The Skinner Music Blog is back in town! In this post, I’ll be talking about some artists, duos, and bands who have been combining different ideas into their most recent music to create something that they can call theirs. Who am I talking about? I’m talking about alt-J, Snakehips, Radiohead, and Duke Dumont & Gorgon City.

alt-J

alt-J is an English indie rock band. It consists of  Joe Newman on guitar/lead vocals, Thom Sonny Green on drums, and Gus Unger-Hamilton on keyboard/vocals. Originally formed in 2007, alt-J has been making waves across the world with their unique style and bravery when it comes to taking risks as far as differentiation is concerned. It all started with their 2012 debut album, “An Awesome Wave”. alt-J just released another album earlier this month, titled “Relaxer”. In this album, they throw in creative ideas that can only be developed by the modern technology we have today. They combine this quality along with sounds that are similar to other bands to produce a whole new product that’s pleasing to the ears of anyone that’s a fan of rock or alternative. I applaud that because they are following one of the most important rules of marketing, which is that you have to continue to develop new products in order to stay in business. The unique sound is most apparent in the album’s second track, “In Cold Blood”. In this song, a similar melodic line to Imagine Dragons’ “Radioactive” can be heard. Along with that, I hear elements from the main chorus of the Iron Man theme song by AC/DC in the first two lines of the main chorus of “In Cold Blood”. “Pleader”, the last track on the album, sounds like something you would hear on the zombie mode of Call of Duty Black Ops. The fingerstyle acoustic guitar and orchestral parts provide an ominous yet soothing sound that is unique to alt-J. They accomplish this by constantly switching between the major and minor key. I say that if they keep differentiation strategies like this up, alt-J will still be relevant ten years from now.

Snakehips

Snakehips are a British electronic duo, consisting of Oliver Lee and James Carter. They recently released a trap-style single titled “Right Now”, featuring hip-hop/R&B singer/rapper ELHAE, rapper D.R.A.M., and pop/R&B singer H.E.R. Trap music has been hot for a very long time, and this track certainly hasn’t disappointed. I believe that the smooth yet constantly transitioning instrumentation contributed a lot to the good sound of this song. You can especially hear the transitions during the outro, where the percussion, the piano, and all the vocals wind down then build back up. I know that a lot of people out there say that all trap music sounds the same these days (myself included), but “Right Now” is one-of-a-kind. I also need to mention that the melodic line used throughout this song reminds me of the intro to Muse’s “New Born”, but that may be just my perspective. This great song is the result of great, overall teamwork from Snakehips, ELHAE, D.R.A.M., and H.E.R. to send a message of uniqueness when it comes to electronic trap.

Radiohead

To me, a name like Radiohead sounds like a name that I thought would’ve been taken by another band a long time before this band came together in 1985. Radiohead is an English rock band consisting of Thom Yorke on lead vocals/guitar/piano/keyboards, Jonny Greenwood on lead guitar/keyboards, Ed O’Brien on guitar/backing vocals, Colin Greenwood on bass, and Phil Seway on drums/backing vocals. Most of these members play common instruments, so that’s how you know that magic is bound to happen! Magic is exactly what you hear in their new single, “I Promise”. Promise is a word that can be associated with discipline, and that’s exactly what I hear in the drumbeat. It has a military march vibe to it, which is characterized by the constant accents in the snare drum. Radiohead combines this with soft-spoken lyrics and peaceful yet assertive instrumentation in a major key to make the song very fitting with the title. It just goes to show that not all soft and peaceful music have to be soothing enough to put people to sleep. I definitely recommend this to anyone who likes to listen to peaceful music that isn’t totally soft-sounding.

Duke Dumont & Gorgon City

Duke Dumont is an English house DJ. Gorgon City is an English electronic music production duo, consisting of producers Kye “Foamo” Gibbon and Matt “RackNRuin” Robson-Scott. What happens when you put them together? They make electronic music that I would play at a party or family reunion. Duke Dumont & Gorgon City recently collaborated to make a track named “Real Life”. This also features Naations, a groovy electronic duo that consists of Nat Dunn on machines and Nicky Routledge on vocals. Even though this is song has love lyrics, you can also dance to it. That tells me that you don’t have to be serious all the time in order to love somebody, and that it’s okay to let loose and move your body freely. I also like how the piano is in the background during the intro and the verses then it slowly transitions into the foreground during the chorus. That is just genius and the result of great teamwork between different musicians who have great chemistry together. Talking about collaboration skills honestly reminds me of my days in concert band, marching band, jazz band, steel drum band, and worship band. Even though I didn’t write songs with anyone in either of these ensembles, it still taught me the importance of teamwork and combining ideas to reach a common goal.

There you have it, ladies and gentleman! All of this is just a small testament to the fact that you don’t have to strictly limit yourself to solo artistry in order to succeed in the music industry or listen to good music. I hope y’all keep this in mind and hang around for the next Skinner Music Blog Post!