This might be my most random post yet.
I just want to be clear and say that this isn’t the type of music I predominantly listen to, but this song… damn it’s good.
I give you Kendrick Lamar’s “King Kunta”.
Hope your night is as lovely as you are.
Alright, so here’s a fun little story that only people who have known me for a really, really long time would know. I used to be in band back in junior high and high school. I wouldn’t call myself a band geek, because that’s just an annoying phrase. Being in band for so many years crafted my taste in music and allowed me to experience sounds and rhythms that I never thought were possible. I was exposed to so many different instruments and musical styles. So if that makes me a “geek”, then I’m completely fine with that. I did what I loved, and at the time that was my passion.
So now you may be wondering what instrument I played. Well, I was a vital piece of the percussion section, hammering away on the five piece drum kit most days. Sometimes I played the triangle. Sometimes it was the xylophone. Basically anything you could hit with a mallet, or smack against something else, would’ve been in my repertoire.
Honestly, if it weren’t for my old kit falling apart from years of battering, I would still play today. You never really lose it, though, that underlying rhythm. I feel it all the time when I’m listening to music. It’s like I could jump on a kit at any moment and just pick up where I left off.
Anyway, back to the purpose of this post. This all ties in, I promise.
As a member of various school bands, I found myself at a lot of concerts. These weren’t just small concerts either. Most of them took place at the main symphony building in my city. I spent countless evenings listening to other schools play. There were even a few times where I had the privilege of hearing the professionals play. Classical music is just so soothing. It rolls over you like gentle waves, enveloping you in its sweet, harmonious sound.
With this came a love of adding non-traditional instruments to songs. When I hear brass instruments in a rock song or the sound of a whimpering violin on an R&B track, I instantly am attracted to it. Adding this in just enriches the song so much and sets it apart from similar tracks.
The other day, I had the privilege of hearing The Mowgli’s “San Fransisco”, featuring the glorious sound of some brass instruments. Of course, as soon as I heard it, I was in love. It’s quickly become one of my favorites. Here it is.
I’ll definitely try to find more music like this to post up on here !
Hope your night is as lovely as you are.
Isn’t it just a wonderful feeling when you buy an album, listen to it and actually like just about every song ? Too often have I gone through an album thinking “oh this will be fantastic because I liked all the singles”, only to be utterly disappointed in the lack of creativity and depth in the rest of the tracks. It doesn’t make sense to me. I mean, obviously I’m not sitting here smiling down on my million dollar record deal, but I feel like if you’re going to make your singles incredible, why not put that same effort into the rest of your album.
The artist that I want to bring to your attention today definitely doesn’t fall into the “lazy” category when it came to carefully crafting the songs on her debut album “Goddess”. She is powerful, yet subdued and dark, yet illuminating all at once. Going by only her last name, Banks, Jillian Rose Banks has released her intricate, dark R&B sound through an array of excellent tracks that I find myself getting lost in every time they flow through my headphones. Her lyrics are profound and relatable. There isn’t any of this second guessing what the song is about, because she isn’t using these weird metaphors that make no sense. There is a vast amount of deeper meanings in her tracks, however, if you take the time to listen carefully, you’ll understand.
She hasn’t exactly broken into the mainstream yet. So you can impress your friends by introducing them to her and they’ll be so enamoured by how well versed you are in the underground music industry.
Jk.
I would add Banks to your ones to watch list, because I have a feeling we’ll be seeing a lot more of her in the future.
Here are a few of my favorite tracks off “Goddess”, but I highly recommend you listen to the album in its entirety, since it is quite amazing.
Hope your day is as lovely as you are.
So I’m driving along and “We Move Like The Ocean” by Bad Suns just starts blasting through my speakers and I honestly forgot how amazing this song is. Here it is.
Sorry to make this so short, but it’s Saturday and basically I’ve got a whole ton of stuff to do ! I promise to bring you something amazing tomorrow once again.
Hope your night is as lovely as you are.
So I just finished listening to the most incredible song. I’m honestly just blown away by its beauty. It’s Phosphorescent’s “Song For Zula”, and once you listen to this you’ll understand why I said I was bringing you something amazing today. I was so determined !
As I sat here listening to the haunting vocals of Matthew Huock, and the chilling, synthetic drum beat echoing in the back ground, I was whisked away to some sort of cold, stoney wasteland through the music video. It features a young woman chained to the ground, wearing what appears to be animal pelts, who is relentlessly beating the chains that hold her captive with a rock. Each time she pounds the chain her existence blurs, with her finally destroying a link in the chain at the end, giving her the freedom she desires.
At first the meaning behind this song seems obvious. Someone breaking free of their chains, someone finding their freedom… blah, blah, blah we’ve heard it before. Upon further examination, there seems to be more…
Reading through the lyrics, there was an allusion to a romance going terribly wrong, leaving him a broken man. The lyrics “Some say love is a burning thing, that it makes a fiery ring” is borrowed from Johnny Cash’s “Ring Of Fire” which does make sense given Phosphorescent’s 2007 tribute album to Willie Nelson. It’s not hard to see where Huock draws inspiration from. The inclusion of this phrase in this song is interesting especially since it’s followed by “Oh but I know love as a fading thing” and “Oh but I know love as a caging thing”. This song represents a loss of hope, not just a bad break-up. It’s a complete voluntary disconnect from the feelings of love and what it represents in fear of having to experience those same shattering emotions again.
Huock continues on to say “My feet are gold. My heart is white, and we race out on the desert plains all night. See, honey, I am not some broken thing. I do not lay here in the dark waiting for thee.” I absolutely love this because it’s a ferocious confirmation aimed towards his oppressor meant to amplify his independence and will to carry on. He is not some spineless being, quivering at the thought of never being in love again. He is both strong and ready to be who he is without the chains of a disastrous romance holding him back.
Have a listen !
I’m excited to hear more from Phosphorescent. There’s a uniqueness to his music that has piqued my interest.
One of my friends showed me this song, so naturally I need to go hug her now and thank her for putting this in my life.
Hope your day is as lovely as you are.
Today I’m going to keep it short and sweet. It’s getting quite late here.
I’ll leave you with one beautiful track that I recently found on one of those “Indie May” playlists on 8tracks, called “The Other”. It’s by Lauv and to be honest, I haven’t heard anything about this artist before, but I’m very intrigued. Here it is.
Is that not amazing ? It reminds me a bit of Ed Sheeran’s “I See Fire”, but maybe that’s just me…
Anyway, hope you enjoyed that and I promise I will bring something special tomorrow.
Hope your night is as lovely as you are.
Ahhh, guess who is finally basking in the sought-after, warm, fuzzy feeling of post-finals contentment. Yup, that would be me. If I have an extra sort of spring in my step and an excessively gleeful grin perpetually plastered onto my face, well, you know why. Yes, the chains have been lifted and I’m finally free to frolick in what I hope will be an infinitely delightful summer. This will be my last “between semesters” sort of summer as I will be graduating next year if all goes to plan.
That’s a bit of an odd thing for me to wrap my mind around… graduating. I haven’t done the graduating process since I clicked my heels and bounded out of my high school, eager to get on with it and enter the world of post-secondary. This will be odd.
It’ll be even more odd because for the first time in, oh what will it be then… nineteen years or so… I won’t be pondering what classes to enroll in next semester. Cue the apprehension and mildly sweaty palms induced by finally having to grow up.
ANYWAY, as of lately I seem to be starting off my blog posts by trailing off on these off-topic rants about school. So I apologize. Let’s get to the good stuff, the stuff you came here for.
So today I wanted to put a spotlight on a new musical artist that I found, or rather my mom found for me. A few weeks ago after having watched his performance on SNL, she told me to listen to this song without watching the music video. She had me conjure up in my mind what this musician looked like solely based off of his voice. So I listened, and the sweet baritone sound of his voice at first had me fooled in believing he was this older, rugged man who had worked out in the endless fields of some Alabama farm. As I continued to listen, though, I realized there was more to him than just that. It was a sort of quality that exuded youth and aged wisdom all at once. He was younger than I had thought. Then I glanced at the video and sure enough, he was just a boy. That’s how I found out about the wonder that is George Ezra.
With only his debut album out, Wanted On Voyage, George Ezra has already captivated a large fan base with his unique bluesy sound. Drawing on inspiration from some of his idols such as Bob Dylan and Woody Guthrie, among other American folk and blues artists, Ezra stirred up an array of wonderfully soulful tracks.
If you’ve listened to George Ezra before, you’ll know he has a bit of an iconic deep voice. He actually mentioned before that he didn’t always sing this way. It was something he enjoyed hearing in other artists. “I liked the idea of singing with a big voice, so I tried it, and I could,” said Ezra in a 2014 interview with USA TODAY. Well thank goodness he tried, because I know I love it.
For those of you who have not yet had the pleasure of listening to his new album, here are a few of my favorites:
Amazing, right ? Definitely a new artist to watch. I have a feeling he has a successful future ahead of him.
Well, that’s all for today. Feel free to leave a comment and let me know what you think.
Also, if you feel so inclined, you can follow me on Instagram and Twitter by clicking the links below. I would love you forever.
Hope your day is as lovely as you are.
THE SILVER OWL 