Category: music video
Songs I heard And Liked – April 2024
Well hey ho it’s that time again where I round up a few songs I’ve heard recently and rather liked.
So lessgo!
Noting But A Nightmare – She Always Ruins A Good Time
I think what swung this for me was the song title. One particular person single handedly ruined what was meant to be a very special holiday in Ibiza. Verily, sometimes folks mess things up for everyone.
She Aways Ruins A Good TIme’s solid verse builds into a super strong chorus that reminds me ever so slightly of a Blink 182; but there’s also another post-punk band who had a chorus much closer to this but for the life of me the name of which escapes me. Maybe you can help out in the comments?
Edit: maybe this at a pinch.
Waves_On_Waves x Crimewave x Death By Algorithm – Messed up and Fell in Love
A very melancholy and understated track borrowing heavily from the likes of The Sisters Of Mercy and Depeche Mode, Messed Up And Fell In Love builds into a deeply reflective and absorbing song.
I could elaborate but that sums it up very succinctly and you like brevity my dear readers.
Paint and Copter – Another Dimension
The production may be a bit shaky and the verse is perhaps pretty dull but I liked the chorus. But the main reason for including this song is the vocals are AI. As the band explains:
With that AI-powered engine, we can give her words and melody to sing. Even though we are writing the words and music, they are from her perspective.
And it’s interesting. I’m not sure AI will replace songwriting because you still need a good mechanism to filter out bad ideas; nevertheless, the idea of getting an AI to be your band’s vocalist appeals to me especially if you can control what they sing. Thoughts folks?
Benjamin Ingrosso x Olly Alexander – Kite
Charming wee song this. It may be really poppy and happy with shades of happy camper Mica but I can also hear bits and pieces of Tame Impala in here. A very strong song with a damn catchy chorus.
Chérie ifẹ – Good Girl
And last on this list is newcomer Chérie ifẹ who tells me she “started writing late summer of last year” and is already producing some very intriguing material.
Good Girl is one of those unusual songs which leaves you unsure at first but on second and third listens digs it’s claws deeper and deeper until you realise resistance is futile. For sure fans of Ling Tosite Sigure and uber obscure Scottish band Laki Mera take note.
Now, the caveat here is the mixing and production may not be the most professional but she’s trying to do everything herself which is no easy task. But that aside, I really think Chérie is an act to keep an eye on.
Song Of The Week
And City Pop! And Vapourwave! All win here! Too many exclamation marks!!!! Oh nose!!
I can’t fault this kind of stuff and it’s exactly my jam. Very Tame Impala, very Kaleidoscopes very….good. I’m super late to the party though because this game out aaages ago. Who cares. When you hear good music, you need to share, right?
H/T Alexander Gillmartin
Songs I Heard Recently And Liked
Urban Hane – Natter Utan Drommar
Nattan Utan Drommer translates to ‘nights without dreams’ and I can’t really segue neatly into anything logical at this point apart from the fact this track is relentlessly 80’s and mixes together The Damned, The Scorpions and some uber obscure Polish banned called Kombi which I shall post here because I fricking love this song:
Jake Huffman – Highs and Lows
Highs and Lows is the first single of an upcoming EP and has very British sensibilities: The Verve and Razorlight spring to mind immediately. A really solid track that bodes well for what I’m sure will be a good EP next year.
darkDARK – Ghost Complex
This one does take a while to get going but by the time the vocals kick in at 30 seconds you’ll be hooked. A lovely pared back production really lets the track breath and flow as every good production should and I am reminded very much of Feist or Imogen Heap – surely a good thing.
Guggenheim Bilbao / Koki Nakano – MONUMENTAL: Ep. 2
A real adventure this one. Starting off as slightly circular piano piece and then evolving into performance art courtesy of Tess Voelker’s intimate dancing, this is a highly unusual and involving body of work.
Tiger Del Flor – Living In The 90s
All I can remember from the 90s is being miserable and hating pop music and listening to nothing but heavy metal. Pop music in the 90s was terrible. Change my mind. However, Tiger Del Flor makes good pop music and this is like a very laid back Lana Del Rey or – oft quoted in these blog pages – Miranda Lee Richards. This is some great Americana.
Christian Loffler – Roused (Ft Malou)
When reviewing songs for the blog often times you’re struck by the occasional production that is utterly flawless and our Christian delivers a huge but very understated track. If M83 were a bit more grown up it might sound a bit like this.
Dual Aeon – Tokimeki Christmas
And what better to round of this selection with a very silly Xmas song by Dual Aeon. Don’t know what else to say – it’s gloriously happy and Santa San will be sure to add this band onto the Nice List this year!
Song Of The Week Dec 18
So I’m in Taiwan visiting family and eating random food when by a quirky twist of fate I chanced across a band called called The Kaleidoscopes who have a new song out called Kung Fu:
Musically it’s a mix of very good things: Home, Empire of the Sun, with bits and pieces of Tame Impala and M83 all thrown in for good measure.
Not much left to say except I have another blog post to write real soon about other great music like The Kaleidoscopes I’ve heard recently. And if you want me to hear your music you can send it to the blog here.
Random Songs of The Week I Found and Liked – September 28
As many folks of this once world famous Japanese music blog know I often times find great music at the back of my sock drawer and will write about awesome new music I find!
So without further ado, lets jump in and see what we have!
Reality Addiction – Grow Up
When I write about music I’ll often find inspiration from lots of sources, one of which is perusing the Popular Charts over at Submithub. And that’s where I found this really cool song which caught my attention with the minimum of fuss. A super melodic pop-rock song very much in the vein of Keane (of whom I’m not a particular fan, but production and stylistically this is similar).
I hope to hear more from these guys in the future, some talent here.
B.Miles – Separate Rooms
Fans of Feist will love this. B.Miles has a lovely soft, lilting voice and the song has strong echos of another independent artist called Dresage whom I found via Bjork’s producer, Damian Taylor.
A lovely slice of summer pop to accompany a trip to a baseball game. And she clearly loves popcorn, but who doesn’t?
Kid Phenomenon – Wheelie
This song is a super well produced track that could easily pass for a male version of FEMM but exists fine as a punchy pop-rap track all on its own.
But here’s the kicker – this 7 piece boy band has an average of 17! They have a long future ahead I am sure.
Nervous City Nervous Self – Stories of Our Names
Nervous City Nervous Self is the English language debut of Swedish singer/songwriter David Josephson and he tells me this and other songs “portray a wandering singer’s delightful doom, and are the expression of an artist staying committed to his path”. Which segues nicely onto my comparison: Jon and Vangellis once had a song called Find My Way Home from waaaay back in the day of which this reminds me. And while about obscure comparisons, see also Justin Hayward and Jose Gonzales for your vocal mood board.
Dance Yourself Clean – 2 Late
I almost typed Dance Your *Elf Clean, hey ho; early morning typos lend well to hilarity I guess.
Dance Yourself Clean started in Seattle (2013) as an indie dance party that grew into the first touring dance party in North America and the band produce high quality indie electronic music of a highly melodic nature.
Not sure what 2 Late is about but it’s a very M83 inspired track with shades of Years of War. Solid vocals and epic synth work blend together to form a highly expansive and involving production.
I look forward to hearing more from these *elfs 😉
*I know it’s spelled elves, but typos are funnier-er.
Todd Binder – Alameda
Pitched against a backdrop of somewhat country-esque or Americana instrumentals, Todd’s Damien Rice or even Daniel Bedingfield inspired vocals make my final choice, Alameda, a really compelling track.
When I asked Todd about the song, he tells me:
I drew inspiration from this song from a visit to Forbidden Island Tiki Lounge in Alameda, CA. The patrons there pin dollar bills with personalized inscriptions to the ceiling above the bar — a practice started by sailors, who would do the same for good luck before shipping out. I wanted to continue that story, writing about a man searching for validation and acceptance in his circumstances. It’s also fair to say the song as a whole walks a divide between — on one hand — that character, and — on the other — my own internal struggles as an artist searching for the same
Anyone that’s been to a Tiki bar in the bay area can probably relate – yes, that means YOU Trad’r Sam.
Anyway, that’s this week’s roundup and if you have any songs, do send my way and if I like it, I’ll write about it!
Random Song Of The Week Sept 15
I aimed to write this blog post ages ago but life events got in the way – namely a very hot and humid trip in Taiwan.
Ahead of that journey I meant to write about a really interesting new singer called Dune Moss and her excellent new song Eyes Inside My Walls which came out September 1.
Dune is no stranger to the industry and in 2021 auditioned for American Idol and made it to the top 40 although she has no idea why she auditioned in the first place “I have no idea why I thought that would be a good idea…”. Hard agree.
Eyes Inside My Walls is a deceptively powerful song but it’s sound is rather hard to pin down; a weird abstracted version of M83 mixed with Miranda Lee Richards when she really gets going.
I wrote about Liz Fraser of the Cocteau Twins waxing lyrical about Jeff Buckley and I’ll draw more parallels here: Dune’s voice is quite the thing, especially when this song engages light speed around the 2 minute mark and she pushes her voice to the point it begins to break and crack.
I’m looking forward to hearing more from Dune but if you want to send music me your music for my fickle ears to wrap around, you can do so here!
Song Of The Week August 7
Yi – Runaway
To all the fellow producers reading this blog, a great way to meet new artists is to hang out on Twitch feedback streams where all the other producers send in their tracks for analysis by those watching and the stream creator. And so it came to pass as I was hanging around streamer Todd Champ‘s channel, a young chap called Yi pitched in with this absolute gem of a song. Clearly inspired by M83, FM84 and all your face synthwave greats, this is a very strong tune with a seriously infectious chorus. I really really rate this one.
Random Song Of The Week June 26 2023
It’s not often I find myself structuring a song review around Cinderella and her blue dress, but I’m a massive stickler for blue dresses that cost upwards of £30,000 in camp Kenneth Brannagh Holywood adaptations of princesses in blue dresses, but I digress.
Fellow Submithub local Kid Travis has a song out this week of the same name ‘Blue Dress‘ which Travis tells me is “centered around a love interest that wears a beautiful blue dress that attracts him more to her”. EXACTLY like Cinderella, and nothing like Chris De Burgh.
Er, isn’t this dress Turquoise?
But on a serious note, it’s a great slice of well produced contemporary synth pop with shades of Justin Timberlake or The Weeknd but I think Kid Travis has his own sound somewhere else entirely, which is only a good thing.
PS – here’s what a blue dress looks like Mr Travis!!! THAT’S A £30,000 BLUE DRESS!!!!
But what do you think? Turquoise is kind of blue? That’s not what Chris De Burgh told me.
FYI you can now send your music to this blog via Submithub if you want this kind of gently humorous write up of your music. But I need to like it ‘natch.
Random Song Of The Week June 2023
I’m not usually a massive fan of minimal tech save for maybe Jaeji or Valentino Khan but this track by Mason feat. Madrush MC called ‘Hush’ is deranged house music gold. The track has been out for over a year and I admit I’m late to the party but judging by the low view counts something has gone wrong with the PR which is why it maybe passed me by. Anyway, I’m glad to get on this crazy train and you should too.
Random Song Of The Week March 2023
I frequently haunt Twitch.tv, mostly to promote my own music but also to listen to other really cool producers. And every once in a while you’ll get absolute ringers turning up and making us amateurs look, well, amateur.
And so it came to pass on Nextup’s stream a band called Softcult appeared. I’ve come across them before when one of their tracks slayed mine in a competition. But I’m not bitter.
I think this track was meant to be released on Valentines day for it is a song about longing and lost love and features very dreamy vocals and guitar. Think My Bloody Valentine with shades of The Cocteau Twins. It’s lovely. I’ve not heard a tune this good in ages and I’m picky and precise with my music choices.
I really rate this band and think they’re going to go big places.
Softcult are on tour in the UK and USA from Friday March 3. For those of you in Scotland they will be hitting up Stereo April 8 in Glasgow. I am so there!
Follow Softcult on instagram.
Najinsan!!!!!!!!! 