É um facto conformado que 2013 foi o ano absoluto de Pharrell Williams. Pharrell já anda nestas andanças da música há mais de uma década, mas foi no ano passado que voltou a estar nas bocas do mundo com Get Lucky - que marcou o fabuloso regresso dos Daft Punk - e o polémico Blurred Lines de Robin Thicke.
A 18 de fevereiro, Pharrell Williams anuncia ao mundo o lançamento do seu disco a solo G I R L através de um video.
Pharrell Williams G I R L
Mar 3, 2014
G I R L é uma espécie de álbum conceptual que, na verdade, soa a uma ode às mulheres e ao seu poder, relevância na sociedade e particularidade.
Através de grandes e poderosos nomes da História como Marilyn Monroe, que empresta o nome à primeira faixa do disco, como Joan of Arc ou a Cleópatra, o músico não deixa de fazer uma (dura) crítica aos ideais tão implementados na nossa sociedade moderna, mostrando a importância da diferença numa sociedade cada vez mais igual.
Temos o exemplo de Lost Queen que soa a um tributo sentido com elementos da tributo sul-africana mbube e que recria, com muito sentimento e energia, o louvor da mulher (sempre!).
Claro que para além da mulher, Pharrell é um homem que celebra a vida e a ideia da individualidade, não afectada por conceitos pré-definidos da sociedade, e revela-o num dos maiores hits dos últimos tempos, Happy - ver aqui.
No entanto, este disco vai muito mais além de ser uma grande afirmação feminista, é a verdadeira emancipação de Pharrell Williams enquanto músico, produtor e criativo.
A verdade é que este álbum tinha tudo para falhar, no entanto, é admiravelmente conciso, conduzido pelo amor e defesa das mulheres, tornando-se numa dança ecléctica dentro da temática, sendo uma inspiração ao misturar glamorosamente estilos tão distintos como o funk, o synth-pop ou um R&B mais alternativo, com toques simpáticos dos anos 80.
Com grandes referências em composições clássicas e até música tribal, Pharrell tenta chegar a um mundo tão amplo e diverso.
Sendo um criativo deveras perspicaz, Pharrell soube bem quem quis para o seu lado neste disco ao convidar Justin Timberlake, Daft Punk ou até Miley Cyrus.
Com dez faixas e pouco mais de 45 minutos, G I R L funciona pela sua simplicidade e pelo louvor que faz às mulheres e à sua visão da nossa sociedade.
- Pharrell Williams visita Portugal no próximo dia 3 de Outubro, bilhetes à venda aqui -
Computerized é o resultado da colaboração entre os electrónicos robots Daft Punk e o reconhecido rapper Jay Z.
Não existe qualquer informação disponível sobre a gravação ou se terá um lançamento oficial mas ao que tudo indica que esta colaboração já tem algum tempo (antes do apoio oficial da marca Samsung no novo trabalho do rapper Magna Carta Holy Grail, em que Jay Z pronuncia "She got jealous/I was tapping on my BlackBerry").
Alguns rumores indicam que Kanye West esteve envolvido no processo da música, o site inglês Pitchfork (ver link) nega o envolvimento do músico e produtor norte-americano.
O galardoado produtor e músico Pharrell Williams está de regresso.
Depois de um ano cheio de êxitos, com hits que incluem Get Lucky dos Daft Punk e Blurred Lines de Robin Thickeou, mais recentemente, como vencedor do prémio Grammy para Melhor Produtor do Ano, Pharrell anuncia agora o seu regresso à música.
Hoje anunciou, na página da rede social Facebook, que o seu próximo trabalho se vai chamar GIRL e a data escolhida para o lançamento é o dia 3 de Março.
O álbum já se encontra em pré-venda aqui - quem o fizer, recebe a música Happy (também, incluída na banda sonora do filme de animação Despicable Me 2) de avanço.
This kind of reflections are a bit hard to do - usually, I tend to remember others that should be included and that I find unfair to keep it out. Yet, this is just a reflection, a top of records that I wasn't able to stop listen since the moment they got out!
I might be missing some huge artists whose albums I really enjoyed...
James Blake Overgrown
April 5th, 2013
James Blake is my constant journey. It doesn't matter what he does, I know I'll fall in love for the next record harder than the previous one.
That happened with Overgrown. I heard the album on a local music store and I wasn't able to leave the store without bring the record home. As soon as I arrived home, I put the record on my player and it stayed there for almost two months listening to it, every single day, without any excuse.
Overgrown is such a gorgeous, powerful, out-going record. It's magical the transition from James Blake's previous records to this one.
Overgrown became one of my favourite albums for being so outstanding!
Vampire Weekend Modern Vampires of the City
May 14th, 2013
Vampire Weekend are very special. I've seen them twice already and I never get disappointed. After Contra, I was honestly afraid of their third record and how it would turn out. They have this way of being unique, of mixing things, of risking and creating such magnificent records like Modern Vampires of the City. Vampire Weekend presented a very different and dark album when compared to their previous works.
Modern Vampires of the City reflects an incredible maturity and a more polished side of the young Vampire Weekend, showing not only a big evolution in their sound but the way they are able to transmit it.
Daft Punk have been one of my favourite bands since a very long time. I was more than excited when they released their record after such a long time without releasing anything. Gladly, I couldn't be more proud and I couldn't have enjoyed more this Random Access Memories.
It's a record that can't stop listening to because it's magical, it brings me to a journey of the golden times of music and the amount of different artists and musicians highlighted with their iconic sound and electronic innovation!
John Newman Tribute October 14th, 2013
I have this weird habit of creating musical obsessions. I discovered John Newman in the most random way and by the time, he hadn't announced the release of his first album so, I couldn't be more curious to see how the newbie would sound like.
In August, I wrote "His peculiar approach to music mixed with the iconic and really spiritual vocals and deep and mysterious song writing turn him into one of the most curious artists of 2013 and, surely, deserved to keep an eye on." [read more]
He released a Tribute a solid record, with amazing influences - highlighted with his peculiar voice. One of my favourite discoveries of 2013 and absolutely one of my favourite records of the year!
Highlight goes to:
Stromae Racine Carrée
August 16th, 2013
I found Stromae not long ago. Stromae was the biggest surprise of 2013.
He appeared in my life somewhere in the last few months of the ending year, although he released the record way earlier, and he caught me off guard.
He caught me off guard, not only because I didn't have a big impression in french music but also because I didn't expect french music to be this good (later on, I realised - I already knew - some other artists that I was listening to were also french - like Woodkid or the above Daft Punk).
Stromae is powerful. He makes this fancy electronic (to everybody) kind of music, he reaches to a variety of genres, proving you that not all the electronic music is non sense (once again, I was betrayed by common sense).
He is absolutely outstanding. He is a full-kind of artists, not only concerned with the way his music is written and produced but also emphasising the image and promotion connected to his work. Stromae is iconic and he is able to make huge things out of simple beats and constructing a solid song with great beats, catchy without turning into something ordinary.
Stromae may probably be my favourite artist of 2013 and I just can't wait to keep discovering more and more about his work.
With 28 years old, the Belgian guy is a genius and a huge promise (and I dare to say) in music!
Pharrell Williams, well-known producer and singer who also known for his creativity and innovation.
Plus, he also features in the two biggest hits of 2013: Daft Punk's Get Lucky and Robin Thicke's Blurred Lines.
This week, Pharrell released a new video for Happy - but, this is a very special video.
This is the first 24-hour interactive video, produced by We Are From LA and creative direction of Mimi Valdés and Yoann Lemoine/Woodkid - more information here.
The track plays non-stop, the clip plays for an entire day and can be accessed any time through 24hoursofhappy.com
On the site, you can see the video in real time or forward or rewind in anytime of the day and see the respective part of the video.
The video counts with loads of anonymous who dance and enjoy the song in their dailylife. Every hour, Pharrell appears singing and performing the hit.
Some celebrities like Jamie Foxx, Jimmy Kimmel, Kelly Osbourne or Tyler, The Creator.
Happy is a song taken from Despicable Me 2, where the artist contributes with another two songs.
Daft Punk are THE pinnacle of the electronic music "around the world", agreeing with the name of one of their songs.
These mysterious and iconic band composed by the sophisticated French duo Guy-Manuel de Homem-Christo and Thomas Bangalter are, finally, back!
After a (quite-long) hiatus - if you don't recall Daft Punk's last album was Human After All, released in 2005 and without counting with an adventurous trip through the soundtrack world with Tron: Legacy in 2010 - the band returns with Random Access Memories, which is, for sure, the most expected album of the year, or in Randall Roberts from LA Times words: "(...) no doubt be one of the most polarizing records of the year(...)".
The first thing that is extremely exciting with Daft Punk's Random Access Memories is the way they chose to announce and promote this record, following a gradual and exquisite promotional marketing - using resources like billboards, television adversiting, small teasers and a web series, that we would find somehow outdated but it worked for Daft Punk. Daft Punk are old school, they don't really care about what people expect from them and they surely like to emphasize that.
"Doing it right, everybody will be dancing and we're feeling it right, everybody will be dancing and be doing right, everybody will be dancing and you're feeling all right, everybody will be dancing tonight" from Doin' Right (feat. Panda Bear)
Random Access Memories, or RAM, shows that Daft Punk continues to be the masters of electronic, using more natural elements, bringing an unconventional and characteristic sound like powerful guitar lines, strong upbeat drums and surprisingly some wind instruments, like clarinets - just to mention some elements that are present on this record.
This "human" side contrasts with the "robotic" life that they tried to bright during the last years, especially with their "masks", performances and their synthesized voices.
This album is peculiar because it pays a beautiful tribute to the late 70's and early 80's of the music scene, particularly the sound from the North American artists, bringing up the sound and spirit of those times.
Another curiosity about RAM is the process of recording which involved, mostly, live instruments with live musicians, limiting the electronics to drum machines, modular synthesizers and vintage vocoders.
The amount of collaborations for this record is really unique, counting with Pharrell Williams, Nile Rodgers, Panda Bear, Julian Casablancas, Giorgio Moroder, Todd Edwards, just to name a few.
One of my favorite things about this record is its consistency along more than 70 minutes. We can experience so many different sensations along the way.
From a melodramatic (in the best possible meaning of this word), and cheesy, The Game of Love, to the curious Within or even the lead single, and probably the most animated song from the record, Get Lucky, we can feel a lot of emotions through out the record and that's really exciting - sometimes we get the most festive version of Daft Punk and, at some point, we are having a melodic memory. That's how talented Daft Punk are!
Without losing their sound and electronic spirit, they show how further and different the electronic music can be and that's the most exciting thing we can get from this RAM.
There are songs that have really blown my mind, thanks to their timeless transcendence like Lose Yourself To Dance with Pharrell Williams, with a touch of bugginess and freedom or Touch by the hands (and vocals) of the legendary singer-songwriter Paul Williams.
The transitions from track to track are just delicious - we can listen to elements of the following song but we only realise it when it ends because we get so caught up and lost in each song's memories.
Must-listen songs:Get Lucky, The Game of Love, Instant Crush and Doin' Right.
Concluding, whatever you think you know about electronic music - Daft Punk will break it. Random Access Memories re-designed, re-created their vision and explored a new perspective, mixing both past and future, creating a really involving, spiritual, vivid and most of all, a Daft Punk vision. With an innovating sound, a record with flaws ( but by flaws I mean a state of imperfection that brings a beautiful and constant aura to the entire RAM idea). And the idea in Daft Punk's Fragments of Time, couldn't be more clear than this:"I'll just keep playing back, this fragments of time".
Mostly and genuinely epic.
Pedro Chamorra and Pedro Pinto, two Portuguese musicians, got to know each other between DJ sets and long studio sessions and formed 5 years ago the Voxels.
Their favorite artists go from the Daft Punk, to Basement Jaxx or Armand Van Helden. Voxels had the opportunity to use these sounds in their EP’s edited by national and internacional editors, such as Enchufada, Top Billin or the Con+ainer and in remixes for various artists spread all over the world (Buraka Som Sistema, Chromatics, Tomas Barfod, Spektrum, Moullinex, Ben Mono, etc..), showing different sides of the duo.
2013 marks the year that they decided it was finally time to have an album of their own and created their first album: Bachelor House. It ranges from the best dance music from the 90s, to the happy Disco-House, melodic and funky which lead an entire generation to listen to music in dark rooms.
Bachelor House is described as powerful, fun and melodic. It’s an album that takes its listeners in a travel into the world of dance music. With this debut album, the Voxels share their interpretation of the history of the House music with the rest of the world.
Bachelor House is the first single of this first album.
Zedd (Anton Zaslavski) was born 23 years ago in Russia but has been living in Germany since he was a baby.
Zeed is a electronic-dance music producer and the first CD he had was Discovery by Daft Punk and they were the only source of electronic music he had for several years. Later on, Zedd discovered Justice and these two bands were the ones that got him into the electronic music.
So far Zedd produced several remixes including remixes of Born This Way and Marry The Night (hits of Lady Gaga), Scary Monsters and Nice Sprites (Skrillex) and Save The World (Swedish House Mafia).
Zedd's debut album is called Clarity and it was released in October by Interscope Records.
Spectrum was released as the second single featuring Matthew Koma (the song was wrote by the two artists) and reached umber one on Billboard's Hot Dance Club Songs.
Breathing you in when i want you out
Finding our truth in a hope of doubt
Lying inside our quite drama, A-A-Ah
Wearing your heart like a stolen dream
Opening skies with your broken keys
No one can blind us any longer.
Zedd about his music: I hope that I can touch people with my music. It is electronic dance music, which is usually made for clubs, but I want to reach and touch everyone with my music! I want people to be able to just listen to it when they’re at home, in the car or whenever they like to listen to music. I don’t want to make music that is only made for clubs.
Modjo was a French house/pop duo composed by the producer Romain Tranchart and the singer Yann Destagnol - also known as Yann Destal.
The members met each other in 1998. The first big result of their recording sessions was the hit Lady (Hear Me Tonight) that got very known in 2000. The song is really influenced by heavy pop and disco and features a sample from Chic's Soup For One.
Other successful songs were Chillin', What I Mean and No More Tears.
The duo has just release a self-titled album in September 2001.
After the release of No More Tears in 2002, the band decided to pursuit solo career.
They name Daft Punk, DJ Sneak and Ian Pooley has influences.
Go Periscope are an amazing new electrorock band from Seattle.
With an album released in 2010, several EPs, already talked on Rolling Stone magazine - with two great hits Crush Me and Take It Personal, Go Periscope have everything to be successful on the music business.
Very kindly Joshua Frazier, the other part of the duo with Florin Merano, answered our questions with all the possible honesty and made this a very nice interview, where you can know a little more about the band and their personal choices.
Fuck Yeah Music Stories:We know you are from Seattle, how and when did you start in music? Joshua - Go Periscope: We both had our own individual projects for awhile, and originally we started working together by just collaborating on different projects. Pretty soon that started picking up to where even though I was going to school in Bellingham, WA and he was in school in Seattle we were making the 3 hour drive every other day after class, staying up all night to work on music, and then heading back to class. After doing that for about a year, we decided to make it an actual band, and work on, what is now our debut album.
FYMS:How did you meet each other? J-GP: We both played the same sports in High School, so we became friends through Cross Country, Basketball and Soccer. We never talked about music when we first started hanging out, so later after we were friends for awhile it was actually surprising that both of us had these individual projects we were privately working on, haha.
FYMS:Why the name “Go Periscope”? J-GP: We’ve always like the idea of viewing things from a different perspective., which is what a periscope does while a submarine is underwater. We try to take different music genres, and just show incorporate it in a new and different way. It’s why we aren’t really any one specific genre, but rather a bunch of different genres mashed into one.
FYMS:Can you name any artist you would trade with? J-GP: I think success why’s we would trade with quite a few, haha… But honestly music is a journey, so you the idea of trading with anyone wouldn’t actually be rewarding, even though playing as Daft Punk or Blink 182 for a night would be pretty damn cool.
FYMS:You’ve recently shared on your twitter account (@GoPeriscope) something related with your new album –“ This next album is getting better and better everyday.” What can you tell us about it? J-GP: For this album, we have a very clear idea of where our sound is. We learned so much as songwriters and producers on the first album, and it just feels like we’ve really come into our own as artists in the past year and a half. This album has lots of 80’s influences, plus we are all around better instrumentalists/vocalists then we were, so it’s just exciting to apply everything to get each song where we want it, without having to settle.
(Left: Joshua Frazier / Right: Florin Merano)
FYMS:When you write songs, how do you get that inspiration from? Is there a special place where you write them? J-GP: We both are inspired by different things, and sometimes write songs from start to finish together, or sometimes write individual pieces a part. It can be on a road trip, or maybe even an idea pops into my head while I’m at the grocery store and I’ll just bust out my phone and sing an entire verse free-style. We really don’t have any specific system, but when one of us has an idea that we are really excited about it, we call the other one, and we head straight to the studio. It’s really fun that way.
FYMS:Which artists influence you the most? J-GP: I would say 80’s bands like Eurythmics and Phil Collins have huge influences on our sound. We also love dance artists like Daft Punk, Tiesto, and Above & Beyond, and modern rock bands like The Bravery, Anberlin and Blink 182. We really like to take our favorite parts of each genre and add those pieces to our songs.
FYMS:Did you ever thought on planning a European tour? J-GP: Every day, haha.
FYMS:What do you know about Portugal? J-GP: I know Cristiano Ronaldo, (who is one of my favorite soccer players) plays and is from there.
FYMS:Go Periscope has some live experience. How did you feel/thought the first time you played on a stage? J-GP: The first time we played on stage was just the coolest feeling ever. This is our first band, and even though we spent a lot of time writing songs, and playing music together, we were really reserved about sharing it with anyone, until finally we posted some songs online and people were really supportive about it. There is a great energy when you are on stage and performing music that you love. For me, nothing compares to that.
FYMS:Is there any place you would love to play in? J-GP: We’d love to play anywhere in Europe honestly. Dance and Electronic music in general is just so celebrated there, I can only imagine how fun it would be to play for a crowd there. OR New York, we’ve never played there either.
FYMS:Which is the most surreal thing that you ever done? J-GP: Probably being in Rolling Stone Magazine, as an unsigned band. That is so extremely rare, and I think my mom bought like 30 copies, haha.
FYMS:Besides the new album that is coming, are there any future projects? J-GP: Yeah, we have a few really exciting collaborations with some really cool artists.
FYMS:If you weren’t a musician, what would you probably be? J-GP: Well we are both graphic designers, and Florin is pretty into photography. But there’s no way I could ever stop making music. We will both continue to be songwriters and producers until we die, and even then, I’ll probably sing some haunting ghost sounds from the grave. We love making music.
FYMS:Are there any secret talents that people don’t have any idea that you have? J-GP: Hmm, I already mentioned the whole art/graphic design thing. We do produce and write songs for other artists, which is really fun. It gives us a chance to dabble in a bunch of different genres, and work with some really talented and passionate people.
FYMS:How is your relationship with your fans? Which was the most awkward moment you had? J-GP: I would say it’s the best? Haha. I mean, even though we haven’t gotten to play everywhere we want to yet, we are really accessible online. We try to answer everybody that takes the time to leave us a message or comment on twitter/facebook/etc. because it’s such a cool way to instantly connect with the people that like your music. The only awkward moment was at a show, I forgot I had gum in my mouth, so as the chorus for the first song started, it flew out of my mouth onto the front of the stage, and somebody reached out and took it. I was like “Eww, what do you want with that?!” haha.
FYMS:Complete these sentences... a)One Day... J-GP: ... we will be as cool as Michael J. Fox was in Back To The Future. b)The best thing people can say about me... J-GP: ... we are genuine to everybody we meet.
c)And the worst... J-GP: ... we’re too busy sometimes for the people in our lives that we care about. d) In ten years... J-GP: … I’ll still be rockin’ vans.
Went to see Tron today, and was A M A Z I N G!
It worth every single cent i spent on the ticket, besides going with my friends which is always a good thing.
But this movie, my people, was very very well done. Althought it's from Disney it's not childish at all, complementing the best of both world Digital and Our World. It's brutal how connected they makes us think we are, with a very deep and special bond.
It's an amazing movie I totally suggest it.
I must confess that initially I was pretty curious to see this movie, mostly because Daft Punk were making the absolute soundtrack and surprisingly I loved the soundtrack since the very beginning such as the movie!
