What is your favorite genre of music to listen to?

“Modern rock and rap, those are definitely my two favorites!”

Who do you listen to the most?

“I listen to Tame Impala, The Japanese House, Cage the Elephant, and then in rap, I listen to a lot of Chance the Rapper and Drake, obviously. I didn’t listen to Kendrick Lamar that much until his new album, but I really like him now, and I also recently started listening to Brock Hampton and I love them. I also like SZA, but she’s not really rap, she’s more R&B, I guess.”

How long have you been listening to modern rock?

“Not long, I mean, in high school I just listened to mainly what was on the radio and Lana Del Rey, but once I got Spotify during my senior year of high school, I started to branch out.”

How long have you been listening to rap?

“Forever. I have two older brothers, and one of them was really into Kid Cudi, so I got into Kid Cudi in middle school, and he liked ‘Graduation’ by Kanye West, so I remember listening to that a lot with him around that same time period.”

How would you define your music taste?

“It is the most spastic thing ever. The playlists that I create make no sense cohesively. The songs can vary from The Japanese House to Drake, from Tame Impala to Lana Del Rey or Cigarettes After Sex. I just like a random collection of music. I guess I don’t make very good playlists because whatever I’m listening to, I just throw it all together. They honestly don’t really make any sense.”

What are you recommending I review?

“The EP, ‘Swim Against the Tide’, by The Japanese House.”

How long have you been listening to this band?

“Probably a year and a half, or close to two years.”

Why do you like The Japanese House?

“She’s kind of got an electronic/psychedelic/rock-y vibe, but also lyrically, it’s really cool. She kind of reminds me of Radiohead. In interviews, she said she was inspired by them and one of her biggest inspirations for her music was their album ‘Rainbows’, which is one of my favorite albums ever.”

I’ve known Annie for a while, and for as long as we’ve been friends, she’s been raving about this band. She’s seen The Japanese House twice, she loves them so much! Above is a screenshot of an Instagram post from her first time at their concert. I can still remember how excited she was! I, on the other hand, have never listened to them, so I’m excited to learn more about them.

The Japanese House is an indie pop band hailing from England that is made up of just one artist; Amber Bain. I guess I would never have known that had I not researched it, as I always assume artists with names like “The ____” or “Owl City”, for example, are bands, but sometimes it’s really just one person! She is the singer, the guitarist, the synthesizer, the keyboardist and the producer. Talk about an independent woman.

The name of her self-driven musical career was inspired by a place in Cornwall that Amber and her family frequented when she was a child. She recalls that there were many Japanese tea houses throughout the property and that her experiences there helped her to decide to go with an anonymous title for her music, rather than using her own name.

The Japanese House has released four EPs, one of which I will be reviewing in this column. “Swim Against the Tide” was released on November 11th, 2016 and consists of four songs; “Swim Against the Tide”, “Face Like Thunder”, “Good side in”, and “Leon”. I will be doing a brief review of each song, and then an overall review of the EP.

“Swim Against the Tide”

I really like the intro to this song. I don’t know what it is, it’s just kind of soothing and funky at the same time. Remember in my last article how I said I was a “visual-listener”? This intro reminds me of the scene in Ratatouille when Remy’s brother, Emile, eats a strawberry and piece of cheese at the same time and Remy is describing all of the sounds and colors that he should be experiencing (but he doesn’t because he is an uncreative rat).

The chorus is nice and subtle. While listening to it, I was just amazed thinking about the fact that Amber does this all by herself. I wish I was that talented! The song overall is good. It doesn’t jump out at me like, “Oh my gosh, I need to listen to this over and over for the next hour”, but it is a good piece. I’ve linked it below if you want to give it a listen yourself.

“Face Like Thunder”

The second song on this EP sounds like a mix of Bastille and The 1975, which makes sense, because Amber has worked extensively with members of The 1975, and has even gone on tour with them a couple of times. Maybe I feel like they sound similar because all of the bands mentioned in this tidbit are British? I want whatever they’re having because there’s something over there that must be making their musicians sound this good!

Like the first one, this song is good but isn’t jumping out at me as being “the one”. You can decide after you listen to it. I did watch the music video for this one, which I try not to do because they can easily distract one from the lyrics and the musicality of the song, *cough cough Taylor Swift’s recent music videos*, but the videography of this one is beautiful. It’s really simple, and Amber isn’t lip-syncing so hard that you can read her lips. It’s like she’s just singing along quietly, not wanting anyone to notice it. I appreciate that. She’s a natural.

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=_peMDiN6f14

“Good side in”

I don’t know what is happening in the beginning of this song with the percussion, but I like it. It’s unusual, it’s different. It sounds like marbles rolling through a rain pipe, which I think is the point because the first lyrics are “and it started to rain”. So cool.

After the first verse, the instruments completely change…it sounded more natural in the beginning, just the plucking of a guitar or two, but then as the chorus started, the electronic side of The Japanese House was brought in. It seems to switch back and forth throughout the song, depending on if the bridge or chorus is being sang. I like change, it keeps me on my toes! This is my favorite song so far. You can’t help but bob your head along as you listen to it.

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=i_SWoseprUE

“Leon”

Here we are. The final song. Definitely has a The 1975 sound to it. She layers multiple vocal notes over each other, like at least three different parts. This is just like the first two songs; sounds cool and I don’t dislike it, I’m just not crazy about it. There’s not much else I can say. It seems like her music kind of follows a theme, which isn’t a bad thing by any means! I just expected more individuality since it’s an EP.

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=VOqcJnM1PMA

Overall, this EP was good. I like The Japanese House so much that I’m going to add the station onto my Pandora list, but – I felt as if 3/4 of the songs sounded the same. It’s not bad for an artist to be comfortable with their sound and to follow a “theme”, if you will, but I don’t know, I expected something different. That’s why my favorite was “Good side in”; it was different from all of the rest. The others were good. I just wanted a variety, I suppose.

If you want to learn more about The Japanese House, here is her website.

Annie said that you should follow her Spotify account, so here is the link to that.

And as always, if you’re super interested in my own personal life, here is my Instagram link. Give me a follow!

And lastly, here is a photo that Annie took of The Japanese House performing at Lollapalooza! She was really excited to get a chance to talk about one of her favorite artists, so I decided I would include this photo just for her!

The post The Rolling Bean: “Swim Against the Tide” by The Japanese House appeared first on KRUI Radio.

What is your favorite genre of music to listen to?

“Broadly, I guess rock. I don’t know specifically what kind of rock, but I like classical a lot, like the Beatles and Pink Floyd.”

How long have you been listening to rock?

“Maybe like six years, because when I was in middle school I listened to the radio, but in high school, my dad got me into rock music. It’s something we listen to together.”

How would you describe your music taste in general?

“I like a lot of different things, but I guess I like more alternative-type stuff. I don’t like the radio.”

Are there any specific bands that you are drawn to?

“Yeah! Well, the one I am talking to you about today, XTC, that is one that my dad showed me, but they’re different from everything else I listen to. I would say I listen to a lot of The Beatles, I really like Tame Impala, The Kooks, and The Shins. Those would be my main artists.”

What are you recommending that I review today?

“My favorite XTC song is called ‘Humble Daisy’. I don’t know what their genre technically is. I think they’re ‘new wave’, as they are from the 80s-90s era, but this song makes me emotional, with half the reasoning being because it reminds me of my dad, but also because of the lyrics. I pay attention to lyrics a lot.”

Does this song sound like any other songs you know?

“It’s very unique, all of their music is unique. I guess if they sounded like anyone, it would be a mix of The Smiths with some Beatles.”

How long have you been listening to this band?

“My dad has been listening to this band since I was a baby, but I didn’t get into them until the last year or so. I listen to them all of the time now!”

Huge shout out to Emma for volunteering to be the first person I interviewed for this column. I know she was a little nervous, but I appreciate her taking the time out of her day to help me out! Now let’s talk XTC.

XTC was an English rock band that roamed the earth for over three decades. In the early years, their name varied, but in 1975, they settled with XTC, which Emma thinks is a play on the word “ecstasy”, but who knows. The bands goal was to be “completely original”, and after listening to “Humble Daisy”, I can confidently say that they achieved their goal.

“Humble Daisy” is off of their 12th album “Nonsuch”, which came out in 1992 with a total of 17 tracks on it. In this piece, I will be discussing the song’s musicality, the lyrics, and the overall feel of it. I do not want anyone to be offended by my opinion, because you know that saying, “Opinions are like a**holes, everyone has one”? It even applies here.

So just be forewarned, just because I do or I don’t like something, does not mean I or the person I interviewed are horrible human beings. It just means we have different tastes in music! Luckily in Emma’s case, I liked the song “Humble Daisy”, and I’m gonna tell you why.

My first thought when listening to the intro of the song was, “Wow. I love those guitar chords”, and that theme followed me through the rest of the song. Though there are a few key changes, the song seems to stay in a major-key.

Sorry for the music-technicality talk, let me explain in case you don’t know the difference between “major” keys and “minor” keys. Major keys are where the chords “happy” sounding. They’re usually bright and you can’t help but bob your head along to the beat. Since I’ve mentioned The Beatles a couple of times, an example of one of their song’s that uses major chords is “Eleanor Rigby”.

Songs with minor keys are known to sound sad or scary. When I think of minor chords, I think of “What Child is This?”. Yes, the Christmas song. It used to scare me so much as a child, just because of the way the notes come together!

I am a visual-listener. I don’t know if that’s actually a “thing”, but if it’s not, I’m making it one. What I mean by that is that when a song plays, I kind of imagine the event it’d be playing in the background of, like a movie or TV show.

This song, specifically chorus, made me think of the scene from Shrek 2, where Shrek and Fiona are running in slow-motion towards each other through a field of sunflowers. I don’t know why it made me think of this specific scene…maybe because of the title having to do with flowers? I don’t know. Listen to it yourself and see if you agree.

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=Z9QpNH-16lg

It’s a good song! Now let’s analyze some lyrics, since Emma said that was part of the reason she loved this song so much. They’re not too long, so I’ll include the entire piece below:

“Humble Daisy
Form a chain to hold all battleships in check
Humble Daisy
Knit a ladder down to nature’s sunken wreck
Ragged rug unbound
Tangle trip the lovers
Royal barge aground
Brighter than all of the others on the window sill
I’ll sing about you if nobody else will
Humble Daisy
Cast the milk and coins of morning’s cash about
Humble Daisy
I fell down to heaven as you picked me out
We’ll look up together
Browsing through some old sky
Sipping in the weather
You’ve got me dizzy, the fly that climbed the sugar hill
I’ll lay upon you ’till somebody else will
Humble Daisy
We’ll look up together” (AZ Lyrics)

Okay, so to be blatantly honest, the first time I listened to this song, I didn’t even notice the lyrics…after reading them and listening to it a few more times, the words became clear, but the meaning didn’t. The lyrics put together make no sense. I am guessing that Daisy is a girl, but that is the only thing that I am semi-confident about understanding.

The first half dozen lines refer to some kind of water vessel, but if it’s in relation to something specific, I am missing that key information. My favorite line is “You’ve got me dizzy, the fly that climbed the sugar hill”. WHAT?! What does that even mean!? In some cases, the words don’t necessarily make sense, but the song is still good, y’know? I find that’s the case with a lot of popular music that’s played on the radio today. The background is good, just the words falling out of the artist’s mouth have absolutely no meaning. It’s tolerable (most of the time).

Overall, I think that “Humble Daisy” by XTC is a feel-good, laying-in-your-backyard-in-the-summer-reading kind of song. I wouldn’t necessarily blare it in my car with the windows down or listen to it while getting ready for a night out on the town, but in a more relaxed and casual setting, definitely.

It’s honestly not something I would go out of my way to listen to again, but I’m glad that Emma introduced me to something of good quality.It’s always nice to get out of your comfort zone. I know that if allowed, I could and would and have listened to the same album every day, multiple times a day, for a month straight. Switching it up never hurts.

If you’re interested in reading more about XTC, click here.

If you’re interested in listening to the entire album of “Nonsuch”, which I totally recommend, click here.

And with a shameless social media plug, if you’re interested in following me on Instagram, click here.

Here’s a photo of a field of daisies. I feel like it’s an appropriate way to end the piece. Have a good week, peeps!

The post The Rolling Bean: “Humble Daisy” by XTC appeared first on KRUI Radio.