It would be cool to get a song you heard recently, that captivated you, and explain why. Then share it with the community. I think it would be a good experience and a good way to discover new music across the board.
Really digging on this song… it was released in 2015 so a lil bit older but I enjoy it a lot . I came across it randomly on Spotify.
The intro is what pulled me in with what I think is a electric guitar, but with electronic mixing these days you can never be sure, then it drops right into an upbeat bass heavy yet relaxing melody, and a “whisper” high male vocals.
I’ll try and keep updating with new tracks, I hope the community will also participate.
I really enjoy the raspy voice, and melody a lot. It reminds me of something my dad would jam to. Man I really am digging on the rhythm, and overall feel of this track. The pluck of the electric guitar and the brass in the back…very cool. The drums and vocals are more forward/present then the other instruments. At the end the guitar is a nice fade to black.
One of the songs I really like is Bob Dylan’s “All Along the Watchtower” I like to listen to covers, usually starting with Jimi Hendrix. Today, I listened to the Dave Matthew’s band rendition, live from Central Park in 2003.
I’ve been doing some careful listening, preparation to finally finally do that review of the iFi xDSD. Was browsing through TIDAL’s MQA library, and happened on Ry Cooder: The Prodigal Son. This is beautifully recorded. Released in 2018. I’ve always liked Cooder’s projects.
In my case, it has to be something extremely outre or emotionally moving to the point of evoking strong emotion in me. I share the former with casual acquaintances, the latter with more intimate acquaintances. That said, here are some really interesting tracks I’ve been recommended over the last year or more that I’ve recommended to others in turn; this is far from a definitive list, but I rather like all of them:
Thanks for pointing these out. Jinger and Jeff were not my cup of tea, but Dimash has an astonishing range. I’ll need to listen to more of his non TV contest work. Wiki says he wants to present Kazakhstan to the world, I’ll look for that.
And pardon me for commenting on Ry Cooder’s “Jesus and Woody” without any link to it. I was on Tidal late at night, and got lazy. Here’s a YouTube link:
I discovered Arlo Guthrie in High School and College - in his heyday, and listened to Dylan and Baez. This got me working backward through Pete Seeger, Woody Guthrie, and Leadbelly. I’ve always been impressed by the quiet man patriotism shown By Pete and Woody. So I’m a sucker for cuts like the above.
Glad I could share something interesting! Yeah I figure Jeff and Jinjer are pretty niche ones, but I love em all the same. As for Dimash, that man’s range and level of control is flat-out ridiculous; he did a cover of Lionel Richie’s “Hello” that had my jaw on the floor:
He released a single called Screaming recently too, if memory serves. I’m not a fan. Still showcased great technique though.
Hah, was about to look Jesus and Woody, thanks for saving me the effort!
Journey’s current lead singer for the past 10 years, Arnel Pineda, has an excellent voice and a great range, although not quite the range of Dimash. It’s interesting to see YouTube videos of Arnel coving other songs with his prior bands and people he plays with when he’s not touring with Journey.
Arnel writes some too, although he’s yet to write any big hits. When he sings a cover, he doesn’t imitate, so much a channel an original, and almost always owns the song. As a young teenager, he won a national prize in the Philippines for his covers of Queen. Now that the Queen movie is out, it seems Warner has taken an interest in Arnel’s story, and bought the rights to the 2012 award winning documentary by Ramona Diaz, “Don’t Stop Beleivin’: Anyman’s Journey” which is the story of how Arnel was found online by Neil Schon when Journey had to make a record.
I’m a fan of Arnel Pineda! Kinda hard not to be when everyone hereabouts makes a big deal about his being Filipino. I don’t know what it is, but I don’t see many other countries raising such a hullabaloo whenever someone from their country makes it big. Eh, nationalism.
Yup, Pineda has an excellent vocal range, but I don’t think he quite manages 6 octaves like Dimash does. Seeing that number alone is enough to make me skeptical, but there’re videos of him hitting whistle notes like he’s taking potshots at ducks!
Another group I like talking about is Epica. They’re among the first few symphonic metal groups I really got into, and the vocalist just has a beautiful tone to her voice that’s addictive. I’ve not kept up with their recent work though, I mostly listen to stuff from their first studio release or thereabouts (not that they’ve gotten any worse or anything, I’m just slow to adopt new music, haha):
Speaking of bottle-red hair, I’m somewhat on the fence about this one artist named Emilie Autumn. I love how atypical her music is, and I really just find it fun to listen to, but speaking as someone in the mental health field I can’t quite decide whether I’m alright with how she uses mental health to market herself; that’s one hell of a Google rabbit hole in itself.
^Not quite representative of her style, but my favourite song by her. She usually goes for grungier, industrial tones.
Arnel Pineda does not have the range of Dimash, but he has a musical maturity and style that is rarely surpassed. He does fine with his own band, but give him quality backing, and you have Tantra.
Plus Arnel is such a mensch. When he makes it big, he starts a foundation for the homeless kids in the Philippines. He is always polite. Having lived on the streets, he knows “You never know where your next meal is coming from.” My wife is a big fan, we’ve seen him with Journey 5 or 6 times, and have had a few meet and greets. I talked to his son Cherub at one of them. Cherub was sporting Bose Quiet Comfort 35 IIs as they were getting ready for the plane ride back home. I asked Cherub if he liked them, and I got a big smile and a vigorous nod.
I don’t usually like reaction videos. But this is something special. JoeyDaPrince is a young rapper, and some people have been turning him on to a few iconic songs - and he has recorded his first time listening.
If you enjoyed that, he also does a first time listening to “Smells Like Teen Spirit.”
Alison Krauss & Union Station “So Long, So Wrong” album. One of the gold standards of bluegrass album-making. Here’s the title track (with my absolute favorite banjo solo of ALL TIME!) to get you interested (hopefully).