Are You Driving Me Crazy??

Here's an album that you probably haven't heard of. Seam's Are You Driving Me Crazy? is a gem from the 90s. Here's the artwork.

Pretty blue, i'nnit? For me, album art tends to set the tone for the music, but maybe it's the other way around. Looking at Seam's other album artwork, I can see that they're all basically monochromatic. 4 albums, each with their own color. I believe it had to be a conscious decision on Seam's part to assign the artwork to what they felt represented the music, and I've got to say: in this case, blue was a great choice.

"Two Is Enough" This song was my first taste of Seam. I was listening to it 'blind'. It popped up on turntable.fm, which is a website where 5 people share music by listening to the same playlist made by themselves. Each person is a DJ in their own right, just sharing great music. My ears were hooked on first listen, and I loved that I instantly recognized the era. 90s sounding guitar tone, 90s typical hushed vocals. It was great! The song creates a wonderful tone which brings a sense of nostalgia and joy. It sounds like the band channeled their feelings and now as a listener I'm ingesting their creative output. How interesting that these feelings are universal and purely human, yet the sounds themselves are trapped in time. This 1995 record is marked in its time by the guitar drive, drum progression, and vocal style. Still, the band found a rather unique sound that really resonates with me.

 And this would be the 'hit' off the album. It easily slides into any rock playlist and damn my ears if it doesn't give off that distant feeling of longing again. Actually, the singer makes it clear in the lyrics that he is in fact expressing the feeling of longing and love.

I made it clear to you
My sleep is restless
My heart is divided
Quarters, halves, & eighths
I’m in love with this feeling
This invisible feeling.

What I wanted to say
Would have sounded all wrong
In that crazy pitch of my
Pidgin stammering knotted tongue

He gets over these feelings by the end of the song, however. He belts out a satisfied, "I'm used to it," alongside his triumphant sounding band. The resolve found through the song is a testament to Seam's songwriting prowess. The fact that I found this band through someone completely unknown to me makes the record a gift. One that I can truly be grateful for on a day as fitting as this. My birthday.

Thank you.

"Toe - The Future Is Now EP" Review

Toe – The Future Is Now EP [2012] -- 9/10

            Toe is a Japanese math rock band that has put out mostly instrumental releases. However, they’ve been known to have some songs recorded with vocals—usually Japanese and usually quite hushed and non-dominating. Instead of having traditional vocal styles implemented in a rock band, toe consistently relies on their expertly orchestrated instrumentation to transport the listener to their creative world. The signature sound that toe brings is highlighted by innovative and often surprising songwriting in addition to impressive instrumental ability, both backed by superlative production quality.

            

            The balanced production cues on the instrumentation for The Future Is Now really brings forth toe’s songwriting, engaging the listener to hear the intricate melodies the guitars provide. The drum beats which lead the songs are generally fast-paced and frantic, yet rather fluid and still follow a clear pattern which provides as a spine for the progression of the songs. Toe frequently let the songs build and tease before letting the songs erupt into a powerful climax which leaves the listener satisfied. This technique is found on “Ordinary Days” before the song simmers down to segue into the final track. On Future highlight “Tsuki Kake” the song snakes around fluttering percussion and travels through elegant acoustic guitar phrases, trotting bells, and even a synthesizer melody while female vocalist Aco provides an emotion-filled swoon. The song feels like a story being told despite the repetitive lyrics from the foreign vocals.

            The most impressive effort is found on the grand finale title track, however. Right off the bat, the fuse is lit with a complex counter-melody from the guitarists, and the song just keeps building and moving forward until exploding into a perfect climax at the last minute marker before smoldering to a finish. The last sound on the EP is from tired fingers sliding off a fret board.

            The Future Is Now took me on journey that was fast-paced, explosive, and even melancholic. I constantly admired the instrumentation. The percussion is played with intent and ferocity, and the dual guitars were played synergetically, bouncing off each other and at times providing intricate counter-melodies. The beautiful clarity that the instruments were recorded with definitely adds to the overall effect. The EP comes highly recommended because it's completely satisfying and demands replays. 

 Please share your thoughts in the comments!

Jamie XX and Burial

Jamie XX Listens To Burial, And We Love Him For It.
 

                When I first heard his solo material, I could hear it immediately. Jamie XX has dabbled in making music that is like a modernized, club-worthy Burial sound. Since he does it with such originality and beef, he can claim the sound as his own. His production style is clean, loud, and shimmering. The Burial influences are apparent with Jamie’s choice to implement reworked vocal samples among harmonizing, soaring synthesizers. I wouldn’t go so far as to call them melodic, but they do serve some backbone to the beats. Secondly, Jamie XX uses a distinguishable beat style that is too similar to something Burial that cooks up regularly to not call them influenced. Recognize the syncopated nature of the beat, and then the repetition that is found in both artists.  Of course, being a producer and beat maker, the sound is where the difference lies. Jamie XX’s solo material stays prominent in the bass music scene out of the UK because his bass is heavy and prominent, yet classy, and this style is just another factor that brings me back to his music. Moreover, his production is unique in the sound pallete for his beats. On songs like “Far Nearer”, the tropical sounds invoke imagery of palm trees and ocean waves. In “I’m New Here”, the vibe is more like walking through a rave. This idea could be dramatized by the pulsing beat, which gives the song a ‘slow motion’ feel. As if you’re squeezing your way, step by step, through a color blasted and laser lit room while everyone else is preoccupied. 

                 Either way, the impression I get is much brighter than the ‘light surrounded by darkness’ impression I continually get from Burial’s music. Burial’s music tends to be more stagnant than Jamie’s as far as the artist’s intent for impression goes. With Burial, when I first heard the beauty that is “Dog Shelter”, a deep and vivid ‘memory’ rushed to my mind’s eye. There I was, with good company..in an empty construction site, kicking rocks and empty beer bottles. You know the kind; you've seen it on the side of the road or freeway, with the large floodlights blanketing the site and piercing the darkness surrounding. I’ve been there before, when I was much younger, but these images are reimagined, yet quite clear. Burial’s music obviously emulates the distant night life, and this daydream is what I get from his fully developed vision.

I want to say more, but that’s a good stopping point.  

First professional piece on music

This is a paper I wrote for my college writing class. The artist mentioned in the introduction is Four Tet.

A Kind of Magic

            One of my favorite electronic producers recently posted online, “I hope people play it fucking loud,” with a new DJ style mixtape he released that is being commercially sold. So the night it came out, I took my headphones and turned up the volume as loud as my ears could permit and let the music engulf me before I drifted to a lost slumber. Because music is an art form, just like seeing a painting in a new light, it can be appreciated differently depending on how it’s digested. For example, a song’s impact on me will change if I’m relaxing in my room browsing the internet or if I’m driving around town with friends. So, why listen to music? After thinking of a few different functions, I discovered that the list of different reasons people listen to music is quite extensive. People listen because they want to forget about a long day or to drown out the noises the neighbors make or to just have some background noise fill the air. When I encounter different types of music on a typical day, I can easily notice some of the different functions that music serves: the Playlisters are made to be enjoyed, the Uplifters can make a person dance, and the Transporters alter emotions.

            Generally, songs that I consider to be Playlisters are ones that I experience in a social setting and that I can mesh together to form a playlist. It doesn’t matter if I’m at a party and I hear these songs on the dubstep playlist, or if I’m just hanging out in a friend’s dorm listening to some down-played rock, these songs are always enjoyable. The music provides an extra layer of ambiance to the atmosphere and can even be recessed from focus, allowing more important priorities to take precedent. This category is the largest because most artists intend for their listeners to enjoy the art. Ever since the invention of portable media, music has been allowed to soundtrack our lives. Many students at Texas State bring their MP3 players along their walks to class so that they can hear their favorite musicians during their daily stroll. Technology has enabled musical creativity and originality. The internet has virtually erased all limits that had previously blocked the growth of musical diversity. For example, I’ve enjoyed musical genres called experimental electronica, post-rock, and even chill-wave, which captures feelings of nostalgia using the sounds of 80’s electronic synthesizers, laid-back beats, and hazy production. Since what causes enjoyment is subjective, anyone can like anything if given the proper opportunity.

            Some intrinsic qualities exist in the very nature of music that can affect the human body and its movement. I consider any song that compels bodily movement to be an Uplifter. Multiple factors like beats, rhythm, and even frequencies attribute to an X-factor found in music that will lead to physical movement. This function of music is revolved around the moment when the ear translates vibrations in the air to movement in the body. The reaction can happen virtually anywhere. For example, the pulsing beats in a club could move a dancer’s feet, or I could just be stuck at a red light tapping my fingers along to the tunes on my stereo.

            I was inspired to name the final category Transporters because some of the music that I hear can transport my mind to another place. Because music functions this way, the sounds of Burial’s muffled synthesizers invoke images of an imaginary place under a quiet street lamp and an approaching fog. Music also has the power to completely change one’s present emotional mindset. We can experience these feelings when put on a song and we’re reminded of someone we miss. This power is complex and can mostly be attributed to how well music can trigger memory. The brain can recognize the smallest sound and attach it to a memory or a feeling. This function of music is close to magic because for a few minutes, while the music is playing, a daydream is being sound tracked in a distant reality.

            The functions of music can change from setting to setting and from person to person. The nature of music allows us to attach emotion and feelings to songs, so the amount of time a certain song has been in one’s life is also a factor. An iPod can enable a bus ride to be a thought-provoking adventure as the outer world blinks away. Songs don’t always exist to stir emotions or spark epiphanies, however. We listen to make driving fun and to dance at a party and to relax after a tiring day. Some of the effects of music can seem magical and beautiful. The wonderful thing about music is that an abundance of freely accessible music is available on the internet, just waiting for someone to press play.