Author / Tea Leigh

Posts by Tea Leigh

Music maker. Traveler. SoundCloud Ambassador to Boston.
by Tea Leigh

Daniel Wilson

I have been having the hardest time sticking to a review of just one track, and I can’t do that here either! Daniel Wilson is out of Ypsilanti, Michigan and has the soul of ten thousand holy ghosts. This man can sing and make your heart bend into shapes you didn’t even know where possible. His lyrics are about life and love with the prospect of gaining and losing both. I could compare him to other musicians but honestly I don’t think that is necessary one bit, Wilson holds it up all on his own perfectly fine. “Killed Ya” is a simple and deep down soulful track about people who come in your life who make you change from the person you really are into this strange person. Killing your soul or turning you inside out. Get lost in the impeccable vocal range and simple rhythm of this unforgettable tune. (sounds cheesy! it’s not!!!!)

The next track I’m going to throw at you is a 3o second acapella tune Wilson recorded one month ago called “Young Rubbish.” I really wanted to put this track here because this is a blog dedicated to discovering new things, and I think that this song fits perfectly. Wilson sings about being young, and really following your dreams and keeping that thought forever, to stay ‘un grown.’ I hope it resinates with all sorts of ages, to give you guys the realization that no matter where you’re at in life its never too late to do what you really want to do.

Now lets talk about the illusive Daniel Wilson for just a second. This kid really has the vocal talent of gold, he throws the most dissonant chords from his voice creating the perfect amount of tension. I know this might sound crazy but his voice reminds me that of a female Tori Amos, she has a voice most anyone could listen to unaccompanied by her music any day. Elegance describes Wilson’s tracks very well I believe and what a word from a man growing up in Detroit. For now, it doesn’t seem that he has any albums released. Wilson is hoping that in the future he will learn and experiment with more instruments, right now he explains he feels limited on what he can do. I know we can expect great things from this man, so give him a welcome to the world of music because he’s about to leave everything else behind, he just doesn’t know it yet.

xx
Tea Leigh

by Tea Leigh

Cloud Mouth

Welcome to a true DIY from Brooklyn, NY. Cloud Mouth takes the cake for across the board original sound and all around talent this week! After spending much time on SoundCloud I saw the graphic you see above and decided to click on it. NO regrets here! Sadly, I have no information on the lady behind the scenes other than her name is Natalie. So I’ll jump right in, lets start with the track “Every Song You’ve Never Heard” which is a collaborative piece from her band Diatone.  In the first 15 seconds you’re greeted with her rich, honest and simple vocals. Her harmonies are fantastic and her voice sounds like honey is dripping from the notes, the sounds from Diatone reminds me a lot of Stereolab. They lead into the pit of the track with drums and synth that could carry you away on a cloud they blew from a kiss. Far out, right?

Alright, lets move on. I give to you another track which is completely different in dynamic. This track titled “Waiting Rooms” makes you feel a little uncomfortable at first, like you’re not really sure you should continue to listen to it after just hearing the beautiful winds you heard before. I stuck around just because a year ago today I sat in a waiting room for what seemed like hours and I can tell you this track rings true to what I felt. This makes me feel anxious, and eager to get out of where I’m sitting, but patiently waiting all at the same time. I think it could be the ticking in the background or all the repetitive noise which keeps building and building, or it could be the sheer moment of my experience. I’ll never know I guess, but this track hits it for me.

Cloud Mouth has a knack for hitting every kind of nerve you have track by track. I’ll leave you with this, a note from Natalie’s SoundCloud page:

“all noise comes from silence
all silence comes from noise
all boys come from girls
all girls come from boys”

xx
Tea Leigh

by Tea Leigh

Atuin

This is one SoundCloud collaborating junkie right here! I give to you Atuin, an amazing folk artist who’s bounced around Germany and Turkey his whole life. Atuin is known as Taner in the not so musical world that is every day life,and has been my favorite male lyricist for about a year. I’ll be talking about two things today, my favourite track of his titled “Little River” and his newest release which is titled The Amazing Business. Alright, lets jump in to this “Little River” shall we?

Atuin has collaborated with a SoundCloud artist known as Jonny Bear and I have to say together, their sound is priceless. I remember the first time I heard this song, it was in the morning when I woke up and had pressed play on my dashboard. The lyrics start out like this “I won’t stop by because I’m a river. A moment is all I can deliver…Jump right in, I will make you shiver.” The sound scape alone will make you feel these lyrics without anything being sung. This is why it’s an amazing track, if you were to take out the music and keep the vocals, you would hear the music just the same. With such simple lyrics and beautiful vibrato between the vocals and the strings in the background, this song will make you shiver, give you those goosebumps which always feel so strange.

Moving on! Atuin has released 4 albums over the course of his busy and interesting life as a musician. The Amazing Business came out almost a year ago, I hope to hear more releases soon! When Taner was younger he used to spin hip hop, which he says still holds a soft spot in his heart today, but he had to let go and record these solo lo-fi tunes you’re hearing now. Atuin has no shortage of imaginary words to fill your mind of stories and moments to make you feel like you’ve experienced them your self. To me, that’s just what this album is, a long line of stories. Here is a track from the album titled “To The Left Behind” which has a special place in my heart.

So there you have it folkies, story tellers, easy listeners, here is an artist who can fill all your wants and needs within this genre. Head over to his BandCamp and get his album which he has available for $5 and then head over to his SoundCloud and listen to all the collaborations he’s done so far. Maybe you’d be next!

xx
Tea leigh

by Tea Leigh

CASSINI From France

I found this gem just a few days ago somewhere under the sludge of everything else I kept running into. This goes out to all the ambient lovers, to the kids who like to build sounds and move into motion. I give to you CASSINI, a one man gig from Montpellier France and this one man is named Dorian Gaubert. When I first came upon this work I was sent into this state of relaxation and really wanted to stop hunting for musicians for the night, instead get lost in these tracks. His tracks are far from noise, but they have a noise like quality to them in that there really is no perfect place for some of the textured sounds Gaubert throws in. The first track we have here is “Dwarf Planet” which is a remix Gaubert did not too long ago of an I-Dults track.

I nestle in with the warm record fuzz and the bright bells right off the bat. This track is the perfect fit for some sort of film with limited talking and tons of exploration. That’s what it is!! These tracks make me feel like I’m exploring something in some strange land with the softest grass and insanely tall trees. I’m sure that’s really a place, but I’ve not been across any of the great ponds. There is an element of Explosions In The Sky mixed with Sigur Ros and throw in some Gold Panda somewhere in the sound scape you hear.

The next track is called “All Nights” and it brings you back to those nights where you don’t want to really go home until the sun comes up. Not because you’re having a ton of fun, but just because you want to end the day with the sun coming up. We all have had  those times, and now that it’s spring I expect you night owls to be up and ready for it.

My favourite part about this track is that it ends how it begins. I know most music isn’t as conceptual as I make it out to be, but I’d like to think that Gaubert did this intentionally just as most nights turn out the same.
What you hear is what you get of CASSINI, he currently has nothing released under this name, and the only way you can listen to his music is through his SoundCloud. I only hope that he continues to push this project in a direction of releasing his tunes to the greater public. For now you can download your favourite tracks of his for free. I hope you get lost as much as I have in the sounds CASSINI brings to us from his big little city of Montpellier, France.

xx
Tea Leigh

by Tea Leigh

TimberWolf’s Animal Collective Remix

Timberwolf is a pretty original thing. Samuel Tucker Young who lives in LA has a very creative way of releasing his indie folk into the world of SoundCloud. His tracks remind me a lot of John Vanderslice the way the layers are added on slowly and then stripped down. It’s easy to get into Timberwolf and just let the tracks play. This particular piece “PeaceBone” by Animal Collective has been remixed and redone by Young and very well might I add. It’s not often when you hear a good folk cover of Animal Collective like the one done by Taken By Trees in 2009. Animal Collective is known for their massive layering & insane reverb…I’m not going to lie, its hard to understand the lyrics some times. Here is a simple and easy way to really connect with the track it’s self. For the hard-core fans, i’m sure you’ve heard every cover/ remix in the book, but this one sticks out to me for sure.

Young grew up in Nashville, TN but moved to LA after finishing up film school in Florida. His group Timberwolf is really just Young producing everything from his studio in his house using midi samples he wrote him self and real instruments laying around his living space. Young has released his newest album on several different sites but I’m going to send you to his BandCamp to get a peak of his self titled album Timberwolf. If you’re one that likes John Vanderslice  or Animal Collective I would absolutely recommend you to check out this track!

xx
Tea Leigh