Keeping It Fresh

Today I have music for you by the band Goodnight, Texas. Now the first time I heard this song I was immediately captured. I am not normally one for country music, but this had such a folk twist to it that it made the song a million times better. There is something that older folk sounds do to music that turns it from being a typical country tune into a song that is powerful and intense. The percussion in this song pounds like the beating of a heart and it suits the mood that the guitar sets so incredibly well.  The vocals are minimal in this song, but the way that they are slightly fuzzed out is really fitting to give the song that intense and hardy sound. This is a song that I imagine the constant beating of a pick axe to the ground, the way you may see it in movies. That synchronized slamming to the ground, the way everything seems to be parts of a machine is kind of what I feel when I listen to this song. This does have that Wild West kind of s...

Today I have some electronic music for you because it has been quite some time since we have had a nice dose of that. This first song is by Ferry Corsten. Now this song is a pretty sick mix between EDM trance and house. This song is absolutely wicked and extremely well produced. For starters, this song features an incredible vocalist, Nat Dunn. If there is one thing everyone can appreciate about electronic music, the DJ's and artists always pick vocalists who are not only low key, but are also talented beyond belief. I have yet to hear an electronic song that features a vocalist I have not been impressed by. Nat Dunn is a powerhouse, with a voice that is both rich and even a little bit sultry. Where you can really get blown away though is in the chorus when she belts out the two words that really make the song. It is just waves of power from her voice and there is this underlying rasp and rawness to the way she sings the chorus that really gives the song dynamism and character. The...

Today I have some smooth and nice R&B for you. This song comes to you from two incredible vocalists, Alina Baraz and Khalid. What is cool is that I have listened to both of these artists in their own scope of musicality. Alina Baraz leans more towards this chill step and mellow kind of sound. Her music generally features more synths and gives us that atmospheric kind of sound. Khalid is more on the side of analog R&B, featuring simple instrumentation and a more alternative sound. What we get with this song is such a beautiful blend of the two. We get simple production with this song, and it features more instruments. The soft guitar is flanked by some synth fillers which brings the two artists' styles together in a seamless blend of sounds. Keeping the music at simpler and more acoustic sound allows the vocals to really shine in this. The simple beat at the beginning gives her the ability to show off her impressive sounds and vocal range. Alina Baraz sounds fantastic in thi...

Today I have some music for you by a band called Judah & the Lion. This is a band that plays a style of music that is slowly becoming popular. I was very impressed with this song when I first heard it because it has such a hearty sound to it. That Southern soul which isn't country music is what makes up this song. I really really like it! This might sound like music Mumford and Sons or The Lumineers put out, but Judah & the Lion have a very different soul to their music. Part of it may be easier for me to recognize because I am from the South. But there is less country to this song and more Americana in it. This is more folksy fiddle music and carries over a lot of the sub genres that make up Americana music. I really like the way they perform this song in the video. You can tell that Judah & the Lion has fun doing what they do and really enjoy making music. There is enthusiasm and energy which carries over into the song itself. This song does have a liv...

Today I have music for you by a very low-key independent artist known as Jimmy Needham. This is a man who definitely enjoys the low light, but somehow still shines above those in the spotlight. This is a man who really makes music for the love of music instead of all the other excuses some artists have. Jimmy Needham is a wonderful mix of Michael Buble and Jason Mraz which is actually the most magnificent thing in the world. Jimmy Needham has a wonderful voice, one that is warm and soft and lively. He has a voice that makes you feel really good inside and it just fills you with happiness. His tone is so warm and comforting to the point that even in his sadder or slower songs, I still feel. There is something whimsical and "sweep you off your feet" about this song and it can make anyone feel incredible. For all the girls out there, this is the cutest anthem to the father-daughter relationship. For all the guys out there, this song is how you should feel about your daughter or ...

Today I have some music for you that comes from the world of EDM. This song is by the electronic music duo known as Sultan & Shepard. This is such a feel good track! EDM tends to be a style of music that is all about inclusiveness, unity, and feeling really great. We get all of that with this track. Sultan & Shepard have given us a song that is full of euphoric highs and soul filling drops. The song opens up with a really nice acoustic guitar intro which later gets layered into a mix of synths. Sultan & Shepard do an incredible job of incorporating synthetic and organic instruments. The blend of musical mediums is outstanding, and very clear. The two styles come together like gears and give the song the beauty and life that I love so much. The sound we get is so unique and diverse. I especially love it when we hit the chorus melody, the main melody that accompanies the post drop. It has so much energy and vivacity that makes me feel on top of cloud nine. The synths tend to ...

Today I have some music that comes from the early 2000s era of music. This is the era of music that we millennials grew up with, and sometimes you just need a little bit of a throwback to those times. So I want to start this off with a song by an artist who was all the rage back then. Jojo was one of those pop queens who also dabbled a lot in R&B. Now keep in mind that both of these genres meant different things 10 years ago, and their sounds were different. When Jojo started out, she was only 13 years old! This song came out when she was maybe 14 or 15 which is insane. Despite her youth, Jojo has an incredibly mature voice for someone her age. When listening to this song, you don't hear someone that has just become a teenager. Jojo has the voice of an R&B singer, but with this song, she tends to focus a bit more on pop. One thing to appreciate though is that she maintains the soulfulness in her voice no matter what style of song she does. This has the trademark signs of a ...