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Feature a band/artist in three tracks.
Here's the idea: feature any artist you love, especially those you think deserve more attention (though that's not a requirement--anyone is fair game!).
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Give the artist/band, their genre(s), and three songs that give a good introduction/overview to their sound and style. Think appetizer, entree, and dessert. (Or just three appetizers--it's good to get us wanting more!)
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Include a brief description of the artist and each of the tracks. Include any other information you feel is relevant.
Feel free to feature more than one band/artist, but in the interest of organization, make each its own separate top-level comment.
(See my example comment below to get a better idea of what I'm going for.)
I've listened to Illinois countless times and love "Casimir Pulaski Day" for its sound, but I never really sat down to process it lyrically until now. Wow. Thanks for giving me cause to do so.
Also, did you have a hard time narrowing down only three tracks for Sufjan Stevens? I specifically chose a pop artist because I didn't want to be stuck trying to decide how best convey a "deeper" artist, knowing how much I would be leaving out.
If I had to choose 3 tracks from Subaru, I would have to include The Predatory Wasp of the Palisades. It's such a powerful song, most likely my favorite from Illinoise. I would also probably include Impossible Soul, but that is kind of cheating, because it is as long as some EPs hahaha. You chose some very good tracks though and as a sample of Sufjan I think these are some very good choices and probably better than having someone listen to Impossible Soul as their first song from him.
(Quick note: your YouTube link for Casimir Pulaski Day goes to the wrong song.)
Dot.
Dot.(Aditi Saigal) is an indie artist from Delhi.
Her influences include Regina Spektor, KT Tunstall, Paolo Nutini, Peggy Lee and Etta James.
Her music videos have a charm of their own, with almost no editing or studio trickery. It's just pure, raw fun.
Genre - I would describe her music as having a jazzy feel to it.
I'm really bad at describing things so I'll just mention my three favourite tracks from her :p (I'll try to add a description later)
Track 1 - Busy in Beige
Track 2 - Lillian
Track 3 - Normal Things
I hope she releases an album soon :)
You had me at Regina Spektor!
She has a great voice, and like you said, I enjoy how her videos are very simple and straightforward. It's nice to see someone just doing what they love in an everyday, unprocessed way. Thanks for sharing.
<3 Dot! You actually introduced me to her ages ago and I have had her YouTube channel set to "show all notifications" since then in desperate hope she would post some more videos. :P
Dang, she's really good! Thanks for the share!
Bomb the Music Industry!
Genres: Punk, Ska
Don't know how to sell them, so let's just say that Jeff Rosenstock's energy and songwriting make for great records.
Track 1: Skye! Life is Awesome! - Early work. Very rough mixing, very bright and youthful vibe.
Track 2: 25! - Mid point for the band. This song and album has better recording than the older work (not that much better, he did it himself for every record), and the subject matter is more about getting older and wanting to stay young.
Track 3: Campaign for a Better Weekend - One of the band's later albums, this track paints a picture of the city conspiring to ruin a perfect day, and the different ways you can look at life.
Assassin a.k.a Agent Sasco
Genres: Dancehall, reggae
Originally known as Assassin for his lyrical abilities, in the past decade he's formalized one of his longtime nicknames. That coincided with a progression from more of a strictly hardcore dancehall artist to more versatility in the broader reggae range. You might have heard him as the source of the Jamaican vocals on Kanye West's I'm In It and Kendrick Lamar's The Blacker The Berry, or maybe you saw that Kenzo perfume ad that went viral a couple years back.
Impossible to do him justice with three songs out of an almost 20-year career, but here are three I like that should show his trajectory.
Track 1 - My Story (2010)
A monster of a song. I realize it's probably not an easy introduction, but if you don't bounce off the lingo, it paints a vivid picture of where he comes from. A shame I can't find a link to the lyrics anywhere.
Track 2 - Stronger (2016)
This cut is from his excellent album Theory of Reggaetivity, in which he explored and paid homage to the roots of reggae music.
Track 3 - Change (feat. Stonebwoy, Kabaka Pyramid, and Spragga Benz) (2018), from his latest album Hope River. Another massive tune.
Sasco: songs of Substance And Social COmmentary.
LIGHTS
Genres: pop, synthpop, acoustic
Lights (her real name) is a Canadian artist who I describe as making "pop songs with panache." Her songs are incredibly radio-friendly without feeling soulless, and she does much of the songwriting and production on her tracks herself. She has singable melodies on top of engaging electronic arrangements, and she has a knack for capturing meaningful sentiments without getting cheesy or maudlin. She also releases acoustic versions of each of her albums, so you can enjoy the tracks you already love from a new, more minimal musical perspective.
Track 1: Up We Go
This is a quintessential Lights song and is a great introduction to her style. It features her bright (pun acknowledged) voice over driving, triumphant synths. Lyrically, it's an optimistic anthem for people at low points in life ("from down this low / it's only up we go").
Track 2: Everybody Breaks a Glass
This features a darker, harsher electronic arrangement that was the predominant style of her second album, Siberia. It's edgier with harder hits, almost dubsteppy at points, yet still eminently listenable. Lyrically, it's another pat on the back, acknowledging that we're all imperfect and make mistakes ("we all go off the track / and feel for our way back / everybody breaks a glass").
Track 3: Running With the Boys
This is from Midnight Machines, her acoustic re-recording of her third album Little Machines. This track does a great job of featuring her voice over a plodding, kinetic arrangement with a folksy feel. Lyrically, it's a reminiscence about childhood and a nostalgia for simpler times.
Jeff Rosenstock
Genres: punk, pop-punk, indie, ska
Jeff Rosenstock is a musician from Long Island. He has been involved in a handful of projects since the early 2000's include the The Arrogant Sons of Bitches, Bomb the Music Industry!, Kudrow, Antarctigo Vespucci and a bunch others. He's known for his rigorous DIY ideologies. He also founded Quote Unquote Records, which releases all their music for free (this was before Radiohead and others were doing stuff like this.) After the disbandment of BTMI, he started a solo career that kept the same spirit of his previous projects. Generally his music is energetic and anxiety ridden. His lyrics range from issues with anxiety/depression, issues in the music scene, and political animosity. I don't usually play favorites when it comes to music but there are few artists that are able to put my thoughts and feelings onto paper so well.
Track 1 - Everybody That Loves You, from Vacation
Thought it'd be good to start with something from one of his original projects that was a little more than him screaming over loud synths and guitars. This track is from, what is generally considered, Bomb the Music Industry's best album. It is probably the closest thing to his solo work. If you haven't given BTMI a listen, you need to take a second and listen to this album (or all of them.) I think this is just a fun song that both lyrically and musically give a good taste of what that project encompassed.
Track 2 Nausea, from We Cool?
When I "rediscovered" Jeff, after years of not really following his music, this was the first song I heard and I was instantly hooked. It put me on a path to delve back into everything he had been doing since BTMI broke up. Probably one of my favorite songs ever, and at the time, something I really identified with. It gives a good taste of the nervous, self-deprecating but fun, high energy Jeff's music is all about.
Track 3 9/10, from POST-
While it pains me to not include anything off his 2016 record WORRY. (quite possibly my favorite record of all time), I think this song serves as a better dessert and provides a deeper example of the breadth of Jeff's musical abilities. While a good portion of his discography is loud, anxiety ridden punk rock, he has an equally large number of more calm songs like this. While POST- is a good album, it has a lot of iffy tracks (unlike WORRY. that was a banger front to back) but the good tracks on it are classics.
"Nausea" absolutely hooked me. That catchy melody and an anthemic, clapping crowd chorus? I am all about it. Thank you for sharing.
Vulfpeck
Genres: funk, indie
A band from Michigan with funk played in a minimalist approach and an amateur studio sound that harks back to older-records of funk music before modern music production and sound recording, giving it a certain charm and aesthetic. Each instrument "contributes, but does not dominate" is their phrasing of it. If nothing else, I always enjoy watching their videos because you can tell they're having a lot of fun.
Track 1: Adrienne & Adrianne
A simple repetition that goes through the motions of giving each performer their own little moment. Kind of like an exercise in moving your attention from one instrument to the next.
Track 2: Wait for the Moment
Most of Vulfpeck's recent albums all have vocals, starting with this remarkable introduction to Antwuan Stanley that still gives me frission when I pay attention to his voice. They have other good vocal-laid tracks, but none as good as this one, imo.
Track 3: A Walk to Remember
This is the song that introduced me to them, and it just captured me like nothing else. It's a voyage from this trio of bass, beat, and piano that ends with a nostalgic sax solo that carries you away. It's just lovely. Like the end to a fun movie.
Bonus track: Fearless Flyers - Ace of Aces: A side-project/band of theirs that are also good if you like their sound.
Another bonus track: Vulfpeck performing 1612 on Colbert is still one of my favorite live performances of theirs. Antwaun Stanley is a killer vocalist and in combination with Vulf it's pure magic.
Static-X
Genres: Industrial metal, nu-metal.
They're an industrial metal band from LA. They were really big in the late 90s and early 2000s, but I hadn't actually heard of them until 2012 when a girl I used to like sent me a link to their "I'm With Stupid" music vid. I'd say I'm With Stupid is a bad starting point, because that track made me think they were a bad SOAD knock-off, especially when you look at Wayne's unintelligable scat-screaming and the garbled mess that the lyrics are. The only thing I can remotely understand in that track are the sampled voice clips from Sorority Babes in the Slimeball Bowl-O-Rama.
The band's vocalist Wayne Static died on the very first night shift I did in my old customer service job, so in tribute I spent my entire first shift listening through several of his albums back to back. That's when I realised that I didn't give them a proper chance.
Track 1: 'Push It' from Wisconsin Death Trip
Push It is the quintessential track from their debut album. It has a nice industrial guitar riff, lyrics that actually make sense, and a pretty decent music video to boot. It's also the track that Static-X are most well known for.
Track 2: 'The Only' from Shadow Zone
The Only is my favourite song from them. While the music video is average, the keyboard synth opener is great, and it actually reminds me of an alternative rock/pop punk song I heard years ago which I've spent ages trying to re-discover. Each part of the song including the opener, two verses, bridge and choruses are great in their own right.
It's also one of their least heavy tracks. It's an anomally and a bloody good one at that.
Track 3: 'Bled For Days' from Wisconsin Death Trip
Didn't know whether to pick this or Wisconsin Death Trip as the third track. The latter is the titular song from their debut album and both do represent the early sound of Static-X with rather heavy riffs, lots of fast screaming and rather repetitive lyrics. In the end, Bled For Days won out because I like the intro/riff a lot more and because the lyrics seem to have some actual meaning.
It's not clear what Bled For Days alludes to. It's definitely a song about depression, but it's not clear whether it also alludes to self-harm, being backstabbed, or being assaulted.
Whores.
Genres: rock; noise rock; hard rock; sludge;
These guys bring the noise. Plain and simple. They hail from Atlanta and tour extensively. Their live show is easily the loudest and most cathartic live music experience I've seen and I highly recommend catching them live if you get the chance. They have been one of my favorite bands for the past few years and are one of the biggest influences on my own music.
I don't have a ton to say about each specific track so I'll let them speak for themselves.
Track 1: Baby Bird
Track 2: I Have A Prepared Statement
Track 3: Daddy's Money
Dapz on the Map
Genre: grime
There's a lot of talent in the grime scene but Birmingham's DotM stands out. I guess the easy comparison to make would be Drake (similarly blending melody and singing with rapping, songs about relationship troubles) but he's more than a mere clone. He's been at it for years, and his stuff has a raw, aspirational edge to it that I love. I wish he put out more material, it would be great to see him really blow up. DSAW!
Track 1 - ROWT (2018)
Track 2 - Champion Champion (2016)
Track 3 - I Swear (2015)
Tunde Olaniran
Genres: hip hop, trap, pop
Tunde Olaniran is an American singer and rapper with a distinctive voice and incredible range. His songs are full of energy and personality. He is openly queer and one of his tracks was apparently featured in an Apple ad that I can't find a copy of online (I never saw it myself). I like him because I feel like he has a fresh, exciting sound that I can't adequately pin down or categorize. It changes from track to track, sometimes even within tracks.
Track 1: Namesake
This is a great introduction to Olaniran's style. Brash, frantic arrangement with confident and supportive lyrics. It's primarily focused on identity and satisfaction in life ("everybody's hoping and scraping and wishing / they could be something outside themselves"), with a message that's both reflective and uplifting ("if I can be me / then you can be yourself").
Track 2: Coins
This one feels like it's about to go off the rails at any moment, and it's so much better for it. The song is very much "fuck you, pay me" but expressed way more creatively ("make it hurricane in my pocket"). I really like the emotional range he's able to evoke in his voice, and the bridge is truly sublime.
Track 3: Celine Dion
This one is somewhat out of character in that it has a darker feel than his usual musical optimism, but I find its style engaging. The arrangement gives the whole thing a sort of eerie, foreboding feel that compliments the lyrics as Olaniran engages in a protracted and ambitious brag ("crown / I put it on").