Browsing Tag

composer

Sean Daniel swept up the cosmos in his intricate tapestry of pop chords with ‘Counting Stars’

Posted on 19 November 2023
https://soundcloud.com/seandreardon/counting-stars

The Cambridgeshire, UK-hailing songwriter and composer Sean Daniel has veered away from his alt-rock inclinations to make his debut in the pop arena with his latest single Counting Stars.

Immerse yourself in a celestial experience with this starry piano-driven pop ballad from Sean Daniel and the phenomenally talented female vocalist who brought swathes of soul to the release, which uses each note to weave an intricate tapestry of chords that hint at a profound understanding of musical storytelling and showcases a maturity that belies the artist’s novelty on the scene.

The track’s dreamy star-roving atmosphere is crafted through delicate yet powerful piano melodies, perfectly paced to lift listeners into the cosmos. The artist’s skill in chord progression shines brightly, offering a transcendent journey through space and emotion. Delve in for a shot of sonic visceralism.

Counting Stars was officially released on November 7th; stream the superlative single on SoundCloud.

Review by Amelia Vandergast

It’s all bells and no whistles in Roman Gastelum’s ingenuitive hip-hop track, Pavlov’s Dogs

Posted on 14 November 2023

After a bell ring in the intro to pay a conceptual nod to the iconic conditioning experiment, Roman Gastelum moves straight in with an amalgam of funk grooves, jazzy timbres, and hip-hop beats in his standout single, Pavlov’s Dogs taken from his debut LP, EQlibrium.

With the single and LP title, we probably don’t need to tell you that the LA-based bassist, vocalist, lyricist, and composer is an intellectual cut above the rest. In fact, if there were any more genius touches to this release, Roman Gastelum’s door would be blown off its hinges after an army of sapiophiles came knocking. But it is far from just pretentious art over substance.

The sublime sonic atmosphere conjured around the bruisingly clever bars by the artist who received his Bachelor of Arts in Music Performance from the Musicians Institute in LA ensured that even on the 100th listen, you’ll take something new from Pavlov’s Dogs. As the cherry on the urban alchemist cake, the spacey sci-fi surrealism towards the outro is a lesson in experimental scintillation.

Pavlov’s Dogs is now available to stream on Spotify with the rest of the EQlibrium LP which dropped on September 29.

Review by Amelia Vandergast

Basil Babychan cast a spectral shadow over his latest filmic score, Insentient Nature

Posted on 10 November 2023
https://soundcloud.com/basilbabychan/insentinent-nature/s-Zo5Ovv7zuQl?si=5165905864934628a4c17bc22fe9047c&utm_source=clipboard&utm_medium=text&utm_campaign=social_sharing

Insentient Nature is the latest cinematically sombre neo-classic score from the avant-garde ambient composer Basil Babychan, who has garnered international critical acclaim for his phantasmally affecting work, which entwines futurism with touches of classical orchestration to create profoundly reflective sonic spaces.

The darkly compelling minor key progressions against the spectral shadows cast by the classical strings and glitchy synths lead the instrumental soundscape into a brand-new depiction of dystopia; one which allows you to see the beauty beyond the consternation. Harbingering the age of the machine and a sense of detachment from the organic world, Babychan taps into our fears, while demonstrating everything has its place and a right to belonging and freedom.

Insentient Nature is due for official release on November 10th; stream it on SoundCloud.

Review by Amelia Vandergast

Keli Woods illuminated the keys with enlightenment in his latest piano composition, Skies

Posted on 18 October 2023

Fans of Tom Odell, James Bay and Birdy won’t fail to be consumed by the latest piano composition, Skies, from the UK multi-instrumentalist, composer, and producer, Keli Woods.

If his voice accompanied this year’s John Lewis Christmas advert, I wouldn’t be coloured surprised, and that is only the start of the crossover appeal of this sombrely intimate yet juxtaposing strident release, which seamlessly amasses evocative momentum and flair with every intricately laid progression in the epic 6-minute progressive ballad.

Keli Woods’ experience as a monk lent itself effortlessly well to the powerfully metaphorical introspection within Skies. His ability to conjure vivid pictures in the mind with his deeply affecting lyrical prose is second to none. He may have missed out on West End stardom at the age of 11, but all paths, which included performing jazz band in a decommissioned ambulance in Swansea and living the late-night rock ‘n’ roll life, have led him to this point of proving the transformative force of music.

Listen to the live recording of Skies from Real World Studios via YouTube from October 18.

Review by Amelia Vandergast

Make your heart at home in Mark Leggett’s Latest LP, Folktown

Posted on 11 October 2023
Folktown by Mark Leggett

After two nominations for the Primetime Emmy Award for his music scores, orchestrating endless film and television OSTs and collaborating with everyone from Werner Herzog to Jason Lee to Kylie Minogue, the LA composer and guitarist and composer, Mark Leggett played by the rules of his own expression in his acoustic Americana LP, Folktown.

The title single is a score of Americana that is almost impossible to form an objective view of. The emotion he pulls from the fingerpicked notes overwhelms every conceivable sense as you’re drawn into the sonorous intricacies of the loose and rickety yet tightly profound progressions. That contradiction is only the start of the alchemy that awaits you within his latest album.

Words were surplus to requirement when the fretwork painted such an evocative panoramic picture that lets you feel the humbling bitter-sweet breeze of bluegrass from wherever this masterpiece of an album finds you in the world.

Stream and purchase Folktown on Bandcamp and Apple Music.

Review by Amelia Vandergast

Mosa melodically sculpted the twilight in his latest electronic score, The Night Sets In

Posted on 7 October 2023
Mosa

Lose yourself in the dusky twilight of the latest electronic folk serenade by the Oxford-based sound designer Mosa. His scintillating single, The Night Sets In, is a plaintively compelling composition that could be easily compared to the artfulness of Radiohead, Mogwai, and Low; although those comparisons can allude to the diaphanously sonorous atmosphere of his sound, they don’t do Mosa’s intrinsic authenticity much justice.

His unique ability to infuse the dusty soul of blues into his sound design around the neo-classic keys and ethereal motifs establishes him as one of the most authentic artists around in 2023. We were hooked after hearing his single, Helicopter, earlier this year, after hearing The Night Sets In, which could easily rival the beguiling gravitas of any of the releases on the Westworld soundtrack, we are even more assured that Mosa is one to watch.

The Night Sets In will be officially released on October 7th. Hear it on all major platforms via this link.

Review by Amelia Vandergast

Joel Porter made a plea for providence in his alt-folk masterpiece, Godsend

Posted on 28 September 2023

The North Dakota alt-folk artist, composer and producer Joel Porter’s fascination with the human psyche knows even fewer bounds than the experimentalism in his harmonic landscapes.

Art brings meaning to life; in Porter’s work, which includes his recently released single, Godsend, life also brings meaning to art as the quiescent neo-classic melodies complement confessional emotional exploration. With his signature sense of intimate longing, Godsend is yet another testament to his talent and introspective eloquence. With a sound so sweet it stings, the melancholic cries for providence in Godsend are so profound they resonantly overwhelm the senses.

Combined with the aesthetic desolation in the black-and-white music video which visualises the monochromatic hues of a forsaken soul, Godsend is yet another masterpiece in Joel Porter’s repertoire.

Over the course of his career, he’s worked with renowned artists, showcased his music on a national level, accumulated over 7.5 million streams, and secured sync placements with the television series The 100 and in the Grey Skies: A War of the Worlds Story video game.

Something tells us the best is yet to come for Porter and his ability to construct bridges between the pensiveness of Elliott Smith and the intricate ambience of Nils Frahm.

The official music video for Godsend will premiere on September 28; watch it on YouTube.

For more info, visit Joel Porter’s official website.

Review by Amelia Vandergast

Peter Xifaras paid an impassioned ode to an icon with ‘While My Guitar Weeps for Mehdi Rajabian’

Posted on 4 September 2023

While My Guitar Weeps for Mehdi Rajabian, performed by Peter Xifaras and the Czech National Symphony Orchestra, pays homage to the bravery and tenacity of an Iranian artist imprisoned for working with female dancers and musicians, something which has been banned since the 1979 Islamic revolution.

After a three-minute trial, he was convicted and tortured during his sentence, but that wasn’t enough to break his indomitable spirit that inspired this jazzy composition, which orchestrally berates the indignity and senseless oppression; it carries the quintessence of the Iranian protesters throwing away their headscarves in a bid to retaliate against regimented oppression.

While Les Pauls don’t often take the lead in orchestral arrangements, on this wild and jazzy contemporary ride, the sonorous sustain lends itself effortlessly to the instrumental piece as Peter Xifaras demonstrates his prowess as a guitarist, composer, and producer.

Stream the official music video for While My Guitar Weeps for Mehdi Rajabian via YouTube.

Review by Amelia Vandergast

Jazz meets chiptune in Samuel Weaver’s latest score, Saviour Complex

Posted on 28 August 2023

With touches of House of Fun by the Madness grooving through the polyphonic funk of the jazz & chiptune amalgam, the UK-based artist Samuel Weaver concocted a superfluously ingenuity-driven score for the standout single in his debut album, Telechora!

Hitting play on Saviour Complex may be moderately akin to an acid trip due to the artist’s tendency to delve into sonic novelty despite his discernible composition and instrumental talents, but the euphoria-instilled vibrancy of the soundscape will lift you higher than any tab of acid ever could.

Given that intellectualism oozes from every progression, especially when the dissonance of sufferers with saviour complexes starts to manifest in the funk, at 17 years old, the composer, producer, and multi-instrumentalist has the music industry at his prodigal feet.

Saviour Complex charged in on its white knight syndrome on August 19th; hear it on Spotify.

Review by Amelia Vandergast

Michael Carson emanated ephemeral grace in his classical score, The Elusive Ballerina

Posted on 21 August 2023
https://youtu.be/U9r0QzgCdEQ`

For his latest orchestral score and music video, the fan-revered and critically acclaimed composer Michael Carson captured the ephemeral grace of The Elusive Ballerina.

The evocative beauty of the masterpiece wouldn’t leave the score out of place in a performance of Swan Lake. With the pirouetting orchestral melodies which ebb and flow in mellifluous rhythm, your rhythmic pulses will be efficaciously awoken to the tune of Carson’s contemporary classical narrative that will capture your attention and flood catharsis into your senses.

On the basis of The Elusive Ballerina, and all of the pieces that have preceded it, it is only a matter of time before Carson’s name is one of the biggest in the classical realm.

Stream the music video for The Elusive Ballerina which premiered on August 12th via YouTube.

Review by Amelia Vandergast