Tuesday, November 19, 2013

Conversation Appropriate Recommended Music

     For this post, we need to describe the setting:
     You’re preparing for an evening of entertaining guests who are approximately the same age as you and have musical tastes similar to yours. The guests are good friends, but not ones you see regularly. So, the focus of the evening will be conversation. With that in mind, the evening’s playlist should contain songs that are enjoyed without the need of attention. No, not the stuff referred to as “elevator music” – these songs should be ones that you genuinely enjoy.
     In such a setting, here are some songs that we would put on our playlist.
     “Fragments” is from Jaymes Young. Young is based in Los Angeles and has toured with some noteworthy bands. In particular, Young opened for London Grammar during this year's tour of the U.S. Currently, "Fragments" is being offered as a free download.


     The next two bands are “Butch Cassidy and the Sundance Kid" bands. That’s a reference to the Paul Newman and Robert Redford movie in which they often ask, “Who are those guys?” Butch and Sundance ask the question when they are surprised at the skills of "those guys."  For the two bands, we cannot find much information. Who are those guys?


     Jonny on the Rocks released “The Undertow” only eight days ago. We’re waiting for further material and some data about the guys. But ya gotta love a band that has a LinkedIn account that is easier to find than their Facebook page.


     “Sisters” is a recent release from BAHRAIN. The song is full of processed sounds, but the processing does not get in the way. Instead, the echoed vocals, shoegaze guitar, and background sounds contribute to the overall “feel” of the song. According to the band’s Soundcloud page, “BAHRAIN is Wendy, Johnny and  Aman. Well, that's a start.


     Finally, “Fire” is a song that may be too conversation-disruptive for the setting that was described at the start of this post. But we’ll take the risk. The song is from Bipolar Sunshine, which is the moniker for Adio Marchant “Fire” can easily be divided into three sections, both musically and emotionally.  The first section takes advantage of Adio’s voice as he establishes the couple’s situation.  The second section includes the man and woman exchanging hurtful words.  Then, the final section starts at 3:40 as an interplay between Adio’s voice and the chorus, which sounds like “Lion King” with an edge.

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