I am still listening to a lot of music, though less these days. Usually, music forms the background to my activities. Especially when working, music helps me focus, cut out distractions, and enhances my flow. After a month of not-working, though, my "work" is scattered house chores, hunting for jobs, and... yeah, not much else. So there's less of a day streaming sounds to pick from. Still DJ sets are a big thing and I want to dump a few here.
Most things here fall into the "prog house" classification. It's still dance music, but it tends much more toward trance-y sounds and incorporates a large set of world influences, particularly Middle Eastern and North African rhythms. It also avoids the dub and scratch sounds that some of my usual stream have been drifting into. Whatever it is about my mood these days, I'm less tolerant of discordant music. A good prog mix makes me feel enveloped and cradled in the sound, as well as pulled forward. At some level, musical distinctions are silly - prog house freely steals from trance, vocal trance, and Italo-disco (or nu disco). I always have to check the descriptive labels anyway. If you liked
808 State and
The Orb then this may well be your style.
https://www.groovelectric.com/alonetogether.htmlhttps://www.groovelectric.com/travelinginplace.htmlWe start with two Groovelectric mixes from longtime favorite DJ Steveboy. "Traveling in Place" is an explicit drone mix, meaning that it works to keep an even tempo throughout. Clocking in at over 2.5 hours it's definitely not intended for long focused listening but rather to be the soundtrack for whatever else you're doing today.
"Alone Together" is the first of Steve's pandemic mixes, created in mid-March as an immediate reaction to going into lockdown. It's an hour of eclectic production, starting with the piece put out by Yo Yo Ma shortly after he went into lockdown (Dvorak's "Going Home") and mid-anchored with three versions of Wang Chung's "Dance Hall Days", a tune that used to be one of my favorites and which I have not listened to in years.
For these and other Groovelectric mixes you can visit
https://www.groovelectric.com/mixes.html to see the full setlists and download them for later playback.
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=2j88IJb71_oMiss Monique is back.
In February I noted that her "weekly podcast" seemed to have stopped production last year. Well, it's back again, presumably because she's shut in somewhere. The video is generally just a set of cameras watching her doing her thing, which is entertaining for a few minutes at a time but I tend to put these on and flip to other tabs to do other things.
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=eiT6QMygW-8https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=-PvozwOlCtgTwo new tracks from Miss Monique that I thought worth mentioning. Both are in the tradition of her sets, but with better production values and fuller sound. Good headphone listening. The first track "Behind the Mirror" feels like what I call "spy movie" music. That sort of sleek, action-ready sound that feels like you should hear it while Bond is piloting some classy expensive vehicle between locations.
The second - Atleha's remix of "Stranger Things" is still labeled "prog house" but has much more of an deep feel to me, where it's not doing the ethereal vocal trance thing. It's a little more driven and a lot more bass-forward than the previous track; I just wish they'd let the video be full-length rather than chopping the ending.
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=9Wi_tkp4DcUhttps://www.youtube.com/watch?v=cPv1fLr8Yy0https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=jd1yyIg3_4UThree episodes so far of Deisis Lounge from Giolì & Assia. I hope and expect there'll be a 4th next week. Of all the sets these are the most visually interesting. Both women are talented and fun to watch.
Episode 1 got me right out of the gate with some nice handpan work followed by acoustic guitar, which I had not heard from them before. I really like the combination of live vocals and guitar interwoven with recorded beats and looped segments. If you listen through these, you'll hear them singing in at least three languages. The piano-playing in this set's cover of "Mad World" is great and there's another piano segment starting about 34:25 that's really nice.
Episode 2 starts off again with handpan work, a track I've heard in one of their previous outdoor sets. Still super enjoyable, and there's a second track with good handpan work. If you're getting the sense I could listen to an entire set of these you're right (see below). Like Set 1, this set also features a lot of electric guitar work but my favorite is still the live piano work. Starting around 1:00:00 there's a fantastic piano-and-vocals bit that makes my heart soar.
Episode 3 starts off with a fantastic cover of "These Boots Are Made For Walking" with vocals, handpan and guitar. Also new to me - about 14:20 into the set, Gioli takes over the mixer. Usually Assia has the controls but this segment she's just singing and letting her partner have the controls. It's an interestingly different style and we get her mixing much of this set. As before we have to wait until nearly the end for the piano bits, and it's worth the wait.
Special extra treats time!
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=n-_rxwTkZmUI managed to find this Gioli video from a couple years ago with her doing "Echo of the woods" an entirely handpan song. I love the sound and I wish I could watch her, but the video has a stupid unnecessary swaying camera that makes it difficult for me to watch. I haven't been happy with the camera work on most of their other videos so far, so maybe it's the same person/crew? I dunno, just wish they'd stop and let me enjoy the music and the very pretty pretties.
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=jIqltIODJqgThe official video for "Feel Good" has an extra layer of meaning if you read the description. Apparently these women have had to hide their relationship because being queer and prejudice has damaged their careers elsewhere in the world. It's a beautiful tune (moar handpan plz!) and a sweet, if simple, love song. Love is love, say it with me.
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