hop, that the is his year. It’s definitely Chance the Rapper’s season in hip hop as much as it can be denied. Last year was Drake season, this year is Chance’s season, maybe next year is someone else’s. Chano had one of the  HOTTEST VERSES ON arguably biggest song in hip hop in 2016, Ultralight Beam. He helped heavily on Hamilton mixtape. He has sold out stadiums, became the first independent artist to do Saturday Night Live, performed at ESPYS for the late Muhammad Ali, and got the Grammys to open up categories for non-selling, stream only artists. 2016, as you can see below, was his year.

I’ll get to the main reason why Chance is my guy later, for right now let’s quickly talk about the music. Diversity in his features is what I thought was cool with him at first. In ’13, he spit a verse on James Blake’s, “Life ‘Round Here” and I was like, shoot this new cat messes with people like James Blake AND Action Bronson?!? I need hop on this train before it’s too crowded. Chancellor, along with his brother and other Chicago rappers, has a way with the way he says his words. Poetically he makes them fit into patterns of time rhythms that sets a unique flow almost every time. But there’s also a slight Chicago twang to his voice, especially when he was younger.

One thing I respect is that, this man was blowing up while still being flat out broke in relation to how big of a name he was becoming. He was only making his cash off of merchandise and touring, and doing features I guess. I mean maybe not anymore, I’m sure he’s well off, but it was just cool to see that someone could continue independence and be like, nah it’s really not about the money, Imma give this here music for free.

The Social Experiment.

These guys right here are the Social Experiment. #SoX

They stuck it out with along with Chance, not as a surrounding band, but as a group with equal say into decisions. Head by Nico Segal on the left aka Donnie Trumpet, they made music for the people and were a collection of songwriters for man artists out there and did it for fun. They are now the band of friends that Chance plays, and probably will always play with on tour.

Aint that something! :’)

He’s Happier. It’s evident. If you listened the drug-influenced, young whippersnapper  Chance the Rapper was during 10 Day, and his Acid Rap era, and dug deep into the reasonings for his anxiety and hurt in his young life, you’d see a difference in who we’re being blessed with today. He, growing up in Chicago, has seen lots of violence including the murder of one of his friends. Chance has rededicated his life to the Lord and has changed abundantly. It’s so obvious in his tone and poise nowadays. He’s still fun and buck, but man Chano is a transformed person.

So one of the real reasons I love this dude is his social involvement. Time and time again you’ll read that he has had a upbringing with educators and strong women in his life. His father worked in politics and was part of being running the campaign for Barak Obama to get into the presidential office. So, Chance learned a thing or too about how to meet peoples’ needs. He has donated and promoted giving warm, thick coats to the homeless during the winter through an organization in Detroit. These coats turn into a sleeping bag so it is designed especially for those who have no homes. He speaks up against violence like we all do, however, I love seeing someone with a platform like his, give a nonviolent voice of reason. In his community, the city of Chicago, Chance also hosts an open mic night every month called, Open Mike, which is near and dear to him because that’s how he began and how he realized he wanted to pursue music. He wants to give other young kids to opportunity to dream as well.

Anyways, that’s all.

I realized I’ve talked about him for a while now…I’ve tried to be very unpretentious over the year with Coloring Book…but personal blog so.

Anticipating Albums

Colony House

John Mayer

Lorde

Drake

Ed Sheeran

Lupe Fiasco

Paramore

Snubs (the eh’s)

Joanne (Gaga)

Lemonade (Beyonce)

ANTI (Riri)

Awaken, My Love (Bino)

JEFFREY (Thug)

matty and chancellor.

bye.

[lvebug]

@deatheless said: hang on, i’m taking a picture.

andie pauses near the front of the stage, sweaty and glittery and thrilled. this is still a new sensation for her—up on stage with the lights and the crowd out in front of her. it's wonderful and magical and more than a little scary. you can hardly even see the crowd with the lights in your eyes, and each time she wishes she could because then she'd know how they're doing. but blind faith has always been something she's good at. and it helps to be surrounded by a band that she trusts. amina in the crowd helps, too.

with one hand she pushes her hair out of her face and grins wide at the camera. some of the house lights have come up in the small venue so andie can actually see. and the camera can see how much of a mess her hair is by the time a set is over. "why didn't you do that before—when my makeup was still good." and then she offers out a hand to pull amina up onto the short stage. "i'm really glad you came. honestly. how were we?"

[lvebug]

SEND ME 📞 AND A SHIP AND I'LL TELL YOU...

@crushsung sent: 📞 for the best girls, alice and andie

your muse’s contact photo in mine’s phone

your muse’s name in mine’s phone Alice 🎵💚 Brennan

your muse’s ringtone in mine’s phone Absolutely it is one of liddel's songs

how often our muses text fairly frequently! they're both so busy with music and life that it can be hard to meet up, but they stay in contact a lot through texts it's mainly how they check in on each other when they can't actually meet up

what our muses normally text about they text a lot about song writing and the music industry, obviously. alice is one of the most brilliantly talented people that andie knows and is usually her first stop when she's stuck on part of a song

our muses’ last few texts

[lvebug]

MUSICIAN VERSE CHANGES!

i am not vibing with andie's musician verse so i'm revamping it! this will be her new verse and the old lovebug verse will be an alt.

andie eliot originally has no plans of becoming a musician. then she befriends romeo in high school, and by extension befriends his band—heart attack—consisting of him on drums and three other members:

romeo dixon - drums, percussion, backing vocals, and the anchor of the group. equally as in love with andie and she is with him but they don't talk about it

jesse 'mac' mccoy - lead vocals, keyboard, bass player, and visionary creator of the band

jessie wilson - bass, backing vocals, and arguably the band's coolest member

crash reid - guitar. heart of the band & a computer scientist

due to her.... being obsessed with romeo... she spends a lot of time with the band during practice and for small shows and just in general while they're hanging out. sometimes she'll give a little advice about a song, but generally she's just the world's most excited hype woman. she sings, mostly casually, and writes poetry but it's the band that encourages her to set those poems to music.

she joins the band officially after their first album is released. mac gets hit with the nastiest flu known to man and is left feeling and looking like death warmed up right before a show. luckily andie knows all their songs! they have her fill in as lead vocals! it's terrifying, but fun! and everyone loved it so much that they ask her to join. the rest is history.

tldr she is a co-lead singer of the band heart attack. they are mostly garage alt rock and i will add some bands that they sound like later. for now this is the main verse (no andie) band's first album

[lvebug]

👀 if i may!

Rolling Stone: Now, you're also doing something new with writing the music for We Had To Look [Paramount's upcoming western starring Noah Ripley]. What's that been like?

Eliot: Well, [laughs] I was hopin' you'd ask that, actually because I'm truly havin' quite a lot of fun. It's been a unique process for me, y'know? This is the first time that I've written for film an it's the first time that I've written music for somebody that ain't myself an' getting the opportunity to try something new like that is part'a what drew me to it. I wasn't sure if I'd like it, to be honest. But really it's just a joy and I'm glad to have accepted the job.

I won't say that it hasn't been a challenge to find the voice of the movie in my own writin', but it's a challenge that I very much welcome. And gettin' to sit down with Noah [Ripley] has really helped me quite a bit, too, because that's someone who really knows how these movies work and just really knows his craft. We've been able to sit down an' he's just so kind to talk me through any questions I may have about his character or... or about- I mean there's a whole song that's just about him'n—like all my music—it's a love song, but he makes that so easy to write. This is all somethin that I'm discussin' with the director [Andy Hawks] as well, who's got a stunnin' mind and is just incredibly thoughtful and true, but Noah has really been my guidin' light here. He's been a writin' partner, in a sense, and I think that without him I don't know if my songs would be half as good. I feel really comfortable with him. I love him a lot. Truly, it's an honor gettin' to work with him and the whole crew of Had To Look. And just wait till you see him on that screen because they've been kind enough to allow me on set once or twice and he just blew me away. I don't think there's anything of his that I haven't loved... I think that maybe I got a little off topic at the end here, but yes, uhm- I think I answered your question somewhere in there? [laughs]

Rolling Stone: You did, and quite beautifully.

Eliot: Thank you, that's mighty kind.

Rolling Stone: You write a lot with other musicians and it sounds like you wrote a lot with Noah Ripley for this project, who isn't a musician. How is that different?

Eliot: It isn't, not really. He's inspirational, and he's fun to work with. Nothin' more that I need than him.

[lvebug]

some of the crowd lingers long after the group on the stage has left and andie lingers with them, feeling alive and buzzing from the energy of the music and the crowd of people. it was a decently small venue, intimate, but still she wasn't as close to the stage as she likes, couldn't do more than grin and wave and sing along a little louder when adam or jodie spotted her among the faces in the crowd and a part of her secretly hopes that if she lingers long enough, someone will come out so she can say hi.

and her wish comes true because adam wanders his way back out onto the stage and waves her over. andie goes easily.

@greatesthitz said: “ i didn’t wanna leave without saying goodbye. “ from adam

she grins at him, bats him on the arm. "well that's good, cause i woulda missed ya. y'all had a great show tonight!"

[lvebug]

THE HOTTEST NEW COUNTRY SONGS OF... NEW YORK? Written by Meredith Campbell

Andie Eliot, the young talent behind Lovebug, debuted her first album last Tuesday. For those who follow closely the sounds of New York city's local musicians the name Andie Eliot isn't a new one. The Nashville born singer-songwriter has been playing local clubs and open mic nights for nearly two years, and dedicated fans of New York's very own Heart Attack will recognize her as a long time friend of the band.

Anticipating the release of her album, The Daily Bugle was able to sit down with Andie, known professionally as Lovebug, to discuss her new album, growing up on the road, and what it means to be a country singer living in the big city.

Lovebug's self titled first album is a mix of contemporary country and folk-pop that tackles the topics of every young person: being in love for the first time, the changes that young adulthood can bring, and the fear of discovering who one is as a person alone in the world. All of this is done with an indescribable sense of hopeful anticipation wrapped in a gentle country twang. Continue reading...

Self Titled is out now. Listen on Spotify.

[lvebug]

musician andie performs at a lot of small venues, local bars/clubs/cafes in new york and nashville. it's where she started out as a performer and she frequently loves to go back to her roots. they're very intimate and stripped shows. just her on mic and a few instruments. a lot of times they're relatively unannounced.

one of these places that is mentioned a lot during my talks of this verse is the bluebird cafe shamelessly ripped from the tv show that inspired this verse which is a small cafe in nashville that hosts lots of performers and is kind of the go-to local place for small artists trying to make a name for themselves. it was a place her family frequented a lot before she moved to new york, and when she makes a name for herself she returns there when she's staying in nashville. she goes on to record the bluebird sessions, a live album, here where she plays a lot of covers and invites a few friends up on stage to sing with her.

although tour venues are where she first fell in love with music and she always has a lot of fun at them, she likes the closeness that comes from playing in small rooms and the connection it lets her make with the audience.

[lvebug]

https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Lovebug

Lovebug

From Wikipedia, the free encyclopedia

Not to be confused with the superhero.

Andie Eliot (born January 19), known professionally as Lovebug, is an American singer-songwriter from Nashville. Her music is characterized by a hopeful, folk-pop and country sound. She released her first album, Self Titled, at 24 and has 3 total studio recorded albums as well as a live recording album and a collaborative album featuring other New York singer-songwriters and musicians.

Biography [edit]

Early Life [edit]

Eliot was born on January 19 in Nashville, Tennessee. She is of Jewish decent. Her father, Blake Eliot, was the band leader to country music superstar Marshall Hayes. She traveled on-and-off with her father on tours, until she was 14 when she attended East High School in New York. She began writing music at 17 with the band Heart Attack, who encouraged her musical talents.

For many years her songwriting was nothing more than a hobby. Until college when she gave her first stage performance at a small local club. From then on she performed regularly at small venues while continuing to write music. It was at a performance at Lamplight that she was first discovered and offered a recording deal.

Discography [edit]

Studio Albums [edit]

Self Titled Memory Lane The Bluebird Sessions — Live at The Bluebird Grateful Me & My Friends

[lvebug]

it's not the first time and it's probably not the last time that andie will find herself to have spent the past five hours planted on the couch, writing notebook open and pages upon pages scrawled with lyrics, not a clue where the time has gone. what at one point was a lovely day turned into a lovely sunset which turned into a pitch black night, somehow without her noticing any of it. the world has a hazy dream-like sense as it is, not helped by the sticky dryness of her eyes or the fuzz in her head.

each blink is slower and heavier than the last. her notebook drifts from her fingers and to the floor. her eyes drift closed and stay that way.

@crushsung said: a kiss on the forehead of one who is starting to fall asleep!

the feeling barely registers, more asleep than awake at this point. still, it pulls a smile from her that spreads out like taffy, fond. alice will always do that. "hi. i was just going to go to bed." it's a lie and they both know it, carried on on her voice slow and soft with sleep.