New Music Digest Ep28: Show Notes
Before I start, a brief note: Let me just remind/inform you that Taylor Swift’s new album is NOT ON SPOTIFY (yet). I didn’t just recklessly ignore the biggest release of the year (reportedly close to 1.5 million in first week sales). Calm down. I’m not a hater. When it IS on Spotify, I’ll probably include it that week. For now, we’ve got three other new releases to chat about and that’s just going to have to be okay. These three combined won’t sell as much as Taylor, but they are still quite worth giving a spin. Let’s see how a poppy-funk album stacks up against a funk-gospel and funky-rock. Yeah, there’s plenty of funk to go around this week, capped off by a tune du jour I discovered a few weeks back and still haven’t wrapped my head around. Deal? Okay, let’s go.
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Album 1: Into the Wild, by Manic Drive (11/7/17)
Three months ago, MIC DROP was the Tune Du Jour and I wasn’t entirely sure if it would grow on me or if I would find it annoying. Now it’s the first track on their latest album, which is odd considering the meaning of the phrase. (Maybe Canadians are too polite to walk out after dropping the mic). I still remember them as more of a rock band than a pop outfit – they toured with Stryper, after all – but as I revisited some of their earlier albums, I suppose the hints were always there.
As mentioned, MIC DROP and it’s already familiar to those who have been listening for a while, but for good measure, the song is driven by a funky bass line and upon that foundation they lay horns, claps, and vocals that results in a high-energy pop meets funk track. CEILING continues the groove aspect of it with prominent bass once again, but more of an airy, spacious feel to it – slightly reminiscent of THRILLER in the way it builds to the chorus. My favorite element of this song is the back half of the chorus, during which the music completely drops out and comes back in with a strong cadence. The third track is INTO THE WILD and stylistically, it’s a hard left turn with no turn signal. This is much more laid back and toned down, but it still has a nice rhythm to it and nice instrumentation that includes a lot of fun elements. I’m drawing a blank on the instrument right now, but it’s something of a pipe flute that comes in on the chorus.
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