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