Back To The Elements

"40000 Feet" is Patrick Paige II's Superpower

noreply@blogger.com (Armand Sparks) — Sun, 27 Jun 2021 01:16:00 +0000

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What does it sound like when you stop dreaming dreams and start fully living them? What is the song for when any new dreams that arise get relegated to a checklist because of one's ability to let it manifest? I only speak on what I think, and I believe that sound is Patrick Paige II's "40000 Feet."

Sounding completely produced in confidence, "40000 Feet's" dulled 808s fortify a blue collar rhythm around a misty, yacht rock-esque melody strung through the record like a motif. DeeJay Wes and Daoud Ayodele Miles Anthony's production, with all its sparking energy, provide a stillness not unlike a pond. That momentary complacency to execute the next move pushes Patrick Paige's voice forward, ascending us right alongside the "Letters of Irrelevance" artist.

Patrick Paige II's restful verses are fueled with self-motivation and self-improvement. The mediation behind the delivery allows his rapping to flow at leisure and the free game to be absorbent. The belief in his method of actively going to get what is waiting for you is dug into the fabric of every lyric and starts to feel like The Internet member's superpower. And just by proxy from listening it begins to feels like mine, too.

40000 Feet is the invitation to start living life how is best for you by doing what you love. Patrick Paige II couldn't have made it sound more attractive or the height simpler to reach. All you have to do is jump.

Listen to "40000 Feet" & "If I Fail Are We Still Cool?" in full below.

Lead Photo Cred: soundcloud.com

Sing "LUV" by Victor Internet In Concert w/ The World

noreply@blogger.com (Armand Sparks) — Sun, 27 Jun 2021 01:14:00 +0000

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The only way to commemorate the world opening back up is with music, and said music must be sung in concert. Artist and producer, Victor Internet, took this a step further by making the assignment love and constructing a song appropriately entitled "LUV" that sounds as if the "HOLLOW" artist duets with a former version of himself wearing his discarded stage name.

Produced by Cooper Holzman, tangerine-scented guitar riffs, greased bass lines and rosy-cheeked pop drums decorate a room of convertible rhythm for Internet's slumber party tones and fun-loving melodies. The freshly squeezed sound jump starts this new exploration of love songs in the Victor Internet discography. Victor's lyrics are much more self-identifying and upfront, leaving nothing to chance when it comes to desire. That self-assurance speaks for itself in "LUV's all clapping breakdown on the latter chorus -- the beat cuts out and it is solely Victor's vocals as pretty as a picture protecting his time and heart.

LUV is deliberate. Victor Internet wants us all knowing the love we deserve. And if you have ever questioned what kind of love you deserve, you should start finding answers with this song.

Listen to "LUV" below.

Lead Photo Cred: soundcloud.com

GregNWMN & Carter Ace Seed Musical Growth on "Solar Flare"

noreply@blogger.com (Armand Sparks) — Tue, 08 Jun 2021 00:34:00 +0000

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Appreciate when the artists you listen to exhaust all their effort on a song like they just played in a double overtime win. Or, better yet, like they just pulled off an upset in the World Martial Arts Tournament a la a blinding technique. That is exactly how recording artist and songwriter, Gregnwmn, and his Carter Ace-featured record "Solar Flare" performs.

My favorite saying from the great, the marvelous Erykah Badu came on "Bump It" when she simply put the production as: "Fat drums. Fat bass." And I want to say something similarly beefy is happening in the Epik the Dawn, Edwin Gonzalez production. Domineering snare and pearled hi-hats in a never-changing rhythm carries a tone of relentlessness. Background harmonies strike the ear closer to chords in a progression towards the sky. The general gruff in Gregnwmn's tone throughout his verse makes the heart of the record feel like it struggled to make it out the mud in order to beat again. The naturalistic artist's verse is in stark contrast with his winning chorus that wears its potential in its melody, potential that Carter Ace's double-time, tone switching verse speaks to directly with ultra aggression in a way we've never heard the "I Think I'm Normal" artist rap with before.

Ironically, "Solar Flare" is Gregnwmn and Carter Ace both saying they aren't a flash in the pan. Their hard work and musical talent are the seeds that will let them see their dreams and goals sprout from the ground. Gregnwmn laced the record with nature metaphors without really planting the metaphors. Is this now what we would call sprouting a green thumb in music?

Listen to "Solar Flare" below.

Lead Photo Cred: pandora.com

Bobby Earth Says His First Hello To 2021 w/ "Mal de Mer"

noreply@blogger.com (Armand Sparks) — Sat, 29 May 2021 18:20:00 +0000

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In his first major hello to 2021, artist and producer Bobby Earth's latest single, "Mal de Mer," wants the first thing you hear to be wormy bass riffs arising from Les Claypool mud. But on the record's own horizon is a provocative tempo and shapely rhythm dwindling the fuse of an anticipation bomb.

Starting at the song's climax, *spoiler alert*, Bobby Earth builds so much tension in "Mal de Mer" with a cacophony of vocoder harmonies laid over synthesizer lines scrambling the harmonies that it begins to sound like a blurred image looks. And the sweet release of that tension through complete changes to the tone, instrumentation and signal of what we're hearing is a gorgeous way to be let go from the record. A face pressed to the keys chord progression met with melodic hums sitting in freedom is a sound of airiness and lightness that has reached new heights in the annals of Bobby Earth's music.

The same can be said about the changes the "Space Trip" artist puts his vocals through. Soaring falsetto captains the chorus and by the verse he drops the sound and picks up a flow that can best be described as having a lower frame rate that affects the delivery and makes the sexual nature of the record fall to the subtext courtesy of tone and style.

Mal de Mer is Bobby Earth doing what he does best -- grown folks content over imaginative beats. Only this one might be better than the rest.

Listen to "Mal de Mer" below.

Lead photo Cred: bandcamp.com

Mal de Mer by Bobby Earth

Enjoying The Wait via "The Sunday Morning March" by Allmos

noreply@blogger.com (Armand Sparks) — Sat, 29 May 2021 18:16:00 +0000

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Sensaetion by musical artist Allmos may be the latest release leading up to "Sound Affects, Vol. 2," but "The Sunday Morning March" is a cause to pause moment in music I couldn't leave out of the archives of this blog. And doesn't the saying go -- or if it doesn't, it should -- if I haven't heard it, then it's new to me?

Purely a Hi-Fi instrumental, Allmos eases into mollifying sounds that resemble steam from a cup of hot tea. Instant popping drums kernel around uniform percussion and spacey chord riffs. Paul Grant's coffee flavored mocha-toned guitar accents chill the rhythm and tie all the instrumentation together with melodic undertones. The Sunday Morning March is warm, comforting, and in a very oxymoronic way, quieting.

I may not have found the music in the order of the freshest, but the destination to the "Sound Affects, Vol. 2" waiting line was the same. Please, wait with me.

Enjoy "The Sunday Morning March" & two other singles below.

Fresh Selects · FSX-049: Allmos 'Sound Affects, Vol. 2' [out 6/24]

LEGACY ACT PATRON CREDITS

SAM

JOVONNI

ISEAN'DRE

Stuck In A "Speak For Yourself" Loop of Lord Apex's Making

noreply@blogger.com (Armand Sparks) — Thu, 29 Apr 2021 22:59:00 +0000

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A flow and cadence in motion like Newton’s cradle -- conserving momentum and energy to transmit all the force into the lyrics. A droppedmilk-produced beat in the modus operandi of cel animation that imitates a breeze playing atop hills in full bloom.

Those are the sounds on Lord Apex’s “Speak For Yourself” that have been on loop and have settled me into stillness mentally. Airbrushed drums blend into lighter, tiptoeing chords which blend into even lighter-toned bass and guitar accents. Each component of the production is evident in one another’s pattern and timing, allowing room for droppedmilk’s silky-dressed vocal sample to breathe properly and give Lord Apex’s voice an alleviating exhale.

Rapped in sincerity, the “Smoke Sessions 3” artist communicates his verses close to speaking with something jiggy in the tones that fall on the rhyme. His lyrics feel like calmness and higher learning ala spiritual centering and discovery of self-belief.

Speak For Yourself is when the voice and the beat are in complete sync to speak truth to power. The music propels your state to a loop of suspended cool. And I am not leaving the loop anytime soon.

Listen to “Speak For Yourself” below.

Lead Photo Cred: soundcloud.com

Lord Apex · Lord Apex - Speak For Yourself

Occupy Free Space w/ Figmore's "Jumbo Street" (via Fresh Selects)

noreply@blogger.com (Armand Sparks) — Thu, 25 Mar 2021 21:57:00 +0000

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Juices of a fig dripping upwards to fill a creamsicle sky. Speaking in the abstract is the only way to properly invite you to the music found on Figmore's complex of delicious sounds, colors and other wonderful things -- "Jumbo Street."

The musical duo comprised of singer/musician JUICEB☮X and producer/musician 10.4 Rog are making the bright brighter, the fruit fruitier and colors all the more colorful. Fragrant production throughout "Jumbo Street" coats the music with smells of pie in the sky. Records like the floaty "Wormhole Teatime" takes that daydreaming literally, traveling at the helm of a myriad of anesthetizing chords with snare drums on a promenade with sliding percussion. Juiceb☮x's melodies and falsetto dulcify the track, taking his singing on a pleasant stroll complete with sightings of honey bees, flowers in full bloom, humming birds and nectar rain.

Jumbo Street is all alleys of psychedelic vibes ready to play as openers during Woodstock. Other joints like "Black Velvet" leap with its eyes closed and sprout wings half way down. Woozy guitar strums breathe distilled illusions into the makeup of the beat. Backpacker drums strapped to a "Black Velvet" adlib evoke posse cuts of old hip hop while Juiceb☮x's cloudy vocal tones and heavy metaphorical verse provides a fresh squeeze of new flavor. The duo even went as far as making a freshly blended love song hemorrhaging nostalgia out of a children's nursery rhyme now and forever re-titled, "Rosie."

Figmore is an impossibly talented duo that make impossibly delightful music. The melodies will get caught in your head and reality will only be life before "Jumbo Street," and life after.

Listen to "Jumbo Street" below.

Lead Photo Cred: bandcamp.com

The Nature of Soft Glas's "Confidence" Makes "How Strange" A Necessity

noreply@blogger.com (Armand Sparks) — Sat, 20 Mar 2021 19:32:00 +0000

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Musician and singer Soft Glas captures the everyday like he can't help but treat what is normal as remarkable. In his little slice of life framed as an album entitled, "How Strange," the "Stunned" artist constructs honest music ranging in the pocket of what feels good to what personally frightens him, layered with an Americana texture on the instrumentation.

Records on "How Strange" can evoke the feelings of pouring a stiff drink in an attempt to bandage a bad day, or the ebb and flow of feeling joyous and stressed around family. From "Pool Steps" to "Gentle Roam," there is a great period documenting life being lived and almost a begging to be heard via the songwriting. Track 8, "Confidence," however, felt a bit like a departure from one's own life in exchange for life-changing discovery. The homestyle guitar riff carries like the rustling breeze. Soft Glas's solitary melodies are found without a map yet excite without trepidation. Galloping drums conjure up an unshakable image of driving with your dog in a pickup truck, completing the wholesome picture and safely becoming a record you can trust by the changing chorus.

Peer into "How Strange" & "Confidence" below.

Lead Photo Cred: soundcloud.com

Accept 2and2's Soulful Offering Entitled "2uade lover"

noreply@blogger.com (Armand Sparks) — Sun, 14 Mar 2021 02:26:00 +0000

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In my hour of writer's block that quickly became months of feeling burnt out, I needed to mentally accept I was on a break I was being forced to take. I was going to run the risk of losing my passion for writing about music. I felt as if I lost all ability in my ear to translate an artist's music. The lyrics of many songs clouded my mind and I needed room so my own words could come back.

Instrumental tracks helped with that. Producer 2and2's "The First Communion (Demo)" helped with that. Specifically, the song "2uade lover" assisted greatly with that.

Produced like a love story trapped in its own retelling, 2and2 loops glittery keys by a chopped soul sample to sound like his very own choir harmonizing emotions of the heart toward the sky. The way the sample is chopped and interspersed with the full glamour of the melody truly ties in the communion motif -- presentation meets praise. The music sets out to be holy in its own light, and for that I am blessed and beyond grateful "2uade lover" led me back to a place of words.

Listen to "2uade lover" & "The First Communion (Demo)" below.

Lead Photo Cred: Bandcamp.com

Sit Down With Mavi's Book of Parables "End of the Earth"

noreply@blogger.com (Armand Sparks) — Mon, 01 Mar 2021 00:49:00 +0000

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If Shel Silverstein's classic book of poems, "Where The Sidewalk Ends," reads as a shielding metaphor for children's innocence and imagination, then the auditory book of parables entitled "End of the Earth" by musical artist, Mavi, plays as the report of our unpitying existence and the means in which he inches towards meaning and life.

The segmented flows and looped beats at times feel like unmanageable madness of Mavi's own making while other beats, like the production on "Life We Live," is what I imagined the sounds of space expanding before your eyes as you keep a weather eye on the stars to be. Tones of peace overtake Mavi's raps while his flow interacts with the music like he's scribbling racing thoughts down on paper. Those paralyzing chords, melodies, and ritualistic drums shift all focus on the "Let The Sun Talk" artist's darkly abstract lyrics. And as the penultimate track for "End of the Earth," it makes the landing on the pleading "Town Crier" feel like we've stepped into a time loop linked all the way back to the incredible, free-spoken intro "Time Travel.

The end of "End of the Earth" sounds like the beginning and the beginning sounds like the end. Which to me spots the true reveal of the timeline for existence.

Listen to "End of the Earth" below.

Lead Photo Cred: soundcloud.com

mavi · END OF THE EARTH

Roc Marciano's "Baby Powder" is Vying For The Top of "Mt. Marci"

noreply@blogger.com (Armand Sparks) — Sun, 06 Dec 2020 16:56:00 +0000

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The legendary run Roc Marciano is on is by no means a short story capturing a moment. This is hard work and master craftsmanship dyed-in-the-wool of chapters and volumes of a legacy still being written. And the latest chapter dubbed "Mt. Marci" holds a certain passage vying for supremacy atop "Mt. Marci" -- "Baby Powder."

Produced with Chuck Strangers, Roc Marci's "Baby Powder" has a split personality in its production. The sly loop during the first verse acts as a comfortable mat for meditative rapping, while on the second verse the beat is a dastardly loop scoring the festering disturbances in the mind of a comic book villain. Roc Marciano's rapping in both verses deal in the game of witty punchlines, boasting similes and lavish metaphors. The layers of the bars cook up memorable lines that leave the verses with personality and a piquant taste to point back to the images Roc Marci's painting of himself and his life.

Marciano's descriptive bars sound almost told in total recall courtesy of the stoical delivery stating things so matter of fact and bundled flows. Lines like "Spray your brain up like some S-Curl activator / Then get back to the paper / The face on the piguet is half a glacier" play in all his abilities as an emcee and make vivid use out of a namedrop/metaphor combo offering both sides of the same coin -- that luxury vs lethal talk. Opening "Baby Powder" with the lines "Red AMG GT with the beak / The V was looking like a Tahitian treat / The Tech-9 was beneath the seat / Check the time on the Patek Philippе" not only sets up the effortlessness Roc Marciano moves with in his rhyming, but makes clear a lifestyle and the importance of it. The bars paint a portrait of a man that could be myth or could be real, all we know is the intrigue is there.

The lyrical execution is just immaculate. Rapping sounds like a game that comes easy to Roc Marciano, and "Baby Powder" is like watching the "MARCIELAGO" artist get a 50-piece. But it also reminds that the upper echelon of talent stays in the gym, too. And in order to score in a single game like that, "We talkin' 'bout practice" to stay in shape.

Listen to "Baby Powder" & "Mt .Marci" in full below.

Legacy Act Patrons (Credits)

noreply@blogger.com (Armand Sparks) — Sat, 28 Nov 2020 00:17:00 +0000

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Like the seemingly inexhaustible leftover turkey in the fridge, the gratitude I'm serving up for this month's Legacy Act Patrons needed to be carried over to the day after our second Indigenous Peoples' Day. I want to always make crystal clear the thanks owed to my Legacy Act Patrons -- Sam, Jovonni and ISean'Dre'. Your continued support moves me each time. I hope this digital finger painting and frolicsome, instrumental holiday melody I found leaves you full on the love and appreciation I have for you all. I hope this piece honors your name, the support you give and the flowers you deserve. Thank you so much for everything!

CREDITS

Legacy Patron 1 ....................................................... SAM

Legacy Patron 2 ............................ JOVONNI

Legacy Patron 3 .............................................................................. ISEAN'DRE'

For exclusive writings, art, pictures and playlists Become a Patron!

devmusic · Holiday Piano Mashup: Snowdin/Snowman (Undertale x EarthBound)

Love Mansuy's "(món-swee) side B" Makes Something Tender Out Of The Familiar

noreply@blogger.com (Armand Sparks) — Sat, 28 Nov 2020 00:15:00 +0000

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There is something eternally vintage about artist Love Mansuy's "(món-swee) side B." Each song resonates like it was written to a specific instrument. The heavy emotional lifting is done in the songwriting on the choruses. The verses ring closer to a romance/drama movie than songs. There are no features. You can hear the emphasis on catchy where a formula in structure and production is to be applied revivifying the old rules of song, a great flip in the current sounds we're living in.

Records like "Saturday" draw back to the aughts and alternative rock's dominance on the decade. Blonde guitar riffs and singular, splashy drums ripe with instrumental breakdowns anchor the laguna rhythm. Love Mansuy's youthful vocals carry like the lead vocalist of a band, giving the song that never-ending feeling. His moderate melodies follow the queues of the riffs religiously and the sound is irrefutably pleasant. And, although sounding purposefully conventional at times in structure and production, "Saturday" keeps the musical artist genre-less like all other tracks on "(món-swee) side B" do.

The same thing can be said about the record acting as the first look into this puddle of sentiment wrapped in remembering, "Tuesday Evening Flow." Crystallized chords and deep diving drums play as the backdrop to the bell ringing and ambrosial melodies falling in love, which differ heavily from "Same Way" -- a long-suffering piano-led ballad with juxtaposing verses and choruses of melody and rhythm.

Love Mansuy's "(món-swee) side B" continues to be music that breaks genre convention while getting back to it in the foundation of the music alone. The songs are tender and cared for and the subject(s) in the songwriting receive the same treatment. And I can't think of anything better to hear in love records.

Listen to "(món-swee) side B" below.

Lead Photo Cred: soundcloud.com

Love Mansuy · (món-swee) side B

Dirty Bird's "Zordland" Analyzes The Notional Side Of Music

noreply@blogger.com (Armand Sparks) — Fri, 27 Nov 2020 23:52:00 +0000

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André 3000 had a luminous frame of mind about listening to instrumentals during his sit-down with Rick Rubin on the Broken Record podcast. At times, a barrage of lyrics left little room for one's own thoughts, feelings or interpretations. That point has always stuck with me and greatly manifested in the recent months regarding what I've been listening to. And, as if I was subconsciously searching for it, Dirty Bird's "Zordland" crossed my timeline and made clear why that space to think during a song can be so important.

The undeviating, mostly instrumental record in the latter half of "Malware's" tracklist smooths the skin and relaxes the nerves. Dirty Bird's glitzy, home shopping keyboard riff and 80's spandex drum pattern intro finance the Adult Swim-like internet qualities of the music. The changes in that upbeat riff to chords with a naiveté in their sound by remixed baby heartbeat drums sucker punch with how hard they hit. The production, you would think, would clash with the steamy vocals sample. But it doesn't. It merely adds to "Zordland's" unbuttoning tone to feel and stimulate in the manner of an infomercial for Anime intros and outros, as if the alluring beat prompts to call and buy one now.

Dirty Bird's music here isn't touched by realism. Instead, it is shaped by its blue-sky approach to sampling, drum patterns, chords and how notional the sound is together. And that larger point could be applied to "Malware" as a whole.

Listen to "Zordland"/ "Malware" below.

Lead Photo Cred: bandcamp.com

10.4 roG's "treblemaker" is an Exquisite Mess of Beats Not of This World

noreply@blogger.com (Armand Sparks) — Mon, 02 Nov 2020 23:17:00 +0000

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Music with the changing face of a Madballs toy that appears nearly tangible like melting 3D art. Producer and all-around atmosphere maker, 10.4 roG, has an instrumental project entitled "treblemaker" that is so unique in sound perhaps any way a listener would describe it, they would be right.

Seven records in length, 10.4 roG wastes little time to make a good mess using newly excavated rhythms and chords. The ever-traversing constellations, "Plant Loops," has these zappy synth lines and riffs that adventure across condensed drums tamping down into the pocket. The pregnant pause transition into these daybreaking chord progressions hold this frabjous weight and sound, feeling simultaneously homey and foreign.

The opening instrumental "Decalibrate" subverts all anticipation, settling you down with waiting room tones à la bland chords and tropical drums. The beat is like reading a brochure about an island instead of actually going there. It sets up this brief but great lull before an unforgettable wormhole of mad beats that come full circle on "Recalibrate." The track sounds like a first-time spaceship captain literally booping buttons trying to get the ship to start and begin a journey. And if that is in fact the origins of this journey, who would have thought he would end up at something like "The Saturated Fat" (w/ Broken Transient) -- A brilliant display of human timing in the drums and rhythmic swing. The entire beat reads an error message and is made more complicated by metallic texture chords reflecting the same disregard for the rules of patterns.

10.4 roG's "treblemaker" gunk up the ears with breathing instrumentals punched with coordinates to a destination. What could be more cool than that?

Listen to "treblemaker" below.

Lead Photo Cred: bandcamp.com/ @cumulus_frisbee (via Twitter)

treblemaker by 10.4 ROG

Carter Ace's "Better" w/ Aaron Aye Vocally Wows & You're Better For Having Heard It

noreply@blogger.com (Armand Sparks) — Mon, 02 Nov 2020 23:15:00 +0000

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I haven't anticipated a song to this magnitude in quite a while. Carter Ace's newest song, "Better" was a masterclass in teasing a song. Leading with a snippet of Aaron Aye's fragrant vocals and ending on Carter's "yeah yeah" adlib count kept the song in my head until its release. And the record turned out being the song's namesake -- better than what could be expected.

Aaron Aye's chorus manufactures an imaginative viewing of the song. His glittering, lip gloss soft tones, melodies and vocal riffs carry an intimate live performance energy where his mic is replaced with a bundle of tulips to sing into instead. Carter's vocals quite literally slide in to takeover the performance, charismatic tones and lyrics in tow. His flexing at himself in the mirror delivery on the verses run through changing inflections and arching flows unfettered by romantic ties. The freedom his voice moves with on the record can be felt and expressed in every corner of the song.

The performances completely show off on the untangling bridge and crescendoing chorus and outro. The slipping confidence heard in this section of the song is such an interesting emotional dynamic to "Better." The rippling touch of delicate chord strums and grassy background riffs ebb and flow through degrees of vulnerability, reinforced only by Carter's befuddled inflection changes and cross-examining lyrics. It is only Aaron Aye's finishing touches that close the song where "Better" is able to swing back to that convincing place of better off, eliciting an "I'm Kevin Durant. Y'all know who I am" moment. And more importantly, a moment of complete resolution in the music.

Listen to "Better" below.

Lead Photo Cred: instagram.com

Lord Apex & V Don's "Life Goes On" Meditates On Condition & Existence

noreply@blogger.com (Armand Sparks) — Mon, 02 Nov 2020 23:04:00 +0000

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A mathematical meditation on how to day-to-day in an unforgiving world and cruel winters. Not even that could sum up the frostbitten song and visuals that is Lord Apex & V Don's "Life Goes On."

The slow burning record reaps the benefits of the bitter work in rapping and producing. V Don's firm drums are inflexible in their rhythm, sounding cut like a premier cigar -- artful, loaded and with reputation of rarefied air. The thawing horn loop still puffs out residual frost and Lord Apex's verses and hook get caught in the ice age.

The London-based artist raps in enlightened metaphors, projecting a symbolic-like quality on the bars. His ceaseless flow in back of the beat huddles next to his cadence with a prayer-like resonance and feels in search of, open to find something of importance, reflected perfectly in the home movies styled video catching Lord Apex exploring the everyday solus. If anything, the visuals working with the song bring a grounded visualizer for "We are born alone, we live alone, we die alone. Everything in-between is a gift."

Take that as you will.

Watch "Life Goes On" below.

Lead Photo Cred: twitter.com

Find Better Understanding of Brittney Carter's "As I Am" w/ "Can't Go Back"

noreply@blogger.com (Armand Sparks) — Sat, 31 Oct 2020 01:06:00 +0000

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Brittney Carter's debut album "As I Am" has taught me two major things about the Chicago rapper: she raps like she had her shoes laced up the entire game, ready for her inevitable start. And her assiduous cadence muscles the pockets to keep pace with her flow and be melodious regardless of production or instrumentation. There is no better example of this than the concluding record, "Can't Go Back."

Partnered coffee-colored guitar riffs are luxuriating in warm melodies. Their sound seemingly reflects what is on the other side of hard work and dreams realized. DJ Vadim's crumbly drums and percussion fall into one pile. The similitude of their rhythm yet differing tempo create another interesting element in the production for Brittney Carter's flow to move through, a feat that is like stepping into a practice shot for the Loop Theory artist.

Stamping the phrase "can't go back" on the song like it is a daily affirmation makes it sound like a warm-up adlib. Carter's verses play closer to a storytelling of her DNA, exemplifying what she's made of through intelligent similes -- the feeling like Martin before the bullet line especially impressing and driving home the point. The spongy melody in the rhyming over her agile flow allow this battle-tested story that arcs across the album to settle into a fortunate tone, wrapping up Brittney Carter's feelings and status to be better off than where they started.

Can't Go Back is the perfect cliff note to "As I Am." But, just as with anything worth reading, you're gonna want to get the full story because every song is worthy of being understood.

Listen to "Can't Go Back" & "As I Am" in full below.

Lead Photo Cred: twitter.com

Gemaine's "Take Off" Runs The Hottest On "Lefty"

noreply@blogger.com (Armand Sparks) — Sat, 17 Oct 2020 16:04:00 +0000

"An ill-advised entanglement that erupted under lustful circumstances." If anyone were to ask me to explain the vibe of musical artist Gemaine's latest project "Lefty" in one sentence, that would be it.

The eight-song project has a sequencing that sounds like falling in false love in one long night. The opening track, "Bad Intentions," dramatizes his falsetto and fiery guitar riffs/melodies in the best way, bringing with it an image of the back of a strip club cloaked in a blue tint. The record plants the seeds of a situationship with the wrong one, with the singing leaving you completely invested. However, the climax of the project happens early on with the sultry song "Take Off."

Take Off tries to build a home with two people that can't be kept. Ethereal chords position the song in focus and are immediately met by rich, timber drums, stacked snaps and organ chords that dress the rhythm in seductive couture. Gemaine's assured tone goes hand in hand with his nimble melodies and pitch changes. The impassioned runs in the harmonies embody the lone sexual attraction bonding them on the record. "Take Off" is the song that runs the hottest on "Lefty" and one of a few that lives without worries. But depending on how you perceive it, "Lefty" only gets steamier or more contentious from here. Either way, the quality of the music remains on top.

Listen to "Lefty" in full below.

Lead Photo Cred: soundcloud.com

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Choo Jackson Finds Revenge Through Peace & Success on "Ibiza"

noreply@blogger.com (Armand Sparks) — Sat, 17 Oct 2020 16:02:00 +0000

A major run of Choo Jackson's music has been weighty in material and monetary desires. The hunger displayed track-to-track was one only an eager artist ready to establish a name drenched in peerless work ethic could turn out. But as Jackson's cover art for his latest song "Ibiza" would suggest, the "Anime 2" artist has been made ready to stop and observe the world around him -- and he does not like what he sees.

Produced by Nice Rec, "Ibiza" is armed with the most emotionally vesting beat I believe Choo's ever been on. The opportunity to look being slighted and undervalued in the face and respond as a human being is one opportunity not wasted for a second. Frosted edges in the sax riffs hold a film noir dejection to its sound, festering the loneliness in the core of the music. Restrained, clammy drums live in the background of pious harmonies flying in a progression. Rec's lightly rocking rhythm is both there and not there -- both blending and sticking out. It makes for interesting Choo Jackson verses and vocals that plug-in wherever they fit.

The entirety of the record is rapped extremely even keel and melodically. Dubious tones in the hooks lead to stepping in and out of double time and interval flows that write subtext for the changing up going on from people in the song. A lot of questions are posed by Choo Jackson in the record and he answers with success.

Jackson's "Ibiza" gives us an emotional motivator from Choo. We can hear that one's desired peace equals revenge towards the people that never supported you, or even worse fake supported you. And if peace is in Ibiza, you can best believe I'm booking my trip.

Listen to "Ibiza" below.

Lead Photo Cred: soundcloud.com

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Choo Jackson · Ibiza

Thankfulness In Full Bloom For October's Legacy Patrons!

noreply@blogger.com (Armand Sparks) — Thu, 15 Oct 2020 21:13:00 +0000

The month of October brings with it scary movies, cozy clothing and chilly weather that is all too relaxing. This month, though associated with Halloween, is one I always felt as being attached to giving and thanks. So any opportunity I can get to thank my returning (and new) Legacy Act patrons is one I look forward to doing as creatively as possible.

Thank you Sam, Jovonni and ISean'Dre' for returning as Legacy Acts. We are growing on the platform thanks to each of you and you deserve all the credit in the world! As I fertilize my hands as a gesture to give you your flowers, I want each of you to know how thankful I am for you, your support and belief. Your generosity has pushed me as a creative to make the most interesting and entertaining work I possibly can. And also up the future benefits for all my patrons -- stickers? custom pins? Regardless of what it will be, thank you. Seeing your names for another month means the world.

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CREDITS

SAM PTAK

JOVONNI EDWARDS

ISEAN'DRE' EZELL

All Tiers Halloween Playlist!

noreply@blogger.com (Armand Sparks) — Tue, 06 Oct 2020 22:37:00 +0000

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I love the Fall season, I love the spirit of Halloween, and I love my patrons (current & future). The support over there, though just starting out and trying to grow, has been overwhelming with possibilities of benefits and different content I can share with everyone for all the support shown to me and my work.

Regardless if you show your support as a supporter, listener or legacy act, I do not want any of my patrons going without a treat on that day. Whether you celebrate Halloween or not, there will always be room for your discovery of new music with the common thread of dreadful and eerie! So, right at midnight marking Halloween day, a 10-song, 31-minute playlist will be available to all patrons regardless of tier level.

I hope to see some new names and music lovers over there soon!

Join me over on Patreon for variety playlists, diverse writings and occasionally art!

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HXRY's Resentment For Love Mushrooms on "safe2say"

noreply@blogger.com (Armand Sparks) — Tue, 06 Oct 2020 22:34:00 +0000

At this point is it safe to say that with his latest song, "safe2say," Hxry (stylized as HXRY) is an unfair cheat code? Because this song is just too good for the sake of being too good.

Produced by Cam Stacey, Hxry and Naughta, a recognized coral-colored chord progression nudges the record awake to rocky static felt through every second of the production and in every spent breath from Hxry. Glass percussion and wood clave drums are met with thorny electric bass riffs that sound like a tuned out argument within itself. Stacey's production is angry waters and stranded in the middle of the sea is Hxry, fighting not to drown.

The "Piece Of Mind" artist is a magician with his vocals on "safe2say." He sounds completely in love with falling out of love yet jaded from the sum of his experiences. Burned melodies across the song's verses and chorus free up his vocals to constantly change tone patterns and pitch. The stressed vocal riffs residing in his falsetto singe the end of his rope and provide a feeling like there will be nothing left. The drop-ins and drop-outs of stoic background harmonies arrive as the quickest, but most interesting sections of the vocals. The singing sounds like an emotional battle with yourself as control flip-flops. Even down to his iffy adlibs, "safe2say" is drawing out frustration with a breaking in his voice that sounds so good -- like the perfect storm. Let's just hope it passes and Hxry doesn't drown so he can love another day.

Listen to "safe2say" below.

Lead Photo Cred: soundcloud.com

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HXRY · safe2say

Brittney Carter & Oliv Blu Mercilessly Apply Pressure on "Cold As Us"

noreply@blogger.com (Armand Sparks) — Tue, 06 Oct 2020 22:25:00 +0000

A beat to shadow box to and two artists that thought Hov was talking about them when he said: "Arm, leg, leg, arm, head – this is God body." Nine times out of ten that song is gonna be cutthroat and one I'm gonna wanna hear.

Brittney Carter's "Cold As Us" with Oliv Blu doesn't lose that probability.

Produced by Scud One, chime-accented keyboard tones on a looped riff are shrouded in Mad Mod-style mystery, setting the music up to move incognito. A chomping drum pattern holds the texture of a scooped drum pad with grainy percussion to boot. The stock production does less with more and hits dense to handle an onslaught of lyricism and harmonies as not to detract from the tenacity of words on the record.

Brittney Carter spits like the Chicago-artist was ordained to do this. Carter splits the flow left and right like she directs the words within the song. The musicality in the competitive cadence casts the lyrics in bold and emphasizes metaphors, rhyme patterns and overall lines about chasing glory. Oliv Blu's beauteous harmonies, melodies and chorus somehow make "Cold As Us" feel more merciless. Her singing is more so set to the tune of your swan song, and I don't envy the peers these two are applying pressure on. They said it themselves: "Who cold as us?"

Listen to "Cold As Us" below.

Lead Photo Cred: spotify.com

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A "Scott's Tots"-Type Gratitude For September's Legacy Acts!

noreply@blogger.com (Armand Sparks) — Sat, 26 Sep 2020 13:30:00 +0000

Thank you to my Legacy Acts for the month of September! I wish I could mimic a thank you as fervent as the teacher in the "Scott's Tots" episode of "The Office" to show my appreciation, but I'll try my best.

Thank you Sam, Jovonni and ISean'Dre' for supporting me and being there for the work that I do. None of this moves without any of you and I am eternally grateful for your patronage. Your continued support allows me to be more creative in new mediums and bring you cooler content on Patreon. Writing is able to be sustained as my main source of work and that is the ultimate legacy of helpful and supportive. Thank you a million times over!

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CREDITS