Jaden | Music

I’m not a big fan of classifying music into Genres.

Especially from a songwriting and production viewpoint as soon as an artist specifies a particular genre they want to fit into it feels like 4 walls are built around the song restricting the free flow of creativity. With all that in mind Nic and I set out to write a track to fit into a Modern Soul/Acoustic Genre on request.

For me ‘Soul’ in itself is difficult to define as its roots and influence can be found in most modern music ranging from Hip-Hop to Rock. The concept of the track being written was quality but we weren’t feeling the direction of the production so we decided to whip out the metaphoric sledgehammer and break down the walls.

The artist we wrote the track for wasn’t digging the final direction we took, which was no surprise as I doubt anyone could squeeze the result into the Soul/Acoustic Genre. But we all liked the track and the initial reviews were good so in stepped the super talented Cheyenne Kavanagh (www.myspace.com/cheykav) to lay down the vocals. It took Chey less than 4 hours to nail the vocal session. His interpretation of the melodies and harmonies as well as his ad-libs really took the track to a new level.

So now it’s over to you guys to have a listen and tell us what Genre ‘Buckle Up (Ur with me tonight)’ fits into?

I hope it stays a rhetorical question.

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Instead of sleeping… I am thinking. imagining. appreciating…

Rocket Love – a song that, in my mind, is one of the most spectacularly beautiful works of art ever to be created (despite being a sad story of heartbreak and loss). Stevie Wonder is truly the master of all that he does. His use of imagery throughout is so vivid, capturing such emotive intensity through his ingenious vocal melodies and dramatic instrumentation. If I could have one wish in my lifetime, it would be to see the world through the eyes of Stevie, and to know life as he knows it – just for a day.  It is songs like this that make me really appreciate the world for its simple beauties. It also sparks such a burning desire in me to fill my world and that of those around me with music; inspiring me to keeping chasing the dream that is just out of reach, for now…
[youtube]http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=9ry0moZ9JdE[/youtube]

“A female Shakespeare of your time
With looks to blow Picasso’s mind
You were the best

Your body moved with grace and song
Like symphonies by Bach or Brahms
Nevertheless, oh oh

The passion burning in your heart
Would make hell’s fire seem like a spark
Where did it go

You took me riding in your rocket, gave me a star
But at a half a mile from heaven you dropped me back
down to this cold, cold world”

A couple of weeks ago I was in the studio jamming along with some Jacko tracks on the drums. It was during one song in particular that something caught my attention – as “Remember the Time” went into the bridge, I distinctly started to hear part of another song in my head (kinda like those Looney Tunes cartoons where the “bright idea” light bulb pops up). I couldn’t quite figure out which song I was hearing, but the combination of the vocal melodies over the progression were so similar to that of Jacko’s I decided that I had to investigate further.

After managing to extract a couple of the lyrics that were bouncing around in my head, I rounded it down to something by Usher. I opened my iTunes library and began to skim through the track listing for 8701. As soon as I opened Track 9 – “U don’t have to call” (written & produced by The Neptunes), I realised it was the bridge for this track I had been hearing. Deciding to take my investigations to the next level, I imported both tracks into a new Pro Tools session and set about getting to the bottom of the matter. I have combined what I think is an interesting snippet of both tracks with this post so you can have a listen to exactly what I was hearing…

[youtube]http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=qVTNYatY6sg[/youtube]

In conclusion, I would like to leave you with the thought I have been pondering: In a time of such sadness, with the passing of a true pioneer of pop music and legendary performer, hearing something like this makes me realise this – no matter whether past or present, all of the great musicians, singers and songwriters the world has seen will forever live on through their music, and through the music of all who are influenced by them. Immortality surely awaits the great minds of our generation.

Stay tuned for more Musical Coincidences!

Yesterday very quickly turned from a mundane, run-of-the-mill Monday, to a spectacularly unexpected and highly unorthodox day for me. Allow me to paint a picture for you, and also justify my mildly alliterated heading:

Cindy and I welcomed the afternoon by taking care of a little important business – setting off with our taste buds on a delicious south-east asian excursion, in the form of Indonesian fried chicken (accompanied by a rating of 4 out of 5 on their chili richter-scale). Mmmm, how lucky we are to live in one of the most multiculturally diverse cities in the world!

Following lunch, we cruised over to Clovelly beach (if a small inlet from the ocean running back 200 metres between big concrete walls and onto a patch of manually transported sand constitutes a beach) to catch a few rays and perhaps take a few happy snaps too.  As we walked along a footpath following the coastline back towards Bondi, Cindy mentioned that there was a cemetery nearby that was quite pretty, and worth checking (yep, she must be a photographer…).  Being the highly suggestible character that I am, I figured I would give Cindy the benefit of the doubt and find out first hand.

The first thing I noticed was the sheer size of this cemetery – stretching up and away from the edge of the ocean as far as the eye could see. Tombstones of all shapes and sizes covered the slopes like miniature skyscrapers reaching up towards the heavens. The view was really quite amazing, particularly against the backdrop of towering cliffs and crashing waves.  After half an hour of strolling up and down the neatly formed rows, we had become totally absorbed in the kaleidoscope of symbols and words so skillfully engraved in the stones.

Another hour passed. The afternoon sun had begun to drop in the sky – casting weird and wonderful shadows in every direction. Hearing the sound of something mechanical traveling overhead, we looked up to see a small plane dragging a long, white streamer right across the sky. Birds were starting to descend upon the cemetery, settling themselves upon the perch of their choosing. I realised that the day was now ripe for my new favourite pastime – silhouetting.

Spending another glorious hour seeking out all kinds of fascinating silhouetted subjects (including each other), we watched on as the sun slowly slid down the sky and was enveloped by the fiery, passionate kiss of the sunset. With darkness rapidly closing in and my camera battery breathing its last breaths for today, I saw it – crouching down on the grass, staring at me… intently watching my every move… waiting for me…

I walked over and stopped about two metres away. Its head was hung low, almost dejectedly. Squatting down, I greeted this anomaly with a few small movements of my right index finger.  It smiled at me. It laughed. It made fun of the bend in my nose… It stared stared down at the ground as if I did not exist. A tear fell down from its wide opened eye…

Cautiously stepping over to where it stood motionless, I reached out with my right hand and… gently… carefully… 

… lovingly… I turned the tap off to stop it dripping.