ericsimonmace

Old School Rock held another level of quality than today. This is one of greatest of all time and everybody (should) have heard it before. But I wanted to share it with you anyway, don't think that modern music is the only thing I listen to! The old classics has a certain je ne sais quoi to it. Thank god my old man did teach me one or two about great rock music. 

Electronic music has been developing fast during the resent years and been blending in to different other genres more and more. Capital Cities is no exception. They have succesfully managed to combine indie and electro and this track is proof of that. The drums, guitars and trumpets makes perfect harmony with the distinct electronic beats. With artists like this we can rest safe and sound knowing times will be good.

The song of my 2014 summer is "Love is all I got". This radiates happiness and energy, I'm sitting with a great big smile while writing this. I love this track and whenever I need to kick start my day I just press play. The combo between Feed Me and Crystal Fighters is pure magic, Feed Me's heavy electro mixed with the folk/synth music from Crystal Fighters makes a perfect match. To really underline my love for this song I want you to now that the door to my apartment had a big piece of paper with the title of this song written on it. Because love is all i got!

This tune has so much feel good over it. The "18 Months" album is a dance music album but "School" is a soft and easy track. A little bit funky and a whole lot of feeling. If only all of Harris music would be of this quality and sound. Of course I have danced to his other tracks on this album but I have never sat down and listened to any one but this. "School" is a track you can press repeat on and just forget that it's even playing. It coherence with my flow and becomes a part of the surrounding, which in my school is the best grade any song can get. 

Some Chords is the intro track to the 4x4=12 album by deadmau5. The slow starting chords increasing step by step in both tempo and intensity captures the listener. Whatever mood you were in before playing this song is gone. That is one of deadmau5 great attributes, the music he produces makes you forget the surrounding environment for a second. He creates a temporary haven with his music. Even if it is some of his intense tracks as "Professional Griefers" or slow tracks as "Strobe" they all share this feature. At least I experience this feeling of completely losing myself into the music. If I could I wouldn't have choosed just one song from deadmau5 but instead I would've chosen the whole '4x4=12' album as his greatest. I love this album and play it while doing anything. There is probably no time of day where this album wouldn't fit. Even when I try to rest this heavy bassline is not too much. Because Some Chords just does it, Some Chords helps you through the day.

This is two of my absolute favourite music artists. A collaborations between Lykke Li and Kings of Leon might sound odd since Lykke Li is famous for her soft, rythmic and very vocal music while KoL is a modern rock band with the distorted guitars, powerfull basslines and intese vocals. But Knocked Up from the album 'Because of the Times' is the perfect middle between them both. This song was the B-side track to the super hit single 'Use Somebody' which might be a reason to why it still is quite unknown. But some fans have picked this song up and it's starting to get the credits it deserves.

The first time I heard this song was from a friend on a talent show. I didn't know the original song nor who the original artist was. But it got stuck. Especially the high notes at the end. After this talent show I had to ask the friend of mine what song it was and was told it was "Plane" on the album "Mr. A-Z" by Jason Mraz. But it was not the same version, that album version was nowhere near to what my friend had sung. I didn't give it much thought at the time and thought he had made it in his own version. But then a year later I found this acoustic version and even if it is over a year since I heard it first at that talent show I knew exactly that this was the version I heard before. This version captures the feelings the lyrics tries to explain. Jason Mraz really shows what a great artist he is and that he is more than "I'm Yours".

Since my last post was about a remix of Lykke Lis "I'm Good I'm Gone" it's just right that we bring up Lykke Lis main competitor in her music scene. I can't say Dillon is bigger nor greater than Li, she isn't. But Dillon still got what it takes to be compared with Lykke Li. Dillon has released a couple of singles and two full lenght albums but this rather unknown track is the one that really got me. The line "I've had sleepless nights filled with senseless fights" is spot on, her inner fight to hold on or let go. The creative title is also a big up, the word heartache is so strongly connected with Bonnie Tyler '70s song "It's a heartache" it's a relief somebody comes up with something new.  

With this post I would like to thank Fred Falke. After his mix of "I'm Good I'm Gone" I discovered Lykke Li and have since that day bought every single album Lykke Lis ever released, she's fantastic. Why don't I display any of her original songs then? Fred Falke has done something incredible with this song From the slow original to this dance/work out friendly mix is a big leap but the transition is flawless. This could've been a song in collaboration between Lykke Li and Fred Falke,  it's THAT good. Lykke Li has a certain feeling to all her tracks and Fred Falke has been able to capture this in his mix. Nothing is lost even if the difference is immense between the original and remix. 

The distant guitar with the hyper drum makes a better combo than I would've expected. On the paper it looks silly to put a drum beat that fast on a song this calm. But Local Natives makes it work, "Wide Eyes" has a little more tempo than your average calm song but would fit into any calm indie playlist out there. The instruments, lyrics and background humming comes together soft and smothly, The shift from indie to rock as the song go on creates a depth and differentiate the song from others. Makes it easy to recognize even with your eyes wide shut.

I heard this song [studio version] when I was browsing through artists on Spotify. I put the song in some playlist with calm music and left it there. Some weeks later I played this playlist and "If Only" came up again. Somehow this time it got stuck. Really really stuck. I couldn't get it out of my head so I played it over and over again. When I thought it had gone a little too far with this monoton way of only listening to one song I heard this live version and it was reborn. I already knew every single word but the voice, the feelings he puts in it changes everything. The desperation, the feeling of giving up but not quite yet. He still wants her and would give anything for her, but in his heart he knows it's over. If only every song could be this emotional.

Whether this album is an album or not I don't know. Wikipedia says "9 Beats" is a leaked demo album and if this is the music Ratatat started making without experience it's no wonder why they have become the superstars they are today. Especially "One" and "Six" are genius (on soundcloud the track "Six" is labelled wrong and is in fact the track "Five" --> I've checked if "Five" was wrong labelled too but it's not). The organ in the start of "One" mixing in with electro beats is insane. Fantastic. To just have the idea of mixing electro with an organ in '06 is a decade before their time. Today some electro/house tracks include saxophones and other distinct instrument. But this is 2006! Woah. Ratatat shows they're not afraid of trying out different styles and sounds and with their skill they certainly manage to pull it off. Ratatat deserves being on the top, they definitely are number one.

Indie is a genre exponentionally growing with the hipster movement and love for a down to earth attitude. I admire the fact that artist like Bombay Bicycle Club is never on the front page of any magazine even though their music is played more than your average superstar, in fact this song "Always Like This" has more than 15 million plays on Spotify. The fan base is huge and it is solely based on their music, not because of their image or anything else. In other genres branding your name is essentiell; DJs having a huge name but not very good music, rappers who's lost the spark but still sells tons of CDs. Indie sells if the music is good, not if the name is well branded, and I hope it will always be like this.

Upbeat and happy, "Dancing With The DJ" gets everybody going. Radiating happiness to whoever listening. With a little funk, a whole lot of disco and just pure fun this track is my number one from The Knocks. Love it! The influences from Daft Punk is unmistakable but this New York based duo have made a name for themselves. If there's a band I'd like to see on stage next these guys are on the top of my list and with their reputation of attending the parties after their gigs I might get to be dancing with the Knocks!

What would electro swing be without Parov Stelar? He has produced tons of music and him producing at his lowest is still better than most will ever dream of. Electro swing is a growing market and many new artists are exploring the grounds. But nobody is unaffected by Stelar. To choose one song from him was incredibly hard, harder than I thought. But at the end it all came down to "The Invisible Girl" (although "Booty Swing" was just an inch from being the topic of today). "The Invisible Girl" is everything you ask for, it has the electro and it has the swing. It sounds so easy, as if I could've made it and that fact is to me a mark of quality. When music is kept clean and simple. When you get what you ask for. Here you go, this is the definition of electro swing. I present to you: Parov Stelar - "The Invisible Girl".

A Tribe Called Quest are masters in rythms and beats and they don't rap about the thug life as many of the contemporary rappers did. "Electric Relaxation" gets a hold of you right from the start and you don't realize the motion of your body following the rythm until the end of the song. Relaxe and enjoy!

TEED is just a fantastic artist. Pure talent. I even had the luck to see him on a concert this summer. His music is playful and even though the lyrics might not be the most optimistic the upbeat music makes the feeling positive and it is quite hard to sit still listening. Household Goods is such a good example of this. This whole album "Trouble" is a good example of this.