The uptempo, Electro Hearts Revolution offered up “Teenage Teardrops” and we’re sharing with you a stunning remix of the track that popped up in our inbox a few days ago by Zack and Steve who make up the duo UpTill.
UpTill takes the Crystal Castles influenced track and remains true to the sound for the most part, while offering a slight Foster The People minimal-esque sunshine pop spin on it, giving the emotional angsty out pour of Leyla ‘Lo’ Safai’s vocals a platform to shine brightly over a track that offers a sweet dance hi-cut filter toward the 2:13 mark, and gives the vocal track several pitch manipulations, loops, which adds an even more Electronic and fresh feeling to the track.
What makes this mix great is that it’s also a very straightforward mix. There’s no large bells and whistles, no large production techniques, just simple mixing where the composition and song structure provides the basis of “Teenage Teardrops”.
The mix comes off the tail of a Remix Competition Hearts Revolution announced, which has since ended (on August 24th to be exact), but you can still download the multitracks to the song and give your own spin on the song by clicking here. The group urged competitors to be “Creative as hell” and that’s exactly what Uptill has done. Bravo, guys!
Lately, Late Night Alumni have been ultra interactive with their fans and we love it. They’ve held Facebook contests for a chance to win their entire discography on a Flash Drive, a T-Shirt designing contest, keep us informed with their statuses, and occasionally reply to a few fans here and there. Now, they’re asking for our help.
If case you didn’t know: touring is expensive. There is an article over at The Guardian, published in 2008, that just scratches the surface of how much money is taken in regards to fees to sell merchandise at your show and how hard it is to get label support to back you up, especially if you’re an up & coming act. Since they’ve been around since 2004, electronic music act Late Night Alumni are practically veterans to the music business and three albums into their career, even they need help catching the funds needed to supply the mandatory demands that a tour financially needs.
Late Night Alumni is made up of Ryan Raddon (aka Kaskade, who we’d like to congratulate on winning America’s Best DJ), Finn Bjarnson, John Hancock, and Becky Jean Williams, and being the resourceful bunch they are, they’ve set up a Kickstart campaign to ask willing fans to donate some cash to help them reach their goal of a steep $10,000 for the tour the group hopes to embark on.
The best thing about this is the fans benefit just as much as the band. In fact, for every dollar you spend, there is a some sort of kickback for the kickstart you’ve helped. $1 enters you into a drawing for a hoodie/T-shirt package prize, $5 gets you a personal thank you card, $20 grants you a remastered hard copy of the band’s debut record Empty Streets, and if you’re feeling extra helpful, $2000 gets you a chance to sit in on a recording session with the band! (2020k note: I’d kill for this, but unfortunately, I don’t even have $2000 to my bank account!!)
So far, the band has currently received $22,712 in donations, which has more than doubled the amount of money they originally asked. In a Facebook update, LNA stated “Hooray! The goal has been met! The more we raise the bigger the tour! Let’s keep it going so we can come see you in your home town!”
You have until October 2nd, 2011 to donate – why not throw in a few bucks toward a band that’s given us such authentic sounding Electronic music. Check out a video below of the band recording their third album Haunted and cross your fingers that they make a stop in a city near you. 2020k will be praying for a Pittsburgh, PA date!
Follow 2020k on Twitter and like us on Facebook for more Late Night Alumni news, music reviews, interviews, contests and more! Also, chat it up in the comments section and let us know what you think about artists using Kickstart for this reason and what you think about Late Night Alumni!
Abel Tesfaye, better known as The Weeknd, better known as 2020k’s vote for one of the most unique and refreshing artists to produce R&B music in the last couple of years, finds himself working exclusively with Doc McKinney (Esthero, Res) and Illangelo and submerging himself into deeper, darker, and more experimental atmospherics on his sophomore mixtape, Thursday.
Thursday carries forth the depression that it’s predecessor House of Balloons proudly displayed, and continues it’s downward spiral by remaining true to the signature subjects of sex, drugs, alcohol, and despair, but creates it’s own progressive niche by replacing the catchy melodies that songs like “The Morning” & “House of Balloons – Glass Table Girls” offered, with lyrics that sound more like a stream of consciousness, transcribed and morphed into R&B phrases. It’s only “The Birds Part 1” and “Lonely Star” that carry the strongest inklings of a strong and traditional hook, with all of the other songs relying on the mood of the track to carry Tesfaye’s melancholy crooning.
Mood is a central theme of any work The Weeknd has released thus far, and it’s become a stronger standpoint on Thursday. Strong rhythmic presence combines with electronic ambiance on the majority of the tracks, with the title track “Thursday” being the lead example of how this contrast in sonics work as well as they do. Bass, kick, snare, and supportive rhythmic samples are the main focus throughout the song, with a secondary focus on vocals.
What’s most interesting about this record is that the vocals are usually not the main focus in most of the songs. They’re compressed heavily sometimes, there’s some very nice, long reverb settings, delays, and layers to them, but if you listen to the first two tracks, it’s apparent that the vocals are shoved a bit further back in the mix to give balance and equal representation to all aspects of the music, which is a technique used more in rock music than in R&B. It’s a refreshing approach, but takes a few listens to get used to, especially on the album’s opener,”Lonely Star,” because even though it has the most pop/standard R&B influence on it, it remains experimentally obscure sounding because of the lack of extreme vocal presence that friendly melodies are normally associated with. …But, “I love the guitars!”
Yes, it’s true. The guitars are nice, especially on the second song, “Life of the Party”, that literally sounds like something you’d hear in a madhouse. There’s a nice synth that appears on every and of the beat that gives the track a warped reggae tone, combined with pop, electronic, rock, ambient, and R&B tones. It’s another one of the catchier tracks on the record, but in terms of the musical production on it.
Where the musical production and composition really gets into it’s zone though, is on the appropriately titled “The Zone.” Bass samples are manipulated to give a nice pulsing melody that helps drive the track and has an underlying synth pad underneath it that gives the track an odd Vespertine-Bjork-esque macro Electronic, minimalist production quality before the percussion kicks in to drive the urban vibe. Drake sounds super nice on the track as well and it’s a nice surprise to hear his voice on the track, especially given the push he’s give Abel since his debut a few months ago. “The Birds Part 1” also demonstrates a very nice musical composition, with it’s kick your fucking face in snare drum production and rolls and is the highlight of the album for 2020k.
But, it’s the sample of a girl hysterically crying that opens up “The Birds Part 2” and the sample of the extremely gut wrenching song “Sandpaper Kisses” by Martina Topley-Bird off her debut record Quixotic (UK)/Anything (US) that gives the album’s most emotional and shocking moments of the record. It’s raw emotion, captured, sampled, manipulated, placed into a Weeknd track, and is the most intense track Thursday offers to us. Basically, don’t fall in love with a nigga like The Weeknd. This is what he’s been trying to tell us track after track after track.
“Sandpaper kisses, papercut bliss Don’t know what this is, but it all leads to this: You’re gonna leave Her. You have deceived Her. Just a girl.” Click here to listen to the original track by Martina! (Who has collaborated with Trip-Hop artist Tricky and more lately, Massive Attack, who we’ve written about before).
Thursday is a fantastic display of growth from The Weeknd and it hasn’t even been half a year since the release of House of Balloons. We have one more release coming in fall/winter from him, and there’s no doubt we’re sitting on the edge of our seats, wondering how this mixtape trilogy is going to end. 2020k also commemorates The Weeknd and co. for giving their music away for free through their official website. It’s a bold move, but a smart one in the 21st century of the recording industry. You can download Thursday by clicking here.
Tori Amos returns to her humble beginnings, while finding ways to trudge forward along new territory with her latest offering, “Carry,” a song off of her 12th studio album, Night of Hunters, due for release on September 20th, 2011.
“Carry” contains the emotional lyrical out pour Ms. Amos is known for and holds our attention the old fashioned way, with no bells or whistles in this track, just Tori’s voice, her piano, and a string accompaniment. A little along the lines of some of her more stripped down songs off her 1996 release Boys for Pele, an album which utilized recording the piano sounds itself, but also recording the mechanics of how it worked as well. The song also has inklings of many of Tori’s early records from her debut Little Earthquakes, when it was just Tori, her piano, and other elements that helped aid the two, instead of the full on productions that most of her catalog holds.
A more technical review of the song will be featured in the 2020k review of the album. We need a lossless copy of this song to get a better understanding of what type of recording techniques went into the making of “Carry”.
The video contains many beautiful scenes and landscapes, and cuts back and forth between them and our songstress playing in a recording studio. With completely different lighting and atmosphere, the video can play out as if it were meant to be two different visual entities, that were later combined into one presentation, but it still holds an elegance to it and is a marriage between song and sight that is more traditional and holds a positive and entertaining state of simplicity. Miles better than the experimental and dull films featured on 2009’s Abnormally Attracted to Sin. (But still sometimes holds the same awkwardness. During the studio session scenes, it sometimes looks as if Tori is struggling not to look dead into the camera, trying to make it more theatrical with her quick movements. Perhaps I’ve got it all wrong and she sees a spider on the ceiling and keeps quickly turning her head to ensure it hasn’t moved closer to her…..or something?! I digress.)
“Carry” a nice start to the album Tori is about to release upon us. Night of Hunters will be released under the Deutsche Grammophon records, a label based in Germany that releases classical music under the Universal Music Group imprint, and yes, indeed, this album will be of the classical genre and will also be the first Tori Amos record made completely of acoustic elements.
If this wasn’t enough for you to swallow, the record will also be a concept album, with Tori Amos explaining, “I have used the structure of a classical song cycle to tell an ongoing, modern story. The protagonist is a woman who finds herself in the dying embers of a relationship. In the course of one night she goes through an initiation of sorts that leads her to reinvent herself allowing the listener to follow her on a journey to explore complex musical and emotional subject matter.”
If “Carry” is any indication of what’s to come, our bet is that the record will still hold a bit of an Alternative vibe to it, just with more classical elements as opposed to a full album of Beethoven-esque bangers. Whatever she has in store, 2020k is ready. You can head on over to Tori’s Facebook to listen to “Carry” and also take a listen to a second song off the record, “Shattering Sea”.
To celebrate the release of Night of Hunters, Tori has also put together a fall/winter tour! Check out her website for information on ticket sales and see the tour dates here:
09/28 – Helsinki, FI @ Ice Hall
09/30 – St. Petersburg, RU @ Oktyabrsky Hall
10/02 – Moscow, RU @ Crocus Hall
10/04 – Luxembourg, LU @ Den Atelier
10/05 – Paris, FR @ Le Grand Rex
10/07 – Milan, IT @ Teatro Arcimboldi
10/08 – Rome, IT @ Auditorium Parco della Musica
10/10 – Hamburg, DE @ Laieszhalle
10/11 – Berlin, DE @ Tempodrom
10/13 – Warsaw, PL @ Sala Kongresowa
10/15 – Eindoven, NL @ Muziekgebouw
10/17 – Amsterdam, NL @ Carre
10/18 – Amsterdam, NL @ Carre
10/20 – Oslo, NO @ Sentrum Scene
10/21 – Copenhagen, DK @ The Royal Theatre
10/22 – Copenhagen, DK @ The Royal Theatre
10/24 – Lucerne, CH @ KKL
10/25 – Vienna, AT @ Stadhalle F
10/26 – Frankfurt, DE @ Alte Oper
10/28 – Antwerp, BE @ QEH
10/29 – Brussels, BE @ Bozar
10/31 – Essen, DE @ Philharmonie
11/02 – London, UK @ Royal Albert Hall
11/03 – London, UK @ Hammersmith Apollo
11/04 – Manchester, UK @ Apollo
11/06 – Glasgow, UK @ Royal Concert Hall
11/08 – Belfast, UK @ Waterfront
11/09 – Dublin, UK @ Grand Canal Theatre
11/29 – Atlanta, GA @ Cobb Energy Performance Arts Center
12/01 – Philadelphia, PA @ Academy of Music
12/02 – New York, NY @ Beacon Theatre
12/03 – New York, NY @ Beacon Theatre
12/05 – Washington, DC @ Constitution Hall
12/06 – Boston, MA @ Orpheum Theater
12/08 – Toronto, ON @ Massey Hall
12/10 – Chicago, IL @ Chicago Theatre
12/13 – Vancouver, BC @ Orpehum Theater
12/14 – Seattle, WA @ Paramount Theatre
12/16 – Oakland, CA @ Paramount Theatre
12/17 – Los Angeles, CA @ Orpheum Theatre
12/18 – Los Angeles, CA @ Orpheum Theatre
12/21 – Austin, TX @ Bass Concert Hall
12/22 – Dallas, TX @ Verizon Theatre at Grand Prairie
If you take Natalia Kills for just another 21st century pop star, you’re wrong. She’s been incredibly hard at work for the past two years putting together and promoting the songs that make up her debut record Perfectionist. The album itself has been put through countless track list changes, release date setbacks, and has been in a state of confusion and anticipation among fans, but it’s slowly starting to be released around the world, finally hitting iTunes and store shelves in America on August 16th, 2011.
First thing’s first, Perfectionist is executive produced by Will.I.Am of the Black Eyed Peas fame and Cherry Cherry Boom Boom Records president Martin Kierszenbaum. They’ve enlisted Rob Orton to mix the majority of the record (there’s a cool article on his approach to mixing “Just Dance” here) and mastering engineer Gene Frimaldi (all three Lady Gaga albums, How I Do by Res, and Jason Derulo’s debut) so an extreme pop presence is felt throughout it’s entirety. There’s a subtle feeling of loudness and an urge to place vocals, kick, and snare at the forefront of the mix at almost all times, but accidental clipping isn’t much of an issue (whereas Gaga’s Born This Way is sometimes questionable,) so while the album is somewhat ear grabbing and tiring after a few listens, there’s still a tiny bit of breathing space amongst the bit of headroom left within the record.
It’s not just a pop record though, it’s dark pop and “Zombie,” the album’s buzz single, released in September 2010, is the finest example of using mainstream pop elements, warping them, and creating an almost paranormal sounding sound scape. It’s the only track not mixed by Rob Orton, instead, having the final mix of the track done by “Zombie”‘s producer, Jeff Bhasker and it shows. This track, one of the finest productions as a whole on the record, giving a lot more emphasis on muddying the lower frequencies and creating an almost horror-esque sounding track. Interestingly enough, the track is heavily autotuned, but instead of being annoyingly perfect and on pitch, it’s settings are used to be a bit awry sounding, giving Ms. Kills an eerie, haunting and creative vocal vibe. Behind it, vocal pitches, backwards reverbs, 1/4th note stereo delays, and various distortion effects are also used abundantly throughout the track. A chilling track for sure.
In complete contrast to “Zombie,” Bhasker’s only other offering on Perfectionist, “Free,” demonstrates a less layered, more straightforward approach to production. Standard sampled percussion samples drive the synth bass driven, piano line aided track. The vocals are, for the most part, very dry and in your face, with splashes of reverbed delay on the word “free” in the chorus, and a slapback-esque delay to add some kick to “Stretch that dollar bill, stretch that dollar bill” line. The United States release throws Will.I.Am. on one verse, repeated throughout the song. The thing that makes his delivery interesting is that the first time the verse presents itself in the song, it’s used more or less as an opening rap. As the track progresses, it once again makes an appearance, this time, providing a bridge between Natalia’s “get your 5’s, get your 10’s, get your 50’s out” break, and her distorted high frequency verse that follows Will’s low frequency, stereo spread vocals. A complete contrast in all senses and extreme creativity in how the song’s structure goes about it’s business.
Lyrically, “Free” is one of the more sophisticated offerings on Perfectionist. Words that allow Natalia to switch from being self-indulgent and greedy in spending & consuming, then becoming free from that greed/self-indulgence because of all of the spending she’s done. Stretching those dollar bills and those multi-meaning lines one by one, using catchy pop melodies, referencing stilettos, anorexic wallets, late rent payments, and morphing them into sophisticated phrasing? That’s clever pop!
“Wonderland,” the album’s second single, produced by “The Ron” Feemster is Perfectionist’s opener and holds a nice neutral theme from the ultra dark and simple extremes that Natalia Kills offers throughout the debut. Very synth and percussion heavy, subtle melodies, and stereo spread vocal effects on the ending of verse phrasing. The only problem with “Wonderland” and a few other tracks is that the instrument melodies are sometimes buried within the loudness and over-emphasis on vocals and kick/snare. It’s not a huge problem, but it’s quite difficult to hear and get into the siren-esque synths that lies underneath both verses, and tick-tock sounding guitar strum that’s present throughout the entirety of the track.
Also, there’s a stuttered scream during the video version of this song that comes in right after the breakdown that’s not present on the album version of the song. It’s obvious that it was added in specifically for the video presentation, for added dramatics, but it sounds awesome when paired up for the high pitched synth, right before the chorus kicks in and could’ve been a great effect to be presented front and forward on the record.
Beyond the complications, the vocal production is absolutely wonderful on this record (save for a few moments where small autotune glitches are heard within Natalia’s voice) and there are brief moments in “If I Was God” where Natalia switches from singing to speaking lines which sound quite lovely. As far as overall production, delivery, and melodic presence, lyrical substance, and straight forward emotional pop this track is the stand out and is one that’s easy on the ears, great sounding, and one for the repeat button.
Outside of the record and from a marketing standpoint, 6 tracks are missing from the physical release of the CD. “Kill My Boyfriend,” the new track specifically included on Perfectionist for the United States release is only available on the iTunes deluxe edition. Also only available digitally is the album’s wonderful introduction track, a mere 33 second piece titled “Perfection,” an experimental and atmospheric monologue (..really, Cherrytree? What’s the sense in cutting the intro and providing it for $1.29?)
However, the biggest WTF is the absence of “Activate My Heart,” which was a United States iTunes released single, equipped with a video, and is not featured on any of the releases of Natalia’s debut record. Perhaps these are tactics aimed at fans reaching out to purchase multiple copies of the record. After all, it’s hard out there for a new artist. Especially one that has a record that could fit in right beside Rihanna’s dark, depression heavy Rated R, which was almost a pop failure if it weren’t for the saving single “Rude Boy,” which breathed a bit of life into the chart run of the singles and record itself.
Despite it’s mishaps, Natalia Kills delivered one hell of a first record, a slew of great videos, a lovely series called “Love Kills” (which you can view on her VEVO account via YouTube) and continues to impress audiences with her acoustic performances and impressive work ethic. It’s a career that looks long and promising if she continues down the road she’s heading in, and 2020k looks forward to following her through her path.
What do you think about Natalia Kills’ Perfectionist? Is it the flawless debut you’d wished and hoped for? Let us know in the comments section! Also, follow us on Twitter and Facebook for the latest on Natalia and more!
Origamibiro is one of the most interesting things 2020k has come across recently. It’s a stunning group of guys based out of Nottingham, UK, that blur the lines of a conventional band by combining beautiful organic and electronic music/audio, provided by Tom Hill and Andy Tytherleigh, with visuals created by The Joy Of Box aka Jim Boxall. The marriage between sound and video give way to one hell of a creative project and if “Quad Time” is any indication of what we’ll be seeing on their forthcoming release Shakkei, due out August 29th, 2011 – we’re all in for some serious auditory and visual treats.
Cue the typewriter, crinkled and ripped paper for percussion, a metal stand with the hi-frequencies rolled off of it for a muted kick drum effect – add in guitars, a xylophone, and a few other stringed layers and you have a wonderful instrumental track that’s filled with gorgeous layers and layers. On top of that? It’s mixed to perfection. No over-saturated or cheap effects, just traditional mixing that’s used to create clarity and allow all of the instruments, percussion, and melody in “Quad Time” to have their own pristine sound and balance in the mix.
If all this isn’t enough for all you video/audiophiles, the press release for Origamibiro’s record states: “Origamibiro will be releasing a limited edition DVD release featuring the full album in multiple audio formats including surround sound and hi-definition stereo and an accompanying video archive of past promos, live excerpts and av experiments.”
I’m sold. You’re sold, right? Great..read on!
To promote the release of Shakkei, the band is giving away “Quad Time” as an MP3 and is also paired with the video! Inside the file are also gorgeous remixes by Joseph Minadeo, Juxtaphona, LeafcutterJohn, Soil and Water, and my personal favorite, Low in the Sky. The best part? It’s all for free! Click here to download the package and watch the amazing video below.
Track Review: 5/5
Note: The version on the Free download doesn’t quite sound like the one in the video, but still gets a solid 4/5 from us.
Thank you to reader Adam Daly and Origamibiro themselves for E-mailing me a tip off to this track and project. If you have any recommendations on what you’d like to see written about on 2020k, please feel free to tweet us, shout us out on Facebook, or shoot us an E-mail at cras.rkozain@gmail.com.
Just days after the premiere of one of the most disgusting, degrading pieces of pop music debuted onto Vimeo, Timbaland’s track featuring Pitbull, Will.I.Am., and David Guetta called “Pass at Me,” (we’re not even reviewing it. Just know that we gave it 1 out of 5 stars) Guetta gracefully redeems himself by teaming up with one of our generation’s most admirable singer/songwriters Sia to deliver “Titanium,” a genuine song along the lines of the self-empowerment anthems that have become a staple within the pop genre.
Sia has been writing honest and emotional lyrics for years now, so it comes as no surprise that lines like “Cut me down, but it’s you who’ll have further to fall. Ghost town, haunted love.” and “I’m bulletproof, nothing to lose, fire away, fire away. ricochet, you take your aim, fire away, fire away. You shoot me down, but I won’t fall, I am titanium” fit right in with Sia’s catalog of music and are written and vocally delivered in a genuine and humanistic manner that allows the vocal tracks to give power to Guetta’s production.
During the verses, it’s the stereo spread guitar lead that takes focus in conjunction with Sia’s vocals, and contains a very nice reverb effect that’s automated to start at the end of each bar when the guitar phrase is almost completed, and becomes wetter and wetter as the measures progress. It’s a nice pairing with the subtle reverb on Sia’s vocals.
In regards to mixing, it’s an in your face kind of track, making it’s presence loudly known, especially in regards to the kick sample. However, while the dynamic range of the track doesn’t sound like it’s much to play with, Guetta gives the track great integrity by remaining creative to the song as a whole by giving vocals a dash of reverb throughout the run of “Titanium” and even chorusing, delaying, chopping up, and playing with the lead vocal and panning several of the harmony tracks.
And then, the best moment happens: parallel compression. We here at 2020k are big fans of this technique when used correctly and the way the bass drum is used as a sidechain to the compression of several of the synthesizers (and even the vocals from time to time) during the chorus of the track is exquisite. Everything ducks out and in for duration of that section of the track and the settings on the compressor are set to pump the effect at the perfect attack and release time to allow for the sections compressed in the track to give extreme power and drive. As opposed to taking the lazy route by just enabling the same settings on the same channels again to give you the same effect twice within minutes of each other, the effect works different during each section it appears and displays a clever use of distinguishing between the two times it is used. A+ in our book!
While “Titanium” contains inklings of experimentation here and there, it still sacrifices to conform with the signature radio ready sound that David Guetta has made a name for himself with. Because of that, it’s doubtful that this track will stick out too much amongst the rest of the dance genre’s cespool of monotonous and loud productions. It’s not too much of an issue though, because with the help of Sia, this track is still dynamite at heart.
12 days before the impressive Iamamiwhoami take the stage and make their “IRL-debut” for Sweden’s Way Out West music festival, they descended upon us a log in to their YouTube account and upload to Amazon & iTunes’ MP3 download sections to deliver their most electro-esque track to date entitled “Clump”.
First thing is first, remember during the 2020k review of “; John” it was said that there’s a possibility of a male vocalist going in and out of certain sections of the track? Well, we’re here to tell you that THERE IS YET ANOTHER MYSTERIOUS, DEEP, MALE SOUNDING VOCAL TRACK IN “CLUMP” AND IT’S MORE PROMINENT THAN THE ONE IN “; JOHN“. It’s still confusing thrown into the mix, unknown if the vocal track is just front-woman Jonna Lee’s vocals being pitched down and manipulated, or if a male counterpart is harmonizing with her. It’s laying too low in the mix through the first verse to really get a clear listen and while it’s heard crystal clear through the second verse, it’s so warped that it’s impossible to know if it’s Jonna or someone else involved in the project. Frustrating, but extremely intriguing. After all, it wouldn’t be Iamamiwhoami without a little mystery, correct?
Beyond the lower vocal, “Clump” once again gives us outstanding vocal production, with the majority of the track surrounding us with short vocal reverb times, allowing the dance-oriented production to surround us and take hold. During the breakdown, vocals are extremely stereo oriented, with at least five layers of Jonna’s voice being fed to various sections of the stereo image, all drenched in reverb to create a dream-like state that the b-section is meant to create.
Musically, “Clump” is a well done Electronica piece and continues their departure of experimental song structure from the BOUNTY project and remains true to building a more traditional format, consisting of “verse/chorus/b-section/verse/chorus/b-section” – It’s an interesting move in that it closely relates to “; John” by maintaining a conservative flow while programming instruments and samples in an unorthodox manner, but is different in that it contains slight references to the trance genre, with many of the synths repeating melodic phrases several times before slowly morphing into the next section of the track.
Interestingly enough, if you listen closely and loudly enough, there are more synth layers than meets the eye. The main one, a more low end oriented synth with a slower attack time and a bump of EQ in the mid-range creates one of the main melodic lines of the song, with a higher synth peeking in and out of the track at several moments during the beginning of the second verse, with a more prominent pad leading it’s way through the chorus before dropping off at the sound of a bass-drop to give way for the b-section. What makes the synthesizers even more interesting is that it doesn’t sound like too many different synths are playing at the same time, but the notes played on the instrument and the settings placed within the parameters of it create the illusion of a more dense environment. Smart work!
Since the track is mainly trace driven, “Clump” maintains a signature Iamamiwhoami style by utilizing sound effects, ambiance and interesting keyboard stutters that sounds like something The Doors would include on a 21st century downtempo remix of “Touch Me”. Without the subtle synth pad floating through the background of the verses, the airy exhale-industrial sound effects, and reverb on the sampled hi-hat, it’d be a very sparse and open track and that’s the last thing you think of when you hear the word clump, so while the mix may sound cluttered and busy during some portions of it’s 4-minute and 27-second run, it all seems part of the bigger picture.
A four-to-the-floor, very compressed, dance oriented kick is also used as a way to keep focus, drive the song as a whole and appeal to the Electronic vibe they’ve created for themselves. The kick also sounds strikingly familiar to the one used in “; John”, so it’s very probable that it was used to keep a cohesive musical theme together during these new era of tracks.
Finally, in the realm of the rhythmic section of “Clump,” there is a higher frequency hit that follows every single snare drum hit, which gives it a more layered and industrial sense of direction, and a 16th note, extremely wet sounding tap that surrounds the majority of the track, that helps aid bass and kick.
“Clump” is yet another fantastic step forward in the Iamamiwhoami project and it’s interesting to see the video, musical, and lyrical double meanings that are cleverly thought out and presented. We here at 2020k still claim this project to be the most forward-thinking and artistic project in music at the moment and are watching out for what happes next. Bring out Way Out West!
Also, be sure to check out ForsakenOrder’s video analysis on “Clump”. This blogger does one for every Iam video and is always fantastically thorough in his findings and is the 2020k-audio counterpart to the video theories on Iamamiwhoami.
And what do you think of the track? C’mon! I know the clumpers love to chat it up when it comes to everything surrounding this project (remember, I’m RJ Eclectica in the comments section on Youtube!) Drop a comment on 2020k and let us know your thoughts! And don’t forget to like us on Facebook and follow us on twitter!
Kelly Rowland seems to be having quite an identity crisis for an album ironically titled and just released Here I Am. In 2010, we received videos for the more dance oriented “Forever And A Day“, “Rose Colored Glasses“, and “Commander“. The songs seemed to try and capitalize off the international success of her collaboration with David Guetta on “When Love Takes Over,” released on his debut album One Love. They went nowhere in the United States but found success in the same places where the Guetta song took off, so it explains why the UK and many other countries are receiving a COMPLETELY DIFFERENT version of the album, with “leftovers” from the Here I Am recording sessions and a few of the songs that are currently featured on the United States release. It’s one of the many marketing strategies Kelly’s team has set up to ensure multiple copies of the album are purchased by diehard fans and is just the tip of the iceberg of the “WTF” worthy mistakes Here I Am is made up of.
The truth is, it’s hard for dance music to make it’s way onto Mainstream top 40 radio in the states and Kelly Rowland albums always seem to try to maintain a healthy medium of nice pop friendly, urban hits with more solid album cuts. A bit of a compromise, yes, but as an artist that is constantly and unfairly compared to her Destiny’s Child group mate Beyonce, it’s a sacrifice she’s been giving for years to keep up with the spotlight, while allowing herself a little niche to give us a more interesting and contemporary R&B style with songs like “Flashback” off of her sophomore release Ms. Kelly and “Train on a Track” from her debut Simply Deep.
Unfortunately, and probably because of the clusterfuck of failure that the dance tracks received domestically, we do not have any tracks on the record that do not come across as copycat and try-hard. For instance, On the album’s opening track “I’m Dat Chick,” we find Rowland delivering lines full of the hard hitting, independent female anthem lyrics, and giving us full swag on the lines “how you know? I told you so” but the delivery throughout the verses and the bulk of the song are extremely reminiscent of The Pussycat Dolls‘ sinister shouted verses and playful “ha-ha-ha-ha” on their single “When I Grow Up“.
Kanye West also did the electronic boops on his “Say You Will” from 808’s and Heartbreaks that are featured on Kelly’s “Keep it Between us” and “Leggo” has become a trademark of Chris Brown on “Look at Me Now,” not Lil’ Playy on “Work It Man.” The bulk of the album also noticeably sounds like something her contemporary Wynter Gordon, who does a nice job at fusing dance and R&B music together, would try to release. Kelly’s copycat aspects of her tracks are extremely noticeable, but doesn’t mean that they’re all completely horrible.
The overall rap on “Work It Man” is great (“girl, I swear we go together..X and O’s. These other niggas, they can leave..exit doors” Playy playfully spits) and the track in general is actually one of the more standout tracks on the record, with lyrics that don’t reference the all too cliche club fifty times and mention that she’s sippin’ till she’s empty. Instead, it’s a song about finding a man who’s going to kind of work it for you in all sorts of ways.
But still, “Work It Man” and rest of the record falls short because of entire-track quantization, simplified chord progressions, and focus on the bass being as big as possible to make up for it. They’re tracks that go a bit harder and as a result, the rappers featured on the album normally sound a lot better on the tracks than Kelly Rowland herself. It’s part in fact that the percussive aspects of the tracks work well against the rhythmic flow of the rappers, but also because they had more creative freedom to say what they wanted to say on the tracks, allowing for more creativity, and also because their vocals aren’t nearly as compressed as Rowland’s.
The biggest crime of the entire record is that throughout all of the un-melodic sample based, VST synth usage, cheap keyboard/piano sounds, and weird urban/dance combinations that Here I Am provides, the dynamic range of the tracks are crushed to a motherfucking pulp, with Kelly Rowland’s vocals pushed to the forefront of the mix throughout the entire record. She’s so compressed through the album’s run that you can barely tell where she’s attempting to give a quieter performance and instead her vocals run steady and loud through each and every syllable that she poured into the microphone.
As a matter of fact, her vocals are so prominent that I can set the CD at a moderate level on my stereo (or hell, even my mac speakers) walk out of my room to any room in the house and can still understand and hear every single word that’s being sung throughout the record. There’s a difference between compressing to add focus and compressing to obviously try to make an artist’s vocals stand out amongst the rest of the competition. A prime example of the loudness wars.
In addition to loud vocals, there are certain artists who have such beautiful tones and talent the use Autotune for any reason at all shouldn’t even be considered (Mary J. Blige, you’re The One I’m looking at). Kelly Rowland falls into this category and for whatever reason, these artists still rely on it. So, in order to keep the theme of “Urban Dance” that Here I Am offers, Kelly is autotuned to robotic steel throughout the album’s run and obnoxiously so. Even on the slower tracks that are placed on the album for demonstration purposes of emotion and vocal talent like “Heaven & Earth” (Deluxe Edition release only) are demolished and ruined by the combination of over-compression and extreme usage of vocal effects and autotune.
Throughout all of the misfortunes, none of which are particularly Kelly Rowland’s fault, (more so the album’s engineers, due to pressure from her record label) there are a few sparkling gems beside “Work It Man” that make this record worth buying. The album’s lead single “Motivation (Featuring Lil’ Wayne)” provides some of the most straightforward and sexiest lyrics of this year, with Rowland letting us know “And when we’re done I don’t wanna feel my legs. And when we’re done I just wanna feel your hands all over me, baby” against a Jim Jonsin and Rico Love beat.
Rico Love also continues to bring out the best in Kelly on “Feelin’ Me Right Now,” another one of the album’s independent anthems. Although it’s another track about being in the club, the album’s bridge gives way to some confident lyrics. “So back, back, back it up. You’re the one I got my eye on. Don’t give me your number, it’s already in my iPhone. I just want you close, close, close, close, nearer. Been watching you all night up in the mirror. I’m just feelin’ me right now.”
For the most part, save for a few songs here and there, it’s a mind numbing experience of poor engineering, bad marketing, and formulated-throwaway R&B/Dance fusion. Here I Am does it’s job in that the next time some guy calls you ugly, you can remember “I’m Dat Chick” and tell him “they tell me I’m so fly, I’m so fly, I’m so fly. But I don’t need a mirror, I can see, see, see, see” because even though this album is a bummer, Kelly will still break your fist, she’s dat chick.
Album Rating: 2/5
Worth it tracks: Work It Man, Motivation, Turn It Up, Feelin’ Me Right Now, Commander, I’m Dat Chick
Ladies and Gentlemen, after a slew of interestingteaservideos involving strange social mercy via YouTube, St. Vincent is thankfully on her way back to our eardrums and has released a download of a song off her upcoming third release, Strange Mercy, called “Surgeon” for free via the promotional website for the album.
First, let’s get things straight: everything about the structure and composition of this song is beautiful. Instruments, vocals, and mixing aspects of the song all play off of each other in that subtle way that allows everything to be brought together to make a track that sounds consistent. Different musical phrasing varies drastically depending on where you are throughout the track, becoming warm and laid back to busier and more aggressive. It’s all done in pieces with a guitar, sometimes played jazz style and sometimes sounding more funk, giving itself the lead position in designating when a section of the song ends and when it begins, giving warnings through the ending of phrases through changes in how it’s being utilized. There’s a cool effect at the end of the track that causes it to insanely oscillate and drop off to end the track. Various pauses throughout the musical composition lend hands to allowing smooth transitions.
The strongest example of the strong arrangement comes at the beginning of the track where layers of vocals melodically soar above airy synth chords and as the vocals drop out, they give way for St. Vincent to deliver the opening line of the first verse, which is where we segue into the next section of musical masterpiece, the lyrics. “I spent the summer on my back” is the polysemous opening line, giving way for operating table, sexual innuendo, and just plain summer laziness interpretations, amongst any others you could think of. Lots of meanings could lyrically apply to a song with a hook that consists of one phrase: “The best, finest surgeon can’t cut me open”.
If we cut open the mixing aspect of “Surgeon,” we find a lot of time spent on ensuring the vocals and guitars are at the forefront and sounding great, while the drums, strings, synths, and other aspects of the song are supporting, but still give away great presence. There is an interesting synth that comes in to compliment the repeated vocal phrase “get along” that sounds quite abrupt through the left speaker, probably in part with how the envelopes were set on the synth settings. It throws off the stereo balance a small bit, but nothing too terribly noticeable unless you’re listening closely through headphones. However, at a 192kbps free MP3 giveaway, we can’t exactly dive too deep into what went on through the engineering aspect. As always, we’ll save this for the album review.
It’s an extremely unique blend of sounds that gives us a little bit Kanye West experimentation, or something as summery and warm as a Goapele record, while giving us some of the best lyrics we’ve seen all year. Bring on Strange Mercy, St. Vincent. We’re ready for it.
Track rating: 4/5
Click here to be directed to St. Vincent’s promo website for the new record and get your free copy of “Surgeon”!
2020k 