CURATED MUSINGS: Artist Of The (two) Weeks

AOTW: Clara C.

For this week's instalment of AOTW, I will be continuing with another musician who gained fame through the internet, specifically through YouTube.

As of mid-2000s, YouTube has become one of the most popular websites for musicians to share their music. Artistes have had their careers flourish through the popular video-sharing website and it is no wonder that more musicians (even accomplished ones) turn to YouTube to grow their fanbase and to also interact with fans, especially those in places they never dreamed their music would ever reach. Clara C is an example of one of those artistes.

Clara Chung, more commonly known as Clara C, is an Asian-American singer-songwriter with three albums under her belt. Even though she had always had a passion for music, it was only in 2009, when she started uploading her music onto YouTube (with the support of her friends), and participated in and won competitions like the 2009 JC Penny Artist Search and 2010 Kollaboration LA that she started focusing on music as a career.

I've been following Clara C since 2010/2011, and honestly, it's very easy to fall in love with not just her music, but also her as a person. She has a rather quirky personality, which can also be seen in the way she approaches her music, and it is quite refreshing to hear amidst all of the generic music bombarding us daily.

"The Camel Song" off her debut album "The Art in My Heart" was one of the first songs I heard from her, mainly because Ryan Higa starred in the music video. It has such a cheery and uplifting sound to it that compliments this happiness one would associate with the great memories shared with her (possibly) ex-significant other. At the end, you'd be reminded that yes, these were in the past and now you have to face the reality of it. This is why this song is easily one of my favourite Clara C originals.

Of course, I have to mention the first single off the album. Again, it's a great track, exemplifying what Clara C does best. The music video, like the previous one, does add on to the cutesy and fluff of the song.

Overall, Clara's debut album "The Art in My Heart" is a rather light and has this folk pop vibe to it that goes very well with Clara's vocals. It's a great album that shows her music ability in terms of the harmonies she can create and meld. There are also hints of electronic influences/sounds which would be explored even further in her next album. All in all, it hints at a promising career for Clara C.

Since Clara C has quite a body of work on the internet (her career did start and flourish on YouTube after all), I will separate her albums and covers into the various posts so please be on the look out for those. [If you're wondering, yes, I'll probably do this for future AOTWs, that is, if their large body of work is easily accessible online.]

Dan

Wednesday, September 23, 2015
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AOTW: Troyboi.

AOTW

Image Courtesy of Brooklyn Bass

For this week's AOTW, I'll be venturing into the unknown: EDM, or more specifically, trap music. Since this is relatively new ground for me, it's only fitting that I do a review on one of the EDM/trap producers that made me rethink my stance on the genre.

A little backstory: Growing up, the narrow-minded self didn't consider EDM "real music"; it's only real if it comes from actual instruments, voice included. Some time in my early teens, I started watching dancers like Mike Song and Tony Tran on YouTube, and I found myself not just enjoying their choreography but their song choices as well. Other than the songs I heard them dance to, I never found an artist that I really enjoyed listening to, that is until Body Rock 2014. Kinjaz did a wonderful set, as they usually do, and one of the songs that stuck was Troyboi's FYI. For some reason, it struck a chord with me so I went on to look up his other stuff on SoundCloud and you can say the rest was history.

Since I couldn't find his solo EP, and coupled with the fact that he doesn't have a Wikipedia page or anything of the sort, I shall just recommend some great tracks from his SoundCloud page. [Also, he's a part of a collab project with Icekream called SoundSnobz and they have an EP out. I have yet to check them out properly so when I do, that'll probably be in another post.]

Troyboi's music has been labelled as chill trap and I very much agree with that. His music is rather soothing and yet it has that punch that trap music usually gives. I know it seems rather oxymoronic so I'd rather bring in examples to help illustrate my point.

"On My Own" featuring NEFERA starts out with an echoing harp on a loop followed by the adding of a child-like clapping game beat and other sound effects. Around the 45-second mark, the beat drops, and with it comes the familiar strong beats usually found in trap music. As with his other tracks, there is a strong sense of his ethnic influences, and unlike most attempts at merging traditional oriental/asian music and sounds with EDM, he manages to find a perfect balance between the two to create a nice head-bobbing track.

"O.G.", a track some people would know from the Kinjaz's collaboration with BNGA and/or the former's performance on ABDC, also has a similar vibe, with that riff on loop being layered on, and the beat drop coming in after "I'm OG, y'all new to the game". As much as every layer in this track is as important as the other in delivering that overall chill/groove vibe of the song, the percussions and hard-hitting beats are what made this song for me.

I chose this last song because it is a fantastic blend of that R&B feel good vibe and that heavy and hard-hitting bassline Troyboi's good at. What I love the most about this track is that he used a trumpet in the middle of the track and it didn't feel out of place at all. In fact, it felt essential to the track. On the whole, it's another great Troyboi #mystyle track. [Side note: #mystyle is the genre Troyboi uses to refer to the type of music he produces.]

If you loved some of the tracks here, please visit and follow his SoundCloud page to check out more his stuff, and to hear his upcoming tracks. There are also links to his collaborations with Diplo and Icekream, and a bunch of his remixes there so do give him a listen.

D-A-N O-U-T (...like Troyboi's signature? Ahh never mind.)

Sunday, September 06, 2015
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AOTW: Catfish and the Bottlemen.

AOTW

Picture Courtesy of Jon Stone and The Independent (x)

Hello there.

This is the second instalment of Artist Of The (two) Weeks (AOTW). AOTW is a biweekly series of posts that highlight upcoming/lesser known artistes in the hope that people who would like to expand their music tastes find an artiste or band they like and support. If you have any artiste/band/person you'd like me to review, please leave a comment below or in the cbox on the right.

This week, I will be giving the spotlight to the lovely Welsh lads of Catfish and the Bottlemen. [For the hardcore fans out there, I would like to apologise in advance because my details might be off.]

Catfish and the Bottlemen are made up of Van McCann (lead vocals, rhythm guitar), Johnny Bond (lead guitar), Benji Blakeway (bass guitar) and Bob Hall (drums). The band was formed in 2007 but only started gaining a large following in 2014. Currently, they have one studio album out and have completed their second album. While fans wait for this next album to drop, let's focus on their current studio album, The Balcony.

Overall, the album was reminiscent of late 90's/early 00's alternative rock music, which may explain why I fully enjoyed the album. It has everything I loved then; the low energy/minimalistic starts, the build ups, choruses bursting with energy and the easy-to-follow lyrics which make them possible stadium anthems.

"Homesick", the first single as well as my favourite track off the album is the best example of such in just 2.5 minutes. Considering the subject of the song, I'd have to say that the contrasts does help emphasise this tug-of-war blame game in the relationship. This similar approach in accompaniment is rather evident in the next two singles, particularly in "Kathleen". With it's very catchy chorus, it is no wonder this song was pushed as the first single by the band in the US.

Now, I have to mention the other single, the expletive-ridden "Cocoon". This aggressive track is the perfect outlet for all that pent up frustration. In a way, it is the best song for that teenage/youth crowd as other than the fact that it is great for blasting and head banging to, the chorus does talk about this common topic of possible unrequited love and the lengths to obtain such acceptance/reciprocation.

Another song that easily stands out in this album is "Hourglass". As the only acoustic track in the album, it is a rather nice welcomed break from all the tubthumping and full-on musical assaults. Again, it's a nice contrast to their very direct lyrics as it, in a way, allows you to fully listen and take in the words Van is singing. [This is also an excuse to post a video with Ewan McGregor]

All in all, though this album may not be a trail-blazer in any way, it does show that this band knows their target audience well, and that good music is ageless. I do hope they do well as I'd really like to see how their whole career would pan out.

Dan out.

Tuesday, August 18, 2015
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AOTW: Saint Motel.

AOTW

Hello there.

This will be the first of (hopefully) a series of posts where I'll shine the light on some lesser known artists in the music industry. They could be upcoming musicians, or even those behind the glass panel, producing, songwriting etc. If you'd like me (or any other blogger here) to review a group, you can just comment in the cbox on the right and we'll try to do a post up as soon as we can.

This week's spotlight is on the indie band Saint Motel. This LA-based quartet consists of AJ Jackson on lead vocals and guitar, Aaron Sharp on lead guitar, Dak on bass and Greg Erwin on drums. I first heard of them when they performed on the Late Late Show, and I remember thinking that though it was not a fantastic performance, it was still a good performance and that song they played (My Type) was freaking catchy (Just a point to note: I tend to give such artists the benefit of the doubt because I can't remember any band/artist having their talk show performance be the best performance of their entire career). I decided to look them up and I don't regret my decision. Just a heads up: I'll only be referring to their current EP so if I make any generalised comments that doesn't really reflect the band, I'll edit it later on.

I feel like My Type is a good EP for the band because despite there being a number of similarities between tracks, it is just their sound and they're basically showcasing themselves (well, not that much of themselves since it's only 4 tracks long but it's still quite good).

One of my favourite tracks off the EP is the first track "My Type". It has this upbeat, cheeky vibe to it, which goes really well with the narrative of the song. It's basically about this persona picking up someone who's "just (his) type". The song really represents that typical confident guy who's quite the ladies' man (I suppose), but results unknown. This track reminds me of Mark Ronson, and I'm guessing it's because of the sax and the trumpets, but yes, it also has that funk and R&B feel that is similar to Uptown Funk. As someone who dances (I refuse to call myself a dancer), this song feels like a hoot to choreograph to as it is just one of those songs where you cannot not dance to. In the words of Mark Ronson/Bruno Mars, don't believe me? Just watch (listen).

Another track I must talk about is "Cold Cold Man". It also has this carefree vibe to it, and I feel like this is a continuation of "My Type", but now the persona is just assuring his partner that he/she is the one (well, it's the age of Tumblr, and since I don't know the sexual orientation of the songwriter/band members, why limit?). It really is a cute and happy song, especially since it's using a very common chord progression that is annoyingly happy that even I cannot help but just smile. I guess I'm also kind of partial to the song because the piano features quite heavily in this track.

I guess that's it for now. Do listen to the other two tracks "Ace in the Hole" and "Midnight Movies" as they are just as good as these two I've highlighted in their own right. If I were to be honest, I don't know how big these guys can be but I do hope that they'll make it big, and that I'll be hearing more from them.

CURATED MUSINGS

AOTW: Clara C.

AOTW: Troyboi.

AOTW: Catfish and the Bottlemen.

AOTW: Saint Motel.

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