Maker | Fink

*I claim no ownership or rights over this video.

Lyrics:

“Meet me at the station at seven o'clock
You know what I like and that I like 'em a lot 
Let's go somewhere quiet where we can engage 
Let's go somewhere rowdy where we can misbehave
Coz I'm a maker baby I'm a maker”

Artist: Fin Greenall aka Fink

Song: Maker

Some days I'm just glad that I'm bored and listless. A little restless and trying hard to stay focused on myself and my life. It was a day like this when I got acquainted with this artist.

Days when I don’t want to be annoyingly cheerful and prefer just staying to myself, Fink is a perfect background score. Ambient music combined with his bluesy voice lets one float in their light-headed sphere of thought. Hardly intruding the thought process and filling all empty spaces.

Fink usually sticks to blues, indie folksy stuff with an ambient edge to most of his productions. Maker has a fine pace like his every other piece of work. I got hooked onto Fink with ‘Fear is like fire’ and observed that a steady rhythm plays a major part in all his pieces. What drew me towards Maker were its simple yet sultry lyrics that couldn't have sounded better than how Fink’s voice and technique makes it sound. His style tries to blend into the background instead of standing out against the music. The listener is able to absorb the piece in its entirety.

Highly underrated and I believe,  intentionally so.

About The Artist: 

Fin Greenall, born in 1972 in Cornwall, is an English singer, songwriter, guitarist, producer and DJ. After he earned his degree in History and English from Leeds University where he discovered electronic and dance music, Fink started his career seriously with Ninja Tune subsidiary N-Tone’s release of his single ‘Fink Funk’ in 1997.

With his mother from the field of classical music and father a folk musician himself, music came quite naturally to him. It was more like a way of life that he had grown up with. He produced other artists like Martin Taylor (guitarist), Michael Pitt and Robert Belfour.  One of the songs he co-wrote with Amy Winehouse appears on Winehouse’s posthumous collection called Lioness: Hidden Treasures.

He has also collaborated with artists like Nitin Sawhney and has appeared on the Indian collaborative musical show called the ‘Dewarists’ alongside artists like Salim Sulaiman and Shafqat Amanat Ali.

Some other pieces worth listening to:

•          Fear is like fire
•          Half time feat. Amy Winehouse
•          Wheels

Bread and Butter | Hugo

*I claim no ownership or rights over this video.

Lyrics :

"She tastes like midnight

She tastes like wine
Gonna run my fingers

Oh, down your spine

Just like a bad dream

Stay on my mind"

Artist: Hugo Chakrabongse Levy 

Song: Bread and Butter

Fresh. Catchy. Great sound. This track has everything required to top the charts. Hugo brings to the table something with a punch. Baring a heavy influence of blues, most of his work has catchy hints of country too.

Bread and Butter has a relaxed tempo spiced up with Hugo’s flirtatious voice. The only thing that might let you down in this song is the uncanny similarity of the chords with Dido’s ‘Don’t believe in Love’. That’s the only fact that holds one back from calling it an original thrill.

About The Artist: 

Hugo Chakrabongse Levy (Thai name: Chulachak Chakrabongse), better known as Hugo, is a New York based singer-songwriter. Half-Thai, half-British, Hugo was heavily influenced by blues musicians and rock. With a number of collaborations to his name, he started actively pursuing music in 2010 and released his debut album by 2011. Hugo looks like a very promising artist for the current age of music. Let’s hope his style is preserved over time and doesn't lose its essence in commercial success.

Some other pieces worth listening to:

His Debut Album – Old Tyme Religion

·        99 Problems
·        Old Tyme Religion

 

Ai Du | Ali Farka Touré

*I claim no ownership or rights over this video.

Lyrics (Translated):

"Trust and faith in your fellow man has no equal.
If you have experienced trust you will know its strength.

You must know yourself before you know others."

Artist: Ali Farka Touré (October 31, 1939 – March 7, 2006)

Song: Ai Du

I lived through a mellow high, as if sipping fine wine that lingers in your mouth leaving a burst of flavours that tells a story of its origin. This fine Malian musical piece by Ali Farka Toure starts pouring into a rhythm while it tries to catch up with the beats that tenderly start picking on the strings. I’m sitting with my eyes closed and imagining the guitar doing a waltz with the beats. I slowly forget what I was thinking briefly before being hit by this beautiful rendition and the guitar almost preparing me for some light blues. Just when the beats got me accustomed, Toure pitches in with words far from my understanding yet manages to capture every speck of my attention. The haunting appeal of his voice and the violin trails across and introduces me to a Malian verve very new to me.

The first sip rich in Malian flavours being nudged by the subtle blues and the beats keeping me high. The coarseness of the vocals adding the depth that I just don’t want to let go. Toure pulls me down and leaves me floating back in space. Just when I realize he’s playing with my longing for the flavour to return, he comes back to flirt with the melodies of Mali again. The wanton camaraderie of Malian rythm and the blues bearing a melancholy strain while I feel an unbearable lightness. A mere seven minutes that could explain humanity beyond language. Just emotions. Pure music. 

About The Artist: 

Ali Ibrahim “Farka” Touré (October 31, 1939 – March 7, 2006) was a Malian singer and guitarist, and an internationally renowned musician. His music represents an effortless blend of traditional Malian music and the blues. Touré was ranked number 76 on Rolling Stone’s list of “The 100 Greatest Guitarists of All Time”

Some other pieces worth listening to:

Collaborations with Ry Cooder:

• Soukoura
• Diaraby

Albums:

• The River
• Savane