Talking Words On Music

These are my words about music I've discovered.

[talkingwordsonmusic]

One of my fav songs ever.

[talkingwordsonmusic]

A beautifully exotic sounding track. Melodic and incredibly well structured with an unexpected bassline. This was a random find on Spotify but one I had to share. Huge similarities to Anthony & The Johnsons.

How best to listen to this track: Anytime when you are feeling Zen.

[mayajanecolesofficial]

Each year the Mercury prize becomes more conservative – ahead of Wednesday’s ceremony, our critics pick the albums that should have been nominated, from cow-shed electronica to airport dubstep.

Maya Jane Coles Comfort

Maya Jane Coles made the often-tricky transition from acclaimed house DJ...

[talkingwordsonmusic]

This track comes with a health warning... if you are feeling even the tiniest bit depressed, dont listen to this track. For those of you feeling buoyant who dont mind suffering a mild blues in the name of art, sit back and enjoy one of the most haunting and beautiful tracks out there. The echoey guitar lulls you into a false sense of sleepy peace before the experienced yet innocent voice drips in with such torment that you are immediately left a little weak at the knees. My favourite lines include 'my layers become reeds, my limbs can become trees all my children can become me, what a mess I leave'. Gulp.

It's a dangerously good track but a guaranteed tearjerker.

When to listen to this track: on a train on a long journey home from work in the rain when all you have to do for the rest of the day is eat ice cream and weep.

Note - dont be put off by this write up, its an utterly beautiful piece of music. Hit play.

[talkingwordsonmusic]

Holy smokes. I could pretty much leave it at that only I'd feel pretty lazy. Credit goes to British DJ Mat Zo who I'm lucky enough to class a friend. His mix series on Sirus XM in the states is also available on his soundcloud and this track 'moderat - Gita' is the opening gambit of his mix no.6. This is a track so good I had to replay it 6 times on day 1 before tweeting a chum to help identify. Effort on my part there, the sign of a great track.  But wait, I'm not done on the effort front... A track so good I bothered sharing its existence with at least 5 others on email, facebook and word of mouth.  A track so good that I looked up the music video. Now this is always a gamble when you fall in love with a single so epicly, there is a chance it will be a huge let down and change your view of the track a bit forever... Like finding out the man of your dreams is terrible in bed. BUT boy was I pleasantly surprised. The video is weird, granted, but it has to be for such a melodic yet glitchy daydream of a track. Two light mapped bodies writhing around making out - there is a reference to Bjork's video for 'All Is Full Of Love' here. Right, time for you to get cracking with the track, listen to it on its own before hitting up the video.

When to listen to the track - anywhere, it's so blissful yet upbeat that it will leave you with a warm glow no matter the context... Except maybe funerals etc. Adieu!

[talkingwordsonmusic]

Luckily we spotted these tweets from HMV staff whilst they were being sacked. They were deleted swiftly... but not swiftly enough to stop them being grabbed and going viral!

[talkingwordsonmusic]

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This 'track' (I say this in the loosest of terms) is closer to a soundscape than an identifiable genre. 'Numb' by Andy Stott is almost disturbingly delicate and complex. It swoops between hoops of rice-paper-thin vocals and collides with a trudging beat which will make you check over your shoulder to be sure you are not being followed by a creature from the black lagoon. Right at the end it fades out to blissfully sweet echoes which will make you pause and think 'did that really just happen?'.

Don't judge this track on first listen, you will need to hear it twice before it sits comfortably with you. I did go on to listen to a couple of other tracks on this album ('Luxury Problems') and for me, it was just too much. There is a really fine line for me between intelligent and complex electronica and, well, just noise. The track 'Numb' sits the right side of the line for me, the album doesn't.

Check out the album here.

How best to enjoy this track: If you feel really really brave, turn all the lights off and sit in an area you don't really know in the middle of the night on your own. Don't then message me and ask me to pay your therapy bill though. I did warn you it was a bit disturbing.

[paavosiljamaki]

yoga

[talkingwordsonmusic]

You may remember that last week I posted about a musical photographer or photographer musician, Robert Babicz? Well today I'm highlighting the talents of another one! Paavo Siljamaki is not only one third of the incredibly successful dance music (though really rather genre mashing into pop, cinematic and soundscapes too) act Above & Beyond but he is also, it turns out, an incredibly talented photographer. Paavo has been sharing his photos on tumblr for a while now and it doesn't take an art critic to appreciate that he clearly has an eye for a great photo and an ability to capture a moment in time which resonates an actual story rather than just 'a nice shot'. This photo popped up in my feeds this morning and I instantly loved it. Above & Beyond are currently on tour in Australia but this image quite easily could be a fictional piece of art as there are so many layers to it. It made me feel extremely peaceful which, given it's subject matter, is absolutely spot on.

Here is a little track from Above & Beyond too in case you haven't heard their music:

[talkingwordsonmusic]

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A co-worker (Rosie Deane) alerted me to this track. Quite frankly, gawd bless 'er! 'The Natural World' by Cymbals instantly appealed to me with the edgy blur of Indie pop and 80s synth and vocals, right up my street. Their website is scantily clad for info but they appear to be a British band and have a decent amount of gigs lined up in UK and Ireland so head out and see them if you can. 

Buy This Track

How best to enjoy this track: This is a good all-rounder I find, suited to an upbeat mood. I personally enjoyed it in front of everyone in my office, at my desk, twice. Both times were extremely pleasurable and left me feeling satisfied. 

[talkingwordsonmusic]

The words FREE MUSIC always get interest (ya cheapskates...). Bonobo is one of my favourite alternative dance music artists so I was really excited to see there was a new music video and track flying about, even more so when I realised he was giving this away as a free download.

The video for 'Circus' is not one to watch if you are recovering from Noro virus or the likes as it's warped and looped 1950s footage is a little nauseating if watched on full screen from close up. It does however compliment the fantastic trippy and drippy track perfectly. The video reminds me of the Chemical Brothers 'Star Guitar' video a little. The track itself is a hypnotic journey through a Tibetan prayer bowl and down a long and winding track to a far away mountain range somewhere, it's truly stunning. Anticipation for his second album 'The North Borders' is huge and this free download and video just serves as the perfect marketing boost ahead of release. Watch the video, download the track (below the video to the right, enter your email), buy the album when it is out on 1st April. Don't thank me, these actions are essential to life.

How best to enjoy this track: Whilst travelling or lying on a beach somewhere in deep relaxation.

[talkingwordsonmusic]

Absolutely ADORE this track by Peace. 'Wraith' has gone straight into my favourite January discoveries and I was about to share this track via Spotify when I discovered the highly not-work-safe music video. Wow. Butts. Lots and lots of butts. Butts which have nothing to do with the track itself but make a powerful and hypnotic statement. 

I was glad to see the ex-members of Destiny's Child are still getting work. Boom Tish! *awaits influx of hate-mail on Twitter.

How best to enjoy these Butts. I mean track: Close your eyes and grab 5 random items of clothing from your dirty washing basket, stick them on and then get on a bus or train and head to Camden or Shoreditch in London. Put this track on your headphones and sit outside a bar drinking a pint of beer and looking a bit moody. If anyone talks to you, just say 'Oh sorry I was listening to 'Wraith' by Peace'. You'll fit right in and make a lot of friends.

[talkingwordsonmusic]

This is a MUST listen album. I saw the video for 'Kemosabe' on one of the Virgin TV playlists (which are normally pretty poor) and really loved it and so I was really pleased to see that the band Everything Everything have a new album out. 'Arc' is a stunning 13 track album (+ 6 if you buy the deluxe version) by this four man, British Indie band. It's not really an album for those of irritable disposition as tracks like 'Torso Of The Week' flit about all over the place but if you are a fan of Battles (the band not the violent conflict, silly) or Late Of The Pier or Foals then you'll be on familiar turf. I have to say the album as a whole isn't one that I think I'll add to my favourites pile 'of all time' but there are tracks on it, 'Feet For Hands' for example and 'Armourland', that I will definately enjoy for the near future on my playlists.

For me, the REALLY interesting thing about this album is who produced it.  David Kosten. This guy is a bit like a unicorn.. mythical and magical. He is the artist behind Faultline - one of my favourite ' musical finds' of all time. When I was in university I found a copy of the Faultline album in Boarders, not even sure if that chain is still going.  They mostly sold books but it had a fantastic CD selection, mostly imports which I spent many an hour browsing with a coffee when I was meant to be buying study books. Faultline's album DOES fall under the category of 'will listen to this album forever' but it would be unfair to dwell too much on another artist in this post. 

These guys are currently getting plenty of love on BBC Radio 1 and various music video TV channels and so I don't really need to sell them to you very much, chances are you have already heard 'Kemosabe' even if you haven't been aware of the band name before. I am confident I've seen people passing by in their cars shouting "Kimmosabeimmmaaa aahhhhhhhhhhhhhhhh" in that 'I don't really know what on earth those words are' kind of way.

Anyway, enjoy.

How best to enjoy this album: However you darn well like. A bit like salt, it goes with anything. Even chocolate. I don't think I'd combine it with any romance though really.

[talkingwordsonmusic]

There are actually no words to describe the skills of James Zabiela other than "Buuuhhh?!". I mentioned 'James Zabiela' softly in the office today and a colleage shouted 'What's that? James Zabiela? Are you talking about his 'Mad Skills', yeah?" I had to just reply with the link to this video and the words "BUHHH".

[talkingwordsonmusic]

I'm aware this track may not have a broad appeal but there is something about African music which I really adore. As a child we had some family friends who used to seek out really great music from all over the world and make my Dad compilation tapes (yes cassette tapes! Neatly labelled with stickers and handwritten tracklists.. lovely!) which I still remember with a deep happiness. As an adult I've nearly never discovered any new tracks, artists or albums with a proper African folk sound (I've never really looked to be honest) so I was rather thrilled when I saw this album 'Teranga!' pop up in my feed on Spotify. My favourite track was instantly the extremely laid back and beautiful 'Fouta' by Les Freres Guisse.

I did a good old hunt for info on these mysterious brothers and  found next to nothing - no social bar an out of date myspace and a couple of youtube videos. I did manage to find a biography on an old event page but I had to use google translate for make any sense of the French original. Google Translate always fires up the best nonsense, how is this for a nonsensical translation "This soft folk rubs up against sensitive acoustic guitars, with harmonica notes drifting in the wind, the pulse of a discreet percussion and the enveloping voices of three brothers." The rest of the biography goes on to reveal they are three actual brothers who released their first album on cassette in 1995 and released their 2nd and 3rd albums in 1999 and 2000, all of which were very well received. Their last musical venture looks by all accounts to be an album released in 2008 so I'm not entirely sure this track is indeed a new musical discovery of mine, or rather just a new discovery to me. There are a few tracks featured on their myspace but it looks wildly out of date. These guys may well have hung up their guitars. Regardless, I hugely recommend you check out their myspace page, music and the 4 tempting looking albums. 

How best to enjoy this track: On a good home soundsystem turned up loud, late at night with a large brandy surrounded by friends, family and people you love. Enjoy.

[talkingwordsonmusic]

When I started to write this blog entry, I wrote an intro that was heavily based on my own experience of Hip Hop (limited). I knew nothing about Joey Bada$$ and was about to admit that and not bother researching him in any way, just writing a straight track description. However, I felt I owed it to any potential readers and to the artist to accumulate a few facts for the benefit of the write up... I could not be more glad I hit up google search.

This guy's wikipedia really surprised me. First up Joey Bada$$ is American, no great surprise there, but this guy is only 18 years old (ironically he turned 18 as I write this). Wow. How can someone so young create something so musically fantastic, it never ceases to amase me. 'Waves' is a beautifully soulful piece which echoed a time when I regularly listened to the likes of Nas, Tribe Called Quest, Mos Def, Common, Talib Kweli, Jurassic 5 etc. Joey Bada$$ seemed to speak as if he was much older than his years and there is something profoundly relaxed and mature in the production of 'Waves'. According to his Wiki entry Joey started writing poetry aged 11 and formed his own collective at school, uploading his own mixtapes to youtube which went on to gain him exposure which grew and grew. In Dec 2012, so last month, it was rumoured he was signing to Jay Z's record label but he has dismissed this saying for now he would be happier to stay independent. In a sad twist to his journey, one of his friends and fellow collective members, Captain STEEZ reportedly committed suicide on Christmas day '12. A tragic turn in this young star's journey. With close to 100k facebook fans I'd be willing to say 'Waves' is merely the tip of the iceberg and he has a very bright future ahead. I hugely recommend you check out this track whether you like hip hop or not.

In case you are wondering where I WAS heading with my original intro before I scrapped everything in favour of the cold hard fact about the artist himself, it read as follows:

When I was 16 (14 years ago now..), my brother and sister used to tear me to pieces for constantly listening to hip hop. There we were, three white middle class English kids living in the absolute middle of nowhere in a tiny village with the average age of about 55.. "you came from the ghetto. yo. you are so street" (imagine that said in a fairly posh English accent, silly) were along the lines of the taunts. They were right, it was a little strange that I found a connection with the music, none of my friends were really into it. I just really enjoyed the hypnotic beat (much like the dance music I loved), the skills of the poetry (yes I say that as I was actually very in to writing it at the time) and the looped melodies - most of which were the finest little gems chopped innocently out of another track which, as a whole, you'd find it hard to hear that part in anyway. A lot of hip hop naysayers will claim it's 'talentless noise simply stealing other people's music' but there is real skill in sampling to create something fresh and catchy, they are often little snippets of musical genius which otherwise get buried in what is normally a heavy vocal track. I don't always agree with the culture of hip hop, I don't connect with the style or slang anymore but there is something in the musical nature of tracks like 'Waves' by Joey Bada$$ that I find impossible not to love.

I digress...

How best to enjoy this track: Take a late night drive, preferably as a passenger and drive through the city. If you don't have a car, put on some headphones and do a spot of city people watching from a high vantage point.

[talkingwordsonmusic]

Something a bit different today in that technically this isn't a 'musical' discovery. I've been very inspired by a project undertaken by a musician I really love, Robert Babicz. A year or so ago he began taking a walk through woodland in Germany every single day and photographing his experience. The pictures really inspire me and I really enjoy looking through them. Check them out on his facebook page HERE

To accompany this post I thought I would share one of his tracks which I particularly love, 'Darkflower (fever mix)' from his album 'Immortal Changes'. BUY

[talkingwordsonmusic]

Absolutely hauntingly beautiful track by Rachel Zeffira who I stumbled across by accident on Spotify. She is, according to her facebook page, "one half of pop duo Cat's Eyes" (shrugs). Its the title track from her debut solo album and I've listened to this track at least once a day this week which can only be a good thing in terms of the immediate impact it's had on me!

A quick google reveals that her album has been hugely regarded by a host of stellar review sources; The Guardian, The Observer, Pitchfork, NME, BBC Music, Time Out... so really I'm late to the table with this discovery but I did make it, just.

The album was out in Dec 2012 and 1000% worth obtaining if you like this track. BUY IT

How best to enjoy this track: Give it your full attention by putting on headphones and listening to it while taking a long walk through the frosty winter weather.