Many a casual guitarist might have come across CandyRat Records on Youtube by chance. The label's most famous names include Don Ross and especially Andy McKee (of 'Rylynn' and 'Drifting' fame).
There are those who think that the video above just shows some bald dude smacking the paint off his guitar and making a series of incoherent sounds, and there are those who are able to appreciate the technical and compositional brilliance of the CandyRat artists. Listed below are a few of my favourite songs/artists from this label. All of you should check them out right now.
Kelly Valleau (Song: Anubis)
Kelly Valleau, like many of his label-mates, is Canadian. He makes most of his money playing classical guitar, but proves that his percussive/ethnic play is just as strong as that of anyone out there.
Ewan Dobson (Song: Time 2)
Dobson gained recent fame for this piece, which draws from his trance/video-game influences. Still, he remains criminally underrated.
Antoine Dufour (Song: Reality)
Antoine Dufour is arguably CandyRat's most creative mind; his songs tend to lack traditional structure and flow and his ideas are abstract. This stuff is more for serious listeners.
Maneli Jamal (Song: Cold Arrival)
Maneli is one of CandyRat's newest artists but is a longtime favourite of mine. 'Cold Arrival' was written before Maneli got signed to CandyRat Records and draws from his many cultural influences (he's ethnically Persian but has lived in a number of countries and finally settled in Canada).
There are many more equally amazing musicians (not just guitarists) signed up to CandyRat Records but I haven't got the time to list all of them out. Regardless, this label has been an absolute fountain of entertainment and inspiration for me for the past three or four years now, and I hope that you will derive the same pleasure from listening to its artists' creations as I have. Enjoy!
Showing posts with label Youtube. Show all posts
Showing posts with label Youtube. Show all posts
Saturday, 12 January 2013
Tuesday, 9 October 2012
BluesJamTracks is awesome
The guitarists among you might have come across the Youtube channel 'bluesjamtracks' and seen its videos featuring famous artistes playing to backing tracks taken off its sister website (jamtrackcentral.com).
Those who, like me, claim regular viewership of this channel are in luck. Bluesjamtracks has just released a new series of featured videos including the below:
CHRISTOPHE GODIN
ANDY JAMES
GUTHRIE GOVAN
Holy shit! Three (and more) of the guitar universe's beastliest players featured on this site!? Add this series of videos to my list of time-killers during army duty.
Those who, like me, claim regular viewership of this channel are in luck. Bluesjamtracks has just released a new series of featured videos including the below:
CHRISTOPHE GODIN
ANDY JAMES
GUTHRIE GOVAN
Holy shit! Three (and more) of the guitar universe's beastliest players featured on this site!? Add this series of videos to my list of time-killers during army duty.
Tuesday, 10 July 2012
Four Underrated Youtube Musicians
Hello world, this is JE and this is my first ever online music review.
Before we dive into the review allow me to briefly introduce my taste in music: I play the guitar (acoustic and electric), flute and ukulele and am a fan of pretty much anything that is old (mid-nineties and before: Elvis, the Bee Gees, Carpenters etc.), heavy (anything from Aerosmith-heavy to Cannibal Corpse-heavy) or driven by any of the instruments I play (James Galway, Greg Pattillo, John Petrucci etc.).
Here in this review I am going to share five Youtube artists that simply don't get enough credit for their skill, musicality and video production. My benchmark: if 'Baby' is able to garner one hundred million views, so should any half-decent song/artist.
1. Oliver Mochmann
Mochmann is a German multi-instrumentalist (flute, guitar and more) who mainly performs jazz and funk pieces. His nuanced musicality combined with his slick video and audio production makes for worthwhile viewing. Below is a video of his song 'Bietribschluss', a 'chill' smooth-jazz piece with understated yet stylish percussive guitar.
2. Sid Sriram
This American singer of Indian heritage can really hold a tune, as seen and heard in the video below (his rendition of the classic Beatles tune 'Yesterday'). His singing style is a testament to his culture and upbringing (as a child he practiced the Indian Carnatic vocal style), and he plays a mean piano as well. He already has a few originals such as 'Limitless', which are worth checking out as well.
3. Muris Varajic
Truth be told, I have a soft spot for artists who draw from their culture and ethnicity to enhance the aural experiences of their fans and listeners, and Muris Varajic - possibly one of the top twenty electric guitarists alive right now - does so frequently yet tastefully, as seen in the piece 'Final Dance'. Combining Western rock and jazz with ethnic Bosnian music, Varajic has been churning out masterpiece after masterpiece for a while.
4. Christophe Godin
A legitimate guitar virtuoso and a thoroughly entertaining performer, Godin has flown under the mainstream radar for a good two or three decades now - a shame, considering that the stuff he comes up with right on the spot beats 99% of the polished, heavily-produced stuff on today's radio. The video below is testament to both his improvisational skill and his capability as a live act.
Hope you people find the aforementioned artists entertaining and enjoyable to listen to :)
- JE
Before we dive into the review allow me to briefly introduce my taste in music: I play the guitar (acoustic and electric), flute and ukulele and am a fan of pretty much anything that is old (mid-nineties and before: Elvis, the Bee Gees, Carpenters etc.), heavy (anything from Aerosmith-heavy to Cannibal Corpse-heavy) or driven by any of the instruments I play (James Galway, Greg Pattillo, John Petrucci etc.).
Here in this review I am going to share five Youtube artists that simply don't get enough credit for their skill, musicality and video production. My benchmark: if 'Baby' is able to garner one hundred million views, so should any half-decent song/artist.
1. Oliver Mochmann
Mochmann is a German multi-instrumentalist (flute, guitar and more) who mainly performs jazz and funk pieces. His nuanced musicality combined with his slick video and audio production makes for worthwhile viewing. Below is a video of his song 'Bietribschluss', a 'chill' smooth-jazz piece with understated yet stylish percussive guitar.
2. Sid Sriram
This American singer of Indian heritage can really hold a tune, as seen and heard in the video below (his rendition of the classic Beatles tune 'Yesterday'). His singing style is a testament to his culture and upbringing (as a child he practiced the Indian Carnatic vocal style), and he plays a mean piano as well. He already has a few originals such as 'Limitless', which are worth checking out as well.
3. Muris Varajic
Truth be told, I have a soft spot for artists who draw from their culture and ethnicity to enhance the aural experiences of their fans and listeners, and Muris Varajic - possibly one of the top twenty electric guitarists alive right now - does so frequently yet tastefully, as seen in the piece 'Final Dance'. Combining Western rock and jazz with ethnic Bosnian music, Varajic has been churning out masterpiece after masterpiece for a while.
4. Christophe Godin
A legitimate guitar virtuoso and a thoroughly entertaining performer, Godin has flown under the mainstream radar for a good two or three decades now - a shame, considering that the stuff he comes up with right on the spot beats 99% of the polished, heavily-produced stuff on today's radio. The video below is testament to both his improvisational skill and his capability as a live act.
Hope you people find the aforementioned artists entertaining and enjoyable to listen to :)
- JE
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