New Tunes Tuesday!

[seventhe]

so I seem to work better posting with a structure and schedule, and I will pull DW back into being a community with the skin of my teeth if I have to, so let's try a second series: New Tunes Tuesday.

I'm very exploratory with music, and I have been in the last few years since I decided to fully subscribe to Spotify. I realize in some ways it's a problematic platform, but for me it has literally opened up a new world of music at my fingertips through its suggestion algorithms, which has been amazing. There are great ways to browse, find similar artists, listen to curated playlists of all kinds, create radio stations built off of your own playlist, and having access to all of that has greatly expanded my own musical "collection". And, since I pay Spotify $10/month and have no idea how much goes to the artists I love, I make a point of buying my favorite albums for someone else, usually family, to share the music and support the band.

I've also been focusing on female artists almost exclusively. It isn't that I don't enjoy male singers - classic rock fan here - but when I'm searching out new music I find that I'm pretty sick of hearing dudes sing. That's all. I'm pretty over it. I want to hear women singing and wailing and screaming over life and love, for a change. In addition to focusing on ladies, I've been trying to especially focus on ladies of color, although I don't often do enough research into artists to know which are POC and which aren't; there's only so much you can tell from a picture on an album color, and I don't want to misjudge - it's just something I'm aware of.

Anyway, there's your blather, let's get on to the music! How I see this working: each week I'm gonna post about stuff that I think might be new to somebody out there, and I invite you to do the same in comments or to have a listen and let me know what you think. Unfortunately, since I usually post at lunchtime at work, I won't be able to link to YouTube or anywhere else you could have a listen -- but most of these songs are findable on YouTube with a simple search. If this changes, it would be awesome to be able to link them - I have to see what I'm allowed to access, haha.

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Artist: ZZ Ward
Album/Song to try: Til the Casket Drops, title song or "Criminal"; The Storm, "Ghost", "Domino", or "Let It Burn"
Style: old-school bluesy voice meets 90s hip-hop with a twist of current pop flair
Thoughts: ZZ Ward was one of my first Spotify finds, and she filled a tiny niche I hadn't realized I was lacking in my musical repertoire. I love when musical genres collide, so blues+90s really hit it for me. She's fun: her lyrics aren't just strings of cliches, and she plays with her voice a lot - not just singing, but hitting the edges of growling and guttural, or playful and light. Her songs make you want to move along, a bit, and definitely sing along. Still one of my absolute favorite artists.

Artist: Bishop Briggs
Album/Song to try: Church of Scars, "Tempt My Trouble", "River", "Hallowed Ground"
Style: electronic, dance, pop, and something indefinable had a child in minor key
Thoughts: Bishop Briggs carries a great syncopated rhythm, intricate lyrics, a great voice, and interesting musical backgrounds to construct some real bad-ass songs. I put her album on any time I need a mood lift - which is funny, because most songs dance around minor key and hint at angst, anger, defiance; but the beat and pull of each individual song immediately draws me in and helps me get going. There are some softer songs on her album, as well (try "Lyin'" or "Dream" for her softer side), but I prefer the pounding grit of her others.

Artist: Bryde
Album/Song to try: Like an Island, "To Be Brave", "Euphoria", or the single "Help Yourself"
Style: a girl with an electric guitar tears the surface off of indie rock to expose some secret emotions
Thoughts: Bryde has a voice that occasionally reminds me of Fiona Apple, Tori Amos, or Sarah McLaughlin - but is individually hers to play with, and play she does, moving from tender and fragile into hard and gritty as her intricate lyrics demand. "You can't, oh / Help Yourself / to my kindness and my confidence", as an example of how much she puts out there in words. The guitar is her back-up singer, highlighting the ethereal presence in each song. It's indie done without any sappy cheesiness, just bared teeth and an open heart.

I'll stop at three this week - have to save some more favorites for future posts. How about you? Have anything to share that might be new to others?

Comments

[ser_pounce_alot]

i'm digging the Bishop Briggs stuff and am ganking two songs from Amazon to test out. i don't think i have much that's new, unfortunately, but Florence + the Machine has a new album coming out at the end of the month.

oh! maybe ruelle? i got into her because of shadowhunters (they use all her music in the background), so here's some good ones to see if you like her voice/style:

'this is the hunt': https://youtu.be/2yAi_Zid0T8

'war of hearts': https://youtu.be/GX7f1Btk1yM (THE MALEC SONG)

'fire meets fate': https://youtu.be/Z5KNj1bDsCU

[ser_pounce_alot]

i'm also coming back to post this, one of the leads in the show does some music and they've used it a few times as well, so here's kat's song:

'embers': https://youtu.be/QrSDkWiQPQU

[ser_pounce_alot]

my god get me off of this, more ruelle I REALLY LIKE THIS ONE:

'monsters': https://youtu.be/lqZxbr_0cSY

and this one:

'invincible': https://youtu.be/RQCJ11l_OU8

[seventhe]

i'm making myself a "Tuesday" playlist and just dropping all the new music on there :)

[seventhe]

I've heard some Ruelle on my spotify radio stations so I'm excited to dig into these!!

oooh fun series idea!

[queenlua]

so i really love rap, but i feel like i'm an unconventional fan—it's about a 50/50 chance whether i actually pay attention to the lyrics much at all (though if i get really into an artist i'll naturally start memorizing eeeeverything), and mostly i'm into the timbre/energy/direction of the rapper's voice. flow, or whatever. something grabs me about how they say what they're saying, and then everything else follows.

so i first discovered Danny Brown like every other normie in the universe, when Purity Ring blew up like nuts (Purity Ring, "Bealispeak II" feat. Danny Brown), but his voice gripped me—like, wow, he's practically jumping out of my speakers in that one, wild and punchy and over-the-top with a steel-cool undercurrent of confidence underneath.

so then i got obsessed, and downloaded all of his stuff ever, and turns out he is just as wonderfully weird as first impressions may suggest, and somehow the dude's never broken mainstream even though he's well known among folks who care about rap and also makes amazing shit.

he's at his most accessible (and at some of his best) when he collaborates with electronic pop artists—turns out his wild style coordinates with sick, erratic dance beats in a way i've not heard any other rapper accomplish. would definitely recommend the Purity Ring song above, or Attak (feat. Danny Brown) by Rustie.

though i'll confess the reason he's on the brain this week is, his "Dope Song" came on one of my pop playlists this weekend, and i had to do a double-take to make sure the playlist hadn't switched to my "32-bit JRPG music playlist" by mistake, because the entire opening 30-second hook sounds exactly like you're approaching the final dungeon in Breath of Fire or some shit. that song in particular is, uh, strange, and probably less accessible unless you're already into rap, but hey, maybe give the first two a try, i loooove this artist lol

Re: oooh fun series idea!

[seventhe]

ummmmmmmmmmmmmmmmm i also love rap, although i'm no kind of connoisseur - but i love the rhythm of when someone gets into a really good flow of words and i'm very into it despite the high occurrence of despicable or boring lyrics. so i am SUPER EXCITED to try this out and i will get back to you when i do!