It’s getting a lot colder and while the Christmas songs have already started, I’m not quite there yet. But I do have some more tunes to share with you this week.
This week’s playlist is a nice mix of inspiring songs, sampled classics, new tunes, mixing/production references and some tracks you might not have heard before!
So, now is the time to check it out…
If you still want to listen to last week’s tracks, you can see what was included here.
If you like what you hear, then please hit that ‘Follow’ button on the playlist on Spotify and follow along!
Remember – I’ll also happily include your music, so please send links my way!
Now, without further ado, here’s the breakdown of Stephen’s Selects #11: December 9th – 15th…
- Jon Hopkins – ‘Light Through The Veins’
This is Jon Hopkins’ second appearance on the list in two weeks. ‘Light Through The Veins’ might sound familiar to you and you might not be able to place where you’ve heard it before. Not only is it a wonderful standalone track, but it was sampled by Coldplay in the intro and outro tracks of Viva La Vida or Death and All His Friends. Both ‘Life in Technicolor’ and ‘Death and All His Friends’ feature ‘Light Through The Veins’ as a direct sample. Jon Hopkins was working with Coldplay quite a lot at the time of that album’s production, so it makes complete sense. As with most of Jon Hopkins’ tracks, ‘Light Through The Veins’ is an ever-evolving masterpiece. - Imogen Heap – ‘Hide and Seek’
Some engineers and producers are really anal about cutting breaths out of a singer’s performance. ‘Hide and Seek’ starts with a deep inhale from Imogen Heap. So, that should be a lesson to us all that breaths are not always a bad thing. They can easily add character and emotion to a performance once they’re handled tastefully in the mix. The vocal performance in this song is exquisite and also features the very creative use of a vocoder. So much so, that it inspired Bon Iver to create ‘715 – CR∑∑KS’ over ten years later. ‘Hide and Seek’ has been sampled many times and you might notice that the section at 2.52 was heavily sampled in Jason Derulo’s debut single ‘Whatcha Say’. It’s always a credit to a song when a very small sample of it can be used to launch a pop career. - Nosaj Thing – ‘Aquarium’
Nosaj Thing is a very talented producer who has worked with artists like Kendrick Lamar and Chance the Rapper. His own music is pretty special as well. This track contains many nice examples of nuanced production in his use of reverse effects, vocal samples, panning, chopping and editing. The overall sound palette is very appealing and there’s lots to be learned from a sound design and production perspective. - deadmau5, Lights – ‘Drama Free’
This is easily one of my favourite deadmau5 tracks. It starts with one sound that continues pretty much through the whole piece and helps it evolve over time. It’s a bold intro with a great beat and ample amounts of bass. The wide, pulsing synths have a menacing feel that help to keep everything moving at a steady pace and allow deadmau5 to introduce an orchestral section at the 1.10 mark while maintaining an electronic feel. The vocals are heavily processed but suit the song really well. Once again, this is an excellent example to pull many production ideas from. If you’d prefer to listen to the track without vocals, then deadmau5 released a version of this track as part of the soundtrack for the Netflix movie ‘Polar’. That track is called ‘midas heel’ and is worth checking out too. - Moderat – ‘No. 22’
Moderat… the combination of Apparat and Modeselektor. Together, they create bangers! ‘No.22’ has one of my favourite beats ever. I love the entry of the bass and drums together. Similar to ‘Drama Free’ the bass is ever-present once the beat enters and it creates an all-encompassing feeling. It lets the drums have their place in the mix along with the rest of the music. - Massive Attack – ‘Teardrop’
‘Teardrop’s is one my mixing references for a number of reasons. The “heartbeat” kick drum, the vinyl crackle, the beautiful use of saturation, delay and many more effects. It’s a masterpiece. - Thirty Seconds To Mars – ‘Walk On Water’
Electronic rock is the best way to describe ‘Walk On Water’. It’s an interesting mix of genres containing gospel and stadium rock vibes. The lyrical content is all about fighting for what you believe in but the mix of genres is what interests me the most about this track. I hope it interests you too. - Brandon Flowers – ‘Crossfire’
‘Crossfire’ is by far one of my favourite songs of all time. I was very excited when Brandon Flowers said he would be releasing solo material at the start of the decade. Now that we’re at the end of that decade, this song is still a classic. If you want to know how to mix bass guitars and keep them prominent but not overwhelming, then Crossfire is a great reference. If you ever get a chance to see The Killers or Brandon Flowers live, please take it. You won’t be disappointed. - Travis – ‘Side’
While they don’t play live as much anymore, Travis are another band I highly recommend you see. I managed to catch them live on their ‘The Man Who’ tour in 2018. It was the 20th anniversary of their breakthrough year but ‘Side’ is actually from their third album, ‘The Invisible Band’. Fran Healy is an incredible songwriter and Andy Dunlop’s guitar riffs always intrigued me. Rather than creating what you’d expect, they’re very different, unique, but highly accessible. Chris Martin (Coldplay) once described Travis as “the band that invented my band and lots of others”. - Boards of Canada – ‘Dayvan Cowboy’
The alien/UFO feel of ‘Side’ and particularly the end of that song lends itself very well to introduce ‘Dayvan Cowboy’. I was first exposed to the music of Boards of Canada via the video for this song. That’s definitely worth checking out! The song itself has been heavily featured in tv and advertising campaigns over the years. The production features very heavily processed acoustic and electric guitars, along with very creative use of synthesizers. The beat and percussive elements themselves are quite organic. The guitars at 2.06 are some of my favourite in recorded music. I spent a lot of time trying to get the same tremelo tone in 2006!Click here to listen to the full playlist on Spotify!
(Please note that the link will send you to the playlist of the current week and might not feature the tracks listed above!)
So, that’s week ten of Stephen’s Selects.
Remember that if you like what you hear, then please hit that ‘Follow’ button on Spotify and follow along!
If you’d like to have your song featured or have any recommendations, drop me a comment below or email. Let’s talk more about the music we’re listening to and share our ideas!
Now, I’d love to know…
What are you listening to this week? What are you working on? Have anything you’d like to share?
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