Hey all! Since I had so much fun last week, I decided to film another episode of going through my favorite records in my collection. Check out episode 2 below!
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Vinyl Video Vlog Ep. 2
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Vinyl Video Vlog Ep. 1
Today marks the first day I start vlogging. I felt the need to go through some of my favorite records in my vinyl collection. Check out my new blog post in YouTube form below!
Imagine thousands of fireworks exploding in a radical display of colors on a perfectly temperature-d summer night. Now, imagine you’re sitting next to the person you love most, while realizing your time on Earth will be over one day. This colorful picture of a scene is exactly how I felt listening to the band Mother Mother for the first time.
I first heard the Canadian band Mother Mother one random day while mindlessly browsing through the app TikTok. I have heard hundreds, maybe even thousands, of sounds on the app and normally they don’t mean much to me – but this was different. The track was the song Hayloft, a song that has over 52 million streams on Spotify, and was a chart topper in their native country. The song has a tension to it that felt like something I’ve never heard before, and the instrumental guitar riffs sound like something you could hear in a stadium rock show. Combining dark lyrical content with bright and poppy vocals is a move of genius that just works. I immediately fell in love with the track, and needed to know more about the group. I never would’ve guessed what was coming next.
After doing a quick Google search of Mother Mother, I found that many of their songs were popular on TikTok simply because they have such a unique sound that can match the quirky energy of the app almost perfectly. Feeling frustrated in a way, because how could such amazing music exist without my knowledge? Especially for someone who spends day and night listening to music, it seemed almost impossible that I had never even heard of the band before. It seemed this was the case for many of the bands new fans, as there was even a Rolling Stone write-up written in October titled `TikTok is giving a niche indie band’s 2008 music millions of new streams’ which just goes to show how many other like-minded people there are – and not just myself.
After listening to the darkly beautiful and twisted track ‘Hayloft’, I was soon pulled into tracks like the hauntingly mellow sounds of ‘Ghosting’, the rushed eerieness of ‘Oh Ana’, and the echo-ed Romeo-and-Juliet love track ‘Arms Tonite’. As a musician I have been trying to wrap my head around the guitar work and vocal harmonies, and luckily for myself, the main singer and guitarist Ryan Guldemond makes lots of videos on TikTok showing tutorials on how to play their classic tracks.
The phenomenon of Mother Mother’s music exploding into popularity is a fairly common story now with social media – there are many bands who didn’t feel that their music was very popular when it came out, but are gaining hundreds of thousands of fans on social media platforms. Social media might be harmful in some ways, but being able to interact with fans so intimately is such a unique experience. You never know what social media can do for you as a musician. Your music may go undiscovered for years until one person plays a song and you could become a sensation overnight. This simply wouldn’t have happened twenty years ago.
In the year 2020, when most artists are struggling to interact with fans in a meaningful way with no live performances, Mother Mother have gained more fans than they ever had in the past. They were relatively popular in Canada, and had a couple tracks do well in the U.K. a couple of years ago, but now in 2020 with no new albums out they are as popular as ever. For a year that has so many struggling, they have had the best year of all time as a band. The band has even been quoted to have said that their music simply was too weird for radio when a lot of the tracks came out, but now the younger generation loves it and they have become internet sensations.
My deep dive into a new favorite band turned into a full story of how social media can impact the music industry very positively. Mother Mother are thriving, and will now have so many lifelong fans because of TikTok users finding amazing ways to showcase their tracks. There may be some things wrong with social media, but this is heartwarming seeing amazing artists getting the recognition they deserve. I would write more, but I’m off to go listen to some more of their music and to learn their songs on guitar!
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The Ultimate Travel Playlist
Welcome back to the Stereoside Chats: Music Reviews for Normal Dudes! Normally, I haven’t written about playlists yet, but I’m going to break the pattern and start doing so today! I personally love when others recommend playlists to me because I’m always on the lookout for new music to listen to, especially for specific events – like traveling!
So first off, what makes a good ‘travel’ song? Well, personally I like songs that feel curious and exploratory, but that might be sort of vague. I typically look to alternative or indie music, but really anything can make it on my playlists, here are just a couple of my favorites! And, if you want to follow along, you can listen to my playlists on Spotify @sydneywolf77.
Are You What You Want To Be? – Foster The People
As I said earlier, I tend to stick to alternative pop or indie for my playlists, and this is a perfect example of that combination! This track from Foster the People, in my opinion, flys under the radar. It’s a super fun track that talks of influences from Ghana, Belize, Nigeria, and Paris. It’s a global track, lyrically, but the music just feels fun and it makes you want to go out and explore a new city. It asks its listeners to look inwards, and to say ‘Are You What You Want To Be?”
Dream Glow – BTS & Charli XCX
This might be a bit of a random song to throw on this playlist, but hear me out! This is a catchier pop song with the unlikely combo of K-Pop stars BTS and British alt-pop singer Charli XCX. It’s a great song to listen to while on a plane or train, the pacing is good and the mix of Korean and English works really well here. And, it definitely helps that the song wants you to follow your dreams!
The Secret Life Of Walter Mitty Soundtrack – Various Artists
Okay so this might be more than one song, but it’s worth a full listen I promise! This movie is one of my favorites of all time (highly recommend if you haven’t seen it yet!). It’s a film starring and directed by Ben Stiller, and it’s all about living life to the fullest, traveling, and putting yourself out there. It’s amazing to say the least. But the soundtrack itself gives the movie just such amazing vibes to the travel scenes. I highly suggest watching this scene from the movie, which utilizes music to make it seem even more intense. The best part starts around 1:15, the music just feels curious, upbeat, and like you’re in a brand new world. There’s no words to accurately describe it. This movie is the ultimate travel playlist, and some of my favorites on here are ‘Step Out’ by Jose Gonzalez, ‘Far Away’ by Junip, and ‘Lake Michigan’ by Rogue Wave, but all of the tracks bring something new and dynamic. It’s a great listen for any music or travel lover. Please, please, put this record on the next time you go backpacking somewhere, it’ll only make things feel more magical.
Conclusion
Thanks so much once again for reading my blog! It means a lot to me and I love making these posts and sharing my music with the world. Let me know in the comments on what I should discuss next!
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MY FAVORITE ALBUMS: EPISODE 1
Hey party people! I thought I’d take a detour from my normal blog posts here and take a second to talk about some of my personal favorite records of all time. I love listening to a diverse set of artists, so I’ll take about tons of different genres that I think everyone should take a chance on.
Muse – Origin of Symmetry
One of the first bands I ever got into as a kid was Muse. I absolutely adored the theatricality present in the music, and nothing could beat Matt Bellamy’s brooding and soaring vocals. I was a hardcore Muse-r. I seriously have enjoyed most of their albums, but one stuck out to me as their best. There aren’t many down moments on the album. I remember finding Muse as a kid and being almost scared of my obsession because I had never had a favorite band before. I got so obsessed I almost stopped listening to them because I was getting in too deep, but little did I realize I was part of a much larger Muse fan community.
The first song I heard off this record was definitely the hit single Plug In Baby. I remember this song had a lot of YouTube views for the music video, and when I watched it – I just loved the catchy rock guitar riffs combined with the mellow verses and loud choruses.
Shortly after listening to this song, I started clicking around on other YouTube videos to get a feel for the band and came across another track called Bliss. This song is insane. It might be one of my favorite songs of all time. Crazy prog rock sounds with such controlled belt from Matthew Bellamy. I remember saving up my $1.29 to give my mom to buy this song on Itunes because I just had to download it.
After being enticed by the first two tracks, I had to take a listen to the rest of the album! There are so many other good songs on here. The opening song Newborn has beautiful and mysterious piano followed by distorted guitar that’s on Guitar Hero favorites everywhere. There’s also classical inspired tunes like Space Dementia that are nearly impossible for piano players to get down due to Matt Bellamy’s erratic playing style.
Some of the darker tracks of the album are some of my favorite deep cuts. The long song Citizen Erased is very interesting, played on a seven-string guitar for more depth. Dark Shines is a dark horse in my opinion and should be one of Muse’s best songs ever created. So many themes and genres are mixed on this album and it’s crazy.
One of the more creative moments on Origin of Symmetry is the cover of the classic song Feeling Good. Bellamy lures you in with his voice and just commands you to stay.
There are a few down moments on this album. I never really cared much for the tracks Megalomania or Screenager, and Micro Cuts is a bit dark for me.
This record is definitely highly acclaimed by many though, especially anyone who enjoys theatrical progressive rock. This record definitely started the infamous comparison of Muse to Radiohead. I think these comparisons are unnecessary. Sure, these bands sound similar, but so do a ton of other bands that had the same influences. Both Muse and Radiohead are talented groups, and I don’t think fans need to fight over who is better. Both have had their up and down moments, but this album was during that infamous time of comparison.
I ultimately will always love this record. It’s dark, moody, theatrical, and full of musical talent. If you like strange vocals, insane guitar and piano work, and catchy rock songs, you should definitely take a listen to Muse’s Origin of Symmetry.
Sunday night, once again, brought the infamous and widely watched Grammy’s awards show. Some people hate the show, some love it, but either way – it’s always a spectacle for music lovers, fashion fanatics, and celebrity mega-fans alike. And, as usual, it was filled with soaring highs and awkward lows – so here is a list for anyone might’ve missed the socially distanced spectacular.
Performances
Obviously, one of the best parts of the night is always watching the performances. There’s always surprise collaborations and debut songs throughout the night.
The first few minutes of the night were action-packed. The show started off with the one and only Harry Styles. The handsomely beautiful performer sang the hit single Watermelon Sugar. The song was good, but there are so many better songs off the album that a different one like Adore You or Golden. The no-frills performance was a great way to start off the night. Directly after Harry Styles was the one and only teen pop sensation Billie Eilish who was up for many awards for Everything I Wanted. The song was performed almost exactly the same as the album tone, which was awesome. Eilish and her brother Finneas had a super awesome set which looked like a car half-submersed in water and fog which gave off a solemn and seriously moody vibe. The third set in a row to open the show was from the HAIM sisters. They are definitely less known than Eilish or Styles, but they’ve collaborated with a ton of famous artists. The had a great rocking tune and showed off their talent by switching off on vocals, guitar, and drums. I wouldn’t be surprised if they gained a bunch more fans from this performance.
One of the surprisingly worst moments of the night for me was DaBaby’s rendition of Rockstar. The song was easily one of the best from the summer of 2020. Instead of just using his eerily-similar live vocals, he decided to do a strange rendition of the song which included a bunch of old people swaying and singing gospel in the background. DaBaby who was dressed in sparkling white gloves and a CC suit just came off as cheesy, and not great. Probably the worst performance of the night.
The best part of the night was likely from Megan Thee Stallion. She has had an incredible year, and gave an incredible medley performance and truly showed why she is just so badass. Megan, honey, you won this thing. Another standout of the night was Dua Lipa, who looked just as amazing as she sounded. Bringing back a retro disco vibe with a medley from Future Nostalgia, she owned the night with her looks and vocals. Another one of the best nights, musically, was the debut performance from Silk Sonic, AKA the collaborative duo of Bruno Mars and Anderson Paak. The two sang their hearts out with a 70’s slow jam R&B inspired song that was cheesy goodness. These artists no doubt had the best performances of the night.
History Being Made
The Grammy’s are known for being a controversial awards show. This year though, they did a much better job of including people of color and women. Beyonce broke a ton of records for the amount of Grammy’s won by a singer/artist, which was amazing to see! We also saw countless other women of color receiving tons of awards like Megan Thee Stallion who won countless records for her amazing year in 2020. I Can’t Breathe won song of the year. Fiona Apple won a Grammy but boycotted the show in a big statement as well. We also saw a night dominated by women. Compared to the CMA’s, who barely nominated any women at all, the Grammy’s were dominated by women –especially in the country category. There were also a lot of international performers like BTS and Bad Bunny.
One a bit of a more sad note – the section of the show that honors musicians who have passed away was much more devastating for this year than normal due to covid-19. This had to have been the most deaths ever recorded for the shows tribute segment.
The artists for lifetime achievement awards this year though were very prolific artists. Including the brainy new wave sounds of the Talking Heads, Hip-Hop from Grandmaster Flash, and artists like Selena, Lionel Hampton, and Salt-N-Pepa.
Summary
All in all this years show was so much more intimate than pervious years due to the precautions that had to have been taken due to covid. Hopefully next year will try to blend the in-depth features on artists and small venues, but be able to have more of an audience in 2022. I might be biased, but Megan Thee Stallion definitely won the night.
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New Music Roundup: March
Hello and welcome back everyone! I’m starting a new blog segment today called the new music roundup! Every month I’ll be going through a couple of my favorite and least-favorite tracks or new releases! Feel free to leave suggestions or comments on music that I should review for the next month!
Manchester Orchestra
I always seem to forget that the band Manchester Orchestra exists. But, I love when I’m able to rediscover them every time they post that they have new music coming out. The band is known for their intense but calm-at-times indie music that can fierce and mellow moments. They sort of sound like folk mixed with rock, to describe it simply. They have recently announced their new album though, entitled ‘The Million Masks of God’. The first single just released is a song called ‘Bed Head’. This track does a perfect job encapsulating the band’s signature frantic and edgy style, a sound that is similar to the eye of a storm. One thing that was surprising was the opening to the track which has a much different feel to their older music. This track though honestly is a change for good in my opinion. The song is catchy, and the chorus has amazing vocals that are clear and will stick in your head all day. The intensity shown on this track could make the new album electric if present throughout the rest of the project. I am very excited for this new album, and you should be too! Take a listen to the song and watch the music video for it here.
‘68
The Atlanta based project from Josh Scogin (formerly of The Chariot), ‘68, has been quiet for a while. They’ve had two records released in 2014 and 2017, but haven’t done much since. Now, more than ever, the world is very ready for a comeback from this noise-y garage and punk influenced duo. Two new tracks have been released called ‘Bad Bite’ and ‘The Knife, The Knife, the Knife’. The first track of the two has a very Every Time I Die inspired feel. It’s loud and filled with rocking riffs, but there’s calmer parts with clapping that will draw listeners in and show that the band knows how to do things softly too. The second of the tracks has amazingly heavy guitar/bass riffs with a fairly Cage The Elephant-esque vocal tone. The production on these tracks is also amazing, clean drums and dirty riffs make for a perfect combo. This album is gonna have tons of bangers on it – the full length ‘Give One Take One’ comes out March 26th.
Valley Maker
Now for some calmer tunes, singer-songwriter and PhD student Austin Crane has just released his third full-length record. Crane came onto my radar originally when his second full length ‘Rhododendron’ was released. It was full of beautiful songs with calming instrumentals and a very wandering feel. It almost was like the perfect music to listen to while you’re traveling somewhere new. This new record ‘When The Day Leaves‘ has Crane’s signature folk-sy vocals with noodling acoustic guitars, clear and clean female harmonies, and an expansive instrumental production. The universe created by Valley Maker’s sound is special. The sounds they put on their records feel enormous, it feels like you’re listening to the music in a large room, or in an outdoor venue like Red Rocks. I praise Austin Crane for his creativity and his ability to create calm and beautiful songs in a time when everything is chaotic.
Julien Baker
Julien Baker has been on an upwards trajectory for a long time now. On a similar track to artists like Phoebe Bridgers. Baker creates delicate but brutally honest tracks that has drawn in fans from all different genres. Let me just say, if you ever want a good cry, the new record ‘Little Oblivions’ is probably perfect. With the motto of ‘There’s no glory in love, only the gore of our hearts’, you know that there are going to be some scars that are discussed on this new album. I’ve heard plenty of amazing reviews so far of this album, and while I haven’t taken a full listen yet, I have loved tracks like Heatwave. The guitar production is stellar, and the combination of instruments comes full circle on this album and gives Baker the full-band sound that she lacked in earlier records. Take a listen to this, because this is likely going to be a standout for many in the year of 2021.
TikTok is a weird and wonderful place. It’s full of all kinds of people; band kids, sports fanatics, emo’s, popular girls – literally any sort of person you want to hang out with is present on the app. Lately though, the trend is to get all of the popular influencers on the app to start creating music. If you have a huge following, why not try and increase it and make more money by starting a music career? Well, sometimes this has worked out okay, but some people should just not be making music.
LilHuddy: Contributing to the emo revival scene of 2021
TikToker and Hype House member Chase Hudson aka LilHuddy has recently turned to music like many other influencers. Many people weren’t surprised at this move though considering Hudson already sported a ‘e–boy’ and ‘emo’ type of look, so coming up with music seemed like normal progression. Unlike other projects by influencers, the teaser for his first song ‘21st Century Vampire’ seemed like there was a lot of time and money put into the production of the track. The first single released and the follow up song ‘The Eulogy of You and Me’ might be a little cheesy – but it’s not bad! This pop-punk and emo inspired sound could easily combine the fanbases of 21st century fan girls of the e–boy style and millennials fans of the early emo legends My Chemical Romance, or even rockers like Black Veil Brides. The first two songs are a good start for Chase, and if he continues to put out music like this he could easily make a living touring off of this music that many are starting to crave a revival of.
Nessa Barrett and Jxdn
A new collaborative track has been released by influences Nessa Barrett and Jaden Hossler. Jaden has been putting out songs slowly throughout his fame, but Nessa has more recently just started to release tracks. Jxdn has an edge to his music similar to LilHuddy, but it’s a bit more hip-hop focused. Jxdn has a great voice, but again the lyrics can come off a bit cheesy and not the best. Collaborating with Nessa was a great move though. Nessa, already having a huge following on TikTok for her gorgeous looks, easily made a transition to music. She has a much lighter voice, but it combines well with the edginess that Jaden brings to his music. Their collaborative track ‘la di die’ definitely hits the mark. Combining the softness and beauty of Nessa’s voice with the rough darker hip-hop sounds that Jaden brings, it’s truly a brilliant combo and one of the best TikToker turned musician tracks.
Dixie Damelio
It’s easy to pinpoint the worst TikTok influencers turned musician songs. One of the most embarrassing and possibly worst songs is definitely Dixie Damelio’s ‘Be Happy’. She has released a few songs now, and to be brutally honest, they are all garbage. You can tell she isn’t passionate about the music, and nothing about it is honest – it’s all fake. Her voice sounds fine, but it’s just bland. This track sounds like a KidzBop song that has an upbeat melody, but is supposed to talk about being sad. It ultimately sounds like a privileged rich girl talking about being sad, while sounding like she could care less about the song. Musically, there is nothing intriguing about the production or instrumentals. This song is embarrassing, and basically only got popular because it turned into a meme. Let me just say, I don’t think Dixie’s music career is gonna blossom into anything actually creative and intriguing for a while.
So what do you think? What do you think are the best tracks from TikTokers? Or do you have any good examples of straight-up flops? Let me know in the comments!
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Welcome!
Hey, you! Yeah, you!
First off, welcome into my new project, the Stereoside Chats: Music Reviews for Normal Dudes! This project was originally created so that music nerds (like myself) can create a space to discuss different kinds of music in an open and honest way. Too often in the music community do reviews come off as pretentious, or even just exaggerated to get views, but that won’t happen here.
So what type of things will be talked about on this blog? Well, I’m glad you asked! Any genre of music will be discussed, but mostly new projects. Anything from performances, new records, singles, music videos, etc!
Who am I? My name is Sydney Wolf and I’m a music lover and avid listener to many genre’s based out of Central Minnesota. I’ve played music for most of my life, starting out in my elementary schools orchestra, but soon found a love of punk rock and learned instruments like bass, guitar, and drums. I’ve learned to appreciate all types of music, and love to showcase up-and-coming local artists from the Midwest. I currently do booking for Monday Night Live and work in the Music Department at KVSC 88.1 FM. I also serve on the Independent Music Council of Central Minnesota. I hope to work on a project soon of bringing an all-ages music venue to the area, but that’s pending COVID-19 issues.
There is a lot of content coming your way in the forms of music reviews and discussion. Topics to expect in the near future include the Weeknds Superbowl performance, TikTok star Lil Huddy’s new single, and the future of the infamous Vans Warped Tour. If this sounds like something you want to get in on, bookmark this page! I encourage discussion in the comments and definitely take requests for reviews or discussion topics.
I hope you’ll join me for this adventure in music, and I’ll see you all soon!
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Hello world!
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