First, I have to tell you that Rdio is one of the greatest
services that I have ever used, and has completely changed the way that I listen
to and discover music. I’ll probably write more about that another time,
because the focus here is on one artist I found through Rdio that reaffirms the
model and reinvigorates my love for music. It also helps to remind me that
there is new, good music out there, and that I’m not crazy in looking for that “click.”
See, when I first listened to The National, something just clicked, and I was
hooked immediately. I sought out and bought all their music almost immediately.
Ever since, I’ve loaded up new albums, had a listen and moved on, never to
experience that click in quite the same way. Now, that’s not to say there aren’t
degrees of clicking and trying to list those degrees is akin to basically
ranking your favourite albums and artists (which is fundamentally unfair, I
know). It’s safe to say The National (and specifically Boxer and Alligator) are
amongst the top; I could easily just list the most recent additions to my music
library as other good contenders. One album though has stood out, which is The
Golden Age by Woodkid.
One of the features in Rdio is the “Recent Activity” in
where you can see what your friends have added to their own collections. I saw
one day that Art added an album called Iron by Woodkid; with interesting album
art (it’s amazing that album art is often a determining factor in trying out
music) and no indication of what I’m getting into (aside that Art enjoyed it
enough to add to his library) I clicked play. I was fairly impressed, and got
through the six tracks in no time, but I didn’t feel that instant click. The
vibe was strong enough though, that I added it to my collection. I can’t say I
listened to the EP again.
Another great feature on Rdio is notifications on new
content and specifically, notifications for new content from artists in your
collection. Sometimes I receive an e-mail, other times just an in-software
alert. I received an alert that new content from Woodkid has been added, and I
quickly discovered that it was his debut album coming out. Within seconds, I’ve
hit play and I’m feeling that click take hold. I’m always bedazzled when an
album comes out and I’m listening to it instantly: no purchases, no
downloading, and no music store involved. Everything is at your fingertips and
delivered to your speakers/headphones immediately: this is truly the way to
listen to music.
What I noticed first
about The Golden Age (and Woodkid in general) is the voice; it’s rough, grumbly
and pretty unique. To that end, it reminds me of the lead singer in The
National, except with more grittiness here. The second thing I noticed was the
grand, almost operatic scale to the music itself. There is lots of brass,
string and percussion represented throughout the album, and I got a very
distinct movie score feel from it. The second track, Run Boy Run, is screaming
spaghetti western music from all corners: this track is lifting from Ennio
Morricone’s score. The third track, The Great Escape, makes me wonder if he had
a classic movie on in the background and was composing the instrumentation
directly to it. Other tracks can simply be described as epic, with big moving
sounds that are easy to get lost in.
The album slows down and speeds up at just the right moments
and mix: I’ve always been a fan of the album experience and The Golden Age
definitely delivers here. It’s also easy to just throw on a track; I don’t think
having a single from the album show up in a randomized playlist will feel out
of place. If anything, it’s going to make me stop the playlist and put the
album on from the beginning.
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