Category: video

Big Mama Thornton

Big Mama Thornton and the Muddy Waters Blues Band, “Everything Gonna Be Alright”

Thornton’s performances were characterized by her deep, powerful voice and strong sense of self. She tapped into a liberated black feminist persona, through which she freed herself from many of the expectations of musical, lyrical, and physical practice for black women.

She was given her nickname, “Big Mama,” by Frank Schiffman, the manager of Harlem’s Apollo Theater, because of her strong voice, size, and personality. Thornton used her voice to its full potential, once stating that she was louder than any microphone and didn’t want a microphone to ever be as loud as she was.

Thornton was famous for her transgressive gender expression. She often dressed as a man in her performances, wearing work shirts and slacks. She did not care about the opinions of others and “was openly gay and performed risque songs unabashedly.”

Improvisation was a notable part of her performance. She often entered call-and-response exchanges with her band, inserting confident and subversive remarks. Her play with gender and sexuality set the stage for later rock-and-roll artists’ plays with sexuality

(Source: https://www.youtube.com/)

Moby and the Void Pacific Choir, “Are You Lost in the World Like Me?”

Moby and the Void Pacific Choir, “Are You Lost in the World Like Me?”

Great little animation film by Steve Cutts which is reminiscent of the children cartoons of the 1930′s.

Steve Cutts is an illustrator and animator currently living and working in London. His work is fascinating, thought-provoking and usually lends an important message.  His messages range from environmental awareness and animal rights  to the humorous and educational. His art and film is mixed in humor and sometimes a more serious spin of man’s interaction with our environment and how it impacts the world we live in.

(Source: https://www.youtube.com/)

Banners, “Half Light”

 

Banner, “Half Light”, 2016

Nelson Banners is a Liverpool native who released his single “Shine a Light” in January of 2015 and released his symphonic debut self-entitled EP with Island Records in January of 2016. “Half Light” was released in 2016 for the E! network series “The Royals” and showcases Banner’s vocals over piano, strings, and percussion.

 

(Source: https://www.youtube.com/)

Father Tiger, “Head Hung Low”

Father Tiger, “Head Hung Low” from the Album “Winter Solstice”, 2012

FATHER TIGER is an indie revival pop duo with a love of vintage analog synthesizers and everything mid-century modern. Having grown up on opposite ends of Los Angeles county, members Greg Delson and John Russell now both reside in Hollywood, where they met in 2005 at audio engineering school.

Often compared to Cut Copy, M83, Holy Ghost!, Hot Chip, Passion Pit, and Robyn, the band’s sound is nonetheless unique. The duo combine live drums with programmed percussion, layering numerous rare, vintage analog synths and incorporating a vocal arrangement style reminiscent of the Motown era.

(Source: https://www.youtube.com/)

Yelawolf, “Shadows”

Yelawolf, “Shadows” Featuring Joshua Hedley

Joshua Hedley, an East Nashville stalwart who’s backed artists like Jonny Fritz and Justin Townes Earle on fiddle in addition to leading his own band, sings the mournful opening hook: “Memories of shadows haunt me, from the years when I was young / All the things that used to terrify me, are the things that I’ve become.” He’s accompanied by a fingerpicked acoustic guitar and ghostly vocals, adding to the heavy mood.

Alabama native Yelawolf – who spent several years living in Nashville – paints a vivid, frightening picture of personal demons, biker lawlessness, illicit drugs and all-out desperation in his characteristic drawl. “Whiskey bent after twelve – I’m always playing with death / Bullet shells in my yard – loaded gun on the shelf,” he snarls, backed by bluesy Dobro riffs and a shuffling beat. He’s looking back on lost innocence, realizing he’s embraced his own nightmares of paranoia and crime.

Yelawolf, a long time favorite of mine, and Hedley. a great fiddler and singer, make this song.

(Source: https://www.youtube.com/)

Christine and the Queens, “Here”

Christine and the Queens, “Here”, Featuring Booba

Letissier studied theatre at École normale supérieure de Lyon (ENS Lyon), moving to Paris in 2010, where she concluded her studies. When she visited London in 2010, she was inspired by the work of local drag queen musicians, including Russella, who accompanied her in one of her early concerts. They then became her “Queens” as a backing band.

She dedicated many of her creations to them and to all transgender individuals, describing her genre as “freakpop”. She adopted the name Christine and the Queens releasing her debut EP Miséricorde independently followed by another EP in 2012 called Mac Abbey with the minor hits “Narcissus is Back” and “Cripple”.

(Source: https://www.youtube.com/)

Felix da Housecat’s Remix of Nina Simone’s “Sinnerman”

 

“Sinnerman” is one of Nina Simone’s most famous songs and she recorded her definitive 10-minute-plus version on her 1965 album “Pastel Blues”. Simone learned the lyrics of this English song in her childhood when it was used at revival meetings by her mother, a Methodist minister, to help people confess their sins.

In the early days of her career during the early sixties, when she was heavily involved in the Greenwich Village scene, Simone often used the long piece to end her live performances. An earlier version of the song exists, recorded live at The Village Gate, but was not used on the 1962 Colpix album Nina at the Village Gate.

Simone’s version of Sinnerman has been sampled by Kanye West for the Talib Kweli song “Get By”, by Timbaland for the song “Oh Timbaland”, and by Felix da Housecat for Verve Record’s “Verve Remixed” series.

(Source: https://www.youtube.com/)

The Raveonettes, “Killer in the Streets”

The Raveonettes, “Killer in the Streets”

The Raveonettes are a Danish indie rock duo, consisting of Sune Rose Wagner on guitar, instruments, and vocals, and Sharin Foo on bass, guitar and vocals. Their music is characterized by close two-part vocal harmonies inspired by The Everly Brothers coupled with hard-edged electric guitar overlaid with liberal doses of noise.

Their songs juxtapose the structural and chordal simplicity of 1950s and 1960s rock with intense electric instrumentation, driving beats, and often dark lyrical content (e.g., crime, drugs, murder, suicide, love, lust, and betrayal), similar to another of the band’s influences, The Velvet Underground.

(Source: https://www.youtube.com/)

Death in June, “Runes and Men”

Death in June, “Runes and Men”

Death in June are a neofolk group led by English folk musician Douglas Pearce, better known as Douglas P. The band was originally formed in Britain in 1981 as a trio, but after the other members left in 1984 and 1985 to work on other projects, the group became the work of Douglas P and various collaborators. Douglas P. now lives in Australia.

Over the band’s three decades of existence, they have made numerous shifts in style and presentation, resulting in an overall shift from initial post-punk and Industrial Records influence to a more acoustic and folk music-oriented approach. They are sometimes considered controversial. Douglas P.’s influence was instrumental in sparking neofolk, of which his music has subsequently become a part.

(Source: https://www.youtube.com/)

Matthew Connor: Film History Series

Matthew Connor, “How is July Already Over?” from the Album “Farewell Motel”

Having established himself as a talented songwriter and performer on his 2014 album Farewell Motel, Boston-based avant pop specialist Matthew Connor is now ready to submerge his stories in sonic muck.

Throughout his career, Connor’s work has been influenced by his love of film; he creates brief, fleeting moments that fold in on one another, portraying the emotions that serve as undercurrents to everyday life. The Alabama-born Connor studied voice and composition at North Carolina School of the Arts before relocating to Boston. He takes his prodigious talent and rigorous training to craft songs that are covered in static and hiss and distortion, but sparkle underneath the noise surrounding them. Matthew Connor is one of Boston’s most vibrant musicians, creating art music that’s as startling as it is gorgeous.

Video directed by Marc McAndrews. Starring Matthew Connor and Hunter Canning.

This is a great song in the style of old fashion crooners. Seek out his music: Farewell Motel, Smoke Signals, and his new Night After Night.

(Source: https://www.youtube.com/)