Good Music #2
Well... We made it guys! Thanks for tuning in again!
I'll keep it short... you are all beautifully and wonderfully made... I love you guys. Thank you so much for letting me be apart of your life in this small way.
Bad music / mainstream music (not necessarily an interchangeable term) is for the birds. This list should give you a couple to add onto from last week. If you want to tune into the "Rigged For Sea Playlist", I've provided an embedded link at the end you can follow on your Spotify to make it easier !
ALT ROCK / PSYCHADELIC / SOUL
#17. Acid Dad - Brain Body
An absolutely pleasant day in a field of clover. You and your Mrs. just walking around with rose colored lenses not giving a damn about what anybody says or thinks. It's only about you two. Then it hits...(@2:29) and you are stuck trying to figure it out! Go check on your dogs they probably need to be let out!
This could be a good song for a slow beginning to a sick surf edit...Plus the album art is pretty rad.
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=r9lFMUKqJko
#18. My Morning Jacket - Tyrone
I heard this song when I was cleaning out my garage one day. Trying to organize my life. The intro was nice and soulful on the keyboards, with a reverb on the guitar...leading in with the drums then his voice complements that problem solving aspect of cleaning. Not too much pressure to get things right... just gotta step back and look at where things would fit the best. He tells a story of being sick and tired of things being the way they are.
It was pretty relaxing and the progression leading into the chorus is killer. Give it a listen. Those who jam in their spare time can appreciate this song. In the live version Erykah Badu makes an appearance! It's worth a watch.
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=B1A8kfwhD_c
#19. Magic City Hippies, EMEFE Horns - BRNT
I love that people are still making music that has a "funk" feel still. This song makes you want to get up and dance. There's a good horn section element to this song. If you're into rollerskating this is a cool one to skate backwards to !
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=sTgOATGnO-4
#20. Border on Border - Night Moves
The piano at the beginning of this sets the tone for this song. Very cool sound this band has produced with this one. When the guitars whip around on the riff they are playing it ties it all together. It's just enough singing then they get back to it.
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=VJ_3F1GKCmg
#21. Dojo Cuts, Roxie Ray - Take From Me
When I heard this song it blew me away. I imagined being in a small jazz lounge. Smoke filling the air and the audience being rather contained. I just imagined sitting there hearing Roxie's Voice live and the horns following her lead. It's a cool image.
It's refreshing to hear music from this era still being produced with horn instruments and guitars. Would certainly be a unique party if you hired these people to play as the entertainment.
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=vsZLvx8iNDs
#22. The Arcs - Put a Flower In Your Pocket
This song brings just enough chaos to your brain and ears to place you in a slower moment of time. It sounds a little fried for-sure...especially with the Kazoo noise the keyboards produce. However, The band is a pretty cool ensemble. The 3 background singers complement the main vocals well and the exploration on the instruments is unique. It's worth a listen if you need to slow down after a fast day.
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=NMOl1o7jKws
#23. Hugo - Bread and Butter
This song just feels badass. Although he's not driving an all black 440 69 Dodge Charger in the video I think that car grabs the essence of this song. When you hear it you'll know what I mean.
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=sBr_VO8xJTA
#24. The Equatics - Merry Go Round
This song is relatively short but it's good ! It feels like something you'd throw on while cooking and having a glass of red wine. Meat hitting the pan searing with the aroma of spices filling your kitchen as you entertain guests on a slow Tuesday night.
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=bMkT02lPhrk
#25. Holy Holy- That Message
This is one of my favorite songs that fits in these weird sub-genres that include keyboard/ synthesizers and guitars. The guys are from Australia and were super into art and making progressive music. The musical progressions in this song hit me pretty good. The song has a killer guitar solo that battles the synth in that part of the piece... Plus it makes you wonder what that message contained he wanted to get to that person so bad !
Rad album abstract artwork and just a rad song in general.
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=62EfZGDs0Xs
INDIE/ FOLK / SURFROCK
#26. Angie McMahon - Slow Mover
This girl's voice is insane for her frame. Not what you would expect to come out of her. She's a stunner to look at if you're into indie girls. Her vocal inflections in her low tone are cool to hear and to see. She brings an interesting story into this song where you're at an awkward point in a relationship where you might be moving too fast... she just wants to take a step back and figure out what they have going on at the moment and doesn't want to spoil it by moving into things too fast. Just slow down! The Australian Indie Scene is pretty sick.
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=9Y3Qt_6ste8
#27. Courtney Barnett - Avant Gardener
A very cool chick from AUS yet again taking you through a fried day. The anxiety of being high sometimes can be overwhelming. She wrote a song about the experience. A memoir of being anxious and introspective thoughts. She rips on that Telecaster too which is freakin awesome.
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=XUkpIShoYN4
#28. DIIV - Blankenship
This a song for after you've downed your coffee at 0430 and it's firing (at least the report says so...) but you still have a 10 min drive to the beach. You still are in your warmies, getting out of the car, about to go over the sand berm to check it.
Just when your eyes meet the clearing of the sky from beyond the sand dune, you see some mental set come through that is heaving and spits. You quickly turn around and tell your buddy whose running up a few steps behind you
"You don't even need to look at it! Let's get on it!"
Change out drill begins now.... This song has set up an epic session for me a year ago. With 2 Fresh boards and 5mm Wetsuits, Hoods, Gloves, and boots on just pulling into bombs.
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=1ty7_hjW9Kc
#29. CASTLEBEAT - Research
This song would be a cool slow motion edit of 35mm film video clips transitioning. Seagulls, then a sign, then cars passing, your buddy laughing, then waves rolling through that are combed out. Followed by a couple clips of epic cutbacks and pulling into closeouts. Eventually turning into some stylish surfing.
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=0OaB19By1NM
FEEL GOOD
#30. Youngblood Brass Band - Brooklyn
This is a standard night in New Orleans on Frenchman St. Such a cool vibe and The horns are on point. I remember seeing similar bands down there and being blown away at how incredible horn sections sound live. These guys are talented.
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=3MWOyrryNNM
#31. Allen Toussaint - Last Train
This is a song I will bump on a Sunday morning in a late 60's muscle car. The type of cars that buzz when the door is open and the key is in the ignition. The engine growling and gargling at a stop light while it's idling. All of this, while you wait for the light to change from red to green. The engine is loud but you can't really hear it because this song is cranked up. Man that's clean ! American Muscle.
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=Vr_0m8K3JGw
METAL / TUBE RIDING MUSIC
#32. Deafheaven- Canary Yellow
My friend Connor Ruddy (@uneed_cpr) showed me this song two years ago while we were driving over the bridge in Hatteras. The sunlight hitting our tired faces. We still had about 45 mins to go till we were going to get out and start checking spots. He said,
"you want to hear a crazy 12 min song?"
He told me I'd experience a bunch of different emotions and he was right. This song transitions so well into different feelings for the listener. This is not just some boring metal song. It's very melodic, that has epic guitar riffs with some death metal sprinkled in. It's as if the vocals don't really match the instruments... but they do in a weird way.
Give it a listen if you want to hear something new when it comes to the genre of "Metal." It will help you brave the cold and hopefully score a couple massive chandelier style barrels!
It reminds me of paddling as hard as you can toward a monster wave as it starts to jack up. The ocean spray hitting you in the face as you struggle to keep your eyes open. You go up over face of the wave and beat it just in time, as you look back you see a 9-ft drop to certain pain as the wave detonates. You just missed it. You're safe until the next one.
Thanks Connor.
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=w5eQuhBfDE0
#33. The Sword - Lawless Lands
These guys are pretty awesome. They are from Austin, TX. They made a couple outstanding albums from 2006-2012. This song is one of many that I could show you that embodies their badass sound. Their fat tone and take on metal guitar is shown here. They should be in a lot more snowboarding, surfing and skydiving videos.
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=2pxicylHN9o
#34. Windhand - Two Urns
This song kind of reminds me of "Godzilla" by Blue Oyster Cult. It should be placed in a video edit of absolutely "F***ed!" waves heaving on a shallow slab with plenty of un-makeable but gargantuan barrels.
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=l_WJB7KXae8
#35. Monolord - Where Death Meets The Sea
(The same description from above insert here.) These two songs are epic in the way they make me feel like that. If you've ever seen the ocean upset this song fully brings that feeling and sight to the ears.
When the storm has went from ripping 40+ mph winds at you onshore for a week straight and all of the sudden it goes calm and leaves you with a huge wave that makes you question if you're nervous to paddle out or not.
Boards will snap but that comes with the territory when you want to try the ocean. It's the beauty of surfing when the conditions are like that (ie: Cold, Huge, and hollow beasts of a wave) that keep watermen coming back. You'll make it out and you'll make a couple of em just don't be the coffee crew and stand there and look at it for too long you'll miss surfing a heavy metal wave.
Chris Imperato squeaking out of a beast.
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=_xcZ3gNWsEE
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Thank you all for taking the time to read this post. I hope you found some entertainment and some cool mental images. Below will be the embedded playlist so you can follow or add some of these tunes to your library. (Thanks Mikey for the suggestion!)
With so much love, gratitude always,
-J
