Members Stackabones Posted March 27, 2009 Members Share Posted March 27, 2009 What has influenced you in the past -- or since the last FIT? * Pascal Parisot! I've heard a couple of tracks on Putumayo compilations, and I've dl'd Clap! Clap! on iTunes, but his other CDs are very expensive to import (last I checked they were $30+). I don't speak French, but I've read translations of his lyrics and he seems rather witty. I love his use of Caribbean rhythms and gypsy jazz and bossa nova on the tracks I've heard. He has a strong ear for melody and I really dig his vocal delivery. [YOUTUBE]y1AxWOgDHOw[/YOUTUBE] Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Members Elias Graves Posted March 27, 2009 Members Share Posted March 27, 2009 You like the Carribean stuff quite a bit, don't you? That's a cool, off the beaten track way to go. I admire your diversity. My own influences lately have been very internal. I have been very busy lately writing. Haven't listened to much or really looked up from what I'm doing. Spending a lot of time working on my guitar playing, recording and writing. Been somewhat hermetic of late. EG Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Members blue2blue Posted March 27, 2009 Members Share Posted March 27, 2009 Probably many of you've already seen this but I just stumbled onto it via an article in Wired Magazine about the mashup artist who created this, Kutiman (aka Ophir Kutiel): Kutiman's ThruYou Mashup Turns YouTube Into Funk Machine [better yet, click through to YouTube and ]tprMEs-zfQA http://thru-you.com/ [you can watch the whole video mashup album] Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Members Stackabones Posted March 27, 2009 Author Members Share Posted March 27, 2009 My own influences lately have been very internal. I have been very busy lately writing. Haven't listened to much or really looked up from what I'm doing. You're influencing yourself, or are you listening to the echoes inside? Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Members tspit74 Posted March 27, 2009 Members Share Posted March 27, 2009 Seeing as I'm perpetually stuck in the 70's, I've got to go with old Kenny Loggins, "Whenever I Call You Friend." What the hell happened to this guy in the 80's and all those terrible soundtrack songs? [YOUTUBE]pPPqDZx7Dl8[/YOUTUBE] http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=pPPqDZx7Dl8 Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Members Elias Graves Posted March 27, 2009 Members Share Posted March 27, 2009 You're influencing yourself, or are you listening to the echoes inside? I'm sure it's the echoes. I have thrown myself into my work with a new vigor. A lot of the stuff I'm experimenting with is pure fail, but I tell myself I'm at least learning what's not working. Really trying to find a way to pull my songs together the way I hear them in my head. It's exceptionally difficult. The little amount of audio I have posted have all just been crude investigations of what I really want. The melodic guitar style I'm trying to find is elusive. The guitar is difficult instrument to play, though I am seeing progress. What I hear in my head, while cerainly drawing on influences like Willie Nelson, The Grateful Dead, Simon and others too numerous to mention, is something that I've never heard in actual production before, so finding out how to bring it to life has been one of the greater challenges of my life. That, plus my woefully lacking skills as a composer doesn't help. Sorry for the rant. Know where I can get a wand? EG Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Members Stackabones Posted March 27, 2009 Author Members Share Posted March 27, 2009 What I hear in my head, while cerainly drawing on influences like Willie Nelson, The Grateful Dead, Simon and others too numerous to mention, is something that I've never heard in actual production before, so finding out how to bring it to life has been one of the greater challenges of my life. Sounds like you're struggling with something like Plato's Theory of Forms. I can't recall where I heard it, but Willie remarked that he never released a recording without at least one mistake on it. I've heard a similar thing said by Persian rugmakers ... that one knot must be tied imperfectly. Wabi-sabi is a good aesthetic, too. Check the link in my sig. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Moderators Lee Knight Posted March 27, 2009 Moderators Share Posted March 27, 2009 When I was a little boy, me and my friends would sneak into our older brothers and sisters rooms. There would be posters, an acoustic guitar leaning in the corner... and a stack of current pop/folk LPs. It intrigued me. More than it did my friends. This was the adult world. But not my parents adult world. My dad an army officer and my mom a cake baking boufant wearing christ fearing woman. Nope, this was my near future adult world. Sideburns, guitars, miniskirts. Cigarettes and pointy boots. Did I say guitars? Folk music and its pop offspring. Southern music, country, bawdy humor, serious revival folk. The soon to be mine world of adulthood. Serious issues, melancholy, nonsensical irreverence... all this and more. Like below, among many others... [YOUTUBE]rPnLK1WnXxg[/YOUTUBE] [YOUTUBE]J5qcDOAwgtQ[/YOUTUBE] [YOUTUBE]n7GyLr7Cz2g[/YOUTUBE] Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Members samuraiBSD Posted March 27, 2009 Members Share Posted March 27, 2009 Bullet For My Valentine is giving me a lot of lyrical influence right now. I won't post a video since I doubt any of you here like that kind of music. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Members Elias Graves Posted March 27, 2009 Members Share Posted March 27, 2009 Sounds like you're struggling with something like Plato's Theory of Forms. I can't recall where I heard it, but Willie remarked that he never released a recording without at least one mistake on it. I've heard a similar thing said by Persian rugmakers ... that one knot must be tied imperfectly. Wabi-sabi is a good aesthetic, too. Check the link in my sig. I can always count on you to make my brain hurt. :poke:. I seem to be struggling with forms when I'm seeking Form. I think. Ah, the shadows. I have read that about the rugs. It is their belief that only God can create perection and it is considered hubris to make a rug without a flaw. I'm still trying to make yarn. EG Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Members blue2blue Posted March 27, 2009 Members Share Posted March 27, 2009 I've loved Caribbean for a while. I used to skip classes in high school to go sit in my car and listen to a reggae show on a local bottom-end-of-the-dial station. Ry Cooder got me deeper into it, as well as Belafonte and, believe or not, Orchestra Baobab, an African group who used Caribbean rhythms in their tunes and approach. Blondie, too -- their cover of The Tide Is High was originally a reggae tune; orginally sung by a man, the lyrics have a different feel sung by a woman (almost like Aretha singing Otis's Respect). I also played congas, timbales, etc for several years in a band, so I soaked up a lot of those rhythms. You're influencing yourself, or are you listening to the echoes inside? Cool track by Parisot. I'm also a big fan of Caribbean music. It started because my folks were into Belafonte (we also had a fair bit of Tiki torch music, too, in the Martin Denny/Arthur Lyman mode -- and the favorite musical aroud the house in the 50s was middle-eastern flavored Kismet -- we were big on exotica). Then, right after college in the early 70s, a couple of my pals traveled to Jamaica and came back with a whole bunch of scratchy, off-center singles of reggae. I didn't really tip to it until one day they put on "Burnin'," with its original "I Shot the Sheriff." I was familiar with, and kinda liked, the Clapton version... but had not realized it was supposed to be reggae. I was utterly blown away by the Wailers' version. I was lucky enough to see Marley and the Wailers at their '76 Roxy show (immortalized on the live double record). It was one of the greatest shows I've ever seen. And I've seen a lot. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Members Etienne Rambert Posted March 27, 2009 Members Share Posted March 27, 2009 I loved the Parisot too, Stack. For the first time, my biggest weekly influence was music by a forum member. These 2 songs have me re-thinking everything I do in music. My recording technology,my drum tracks, my orchestration - everything. Serious self-doubt has set in. Didn't Have A Clue It's so utterly smooth. I don't know how he did that. "If you wonder why my voice sounds this way, It's cause I'm using auto-tune," Wow! What a touch! What a great recording! The second one reminds me of Steely Dan's "The Fez". The lyrical irony has a lighter touch. But the social satire is more spot-on. Heard it on the Radio Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Members Drumas funk Posted March 27, 2009 Members Share Posted March 27, 2009 Damn, I'm digging that Parisot track. Might have to pick one of his cd's up. As for my biggest influence of the week. Iron and Wine, just been learning a lot of his songs lately. There simple but fun to play. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Members kennychaffin Posted March 27, 2009 Members Share Posted March 27, 2009 I ran across this guy in another forum. I'm very into solo piano these days and am trying to learn (I just bought a new Casio PX-320 Digital piano). I know a lot of people don't care for this style of music, but I'm geriatric and I love it. Hope to be able to write something like it soon. [YOUTUBE][/YOUTUBE] [YOUTUBE][/YOUTUBE] Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Members Sentry68 Posted March 28, 2009 Members Share Posted March 28, 2009 OH some excellent ones on here. Loggins had some great stuff, especially the stuff with Jim Messina. I love Angry Eyes- the Messina version is the best. And Roger Miller and Jerry Reed- awesome. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Members rsadasiv Posted March 28, 2009 Members Share Posted March 28, 2009 I've been listening to a lot of Fela Kuti this week. Rhythmically there is a ton of stuff going on, in all kinds of different grooves and meters, but the band somehow manages to keep it all together and never spirals out of control or degenerates into rhythmic mush. [YOUTUBE]URRtk4OQCY4[/YOUTUBE] Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Members Stackabones Posted March 28, 2009 Author Members Share Posted March 28, 2009 I freakin' love Fela and Afropop! You do know about http://www.afropop.org/, right? Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Members GoVols Posted March 28, 2009 Members Share Posted March 28, 2009 Here's a folk singer that I've admired for the last several years - Ellis Paul. He's from New England orginally, but now lives in Charlottesville, VA and tours throughout the year at small coffee-house type venues (we have an excellent such venue here in the Atlanta area). Anyway, on this particular tune he's at the piano, an instrument he started playing just a couple of years ago. Normally he's on an acoustic guitar. I've always admired his songwriting talents, but because of his tremendous vocal range, there aren't many songs I could ever 'cover'. He has done some songwriting seminars, but I've not attended one up to this point. I don't think I'll pass up the opportunity again, should he ever do another one in my area.. This is a recent composition related to hopelessness caused by Hurricane Katrina....very touching indeed.... [YOUTUBE]LGbZiRzNAn4[/YOUTUBE] Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Members GoVols Posted March 28, 2009 Members Share Posted March 28, 2009 I ran across this guy in another forum. I'm very into solo piano these days and am trying to learn (I just bought a new Casio PX-320 Digital piano). I know a lot of people don't care for this style of music, but I'm geriatric and I love it. Hope to be able to write something like it soon. Great videos....the guy makes it look so easy. The good thing is that it makes me want to pull my casio out and tinker with it as well... Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Members Etienne Rambert Posted March 28, 2009 Members Share Posted March 28, 2009 As a Katrina survivor, I can say Paul gets about half of it right. A regional economy was destroyed. Lots of people were saying, "I can't pay,". Maybe a million people became unemployed in the same area in the span of a couple of days. As Katrina songs go though, it's hard to beat Randy Newman's "Louisiana 1927". And it wasn't even about Katrina. I didn't care much for Paul's voice on this song. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Members GoVols Posted March 28, 2009 Members Share Posted March 28, 2009 As a Katrina survivor, I can say Paul gets about half of it right. A regional economy was destroyed. Lots of people were saying, "I can't pay,". Maybe a million people became unemployed in the same area in the span of a couple of days.As Katrina songs go though, it's hard to beat Randy Newman's "Louisiana 1927". And it wasn't even about Katrina. I didn't care much for Paul's voice on this song. Wow - an amazing story. Thanks for posting that. It must have seemed as though the world had ended for those first few days.... I just returned from a business conference in Austin, TX that dealt with population and demographic estimates and the subject of 'Katrina' came up. I guess i's not so surprising that for the last couple of years the New Orleans area is among the fastest growing markets in the country, given the loss of homes and residents immediately after the storm. I also found it interesting that a substantial amount of that growth is not necessarily from the folks who previously lived there prior to the storm. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Members blue2blue Posted March 28, 2009 Members Share Posted March 28, 2009 http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=URRtk4OQCY4 Saw Fela circa 'in the mid 80s. The band was pretty chaotic before the intermission but when they came back, they played like they had the fear of God in them. Or maybe the fear of Mr Kuti. I suspect he was pretty much larger than life all the time... It ended up being a great show. He was his own man, first, last, and always. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Members Etienne Rambert Posted March 28, 2009 Members Share Posted March 28, 2009 In a lot of ways, Katrina was a good thing. For me it was at least. The winds of Katrina blew me to the far East. A lot of gang-bangers moved to Houston. Lots of Mexican construction workers came in from Texas to help rebuild. It was hard to find a decent Mexican restaurant in the GNO area. Now there are several. And Louisiana was the only state last month with positive job growth. Katrina shook everything up, for better and for worse. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Members blue2blue Posted March 28, 2009 Members Share Posted March 28, 2009 I also found it interesting that a substantial amount of that growth is not necessarily from the folks who previously lived there prior to the storm. Who'd a thunk? There were people who felt New Orleans was too valuable to let it be re-populated by people from... well... New Orleans. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Members kennychaffin Posted March 28, 2009 Members Share Posted March 28, 2009 I freakin' love Fela and Afropop! You do know about http://www.afropop.org/, right? +1 Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
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