Keeping It Fresh

Today I have some music for you by an absolutely incredible artist. Raphael Saadiq is one of the coolest cats I have heard from our generation of musicians. His style is one that is so incredibly jazzy and full of that R&B funk and soul, that his music seems to ooze swagger. This song, in particular, is one that falls on the slower side of jazz and really develops the R&B sound that I love.  Raphael Saadique embodies that old school R&B sound, the kind of sound we would imagine hearing in a smokey club. What is even better, though, is that the subject matter for his music takes on that old school R&B identity as well. Raphael Saadiq tends to sing about personal struggles, the kind of things we all face at some point. Now this song is used in the new Netflix original, Luke Cage. There is no better song than this one to describe that show. This should honestly be the show's anthem because this song is all about a man who is surrounded by bad things but still rema...

Today is day 3 of the ACL Festival line-up, and I've got some weird music for you. A music festival in Austin would be incomplete without the appearance of a popular artist who could also be the poster child for "Keep Austin Weird." Die Antwoord is a South African rap-rave group who takes the word "eclectic" very seriously. The creative outlet that Die Antwoord has is one that people either love or find to be a joke. Now I won't lie, my first experience with Die Antwoord left me pretty shocked and confused. I didn't know how I felt about the group, and even now I am still unsure. But what I can tell you, is that they have a huge cult following. Die Antwoord's style is described as "zef" which basically translate to modern-trashy. Which I actually really understand since watching them perform and listening to their music. The music itself isn't trashy, but the style makes it sound like a chaotic and raw kind of sound. Since I don't h...

Today we are continuing more with the ACL festival lineup. To start the day off, we have some music by Young the Giant. Today's music is going to be on the rock end of things, which is a nice change to have from what I have been focusing my posts on lately. The band recently released a new album, and I really like it. This is a very good album because of the subject matter. Young the Giant decides to tackle some of the biggest issues we are facing today. This song, in particular, is about immigration and finding a place in the world. This is actually one of my favorite songs off their new album. I personally feel like this song has so much to offer to the listener. There is this rock energy at the base, but built on top of that is a very vulnerable feeling of what love is and how much love means to the singer. The song opens with this youthful and energy and gives way to the main chorus melody on the keys. The lyrics in this song tell such a wonderful story, one that many people ca...

Today I have round 2 of ACL features! One of the newer and bigger artists made an appearance at the festival these past two weekends. The Chainsmokers have recently gained quite a bit of popularity and fame. But what is nice is that they continue to do their own thing, make music the way they want, and create music that speaks to so many people. This is definitely a different vibe that we get from The Chainsmokers. A lot of the time, they are known for being a super energetic duo, one with more hype music than anything else. But this song is a nice step back from that and is a great exploration of something completely different. This song by The Chainsmokers is one that is more about getting you in that atmospheric frame of being. It is more along the lines of being melodic house, which is a genre that gets overlooked and overshadowed by things like house, trap, and dubstep. But melodic electronic music is where my hear and ears really belong, which is why this song ...

HELLO! I have been on a bit of a hiatus this past weekend, but for an absolutely great reason! I had the opportunity to attend one of the biggest music festivals in the world- Austin City Limits. This festival was an experience that I would not trade! Austin City Limits is an annual festival hosted in Texas and features artists from all over the country and world. Across genres and levels of pop culture, Austin City Limits caters to the inner music junkie and brings all kinds of music lovers together. Being hosted in the live music capital of the world, ACL is a festival that showcases so many incredible performers, the kind of performers that leave you even more impressed when you hear them live. Yes, of course, there are many well-known artists who perform, but there are also so many lesser-known musicians that are absolutely incredible. From rock music to rap music to EDM to jazz, Austin City Limits is home to so many amazing artists. Going to a music festival is an experience that ...

Today's song is more  electropo  and New Wave music. Dragonette is a UK group that has definitely not been highly introduced in the USA. Their music is very interesting and I personally believe that this group is not for everyone. You will either like them or you won't. A few people are in between, but not many. I really like the beat and deeper tones used. Dragonette is one of those "weird" acts that can catch people off guard, but I kind of like it. Honestly, I haven't heard enough about Dragonette to really be ably to classify their style as a while. With this song though, we get this really good blend of rock music and electronic music. This is something we see a lot more of nowadays, but at the time that this song came out, the whole electro rock thing wasn't super popular. A lot of what we hear at the beginning is some more intense guitar synth work which is pretty wicked. This is one of those songs that makes you feel like a bad ass when you listen to i...

Today I have a pretty eclectic and psychedelic kind of song for you all. This song is  by  the electronic music project known as Magnetic Man. I think the biggest take away with this song is the idea that dubstep and electronic music can  possess  that genuine  heart-wrenching  soul that comes with singers like John Legend. Despite the fact that John Legend is a singer who tends to stick with more contemporary and R&B styles, he is still able to sound and perform like himself with the presence of electronic work all around him. And Magnetic Man makes very good use of their dubstep background to make this a song that is not too heavy on bass or video game sounds. A lot of dubstep these days include that screech and scratch kind of sound, with a little bit of video game sound thrown in, and a ton of "wub." But this song is not like that at all. Magnetic Man makes this song sound really eclectic and almost ethereal. Part of the reason this song sounds so t...