🎧 Songs of the Week #10: This is where you dance and be all cheeky
🎧 Songs of the Week #10: This is where you dance and be all cheeky
📅 November 19-25, 2022: Featuring Everydayz & Phazz, Barry Can't Swim feat. Taite Imogen, Romain Garcia, Tape B, and DOPE LEMON (Cedric Gervais Remix)
Welcome to week #10 of the Steel Orca Songs of the Week.
Well, I spoke too soon. Even as I was writing it last week, I knew it was too soon…
From the opening paragraph of last week’s post:
We seem to be through the worst (which wasn’t that bad). Hopefully, this will inure our bodies against other pathogens 🦠 for the rest of the season (I’m not holding my breath… haha).
I was asking for it, I guess. I’ve had a pretty good track record of not getting sick, and then, even if I do, only getting a very mild version of whatever everyone in my house got.
Unfortunately, because I wrote that in my post last week, the gods decided to smite me to show me that I’m no more immune to the common cold and flu virus than everyone else in my life, and I proceeded to get much more ill over the weekend and into this week than when I wrote that sentence. What was I thinking 🤔?
Somehow I’ve still managed to pick five songs and take some time to write about them (and my week, I guess). Unless you have a headache, music is still something you can enjoy with a cold or flu.
Anyway, do I dare now write that I feel like I’m turning the corner on this sickness? Or do I have to pretend now that it doesn’t exist?
With the plethora of viruses this winter, I realize that a solid nutrition/vitamin/hydration and exercise regimen is even more critical than I thought. Also, regular handwashing 🧼. I am not one to get sick easily (or so I thought), but this took me down for a day or so 🤒.
I also realize that given that this week is American 🇺🇸 Thanksgiving 🦃 (you guys like how I qualified that), there’s probably a significant opportunity for a bump in numbers given that this post is going to drop on, *gasp*, Black Friday. Or maybe not, because everyone will be out shopping 🛒. Either way, I’ll post some clever tweets about “taking a break from shopping and enjoying the Songs of the Week,” etc. I’m sure you’re all on the edge of your seat.
Speaking of tweets, what a gong show the Twitter scene is, eh? (I’m going to drop more eh’s to show I’m Canadian 🇨🇦). The irony is that, as I stated in another post, I hadn’t used it for years, but because I started this newsletter and wanted to promote it, I created an account and restarted everything over there. The same goes for Instagram, honestly. I wanted to start the promotion for this from the ground up, but what an insane time for me to create a Twitter account again.
On that note, here are a few observations regarding Twitter lately:
No matter how you feel about Elon, announcing you’re quitting Twitter (or any app you use) with a thunderous public statement is one of the silliest things I can imagine (examples below):
Welp. It’s been fun Twitter. I’m out. See you on other platforms, peeps. Sorry, this one’s just not for me. ❤️🙏🏼
.@WhoopiGoldberg says on #TheView that "as of tonight," she's "done with Twitter." "I'm going to get out, and if it settles down and I feel more comfortable, maybe I'll come back." abcn.ws/2RiH3wdJust a note, of all the above people “quitting,” Whoopi Goldberg is the only one who deleted her Twitter account. The others are still active.
Say what you will about Whoopi, but I’ve always liked her. I used to watch Sister Act on repeat as a child. Super underrated movie 🎞️. Anyway, she deleted an account with 1.6 million followers. Pretty ballsy. I get that she’s pretty famous and could restart it and bring them back relatively quickly, but that’s putting your money where your mouth is. I don’t always agree with her (and don’t really in this instance), but kudos to her for following through.
Elon accidentally locking everyone out of the building (then locking them in, etc.) because he fired the guy who manages card access is hilarious and shows that even an intelligent guy like Elon is limited in his understanding of how a company runs;
All of the previously banned or suspended people being reinstated is at least exciting, even if you don’t like those who are being reinstated. However, if you’re an outside observer (which I seemingly am), then it’s just everyone getting more and more worked up over who can tweet or not when they always have the option to just mute or block them from their feed. Honestly, I don’t get it, but that’s also why I avoided Twitter for the last ten years 🤷.
And, of course, the most controversial person they reinstated still has yet to tweet anything. So it looks like he’s sticking to his own social media platform, at least for now 💸.
If I didn’t have something to promote (i.e. this newsletter), I don’t think I’d have Twitter at all, as I think outside of a business context, it’s sort of an unhealthy social medium for me (and maybe will prove to be so even in this context). Too impulsive - it seems to reward saying nasty things to each other as the most incendiary tweets get the most engagement. I’ve found myself saying rude things to people on a whim, realizing what I’m doing, and deleting them immediately. Not a good impulse from me. Looks like some self-reflection is in order 🧘.
Regardless, I hope everyone (Thanksgiving or not) can find peace✌️ and contentment this week in light of recent trying times 🌎.
Finally, I want to thank Charmae and Thomfjord for all the love this week on Twitter and Instagram, respectively 🙏. In light of a tough week, getting this post out and getting a bit of a positive push (RIP Brody) from the musicians whose music we’re trying to highlight really helps.
Playlist Breakdown
Here are the songs for the week of November 25, 2022 🛍️.
Youtube Music ▶️: Songs of the Week #10 - Steel Orca
Good playlist this week (I guess I should say that every week). Given the illness, it took me a bit to pick the songs this week, but I’m pretty happy with this selection.
One thing before we delve into the playlist - I had spoken in last week’s post about wanting to add some key details to each song (release date, label, genre), and I added another metric this week - Spotify Plays. This isn’t connected directly via API or something like that, so this is just a moment-in-time snapshot 📸 of how many plays the song had when I did this post. At some point (probably in the new year or during the holiday season when I have some more downtime), I’m going to use these details to solidify my “hipness” metric for each song (and hopefully produce some clever little graphics to go along with it). More to come on that in the new year 📅.
Everydayz, Phazz - Almeria
Release Date: April 20, 2015
Label: Nowadays Records
Genre: Electro House
Spotify Plays: 3,593,989
Whenever I see a song or album with two different artists, but they’re both credited, and with a comma between their names, it’s always a bit confusing 😕. So is this Everydayz’ album with Phazz featuring on it? Or is it truly a collaboration?
In the case of this album, it’s the latter. Everydayz and Phazz collaborated on the entirety of this album (named after this song) but, respectively, have music out on their own. Not surprisingly, I hadn’t heard of either of these guys until I listened to this week's song.
These guys are from France 🇫🇷, adding to the pile of excellent French DJs/musicians/composers. I should probably add a “country of origin” detail to determine where most of the music I’m listening to comes from. France ranks pretty high on that list (especially considering the genres I’m focusing on with this newsletter).
Finally, in a throwback to our week eight post, a 20syl remix of Almeria came out a year after this was released. Good to see that the French musicians seem to stick together and support each other.
Barry Can’t Swim - God is the Space Between Us (featuring Taite Imogen)
Release Date: March 30, 2022
Label: Technicolor
Genre: Electronica
Spotify Plays: 3,171,800
This was almost the song of the week. I love this song.
Taite Imogen sings the lyrics of this song, which are airy and ethereal and sort of blend into the overall melody. It’s subtle but excellently done.
She describes herself on her Facebook page as a “UK-based soulstress.” The definition of a soulstress (according to Wiktionary) is “a performer of soul music.” Shocking, I know 😲. So I would have to say that this song, though officially electronica, does have a lot of soul.
On that note, the lyrics are subtle but deep and emotionally meaningful:
Here I am, and you’re gone
Keep me safe when I’m alone
Even when you’re gone
Be the place that I call home
From Barry Can’t Swim’s booking agency, Wasserman music:
Edinburgh born, London Based producer Barry Can't Swim (real name Joshua Mannie) is quickly becoming well known for his trademark blend of skillfully crafted electronic production mixed with Jazz inspired strings and keys.
The classically trained artist grew to love Jazz from a young age, learning how to play the piano from the age of 9, to then working in various Jazz bars during his teenage years, which inspired a deep understanding and appreciation for the genre. During his time at university Joshua expanded his musical skill set, becoming involved in various bands, picking up the guitar, bass and drums, to then working as an intern at Glasgow's SOMA Records, giving him an insight into the underground electronic scene. Shortly after he made the move to London and became fully immersed in dance culture and electronic music, developing his solo electronic projects and honing his craft, which eventually evolved into Barry Can't Swim at the start of 2020.
Romain Garcia - White Flag
Release Date: January 8, 2021
Label: Ton Töpferei
Genre: Melodic House & Techno
Spotify Plays: 1,245,051
So maybe it’s just me, but I read the name Romain Garcia, and I think this guy is probably Spanish 🇪🇸. Garcia? That sounds Spanish.
Nope. Again, French (though he probably has some Spanish or Mexican heritage, I’d guess). From Resident Advisor:
Romain Garcia is a French producer of melodic house & techno music. Dj for many years in several Parisian Clubs, Romain has been working on his own tracks and recently collaborated with artists from the Ton Töpferei and Anjunadeep labels
It makes me realize I should probably plan a trip to France in the future to hit up all these sweet French clubs with these sweet DJs. A man can dream 😴.
This song is excellent, but there is also an extended mix of this song available that’s about 2 minutes longer). Both versions are good, but I prefer this slightly shorter original version (and so does everyone else, according to the Spotify numbers) 📈.
Tape B - About Me Too
Release Date: October 27, 2021
Label: SoundCloud Direct
Genre: Deep Dubstep/Grime
Spotify Plays: 248,749
The most "underground 🚇 song on the list by far.
Based out of Florida, Tape B describes his music on his Facebook:
Bridging the gap between Hip Hop and Bass music with flips that drip and orginals that make it impossible to do anything but shake your booty.
This song is described as “deep dubstep” or “grime,” which is not a genre I’m familiar with, except maybe Dizzee Rascal or The Streets.
The song is a bit slow in BPM but kicks in around the 2-minute mark with these awesome syncopated synths (I don’t know if that’s exactly right, but that’s how I’m describing them). I realized that I have a genuine love for that sound, and I tend to like any song with that as a musical device (or it has to really suck for me not to like it).
Song of the Week 🙌🎵
DOPE LEMON - Hey You (Cedric Gervais Remix)
Release Date: November 1, 2019
Label: BMG Rights Management (Australia) Pty Ltd.
Genre: Dance/Electro Pop
Spotify Plays: 2,474,476
So the actual title of this song (as noted on Spotify and other places) - is “Hey You - (Dope Lemon vs. Cedric Gervais) - Cedric Gervais Remix,” which is a little bit confusing. If someone in the comments can tell me if there is anything significant about the “vs” compared to just saying “remix,” let me know, but I assume it’s just a question of vocabulary. Cedric’s just being fancy.
The original “Hey You” by Dope Lemon is a song almost out of an old western (or sounds like that, anyway). I would also say that the lyrics of this song are seemingly about getting drunk, and the lead singer Angus Stone sings with a sort of drawl that makes you think he had a couple of wobbly pops before jumping into the recording booth. He does hang out with Post Malone, after all 🍻. From the second verse:
Jump in the back, get a little naughty, baby
Feel a little tipsy (feel a little tipsy)
Fumble for your keys, try to get the bottle, baby
This is where you dance and be all cheeky
Again, and I know everyone reading this will be shocked by this, but I hadn’t heard of Dope Lemon before this week (this is the entire point of this newsletter). From allmusic.com:
After he was already established internationally as one-half of the sibling indie pop duo Angus & Julia Stone, Australian singer/songwriter Angus Stone switched gears with his work under the pseudonym Dope Lemon, embracing more of a woozy, electric, '90s slacker rock sound than his other projects.
Now that we know about Dope Lemon 🌿🍋, I’ll pause for a second now and let everyone guess where Cedric Gervais is from.
…
…
🙋
Yes, that’s right, France. You guessed it.
From Wikipedia:
Cédric DePasquale, better known by his stage name Cedric Gervais, is a French DJ, record producer and actor residing in Miami Beach, Florida. In 2013, he produced a remix of Lana Del Rey's "Summertime Sadness", for which he won a Grammy Award.
It makes me feel super old that “Summertime Sadness” feels like it came out yesterday but is almost ten years old now; if you haven’t heard it, go now and listen to the remix. It’s excellent 💥. I’m not a big fan of the Recording Academy (where’s Fred Again..’s nomination this year?), but there’s a reason he won a Grammy (550 million Spotify plays 🤯).
That’s it for this week from all of us here at the Steel Orca.✔️👋
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