#we’re listening to MICHAEL MCDONALDS CHRISTMAS ALBUM

[dear-ao3]

day after thanksgiving my absolute beloved

[deadcactuswalking]

REVIEWING THE CHARTS: 19/12/2020

Mariah Carey’s “All I Want for Christmas is You” spends a second week at #1. It’s #1 in the States as well. We’ve got a week of Christmas music and a Taylor Swift album bomb so... God, let’s just get this over with. Welcome back to REVIEWING THE CHARTS.

Rundown

So let’s start as always with the drop-outs from the UK Top 75, which we have a few of but not as notable as the last few weeks, as the less interesting 2020 hits that just can’t leave the chart are slowly dropping off. We have some of the bigger hits like “Looking for Me” by Diplo, Paul Woodford and Kareen Lomax (Good song, by the way), “WAP” by Cardi B and Megan Thee Stallion, as well as some more recent and more moderate successes like “Princess Cuts” by Headie One featuring Young T & Bugsey, “i miss u” by Jax Jones and Au/Ra and “SO DONE” by The Kid LAROI. I can see this all rebounding after Christmas though, especially those last few. What I can’t see rebounding are the three Christmas songs that ironically dropped off from last week, particularly “Santa’s Coming for Us” by Sia which I do not remember being a top 20 hit. We do, of course, have some more fallers as well, like “34+35” by Ariana Grande at #14 and “Santa Tell Me” also by Ariana at #17 – not a good week for her, I suppose. I also find it funny that we have a couple Christmas songs that actually dropped places this week, not many of which are notable, but to give an example, due to three separate songs entering the top 10 this week, “It’s Beginning to Look a Lot Like Christmas” by Michael Bublé dropped five spots to #12. On the course of fallers, we also have “Midnight Sky” by Miley Cyrus at #22, “Therefore I Am” by Billie Eilish at #28, “Holly Jolly Christmas” by Michael Bublé at #36, “Monster” by Shawn Mendes and Justin Bieber at #44, “Head & Heart” by Joel Corry and MNEK at #48, “Blinding Lights” by the Weeknd at #50, “Lemonade” by Internet Money and Gunna featuring Don Toliver and NAV at #51, “you broke me first” by TateMcRae at #57 (the biggest fall this week), “Golden” by Harry Styles at #58, “Lonely” by Justin Bieber and benny blanco at #60, “Wonder” by Shawn Mendes at #63, “What You Know Bout Love” by the late Pop Smoke at #65, “See Nobody” by Wes Nelson and Hardy Caprio at #69, “Sunflower (Spider-Man: Into the Spider-Verse)” by Post Malone and Swae Lee at #70 and “A Little Love” by Celeste at #74. Of course, we also have some notable returning entries and gains, those returning entries being “Santa Claus is Coming to Town” by the Jackson 5 at #75 and “Baby it’s Cold Outside” by Adele Dazeem and Michael Bublé at #61. The most notable gains aren’t as plentiful this week because I feel like most songs, Christmas or not, are relatively stable if they’re not falling dramatically off the chart, so I’m not going to separate it into festive and non-festive tracks this time. We start off with “No Time for Tears” – the biggest climber this week – by Nathan Dawe and Little Mix up to #64, “Christmas Lights” by Coldplay at #43, “Get Out My Head” by Shane Codd at #32, and whilst that’s it for notably large gains, we do see “Whoopty” by CJ and “This Christmas” by Jess Glynne enter the top 10 at #10 and #9 respectively. Delightful. Well, we’re already done with the rundown – oddly quickly – so let’s get on with these new arrivals.

NEW ARRIVALS

#72 – “The Business” – Tiesto

Produced by Anton Rundberg and Tiesto

I have no time for umlauts. They’re simply not productive. Dutch DJ Tiesto has been at it for a while now and “The Business” is his new house-pop track with vocals from James Bell, probably propped up the chart by a remix with English DJ 220 KID. The original song charted though, so we’ll talk about that one and I do like the cold, bizarrely eerie strings for a song like this, even if the pitched-down vocals make it more comical than anything. The deep house groove here is cool but mostly cheap, especially whatever the hell those claps are. The bridge is aimless and James Bell gives a performance really not worthy of note. At least this has some essence of personality and artistic intent, unlike 220 KID’s usual output, who actually improves on the song by giving it more of a 90s Eurodance tinge, in my opinion at least. The 220 KID remix is a remix of a song that already felt like a remix though, so everything about this is unnatural and awkward, even for EDM.

#71 – “Cuddle Up, Cozy Down Christmas” – Dolly Parton and Michael Bublé

Produced by Kent Wells

The only time country music charts on the UK Singles Chart is when it’s barely country or Dolly Parton. Whilst a lot of country music is rarely appreciated out of the States, I feel like Dolly Parton is one of those singers that’s just universally loved. Michael Bublé on the other hand I have no patience for and I was dreading the time I’d have to review his songs again. The man made a career of off offensively inoffensive Christmas standards and his original music is painfully bad, so honestly, I’ll take it, but the man is clearly not interesting and whilst I understand why Dolly had him on her A Holly Dolly Christmas TV special in the vein of Mariah Carey’s this same year, I’m not excited to hear it. I’m not excited to talk about it either, because this is only vaguely country and is mostly just a jazz-adjacent traditional pop standard, except this is an original song. Neither Parton and Bublé have any chemistry, there’s a lot of empty space, and Bublé’s awkward attempts to add personality to what is and will always be a dull, painful slog of a track are just cringe worthy if anything. This song is barely about Christmas either or anything warm and intimate about cuddling up with family as I expected. It’s just the image of Dolly Parton banging Michael Bublé by the fireplace, and it goes on for about three minutes and 39 seconds too long. Next.

#66 – “Baby it’s Cold Outside” – Brett Eldredge featuring Meghan Trainor

Produced by Ron Mousey and Jay Newland

“Baby it’s Cold Outside” spews controversy nowadays, and whilst I never found a reason to be mad at what is clearly a dated but to me pretty innocuous and satirical Christmas standard, I never found a reason to like the song. Even the classic Dean Martin version is pretty much a slog, but that doesn’t mean I can stomach John Legend’s “politically correct” version either, which is probably the worst rendition I’ve heard, although Bublé’s is close. I don’t mind Tom Jones’ attempt, I guess. Regardless, this version from 2016 is by another country singer, but it did just chart because Meghan Trainor’s here. These two might have even less chemistry than Dolly and Bublé; at least they tried, whilst here despite the song being a back-and-forth, they seem to be on completely different ideas on how to tackle the song. Admittedly, I like this flat, jazzy rendition of the track fine but if anything Trainor is an inconvenience to my enjoyment of this lounge track. She shows off her vocal strength a bit too much for it to work until that awkward burst of energy at the end. Also, Brett Eldredge exists. How unfortunate. It may also be insensitive in retrospect, and maybe ironic, that the song ends with Eldredge warning her she might catch pneumonia if she went outside. Huh.

#55 – “Forever Young” – Becky Hill

Produced by Charlie Hugall

“Forever Young” by Alphaville is one of those classic 1980s synth-pop tracks that sounds so obviously 1980s but is far from dated, with the lyrics being a take on contemporaneous political issues covered in optimistic calls for action and gorgeous strings that undercut Marian Gold’s longing, belting delivery and of course, that horn section at the end that sadly fades out instead of coming to a genuine climax but would be brilliant either way. The song has a legacy indeed, and is continuously topical, being covered by One Direction, Kim Wilde and Imagine Dragons, and being sampled or interpolated by Dorian Electra, JAY-Z, Maroon 5 and even Tangerine Dream. The song has had so many reimaginings that it’s hard to imagine what new can be done with a classic track that didn’t really need much reworking in the first place... so naturally, Becky Hill made an acoustic cover for a McDonald’s commercial. It’s just her singing it vaguely competently over an unimaginative piano rendition of the original, but it does offend me in how it strips everything out of the original song to replace it with a vague orchestral swell and exhaustingly boring delivery from Becky Hill. Sure, the original song sounds cheaper now but if anything, this sounds even cheaper, with mixing drenched in reverb that makes everything sound a lot uglier than it’s supposed to. JAY-Z screwed “Forever Young” up to hell and back on his track with Mr Hudson but at least he rapped over it and had a bit of a sample flip, instead of just reciting the lyrics and chord structure without realising what made the song so biting and anthemic in the first place. This isn’t REVIEWING THE ADVERTS though, even though most of the time it ends up being, so I won’t bore you much longer with this.

#37 – “Show Out” – Kid Cudi, Skepta and Pop Smoke

Produced by Dot da Genius, Plain Pat, Heavy Mellow and Gravez

I knew this would be the highest-charting track from the Cudi album as soon as I saw the feature credit, but I didn’t expect it to be the only one charting. Regardless, I should probably talk about the album because I have listened to Man on the Moon III: The Chosen, Cudi’s highly-anticipated follow-up to his last two Man on the Moon records, both of which are pretty damn great, and this one isn’t far from it either. I liked it a fair bit and even if its derivative first few tracks means it gets off to a slow start, there are absolutely moments on this album where we see a classic Cudi matured and aged, and able to talk about mental health in shallow detail as always but from a perspective where we see a Scott Mescudi that has settled down and is happy with life. While it’s far from a perfect album, I won’t lie and say it wasn’t heart-warming to hear Cudi like this considering how much he’s struggled in his decade-long career, and it’s backed by great, psychedelic production as always. “Show Out” is a complete abandonment of all of that, acting as a shallow turn-up drill track with a massive posthumous hook from the late Pop Smoke’s booming voice, accompanied by an Auto-Tuned Cudi mumbling over gorgeous string samples, which don’t feel like they’re watered-down by the overwhelming drill beat and instead accentuated, which I think is missing from a lot of UK drill. It helps that Skepta is here to slide effortlessly in his verse. He’s selling out shows and shooting guns “the same size as Kevin Hart”, and whilst the verse feels a little short, he absolutely steals the show when he’s there. That’s not to say Cudi doesn’t spit endlessly on his verse, which is also fire, before an atmospheric bridge where, in the midst of the gang violence and hedonism, he calls out to God to ask what the cost of it is. It’s the one part of the song that makes it make any lick of sense in the context of the album, but it’s also the one part I’m never so sure on. It sounds pretty jarring between Cudi’s verse and the hook, and it’s not cathartic when Pop Smoke comes back in so I think it could have been better used as an outro if anything. Other than that, the song is still really hard-hitting and one of my favourites from Man on the Moon III. Songs like “The Void” and “Rockstar Knights” with Trippie Redd blow it out of the water though.

#19 – “no body, no crime” – Taylor Swift featuring HAIM

Produced by Taylor Swift and Aaron Dessner

As you probably know, Taylor Swift dropped a new album last week called Evermore, which is basically a much weaker collection of B-sides from the Folklore sessions. I’ll discuss my gripes with the album more as we get onto “willow”, so I’ll give some short individual reviews here. This is one of my favourite tracks on the record, mostly because of how it takes Taylor back to her country roots but in sharp contrast to the original bubblegum country-pop style she had on her first few albums, she and HAIM of all people perform a pretty convincing true crime story about a missing persons case that might just end up being a murder. With a catchy chorus, oddly eerie and menacing delivery from Taylor Swift that sounds determined and honestly kind of badass with those electric guitars in the post-chorus, as well as some descending melodies in the verses I admittedly love, this is one of the best tracks on the album without hesitation for me. It’s one of the few tracks on Evermore that feels like Swift’s storytelling, knacks for infectious choruses, and the more serious, rootsy acoustic guitar-based instrumentation, are in perfect harmony, even if it is a bit short and much like the rest of the album, it falls victim to the meandering nature of these songs and their aimless bridges or outros. Either way, it’s good. Check it out if you haven’t already. It’s cool to see HAIM back on the chart too, by the way.

#15 – “champagne problems” – Taylor Swift

Produced by Taylor Swift and Aaron Dessner

When I was listening to Kid Cudi, Avalanches and Taylor last Friday all in one session, I was constantly engaged even through the duller parts of the second half of We Will Always Love You or the most rote, derivative Travis Scott rip-offs present on Man on the Moon III. I was only awake for about three and a half hours when I first went through Evermore, but you know that feeling you get in your eyes when you start feeling tired or exhausted? Maybe that’s just a me thing, but “champagne problems” is that feeling when your eyes start to sore a bit and you start blinking a bit more. The storytelling isn’t as engaging as it usually is on this track, and although I do like the main narrative, it takes a detour and doesn’t decide whether it wants to focus on that or a vaguer metaphor about mental illness and how it’s affected Taylor as a celebrity. I care about that on Reputation but I do not give a damn when it’s presented with this uninteresting chasm of piano melodies and a really awkward, pointless outro, once again, that’s out-of-place if anything. I wish anything on Evermore was as good as “seven” but that’s wishful thinking. Anyway, let’s start rambling, because it’s the big-boy debut time now.

#3 – “willow” – Taylor Swift

Produced by Aaron Dessner

I have nothing to go off when judging Aaron Dessner’s production. He’s the frontman behind The National and he does contribute to the album vocally on one of the worst tracks but usually takes a backseat in production. On Folklore, although Dessner was still greatly involved, it felt a lot more varied and interesting from Taylor particularly, who went on unexpected songwriting angles and some melodies I genuinely love. I’m not a fan of the indie-folk direction for her – I think her style of writing and vocals actually fits better on pop tunes, which might be a hot take but I mean, my favourite album from her is Reputation so I’m full of those when it comes to Taylor. I can appreciate when it’s done well, though, and I like her storytelling abilities most of the time, unless of course the song itself is nothing to be interested in... and, I’m sorry, but half of Folklore was aggressively dull, particularly the back half, and I can barely make it through songs like “exile”. Maybe I just don’t “get” it, maybe I’m just not “listening hard enough”, or maybe, perhaps, I’m just not a fan of Taylor doing exactly what she usually doesn’t do on her albums, which is bore me. Say what you want about Red, 1989 or even Reputation, and ESPECIALLY Lover, but they take risks, intriguing ones at that and whether they’re successful or not is obviously up to listener’s interpretation, but regardless, it makes for a listen that is unpredictable and often fascinating. Lover is an absolute mess full of pretty mediocre attempts to do... well, anything, but it’s a better listen than Evermore out of sheer intrigue alone. It’s interesting to hear Taylor try all of these different musical ideas, whether it’s her trying obnoxious bubblegum-pop on “ME!”, ballads with the Dixie Chicks, 1980s-style synth-pop on “Getaway Car” and the majority of 1989, or even industrial-pop rapping on “...Ready for It?”. It’s not interesting to hear her make 16 quite similar songs and less than half of them have a unique flavour to them that makes the hour-long listen feel like you gained anything from it. It’s not just the album experience either that Folklore and Evermore lack, but it’s also the songs themselves, particularly in Evermore. Let’s look at “cardigan”, one of the best songs on Folklore, with Swift’s pretty low-key but emotive delivery, a noticeable and profound refrain, songwriting that evokes a pretty sweet metaphor and tells the start of a story that runs throughout the record in a way that can detach itself from the rest of the record, infectious choruses (even if they are cribbed somewhat from “Wildest Dreams”) and that subtle drum machine with pretty intricate percussion patterns covered by gorgeous string compositions, and a four-minute runtime that feels worth it, especially for that last chorus and verse, an effortless switch-up. Now let’s compare it to its equivalent lead single “willow”, a track with a checked-out Taylor singing pretty janky, awkward melodies over a cluttered mess of guitar strumming, with absolutely none of the very few ideas Taylor has musically actually succeeding. The song has to drop out entirely because Taylor and Dessner apparently can’t handle the three over-lapping ideas just in the first two verses and choruses, and whilst it still has that switch-up for the third verse/bridge, it does not feel worth it because there is another, over-long chorus with no lyrical adjustments to the hook that made the subtleties in “cardigan” so special. The song is 20 seconds or so shorter than “cardigan” but feels a lot longer because of how directionless the outro is, and none of it feels like anything other than a pretty folk-pop tune (which is barely qualifies as anyway because of how ugly these acoustics are, and how meandering Taylor’s cadence is throughout). She tries out the chorus with and without the falsetto for no reason other than to extend the song by the end and it makes effectively no change to how the chorus feels like it’s delivered. I’ll give “willow” credit that it’s listenable and a lot less boring than other tracks on Evermore but I can’t see this as anything more than a failed attempt that should be met with a “game over, try again” screen. I’d accept the musical chaos of misshapen ideas if I ever felt it was genuinely warranted. On Evermore, nothing Taylor does is what the audience deserves accompanying – or maybe even improving on – Folklore. Sorry.

Conclusion

Yeah, “no body, no crime” by Taylor Swift featuring HAIM takes the Best of the Week, but it was a toss-up between her and Kid Cudi, who gets the Honourable Mention for “Show Out” with Skepta and Pop Smoke. For the Worst of the Week, it’s really picking your poison between sickly Christmas duets, but I’ll ignore them and give it to Becky Hill for absolutely butchering “Forever Young”, with a Dishonourable Mention also going to Taylor Swift and “willow”. Here’s the top 10 for this week:

You can follow me on Twitter @cactusinthebank for more ramblings and Taylor Swift hot takes, if you’d want to see that. I won’t post another episode before the 25th so, if you’re reading this, merry Christmas, everyone, and I’ll see you on Boxing Day!

[faithisaverb]

Day 1: Devotion  [40 Days of Listening]

“Every Thought a Thought of You” by mewithoutYou

Today marks the start of the season of Lent.  The word “lent” comes from the Old English word “lencten” which simply means “spring season.”  For the church, this is a season of growth, preparation, and contemplation as we await the coming of Resurrection Sunday/Easter.  It is one of the two primary seasons of preparation in the church calendar, the other being Advent, which leads us toward Christmas.  We mark these seasons by changing the liturgical paraments to the color purple (which is the color of royalty, marking the coming king).

But for most of us, it’s simply a season when we give up chocolate for a month and a half, and McDonalds brings back the Filet-O-Fish sandwich.

As I mentioned yesterday, we minimize Lent when we make it solely about giving something up.  Jesus’ 40 days in the desert weren’t a means of giving up but rather a means of drawing nearer to God.

With all that in mind, I felt that the song “Every Thought A Thought of You” by the post-punk band mewithoutYou was a good place for us to start.  Now, in fairness, right off the bat, I’m deviating from my goal of using only “secular”* songs, as mewithoutYou is a Christian band that has long been signed on a Christian label (Tooth & Nail Records).  As you can hear, though, they are a bit unique.

The band was formed by brothers Aaron & Michael Weiss, who were raised by a Jewish father and an Episcopalian mother, both of whom converted to Sufi Islam before the boys were born.  Because of this upbringing, the content of mewithoutYou has always had a deep openness to the way God is expressed and encountered in other religions.  While in interviews, they are quite clear about their Christian faith, they don’t want to deny the way God is understood in other faiths.  In response to a question about what they want listeners to take away from their music, Aaron said this:

One point. There’s just one reality that we’re created for. We’re created to learn to love each other and grow in our love for our Maker. [We’re created] to learn to worship and to praise and be grateful and be humble and be broken and not trust in ourselves but to learn to work together and learn to trust in God. Just loving God. It’s love — that’s the only thing that I want people to take away from it. But it’s hard to communicate that with a CD. It’s hard for that to translate.

This song, from their fourth album is a great example of that sentiment.  It is a song sung to God, almost as a request and a commitment that we would live with every thought being for God.  Juxtaposed against that are the false promises that we encounter from others, from the world around us that tries to give us meaning and value, but really only promises vapor and vanity.

Every thought a thought of You No more thought, "I ought to do..." When nary a thing we see Or touch we trust is true Every thought a thought of You

Every look in search of You No need for books When we're with You You wear a thin disguise O, light within my brother's eyes Every look in search of You

Every song in praise of You Our darkest nights are days to You The trees raise branches high Like arms in church to grateful sky Every song in praise of You

No one here to believe but You Everyone else is bound To leave but You They swear, their love is real They mean, "I like the way you make me feel." (no one here to believe but You) There is no one here to believe but You

The song then reaches its zenith in an outro which is sung in Arabic,

Kul-anaya fir minh ka Abadan ahatman enna ajab Hayya'alal falal qad qamadis alah Haqq: la illaha il allah

Which translates as:

Every thought is a thought of You Never concerned about what we should be Let us live our lives the way God intended There’s no god but God

To many at the time of this album’s release, this use of Arabic seemed to borrow too much from Islam, and lean into Universalism too much.  This doesn’t take into account that Christianity started in the Middle East, and that early Christians – including Jesus -spoke Aramaic (which is an early form of Arabic) almost exclusively.

It also misses the point of the song.  This is a song that is purely one of devoting oneself to God.  It is a recognition of all the false narratives and promises that we have around us that would pull us away from that devotion to God.  The outro to the song seems to reach a point when even the English language fails to express the longing for connection with the divine.

In that manner, music is a vehicle that allows us to express an emotional resonance that cannot be fully expressed or understood through mere words.  There is a reason why the Bible is filled with music, why there is an entire book that is devoted not merely to recording poetry, but to recording songs.  God is bigger than our language and even our ability to express ourselves fully, to the point that we must sing out in whatever voice we have.

Let us sing, as Psalm 40 says, let us sing a new song unto the Lord.

Let this season be a season of devotion.  Not out of obligation or of a desire to earn some reward, but as an opportunity to know God more, to love God more, and to know and love those whom God loves in ways we could never have imagined.

Let our every thought be of God, let God be present in all that we gaze upon and in every note and word that reaches our ears.

God is here.

Let us not miss that.

* - I make a point of putting “secular” in quotes because, to paraphrase a wonderful website Think Christian, if we truly believe God to be the creator of all things and to be alive in the world, then there can be no secular.  All things point to God.  Some more directly than others, but all things point to God.  It’s as if you were to paint a picture of a forest, and then be asked to point out where in the picture there is no paint.  One might claim that the picture is not showing us paint but rather a forest, but a deeper understanding would show us that we can only see the forest in the picture because of the paint.  Such it is with God and creation.

Here is a link to the song “Every Thought A Thought of You” by mewithoutYou

Here is a link to the entire playlist for the Listening for God series.

[avaliveradio]

11.4 New Music Monday Release Radar with Jacqueline Jax

Listen now: https://anchor.fm/ava-live-radio/episodes/11-4-New-Music-Monday-Release-Radar-with-Jacqueline-Jax-e8ot9j

Artist: Beautiful Things

New Release: When the Night Comes Down (Bliss Mix)

Genre: Pop/Electronica/Alternative Rock/Singer-Songwriter

Sounds like: Chvrchs/Evanescence/Kate Bush/Metric/School of Seven Bells/The Corrs

Located in:  Los Angeles, CA

This song is about overcoming anxiety and fear when making decisions about your life. I’ve had some dark times in my past where I was filled with anxiety about my future and my abilities and that attitude didn’t serve me well, nor does it serve anyone well.

We are re-defining our sound with this EP. We're launching our music into the modern era while still heavily influenced by our love of 80s alternative rock and pop. We are working on a brand new single and an epic new video!

LINKS:  Brand new YouTube video! - https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=mEZaYgoOAww

Spotify - https://open.spotify.com/track/763jHhoTLvkmgcCgMTJcMt

Twitter - https://twitter.com/officialthings

Facebook - https://www.facebook.com/beautifulthingsmusic

Instagram - https://www.instagram.com/beautifulthingsmusic

Artist: Janet Odani

New Release: Sea of Love

Genre: Gospel/Easy Listening/ Alternative

Located in: Coffs Harbour, Australia

Gospel/Easy Listening/ Alternative :  I believe as I am being led and guided by my God, doors are opening for me to share my gift. I don't in anyway take lightly the ability to create music and I believe this music release is important because I am learning to trust in Him more each step of the way and I hope at the same time also encouraging others to excel in their own gift/talent. I am passionate about music and I believe my music encourages others

Right now we are working on music videos for songs on this album.

https://open.spotify.com/track/5ZnNs6tEbYjhrfY6gX4BCz?si=a3dk_-qUTy-rrG42O5BT9w

LINKS:  Website: www.janetodani.com Facebook: www.facebook.com/janetodanimusic Youtube : https://www.youtube.com/user/janetodanimusic Instagram : http://instagram.com/janetodani Twitter : https://twitter.com/OdaniJanet Spotify: https://open.spotify.com/artist/7Jk85PgZin4TnnBx9S8fev Apple: http://itunes.apple.com/album/id/1483760814 iTunes : http://itunes.apple.com/album/id1483760814?ls=1&app=itunes www.eyeem.com/u/Janetodani

Artist: Aantdoe

New Release: GetAway (feat. Kasper Genius)

Genre: Hip Hop

Sounds like: : J.Cole, Kendrick Lamar, Mos Def, T,I., Chance The Rapper, Common

Located in: Philadelphia, P.A.

The Song is a dedication to all the fellas out there that have an outstanding woman by their side and they're not ashamed or proud to give her the credit she deserves. 

This song is one aspect of my vision and the direction that I am choosing to go in my journey as an artist... Hip-hop doesn't always have to be negative or degrading... Some artists have a positive message that they want to address and I am one of those artists... GetAway is just one step of many to come...

Right now we are. I am most excited about working with Ava, pushing my music a little further and out to more possible fans... I'm in the process of shooting my first video for my most streamed song to date "Right Back"...

LINKS:  https://open.spotify.com/track/0bXwBIuYkKXqVUvvTKw5xy?si=Lkl7h5SyRyCV6vEtlMlB9g  https://twitter.com/Aantdoemusic https://www.facebook.com/AantdoeMusic-2369559169743353

Artist: Cabela and Schmitt

New Release: Sunshine On My Soul

Genre: Acoustic

Sounds like:  The Beatles, Eagles, Tom Petty

Located in:  Nebraska and Colorado

A song that is dedicated to anybody who has had a profound and lasting affect on your life and they probably don't even know it. Sunshine on My soul is our first unplugged track released to date. Working on several projects and designing our plan for 2020.

Spotify LINK: https://open.spotify.com/track/7ezi1FZF1yLu8bXOYry1F8?si=dALbHTgdS-SaRdRgLIhMTg

Social Media:  http://www.cabelaandschmitt.com https://www.youtube.com/channel/UCKwn7yE8P2rrU9ZjnN0UACQ https://www.facebook.com/cabelaschmittmusic https://twitter.com/CabelaSchmitt https://www.instagram.com/cabelaandschmitt

Artist: Paul K

New Release: Regression One

Genre: Electronica

Sounds like: : Brian Eno Max Richter Nils Frahm

Located in: : UK

 "Regression One" comes from my new album "Reconstructed Memories". The album is life in an hour from birth to death and was written as a tribute to my father who died last year. It explores life as a series of small memories that combine to become recollections and also deals with false memory, regression therapy, aging and memory loss and learning through life to accept who you are.

This album is a follow up to my last to albums "Omertà (previously featured on AVA) and last years "The Fermi Paradox", both critically acclaimed albums in their own right. This is the triptych of the set and is a more stripped back affair featuring just myself on piano and electronics and Rachel Dawson on cello. It the last stage of a multi-year instrumental writing process that next year will evolve into a more electronic approach with vocals on the next album currently in production.

I've made 20 videos to accompany each track on the new album "Reconstructed Memories" and I'm excited about the audio and visuals coming together which will be used in the 2020 live shows.

LINKS:  Spotify Artist Link (Album is out on 29th Nov) - https://open.spotify.com/artist/7HF8QoNffXbGMWsnF1UkMP?si=gb8QwslySsinxhLGFgWUcw Twitter (not really used much) - @paulk_music Facebook Page - https://www.facebook.com/pauljkmusic Instagram - @_pauljk_ You Tube Channel - https://m.youtube.com/channel/UCu5ev4VH1FTRkNjg1Pq5YIg/featured Website - www.paulk-music.com www.reconstructedmemories.com

Band Name: Joey Stuckey

Song name: Santa That Plays Guitar

Music Genre: Holiday/Blues

I live in... : Macon, Georgia

Link to play:

This is an original Christmas song about what guitar players always want—to play guitar. And at Christmas, it would be even more exciting to play guitar with Santa.

If music isn’t so necessary to your life that you don’t hurt without it, then you’re in the wrong business.

Website & social media links:  https://www.joeystuckey.com Twitter https://twitter.com/Jstuckeymusic IG https://www.instagram.com/jstuckeymusic FB https://www.facebook.com/JoeyStuckeyMusic Newsletter https://eepurl.com/dg6LqT Bandsintown http://www.bandsintown.com/joey-stuckey

Artist: John O'Brien New Release: The Christmas Song

Genre: Holiday Pop

Sounds like: Michael McDonald Todd Rundgren Boz Skaggs

Located in: Saint Augustine Beach, Florida, US

A remake of the most popular Christmas carol ever recorded. "The Christmas Song". Nat King Cole originally popularized the song.

This is the first Christmas song on an EP that has been released with 5 songs on it titled "3 Ghosts and a Sailor's Christmas". It includes "The Christmas Song" plus, John Lennon's song "Happy Xmas (The War Is Over)" popularly known as "So This Is Christmas", Jimmy Buffett's "A Sailor's Christmas", Dan Fogelberg's "Same Auld Lang Syne" and the Christmas classic "Have Yourself a Merry Little Christmas". A YouTube lyric video playlist with all five songs has been released that is a perfect singalong piece for friends and families and even total strangers to sing together this holiday season. Put it on your TV and sing along with the holiday spirit!

What’s coming up next?

We will be doing a tour of the UK in May 2020. We are so looking forward to it. We will also release an EP of new original material in April 2020 for the tour and our fans.

LINKS:  Sound Cloud Christmas Album Link: https://soundcloud.com/john-obrien/sets/3-ghosts-and-a-sailors/s-5KMZr YouTube Christmas Album Link: https://youtu.be/YUjPV7kt_SM Spotify available after November 1 release date http://johnobriensmusic.com Linktree: linktr.ee/johnobriensmusic Listen to my New Album: : https://johnobrien.hearnow.com EPK: http://johnobriensmusic.com/gallery Spotify: https://open.spotify.com/artist/6lRwXnKMf5nIw0THEttkXJ YouTube: https://www.youtube.com/channel/UCwzP4-jgRZ1ofrEaKgQWX4w?view_as=subscriber Soundcloud: https://soundcloud.com/john-obrien Instagram: https://www.instagram.com/johnobriensmusic Twitter: @JohnMacsss111 Facebook: https://www.facebook.com/johnobriensmusic/?ref=bookmarks

Artist: Jimmy Francis

New Release: Christmas In Hawaii

Genre: Alternative and holiday

Located in: Los Angeles, California USA

My music is mostly alternative rock but I also have a strong blues and classic rock influence. This song is meant to be a quirky parody of “White Christmas” with a little angst and some comedy. “Christmas In Hawaii” was inspired by an incident in high school where my mom brought up going to Hawaii for Christmas and got me all excited only to have the trip not take place which left me disappointed and depressed but then I started turning my pain into a song, I tend to do this a lot.

https://open.spotify.com/track/1EeOfxTKfel1FFMAewjYdH?si=EbGwzQ-wQy-a4ykAqcQDFg

Being around Christmas season, I kept hearing Christmas songs like “White Christmas” but I started changing the words and premise of the song from being about White snow to being about the white, sandy beaches of Hawaii. I just pictured singing this song on a beach with drums, an acoustic guitar and throw in a cool saxophone solo cos... why not?

LINKS:  Twitter: www.twitter.com/hyperpiperjlf Instagram: www.instagram.com/hyperpiperjlf Spotify link: ‪ https://open.spotify.com/artist/52iNdli7Vl7enT7ku1gG7W?si=3oqOwoQORneEL5-KeMsl6w‬

Follow our Playlists:

[lagroupie]

Interview: Guantanamo Baywatch (ENG)

About one year after our first interview in Geneva, Guantanamo Baywatch were back in Switzerland at Gonzo Club. I met up with them a few hours before their show for another interview, and needless to say I had a great time, just like last year: again, they offered me pizza and tequila shots, and the concert was amazing- both the crowd and the band had a great time. Guantanamo Baywatch and the guys at Gonzo Club were very kind to me, many many thanks to them!

In this interview, we talk about the band’s latest record Desert Center, sparing money on tour, Australia, playing guitar in an Astronaut costume, and much more. Please join us!

Before we talk about your music, I wanted to know if you guys were still living together in that house in Portland ?

Chevelle Wiseman: No. I live in that house, so…

Nice! You’ve got your own house now!

Chevelle: Yeah, my own house! (laughs)

Jason Powell: Chris and I both live in California.

Christopher Michael: Yeah, near Long Beach.

Jason: And he (ndlr: Ramiro, from the Rotten Mangos) lives in Texas.

Do you guys manage to rehearse together?

Chris: It’s hard.

Chevelle: So to rehearse, the three of us drove – I was already in California – we drove up to Portland into the big house. And then he flew out, and we did two weeks. But if we’d have a show, we’d have to find a way to get together and just do like a massive rehearsal time. Instead of doing it like normal bands - get together a couple times a week.

Chris: Yeah, it’s set aside a week or two prior to the tour. And then you just practice every day until the tour starts.

Compared to your previous tour, do you notice any differences?

Chevelle: It’s easier.

Jason: Yeah, it’s easier this time. This tour just started, so it’s not- we’ve only done five or six days, and it’s five weeks. So…

Chevelle: There’s a lot of new cities, but I feel more prepared. We didn’t know anything about what it would be like touring here last time, and now we know how the gas station bathrooms work- (laughs)

Yeah, you have to pay sometimes!

Chevelle: Yeah. So all those little problems are like, timed out.

Jason: I’m trying not to exchange as much money this time. I’m trying to spend very little money.

Chevelle: Yeah, we spent too much last time!

Jason: I hate exchanging money for different kinds of money, because you lose some.

Chris: I know, it’s annoying.

Usually venues give you food and a place to stay right?

Chevelle: Yeah, I think we’re just trying to push it and not spend any money.

Jason: We’re just trying to get to the venue so they feed us! (laughs)

Chris: Getting to the venue or else starving!

Yeah, I met another band who told me the same: “we haven’t eaten anything yet today, we were just waiting for the food at the venue”!

Chevelle: Yeah, because the worst is when they feed you and you’re full, and you’re like “ah, it’s free!” and it’s usually really good. We know that stuff now!

Chris: It’s like we never left. I feel like it’s a weird thing, “let’s start back up again” you know. It’s like a weird familiarity sometimes.

Chevelle: We’re going to a lot of new cities, which is cool. I’m really excited about that.

Jason: It’s how it is on tour. You don’t tour for three or four months or whatever, and you forget about it- and the minute you get back in the van and start touring, it’s like you never left.

So about your album Desert Center- I read in a few interviews that you guys recorded it in two different places. Why? (laughs) I mean, it must have been complicated!

Jason: So we recorded it at a real studio in Atlanta. Mostly just to get the vocals and the drums, because these are really hard to record well you know. Guitars were a lot easier to record. So we recorded most of the bass, all of the drums and most of the vocals in Atlanta. And then I took the songs back to my house and recorded the guitars there. It didn’t cost anything for that, so we didn’t have to spend as many days in the studio.

Chevelle: Because we only paid for a certain amount of days. And then it was actually during Christmas so it was expensive to just stay there. It’s way cheaper to go back, and then he can spend as much as he wants getting it right instead of repaying by the day. And if it took anyone a little while to do their part, it’s stressful- like you’re wasting time and money.

Jason: That’s how we did Too Late also. And Chest Crawl was completely at home. But Too Late was the same- actually a lot of it was recorded during the mixing session too. When I flew back to do the mixing with the guys, every night I was still recording guitar stuff. I didn’t sleep at all!

I also wanted to know more about the interludes on the album?

Chevelle: The laughing one is Rikky from White Fang or The Memories, do you know any of these bands?

Yes- okay so it’s him?! It’s sounds like it’s taken from an old movie or something! (laughs)

Jason: I just said I need three laughs, because originally that song that is right before…

Chevelle: Witch Stomp.

Jason: …was going to have laughing at the beginning, laughing in the middle, and laughing at the end. It was going to be mixed into the actual song. So I asked him for three separate laughs you know. And then he just did the Happy Halloween thing, I don’t know why. (laughs) It was so funny the way he did it. Just listening to it on my phone when he sent it to us I was like “fuck, I’ll just put it in just like that!”.

Chevelle: Yeah, the pauses - because he was trying to pause, he was doing it like a sound booth – the length of the pauses made it funny!

Jason: It’s a lot better just listening to it than trying to mix it into the song you know. And the other one… The last song is called The Australian. It’s all about Australian stuff, it’s from an Australian movie.

Can we talk about this song too? Why this title? It reminded me of The Good, The Bad & The Ugly. (laughs)

Jason: Yeah, well we go to Australia a lot, and we have a lot of fans there. That was the last song that got written for the album, and it got written in the studio. And then… I don’t remember why we were thinking about Australia…

Chris: It just felt like it-

Chevelle: There are also a surprising amount of Australian surf bands like The Atlantics that you don’t hear Australia in it, but I’ve heard some old recordings- I think that song actually fits, because Australia is very like a western-cowboy kind of stuff. So when you hear older bands- now that it’s in my head, it makes sense to me. That wasn’t the idea we were doing at first.

Jason: Yeah, when we were first doing it we were just playing it, and then as we were trying to make up names for the song…

Chevelle: Yeah, we had a lot of different ideas.

So when you’re writing a song, you find the title at the end?

Chevelle: Yeah, it’s hard with so many different instrumentals. A lot of them are named like “new surf”, “fast one”… We find something later.

Jason: We wanted to do a shout-out to our Australian fans and stuff.

Chris: Our homies!

Chevelle: Our mates!

Yeah, and they have a great scene over there! I remember for the previous album, you guys told me you wanted to record each song separately, so that people could pick their favorite one. And I feel like with this one, you could almost make a movie out of all these songs. If someone offered you the opportunity, would you like to write music for a movie?

Jason: Yeah.

Chris: Sure!

Jason: Totally.

Chris: Yeah!

Jason: Yeah awesome! (laughs) Absolutely.

Chevelle: Any movie!

Jason: I hope someone reads us and has a movie they need music for.

Chevelle: And money.

Jason: And money that they want to pay us with!

Chevelle: If Steven Spielberg is reading your blog, shout-out to Steven Spielberg! (laughs) I feel like some of the songs- when you were writing them, you’d be like (ndlr: to Jason) “I’ve got an idea for a video!”. It was like there was a visual aspect. Even though those videos haven’t been made yet, it was written with that idea. Like “what kind of video can we do to this song?”.

Jason: Sometimes it makes it easier.

If you had to record an album in a very unrealistic place, what would you choose between The Moon, McDonalds, or Hell? (laughs)

Chevelle: Wow, that’s a hard question! There’s positive aspect to all of those!

Jason: The Moon would be tight. But there’s no air.

Chevelle: But maybe the vocals might sound really cool if you recorded in an astronaut uniform-

Ramiro: Would the amplifiers be inside a recording booth?

Jason: Would there be air on the Moon.

Chevelle: I see you in an astronaut uniform, and everything else is outside. And then-

Jason: Oh yeah! And the thick gloves that you have to play with- that would be cool.

Chevelle: I mean, I like McDonalds too.

Jason: McDonalds would be the most comfortable. (laughs)

Yeah, you can get air!

Jason: And that wouldn’t be as hot as hell.

Chevelle: Well, I mean you recorded in Phoenix so we kinda did record it in hell!

So what do you guys choose?

Jason: Let’s say the Moon.

Finally, what can we expect from Guantanamo Baywatch in the future?

Chris: A bunch of touring to go…

Chevelle: Yeah, we’re doing full US.

Jason: A full US tour, and then maybe an Australian tour…

Chevelle: And then hopefully back here at some point.

Jason: Then who knows.

Chevelle: Then we’re all going to hell.

https://www.facebook.com/guantanamobaywatchband/