#barryorchestra

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barryorchestra presents Top 50 of 2019 - #12

#12 - Hozier - Movement

Hozier dropped one of the best singer-songwriter, folk rock albums of the 2010s with his self titled debut in 2014. “Take Me To Church” was his initial claim to fame, as the song discussed love within the metaphor of religion. This song also doubles as a critique on God, religion, and the concept of sinful human nature. The contrast between the thought provoking lyricism matched with the organic, yet catchy sense of melody and song structure put Hozier on the map, and the consistency with which he delivered on his debut record gave him the ability to build a strong fan base that still rocks with him even though it took him 5 years to follow up with another record. “Wasteland, Baby!” probably needs more time to potentially grow on me...after the first 4 tracks I start to lose attention. However, the good tracks on here are more than enough to warrant me giving this album another shot.

Movement is a smoother turn of events than usual for Hozier, as the slow groove and subdued nature of the verse sections seem very reminiscent of quiet storm R&B before moving into an expressive chorus. One of the things I love about this song is the build. Rather than exploding on the first chorus, we get a slight elevation in energy before returning to the subdued nature of the second verse, another chorus that hits just a little bit harder, before retreating to a bridge that sets the song up for the climax. That resolution of release is so satisfying after over 2 minutes of tease. We’re also treated to a background choir of Hozier’s vocals weaving in and out of the instrumentation and anchoring the final chorus. The slow jam R&B vibes we got in the beginning of this song have given way to an emotional moment of clarity. Lyrically, the song describes desire and attraction and matches it with the passion and love he has for his lover. The idea of movement, coupled with the structural movement of this song take it over the top for me.

[barryorchestra]

barryorchestra presents Top 50 of 2019 - #18

#18 - 21 Savage - A Lot (ft. J. Cole)

I know I’m getting old now, cause the ignorant rappers are starting to get lyrical. 21 Savage’s calling card has been delivering the most icy, gangster, or ridiculous lines with a deadpan unenthusiastic flow. This plays off like extreme sarcasm, but the catch is 21 really did grow up in the streets, and it affected his life in many ways. What makes this song special is that it takes what you would expect from a rapper like this, and throws it all out the window, giving him the chance to rise to the occasion. And surprisingly, he does. 21 Savage tells his story, and talks about what it was like to just survive in the hood, how his brother going to jail changed him as a young man, and how he made it out through rapping. All of this sounds textbook, but he sounds uncharacteristically engaging. The simple call and response hook marries itself to the beat instantly, and just like that...a classic was born.

Also, can we talk about this production? We’ve got an old school soul sample of The Fuzz’s “I Love You For All Seasons”, laced around this bass heavy, slow drag, Houston chopped-and-screwed banger of a beat...and damn, does it knock...even without sub woofers, if I drop this record in my Honda, I feel like the man still!

Does J. Cole kill his verse? Of course he does. J. Cole takes this song over the edge, as he directly calls out the fake tricks that artists in the music industry pull for relevance in the game, and also that he recognizes that he devoted himself for years to being all about the music, but the average listener cares more about viral moments and drama, and that’s more likely to keep their attention. J. Cole just goes OFF on this verse, which began a new run of collaborations for him at the time. J. Cole has always been an artist that collabs with few and produces everything himself, so it’s been nice to see him listen to the people, and really prove himself (also see his excellent song “MIDDLE CHILD”, where he takes this same substance-filled banger formula, and handles it on his own). All in all, this was one of my favorite joints of 2019, and even after hearing it at least hundreds of times, it still hasn’t gotten old yet. It IS possible to have fun rap songs that you can bop to that aren’t about a bunch of foolery. More of these in 2020, please!

[barryorchestra]

barryorchestra presents...2020: A Playlist - #50.

#50. “Girl” by SAYGRACE

Do you remember back in 2016 when we got that cover of Lesley Gore’s “You Don’t Own Me” dressed up and reimagined for the millennial generation? I’m not going to pretend like it was my favorite cut of hers, but it remains Grace’s only real hit here in the United States. Her debut record, “FMA” still stands out as one of my favorite pop/soul albums of that year. Despite her fresh and modern take on R&B, she roots herself in the pure sound of the blues and soul of past eras without diluting it much. Whether it’s an homage to 2000s R&B, or a moody ballad, she successfully nods to nostalgia while putting her own spin on the sound. She’s since rebranded herself as SAYGRACE, and after a three year hiatus from releasing music, she came through with and EP, and several loose singles including “Girl”.

“Girl” is a stripped down blues track that reads like a conversation. She taps into the essence of who she is as a woman, while pointing out that her lover doesn’t seem to care to understand who she is or what she feels, as long as she makes them feel good. Having to always be the one who compromises and sacrifices in a relationship becomes draining, and Grace is done with it. She knows she’s more than her physical attributes and the clothes she wears. She yearns for love and to not be objectified and misused. This song is a plea for transparency, and the desire to be seen for the girl that she is. Grace is standing up for herself, but this isn’t a break up song. It’s about her agency and autonomy.

[barryorchestra]

Why Do You Write About Music?

Almost 10 years ago I began putting together lists of my favorite songs of the year for a dear friend & former college roommate of mine. At the time, he was really into the indie rock bands of the late 2000s bands like The Strokes, Cake, & Muse, but would be mostly ignorant when it came to the styles of music that I was more into. My sole purpose to get him to appreciate music that was culturally different than what he was used to. Now, this is before the streaming era of music. CDs would still get bought sometimes, but it was mostly about digital downloads. I would spend time downloading the songs and making sure the metadata tags and the album art was attached to the MP3s. This meticulous attention to detail when it comes to sharing music wasn’t new to me. I’ve been sharing music for as long as I can remember. I went from swapping CDs with friends at school, to making mixtapes/CD-Rs (fully labeled with a hand-written track list and time stamps) and mailing them to my friends in different states. Music has always been more than just entertainment to me. In my early days of social awkward-ness, music was social currency. When I was depressed, music was my therapy. Music has given me the soundtrack and the motivation to power through and accomplish things that I never would’ve thought of in silence.

I’m 31 now. According to certain studies, I’m past the time frame where the average person continues to search for and find new music on a regular basis. I like the idea and feel of nostalgia, but I’m not sure I’ll ever get tired of the experience I have discovering a new artist that I connect with. Finding the tones, the voices, and vibrations that speak to where I am in life, that give me insight to another human’s journey and culture...all of that still remains fascinating to me.

The year of 2020 has been a trying time for all of us. We’ve seen everything from police brutality, to a global pandemic mishandled by what is supposed to be “the greatest country in the world” (I live in America, so I’m speaking from my vantage point). Personally, I began to feel the wear and tear on personal relationships with friends and family. There are people who were in my life that I care about that I may never see or talk to again. For different reasons. On the other side of that coin, I fell even more in love than I thought I could. I stayed the course and made moves for myself that are proving to be positive. Life tends to be a mix of the beautiful and the painful all at once. 

I hope this all comes through in the songs I picked for this year. Musically speaking, I did my best to provide a balance, but I decided for the first time to really stick to my guns and put what I wanted on here. I’m not pandering to anyone with my picks, I’m not overthinking them. These were the songs I did life to this year. Period.

If you’re new to the game this year, the only rules of the challenge is to listen to the entire playlist. That’s it. Some of my own stipulations have generally been to only pick songs that came out this year or the previous two (just to give myself some leeway to catch up), however, I spent more time this year being intentional on listening to new albums when they came out that this list doesn’t need that caveat this time around. I hope you come away from this experience with something that caused you to dance, cry, think, or smile.

For those of you who just wanna hear the music and don’t feel like waiting for me to get behind on my blog posting here are the playlist links:  Spotify

Google Play (if you’re still using this app, go ahead and switch to youtube music)

YouTube

Blog SZN has returned!!

[barryorchestra]

barryorchestra presents Top 50 of 2019 - #3

#3 - Mac Miller - 2009

I was a fan of Mac Miller from his third album “Watching Movies With The Sound Off”. Coming from a rapper who started off the game making bland frat boy rap, this is when he started to come into his own lyrically, as well as experiment with jazz, trap, and a host of other sounds that set him apart from any other rapper in the game. Mac was brutally honest about his flaws, his passions, and happiness while he was alive, and he put it all into his music. His death took a toll on the culture and the rap game as a whole (and also made his music video for Self Care a bit more eerie than it should’ve been). It took me a while to really dig into his project, “Swimming”, but once I gave it a fair shake...2009 hit me hard.

On this track, which opens with a lush orchestral interlude, only to transition into a mellow piano looped beat, Mac (who admits to being high on the track) digs deep into his psyche and releases some stress. He confronts his demons, but not with despondency...instead, he sounds quite hopeful. He thinks about the lessons he’s learned in his life, and tries to leave some of that wisdom on the track. He even contemplates believing in a god, which is something that he has openly doubted on several occasions lyrically throughout his music. It’s a lucid dream set to music...a moment of clarity and honesty that you rarely get to hear on record. It’s fascinating and inspiring. The off kilter auto-tuned delivery of his vocals sounds imperfect, but the mood and the content of the song surpass this fact. I know many fans of hip hop who slept on Mac, but this guy was the real deal. He contributed to the culture in a major way, and stayed humble. I miss his spirit, and I will miss not being able to experience new art from him.

“It’s not 2009 anymore” is a sentiment that resonates with me so much. I think back to that time. I had run away from home a year before that. I was still a Seventh Day Adventist Christian. I was still in the closet. I was going to school for theology. My family was still together. So much has changed, and the weight of that feels so heavy. This song helps me carry it.

[barryorchestra]

barryorchestra presents Top 50 of 2019 - #5

#5 - Ariana Grande - ghostin

Ariana Grande has proven herself to be one of the best vocal talents of the past decade, but rather than rest merely on being able to sing just about anything exceptionally well, she’s used her personal life as source material for some of the best R&B and pop music that’s been released in a long time. 

“Thank U Next” came only 6 months after her previous album “Sweetener”, and the whiplash I received from how good this album is insane. Her previous album was a well crafted effort with Pharrell Williams that was meant to be experimental and joyful. On this album, she speaks her mind and leaves nothing spared when it comes to her exes, her mental health, and what it means to be a human being that feels.

“Ghostin” is an ethereal, quiet moment on the record where Ariana gets confessional with her previous ex (Pete Davidson) about how she’s still in love with Mac Miller (her ex before him), even though he has passed away. She knows this is troubling to Pete, and admits she would be better off ghosting him...or her memory of him anyway. But how can you ghost a literal ghost? Built around a distorted sample of Mac Miller’s “2009″, the production has a haunting effect, while giving Ariana’s voice the chance to soar.

It’s a heartbreaking record, and in my mind I connect it to a time in my life where I fell in love with someone and caused someone who is dear to me pain in the process. My emotions felt as deep and somber as this song feels. Although things got resolved eventually, there was a time when I was stuck in an emotional time loop, and this song represents that period of my life better than any other.

This is an amazing pop/R&B record, and even if you haven’t the faintest clue about Ariana’s personal life, the musical quality of what she’s releasing is damn near classic status. This album is an emotional roller coaster, but it’s enough fun to make it worth it.

[barryorchestra]

barryorchestra presents Top 50 of 2019 - #6

#6 - Mabel - Ivy

Mabel is a pop and R&B artist from the UK. She’s had massive success worldwide with her fusion of dancehall, EDM, and R&B, despite only having one single do well over here in the U.S.

I enjoy her pop music, but her R&B songs hit hard. “Ivy” is a simple arrangement of piano backing her vocals as she sings about continuing to grow in a relationship that is pulling through a difficult spot. Comparing the growth to the twists and turns of an ivy plant, she isn’t ready to let go of the love she’s found yet. She wants to keep growing. Again, this is a very simple sentiment. But those vocals man...She brings the soul here in a major way, building a choir of her own background vocals for her to sing over. The piano chords are warm and perfect for her to express herself on. If you had already written her off as merely a pop singer, give “Ivy To Roses” a listen. She’s got some joints on there!

[barryorchestra]

barryorchestra presents Top 50 of 2019 - #7

#7 - BANKS - Gimme

I have a long list of indie pop girls that I have spent a lengthy amount of time streaming their albums over the past few years, and BANKS has certainly been one of them. Her brand of dark, glitchy, alternative R&B has always proved to be expressive and brutally honest. Her third album documents the breakdown of a relationship, and kicks of with this song. This song, along with the intro, is a call to agency. There is a sensual tension to the song, but it’s not about sex. This song is about not being afraid to ask for what you want and need in a relationship. It’s about being in enough control over your feelings and emotions, that you know how to communicate exactly what your desires are. BANKS even notes that she doesn’t care if she is called a bitch because of this (specifically, you can call her “that bitch”). This song in all it’s bad assery, is punctuated by an EDM worthy chorus drop...complete with synths, and drums that swallow up all the empty space that was left hanging around the more minimalist verse sections. Her harmonies on the bridge bring a smile to my face and pull me in again and again (this was my most streamed song of 2019 for a reason). If you’re processing a break up, and learning to be your own person, I’m begging you to give this album a listen. This is a record to heal to and to connect to. Don’t miss out!