(upbeat music)
- Hey everybody, welcome back to Phantom Power Music Review.
It's Friday.
We're gonna start to try and put these out every Friday.
Try to get regular with it.
Wednesdays will be the music hour.
Fridays, the review, artist hour on Sunday
and then the business hour on Monday.
We're gonna try to stick to that schedule,
we'll see how it goes.
So this is a value for value podcast, of course,
where you are listening on a modern,
podcasting 2.0 app,
like fountain or karaoke or podcast guru or podcast,
and your lightning wallet is tied into that app.
And as you listen, you can send the artist little bits
of Bitcoin, otherwise known as Satoshi's, right?
Thank you to Adam Curry, of course,
for spearheading this whole thing
and really making everybody believe in it
and getting it off the ground.
It's definitely changed the mindset and the thought process
of boatload of musicians around the world
and it's just gonna keep getting bigger and better.
So what we do in the Phantom Power Music Review is,
we listen to a couple of songs and I give you my breakdown
of them, what I like about them, why they speak to me.
We talk about tones and theory and chord structure
and all that kind of fun music and geek stuff.
So let's do it, shall we?
This first track we're gonna listen to
is by Abby Muir out of Australia and the song is called
"Stuck Home" so take it away, Abby.
♪ My dear you could go me in the sun ♪
♪ Tell me the road was in the gold to detail ♪
♪ Just hide it and then for me I was so staked ♪
♪ No roads are on my hands ♪
♪ Just tell me you love me and I'm changed to your command ♪
♪ I love the way you're meaning for us ♪
♪ You're hitting your touch ♪
♪ The way you understood my name is high sick ♪
♪ But I'm using it the end this way ♪
♪ So I'll find the beauty and call it you, baby ♪
♪ No sound on my mouth, you ♪
♪ I say I'm scared it's the truth that I know that ♪
♪ This is all I've heard ♪
♪ I gotta be ready to eat, I gotta be ready to eat ♪
♪ Oh, oh, oh ♪
♪ For the reason is like you called it in your faint ♪
♪ Just real living things our people ♪
♪ So you wouldn't say and I'm over my head ♪
♪ And blood that I've fled ♪
♪ In time that I've spent ♪
♪ But I do it again ♪
♪ You could leave for me dead ♪
♪ And I still love the way you're meaning for us ♪
♪ You're hitting your touch ♪
♪ The way you understood my name is high sick ♪
♪ But I'm using it the end this way ♪
♪ So I'll find the beauty and call it you, baby ♪
♪ For the reason is like you called it in your faint ♪
♪ Just real living things our people ♪
♪ So you wouldn't say and I'm over my head ♪
♪ And blood that I've fled ♪
♪ I gotta be ready to eat, I gotta be ready to eat ♪
♪ Oh, oh, oh ♪
♪ I take all the pain away from you ♪
♪ You know I take all the pain away ♪
♪ I leave for me dead ♪
♪ And I still love the way you're meaning for us ♪
♪ You're hitting your touch ♪
♪ The way you understood my name is high sick ♪
♪ But I'm using it the end this way ♪
♪ So I'll find the beauty and call it you, baby ♪
♪ For the reason is like you called it in your faint ♪
♪ Just real living things our people ♪
♪ So you wouldn't say and I'm over my head ♪
♪ And blood that I've fled ♪
♪ I gotta be ready to eat, I gotta be ready to eat ♪
♪ But I'm loving ♪
♪ Oh, oh, oh ♪
So that is Stockholm by Abby Nure.
And I hope you were listening to that with some good cans on,
some good headphones, right?
The split that happens in the guitars is great, the left and right.
Listen to the split in her backgrounds
and how they're buried in the back.
Love how the bass tone changes between the verse and the chorus
and not just with the distortion pedal, but with the feel as well.
Great fill coming back into the second verse.
The phrasing of her lyrics and the vocals is really cool too.
Like when she hits that A chord,
which is the third chord in the progression,
she pulls off the tritone for the melody,
which is a really hip thing to do.
And I also love the fact how the second chord in there,
which in theory should be a minor chord,
but she plays the major version of it
when she's, you know, with the melody of it.
♪ My dear you could ♪
♪ Da da da da da da da da ♪
♪ Love how she pulls the major chord for that second chord,
which if you go by the laws, it should be a minor.
So, that's really cool too.
Let's see here, what else did I have on here?
Oh, on the backgrounds, notice how she picks certain words to highlight,
not just phrases, that's really smart.
It gets pretty boring when you're just doing backgrounds
and just repeating phrases.
Like, find the right words, find things to highlight.
And Abby does a really nice job of that here.
Bridge is lovely as well, gives everybody a break,
gives everybody's ears a break,
love that dirty guitar tone coming out of it.
And did you pick up on those really subtle keyboard tones
in the bridge as well?
Another, I just had a whole bunch of scribble notes here, sorry.
I'm kind of like all over the shop here.
But the other part about the harmonies that I loved
was how she'll go up and away from the lead line rather than just, you know,
keeping it tight with the melody.
But again, like the, I mean, aside from Abby's tone and her diction,
which are fantastic, I love the melody choice, especially using
the major version of that second chord, the G#,
and then on the melody, pulling off the tri-tone of the third chord,
the A, which the tri-tone, of course, in this setting would be the D#.
So, great stuff there.
The other thing, if you listen to my previous podcast,
you know how I am big on dichotomy.
And I think that Abby's voice in conjunction with the heaviness of the guitars
and the heaviness of the track is fantastic.
It's kind of like, you know, like Amy Lee, Pat Benatar,
Hayley Williams to a certain extent, right?
The separation of the EQ is really good and really cool,
but here's the thing, you as the singer, you better be damn good
because the band is going to hang all of your EQs out to dry, right?
If you're gonna put yourself in that setting,
like your frequencies are gonna exist right up there with the symbols,
the top strings on the guitar, the keyboard pipes, so if you as the lead singer
are gonna put yourself in that position, you better have some killer pipes
and Abby's got the pipes to back it up.
So, great track all around.
And we've got some more stuff from Abby that's gonna be coming out soon
and I believe she's got a full project coming out here in 2024.
So, always excited to hear what she's got coming out.
So, all right, so there's my thoughts on Abby Mure.
Next up, what do we have?
Ah, yes! This one is interesting.
Rock 'n' Roll break heart and a song, "Look what you put me through."
So, let's check it out and then we'll come back and talk about it.
Here we go.
[Music]
Getting my head, we're back at my feet again.
Got a style of the plan, and everything's all right.
No place in yourself, just try to count to 10
for those words away, no need to find.
Any game in the school, no ride to burn, no need to use.
No ride to burn, no need to use.
Something will happen.
No ride to burn, no need to use.
Now that my self, getting better every day,
business of myself, and it's all right, you're walking away.
Not sure what your plan, you can better still look
to win every other fight.
Any game in the school, no ride to burn, no need to use.
No ride to burn, no need to use.
Something will happen.
No ride to burn, no need to use.
(upbeat music)
Any game in the school, no ride to burn, no need to use.
(upbeat music)
Any game in the school, no ride to burn, no need to use.
No ride to burn, no need to use.
Something will happen.
Any game in the school, no ride to burn, no need to use.
No ride to burn, no need to use.
(upbeat music)
Well, you're probably wondering why I chose that track
because nine times out of ten,
I will choose things that are just really well produced,
amazing vocals, very commercial, I guess you could say.
I don't do a lot of stuff that's rough around the edges.
And I admit, we all have our biases,
and I can be a bit of a jerk when it comes to my opinion on music.
But here's what I loved about this.
And to me, there is a whole hell of a lot to love about what this dude is doing.
A lot of times when I'm listening to a song,
if I can, and I've said this before,
if I can tell where the song is gonna go,
like I'll start guessing on chord progressions, on melodies.
And if I start guessing correctly,
I'm gonna turn it off because I'm like, this is boring, right?
Here's another thing.
I'll hear something where it's like,
"Oh, the slide sounds great coming in."
And then the EQ on the drums is off,
or the guitar is attuned, and I'm like,
"Oh, God, this isn't going to be awful."
And I'm just going to tune it off.
I apologize, I'm a little bit of an arrogant prick.
I guess you want to say when it comes to music.
But if I hear things that are off,
I'm gonna turn it off.
But when I hear something like this,
where the entire mix is raw and authentic,
where the entire song is beautifully unbalanced,
I am absolutely hooked.
I'm absolutely hooked.
Is this guy a great singer?
Not really, but does he get the point across?
Yeah.
You guys ever heard of Tom Wates?
You ever heard of Leonard Cohen?
I love this guy's voice because it's perfect for the lyrics,
and it's perfect for the production.
I love the drums, I love the guitar, I love the bit,
I love everything about this,
because it's perfect for the production,
because it's perfect for the vibe.
It's kind of like Joe Walsh,
it's kind of like James Gaye.
It's a lot like Tom Wates.
And I mean all of this as a compliment.
I could not pull off something like this.
It is rough and raw and beautiful.
And I don't have that feel in me.
I wish I did.
I'm not gonna break down the chords.
I'm not gonna break down the melody.
I love this song for the feel.
I love this production for the feel.
I love the presentation for the feel.
Another one that you should go listen to is Rock and Roll Demon.
Also by this guy, Rock and Roll, Break Heart.
You gotta check out this guy's stuff.
It is beautifully imperfect.
It's like throw it up in the, you know,
throw a mic up in the room and do one take.
And it's, and everything comes out great.
Just raw energy.
It's like Tom Wates, it's like the clash.
That's what speaks to me on this.
This track, everything that I've heard of his up on Wave Lake
is just dripping with vibe.
It is perfectly imperfect.
And that's what I dig about it.
And I hope you guys liked it too.
Cool?
Alright, next one.
Let's move on to
Leaving Chicago
by Red Arrow Highway.
Check it out.
♪ She's on a night's range of leaving Chicago
♪ I got about me for she got through Ohio
♪ She still scared her airport to be there tomorrow
♪ I said wherever you go I'll follow
♪ I think that that gesture might be all wrong
♪ 'Cause deep down I know they're not gonna go
♪ I'll have to see how I feel tomorrow
♪ But you're on a night's range of leaving Chicago
♪ 'Cause I like you more than her
♪ Feeling we are changing to work
She's on a night's train and leaving Chicago,
She's on a night's train, leaving Chicago,
The rain sounds on these shingles like the waves of sunshine
See these windows I like to view from what I've got
A freezing time here, I'm breaking the clock
It's when this dress is air-filling up with vacuum
But I will not move, no obvious that you
You can change the house, but you stop with the view
And I like this one, go find something new
'Cause I like here more than the earth
Feeling we are changing to work
I'm rooting for her, watching her for
I think it's a sign that this person hurt
'Cause I like here more than the earth
Feeling we are changing to work
I'm rooting for her, watching her for
I think it's a sign that this person hurt
She's on a night's train and leaving Chicago,
She's on a night's train, leaving Chicago,
She's on a night's train and leaving Chicago,
(rock music)
Okay, so you know how I said before
that if I can guess where it's gonna go,
I'm gonna turn it off, right?
These guys had me guessing from the very first drop
I love the all start in the band
but actually the very first thing I noticed
is that beautiful anticipation on the kick pattern
She's on a boom, right?
Just, ah, it's great, just a nice push coming in.
The energy, and this is Nate John I'm in singing.
Nate, I hope I got your last name right, by the way.
Love the energy and the vocal production.
It's perfect match for the energy of the lyrics.
The rhymes in this are fantastic.
The lyrics are great.
Core changes, it's, you know, I mean,
you wanna break it down, all right, it's GE Minor C, right?
Pretty much throughout the whole track, works.
Brilliant, you don't have to be complicated
to write a kick ass tune.
Absolutely love that.
Love the drop out in the pre-chorus.
The first pre-chorus.
And then how the whole band comes just,
you know, blazing back in when the chorus drops.
Thematically, I love how they gave it all away
with the very first line of the song,
but then they keep using it, right?
And then they double chorus at the end, like,
you would think that big build up
after the second verse when the bass drops out,
like that's gonna be a chorus,
but that's like an extended second verse.
Like the arrangement is so cool,
and they do a solo after the first chorus
before the second verse.
Great, you know, and I was fascinated that this song
is only two minutes and 30 seconds longer, felt longer.
Love just love the arrangement, love the production,
love the energy.
Would love to see this live.
I like, you could just imagine like this band,
blazing through their set,
and everybody's waiting for this one,
and then he hits, she's on a night drain living
the place just blows up, right?
Just absolutely dig that track.
Absolutely dig that track.
Look, and look up Nate's stuff.
He's all over Wavley.
He's got a boatload of stuff up there.
Hell of a writer, man.
Great, I always love writers who, you know,
jump around genres a lot.
Speaking of genre jumping.
How about this?
This is "Hey Love" by Marina Osk, at the Bicellent.
Hey, love, you caught me of God.
Hey, love, I took it right home.
Oh, love, you got me good.
Well, the streams aside, I never thought I'd ever met it,
but hey, love, I'm doing all right since love.
My head is all fried, but love,
I like the fact you stumbled my way.
I used to visit game places and all the time what made places seem so charming and swell.
But since that fateful day, I've been trying to stay away.
Hey, love, I'm not used to this thing,
oh, love, it sure ain't no fling, but love,
I like the fact you stumbled my way.
(playing "Hey Love" by Marina Osk)
Uh, wow.
(playing "Hey Love" by Marina Osk)
Like, just stunning.
(playing "Hey Love" by Marina Osk)
Let me just start by saying, "I believe on trumpet"
is a gentleman in Stockholm by the name of Eric Tangholm.
Tangholm?
Uh, Michael Asponson on guitar and Johann Tangholm on bass.
And Philadelphia, my Swedish is awful.
It's worse than my German.
I can talk for 20 minutes on this track.
It belongs in the fake book.
Like, page 178 right before hot totty.
It's right up there, in my opinion, with any great standard.
Marina, just so you know, has a bachelor's in jazz vocals.
I believe from a conservatory in Holland.
And then she has her masters in jazz music.
From a Royal Conservatory in Stockholm.
So she's not messing around, dude.
Her tone and her diction are just phenomenal.
I always love to hear people sing in a language
that is not their mother tongue.
And you would never know.
I'm assuming English, and I've spoken with her.
You would never know, just like if you've never had a conversation with her,
you would never know that English is her third or fourth language, whatever it is.
I'm assuming, you know, like most Europeans, she's got at least three under her hat.
Swedish, Icelandic, English.
And who knows what else?
Did you notice on this track, how hard it's swung without a drummer?
Do you know how hard that is to pull off?
That band is so stunning.
The arrangement is great.
The writing is great, of course, as well.
And from a true jazz format, it's AABA, right?
First one, verse two, B section, back to a verse.
Trumpet solo where he takes a full ride.
And then, and then oh, by the way, let's just scatter because we're so darn good at it.
Her scatting is fantastic.
It's so subtle and it's so sweet.
I honestly, I can't think of another jazz vocalist that she reminds me of, like,
it would be a sin to compare her to Bjork, but every now and then Bjork does some cool little
jazz stuff and I'm like, okay, am I just thinking that because they're both from Iceland, right?
It would be a sin to compare her to another great Scandinavian female jazz singer,
Monica's Eterlin, because Monica's register was lower.
And Monica could never sing as sweet and as pristine as Marina is singing.
In many respects, and I wrote about this on a blog, when I first came across her music,
like a year and a half ago, she kind of reminds me of Sarah Burrellas, in a way, right?
But I'm just adore her voice, I adore her writing.
I would really encourage you guys to go online and find the rest of her stuff.
She's going to be releasing more here in the value for value space, but the world needs more jazz
musicians like Marina. It is my favorite genre to play because it scares the hell out of me,
because it always forces me to be a better musician. And I just had a chuckle, I was sitting
now kind of playing along with it. I'm like, of course, it's in D-flat, like, oh, they, like, can't,
can we not choose an easier key for the piano player? Please let alone your bass player
and your guitarist, although they probably all turned, turned down a half step. But really,
Marina, did you have to do it in D-flat? You killed in the piano players. Maybe that's why you
didn't have a piano player on the track. But I love the production. I love how hard the band swings
when there's no drummer. The trumpet solo is gorgeous, you know, your rhythm section in this track.
That's your guitar player, that's your bass player. And if you didn't like the intro in the ending,
you need to check your pulse. There's something wrong with you.
Gorgeous production, gorgeous melody. I love how sweet her voice is in conjunction with the theme
of the lyrics. Like I said, I could go on for 20 minutes about this song. I adore her writing
but she knows this. We've talked offline. So, all right guys, that'll do it. That is
episode 11 of the Phantom Power Music Review. Like I said, we're going to try and do this every Friday.
And we'll see how it goes, right? Life is what happens when you're busy making other plans. That's
one of my favorite things. But thank you guys very much for listening. Thank you, Marcy Femall,
to absolute, absolute, for the bumper music. Mujas Grasius to our amigo Dovey Doss at RSS Blue,
out there in London for hosting these shows. And if you guys have any suggestions, you guys want
me to review something, shoot me a note on Nostra or Twitter or Instagram, track me down. I'm on the
north side of Nashville. I'm not that hard to find. All right guys, take care. Smile for the mug shot.
Thanks for listening.
[Music]