Welcome all music lovers and participants alike! Your music library is a collection and I intend to help you expand it, one step at a time. The musical term suite pertains to a loose collection of instrumental compositions. I love sharing the new songs/artist/bands etc. that I discover, as well as those I absolutely respect, and think people need to know about. So welcome to the suite, keep an open mind, and I hope you enjoy this week’s features…
Have you ever discovered an artist/producer/duo/any-other-term-you-can-think-of that is able to describe the hard to describe? A lot of people, and some music lovers, don’t actively take the time out to find out who the person is behind this alias. R&B, Hip-Hop, and Pop artists usually have a very distinctive name that they go by. Artists outside of these genres and similar genres tend to go by a seemingly obscure and random name. These artists may have identifiers such as: a very unequivocal sound, a unique symbol/logo/object that appears with all of their works, or a certain catch phrase. If you do decide to take a look behind these identifiers, it’s an interesting experience to discover what’s on the other side.
It’s really tough these days to come up with an original sound, or symbol, and make it all your own. This is especially difficult when you are a main stream artist and everyone (the listening audience) is well aware of your name and the common trend of sounds being filtered out today.
Producers are highly creative and imaginative artists, and they are constantly working on cranking out something that sounds unique and will, in turn, be accepted by listeners. The following innovative creators I have come across have successfully overcome those two aforementioned hurdles.
Disclosure:
The word disclosure is simply the act of making something known, maybe even a revelation. Siblings Guy and Howard Lawrence from England are the duo that formed Disclosure. The most awesome thing about them is that they’ve made all of this progress and they are only in their early 20s! The duo grew up in a musical environment with sounds of jazz, rock, and soul that their parents played and which has impacted their own music in wonderful ways. Disclosure debuted on the music scene in 2010 via Myspace, and quickly linked up with the Moshi Moshi label that released a couple of their tracks officially in August 2010. The following year, they released a few mixes and an EP entitled Carnival. 2011 was also the year that they signed to Island-affiliated label PMR.
Possibly their best known track, “Latch” was released in November 2011. “Latch” peaked at number eleven in the UK, and then in 2013, their hit “White Noise” reached number two. The chart busters “White Noise, “ “Latch,” and “You & Me,” were released in the US this year on their EP The Singles along with a remix by Hudson Mohawke.
Their debut album Settle came out in June of this year. The album cover also incorporates the digital face drawn on the real face as seen in the picture above; this face is said to be something that Guy liked, and eventually became they’re identifying mark. To get to know them a little bit more, I found a pretty good interview from June, around the time of their album release, which is definitely worth a read! One of my favorite tracks from Settle is called “When A Fire Starts To Burn.” The track samples bits of the speech from motivational speaker, Eric Thomas (aka ET, aka etthehiphoppreacher) from New York. The actual video for the track is quite humorous (sort of a tongue-in-cheek take) and does the track as much justice as ET’s voice.
Their sound extends from pop and funk, to deep house and everything between. Check out their website.
Mux Mool:
Brian Lindgren is an IDM (Intelligent Dance Music) producer who hails from Minnesota, but relocated to Brooklyn, New York. Lindgren is associated with the Moodgadget and Ghostly International labels and made his commercial recording debut in 2006. When he linked up with Jakub Marek Alexander of the electronic music label Moodgadget, his works began to flourish and surface. In 2008, he released two EPs: Drum EP, and Death 9000.
I actually discovered Mux Mool in 2008 when I was having an entertaining night of watching Adult Swim on Cartoon Network. His track “Night Court” was featured on the Adult Swim-sponsored free download, a Ghostly Swim compilation released by Ghostly International during commercial time. I was so excited and overwhelmed by the way this track made me feel, that I went over to Adult Swim’s website just to download the Ghostly Swim album. This feature via Adult Swim is definitely what catapulted his exposure.
Once 2009 rolled around, the amount of Mux Mool EPs and other works really began to cascade:
- “Just Saying Is All”
- “Lady Linda”
- “Viking Funeral”
- “Skull Taste”*
- “Wax Rose Saturday”
- “Planet High School”* (2012)
*These are full-length works, or albums.
One of my favorite Mux Mool tracks that just makes me feel so good, pumped up, and ready for the day is “Get Better John.” This track has been featured in a small skit of Family Guy, and in the video game, Minecraft.
Also check out “Lady Linda,” and his webpage.
Artists like these guys are the reason I love hunting down new sounds, music, and art! It’s sort of a space for inspiration and personal life motivation. These days, people rarely take enough time to actually appreciate the development of artists and the journeys they each undertake. It’s good to take some time out, slow down, and let something sit with you. I hope you enjoyed this week’s features, and be ready for some more exploring in my next suite! Dare to be different and dare to stand out!
…’til next time.