Hello, Welcome to blog post number 15! Also happy fathers day to everyone in the UK too! Today I will be talking about a soul singer/songwriter from New Mexico called Raul Midon and his album 'State of Mind' (2005). He has released newer albums, but this is the album that I am most familiar with and I think is a brilliant soul album. The first thing you should know about Raul before I jump into his album is that he was born blind. He has an incredible guitar skill and uses his mouth as a trumpet which in words sounds a little strange, but when you hear it, it sounds like a real trumpet which is pretty awesome to hear. His vocal range is ridiculous, its definitely a treat to hear a soul singer with such a dynamic range. He has beaten all the typical stereotypes that come with being blind. The fact he's been told that he can't do this and he will never be able to do that. He's thrown that out the window and has showed everyone what he is capable of and I have massive respect for him for following his dream and passion. 'State Of Mind' is a beautiful album of some display's of Raul's musical skills. The strongest song of the whole album is "State Of Mind". It demonstrates his huge vocal range which is at times impressive. Uses his trumpet with his mouth and the whole song flows nicely. That's one thing this album does is keep everything flowing through each song, you can hear that there has been a lot of thought in each song. He has also done some collaborations on this album with people such as Traincha, Jason Mraz and Stevie Wonder. A line up of collaborations of that calibre is definitely an attraction to give this album a listen.
Stevie Wonder plays his harmonica and some backing vocals on a track called 'Expressions Of Love' which is a slow soft song that is played with a lot of delicate tone. The only down side to this song is that its quite a short song at only 2:50 which is a shame considering its such a major collaboration. Then again I'd rather it be a short and brilliant song, than a long and boring track. Then again, this is Stevie Wonder we're talking about here. Each collaborated song is chosen really well. I think when Raul wrote the song, he knew exactly who to get to play for each song. The song 'Keep On Hoping' with Jason Mraz sounds like the perfect song for Jason to sing on. His voice is portrayed in this song really well, it sounds like a song on one of his older albums.
I think the collaborated songs are definitely stronger than the solo performances. Its not the fact they're bad or boring. I just feel like there is a lot more presented from the performances with other people. The only strong song from just himself is the song "State Of Mind". I hope you'll check this man's brilliant talent and keep the soul genre alive as its always ever been! If you enjoyed this post, there are others to check out of the right with the blog history and if you want to get updates of when I next post, subscribe via your email! Thank you for reading and until next time. Lewis
So...this absolute gem of an album came out of no-where for me. I never was a massive follower of Paolo Nutini's work apart from the popular songs. Could this record be a contender for the best album of 2014!?
I knew Paolo was a singer/songwriter and I did enjoy his older work such as 'Pencil Full of Lead', but since he had a five and a half year gap between albums I didn't know he was coming back and I was pleasantly surprised. I cannot stop playing this album, it has everything in it to be one of the great albums that I'll be listening to in many years to come. I bought this album on Itunes as it was the #1 in the album charts and I'm now tempted to buy it on vinyl too!
The songs that are on this album have such a diverse range of genre's from funk to soul to R&B to alternative and I love this. There is nothing for Paolo to say that he did this for popularity, there is not one song on this album he purposefully made to be top of the charts like some artists these days. Each one has been crafted into something that all musicians should look up to. He's created some outstanding pieces of music including "Iron Sky". Wow... what a powerful song that is!
Fantastic Artwork
Not only are the structure and grace of the songs well produced, its the musicians he has hired for this job that impressed me. Where he found these musicians is beyond me, they must be some of the best session musicians I've heard in a long time. It's as if they have practised these songs for years it sounds that good. Nothing seems too unbalanced or over-played, everything seems just perfectly balanced for each track. I give those musicians massive credit for making this album. If they weren't apart of it, I don't think I would be rating this album so highly.
My band mate Dan said that he had gone off Paolo Nutini after his last album because his lyrics and overall vibe of the album were too 'childish'. I listened back to his old album and I understood where he was coming from completely, but I guess everybody knew him after that album. The lyrics and overall sound on this record though are a lot more mature. Obviously having five years off does you wonders. One sentence that stands out to me in the album is from 'Iron Sky' and he says "Mass confusion, spoon-fed to the blind". I still do not understand why that sentence stands out to me, but I think its genius.
The sections that I wasn't too keen on were the interludes between songs, but once you have heard them a few times they really grow on you. Personally 'Superfly' is a great interlude just because of the movie line at the beginning talking about boys playing in the streets, but not making them very popular. A crazy bold move by Paolo!
One thing that stands out to me the most about this album from anything else is the amount of energy Paolo puts into the songs. You can hear in single one of them that he has poured his heart and soul into every song. Each song he has spent countless hours creating and producing and now they're ready to go onto a record he wants to put every ounce of himself into each one and its fantastic to hear.
The top songs I would recommend on this album are "Iron Sky", "Scream (Funk My Life Up)", "Let Me Down Easy" and "One Day". The song "Better Man" is one of the songs that shouts out to me a song for a partner because they lyrics are so true from a guys point of view to a girl in a sweet way. Although don't get me wrong the other songs are fantastic, but if you don't have a lot of time these are the ones to check out!
I would seriously recommend anyone who is looking for new material to give this a good few listens and enjoy each song. This may not be everybody's cup of tea, but it shouldn't of been my sort of music, but each one grew on me and its definitely going to be a tough contender for best album of 2014 for myself and maybe in the industry!?
P.S As a quick pointer, I was so engaged on writing this I wrote it in 20 minutes!? Though this was just the text, without putting links or photos in. Listening to the album whilst writing I guess helps, but this was one blog I've just poured out onto.
This is the first blog in the series called 'My Favourite Artist'. These blogs will be looking at people who I really enjoy listening to, the advantages and disadvantages of the artist and the best tracks they have to offer. Also a little warning too... there is some use of offensive language in this blog. This will be a very long (and I mean it) blog, but I hope you'll all stay till the end as I'll put up some videos for you to go listen to some of his best work.
So, what better way to start this series off than looking at this artist who is easily in my top 3. Mr Frank Turner.
He is a folk/punk singer-songwriter from Hampshire, UK and his lyric writing is a talent that most songwriters would die to have. I am a massive fan of speaking from the heart and writing down lyrics that really mean something to you. Every one of his songs have been from past experiences or tell a very true tale in life. I'd like to start off with some example of his lyrics just so you understand where I'm coming from before I start rambling.
"I Knew Prufrock Before He Became Famous":
"Well life is about love, lost minutes and lost evenings, About fire in our bellies and about furtive little feelings, And the aching amplitudes that set our needles all a-flickering, And they help us with remembering that the only thing that’s left to do is live..."
"Love Ire & Song": (My personal favourite song)
"Well it was bad enough the feeling, the first time it hit, When you realised your parents had let the world all go to shit, And that the values and ideals for which many had fought and died, Had been killed off in the committees and left to die by the wayside, But it was worse when we turned to the kids on the left, And got let down again by some poor excuse for protest, Yeah by idiot fucking hippies in 50 different factions, Who are locked inside some kind of 60's battle re-enactment..."
"Redemption":
Well I tried so hard to not turn into my father, But if I only ever skip out his choices will I ever choose better? Oh the sad truth is the grass, it will always seem greener, So I left you alone in a restaurant in London in winter, You deserved better..."
"Peggy Sang The Blues":
"It doesn't matter where you come from, It matters where you go, No one gets remembered, For the things they didn't do..."
"Substitute":
"And if music was the food of love Then I'd be a fat romantic slob Well music, it's my substitute for love"
Hopefully you get my point now why I believe he is such a fantastic writer. Apologies for the large amounts of examples, its hard to get all the best lyrics into a small section. Believe me it was more difficult than I imagined!
So, above are some examples of his lyrics. I spoke to one of my BIMM tutors about him as he is a massive Bob Dylan fan and he believes that Frank Turner is the young generation version of him. Let me explain what he told me. Bob Dylan wasn't afraid to speak his mind, write down how he felt and this shocked a lot of people. Which inevitably got him to be one of the most successful and popular singer-songwriters to date. Although some of his songs were on the borderline, including one about a famous murder and the details of what happened, this type of writing hasn't been apart of songs since.
Well, not since I discovered Frank Turner. Some of his writing has shocked me personally and its a good feeling. One song he wrote called "Glory Hallelujah" , he was basically saying that there is no God, go and be free everyone. The chorus of that song goes;
"There is no God
So clap your hands together
There is no God
So ring that victory bell"
When I first heard the song I thought 'woah.. woah... woah, he can't sing this, its offensive'! Then when my tutor at BIMM told me about how Bob Dylan's song writing was much worse to the point people wanted to kill him, it made me see how spiritually free Frank Turner is. The fact he doesn't give a shit about flipping the finger to Christianity is a bold and brave move. I'm surprised his record label Xtra Mile gave him permission to put that on his record!
Not only is his songwriting to a high standard, he also put together a band that can produce some beautiful music. The band are called 'The Sleeping Souls' and they're a four piece band that know how to put on a show! Along with Frank Turner's energetic stage presence, these four add to the energy and will make you dance your socks off!
Hello, 
