Mandala - Australia EP EP review
Mandala was inspired by the sounds of Australia when he recorded the Australia EP back in 1994. Aboriginal styled percussion selection and drums are used on songs such as He mixed electronic music and world music on this EP. People say the best electronic music comes from Germany. Noom Records puts out the best in German trance music. The 90s was a truly fantastic era for trance.
Astralia is said to be one of the best rave tunes in German music. The song uses a fast tempo of 160 BPM. Mandala arranged the synths in a melodic fashion. Listen to the song during the 3:18 mark. Notice how this song uses some killer acid lines. This song is one of the best songs from this recording.
Meltburn uses an Aboriginal styled percussion selection over a set of electronic beats. The bass lines fit in perfectly in sync with the synths. Aboriginal styled percussion follow the beats which follow a trance rhythm. Meltburn is a very fast trance song which uses a tempo of 140 BPM.
Acidney is an acid house/trance tribute to the city of Sydney, Australia. Mandala himself wanted to pay respect and tribute to the city by recording an acid house/trance song Acidney. You have ‘acid’ and Sydney. Take away the ’Syd’ from “Sydney”, add “Acid” next to ney, and the result is Acidney. Mandala is a genius when it comes to composing and producing trance music. Acidney uses 909 beats over RZ-1 machine. A bit of techno is used also. Acidney is similar to a song from apex twin.
Astralia (Remix) is acool remix of one of the best rave tunes ever! Mandala arranged the synths in a melodic fashion. Listen to the song during the 3:18 mark. The song uses a fast tempo of 160 BPM. Now the remix is different from the original version because there are no acid lines present and this remix leans more towards a trance sound.
5/5*****!!
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J-Live - True School Revival EP review
J-Live’s True School Revival was the precursor to the 2002 album All Of The Above. Old school rap meets new school rap with an original hip hop sound. New York based MC J-Live released this record as an appetizer to keep fans satisfied while they waited on the All Of The Above album to be completed. There is not a wack verse that can be heard on this recording. This is rap in its purest form.
School’s in session and J-Live is the teacher on School’s In. He educates his listeners about the fundamentals of rap. He also educates his listeners on the differences between metaphors and similes. Now the beat was not produced by DJ Premier as many of his fans would have you believe. The beat was produced by British producer Mark Ronson. The song has that old school 90s hip hop sound.
Welcome to the voice response registration system of True School University. You have added hip hop ethics to your courses. School's in for those that don't know. J-Live is the teacher for the hip hop ethics course at True School University.
In this song, 85 represents the 85% percent of people who are the ignorant masses preyed upon by the 10%. If you were expecting an album full of ignorance, you are sorely mistaken as this is album full of knowledge. So no songs about sex, drugs, and murder here. You can the reference to the 85% percent below.
I'm sorry if you're 85 and you would have preferred a
Album full of ignorance
The place is an experience
J-Live urges emcees to make their audience listen carefully their lyrics and not metaphors. That is what these lyrics below mean.
To expose my flaws like salt in sores
Since they cannot be reformed I simply kill 'em by the fours
So in other words, nah man, skip the explanation
See that what the rewind's for, so be patient
Cause this is the direction that my pen should be draggin'
To transform your dollar cabs into bandwagons
I need you to listen
My words are whet with crystal-clear wisdom so they glisten
And I fill in the blanks for all the answers that you're missing
I'm rolling with the mongoose, cause snakes is steady hissing
The chorus uses similes and comparisons. For example a chef with a blade.
[Chorus]
J-Live with the mic is like a chef with a blade
No doubt, man I cut ya like lumber
J-Live with the mic is like a chef with a blade
No doubt, man I cut ya like lumber
J-Live explains in Verse 2 how many emcees choose to present themselves as successful but their lyrics are wack as their lyrics lack substance, quality, and flow. Their subject matter is played and is considered to be nothing new. Emcees bite off of others rhymes. Many emcees choose to present themselves as successful by sporting a lot of jewelry. J-Live is a master of the next school came to teach the new school. You can see between the old school and the new school in the lyrics of Verse 2 also.
One-track-minded emcees think only pop's cool. These “so-called” emcees use simple lyrics. Supply & demand rules have been replaced by A&R rules. J-Live is coming through with knowledge and wisdom to fill your head.
An education is what you make of it. You can use your education or waste it. That is what these lyrics to Verse 2 mean.
So principals and teachers abroad began to fear that
"If this guy makes an impact on the students that we play
They'll end up having way too much control over their grades!"
See grades will equal status for power, so just like college
You're so caught up in letter grades, you skip the 'F'ing knowledge
See that's how music knowledge switch from listener to maker
And that's why music maker switch from listener to faker
So when the listener graduates to be an artist
You still enslaved by the principles because they're heartless
First they make you imitate another man's skill
Now you use your power for another man's will
Move the crowd's mental when they tell you sit still
Move the crowds pockets instead to get the bread
Yeah that's what the students gather from what the principal said
They make you think the world bleeds green instead of read
But class is in session now so all that stuff is dead
As a teacher, J-Live tells his listeners to analyze the lyrics in Verse 3. Utilize your ears' function as a garbage filter so your brain won’t get clogged and congested. By the time you get the facts straight and correct, they're outnumbered in confusion. That is refining and refreshing.
The lyrics on Them That’s Not can be described as organic. His raw storytelling is vivid. Them That’s Not is about a brother named Castro who is going through financial problems. The lyrics on this song can be described as organic as this song has some of the dopest lyrics which are “God bless the child that can write his own rhyme”. This song is brilliant as J-Live shows us a whole different side of music.
Once upon a time There was this brother named Castro who had a little problem with his cash flow. He had a dream to clock mad dough. His dream seemed absurd to everyone else.
He went out to search for a record deal. Castro went to his boy who worked at a record label one month. Castro did whatever it took to make sure the radio played his music before anyone else’s. On the Billboard and last on the countdown. The producer created a beat with the right style and the DJ was on the radio playing his music all day. Castro gets in cool with the DJ despite being fake as a toupee. Castro rolls with ballers and thugs to make his image legit.
Now Castro is #1 on the Billboard Charts. The Billboard needs a full metal jacket now. Now who would have thought this bullshit song would have him seen? His name is in every video and every other magazine. Kids listen to every word he says like a fiend. Too bad they do’t They parents say he is too nasty for children.
However problems occur for Castro as the music industry is not so glamorous financially speaking. Artists/singers don’t always make millions off their first album. This is where recoupment comes into place. More money, more problems, right?
His account said Castro can’t get out of debt. He hasn’t earned any money. The same clubs and restaurants that kept Castro well fed are rejecting him.
People were getting tired of his song. The album drops and fans are getting hostile. Castro only had one song one his entire album that got the style right.
His boss who is his friend tells Castro they had to clear a sample on the loop of his song. His boss got paid for the video equipment. Money was spent on every other detail. Castro did not read the fine print in his contract. That is why he hasn’t earned any money. Now he has to find a way to pay the rent.
The moral to the song is that if it happened to him, it could happen to you!
Timeless is a “timeless classic” that was produced by DJ Premier but is not as choppy. The lyrics on this song can be described as organic.
DJ Premier killed the beat on The Best Part with his phenomenal production. You can’t go wrong with DJ Premier. The Best Part has some of the dopest lyrics which are “God bless the child that can write his own rhyme”. The Best Part is another classic of his.
5/5*****!
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Arthur Rubinstein - Moonlight Sonata: Three Favorite Beethoven Sonatas album review
Arthur Rubinstein does a phenomenal job of orchestrating and covering three of Ludwig van Beethoven’s most well known sonatas on his album Moonlight Sonata: Three Favorite Beethoven Sonatas. These sonatas are internationally known by fans of music. Arthur Rubinstein covers three of Ludwig van Beethoven’s most well known sonatas which are Moonlight, Pathétique, and Appassionata. Arthur Rubinstein does a phenomenal job of covering Classical music.
This cover version of Moonlight is played in the key of C-Sharp instead of the usual A minor or C# minor. A brief section is based around C major and A minor. C major descends into A minor. This cover version samples triplets from the original musical notes. Yes the Classical period piano sonata and composition piece. The sound has not been sustained though.
The piece is in C-Sharp minor and is set in at 3|8 time. The song does not lack atonality (lacks a tonal center or key). Left-hand arpeggios are delayed by a 16th note with extra bars in the B section and finally last is the rising A minor arpeggio figure. It begins with a C-Sharp theme marked Poco moto (little movement), with the left hand playing arpeggios alternating between A minor and E major. Then the pitch shifts to the C note (C major) descending into the A note (A minor) and then back to C-Sharp.
The ABA scale is the most noticeable music scale used. Heavy use of fortissimo was performed in sonata form of A-B-A vamp form. The keys A-B-A were used and performed in vamp form. The structure is A–B–A–C–A in rondo form. The structure is A–B–A–C–A in rondo form is used throughout the song.
Triplets served as a prelude to the lyrics by using basic tempomar keys. Now triplets are a standard in music composition. Triplets are divided into 3 musical notes instead of the standard 2 notes or 4 notes. The triplets challenge the rhythm and counts we are used to as triplets are complex. Beethoven - Moonlight Sonata is the most famous music composition that uses triplets. Triplets from musical notes are what make this song memorable and stand out.
Pathétique is one of the more lively pieces of classical music Arthur Rubinstein covers on this album of his. This piece is from the Romantic era of classical music. This composition piece leans more towards the key of C minor since most Beethoven songs do so.
The first movement is in sonata form and is placed in 2|2 time with a slow introductory theme. The second theme in E♭ minor rather than the parallel E♭ major. Some parts of this song are played on a 12|8 time scale thus being played in 12|8 time. During the middle of the second part is where the song leans more towards the key of C minor. The song is remarkable for its beauty.
5/5*****!!
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Kaskade - Dynasty album review
Dynasty is one of Kaskade’s more party oriented albums which despite having that party sound has some deep tracks such as Dynasty and Start Again. Now the album has your zany songs such as Fire in Your New Shoes and Human Reactor. The compulsory love songs are included on the album. Still Kaskade manages to keep things consistent with his production.
The title track is one of his deeper songs on the album. Now dynasty in this sense means the rule of sequence in both directions. In this case the dynasty means going forwards. Dynasty does not a sequence of rulers from the same family or group in this song, like the Ming dynasty, as some uninformed people would have you believe. Dynasty is a love song.
We can turn the page forward together. We will all see the dynasty. Yeah, we all have given up. We all have taken up. But tonight we will live it up. Because love has never gone. This is a dynasty. Now we celebrate knowing that love has and will set us straight.
Fire in Your New Shoes explores Kaskade’s weird and exquisite for certain types of clothing. His exquisite taste of clothing leaves much to the mind to be desired. His preferences in clothing are certainly questionable to many people by their standards. He seems to have developed a borderline abnormal fetish for certain types of clothing. Fire in Your New Shoes is one of his most materialistic songs. Fire in Your New Shoes is a Kaskade style of New York Fashion Week or Paris Fashion Week.
Martina Sobara sings all of the lyrics. He takes charge vocally of this song while Kaskade does his thing with production as always. Kaskade produces and arranges the instrumentation
Kaskade likes tight outfits with zippers that pinch. Leather in every color is clothing he desires. He’s going Rococo with sequins on leather in the summer. Kaskade is referring to 18th century French fashion called Rococo. His obsession with leather leaves the listeners yearning for more. He explained some of his tastes in clothing on Verse 1 which were zippers, leather, sequins, and 18th century French fashion.
The buttons are busted on his leather clothing. So he designed an ornament with gold and silver plating. These explain what Kaskade has done to this clothing.: “Buttons are busted, we're decorated/We make an ornament with gold and silver plating/So what's the latest, we raise a fever” He explained some of his other tastes in clothing on Verse 2 which were buttons and ornaments. For some reason ornaments are a huge deal to him.
Lyrics in the pre-chorus explain to us that showing off your clothing while being on the runway is the best. The cameras are flashing and the audience is applauding as they are excited. These lyrics will have your thinking of runway fashion shows.
[Pre-Chorus: Martina Sobara]
So come
Twirl your dresses around
Lift your cotton socks on
And turn your cameras on now for the fun
Start Again deals with the fears, anxiety, and uncertainty of starting over again at something in life. The song also deals with betrayal and rejection. Kaskade brings out the beauty of electronic music in this song with several layers of instrumentation. The song is totally uplifting.
There’s a start and end to every dream and fear. There’s a start and end to your tears, fears, hopes, and dreams. Sometimes we have feeling we don’t know how to handle because of betrayal and rejection. You start over again in life by holding onto your dreams and not looking back at the past. That is how you start again.
4/5****!
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