Parma Violets pick of the week: Haim - That Don't Impress Me Much

Hey all!

This week's pick is a chill one from Haim. Haim are a girl group that are all sisters with a serious amount of style. I first fell in love with their cover of the Fleetwood Mac song "Hold Me" . Their first album "Days Are Gone" was an absolute sucess and since then they've only gotten better and bigger. ( unrelated note: If you're mad at anyone I personally prescribe their original, "My Song 5" )

Anyway this week's song is another great cover of Shania Twain's "That Don't Impress Me Much" it's done in an acoustic style and I reccomend it for your morning commute. Nothing will put a spring in your step on a Tuesday morning like this song!

Listen here:

Enjoy!

Parma Violets pick of the week: Jessie Ware - Midnight

Hi guys,

Hope everyone is having a great week! Friday is just around the corner but "Midnight" is even closer... Do you see what I did there? I'm starting to really enjoy these cheesy openings.

Anyway! This is an artist that I adore, Jessie Ware's voice is honestly like silk running over your ears. I don't think there's any other way to describe it. Her voice is so smooth and her key changes are effortless. Every musical genre she takes on in her songs is pure perfection and as different as they are, they are always gorgeous. "Midnight" is no exception. It starts of slow, echoing, ethereal and then breaks into a beautiful synth-jazz chorus with an intoxicating rhythm. As if the soulful record isn't enough the track is also paired with stunning cinematic visuals in the official music video which was recently released as the sequel to "Selfish Love" (another great song) leading up to her new album. I'm so excited for the new album and once you hear Jessie Ware you will be too!

LISTEN HERE:

Jessie's other songs are just as great so give her a listen! Her msuic is available everywhere :)

Enjoy!

Parma Violets pick of the week: Jidenna - Bambi

This is a quick one but completely worth it. I've been loving Jidenna since "Classic Man" but this recent delivery from Jidenna's recent album " The Chief" is one for the books. "Bambi" has to be one of my favourite songs from the album. It's a romantic ballad with twist.

 I love this song because in addition to the usual R&B genre Jidenna also mixes trap with more traditional highlife fusions seen more commonly in Afrobeats music. Highlife has a very unique sound which is essential to African nightlife and party scene. Highlife originated in Ghana in the 20th century ( AYE s/o to all my Ghanaians out there! Nigerians will try to fight us on this but it's true sooo). I find it interesting that Jidenna mixed trap with highlife as it is a genre characterised by it's upbeat party vibes due to the use of jazz horns, multiple guitars and call and answer with similar styles including calypso; This paired with the sad lyrics in Bambi is on the verge of lyrical dissonance if not for the fact that the slowed down tempo of the melody emphasises the true sadness of the song. This song is great for a summer evening especially as the summer is winding down to an end: as the sun is setting and the ice tea's gone warm and you've put on a cardigan and put the parasol back up. This song in the background. Perfection.

Listen HERE:

Artist review: Kimbra

Hey people!

Hope you're all enjoying your summer! If like me the rain is doing its thing on your parade, I've found a remedy that will have you singing in the rain. ( I'm really proud of that joke 😂 ) Stay on this thread of thought as the musician I present to you is the musical equivalent to broadway. Her music is dramatic, beautifully pedantic, emotional, breath-taking and downright amazing. So without further ado may I present: Kimbra- the universe's answer to ever dull moment.

Kimbra Lee Johnson is a 27- year- old Kiwi. Her talents include singing, dancing, acting, song-writing and being incredibly awesome. You might recognise her from her song with Gotye "Somebody That I Used To Know". Although she's toured with the likes of Janelle Monae in The Golden Electric tour and John Legend when she featured on "Made to Love".
Kimbra is someone who's been on the radar for while and I've been loving her ever since I stumbled across her album "Vows"in 2011. "Vows" was her claim to fame with popular songs like "Settle Down" , "Two -way Street" and "Cameo Lover". In terms of musical influence and genres Kimbra is ecletic and experimentative. Her music can vary from vary from light pop to alternative rock, from every type of jazz to trip hop, from indie blues ballads to funk. You get the picture - very varied.
She's an innovator in her own right and of personal value to me as she and a few others first introduced me into the wider world of music and just how colourful and inspired that world can be.

She is not only a singer but a vocalist and uses her voice as her main and most expressive instument especially on her records. A great example of this is "Plain Gold Ring" from "Vows"(2011). Her vocal range is really wide and she uses different vocal techniques as well as lyrics to convey moods. For example she puts to use her higher softer pitch to relay feelings like love, happiness and nostalgia whereas her soprano is generally reserved for intense emotion and pain and her deeper lower tones often match up with lyrics where she is searching inside herself or reflecting. Her technique is out of this world between blending from pure note to vibrato seen in "The Build-up" and "Waltz me to the Grave" from her third album "The Golden Echo" (2014)

Anyway, enough technique! Kimbra will also deliver on those good vibes that everybody can understand. She concocts these crazy beats that will have you dancing ALL. DAMN. DAY especially when she gets on that R&B/ jazz wave. Her scats and runs in songs like "Call Me" , "Carolina" and "Miracle" are so freakin great! What even is summer if you don't discover an exciting new artist? And this is one you will never get bored of so give her a listen this weekend!

Congrats if you made it to the end of this post! lol- You guys are the real MVP's ❤

Kimbra is available to listen to on Youtube, Spotify, Souncloud, iTunes, and Deezer so check her out!

https://open.spotify.com/album/6V9rvW05Um5bIHePPfeI8p

Album Review: Corinne Bailey Rae - The Heart Speaks In Whispers (deluxe)

Hello all ,

Hope you are all enjoying your summer!

It's that time again. Album review time, and this one is one of my personal favourites. Alternative, beautiful, natural hair advocate Corinne Bailey Rae. You might remember her from " Put Your Records On" and "Like A Star" from her self-titled album. As time has gone on so has her personal style and music taste and I'm so pleased to be reviewing and listening to this complete album for the first time. It's been a long time and she's back.

So let's get to it. The Heart Speaks In Whispers has 16 tracks and is1 hour and 15 minutes. I'm anticipating this will be 1 hr 15 of musical bliss. But as always my album reviews are in "real time" so lets see. The first song "Skies Will Break" is good. It has a mix of electropop and rock along with her usual soft voice and is truly transformative. It has a steady tempo but is more of a fast song. Addmitedly I've heard track 2 before. ( many, many times before) and it has to be one of my favourite songs this summer. "Hey, I Won't Break Your Heart" is lyrically beautiful and honest. Starting off with a simple guitar and piano melody mirroring a lullabye it's has a slow peaceful tempo. It's rhythm reflects it's lyrics " Love is more hesitant the second time". Halfway through it becomes much more soulful with the addition of harmonies and soft drums. It's easy to be immersed in the romance of the song. It's a slow song but not a ballad. Track 3 is fun, definitley got more of a jazz vibe. It seems every song has a different genre. The jazz instrumental with horns and trumpets adds to the overall smooth calm vibe.

This next song was so different I thought it was an advert.  Corinne just created a pick n mix of genres and I 'm taken by surprise each time. It starts of with hands rhythmically clapping along with distinct percussions. Especailly agogo bells and cowbells. This one has a very tribal sound to it.

Moving on to Track 5- The album is amazing but it almost seems like a collection of singles than an album. Despite the clear storyline of love being followed in each track there seems to lack a sense of continuation between the genres. Track 5 is like a country song. Acoustic guitar.  It has a 2012 Lady Antebellum kind of vibe.

Track 6 is clearly a sensual, smooth jazz track it's slow and something to sway to. It's called "Green Aphrodisiac". I'm listening to this as it's raining outside and it sort of compliments the theme of the song: Delicate, peaceful, natural.

 The mood continues to change as we move on to Track 7 "Horse Print Dress" has me BOPPING. It's a light , fun, pop track and definitley a dance track for a party.

Next up is Track 8 " another jazz track but more like "Quiet Storm" ( genre) than the others. It has much more of a loose instumental style and fluid rythm. I'm finally starting to get a sense of continuity from the album.

Track 14 " Ice Cream Colours" is really sweet. (pun not intentional) it has elements of doo-wop  making it a happy and up-beat ways to wound up the album.

Lets talk about Track 15 - it is a heart-felt ballad emphasisng the doubt and unpredictability of the end of a crossroads in a relationship. It reminds me of Adele in many ways the songs/ singer's ability to translate feelings and understanding about love without directly experiencing. Thats what music is supposed to do, take you to a place, put you in a situation. Express emotion.

The final track "Push On For The Dawn" definitley does that. Expressing that glimmer of light and hope. The use of harps and windchimes in a simple 2 chord instrumental part at the end  at the end gives it a heavenly feel, as if memories are being replayed and a door to the future is being opened.

My overall view: The album, although varying in genres compensated with the continuation of a personal journey.  Honestly portraying vunreability, happiness and heartbreak. This is the story of love and is communicated clearly and wonderfully through strong instremuntation and artistic vocal techniques. If you like variation in your music this is the album for you as it's simply a rainbow of musical genres combined. I'd say it's another piece of art for Corinne Bailey Rae and each individual track has it's own awesome style so it's guranteed you'll fall in love with at least one song.

Her album is available everywhere so give it a listen! and as always, thank you for reading!

Artist review: Anderson. Paak

"Y'all --- got me hot!"

SO GUYS. If you're reading this post and you don't already know him, you're going to look back on this marvellous day when you came upon this blog post and bless the stars because you have finally discovered the dream that is : Anderson Paak.

Introduction over. You guys! I'm back blogging after exams! I've been bursting to blog about Anderson since I saw him LIVE :) I've never seen a guy with as much rhythm as him, this dude is SO freaking smooth and personally I would actually pay real money ( not scared money) to have a jam session with him because - m u s i c. Music runs through his veins, he's is the heart of neo- soul/ jazz. When I saw him live I'm not gonna lie I didn't even know any of his songs that well. He can move! Natural rhythm seems to come so easily to him especially on drums. I'm guessing because he used to be a church drummer so he's got those soulful roots. I will say- his lyrics certainly do not belong in a church, wow. "Suede" is just.... y'all don't listen to this around your parents or young children but DO listen to it because the song is the definition of a vibe. His voice is difficult to describe. Dr Dre describes the hoarseness in his voice translating a true pain. To me the "cry" in his voice is clear and heartfelt. You definitley catch the sense of the hardships he's been through before his fame especially in his songs like "Carry Me" but also the light- hearted and fun side to life and love in " Luh You" from his album "Venice".

I think Anderson Paak is perfect if you're trying to get the mood fixed for a summer BBQ. His music has those party vibes. With heavy influences from jazz, rock, soul and blues you find yourself just bouncing to his groove. It's easy to listen to as his music with Knxwledge and with The Free Nationals is always melodic and rhythmic. In terms of freestyle's he is a maestro and his band are always perfectly in sync. His most recent album Malibu has been a great hit  worldwide and was Grammy award nominated for "Best Urban Contempary" album in 2016.

Watch his awesome acoustic performance here: 

He's already the biggest of deals in America and after the recent Glastonbury festival and his tour with Bruno Mars I know he will blow up pretty soon in the UK too. So you might as well join the party early!

you can listen to him on: Spotify, Youtube, Soundcloud, and iTunes (and probably every other music outlet you can think of)

Enjoy.

Parma Violets pick of the week: Toulouse

Music lovers, music  lovers, music lovers.... how art thou?

I've been saving this one just for you. It's Easter, which to me represents the time of giving and a reminder of the ultimate gift. So I have a gift for you in the form of this elusive talent named "Toulouse". I can't seem to find much about this artist except with my innate stalker skills I found out his name is Tolu which leads me to the conclusion that he's probably Nigerian and he's actually behind the scenes more than you realised, having been recently featured on the "Fifty Shades Darker" soundtrack. All I know is that he's a male and he can saang. In some ways I think that's the best approach because then we can focus on his talent and there's alot of it.

  I was originally gonna talk about his song "I Will Follow You" and how the song is ethereal and haunting, beautiful and raw. The song is stripped down to a simple piano melody, wind chimes and the best instrument - his voice.

However I got side-tracked as I so often do by Spotify switching the song to "So I Know You Care". Now this one. This one is just....I'm in love. The beat on that track is complex and intricate however easy to subscribe to. Toulouse starts off in a low kind of growl accomponied with an almost tribal beat, then BAM  0.32 seconds in jazz vibes, horns, trumpets and silence...  then 1 minute in another burst of music, this time an electro-classical fusion creeps round the corner. This song has everything and not in a messy way either, the production of this song was careful, it's precisely constructed and forms musical abstract art. Like I said...I'm in love. So give it a listen!

Toulouse is available to listen to on: Soundcloud, Spotify, iTunes, and Youtube, Enjoy! :)

Parma Violets pick of the week: XamVolo

Happy Spring music lovers!

For those of you who aren't in the UK, we have finally reached springtime! 🎉🎉 However much like the rest of British weather it is rather disappointing and so it's actually still pretty cold. But never fear, I've got you guys covered because this new artist I've got for you is hot!

INTRODUCING Mr XamVolo:
People... I can't, I cannot even begin to articulate to you how good this guy is, he's got this whole sexy electro-jazz thing going and I am 100% here for it! XamVolo's voice can vary between a hoarse kind of deep tone into a smooth silky voice. (Yeah I know - the talent runs deep!) The song I've chosen for this week is called "Down". This is the kind of song I usually describe as "musical alchemy". It starts off slow and smooth, like a cool kind of metal and drips from your headphones into your ears like liquid gold, then it just explodes. I can't explain it - that connection with a song, it's kinda like falling in love. The song surrounds you and fills your head and there's nothing but you and the music... and you're left in a dreamy, melting state of bliss as the song ends. ( I hope you can imagine that! lol ) It's  the closest you'll get to hearing colours.

Anyway, I think we're gonna be hearing a lot more from this artist in 2017 and personally I can't wait! Here's theYoutube audio for his song "Down" below! 

XamVolo is available to listen to on Youtube, Spotify, and Soundcloud so check him out!

Soundcloud: https://soundcloud.com/xamvolo

Album Review: Maxwell - blackSUMMERS'night (2016)

Well hello music lovers!

So I thought it's finally time to review Maxwell's new album. Maxwell is one of my all-time favourite artists ever, an R&B/ jazz/ soul legend. Since "Urban Hang Suite" and "Embrya" to now, his music style has changed but still stayed true to his Jazz roots. Where do I even start with this man? I actually love him. Like...guys. His vocal range- I just can't...for a writer his music renders me speechless and pratically illiterate - as you can probably tell.

I'm doing something a little different today as I am still listening to the album as I write ( like I always do) but this is the first time I'm doing this with an album I've never heard before.

 My first impression on the first track "All the ways love can feel" ...dissapointment. It's still Maxwell and he still has the jazz undertones but his beautiful voice is lost underneath synth pop and some mad autotuning. His 2nd track is a slight improvement, less autotuning which is nice. The song has a good beat, a sort of tribal feel to it, more Free-funk, not exactly a dancing song but close. Track 3 has got my head bopping! This song bangs. The third track, conviniently called "III" has got a modern feel to it and is definitley one to get you dancing. Track 4.  Finally some typical Maxwell mood-setting music. "Lake By The Ocean" is sexy, easy and of course it's lyrically beautiful. I often find his songs are a smooth bridge between music and poetry. I haven't heard the rest yet but this is probably my favourite track. "Fingers Crossed" is a song about a man who is caught up in unrequited love and is desperately wishing for her to love him. It's actually quite a sad song and this is felt by the piano and the underlayers of classical music and the third stream.

I don't want to type whilst I'm listening to "Hostage" (track 6)  because honestly the song is just trippy and is asking for my full attention. This is a song (again) about love, that will allow you to get lost in it. The second part of the album is definitley more of the Max we know and love. "1990x" and "Gods" are both purely vocal, smooth jazz tracks. Similar to the style seen in "Now". Just when I think the album is now going to all be smooth jazz, the 9th track "Lost" throws a curve ball, this has more of a blues genre and the story of the album is becoming clearer. At this point in the album the man from earlier is experiencing a heartbreak making this the perfect break-up song. I'm on the last track called "Listen Hear". I stopped typing because I was just enjoying the album too much - sorry not sorry, it is what it is :) I thouroughly enjoyed it and the album ends with the sound of crashing waves.

Overall I would say this album is another success... let me not lie - I'm in love with this album! Seriously it's so good. Maxwell did not dissappoint - except the first track. But even that is made up for by the 3rd to 11th track's.

blackSUMMERS'night is available to listen to on Spotify: https://open.spotify.com/album/6pjoIUNpMtQaSJvRUmsnSh

Parma Violets pick of the week: Jeff Buckley

Happy New Year!
A new year, new music, new artists.

Firstly, I'd like to give a big thanks to every one of you that supported me and has continued to support this blog - you mean the world to me. This year I aim to share even more great music with you and radiate even more of those good vibes 😊💮☮

It's a new year and there'll be plenty of posts about fresh new musical talents on the scene. However, old is the "new" new so I wanna throw it back to some 90's indie with a little bit of Jeff Buckley's "Everybody Here Wants You". Servers suggestion: With this parma violets pick I suggest you get yourself some satin pillows and a red wine by the fire-place. This song is a good one if you're trying to unwind and relax. Jeff's velvety voice and romantic lyrics on this track is guaranteed to help slow the pace on a stressful day.

So sit back and enjoy!