Music

blehhhhh

in less depressing news

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"Biting Down" is also good but it's not on youtube

This kid is 16 and writes/co-produces all her own stuff. Pretty impressive. Some of is a little too... stereotypically hip indie pop for my tastes (I can imagine Pitchfork freaking out over this), but it's still really impressive for a kid that young, and I like this track.

How so? Like, I think I get what you're saying, but what about it makes you specifically think of Ableton?

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on an Afrobeat kick

edit: this came up on my Youtube recommended list and I'm a little surprised how much I'm digging it

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I dunno, it's hard to explain! I just like the cool synth parts and that slick, polished 80s feel. Gets me in a way that most disco doesn't.

I'm not so sure if I'm picky so much as I just haven't heard a lot of boogie stuff. I like both of the tracks you just posted.

Did you listen to that new Jamie Lidell album I posted a while back? A lot of his older stuff was 70s soul-inspired but his new record is straight-up boogie:

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Woah okay yeah I guess I should have expected a huge music dump. Listened to part 2; will get through part 1 later today.

Thoughts:

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Frontline Orchestra: I like the vocals, and the call+response synth part is cool, but the instrumental section in the middle kinda falls flat for me.

Change: hahahaha this is so melodramatic and I love it

Starpoint: This is probably my favorite one out of part 2

Kwick: Second favorite. Those synths sound like they could be from a Genesis game.

Shalamar: The synth is kinda buried in the mix here (or maybe it's just the quality of the Youtube vid), but I like it

The Whispers: I like the bluesy bridge section in this one - wasn't expecting that. Tied for second favorite.

Are those last three all from the Solar label? They sound very similar in terms of production style, especially that glittery lead synth sound.


I'm still having trouble articulating what it is about the stuff I like - "slick" might not even be the right word. I will say that I'm finding most of the songs I enjoyed are pretty jazzy/funky. I like the busy arrangements and instrumental flourishes in songs like I Got A Feeling and If You Read My Mind.


also, not to harp on the Daft Punk thing too much, but I found this today:

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The problem with the way to make music today, these are turnkey systems; they come with preset banks and sounds. They’re not inviting you to challenge the systems themselves, or giving you the ability to showcase your personality, individuality.

yeah okay bangalter


edit: dude did you post all that at three in the morning

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Woah, I've listened to the Air Ride OST plenty of times, and I don't think I've ever heard that version of Float Islands. Must be an unlockable or something.

I've probably said this before but Air Ride is an underrated game in pretty much every respect.

Halfway through boogie dump pt. 1 - I'll finish the rest tomorrow. I think I like the first four tracks the best so far.

I think it's an unlockable for top ride, yeah. I don't know if you could call that kinda game "underrated" though because the majority of people who know about it praise it a lot. I think it's more like it's not very popular or well known.

True; I'm just saying that 'cause it got mostly shitty or lukewarm reviews from gaming publications.

I've got pretty shitty reviews for gaming publications.

It is only capable of sounding like a regular trumpet without external modification.

But yeah before there were presets there were plenty of think-less traps to fall into. I would laugh so hard if some top-notch orchestra did a concert cycle for “Worst Duds of the 1790s” or something.

Wow I'm still working through that list, Soupes. Despite the list of things I can't include on the list. Has also helped me find stuff on my own volition.

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And there is so much to playing a trumpet beyond the valves, oh man. and then there's those 'digital'/'electronic trumpets' floating about which are MIDI inputs essentially but if you want something to sound like a trumpet, you use a real trumpet. It's up to the musician to be creative with their instrument.

I would however be interested in what a trumpet would be like with a talkbox.

Still sounds like a trumpet to me. A trumpet being silly, but a trumpet nonetheless. A musician has as much control over any synthesizer with the ADSR envelope without touching anything else.

Didn’t mean to imply it didn’t still sound like a trumpet, only that the trumpet is capable of far more timbres than just normal playing (in this case a harsh-ish sound caused by half-valving, which also prevents the sound from locking into notes) despite never being able to escape its own shape.

So maybe this time I tricked you into saying it wrong? It’s actually more than ADSR-like function—the output sound is more than a function of volume and pitch, as a trumpet player has some degree of control over timbre. Among trumpet players, Arturo Sandoval is jealousy-inducing for his ability to change up his sound and impersonate other players without even changing horns.

Sadly, the science doesn’t seem to be all there, and it’s anyone’s guess how exactly certain players can manipulate the sound better than others, or why some children can pick up the instrument and sound good from day one while after over a decade my own playing could best be described as “like a dying waterfowl” despite many well intentioned teachers. Players almost universally describe the desired timbre as good “tone” (which can be easily distinguished by just listening but is scientifically meaningless), and producing it in terms of “air” and tonguing techniques.

Soooo at least I have tonguing techniques.

@supes, from last page:

Ain't Nobody was already my jam so I like this, unsurprisingly.

Fun Ain't Nobody fact: Quincy Jones wanted the writer to give it to Michael Jackson instead of Chaka Khan! And as good as Khan's version is, I feel like it could've been a great MJ track.

also I can unironically describe that Colors track as BANGIN'

edit: I Wanna Be With You is great too

Yeah my music tastes are probably wildly inconsistent anyway. If nothing else I realize that I should definitely give the disco stuff you post more of a chance, though!

to reply to your earlier post: Lose Yourself to Dance is one of the more tolerable songs on RAM, even if the title is awkward in a Videlectrix, slightly broken English sort of way.

Do you like Fragments of Time?

also while we're on the subject of Chaka/Rufus:

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One of the only bands that could do this song justice. Even if the chorus vox sound a bit weird.

Jazz pianist Mulgrew Miller died today :/

It's a shame that he never got the popular recognition of Chick Corea, Herbie Hancock, etc. - he recorded some great stuff.

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He was 57. Too young.

hahaha

I saw Chick Corea solo about a month ago. Dude is a jazz-face master. I hope to one day play so well that I too make involuntary faces of constipation/ecstasy.

Nice! My dad is a big Diana Krall fan. We don't get a whole lot of good acts up here in Ohio, though. I'm super lucky that I've been able to see Chick twice (once solo, once with RTF).

Oh yeah and I might be seeing Zappa Plays Zappa for the second time this summer woooooooo

Do you get a lot of cool bands in Whereversville California

Oh shit that's awesome! I didn't realize you lived in Monterey!

Who else do you want to see there besides Krall?

Man if you're gonna buy a ticket you gotta see at least a couple other groups. I know you don't like Snarky Puppy, but I saw them on the lineup. And Dave Holland. And Joe Lovano. And Cedar Walton. And...

you're killin' me supes

Oh okay that makes more sense

in unrelated news I had forgotten how good this album was holy crap

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I hope to one day play so well that I too make involuntary faces of constipation/ecstasy.

A tip for when you get there:

Avoid drooling on the ivories.

Speaking from personal experience

Oh geez I feel vicariously awkward for you. I can imagine how that could happen if you're really concentrating.

What sort of stuff do you play, brp?

Also: Supes, what are your Opinions on Disclosure? They make house-y pop stuff and they've been getting a lot of attention lately. You can stream their new album on The Guardian.

Yeah, it's not amazing or anything, but there are a couple tracks I like. I just wondered what you thought because you're the resident House Person.

And yeah super young artists always make me feel bad about myself


Also I just found out that Chaka Khan is coming to Columbus but I'm gonna be out of town for it :/

Oh geez I feel vicariously awkward for you. I can imagine how that could happen if you're really concentrating.

What sort of stuff do you play, brp?

Heh, my peculiar genetics don’t help in that regard. Least I don’t get the Lang Lang look.

On the piano, it’s mostly baroque to early romantic keyboard music (poorly). In fact, lately I’ve been working my way through parts of Das Wohltemperierte Klavier and Beethoven’s sonatas (what Hans von Bülow, in his characteristic way of saying witty yet somehow ill-advised things, called the “Old Testament” and “New Testament” of music); some of them are way past my level. I really want to dig deep into some of them Chopin pieces and beyond, but that’s a long way off. Maybe then I can get into those impossibly difficult late romantic and modern guys who like to fill the page with notes and accidentals (I’d have to look them up first, though!).

I’ve also been getting my feet wet in improvisation and composition. It must be infuriating to the whole neighborhood.

Jazz and gospel playing are like alien languages to me.

To make this not all about me:
Johann Sebastian Bach had 20 children.

(seriously, what the crap)