Malak’s new single, Hard Pill, is an absolute romper, and perfect to get you pumped for your morning commute. Malak, an Egyptian immigrant due to the Arab Spring protests, currently resides in Canada. I can’t help but feel that the new freedom that is offered in her Canadian surroundings coupled with her Egyptian background is what fuels the creativity for a tumultuous song like Hard Pill. Starting out with a clean approachability in the verse, the chorus hits like a punch in the gut.
(vulnerable) I breathe in the air you breathe out, baby, and I believe in what you’re about
(gut punch) Oh yeah, oh yeah, You’re a hard pill to swallow Yeah, oh yeah, So dense, and oh so hollow
I really love that the arrangement tells half of the story here, with an obvious change in the relationship, or maybe even just the duplicitousness of every relationship. You can be their biggest champion one minute, and then really dislike everything about them the next. It is a tough balance to maintain, and Malak does a wonderful job showing that with the lyrics, the arrangement, and this really trippy video.
Good morning guys! You’ve probably already commuted at this point, but I have some great music for you anyway. Check out this Jazzy/R&B track from SAMMAY. The song is self described as: “A song that calls in expansive holistic love forms for all who are journeying through the cosmos and celebrates the potentialities gifted by the full moon.” I don’t know about you guys, but that seems like a good way to start off the day to me.
The biggest thing that stands out to me about this song, other than the love and positive vibes it’s pushing out, is how striking the lead vocals are. I could listen to her sing about pretty much anything I think. I hope this song makes you think of someone you love, and you share some of that love with them today. I know SAMMAY has inspired me to do just that.
When I came across this new single from Emilie Mover, I knew the name was familiar. I couldn’t place where I knew it from, but there was something very familiar about the timbre of this Canadian turned New Yorker folk artist. I started looking through her discography, and immediately knew where I had heard the pure and articulate, while having just enough rasp, vocals before; she has an incredible album where she covers some of my favorite Peggy Lee songs that you can find here.
Okay, now let’s focus on Fallin’ In, the second single off of her new album, Night Owl. Mover says of the song,
“Fallin’ In is actually the last song I wrote for Night Owl. I wrote it in a park near my apartment the morning we left for Bathouse. I was kind of just going through the tunes, finalizing idea and starting to think about the order for the album. I was watching some kids play together in the park and it was a beautiful late summer day and it was one of those things that just came together within minutes. It kind of wrote itself.”
She goes on to say that the idea behind the song is to get into what really happens when we grow up. How do we go from being carefree kids playing together in the park to overworked and overstressed adults?
Okay, that last part may be me projecting, but the true idea behind the song is trying to maintain that childlike whimsy and excitement for life throughout adulthood. She lets us in on the fact that her dad has always upheld that view on life, and has been a sterling example of how to maintain a fervor for all things fun. The children in the park made Mover think of all of her childhood friends, and only thought it appropriate to have them play on the track. Those same friends that she played with in the parks as a kid are now playing on a track about them playing in those parks. If that’s not absolutely beautiful and very meta, I don’t know what is. Her dad, Mover’s “favorite kid at heart,” is also featured on the track, absolutely crushing the horn solo at the 2:30 mark.
I haven’t gotten around to listening to the whole album yet, but if Night Owl is anything like Fallin’ In, it is going to make plenty of our personal playlists. Reeking of jazz chords and off-beat rhythms, this song has a lot heavier package than most folk songs.
Want to listen to Emilie and all of our other featured artists for the month of June in one neat and tidy playlist? Click here.
Want to listen to me and Caleb talk about Bad Luck and feature new artists you haven’t heard of yet? Click here.
This is the first song that has been the perfect fit for the Video of the Day (for obvious reasons), and the Morning Commute. Jessicka’s track, Penniless Fools, is the first song we’ve considered for cross-categorization, and it is a well deserved accolade.
Starting out with almost a minute of B-roll footage, Penniless Fools really gets started at around the :50 mark, but the shots beforehand are nice enough to keep your interest focused on the song. Once the song does get started, you’ll be instantly happy that you stuck around. Jessicka’s voice and the instrumentation is reminiscent of Florence + the Machine, but Jessicka has a style all her own. With a powerful voice and a beautiful arrangement to back her up, the singer-songwriter from Vancouver takes a very meta look at the roles we play in life. The tape she plays in the middle of the song at the 3:15 mark plays the role of the average human mind:
“It’s a measly manner of existence, to get on that subway on the hot mornings in summer to devote your whole life to keeping stock, or making phone calls, or selling, or buying. To suffer 50 weeks of the year for a two week vacation when all you really desire is to be outside with your shirt off, but still, that’s how you build a future.”
Penniless Fools gets into the dilemma of working to support yourself financially vs. doing the things that you love to support yourself mentally. A very small percentage of people get up and go to a job that they love, a larger percentage enjoy a lot of the aspects of their job, and a much larger percentage hate what they do much more frequently than they enjoy it. This song gets into that and makes you really question whether the financial stability is worth using your only shot at life to be completely miserable.
This is a song that really resonates with me and a situation I went through recently. I was making a lot of money in a position where I essentially had to sell my soul to the devil. I decided it would be best to leave that job without a backup plan in place because I couldn’t take one more day of the soul-crushing position I was in. I knew that we would take a substantial pay cut for a while and that I may not find something for quite a while, but the financial stability that job provided wasn’t worth the strain it put on me and my family. Fast forward 7 months, and I now have multiple streams of revenue, all coming from sources that I absolutely love (or at least love more than I dislike). I still don’t make the same kind of money I made previously, but that really doesn’t matter when I’m about to be buried.
Sometimes on the Morning Commute we like to get you pumped up with a headstrong jam, and sometimes we like to get introspective and use the commute as a way to figure out where you want not only the day to take you, but the future. Today, we just want to groove. It’s Friday, so let’s get the party started on the way to work this morning.
This NYC singer and songwriter has been making music since the ripe old age of seven, and it definitely shows in this reggae meets hip-hop track. Lyrically, it is exactly what you want the song to be. A track like this shouldn’t dive into problems like depression, politics, or heartbreak like so many of the songs we share. This song has one goal, and that’s to have a good time. With that goal in mind, Keyiente is the Lionel Messi of music.
“Why don’t you come, come,
and shake that bum, bum?”
Every track we feature on this site is going to be something that makes our personal playlists in some fashion. There are some songs that end up making every playlist we put together, and this is one of them. Windows Down Playlist? Keep Me High Up. Smooth Brass Playlist? Keep Me High Up. Feel It In Your Soles (lyrically conscious songs to dance to)? Keep Me High Up. Funeral Pyres? Keep Me High Up. Okay… maybe not the last one, but you get the picture.
Cal the 3rd starts out with the trumpet, beckoning your attention, almost like a king is about to enter. LV Baby may not be royalty, but his voice is about as close as you get to being knighted. There are so many rappers out there who fall in line and do something safe that they know everyone will enjoy. Those guys are needed for the kingdom to succeed. They have their place, and are greatly appreciated. Then, there are guys like LV Baby. With a raspy timbre and his constantly changing cadence, he tells a story of familial struggle; from almost losing his father to an aortic dissection, to losing contact with his brother, LV Baby leaves it all out on the table. He then follows up talking about his struggles by focusing on the many blessings he has in his life. When asked about the album and his creative process, LV Baby said,
“Simply put, I poured my heart into this record. I’ve been going through a lot, but I haven’t stopped working/creating. Thank God I’ve been able to make some of my best music throughout this period in my life. This song is a happy-sad summer jam that may have saved my life.”
These are the people in the kingdom who get to kneel before the kings and queens of rap-gone-by and get to become knights. Men and women who tell real stories, try new things, and hold nothing back. If you think that this song is a one-off lyrically, go check out American Pie. Damn!
I didn’t know where to start with this song, but when I found out they have a music video that tells the story of the RCK (Refugee Community Kitchen), I decided to let them tell the story. Before reading another word, watch the video. You’ll have to read some, so I’ll see you after the video is over.
Hey guys, welcome back. First off, let me get the part of the post where I talk about the vocals, instrumentation, etc. out of the way because I know that’s not what The FEDZ are really focused on with this song. In fact, they believe in what RCK is doing so strongly, that they are donating part of the profits from this song to the organization so they can continue to feed displaced families in need. (Link to buy the song) With tight tenor vocals and minimal piano leading the way, they set the stage for the song by making you focus on the words. The most beautiful part of the arrangement to me though is the gospel choir style gang vocals in the chorus. It really gives life to this story about the plight of the homeless and the refugee and the detrimental cycle life can take when they just need a break. It lets you know that this isn’t a story about a specific homeless person or a refugee, but a story about ALL homeless people and refugees.
The word of the day is humanity. Remember that.
Now, let’s get into the lyrics of the song. It starts out by getting you to think about what you see when you see a homeless or displaced person, and it’s pretty startling. I, admittedly, have been as guilty as anyone when see a homeless person. I see someone, and without knowing their story, try to label them: drug addict, alcoholic, lazy, and the list goes on and on. Even if they are one or all of those things, it doesn’t make them any less of a person. It makes me less of a person when I try to elevate myself above another person. The world needs more people to lean down to help them out.
They talk about someone taking a bad turn and all of a sudden, they’ve fallen down a slippery slope into their current unfortunate circumstance. I can specifically remember two times in my life where if I had taken the red pill, who knows what would’ve happened? I have stood on the edge of that slippery slope, and because of the cornerstones of my life, the community I surrounded myself with, and the values I was taught by loving parents, I staved off temptation, took the blue pill, and woke up in my own bed. Most people don’t have that support in their life, so straying down the wrong path is much easier. Nobody goes straight from an average joe with 2.5 kids, the white picket fence, and everything going in an upward trend to living on the streets in one day. There are a series of unfortunate events that lead up to that point.
I have an anecdotal story about refugees that I thought would be appropriate here that echoes the points made in “The Traveller.” I know someone who works very closely with refugees in Central Asian countries; offers them shelter and support, gets them acclimated to life in a new country, helps them navigate the hardships of refugee life. I had the opportunity to visit my friend and see what life looks like for them. We ate dinner one evening with a family who had been displaced from their home not because they wanted to move, but because if they didn’t run, they could be murdered. Back in their country, they lived in a two story home, and they owned a nut farm where they grew and sold various nuts to people all over the country. This family consisted of 6 people: a mother well into her 60’s, a father who was the same age, a son in his 30’s, a daughter in her 20’s, a son with debilitating cerebral palsy, and a 3 year old granddaughter. To escape their country, they literally had to carry the son with cerebral palsy in incredible heat. They now live in a one room cement shack on the roof of a building. Life changed for them in an absolutely dramatic way, and it had nothing to do with any choices that they personally made.
They are viewed as second rate citizens in a country where they can claim asylum and wait out the storm, but you could never tell they had even seen a rain cloud. They were some of the happiest and most generous people I’ve ever met in my life. We are not defined by what happens to us, but how we handle what happens to us.
Feeling pretty rough on your Monday morning because of a weekend of fun and debauchery? Well get ready, because this song is going to see you at your lowest point, and kick you around a little bit. The song starts with the lyrics that ring out throughout the song,
“You can’t get lower than the ground, but you can roll around for a long time.“
Is it possible for the sound of smoke to be provocative? With a rasp that tastes of coal mines and three packs a day, Kate has a timbre to her voice that is unlike anything I’ve ever heard before. Now, just to clear the air here, I don’t know anything about Kate’s personal life, and she may have worked in a coal mine and smokes a carton a day. If this is true, I’m deeply apologetic. What is much more likely is that she had a cool rasp already, but honed her obvious gift and turned it into something spectacular.
With lyrics that seem to deal with everything from seasonal depression to addiction, Kate really takes some major swings here, and nails on all counts for me. When people talk about how they’ve “hit rock bottom,” there is usually a counterpoint saying, “Well, there’s nowhere to go but up,” when in reality, you can just get dragged across the bottom forever unless you make proactive choices. Make whatever choices are needed to improve your life.
For your morning commute on this beautiful (at least here) Sunday morning is from your bed to your favorite brunch spot, but we’ve got you covered either way.
Hailing from the small island of Mallorca, off of the coast of Spain, this 5 piece indie rock group is making the kind of music that deserves to be heard on a global scale. I don’t know what the music scene is like on the island, but The Prussians have not only made the Morning Commute today, but have already infiltrated multiple personal playlists.
I hate that we came across this song immediately after the Bad Luck episode of the podcast because as you may have guessed from the title, this song is all about whether Karma is real or not.
Do you believe in karma instantly? Then why are your actions so boring?
A question that we ask ourselves here at B-Side Guys all the time is essentially that same question. Do you believe that actions you take change future events? Obviously if you make the action today to not fill up a tire that’s low, it can lead to a flat tire, but if I pass a homeless man on the side of the road and do nothing to help, is that the cause for the flat tire? In short, I would lean towards a resounding no. That begs the question, “Why are you making such safe choices in your day to day life then?”
With heady vocals that fall in line with Arctic Monkeys, the opening verse is about as close to perfect as it gets. Starting with vocals and snaps, every measure adds something new until “3,2,1,” and then the song really starts.
If you find yourself with extra time on the commute, watch their music video for Soul too. Only if your commute is by public transportation, carpool, walking, or anything where you aren’t behind the wheel. Watch responsibly.
Also, side note to the band if you’re reading this, let us know about the music scene on the island. We would love to find out more.
Wake up! It’s Saturday morning and I have the perfect song to get your Saturday started right! The build up on this song is so cool, and I love that the melody reminds me so much of that classic Wham! song “Careless Whisper”. Where that song meanders and ventures in melancholy, this song stays upbeat and makes you want to dance around the kitchen while you get your coffee going and make brunch plans.
Also, I just have to mention some other things that ollebirde have done that I’m in love with, like this beautiful cover of one of my favorite The National songs:
What I’m basically saying is, go follow them everywhere you can, because they are oozing with potential and I can’t wait to see what else they create.
