kevinisabastard

9.- New Music: Zak Waters

kevinisabastard, , , , , , Leave a comment

I had a couple of blogs planned to write today but they kinda got blown outta the water. Heh. Christ. Zak Waters, genius. I first heard of him from Sunset in the Rearview, which is a super solid source for good tapes. He’s been one of the highlights. So then I followed my usual process of general creeping and downloaded all the free stuff he had on Facebook which was pretty consistently good. Anyway, that was a while ago and I’ve been a massive fan since.

So today was the release date for “Over You”, the latest single from “Lip Service”. It’s a bit more serious than some of the other tracks from the album which is fine by me. He is one of my favourite singers around at the minute. He’s doing a really poppy, electronic thing which could quite easily fit into a “chart music” kinda category but I think there’s something that little bit more interesting going on. I once had an argument with someone about whether disco was relevant anymore or still had a place in modern music. I think that Zak Waters is the progression of my ideas of what disco is. Like, Daft Punk have kinda revisited disco in the last year, but I think that Zak Waters is actually making modern disco. Rather than writing reworkings of disco/Motown/ blue-eyed soul or whatever else people are doing, “Lip Service” takes all these influences and makes it new. Zak Waters is keeping disco relevant.

I love “Over You” because you get a real confident vibe though the vocals without it seeming cocky. He has the voice to totally do a Christina Aguilera all over it and it works. Like, listen to that “Don’t wanna be lonely” -bit. That is serious singing. Part of the reason that he doesn’t come across as a dick is the way he’s played it. The videos are visually interesting and don’t focus solely on him. There’s none of the same ego as you see with some amazing singers. I like this song and the album as a whole because it covers a lot of bases. I would totally recommend it if you like anything from Hall & Oates, Chic, Stevie Wonder to Katy Perry or Mikey Mike or Pony Pony Run Run. He combines classic songwriting, a great voice and lots of really well put together, contemporary, electronic pop sounds.

I fucking love him. I sound like an obsessed idiot, but I mean it.

9.- New Music: Zak Waters

8.- TracksFrom: Made In Chelsea and Lots More: “King and Cross”

kevinisabastard, , , , , , Leave a comment

Ok so I haven’t been blogging as frequently but I’ll try get back to it. Might try a bit of a push for views too. We’ll see. That stuff doesn’t matter. What matters is the music and I need to show you this track. Ásgeir, “King and Cross”. He’s blowing up at the minute. He was featured on Indie/Rock Playlist, all kinds of blogs and then I saw him on the Guardian. I’d heard it before but hadn’t properly listened to it. Well, today it clicked.

Falsetto. Icelandic accent. It’s an unreal combo. It’s acoustic and folky mixed with electronic elements without turning into some Aviici crap. The guitar is sexy and laid back and reminds me of Nick Drake. Then there’s some weird, funky keys over it which sound like the background tune from something that I can’t put my finger on (Legend of Zelda maybe?). I like the song because it sounds like it should have always existed. It actually does a lot for a song that seems quite simple. It’s laid back but also makes me want to dance, it’s sexy but it’s also kind of a cute song if anyone else thinks about shit in that way. His other stuff seems okay so far. “King and Cross” is the highlight of what I’ve heard.

There seems to be loads of trivia to go with this one. Album written by John Grant. Don’t know a lot about him but some people dig him so that’s interesting. I’m wary of artists who seem quirky but don’t write their own lyrics. I guess Ásgeir gets a pass because he’s Icelandic, but it’s not something I’m usually a fan of. It’s one of those things that make me think too much about music and musical identity and deep, philosophical things like that. The song also featured in Made in Chelsea. People get bitchy about what makes songs popular, but I’m a believer in getting music to the public in whatever way possible. Lots of bands got big off the back of The OC and One Tree Hill and shows like that. I think Made in Chelsea has a bad rep but in fairness it does promote a ton of decent tunes.

Weird video, nothing special. The song more than makes up for it though.

8.- TracksFrom: Made In Chelsea and Lots More: “King and Cross”

7.- SomeoneShowedMe: “Ricky Ricardo”

kevinisabastard, , , , Leave a comment

Matty Moo showed me “Ricky Ricardo” by KAPTN. It is one of the best songs of all time. Funky, trippy and cheeky as fuck.

Hip Hop has been going through a phase of hyper creativity, lots of nice samples, great lyrics and flows, but this is something else altogether. It’s rare to get a song that takes the piss to such an extent while actually remaining listenable. The samples are fantastic. It plays off the TV show “I Love Lucy”. I’m just going to straight up admit I’ve never watched the show and if there’s some witty joke going on I don’t get it. Doesn’t matter. Sounds awesome. Lyrically, my favourite moment is “I don’t fuck with no socks“. The lyrics are awful, but that’s the charm. It’s dirty sexy. As if that wasn’t enough there’s also a fantastic bossa nova interlude just to mix things up some more.

The downside? The dude might be a douche bag. He seems confused as to what he’s doing. It’s hard to tell whether he wants it to be a joke or whether he really is trying to give the impression that he’s some kind of a sex god. In the end, he appears to have decided to try both. The video is god awful and that seems to be a theme judging by his other track, “Juice”. It ends with a weird dance thing, which is super cringey.

Take it from me on this one. Enjoy the song, but do nothing else. Avoid the video and don’t listen to anymore of his stuff. The little bit of research I did nearly ruined it for me, but the track is too good. Listen with you eyes closed and jam out on your own.

7.- SomeoneShowedMe: “Ricky Ricardo”

2. Best of the Covers: “Get Lucky”

kevinisabastard, , , , , , , , , , Leave a comment

The Daft Punk “Get Lucky” buzz has pretty much worn off at this point and this is as good a time as any to talk about what, I thought, were the best of the billion covers. A piece appeared on the Guardian’s site as a guide to the covers which missed the best and the worst of them.

The standards for what makes a bad “Get Lucky” cover were pretty much set by Linda Martin. As the Guardian guide shows, there were some really crappy covers, but this is the worst that I’ve heard. Embarrassing. Very embarrassing.

Honestly, to make a decent cover, all anyone had to do was not to that. My two favourites were by San Cisco and George Barnett. I think what made them so good were the little vocal changes. George Barnett adds a great woohoo kinda thing on top which really bulks the song out a bit. Listening back to the original, it seems a little empty in comparison. I love Pharrell, but I think George Barnett sings it better. His break down is fantastic and I love the harmonies. My only issue is that he does the vocoder bit, which was also a weak point in the original (credit to Benjamin Finnegan for speaking the truth). It’s just not working for me. His version is a little tricky to find, there seems to have been some video deleting on Youtube, as is the custom.  The track starts at 7:00. I picked this video because it’s from his official Youtube account so you can (and should) download the entire mixtape from there. Credit to Sunset in the Rearview as where I first heard of him.

I think I prefer the San Cisco but who knows. I like it for different reasons. It sits in between the original and the Daughter cover that had a lot of buzz. It’s a bit more chilled but it has bongos and bongos are sexy. I originally heard it via Indie Rock Playlist so I didn’t know the back story and then found the Triple J video of it’s performance. It samples N.E.R.D. – “Hypnotize You” (super creepy video…), which is magical. I think Pharrell was the highlight of the whole Daft Punk comeback for me so the more of him the better. The singer also has a mean falsetto so that’s a mega plus.

So those are my picks! There’s a lot of covers so there’s probably tonnes I haven’t heard but I think these’ll take some beating. Lemme know what ya think are the best takes on the track and what makes a cover a good cover.

2. Best of the Covers: “Get Lucky”

1. First post. Let’s do this.

kevinisabastard, , , Leave a comment

I’ve been thinking for a long time about starting something or doing something. This is it, I think. I like finding music. I like listening to music but I also like the search. So this is the result. The emphasis is going to be on free stuff but generally just the things I want people to see/hear/enjoy/hate with me. Everything is debatable and everything is open to discussion. So, that’s it. Let’s do this

“So It Goes” – Time is a Thief, from “We’re Not Strangers”, 27 April 2012.

1. First post. Let’s do this.