This post is dedicated to German Minimal, Techno, Trance, progressive house and interesting eletronica bands. Please do feel free to delve in the infinite variations that sounds can combine to make music.
Uniqueness in the sounds are one that feature in greater infliction than the variation in the notes and scales.
Starting off with some interesting mix of tones and clicks is mild milliz's alter-namo Extrawelt with their unique choice in sounds. The are a band from 2004 started with live performances in and around hamburg and became big with a few labels.
Drehfehler:
Another German techno band - ElectroChemie features thick and thin lead synths with surreal vocal mixes. This one is called ..
Mucky Star:
The next song is a by a band obsessed with minimalism, so much so that the variability in sounds is made up with the lack in spaces in the songs and its effects that your mind might produce in sync. Their usage of the synth and variety of snippet sounds make them catchy.
PullPush:
The next DJ up is Sven Vath and features interesting sythn vocals and real vocals with great usage of delays. From OFF (organization of Fun) this DJ has a lot of variety to offer to his music.
Dein Schweiss:
The next song is one of my favorites featuring a good sense of placement, variation and tempo change to soothe into a song. Also a great band from germany (lubeck) with a flair for the new sound. This is Kollektive Turmstrasse
Tristesse(melancholy):
Sounds need to be listened to not placed by intent to listen to. This next song evinces this well.
A new listen i found called Delta Funktionen...
Nebula:
The last song i would like to end with one of my all time favourites Kraftwerk... This song was borrowed by Coldplay for their song "talk". Kraftwerk were one of the first to start off the minimal and eletronica. Hail these brillhent folks :)
Computer Love:
Will post some more up in a bit. Please do share them your top tens here. I am sure there are a lot more Electronica bands out there to discover. Eletronica is a genre of music older than rock, and many other mainstream genres, and one might find roots to it if one looked at it closer :)
This is a post thanks to beautiful videos enabled with great chillout themes. Best viewed in HD and on a large screen these songs are quite a an experience.
First one up - Ocean:
These songs again are for relaxing interspersed with visually calming and sometimes exciting showpieces of nature. This video is again by BBC HD
Ice Worlds:
This next next track is energetic (great track by jupiter 8000 link given) and beautiful video summary of the Alps:
This next track is pretty calming, though the video might not be that interesting...
Relax:
This next track is Melanchilic Violin.. but great white sand adds to the solitude...
White Dunes:
This next track like it says does fall into minimalistic trance... with good HD nature as promised :)
And finally for some slow energy from within the earth
Volcano:
Hope you enjoyed these videos.. Please do post some of your own favorites out here.
This is a post on Guitar instrumentals from rock, metal, shredding white hot solos, Arduous acoustic pickwicking.
Fusion of elements by Michael Hedges is a unique scale that i found any guitarist play, and by nature most songs by Hedges are on new exotic scales.
The next artist is not new to the guiristry art at all. Hes the guru, god and simply genuine in his creations. This one is something i picked up randomly from his discography.. This one is called Time:
The next one is by the side project of Dream Theatre called Liquid Tension experiment. This was a really good "experiment" a lot songs like Freedom of speech make a mark in the otherwise superbly technical Dram Dream Theatre. This one is pretty well known i guess with great piano solos thanks to Jordan Rudess :)
Acid Rain:
This next artist is thanks to one of my old friends i discovered. Shes got an ear(eye ;) ) alright :p
This guy includes the host of artists that are picked up by the Candy Rats label company that have featured brilliances like Andy Mckee and such. This is Steve Schakinger:
Perfect Waves :)
The next artist i am compelled to put thanks to Andy Mckee who is from where i discovered a host of artists. This is his sensei :) - Presenting Isato Nakagawa:
Clarence (beautiful)
The next song is a cover of Snow (Hey of) by the red hot Chili Peppers - And sets a groove to the song in spanish setting - and would love to see a professional outcome of such an effort - Very well done here :
Analog Snow:
I Shall continue this in another edition !!! (as always :) )
This is a blog-post to a "couple" of people that i owe some of the best times and the best part of me to. This is more than a mere response to stimuli, it surely does account for me myself to realize how much things have changed since they crawled into my life. They know when they read this, and there can be no ambiguity in the depth and fondness for these people.
Though they represent a single couple, they represent in various levels, the likings of a mentor(s), friend(s), (and as we go i shall drop the 's-es'), companion, and my peace sometimes in this crazy busy place i am in.
Flavia(The X) is someone i surely should say is the beauty with the brains (she d probably kill me for this :P ), but underneath everything, shes been an intensive thinker, a great cook( you better teach me now) and the best part very open. I have probably had my guts spill out and i still feel at home talking with her.
Senthil(The Y) is surely the other side of the coin. I should say this is someone i owe a lot to, for the development in me, single words descriptions are not elaborate enough. This is someone i respect, and shall surely cherish for the rest of my life. He has been the most patient person(i dont know how to extend this to different dimensions - i leave it here since 'you' know already). Life does have those moments when you meet people who change you. This is him.
X&Y are both great sources of my taste and choice in music. Exchanges are a lot, but the discussion are prime. From Beatles, Metallica, Enigma To Florence, lady GaGa (hint hint :P). They have always welcomed me, in my worst state, in my best sharpest obstinate self. It did take a lot for me to realize how much they meant to me. And the first few songs of this blog by Florence were surely a sign, and this post a culmination of what i had, have and will always think of them.I need an appointment into their busy schedules, but i never ever need a invitation into their hearts.
Life is too short to season friendships, too long to think about lost relationships. In this case i dont see the need for time to decide for me me how much they mean. I shall do for them the best, and hope for them the least.
This next one reminded me of No Doubt Underneath it all, now you wonder whether musical themes are getting fewer that they repeat or just influencial - tough to separate these probable causes.
Bidi Bidi Bom Bom:
Some minimalism now for setting up some peace and attention to minute variation.
Mikalogic:
And to vent it all some pyscadelic from the 70s - They are really good and at par with the trance we hear these days:
This is a continuation of the chill out genre posts. There are too many favourites for me to cover, but as usual music needs no reason or justice to satisfy and i shall post more :)
The first track up is an upbeat crystal method track. Their usuals are not the chill out types, and are more towards Electronica and progressive house and techno with the very noticeable track rythms (beats).
Highroller:
The next artist up is actually a bar located in Sant Antoni de Portmany, Ibiza. Café del Mar plays chill out music as their main theme of attraction with their trademark sunsets that people see with great music playing. Please do check them out at their wiki entry.
Lux:
Now for some new kinda music a good friend of mine suggested. De phazz is a latin sounding, jazz bluish, sound that ll keep you at peace and also make you shake a tail feather.
The Mambo Craze:
And for the last of the playlist is this new band i had come across recently - Beatophrenic - This is where the chillout meets trance and minimalism at the sametime. They are also famous for a lot of vocal interludes and modulations in their Trance based songs. Shall post more when i find better. Try this one out for now.
Play:
And finally a collection :P these are what feed a lot of interest and search fodder for me on youtube and dailymotion.
It has been a while since i posted. This time i would start writing posts more often here compared to my facebook profile. This times post would be on Chillout music (it refers to a set of genres for people who think its made up). There is a mix of different styles, electronica, hip hop, soul, minimalism, with usually a medium or slow tempo.
There are a host of them in this genre and i shall try to capture the ones that interest me the most (and would surely like to hear about the others from you guys) over multiple posts.
First up Delirium, they are soulful in different levels, with the usual quick synth, and profound vocals
Aria:
Dreamcatcher playing seventh heaven:
Along the same lines, Budha Bar is one of my favorites with a lot in its capability to provide calming, enlivening and sometimes romantic(nature) themes.
This next one is one of the most calming i have heard up till date. Please do hear this one out if not the others.
Sunlounger - Another Day On The Terrace
There is also an eclectic set of songs that use the minds inners to fill up for the lack in melody and create a feeling of deep musical expereince. For example Microgram
In Flight:
Completely Numb
I shall continue with a few more in the next post. Please do pop in then.
This weeks playlist blogpost, is a blogpost dedicated solely to one of the best guitarists i have heard out there. Lots in variety, lots in genuineness, in the instrumentation of both the meat and the marrow. This artist is obviously as you have guessed, heard, and probably scratching your head thinking whether or not to read further here.
All i am doing here is listing a few of my favourites a talk about it like you do over a mug of beer next to the juke box.
All in the Waiting:
She Sells Sea Shells by the Slaughterhouse:
And this is one of my all time favourites:
Jordan \m/
Whitewash: (Great use of delay here)
And finally The blind watchmaker: Interesting to see he always has a choice variety of patches that makes a lot more enjoyable.
This topic has always been of great interest to me since i was a child. I always wanted to 'see' music, play around with it in my head. I am an amateur in music, but still a little to brag about - My music lessons were also towards this to an extent, they made me think about viewing music to see the scale i sing in, the range i am singing in. But this is too specific to what i really want to talk about here.
Music visualization has been around for ages now - The windows media player has an assortment of these visualizations with the battery mode, the famous graphic EQ mode and many others. There have been interesting history to such visualizations(please do take a look at the external links on Visual Music). There is a certain appreciation we gain in looking at these images when we listen to music. It reflects many things in my opinion - it shows the involvement in the music in many levels.
There can be a direct correlation one sees to notes, rhythm and detail of the music, it shows ones observation in action here and this is something very strong and catchy in a visualization that one sees. There can also be a subconscious drive to the same phenomena, where we associate emotions, reactions and thoughts to the visualization in sync with the music. This is something of field by itself under study, an extreme case of this being synaesthesia, Where one hears music there is a creation of a visual cue, or vice versa. This very interesting phenomenon underlies according to me a fundamental effect when one hears music - We experience in various levels what the effect of music and towards this blogposts idea, an visual representation of what one hears.
Lets have an example of what i am talking about, this is one of my favourites from this site called musanim (music animation).
Vivaldi - Allegro
Nothing Else matters (flute)
These two examples were very indicative of how the visualizations here are made to remark the location of notes, relative displacements, tempo, and in some coarse sense the structure of the song.
Try this abstract one out by floyd..
This is more towards the pyscadelia side of visualizations where ones imagination is just about taking over to see some sense in the visualization.
To build a few bridges - Remember this from Ratatouille ?
This represents close to what i want to depict with the previous 2 examples - Remi here tastes cheese, strawberries and other distinctive snacks around, with particular visualizations being show next to him, this as we see produces in some sense a visualization of the taste and gives a more deep understanding (more information basically) to the viewer appreciate the taste that Remi experiences in his mouth.
Similarly when it comes to music there are distinctive flurry of thoughts that conjure up a unique feel to the rhythm, notes, details of the music, and at the most abstract level emotions (dips and drives) in the song. Different textures in different dimensions of the song can be seen. This is something that the we contribute to more than the video. This makes the experience a lot more enjoyable (at times). I shall continue on the same in the next blog post and talk about how our creative imagination plays a role in enjoying as well as most importantly create great music !!
We see a lot of these videos and visualizations used profusely in Trance, Hip Hop, House, And variants of these genres - what drives the visualizations is the idea of making the experience a lot more perceptive than just hearing, listening, and dancing.
This is something random i picked to help see the visualization and its effect on how a viewer associates with it - different people respond to it in different ways. Associations with words, with music are something that i shall i again address in the near future, but the primary discussion here is how music (without all of its anatomy specifically lyrics) limited in form - affects and effects us in an unlimited way.
This times post is for some energy, for some blinding heavy beats, some viking rage.
As a part of checking out some Icelandic bands I discovered "In Extremo" - A German metal band that plays in many different ancient languages(including Gaelic, Spanish, English, Norwegian, Swedish, Icelandic, French, Estonian, Hebrew, Latin, Occitan, Old High German), with exotic choice of instruments ( in this particular case the lyre). Their name is Latin for "At the edge". The Songs they play are all in ancient lyrical settings (for example this Icelandic song i have posted is an ancient folk song about the Raven and its role in Icelandic Winters).
The next band on the line up is Eluveitie, a Celtic Metal band from Switzerland. They Also have a unique choice of instruments(flute and bag pipes in this case) and a heavy rhythmic tinge to most of their songs. Here is a song about a wolf and girl playing games, Omnos ( I am not sure - but some of the posts on Eluveitie forum mention it mean Fear).
I Guess I ll start of the playlist for the month here with Ms.Florence and The Glitch mob who are currently part of my running playlist.
This song by Ms.Florence is something i heard for the first time on a radio station on a flight. Her voice, the hauntingly beautiful essence, and the thumping heart beat like rhythm just makes this one of the songs you have to try.
Blinding:
Her First and the newest album Lungs is something one has to really try out. All songs are on YouTube i think. She has a lot of live shows in and over London right now, and i hear from friends that she way more captivating Live !
The other band i have had my head wrapper around is this trio electronica group from LA, who were famous for the America's got talent video where a artsy dance group used them for their background beautifications.
Heres a couple from my line up.
Drive it like you stole it:
Matty G - West Coast Rocks:
Nalepa Monday:
Glitch charged up with great beats, some juicy samplings, great changes in quantizations, some really good mixes, these guys put up very energetic, and in some cases very catchy, grinding music !
This is a blog i have envisaged, created, dedicated for reasons of indulgence in music, of all kinds, natures, tunes, and for all purposes that is humanly addressable as musical. Beware this might take turns into alleys of songs from the deep underbelly of human condition, or the might just jump up the adrenaline with some notes of the art, part and heart.
I shall try and post a playlist over here for the sake of just listening, discussing, sharing and what not that falls in the everyday music lovers chatter. All songs, of different genre, artists, themes, anthologies, and what not, that are part of my understanding, taste or/and most importantly suggested picking ups of my co-music enthusiasts.
In general i would like the blog to be something of a forum, more than a personalized palette, so please do go on and holler your thoughts out.
Drum Roll ...
Now just to start off, heres one of my favorite artists from the recent past, and this is also a dedication to a couple of my close friends. Please enjoy Ms. Florence + The Machine.
