A Track-By-Track Breakdown Of Cake Pop's Album 'Cake Pop 2'
Before the world knew Dylan Brady as half of 100 gecs, there was Dylan Brady, and a crew of friends and other musicians in St. Louis, as Cake Pop.
Brady, Lewis Grant, Ravenna Golden, Aaron Cartier, Pritty, Robel Ketema, Kevin Bedford, and Adam Newcomer formed the group as a practice space of sorts, in which they could experiment with their ideas of what pop music can or should sound like. Back in 2015, they released their self-titled debut body of work together, a minimal soundscape of bright electronic bloops and meme audio snippets. Now the group has shared their newest album Cake Pop 2 via Mad Decent.
Over 10 tracks, they build on their playful vision of pop, now bolstered through the cultural lens of hyperpop. It's fitting that their band is named after a dessert because the music is exactly like it: sugary in all the right ways, with their vocals in a constant artificial Auto-Tune.
The friends recorded the album during a manic 4-day jam session. Below, they reconnect to discuss each track, and candidly share their memories of putting the project together.
Grant : "Candy Floss" might be my magnum opus… Can't wait to play it on the main stage of EDC… They're gonna love it.
Bedford : This shows me the future of music is in good hands. There's a Cold War on real pop music & Cake Pop 2 just won it.
Grant : I play this song at such loud volumes that I'm under investigation by the FBI for possibly using otherworldly technology.
Grant : We found the sheet music to the end of this song in a glass bottle at the bottom of an old well.
Grant : I'm going to move to the middle of nowhere and start making wooden door knobs on a lathe, singing a musical I made in my head that no one will hear...
K-Pop News Of The Week 4/30: BTS, Blackpink, Enhypen, Twice
Announced on April 29, the event's nominees see the three K-pop groups up for awards, some for the very first time.
BTS is nominated in three categories this year: Top Duo/Group, Top Song Sales Artist for "Dynamite," and Top Social Artist. Both Blackpink and Seventeen are also nominated for the Top Social Artist category — the first Billboard Music Award nominations for either group.
The group made their first official comeback this week with "Drunk-Dazed," a gritty rock song that compares their struggle to navigate an unfamiliar world to the thrills, delights, and chaos of a spooky carnival.
In true Enhypen fashion, the track's music video seamlessly weaves together a story of magic, mystery, beauty, and horror. It begins when a girl discovers an "invitation to our bloody birthday party" at a bus stop left behind by members Jake, Heeseung, and Jungwon.
And they weren't lying when they said it'd be bloody; while the party might initially seem normal, strange oddities begin to pop up throughout the video as the members lean into their supernatural abilities. It all culminates with blood raining down from the ceilings and overflowing from fountains as the members dance the night away, only to wake up the next day and start all over again. Unique, fascinating, and just the right amount of spooky. With "Drunk-Dazed," Enhypen have truly solidified themselves as one of K-pop's most innovative groups.
"Hey Chad! We heard that you're a massive K-pop fan and that Ab6ix is your group," member Daehwi said. "We really appreciate your love and support so in return, we have an exclusive video of our song 'Close' just for you!"
On April 27, Twice performed their hit "Cry For Me" on The Kelly Clarkson Show , and, much like they request in the song's lyrics, I was indeed crying over how beautiful it all was.
The group performed the dramatic dance track in black-and-white ensembles in a large, white curtained room; you can watch the entire performance above.
In addition to the performance, Kelly Clarkson also revealed that the group is preparing to release new music this summer so there's lots to look forward to when it comes to Twice!
The Quietus | Features | Tome On The Range | The Whiteness Of Indie Rock: An Extract From Why
In an exclusive extract from her new book Why Solange Matters , Stephanie Phillips explores the significance of appropriation in indie music
The whiteness of indie rock matters because the participants' poor understanding of race and unexamined privilege had a lasting effect on Solange, and it all started back in August 2009 at a free Grizzly Bear show in Williamsburg, New York. At the gig, onlookers tried to focus on the cerebral indie act but couldn't keep their eyes on the stage. As they swayed to the band's haunting rhythms, to the side of the stage stood Solange, Beyoncé, and Jay-Z. The blogosphere could barely process the moment; Solange brought pop music royalty to a free show in Williamsburg. Overnight, Solange became one of the most powerful influencers of the era. Speaking to Fuse the day after the show, Jay-Z said of Grizzly Bear: "They were just destroying things and I was like this is it. This is what's gonna happen … The indie rock scene right now is in a great place. I enjoy watching it now more than hip-hop." Beyoncé began to seek out more high-profile indie artists, collaborating with Patrick Wimberly and Caroline Polachek (aka indie pop act Chairlift), the singer-songwriter James Blake, and Ezra Koenig from the yacht rock–influenced band Vampire Weekend.
News quickly reached the London punk scene, in which I had recently made my home, and no one was more excited about Beyoncé interacting with indie rock than the punks. Friends would run up to me, barely containing their delusional elation that perhaps Beyoncé would make an indie song. The excitable white punks were clutching at nonexistent straws, but so were many other white people in the indie rock scene, who seemed to be desperately on the hunt for the archetypal Black soul diva whose naturally soulful words could sooth a litany of woes. It reminded me of the Black best friend trope in film—you know, the one devoted to the white star, but who is strangely never focused on their own problems. White scenesters wanted to experience Blackness vicariously, using Black artists as positivity cheerleaders to boost them in their lowest moments. In 2019, Lizzo's positive messaging and soulful bops led to success, but also to confusing accusations that she was making music for white people. Though Lizzo is an artist that a certain brand of white feminist has latched on to (even Mean Girls creator Tina Fey has shown her love for Lizzo's memeable flute-twerking skills), she has made it clear that no matter who is in her audience, her music is made for a particular ear. "I'm making music that hopefully makes other people feel good and helps me discover self-love. That message I want to go directly to black women, big black women, black trans women. Period." It seems the indie world is always ready for a new Black soul diva to leach from. Back in 2009, it looked like Beyoncé might play that role, but she had the power to bring the indie world to her, so Solange quickly became the replacement. As a result, she experienced the same microaggressions, barely concealed racism, and ignorant remarks as other Black people in the punk and indie rock scene, including me.
In 2009, I volunteered at the community music festival Ladyfest, a punk initiative that promotes women in music and was kick-started by Allison Wolfe, vocalist in the '90s riot grrrl band Bratmobile. After years spent searching for other punks, I saw the London scene as my savior. I threw myself into this new world, organizing events, documenting everything on my music blog, and playing in my first band (a feminist punk five-piece called My Therapist Says Hot Damn), formed when I was twenty-two. At first, I felt at home. The scene's feminist stance aligned with my own nascent political identity, and the people I met welcomed me into their world like an old friend. Despite being on point with queer politics and feminist issues, there was a blindingly obvious problem: the scene was predominantly white, and no one talked about it.
During this period, indie rock artists who incorporated traditionally Black genres into their sound began to gain popularity. Though the indie rock world referenced r&b, it was often in an appropriative way, taking elements of the sound while regarding r&b as a genre that did not match the supposed integrity of indie. This pick-and-mix attitude toward other cultures allowed for the majority white, and often middle-class, group of musicians to make a surface-level nod to multiculturalism without unpicking their own privileges. They could reference everything from West African highlife to Afro-Portuguese music in their genre-bounding escapades and be perceived as worldly and mysterious. One could argue that their ability to lift references without fear is due to middle-class economic freedom or the high cultural literacy that can come when you are exposed to wider culture at an early age. In reality, it is simply because white privilege grants itself entry into every room and every space.
As a wholly independent publication, we rely entirely on our ad bookings to keep The Quietus going. Please whitelist our site in order to continue to access The Quietus.
The music marketed to kids isn’t as innocent as parents think – The Vermont Cynic
The most popular radio station in my region is KISS 108, "Boston's #1 Hit Music Station." Growing up, I was not allowed to listen to it.
My options were NPR, the classical music station, or my dad's CD collection– mostly Dave Brubeck, Ray Charles, Springsteen, Billy Joel.
My parents didn't like the idea of me listening to hip hop music– which I can appreciate. Hip hop can be vulgar, riddled with expletives and themes that are probably not appropriate for ten year olds to be listening to.
But then One Direction arrived on the scene with their slippery, suave lyrics and my parents were all in favor of me listening to popular music.
For some reason, boy bands and bubblegum pop artists are to be the poster children for the prepubescents of the world. I thought it made sense when I was younger:the lyrics were simple, the melodies were catchy, and the overall messages of the songs were easy to understand.
But now that I'm older, listening to the old songs that I used to blast on my iPod Shuffle, I am increasingly surprised that these lyrics were directed towards early teens.
The ripest example for picking is "What Makes You Beautiful" by One Direction. The overarching theme of the song is that the female subject of the song is so insecure about herself that she can hardly begin to understand what makes her beautiful.
Well, the overbearing British men are here to tell you that that very insecurity is in fact what makes you beautiful. It implies the fact that the only way for a girl to be attractive is for her to not know she is pretty, which creates rather toxic mental games for young women during the time when they need positive reassurance the most.
I guess my question is why do we steer children away from music we deem inappropriate– hip hop, rap, club pop– but then turn them towards music that doesn't have swear words or explicit sexual references, but still manages to brainwash them with bad messages.
Irish pop sensation Ódú returns with disco infused single, Men Like Me | Her.ie
After a brief hiatus Ódú is back with his latest single Men Like Me and it's what we're going to be playing all summer long.
I've already got it in mind for when I'm on a long drive, staring out of the car window, pretending I'm in a music video.
Ódú burst onto the music scene with her debut single 'Different' in 2016, which was soon followed by the release of her acclaimed debut EP 'Conversations' in February 2017.
In 2018, Ódú released 'Roots', an 80's pop inspired track, following up with 'The Feeling' in 2019.
After a year long hiatus, Ódú returns with her brand new single 'Men Like Me', an uptempo, ode to disco revolution of the late 70's and early 80's.
The track is driven by a bouncing bass beat, accompanied by Ódú's vocals floating high above the instrumentation.
"I really wanted that style of rhythm guitar that features in so many of my favourite disco tracks but I wanted to marry it with some darker instrumentation such as the somewhat eerie synths and the wall of sound of the vocals to bring it to a fever pitch"
Seriously though, if you think the 80s was the best decade for music and you're looking for a new summer jam Men Like Me is it.
We're teaming up with Sport Ireland for Girls With Goals
Check out our interview with coach Hayley Harrison below!
Girls With Goals || Her · Ep.160: The Beauty Of Coaching - Hayley Harrison joins us from Sport Ireland
How Indie Collaborator Diana Gordon Found Her Voice - Coveteur: Inside Closets, Fashion, Beauty,
"The first song and video I ever made as an independent artist was called 'Stimela.' In high school I had a foreign exchange mentor come from South Africa and teach myself and my classmates songs and dialects from the motherland. His name was Hugh Maskela and he is a legend. 'Stimela' is his song in which I interpolated and added my own metaphorical story of freedom. A fusion of alternative R&B and African Zulu. I posted it on YouTube and Bandcamp in 2012. Without press and a social media push, it racked up over 12 million views. That felt so good because it was all me. The music, the costumes, the angles, and the editing in the video. That was when I first started to explore who I was as a human being and as an artist. I am still learning and growing and I will continue to, but I know who I am and where I stand now. I know the glory of art is in the details, and I'm always looking forward for progression. I now know my creativity is not limited to music, but architecture, design, fashion, style, decor, film, and storytelling. I get just as much joy from these things as I do composing music. Today I am focused on my legacy and creating honest art that I will be proud of in 10 to 20 years. If my gut doesn't approve, it won't make it out the door."
No comments:
Post a Comment