review – Musicified

Jealous – Nick Jonas + Gospel Version

(Hey guys! I’m sorry I haven’t posted in a while, things have been crazy with trying to juggle music and school, but I’m back and have had a chance to really discover some good stuff so I hope you’re all ready!)

Oh my gosh I love this! I’m not sure if it’s the energy in all of this, the really catchy tune, or Nick Jonas (who is super cool), but I’m addicted to this video right now. Gospel is so powerful and I’d never had thought of mixing that soul and depth with a song like Jealous (“I turn my cheap music up and I’m puffing my chest”) – and the fact that Nick Jonas himself is involved makes it even greater. The whole thing has such a flow to it, which I love! It’s really refreshing but with a certain intensity to it… Does that make sense?

The Power of Music

I was listening to Black Treacle, by Arctic Monkeys, and I realized something.

“I feel like the sundance kid behind a synthesizer”

I had absolutely no idea who this sundance kid was, but those 9 words still shot a spear through my heart, and a tear down my cheek.

Music is a universal language anyone and everyone can understand. And I now know what to say to people when they ask me why I want to be a musician, why I love music so much, or why I’m always listening to music. “Music has no purpose, you can’t save lives with it”. Well no one will ever be able to find a better way to communicate than through music: how do you think some songs make you happy – or sad – for no particular reason? Music can save the world, can conquer all! Communication is the basis of everything in our world, now more than ever; and if you look at most of our problems on this planet, they are partly because of miss-communication. As much as I believe in the power of words, and literature and poetry, I’m absolutely sure that music is stronger than all of that.

Anyway, that’s all, if you don’t mind I’ll just go back to eating my chocolate eclair now. xoxo

Me and Earl and the Dying Girl

Coming of age is a state so difficult to explain; with its ups and its downs, its laughs and its frowns (and there aren’t anymore rimes for that). Making decisions, getting used to life, knowing how to deal with situations… Growing up has been a lot of film makers concern as it is so rich in emotions and strong feelings. Not a lot of them have been able to capture the essence of teenage years in their true form, with the exception of Alfonso Gomez-Rejon, with Me and Earl and the Dying Girl.

We’ve seen cancer in The Fault in Our Stars, My Sisters Keeper, and all that cliché stuff we’ve all got lying around in our Young Adults collection; but this is one of a kind. A delicate portrait of how these terrible extremes of life could affect each and every one of us: told through the invigorating eye of Greg, 17 year old boy swimming through the decisions that one may encounter in the beginning of their adult life. The film is actually a film within a film, which somehow makes us forget the story is just a series of images on our screens; a fresh and fragile mise en abyme.

No doubt an emotional rollercoaster, soaring through the comedy of high school and stereotypical teenage life, then suddenly dropping down to the chills of illness and grief; Me and Earl and the Dying Girl is a slowly unrolling piece of poetry, snippets of a metaphorical life climaxing into the act of creating – represented by Greg and Earl.

HOZIER – OLYMPIA 2TH JULY 2015

Thursday 2th July 2015, Olympia Theâtre, Paris

Well, I can’t say he’s the arrogant type. Actually, out of all the words of the whole of the English language, arrogant would be the least appropriate to describe him. I would say he’s more of a… warm person. Yes, that whole experience was overall warm. (that sounded much less weird in my head)

The whole warm thing was on multiple different levels:

1) His personality. Imagine a cupcake, strawberry and vanilla, with more cream icing than it would be safe to put on there, extra sprinkles and a glass of fresh milk: that’s Hozier. Wait, no, sorry; make that cupcake irish.

He is just the sweetest person ever. I can’t count how many times he thanked the audience, his band, his friends, his managers… He even managed to personally thank, out loud, every single person that was on his tour.

2) His music and his band. It all was totally put together and seamless in a really rough way – I’m not sure that makes sense – but it was so natural and just… out there. I couldn’t have enjoyed anything more than those few songs he and his great band (Keyboard, two backing singers, bass, drummer).

3) The atmosphere the crowd and the venue. Half of the audience was a bunch of old prunes sucking the extremely hot air out of the place with their profoundly annoying disapproving glances and grimaces. The second half, on the other hand, was a gang of enthusiastic music lovers, most of them probably irish or english (a series of boisterous cheers at every moment Hozier mentioned where he comes from can vouch for that).

4) The heat (approximatively 45 degrees in that room). Attending a Hozier concert in a boiler would probably have been less hot. Oh well, it was a very, very nice alternative to a heating appliance.

All in all (and on a more serious note) it was a wonderful and intimate experience, where an artist honestly exposed his pure and soulful music to an audience, proudly flaunting his emotions and thoughts to the world. Isn’t that what music is about after all?

JAMES VINCENT MCMORROW – EARLY IN THE MORNING – WELL IT’S NEVER TOO EARLY FOR SUCH A TRULY TALENTED IRISH SINGER SONGWRITER

These days, young Irish indie musicians gorged with talent seem to be popping up from every corner. Hozier, Villagers and now James Vincent McMorrow with his debut album Early in the Morning. The industry seems to be falling for his pitch-perfect voice and powerful vocal range, as well as his great performing abilities.

Mr McMorrow seems to have started an addiction to falsettos at some point in his life and still hasn’t had to chance to get to rehab. Falsettos, falsettos and more falsettos: that’s what hits me the most in his songs. He has an incredible diversity in his voice, and even though he sometimes overuses these high pitched sounds, it proves his acute aptitude to mould his voice into many different tones.

My personal favorite on this album, If I Had A Boat, throws you into the heart of the song with once again his characteristic harmonies – which are pretty seemless, nice job, kiddo – and a catchy folk resonance with a light tambourine rythm in the background. I can’t quite understand what he’s on about, but the lyrics seem vaguely familiar due to the recuring theme of water. The chorus comes up and seems to me like a slap in the face quickly followed by a soothing stroke with it’s background ooh’s: that’s what James Vincent McMorrow does to you.

An embrace you don’t want to let go of.

CRYING TEARS OF FRUSTRATION – THE KOOKS, LISTEN

I’ve always been a great lover of The Kooks. Their fresh view on everything, a young twist on Brit-Pop, all their tunes so catchy and lyrics telling the tales of boyhood.

Their new album Listen (new-ish, I guess it took me some time to come to terms with my favorite band making an album I strongly dislike) is utterly dissappointing.

It’s just a load of electro-pop-indie vomit ~~which kind of makes me nauseous~~, and I doubt half the sounds on it are produced by actual instruments. Gahhhh, where has good music gone? And more importantly, why are good musicians making bad music?

Seriously. Take the third track Westside. Basically, there’s one teeny weeny guitar riff at the beginning, which is looped for what seems like eternity before this painful keyboardy sound is thrown onto a totally flat beat. The lyrics are so unlike The Kooks, especially as they’re repeated like a gazillion times and that’s what fills up the song to be honest. To me it just sounds like one of those annoying songs you skip on the radio in the summer when you’re looking for a song to spice up your road trips.

Okay, on a more positive note, there is one song I really love: See Me Now. Still, it doesn’t really sound Kookey but I am addicted to the simpleness of it. Just Luke singing, his pure voice bursting out onto quite a repetitive piano progression. Then comes in some bass, drums and backing vocals. Oh and there’s a nice bit of strings around the end of it that makes it feel extra 80’s.

Anyway, I sincerely hope this is only a test or something, because I can’t have all this talent beeing wasted on some commercial piece of crap.

I Want You Back The Kooks!!!

(get it?)