Lykke Li

I think a lot of you might have already heard one of her songs called I Follow Rivers. It was once a summer banger in multiple countries and it’s still frequently played on the radio. But what you actually hear there is a remix made by The Magician, so I thought I could share with you the original version of this song, which comes from Lykke Li’s second album Wounded Rhymes (2011). If you have heard them both, which one do you like better? Because I like the original one more, the melody is more mellow, gentle and most of all – melancolic, which is a distinctive trait of her songs in general. Not to mention the fact that the lyrics are actually pretty deep, of course they can be interpreted in different ways (and Lykke likes to write such ambiguous, semi-poetic lyrics), but to me it says about the death, or even a fatal destiny that follows you no matter where you are. I don’t know, it just gives off  memento mori vibes, especially if you link it to the music video. And if you think about it, the remix version, made in retro house style, which naturally incites you to dance, may be generally interpreted as danse macabre song. But that’s just one way to look at it.

Lykke Li is one of my favourite solo artists and songwriters. She tends to blend different styles of music, like dream pop (which I recently made a blog entry about), electronic and indie music. Most of her songs have a very specific ambiance, the way she records them make us listeners think, that she’s singing underwater. What’s more, her way of singing is very often lazy, or slurred. These little mannerisms create very melancholic, sad, introspective and emotional recordings.

That’s why most of her fans (including me) were (more or less pleasantly) surprised by the new album released this year after four years of hiatus.

So Sad, So Sexy, a fourth album in her musical career, is a huge leap forward from the previous album, which undeniably displays her growth as an artist and as a person. For the first time, she decided to incorporate some trap/rap elements and blend it with pop sound, which is pretty daring in itself, but it sounds quite  interesting, and personally I really enjoy her new material. Most importantly, she didn’t lost her touch in songwriting, the lyrics are still emotional, maybe a little more fierce, crude, less poetic, but they resonate with me nonetheless. And you can feel that she bares her soul with us.

Interesting fact : Lykke Li became a mother in 2016. Two years later, with her comeback, on Mother’s Day she had uploaded a song, Utopia, which she dedicated to her mother who passed away a year prior. The music video was made of old recordings from her childhood and new footage filmed with her own son.

Christmas songs

Christmas is just around the corner, if you’re not feeling it yet I hope this post will get you in a more festive mood.

If there is a thing I cannot imagine Christmas without (besides family gathering), that would be Christmas carols. Ever since I remember, we always were singing at my household around this period of time. While cleaning our house, baking and preparing various dishes or putting in and decorating our Christmas tree.

As I grew up I learned to play some songs on my guitar, so that we can all sing after  Christmas Eve dinner (before opening our presents!).

Of course you can say that these songs get monotonous, boring or even irritating after some time (especially if they are played on a never ending loop on the radio or in a shopping centre), but what’s amazing is that you have many songs you can choose from, with different genres, styles, arrangements, various instruments etc.

That’s what I want to share with you today – some of my favourite festive songs, I’ve discovered and enjoy listening to in December.

I’ve already talked about Sleeping at last and how amazed I am of Ryan’s songwriting skills, here’s the proof, an amazing, intimate Christmas song. I absolutely adore his Christmas carol covers too.

This song was used in the third season of a Norwegian show, called SKAM. I fell in love with this arrangement and Nils voice, stunning!

My favourite Christmas song by Super Junior. It’s very cheerful so it always puts me in a good mood.

Sainte Nuit, or Silent Night, a very classical cover, but I love it. Bruno’s voice works magic in Christmas songs.

I only tolerate this song in this particular version, I like Pellek’s energy, he’s genuinely enjoying this song, nice guitar riffs too.

Merry Christmas everyone!

Beach house

Have you ever heard about dream pop? Although it has pop in its name, it’s not a mainstream music, but rather indie or alternative – it always bothered me why the genre goes by dream pop and not dream indie... maybe that’s the matter of how it sounds, dream indie sounds a bit awkward, I admit, but nevermind!

Dream pop is a very specific type of music and I always find it difficult to describe it as accurately as possible, but the main idea is to create a music which kind of puts you into this mood of slow-motion almost. I know it sounds bizarre, but I assure you it’s awesome. Dreamy, ethereal, hypnotic, mesmerizing, calm, soothing... that’s how I feel it. Also, it’s very inspiring, because it allows you to fully immerse yourself in the music and the lyrics (which happen to have an important role in the immersion itself), and as a result it opens your mind in such a way that no other genre of music (none that I know of) can. It’s an ideal music while you travel, read, paint or even just lie down. It’s a bit similar to ambient music (which in turn I would describe as the core of the sound that accompanies you everywhere as a sort of background – very interesting btw!), but dream pop more often than not has lyrics. As I said before its introspective role is significant, the breathy vocals accompagnied by minimalistic sound and melody (mainly produced by guitar or synthesizer) make the whole package. Alright, now that I’ve cleared it up, let me introduce you to my favourite dream pop band : Beach House. (Though they hate it when people label them!)

Beach House is an American duo created in Baltimore in 2004 by a vocalist, Victoria Legrand and multiinstrumentalist, Alex Scally. Their meeting must have been written in the stars, because they claim to be musical soulmates, their bond growing stronger with time taught them patience and cemented their friendship. That must be why they are going as strong as ever even today (which not many bands and duos can brag about). As of 2018, they have released seven full studio albums, the last of which, called 7 , was released on May this year and has been critically acclaimed, some even call it their best album yet, and I must highly agree with that. It takes you on a fantastic journey.

 Interesting fact : It took them about 11 months to create 7. Normally they would make it in half this time, but they decided to polish it and not limit themselves in the writing process and in the musical aspect. They like to experiment with the sound in general but not to this extent – 7 has many songs that can’t be recreated live, bold decision, may I add. As for the lyrics their main source of inspiration and questioning was the place of women in the world and the different roles that society imposes on them.

The Baltimore duo is one of a kind. They are bold, creative, strong-willed, down to earth, very sensible and attuned to interpreting and analysing the human psyche. Although they don’t really like to talk with the press, when they do, their interviews are extraordinarily profound, philosophical even. Here is one of them, if you’re interested.

Is dream pop your cup of tea? Write in the comments!

Good old stuff

Up until now I’ve been mostly writing about bands and artists from the 20th century, although I absolutely love listening to old stuff, especially when I’m travelling or skating. Therefore I’ve decided to fix that and make a post about some epic (in my opinion) tunes that don’t get old with passing time.

Some people say that old music (old enough to be remembered by them I guess) is the best music of all times and it has something that modern music is lacking profoundly – a soul. Well, as you may already assume, I don’t really share that opinion. I don’t really care when a certain song was written, as long as it moves me in some way, be it an old song or a recently released one. But on the other hand I kinda understand this point of view, because it’s based on people’s experiences, memories and most of all nostalgia, which is a very powerful emotion, as everyone knows. Who doesn’t reminiscence the old good times with a whistful smile on their face? Who doesn’t want to bring back those good times and memories that are ingraved preciously in our minds? Who doesn’t  have some space carved out in their heart for a certain song because it reminds them of someone from the past? Music is also that : a priceless memory lane.

So yeah. I do understand where someone may come from when they say that today’s music is not the best kind. (Though I’d also tell that said person to try and look deeper because it’s obviously not true and I hope that in some way I proved that through my previous posts). But today, as I said, we’ll look through some old music that I learned to love (with some additional commentary on my part), so here and now, I invite you to drive through my memory lane (aka chosen songs from my spotify playlist), maybe we’ll meet at some point? J

This song is a TOTAL JAM. It really puts me in a good mood and make me wanna dance (which I am not really good at unfortunately...) and goof around. It’s been constantly on the radio since I was little and I never get tired of it.

I’ve been growing up with rock and metal music in the background since my dad was a huge fan of old bands, like this one, Black Sabbath or Depeche Mode. This music makes me think of him and my childhood.

A beautiful song from the Dirty Dancing movie, one of my favourite movies in the romance genre.

It’s one of those songs I’ve been surrounded by for as long as I remember, the falsetto is incredibly impressive to me. My brother likes them too!

This song was covered by Fugees and it surpassed in popularity the original version, that’s really a shame. I like Lori’s soulful singing and the story behind this song – apparently she wrote some of the lyrics after she had seen Don McLean perform Empty Chairs.

 I’ve travelled a lot with my family in the past and this song was often played in the radio. The Police was also one of my dad’s favourite. Whenever I hear it I have a desert road behind my eyes.

I couldn't NOT put this song in here, it wouldn’t feel right. Very few people can cover Queen’s songs. Anyone watched the movie that came out in the theater’s some time ago?

 A pop icon and inspiration to many. Billie Jean reminds me of GTA, a game I played with my brothers in primary school.

I love the chorus and the general cheerfulness of this song!

Perversely written song about love. Totally magical! It reminds me of my teenage love. :)

If you want to hear some more of my old favourites, here’s my playlist.

Comment below your favourite old songs, I’d love that!

LP

Hello guys!

LP performed yesterday in Polish morning show on TVN (DD TVN – Good Morning TVN) with her new song. I’ve also heard today Girls Go Wild on the radio, so I call it a sign to write about LP, since I wanted to write about her at some point anyway.

I think she gained so much popularity these last few years that she doesn’t need much introduction, does she?

Maybe some of you already know that but LP is an acronym derived from her name and surname : Laura Pergolizzi. She has Italian roots, her grandparents come from Naples and Palermo. Since she turned 15 years old, and after her mother’s death she decided to immerse herself completely in music and later on try her luck in the musical industry.

Unfortunetely her first three albums, although critically acclaimed, didn’t bring her much recognition and success. Personally, I think it’s due to bad marketing, because they are quite good! That and maybe the fact they don’t really fall into mainstream music, not the way her new songs seem to. It’s been 17 years since the release of her debut album, her music style changed a lot, it’s true. She started out as a wild, bad-ass rockstar, then sort of slowly transitioned into pop and indie music. In the meantime she co-wrote many songs for such artists as Rihanna, Christina Aguilera, Rita Ora, Cher and many others.

Interesting fact :

She can play the harmonica, the guitar and the ukulele – the last of which kind of became her signature instrument. Most of her new songs has ukulele sound embedded into it as well as her whistles!

The breaking point for LP was when she released Lost on you in 2016. Still to this day, it’s her most watched video on youtube with 172 millions of views. And I mean, no wonder, it’s such a great song, it made me a fan of hers in an instant. LP is to put is simply musically gifted, she has not only a very powerful voice (her operatic vibrato gives me goosebumps!), but her writing and composing skills are excellent too. I think these years are her BEST yet, all her new stuff is incredibly catchy, she’s a mood and trend setter! Also don’t get me started on her stage presence, I mean, her stance is so cool, she’s basically oozing with self confidence and I think that’s what really attracts people to her and her music in general, me included.

Last but not least, small announcement guys! LP is about to release a new album called Heart to Mouth on December 7, 2018. I don’t know about you, but I can’t wait to hear it! Any LP fans in here? 

MIKA

Although he’s a quite well-known artist, I think he’s a bit underrated. You might have already heard some songs of his, like Grace Kelly or Relax, take it easy. They’ve become worldwide hits quite fast, I still remember it vividly, I was in a primary school at the time and every other phone ringtone was Mika’s song.

Interesting fact : Mika was born in Beirut, and his roots are Lebanese. Since he was a little child he was moving a lot with his parents, but he lived most of his life in the UK. Little does anybody know that he’s a poliglot! He can speak fluently English, French, Italian, Spanish and a little bit Arabic and Mandarin.

Mika (or rather Michael Holbrook Penniman Jr.) has about three and half/four octaves. He’s been classicaly trained since he turned 10 years old, by a professional Russian opera singer. His phenomenal control over his voice and vibrato is a good proof of  that. Mika can easily sing in low as well as in high register and his timbre is very distinctive from other voices in the music industry. If you recall for instance the chorus of Grace Kelly, you’ll know what I mean. This way of expression was and still is very innovative and impressive.

I absolutely adore his way of singing, how confident he is on the stage, his charisma is out of this world! He truly enjoys performing and it’s as clear as day that he’s not faking emotions while singing. He’s a nuclear bomb in fast, funky and dance songs and an emotional story-teller when it comes to ballads. I think it’s essential for a vocalist to have this kind of depth and urge to express their feelings through their voice, to be a soul exhibitionist, as weird as it may sound. And I think Mika is a good example of such artist.

To tell the truth, I’ve only really started to listen to his music when I become hooked on the French edition of The Voice : la plus belle voix. He’s one of the judges in there since 2014, so for 5 seasons in total for the time being, but it is already confirmed that he’s also going to participate in the next season in 2019. For a long time, The Voice : la plus belle voix was my favourite singing competition and I believe it’s the best edition of The Voice including The Voice US, UK, Poland etc., at least in my opinion. Why is that? Because it never ceases to surprise me one way or the other. Each episode is not only exceptionally pleasing in terms of music, songs choices and arrangements, but the ambiance all in all is why it’s worth it to give it a try. The contestants are also very creative too and from the get-go! There are very few blind auditions from other countries which are as striking or as thrilling. Besides, I really like the judges and their banter, they make a great team of their own. And thanks to this show I’ve realised that Mika has another trait I didn’t know about : he’s a good teacher! He’s so enthusiastic when he explains and gives tips and advices, how one can improve his/her voice or performance, the ways to interpretate the song, how to go about on the stage. He’s painfully honest when he has to but his criticism is constructive and argumentative and he’s just sharing his experience with newbies or wannabe singers, he makes them come out of their shells, which I find admirable and make me like him even more. And to top it all he’s a really funny guy!

I wrote that The Voice : la plus belle voix was my favourite singing competition, because I like I am a singer better now, which I already talked to you a bit about in my post about Dimash (stay tuned, I’m preparing a special post about this show!)

For now, I recommend you to listen to the live version of Grace Kelly in an exquisite arrangement with Symphony Orchestra conducted by Maestro Simon Leclerc.

Guitar solos

I thought it’d be interesting to make a post about one of my favourite instruments in the world : the guitar!Although I’m not going to bombard you with technicalities because it’s an enourmous topic which may bore you if you’re not playing it, so if you’re really curious you can make a reasearch on your own, because that’s not what I want to focus on today.

I assume all of you know what guitar looks like and that it’s a string instrument which varies in three main types : acoustic, classical and electric.

I’m playing acoustic/classical guitar since I turned 11 years old. Initially, I’ve been taking guitar classes at my school, about 2 hours a week, but since I’ve graduated my primary school I’ve been practising all by myself, mainly through videos on youtube, or posts on blogs or forums.

If you want to start playing on the guitar, my advice is that in the beginning you need to have someone to teach you basic chords, how to tune your instrument and replace broken strings. Whether someone shows you that in person, or online I think it’s important, because not only you’re not wasting time on figuring it out yourself, you can progress more quickly and efficiently and move on to more advanced stuff. All in all, I think the guitar doesn’t require much money when you’re starting out, it’s relatively cheap (300zł> for classical guitar, +other expenses like guitar case) and  most of all, it’s an instrument that it’s quite easy to learn to play on, even on your own. Personally, I’m not a very advanced player, I’ve been playing on and off on it since I started, but my goal wasn’t to play professionally, but for the pure joy of playing, creating, jamming and making covers. I’d also love to learn playing on electric guitar in the future, I’ve already played a couple of times on my friend’s guitar and the feeling is definitely one of a kind.

For today’s post, I figured, why not making a list of my favourite guitar solos and share it here with you with some additional commentary? I’ll narrow it down to japanese rock music, because I feel like I’ve neglected it a bit and I’d love to introduce you to some of the amazing bands that at some point were inherent part of my life. It’s extremely difficult to choose, but well, here goes nothing!

X Japan

Do I even need to say anything? I’ve already written about them in here. Hide (the guy with pink hair) is my number one guitarist and a huge musical inspiration. Guitar solos : 5:57-7:05, 8:00-8:35, 9:58-13:00

Deluhi

Sadly, they disbanded in 2011 after only 3 years of playing together. Amazing sound and distinctive style, not the mention the unbelievable musical skills of each member. About a week ago they announced that they’re going to release a 10th anniversary album at the end of the year and held a special, one-time reunion concert in BLITZ Akasaka on 12 April 2019. Guitar solos : 0:55-1:18, 3:30-4:15, 5:17-5:53

Versailles

They’ve been in Poland a couple of times, amazing band! Their music concept is "the absolute youshikibi (beauty of form) sound and extremes of aestheticism". Faith&Decision is one of the most polished rock songs I’ve ever heard. Guitar solos : 1:33-3:14, 3:30-4:25, 5:17-6:50, 9:18-9:30, 12:13-12:50, 15:05-15:48

Galneryus

In this particular song symphonic orchestra music meets power metal. This sort of combination is so powerful and beautiful to me, I literally feel like it pierces my soul. Galneryus is a top-notch band! This song is deeply inspired by Tchaikovsky Violin Concerto in D major, Op 35. Guitar solos (by the one and only Syu!): 2:27-3:13, 4:37-5:50, 6:14-6:43, 8:04-9:28, 12:40-13:24

Luna Sea

A legendary band formed in the late 80’s, very popular in Japan. Sugizo and INORAN are well-known and very skillful guitarists. Guitar solo: 2:00-2:53

L'arc en ciel

One of the biggest bands in Japan. I have a soft spot for them in my heart, it’s actually the first japanese band I’ve listened to and fell in love with. Guitar solo : 3:30-4:04

Dir en grey

They had a concert in Warsaw about a month ago, they very often include Poland in their World Tour Concerts, so it’s worth it to follow their schedule. It’s one of those bands that leave a huge impression on you. Poetic lyrics, unique sound and very charismatic, controversial and emotional vocalist. And good guitar solos! Guitar solo : 3:00-4:00

Do you have any favourite guitar solos? If yes, please share it with me in the comments, I’d love to hear it.