No more Awesome

Dan Auerbach, Flairs and De Rosa

Dan Auerbach is one half of the group The Black Keys. They make really old school sounding music, which is very similar to funk. I haven't heard much from them, but they are pretty good.

Dan Auerbach recently (or will soon) released his solo album "Keep It Hid". I will be the last person to say that this music is awesome (believe me, I say that all the time about everything). This music is by no means awesome, but it is extremely good. It does not have that quality you attribute to music that is instantly catchy and danceable. No, this is slow, rhythmic music. Deep baritone lyrics with very deep organic drums and guitars. As nice as that may sound, I had to listen to the album 4 times before I got a feel for it. Its on the top of my list of albums to listen to right now. It is very good.

The lyrics are really slow and moody. Not emo, just moody. Its one of those winter albums. Have you heard that term? Winter album. I have alot of winter albums. Those albums that are perfect to listen to in the winter, not because you're depressed, but the atmosphere within the music itself is very slow and "cold". This is an amazing album, you should definitely check it out.

Flairs released his album "Sweat Symphony" recently. This is a drastically more upbeat album that the Dan Auerbach one. That does not make it awesome, but it is extremely good (I'm trying to hold back my awesome's nowadays. Flairs' music is a mix of different music. Its electronica, with pop with techno with lo-fi. Its the mixture of things that gives it such a presence when you hear it. The synths and the drums are amazing throughout the album. You have this crazy dance music in the background with this dude singing in a really quirky voice. Again, its a combination of different elements that do not seem to go well together, but when executed they sound amazing!

The first track is pretty funky. "I'm driving my Mercedes Benz with a nine in my hand". Nice. See, this is what I'm saying! Quirky! Its amazing!

De Rosa has an album out called "Prevention". I really really like this album. I'm in the middle of my first listen and I want to start it over and over again. Its extremely catchy and inviting. De Rosa is a Scottish band that makes really melodic rock music. Some of the earlier tracks on the album though are very electronic, which is a unique mix with the singers vocals (Scottish accent over electronic music). The lyrics are very moody here too. Again, not emo, just moody. I use moody to describe it because he is talking about moods, feelings.... love. The singer sings in a very melodic voice. The combination of voice with music is amazing! The last track is especially good and an almost perfect ending to the album. I am really very impressed and look forward to hearing more from this band.

I do not kid around when I mention bands by the way. If I have the time to write up a huge blog about a certain artist(s) then there is something about them that you should also hear. I'm in the middle of downing homework, I took about a 20 minute break to write this entry. I'm sacrificing my grades for your sake! That's a good friend right there!

Cheers!

Omer