sunny day music

Here in Philly we got something like four feet of snow in one week. That was two weeks ago. A lot of that snow is still with us, blocking intersections and taking up parking spaces. Up until the last couple of days, it's been cold and grey. I think we're all ready for spring, myself included. In an effort to warm my insides, I've had a couple of sunny feeling records on repeat. It just so happens that both of them are from Stones Throw Records.



Koushik - Be With

I've been a fan of this album for a long time. Koushik's beat making skills are underrated and under used. He has the pallet of a hip-hopper and the flavor of an electronic composer. Just take one listen to the title track and tell me it doesn't sound like a summer day. You can feel the waves of sunshine in the reversed swirls, hear birds singing in the flute samples and Koushik's vocals sound as if they are under water - a nearby spring perhaps, that gently laps the rocks and sand as you sit in this sunny sonic field. The vocals stay submerged throughout the album, creating a laid back feel even on tracks where the drums are running through the field instead of lounging in it. The album is full of backyard barbecues, water plug fun and playground hi-jinx. "Battle Rhymes for Battle Times" is my favorite. There is something nostalgic about it's synth samples and I love the punch that the drums pack. Perhaps a good soundtrack for a water gun fight?

Be With - Koushik

Sound Directions - The Funky Side of Life

This is a Madlib project, similar to Yesterdays New Quintet. He commissioned a small group of jazz players to record this collection of mostly covers and then gave them his signature spins and accents. It's cruisin' music. You know, top down, two miles an hour so everybody sees you. The drums are the kind DJ Shadow would have killed for back in the mid '90s, when he was making good music. The horns are, in fact, funky. It's just really good jazzy, hip-hop lounge music. Madlib is a genius. A Tribe Called Quest loyalists will recognize "Forty Days".

Fourty Days - Sound Directions

What I find almost as interesting as the music itself is how it manages to make me feel anything. How does this combination of drum, bass, sax and voice conjure up warm settings and memories in my mind? I'm not sure I understand how that all works, whether it's a chemical reaction or if something in the music is actually linked to a past experience that has been locked in my subconscious. I read an article about this in The Economist a while ago. Apparently there are several studies and a lot of money going towards trying to figure out the answer to my question. I think I prefer to keep it a mystery though.