Stephen’s Selects #6: November 4th – 10th

Another week brings you 10 fresh tunes that I think you’ll like.

It’s incredibly important for us to analyse music and help it influence our own taste and style. Those two aspects of our musicianship develop with time and exposure to influences.

Remember that understanding why we like things and use certain techniques will always beat how. Having that deeper understanding will help you stand out from the crowd.

These tracks have influenced my life, music, career and conversations. You can find out why down below.

This week is heavily influenced by some great Irish artists and the breakdown has a lot of pointers on how to mix and produce guitars.

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 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 #6: November 4th – November 10th…

1. Paddy Casey – ‘Saints & Sinners’
   This track is from Irish artist Paddy Casey’s 2003 album, ‘Living’. If you haven’t checked it out, I highly recommend it. This song was a big hit at the time and for a reason. It’s a great singer/songwriter tune. From a mixing perspective, it’s interesting to hear how the panning on the double tracked guitars was handled. The blend of lead vocals and backing vocals is very tastefully done. The claps at 2.09 are a nice addition to the production and they’re blended in very well too.

2. The Frames – ‘Revelate’
   Another popular Irish song but this time from 1995. Before Glen Hansard was an Academy Award winner, he was (and still is) the lead vocalist and guitarist of The Frames. Another good example of how to mix a number of guitars in one track while allowing enough space for the rest of the elements. There’s also a very nice violin solo which you don’t hear too often!

3. Republic of Loose – ‘Comeback Girl’
   Continuing the Irish theme, I bring you ‘Comeback Girl’. I saw Republic of Loose play in my university student’s union bar and also saw them support U2 at Croke Park (82,300 capacity). On both occasions, with very different audiences, they failed to disappoint. This track is from their second album. Can you hear the panning on the guitars again? Could there be a mixing trend here?! I really like the vocal samples used at the start of this track and the transitions between sections. The guitars layer over each other seamlessly throughout the mix and it’s all very well arranged.

4. Beastie Boys – ‘Sabotage’
   This is a classic. It came on a playlist I was listening to while in the gym during the week and I had to share it with you.

5. The Offspring – ‘The Kids Aren’t Alright’
   Continuing the rebellious tone, I bring you ‘The Kids Aren’t Alright’. This song comes all the way from the late 90’s pop punk era. Notice the guitars again? The panning and spread makes the mix sound bigger and leaves room for the lead vocals and guitar (when it comes in).

6. CSS, Bobby Gillespie – ‘Hits Me Like A Rock’
   This song is just fun. It features Bobby Gillespie of Primal Scream and has a lovely blend of kick drum and bass in the low end. There’s some very nice pop production in this track and some interesting tips on how to mix a dense mix. The pre-chorus in particular has a lot going on in it but the chorus is then a little more sparse for contrast and impact.

7. grandson – ‘Rock Bottom’
   More wide guitars you say? Sure, no problem. What’s interesting about the intro here is that the vocals are also panned wide. Once the verse starts, the vocals hit the centre. The production and mixing make very good use of space.

8. The Evening – ‘Obsession’
   The drums and vocals are very much front and centre in this track. You’ll notice the guitars as soon as you hear them from listening to all the previous tracks. What’s very interesting about ‘Obsession’ is that the breathy lead vocals are compressed quite heavily and the breathiness is accentuated by EQ and probably a Morphoder. They remind me of Mariah Carey’s vocals on ‘My All’ which is a mixing masterclass by Mick Guzauski.

9. Kanye West, Clipse, Kenny G – ‘Use This Gospel’
   Kanye’s new music hits the playlist for two weeks in a row. I LOVE the vocal treatment at 19 seconds in. For the most part, this is essentially a vocal only track bar one other element and that takes a lot of work to pull off. Kenny G takes over at 2.30 with some masterful sax playing. There’s something about adding delay to a saxophone that always gets me. The main beat in this track doesn’t come in until 3.07, but when it does, it makes an entrance.

10. Phonoma – ‘Just Move On’
    It’s my good friend Gavin’s birthday today. There’s a week in age between us and we now know each other a long time. He makes music and he’s always been pretty amazing at it. Some people just have it. Putting his music on a playlist next to Kanye West is probably one of the things he’ll most appreciate on his birthday. Show his music some love!

    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 six 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?
     
    Leave a comment below!

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