Tracks

Spotify playlist: https://goo.gl/DVJKCR

"Dark Necessities"
Red Hot Chili Peppers

It doesn't sound quite like anything else.

I didn't even know this was out until I got an email about it from somebody.

This is intriguing, listen to it. The worst part is Anthony Kiedis' vocal, not that it's bad, but the rest of the sounds resonate so, especially Flea's bass, but also the sounds that you can't quite place the genesis of.

This is a work track, not the kind of thing that you hear once and have to hear a hundred times, I doubt it will escape the Active Rock ghetto, but if you don't listen to that format, and few do, you'll be surprised how entrancing and inviting this is. Credit Danger Mouse. Sometimes you've just got to mix it up, but best to work with someone with experience, that's Donald Trump's number one weakness, his lack of experience. You wouldn't want an amateur to perform surgery after watching YouTube videos and if you're a superstar act, and the Chili Peppers certainly are, you want to work with someone who's been there, who you have faith in.

But I don't understand the release paradigm here, it's so last decade.

In the old days you released a single way in advance and then ramped up publicity to generate first week sales. But now it's about continuing streams. Your first challenge is getting people to be aware of your music, the second is to get them to listen to it.

Which is why people drop their albums with no advance warning all on one day, the sound waves from the bomb erupt, it's the best way to create awareness these days.

I'm not a fan of the Chili Peppers, I thought they were done when Frusciante left for good, but this not only gives me hope, I LIKE IT!

"Fragile"
Prince Fox, featuring Hailee Steinfeld

I discovered this by listening to Spotify's New Music Friday playlist.

I'd like to tell you I heard a ton of winners, but I heard a ton of me-too tracks. Today it's all about incorporating non-organic sounds, it's become formulaic. Although this is a bit different, more EDM, and if I didn't know Ms. Steinfeld was an actress I'd cut her a break, she's good here.

This is on Republic (Casablanca to be exact, but same thing). And it's having almost zero impact. Is it because the track doesn't resonate or it hasn't been worked yet.

I'm leaning more towards the latter.

The YouTube clip only has 25,806 viewings as of this writing, it's got more impact on Spotify, where it's got 492,209 streams, but it begs the question whether YouTube is really the premier platform.

But what I'll tell you after listening to the New Music Friday playlist is today music discovery is overwhelming. There are a ton of playlists and even if you know which ones interest you, there's still too much to digest. Hell, I clicked on Afternoon Acoustic and didn't know one single artist. The sounds were good, but the songs were not revelatory, did I really want to listen to them all to uncover the couple of good ones, couldn't someone do this for me?

We're still at the advent of curation. Used to be radio culled the best tracks and those outside the formula got a lot of ink. The universe was comprehensible, now it's not.

"Adore"
Jasmine Thompson

This is a bit better than the Prince Fox track, maybe that's why it's got 23,258,655 views on YouTube...AND I'VE NEVER HEARD OF IT!

But today I got an email about it clicked through and immediately liked it.

What hope do I have in this world?

Granted, this track had no chart impact in the U.S., although it did go to number 4 in Poland...

Doing my research I found out that Ms. Thompson made her bones by singing covers on YouTube, the means of success are in your own hands, it's like the actors who start off in commercials, you can't be afraid to begin at the beginning, doing stuff theoretically beneath you, finding yourself along the way.

Unlike "Fragile," "Adore" did not come out last week, it was released almost a year ago. Thompson is signed to Atlantic. And something is going on, "Adore" has 21,443,192 streams on Spotify, it grabs you immediately, it's hooky, it makes me want to see her live, to bask in the sound, the mood, the introspection, the darkness.

P.S. I just discovered on Spotify there's an acoustic take of this song, it's got a second side of "Tumbleweed Connection" feel, and that's a good thing!

"Stay Downtown"
Cole Swindell

I found out the new album was out on the Spotify new release page and I immediately put it on my phone, I was a big fan of his track "Ain't Worth The Whiskey."

Like Keith Urban's new album, "You Should Be Here" ain't really country, not by the traditional definition. There's not the upfront banjo and fiddle, although Swindell does have a twang, but without it this would be classic AOR music.

The best song on the new album was already a hit single, "You Should Be Here," check it out, it's got a great sound, and a great message, although it could use another verse, that's a problem with too much of the material on the new album, it's unfinished, it could use more. And it's safe, but that's Nashville today. Still...

I'm listening and thinking this is another Nashville booty call song, you know, like Lady Antebellum's "Need You Now," but it's not.

She calls, but he tells her to stay in the bar, downtown.

How refreshing.

I've been there, you know you're gonna get laid, but you know your heart is gonna hurt thereafter, otherwise you'd still be together, doing it on a regular basis.

But I like this, I like Cole's sound.

"Getaway Car"
Alyssa Micaela

I discovered this about a month ago, on the Spotify Hot Country playlist, I was waiting for it either to fall off or to blow up, so far neither has happened. But I felt the same way about Jana Kramer's "I Got The Boy," which I heard on Sirius XM's Highway back in February of 2015 and didn't break on terrestrial radio for nearly six months, that's what's wrong with terrestrial, it's so slow, so far behind!

And what the Highway and Hot Country have in common is John Marks, who left radio for the streaming service, he champions new artists, he'll take a chance.

Kramer's song is an almost classic country lament, of regret, that someone else got her man, but she was there first, she got something. It's a ballad, with clever lyrics, whereas...

"Getaway Car"'s a tear.

"Well I heard you're gettin' married
How far along is she?"

Ha! I love a woman with sass. Obviously she's pissed, but she's spinning it her way, positively, and continues to do so.

"My god you're only twenty and she's not even pretty"

It's guys who focus on looks, but women always play the looks card when they want to put someone down.

"I've got the getaway car, I'm thankin' my lucky stars
Top down, foot on the gas
Nothin' here to hold me back
Don't wanna catch what's goin' around
'Cause everybody is barefoot and pregnant in this town"

HILARIOUS!

Why is it the women in Nashville are clever, but the men are dullards. This is right out of Miranda Lambert's playbook, if she sang it, it'd be a hit.

What is a hit?

Something I like?

Something everybody else likes?

Something radio plays?

Something that gets awards?

I've got no idea, I want to belong, but I can't find my club.

YouTube links:

"Dark Necessities": https://goo.gl/Q0D6jU

"Fragile": https://goo.gl/gZU1hC

"Adore": https://goo.gl/xEWT40

"Adore" (acoustic): https://goo.gl/Wk1xzB

"Stay Downtown": https://goo.gl/eOKbNT

"Getaway Car": not on YouTube


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