(Aug 11, 2021 04:35 PM)Magical Realist Wrote: [ -> ]1985---I never grew tired of listening to this song.
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=uejh-bHa4To
Thanks. Can't believe I've never seen the video of it till now.
(Aug 11, 2021 10:47 PM)Leigha Wrote: [ -> ]So happy I heard this guy’s music the other day because he’s really talented. I just love his sound. (Reminds me slightly of Owl City's sound) How amazing that there are so many artists out there waiting for us to hear them. . .
Edit - discovered a few other songs of his, and sadly, f*** is strewn about. Now, I’m not a prude, but I think that’s lazy. It’s lazy in literature and in song writing. Like “hey look at me, I’m so edgy.” Sometimes, it works but meh. Matt Van, you don’t need to do that.
^_^
Nice find. Singer/songwriter, one-man band in multi-track recording context.
Yah, with respect to the word... Due to gratuitous overuse, the old profanity system has no shock value anymore, anyway. (It's political incorrect words that garner the outrage, are dangerous.) These artists might as well be uttering heck or darn.
Adults doing teen-speak can still get monotonous, though, like somebody muttering "uh" or "um" throughout an interview. All the more so in a song because it gets replayed many more times than a TV episode or movie.
(Aug 12, 2021 09:07 PM)C C Wrote: [ -> ] (Aug 11, 2021 04:35 PM)Magical Realist Wrote: [ -> ]1985---I never grew tired of listening to this song.
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=uejh-bHa4To
Thanks. Can't believe I've never seen the video of it till now.
(Aug 11, 2021 10:47 PM)Leigha Wrote: [ -> ]So happy I heard this guy’s music the other day because he’s really talented. I just love his sound. (Reminds me slightly of Owl City's sound) How amazing that there are so many artists out there waiting for us to hear them. . .
Edit - discovered a few other songs of his, and sadly, f*** is strewn about. Now, I’m not a prude, but I think that’s lazy. It’s lazy in literature and in song writing. Like “hey look at me, I’m so edgy.” Sometimes, it works but meh. Matt Van, you don’t need to do that.
^_^
Nice find. Singer/songwriter, one-man band in multi-track recording context.
Yah, with respect to the word... Due to gratuitous overuse, the old profanity system has no shock value anymore, anyway. (It's political incorrect words that garner the outrage, are dangerous.) These artists might as well be uttering heck or darn.
Adults doing teen-speak can still get monotonous, though, like somebody muttering "uh" or "um" throughout an interview. All the more so in a song because it gets replayed many more times than a TV episode or movie.
Well said. That’s it, really. It fits if we’re watching a series about the drug cartel or an episode of the Sopranos, in fact, “obscene” language can actually bring a certain rawness to a film or series, depending. Game of Thrones had quite a few vulgar scenes but the language fit. Matt Van’s music isn’t edgy per se, so it seems to be trying too hard to be something he isn’t. At least that’s what I’ve gleaned from his songs so far. Here’s the song, so let me know what you think:
I’m enjoying his collection so far but I’m not thrilled with how his songs tend to end abruptly. That’s an actual music style, I think(?) but never cared for it. Just when you think there’s more, it’s over. If he ever tours, it will be the shortest concert ever. ^_^
(Aug 12, 2021 11:05 PM)Leigha Wrote: [ -> ][...] It fits if we’re watching a series about the drug cartel or an episode of the Sopranos, in fact, “obscene” language can actually bring a certain rawness to a film or series, depending. Game of Thrones had quite a few vulgar scenes but the language fit. Matt Van’s music isn’t edgy per se, so it seems to be trying too hard to be something he isn’t. At least that’s what I’ve gleaned from his songs so far. Here’s the song, so let me know what you think:
https://m.youtube.com/watch?v=nl91df7g0YI
It's possible that he wants to emphasize intense feeling about _X_ at the F-word moments, but such probably is overboard. Should explore other options.
Or, since he's singing himself, maybe he could even growl out those bits to express vehemence or accentuation. <grin> Not that really, but some sort of voice modification for a passage, that has a stress quality to it.
We don't know for sure what the tastes of society will be like in the future. Top choices from the old profanity system might be laughable, cornball or hayseed someday. Or censored once more. Hip-hop, for instance, would suffer either way.
Barring a desire to become rich and famous in opportunistic fashion, no reason for him to flirt with music trends dated by the idioms and peculiarities of this era. Go for endurance through the ages.
As a catch-up, some lighter or easygoing stuff of Quevedo that she's done in recent months. Her usual thing of weaving in all the parts and riffs of a song, not just a rudimentary bass line and the melody.
There are three non-embedded links at the very bottom.
No vocal complements to these. Not only because it would make this post even more excessively large, but I doubt, in these cases, that there's any duo or cover band out there that really offers anything modestly interesting or different from the originals (both singing and instrument wise).
Gabriella Quevedo: California Dreamin' (The Mamas & The Papas) https://youtu.be/DTUw7N4oOCE
Gabriella Quevedo: "The Chain" (Fleetwood Mac) https://youtu.be/semLZ1hdO6A
Gabriella Quevedo: cover of "What's Up" (4 Non Blondes)
https://youtu.be/9D7cJMzK4G8
Gabriella Quevedo: cover of "Imagine" (John Lennon)
https://youtu.be/Ag1rpYmyBCA
Gabriella Quevedo: cover of "Let It Be" (The Beatles)
https://youtu.be/wkmreOfpmOs
This is something old, recorded back in 2014 by Fernando Ufret. It's unusual from the standpoint that most covers of "Machinehead" -- whether by a band or a single individual -- usually replicate the two or three quieter interludes or pauses in intensity of the original.
But Ufret keeps the pace going continuously in those slots, with the vocals being steady as well. The result is something that rhythmically sounds more like the progressive rock of the '70s, rather than a grunge product of the '90s. (Why the band "Bachman–Turner Overdrive" keeps coming to mind I have no idea.)
The guitar part is basic singer backup -- just strumming chords with a pick, though the sound is quite robust. He only plays the main riff in two different spots (wish it had been thrice) and there's a brief spasm where it sounds like he's throwing in some notes.
Opinions about Machinehead's lyrics range from evaluations like "eccentric but vibrant" to "stupid as edible clay". Despite that, the energy of the song (especially the main riff) has kept it afloat for decades.
According to Bush's Gavin Rossdale, it was inspired from a line in Allen Ginsberg's poem
Howl: "Machine says I saw the best minds of my generation..."
Further elaboration:
A machine head is a device used for tuning a guitar or other stringed instrument, but that's not what the song is about. "It's a more allegorical sort of thing," Rossdale told Songfacts regarding the title. [...] The idea of 'Machinehead' always was about freeing yourself, about losing your ego and just letting rip. I remember writing the riff, and walking around Hyde Park in England thinking, 'I've got something good, I better not screw it up with the lyric.'"
Fernando Ufret: cover of "Machinehead" (Bush) https://youtu.be/NcfNrapaCu0
Another Bush cover, similarly dating a "few" years back (2015), by Tess Leo.
On
August 7, I mentioned that some songs are not meant to be done sweetly. "Comedown" is apparently an exception, since Gavin Rossdale arguably did it himself with some unplugged, lighter versions.
Instead of it making it sound "pretty", let's just say that Tess Leo and the acoustic slide guitarist merely exhumed the haunting qualities that were already laden in the song, obscured by the grunge.
Tess Leo: cover of "Comedown" (Bush) https://youtu.be/SxxVDXGcvLw
(Aug 15, 2021 02:25 AM)C C Wrote: [ -> ]Tess Leo: cover of "Comedown" (Bush) https://youtu.be/SxxVDXGcvLw
Yea, I like it, her voice works well - wasn't quite sure what to expect. ^_^
(Aug 15, 2021 03:21 AM)Leigha Wrote: [ -> ]Yea, I like it, her voice works well - wasn't quite sure what to expect. ^_^
I didn't get to that cover of "Toxic" in time, where you pointed-out the sedate tendencies of some or many cover artist attempts.
Since I know zilch about Britney Spears' repertoire, I had look up the original. But after listening to it, in this case I feel like any cover that was slowing it down would probably have been an improvement. LAWL
Norah Jones, OTOH, has a natural sounding voice in contrast to the rampant digital modification of many vocalists in the 21st-century. No problem there, though I have to admit that is a very slow paced version of "Black Hole Sun". But the original is hardly a speedboat itself.
I guess Spears' voice is actually non-artificial most of the time, but there's something about it -- along with other purely pop singers in this century that are similar to it -- that just grates on my nerves. She's a skilled singer and performer, vastly more so than some of the mule-mouthed, clumsy vocalists or outright thrash caterwaulers that I find myself listening to at times.
But still... every time I hear that type of singing style -- that may or may not be indigenous to the last two decades (whatever it is, whatever they label it) -- I just want to put on a tin foil hat, cover my ears, and pray the aliens will stop trying to penetrate my skull.