George Watsky: giving all he can do once more?

George Watsky has had a couple of turbulent years behind him; gaining widespread popularity via Youtube in 2011 and attracting attention in a quite negative way last year, the young rapper is becoming more well-known every year. With increasing attention also comes the opportunity to go on worldwide tours, which the San Francisco native has been doing for quite some time. Last year the Diggers had the opportunity to see him in Amsterdam for his Cardboard Castles tour in Paradiso, where Watsky played an amazingly intimate concert for his audience, which is an experience we yearned to be a part of again. Luckily for us, 2014 brought a new album called All You Can Do and an accompanying tour; October first, it was time for us to see if George Watsky would do justice to the tour’s name and give us all he could do once more.

This year, the setting was slightly different. The venue had changed from Paradiso to the Melkweg, which was paired with a slight increase in the capacity. Fortunately this increase in capacity came with almost no reduction in intimacy, one of Watsky’s trademark features. Combine that with the fact that the Melkweg is one of our favorite venues anyway and you’ve already satisfied an important requirement for a good concert.

Anderson Paak, one of Watsky’s band members, opened the concert in a soulful way. Being quite a talented vocalist and drummer, and having a small band to support him, he took his audience on a journey that was eclectic in the fullest sense of the word. Alternating between his own songs and covers (including an awesome version of Seven Nation Army) that spanned multiple genres, all while interacting with the crowd, Paak did exactly what he was supposed to do: warm up the audience. Unfortunately the last song’s trap beat sounded too un-originally plastic to us and could surely have been left out, but that’s only a small blemish on an otherwise solid performance; Paak’s charisma, musical talent and seemingly casual, self-assured attitude made him a great opening act.

After a brief pause to get some beers, it was time for the Lafontaines, a five-membered band that came all the way from Glasgow to support Watsky. Entering the stage with a loud “What’s up Amsterdam?” and roaring guitars, the band caught the crowd’s attention and got them to jump to their heavy drumbeat immediately. Though the band could simply have been a less impressive crossbreed of the Beastie Boys and Linkin Park, they turned out to be unique soon enough, proving to be very well capable of blending hip hop and indie together into a whirlwind that was only interrupted to catch a breath in between songs. As Paak did, the band took their time to interact with the audience, crack a few jokes and make them bust some moves, which is again exactly what a supporting act should do. Some sweaty 50 minutes later they left the stage, leaving an amped up audience hungry for more.

Another short break gave the crew some time to clear out the stage for the man everybody came to see: George Watsky. Accompanied by his band Crème Fraîche, Watsky came out strong, capturing the audience with his presence from the second he started rapping. Old songs and new ones alike flowed from his mouth like verbal waterfalls in the impressively fast fashion that we’re used to hearing from him. And engaging his listeners from the beginning, Watsky did an even better job in terms of interaction than his supporting acts did, mostly because the audience was more familiar with his songs.
The concert had a nice flow to it. Riling up the crowd with songs like Whoa Whoa Whoa was nicely balanced by quieter songs like Cannonball which, by creating an intimate moment with Watsky as the focal point, was one of the show’s highlights in general. Other memorable moments include an amazing medley of Watsky’s older songs that provided plenty of opportunity to shout along with the lyrics and some of the moments that revolved around the individual band members. Being a true team player, Watsky made sure that the focus wasn’t only on him and gave his band members plenty of room to express themselves and play solos. This led to an amazing drum solo that lasted for a couple of minutes and an intimate song by Anderson Paak and the band’s bassist.
No matter how many songs were played, the audience was so captivated by the music that they did not seem to get tired. Unfortunately though, all good things have to come to an end eventually, as did the concert after almost 1.5 hours. After an encore that did justice to the entire evening, the people were left satisfied and were provided the opportunity to say hi to Watsky, shake hands and take pictures shortly afterwards.

Overall, we can conclude that the evening was not only a concert, but a true event in its own right. Not only Watsky provided a great show, but Anderson Paak and the Lafontaines surely contributed to the vibe of the night as well; as the evening’s name suggested, the artists surely made it seem like they did all they could indeed. We’d therefore recommend seeing any of the artists by themselves, but even more so when they’re performing in the same event. Unfortunately though, us Europeans seem to be in for quite of a wait until that’s going to happen again. However, if you’re a resident of North America, Australia or India, you’re in luck. If you want to be a part of the amazing experience that is a George Watsky concert, there are ample chances to do so. Tour dates can be found here, so be sure to get tickets for when the tour hits your home town. (San Franciscans, put November 28 in your agenda.) All we can do for now, is wait.

-The Biologist and the Chemist

This Is All Yours, but do you want it?

Whether you’re an avid indie music connoisseur, friend of hipsters, or casual music listener, surely you  have heard of Alt-J. Their first album, An Awesome Wave, one of the most successful debuts of 2012, was greeted Monday by its long-expected successor This is All Yours. Of course this is the moment that everybody has been waiting for, the opportunity to discern whether this band is still worth all of  fuss. Let’s dig into it, shall we? Is the album worth buying?

On the face of it, clear attention has been paid toward the aesthetics of the album. The cover, a seemingly abstract painting of a triangle that looks and feels like canvas, makes the album special at the instant touch. The print of the CD precisely overlaps the background (when oriented correctly of course), which is actually much more exceptional than we’d prefer. In short, it’s detailed all over, which is already a good reason to buy a physical copy of the album; it’s always nice to see artists paying attention to the appearance of their albums.

But what about the music? The album opens with an intro that intrigues by its experimental approach, to say the least. Short vocal samples are strung together to create something that sounds more like an instrumental chord progression than Alt-J’s usual, more lyrically focused songs. Initially containing only two layers, the song gradually develops, as more sounds are added, varied and taken away, ultimately evolving into a multi-layered composition that combines sampling with a more traditional instrumental approach. The piece spans 4 minutes and 37 seconds, which is very impressive for an intro.

Following the intro’s abrupt end, the album transitions shifts to Arrival in Nara, the first track of the three piece musical Nara song cycle on the album. Calm piano and guitar pieces indicate we’ve reached a slower part of the album and set the stage for the enigmatic lyrics that tell about a drowning girl. The mellow pace of the album is continued in Nara, the second part of the cycle, before it changes once more when moving to Every Other Freckle.

Though Every Other Freckle is undoubtedly one of the greatest on the album, the sudden change feels slightly out of place, since the tempo difference with Nara is slightly too big. Fortunately enough, the quality of the song more than makes up for this awkward transition, since it’s one of the album’s little gems: it features Alt-J’s signature cryptic songwriting style, but the lyrics are of a very seductive nature -making it very catchy and intimate overall. Following the sensual escapade of freckles is Left Hand Free which, in spite of initially being created as a joke, shows us a new catchy blues rock side of the band.

The album turns at this point, from the its previous upbeat and exhilarating progression, to the interlude. The Garden of England – Interlude, which feels more like a ringtone than a song, announces the second half of the album, which is characterized by calmness throughout. Choice Kingdom is a decent song, but nothing to get too excited about in relation to the rest of the album. It’s successor, Hunger of the Pine brings back the interest; dark vibes match the songs reminiscence of lost love.

However, it pales in comparison when the next song starts playing. Calm as it is, Warm Foothills is clearly a highlight of the album, thanks to its unique approach and flawless execution. Uplifting guitar play lays the foundation for one of the absolute singing and production highlights of the album. Male and female vocals are alternated within sentences, creating a wonderful mosaic of sounds: switching between vocalists makes the song beautiful from a musical perspective by harmonically combining high and low voices, whereas taking a step back and listening to the lyrics reveals the bigger picture. They paint a love story that reminds of the early happy, careless and tender period of a new relationship. Mostly though, this song offers an extra dimension that several others lack: music and lyrics truly combine to paint a complete picture of love and happiness, making the track a true masterpiece on its own.

The final third of the album continues back into the mellow, decent and unsurprising; more cool and cryptic Alt-J lyricism, more cool little details and more of the low-tempo chillness. And of course, for those who are able to wait for a while, there’s a hidden track; this is always a cool addition, but maybe even more so annoying to have to endure over five minutes of silence to hear it.

After this walk-through, where are we left by the music? Impressed? There’s no doubt the album carries particular aspects of what we consider Alt-J-esque. At first naive skim the lyrics may come off as simplistic ramblings of a hormonal freshman who has just discovered girls, but with attention it’s clear that these musings are clear facades of much deeper contemplations. (Thank you genius.com!) Most of the songs are lyrical gems, since their cryptic nature leaves room for interpretation, allowing everybody to discover their own meaning, which may even change in time. And the overall vibe of the album is great as well. Contrary to what some of the attention demanding singles of the album suggest, a tangible soft and mellow mood permeates the album, making large parts of the album a great background soundtrack.

Despite that this may make your mind wander, the music is still an intriguing assemblage of musical experimentation that’s waiting to greet you as your mind wanders back. Every Other Freckle and Left Hand Free are obvious examples of the band exploring different styles, but most other songs also reveal musical details that are a true sign of craftsmanship. The album’s extensive experimentation with vocal samples, and countless cryptic cultural references and innuendos are only the most concrete examples of such details. Thus, it is the albums complexity that makes the music worth listening repeatedly; you may forget about the details, but additional listening sessions will then allow you to rediscover them and relive the excitement.

But even though the album is some kind of triumph, there’s one small caveat. The album’s eclectic hop among styles indicates that Alt-J was looking for direction, rather than having a clear musical theme. Surely experimentation is great, but it also prevents the album from feeling like a completely polished whole. The extensive range of subjects and styles presented in the album tend towards the incoherent, leading to awkward transitions and uneven flow. A bit of a shame to fall prey to poor organization.

Conclusively though, it’s still a great album: an experimental but good addition to their oeuvre. Sure, it’s not as coherent as we had reason to expect, but it makes up for lack of continuity through the particular qualities of each song. As picking up the sleeve of the album foreshadowed, it’s the simple distracting, possibly deceiving look of things that can distract from the real details that are only revealed when listening with keen ears; this elusive collection of songs is a true experience in its own right. Alt-J’s sophomore album is a worthy successor of An Awesome Wave and will put the band ever so slightly back in the spotlights, only to keep us waiting for the next. We’d warmly recommend it to anybody who’s looking for music that’s experimental and very well executed.-The Chemist

A voyage through distant times and places

At Digging for Gems, we like to think that to a true musician, every object can be an instrument. And with modern technology, every sound can be sampled and incorporated into a song. A famous example of an artist who lives by this philosophy is of course Bonobo, who uses everyday sounds to enhance his songs. But in this article we’d like to present to you an artist who takes this way of working a tiny bit further by turning typewriters and clocks into key components of his music. Sounds interesting, right? If that’s what you think, then keep reading to learn more about the amazing musician called Oskar Schuster.

Schuster is a Berlin based composer and musician. He learned to play music at a young age on the piano at his parents’ house. When he entered school, he took classical piano lessons, which became the foundation for his musical education. At the age of fourteen he decided to start composing music, from which he later turned away in order to write short stories and draw. However, at some point he realized that music was what he’s best at, shifted his focus once again and started studying musical science in München.

As of now, Oskar Schuster composes and plays his own music. But that’s not the only thing he does by himself; Schuster isn’t signed to a label. Though this can be difficult at times, it hasn’t stopped him from releasing two albums and an EP. On top of that, a third album is planned to be released around May 2015. The first album was all self-produced in his room, but for the second one he decided to take a more professional approach and collaborate with a producer in a proper studio. The €6000 required to do this were raised by crowdfunding, which worked out so well that Schuster decided to use the same approach for his upcoming album.

Raising a couple thousand euro is a feat that should not be underestimated, especially for a relatively unknown artist; clearly Schuster has found a way to create a reliable fan base. Undoubtedly, there are several reasons for this. However, one stands out clearly: the music. Pieces composed by him are rarely just piano pieces, but rather combine classical music with modern sampling techniques. The songs, often played in ¾ time signature, incorporate sounds sampled from typewriters and old clocks to serve as the beat. On top of that, a magical whole is created by including a music box and a piano style that is often compared to Yann Tiersen. Indeed, when listening to Schuster’s wonderful pieces, it’s never hard to imagine walking through Paris in autumn or looking out of your window to find a snowy winter landscape.

In Schuster’s own words, his music resembles a voyage through distant times and places. And though his music already produces this magical feeling, more dedicated fans will realize that there’s more to the experience. Being unsigned to a label allowed him to be more creative with the way in which he presents the music. This led to CDs being released with handmade artwork, which makes every copy a unique collectable item. His crowdfunding campaigns add even more magic to the already enchanting ‘Schuster experience’. Current rewards for pledging a contribution include a single-use camera that’s filled with special pictures shot by himself; photo albums filled with old pictures that make it look like it’s from another era; short handwritten stories and also the abovementioned clock and typewriter. Finally, every song has an intriguing title that connects with the music, but sometimes has a special story to go with it. Luckily he’s cautious about sharing those stories, leaving us able to create meaning for ourselves.

All in all, Schuster is more than just a musician. Not only does his music take you to a different time and place, but all of the little quirks in his musical presentation create an amazing experience. We’re already hooked and our physical copies of his music have yet to arrive. If you agree and want to hear more from Schuster in order to join the experience, you can find him on Spotify, Soundcloud or Facebook. If you really feel like supporting him, make sure to contribute to the crowdfunding campaign for his upcoming album and receive amazing bonuses; we’ll do the same thing for sure. And until his new album will be released, we’re certain to play his music whenever we feel like taking a short journey through our imagination.

-The Chemist

The Roots

Today we are discussing a group that has gained some major attention over the last period. They went from being a well received hip hop group to being on international television every week night; I am talking about hiphop formation The Roots. A lot of you will probably know them for their current project, being the house band for Jimmy Fallon’s late night show: The Tonight Show Starring Jimmy Fallon.

The Roots is probably one of the most recognizable hiphop bands, because of their sound and looks. Their music is best described as a combination of hiphop mixed with jazzy sounds and electric compounds. They manage to make relaxing music which just feels liquid. By using a full live band, live and in the studio they manage to separate themselves from the general hiphop crowd and ascend to something with more soul and feeling.

The Roots were founded in 1987 by frontman Tariq Trotter a.k.a. Black Thought and Ahmir Thompson a.k.a. Questlove, who is recognizable by his oldskool afro, often with the comb still in his ‘fro. In this period they added 3 more members (Malik B, Hub and Josh Abrams) and were called The Square Roots. Since they began recording they have produced 10 studio albums, 2 EPs and did project with various other artists, making it up to number 7 on the list of best hiphop groups of all time on about.com.
Both of the founding members started out playing on the streets, where Black Thought would spit rhymes of the drum beats of Questlove who drummed on buckets. While still being in highschool they attended the local talent show, which resulted in their first organized performance. Their first album Organix was released in 1993 which generated quite some attention and led to a record deal. One year later they released their second album on the DBC label.
Their public breakthrough was in 1999 though their fourth album called When Things Fall Apart, Which became platinum in 2013 and was nominated for Best Rap Album.

From making boom bap hiphop to really jazzy and electric music, they never lose their touch and keep making original music, being ahead of their time. You notice how their musicality plays out like a synergy, especially during the Jimmy Fallon shows, where they randomly start jamming to accompany what happens on stage, total improv, but flawless. Currently the band consists of 7 members, but the composition of the band has changed a lot over the years, adding different artists and instruments the their sound.

Their latest endeavour is playing live on international television. They joined Jimmy Fallon’s Late Night Show in 2009 and moved up, together with Fallon, to the Tonight Show where the Roots serve a Jimmy Fallons house band. The band is not just a nice gimmick, but they really add to the show with their own personalities and of course their music. They accompany artists guesting on the show and provide some awesome transition music during fragments.
They almost got kicked off the show due to their personal choice of songs they always play when a guest appears on the show. They always use a known song and give it a twist to link it to the guest. When they had a political guest,  US Congresswoman and presidential candidate Michele Bachmann, they played a snippet of a song called “Lying Bitch”. This almost led to their dismissal of the show and they now need to have approval from the network to use certain songs on the show instead of picking them on their own.

All in all The Roots is one of the greatest active hiphop formations in the world, and we at Digging For Gems always enjoy seeing them doing their thing on the Tonight Show and we hope to keep seeing and hearing more of them in the near future!

-The Biologist

Elliot Berger: Bass music prodigy?

As some of our more dedicated followers will know, we did a few mini features earlier, which were supposed to highlight artists about whom not much is known. However, since many of the people we discuss have at least enough information available to write a regular-sized article about them, we haven’t done one of those articles in quite a while. And then Elliot Berger came along. Besides two interviews, almost nothing can be found about this producing genius. Still we decided to give him the credit he deserves and dedicate a full length article to him. Because honestly, this stuff is amazing.

Like his colleague Haywyre, Elliot Berger was trained classically. He started playing the violin at the age of 6, which was followed by the guitar around the age of 12. Along with a lot of music theory training, this laid the foundation for his musical career. Berger wasn’t always into electronic music though; he used to be a real metalhead who listened to nothing else. But when he took a producing course for the second time and saw Tek One play slightly later, he was converted; Elliot Berger would become a producer.

He started making music under the name System, but had to switch his artist name because iTunes arranged his music with a group of Dutch producers that used the same name. The first tracks where his real name is used were posted on his Soundcloud about two years ago. Ever since, Berger has been continuously developing by experimenting with different styles, doing various remixes and collaborating with multiple artists. And even though he’s still in an early stage of his career, he’s off to a good start; he did an impressive Tiësto remix in 2013, released a track on NoCopyrightSounds, did some very sweet collaborations and his amazing Looking Back EP was released two months ago.

After having experimented for a few years, it seems that Elliot Berger is more and more finding his style. If we were to name a genre for his music, it would be melodic dubstep or chillstep. This is not the heavy dubstep you’d be used to hearing from people like Skrillex or, more extremely, Borgore. In fact, almost the opposite is true and songs are much more comparable to Blackmill; generally it is quite a relaxing experience to listen to Berger’s music and tracks like Memoirs are definitely among our favorites. But it’s not just the relaxed vibe that makes his music special. Blended in with his laidback style are glitch influences that give the songs a nice edge and add something special to them.

On top of that, Berger’s tracks are incredibly well crafted. The production is waterproof and mastering is well done. The music, that’s generally very layered, sounds lvery complete and polished, which isn’t always a given for electronic tracks. Also, the stereo effects in tracks like Looking Back are a very nice extra touch that make listening to his music an even better experience. All in all, the tracks are taken care of very well and especially his more recent work is very impressive.

At this point, Elliot Berger is not yet the world famous producer that we’d like him to be. But considering that his career is still relatively young, that’s nothing to be ashamed of. We do think that he has shown a lot of promise, especially considering his most recent work that’s simply mesmerizing. His combination of a relaxed vibe and an interesting glitchy edge make for a special listening experience that we hope to keep on hearing. Though honestly, if he’s able to maintain his current level of quality, there is little to worry about.

-The Chemist

(Since we mainly used two interviews with Elliot Berger for the first part of this article, we feel that we should link to them. You can find them here and here.)

Time for some Grouplove!

Many people agree that Greece has been responsible for many things we treasure in modern society. In Classic times, it was an epicenter of important developments in fields like philosophy, mathematics and culture; even democracy seems to have been invented in Greece. Recently however, the country has been going through a rough time. The job market does not appear to be flourishing and the economy isn’t doing too well either. Groups of likeminded people gathering on a remote island and creating something good is therefore more likely to remind you of Socrates and his followers than modern-day Greece. But what if we told you that a very successful indie band was formed exactly like that?

Enter Grouplove, an indie sensation that was conceived in 2009. Its story started when Hannah Hooper and Christian Zucconi, who both lived in New York, met each other. At the time, Zucconi was a member of a band that was about to come to an end, while Hooper was a painter. They quickly befriended each other and only two days after they had met, Hooper invited Zucconi to an artist commune on Crete that she would be visiting. This is where they met the other members of the band: Ryan Rabin, a drummer and producer; guitarist Andrew Wessen and Sean Gadd, another guitarist who would later become the band’s bassist. However, the actual band would be formed a while later, when Hooper, Zucconi and Gadd decided to visit the others in Los Angeles, in order to expand upon the initial collaboration from the commune. This worked so well that they canceled their tickets back home and stayed in Los Angeles to form Grouplove.

Their debut album, Never Trust a Happy Song, was released in 2011. Four songs from the album were released as singles, among which was the song Tongue Tied, which should be familiar to most indie lovers. The band then started touring with acts like Two Door Cinema Club, Alt-J and MS MR. Almost immediately after the tour, they lived together in a Hollywood Hills house for two months, just to work on their second album. The result of this intense collaboration is Spreading Rumours, which came out in September 2013. Recently, Sean Gadd left the band to go back to London and live closer to his family. He was substituted by Dan Gleason. Currently the band is touring for their new album.

With only two albums, it is interesting to see that Grouplove has produced a relatively large amount of successful singles. Clearly the band is doing something right, but what could it be? If you’ve heard them live, you’ve probably noticed that they are not the best of singers, so something else must be at play here. If anything, it is probably their enthusiasm and energy. Fast-paced guitar riffs and drum patterns support with Hooper and Zucconi’s high-pitched, sometimes shouty vocals, which results in a sounds that has hints of punk rock, but is always bright and uplifting. Perfect for an indie pre-gaming session. The band’s second album contains even more of this energy. Starting with With You, the album blasts of immediately. This vibe is maintained by the next songs, that contain significantly more synthesizer than the first album and even more other cheerful instrumentals.

But there’s one final ingredient, because no good albums are able to exist without proper producing, which is something that Ryan Rabin did well on both of Grouplove’s releases. Though the band’s sound is usually over the top happy, the songs are always very well balanced. On top of that, Grouplove has managed to create an infectiously poppy sound that is bound to make you feel happy, no matter how you felt before you started listening.

All in all, Grouplove can best be described as a collective of punk-ish energy. This also translates into their live performances, in which the band members can usually be seen jumping all over the stage; if only they had more people in the band, they could have made an on-stage mosh pit. We therefore think that Grouplove is a band that has truly found its special niche between punk and indie. So next time you think of Greece, know that they have more to offer than ancient philosophers, old buildings and a significant national debt; they also laid the foundation for a band that’s made many people happier!

-The Chemist

My head is a jungle

We’ve all heard of musical geniuses that come from families that have produced dedicated musicians for years. Being classically schooled from their early childhood, these people eat, live and breathe music, which inspires them to produce the most beautiful of musical pieces. However, this is definitely not the only way to become a great musician. Some people come from families that are not musical at all. Still, they can become intrigued by making music, teach themselves to play and eventually emerge as an amazing artist. One of these people is Emma Louise, who became well known at the age of 19 and is rapidly building up a musical career.

The Australian Emma Louise began making music in seventh grade. One of her friends owned a guitar, on which she was allowed to play a lot. This convinced her parents to buy her a guitar of her own, which would turn out to be the foundation of her musical development. She taught herself to play other people’s songs and eventually started writing as well. But her biggest developments came years later, when she moved to Brisbane. Suddenly she was surrounded by a bigger diversity of artists, which stimulated her to further develop her songwriting skills. Finally she started recording songs with producer Mark Myers, who was an old friend.

This ultimately led to the release of her Full Hearts and Empty Rooms EP in 2011. Jungle became the EP’s most successful song and Wankelmut’s remix called My Head is a Jungle reached the charts all over the world. The attention generated by this release allowed her to play at large festivals like SXSW and The Great Escape, which helped her reach a bigger audience. Her debut album, called vs Head vs Heart, was released March 22, 2013. It received positive critique from many reviewers and is generally regarded as a very strong debut.

There are several factors behind Emma Louise’s success. The most obvious one is her great voice; being clear, high and always on pitch, it makes for a great singing voice that would even survive very well on its own. But luckily it doesn’t have to do that. Her skills on the guitar allow her to accompany her beautiful singing with mellow guitar riffs that give her honest songs a sense of calmness and space. On top of that, complementary instruments are not something Emma Louise is afraid of using. Drums, but also computerized drum patterns and sound effects are relatively common in her songs. They add depth to the tracks and give her music a touch of ambient, which makes listening to them a very relaxing experience.

A pitfall for artists that match this description, is producing songs that all sound the same. Luckily, Emma Louise does none of that. While her first EP sometimes flirts with folk, the debut album sounds slightly different. Besides the obvious highlight that is Jungle, the album contains many songs that are all different in very nuanced ways. Take for example Cages, on which the instrumentals create a mysterious sound that is best compared with London Grammar. However, directly after this song, Pontoon presents a completely different sound. The use of vocal samples, slightly faster guitar play and lots of tiny sounds give the track a feel that’s still distinctly Emma Louise, but pleasantly flirts with trip hop. And what to think of her cover of Alt-J’s Tessellate, which she presented last year at Triple J? Using a chaos pad to sample herself, she transforms the original into a song that’s much more intimate, which is a very nice twist.

Though Emma Louise surely hasn’t fully reached the mainstream outside of Australia, she’s made quite an impression in the underground music scene. Her great voice, distinct style and versatility have conquered the hearts of many. We therefore hope that she has a bright musical future ahead of herself. If you feel the same way after reading this article, don’t hesitate to support the artist! Tell your friends and maybe share this article or one of her videos. But at the very least, just listen to her beautiful music; it’ll relax you and brighten up your day. And who doesn’t want that?

-The Chemist

Rediscovering Music

Lately I have been more into the rougher and faster music, and I started listening to some of my old music again. While doing this, you kind of rediscover genres and artists. For me one of these rediscoverings is System Of A Down, a well-known metal band from the US. Listening to their songs gives you sort of a boost, mentally but also physically! Their energetic music makes you want to jump, mosh and smash things!

We know Digging For Gems is mostly focused on discovering new interesting and good music but this also includes rediscovering old songs, even from bands and musicians who swam in the mainstream. System Of A Down has been around since 1993 and their name is based on a poem written by guitarist Daron Malakian “Victims Of A Down”. The band exists of Daron Malakian (vocals, guitar), Serj Tankian (lead vocals, occasional keyboards and rhythm guitar), Shavo Odadjian (bass, background vocals) and John Dolmayan(drums); all of these musicians have a mix of Armenian and American blood.

The way to characterise their music is Metal and Hardrock with politically influenced lyrics. They tend to write a lot about unfairness, political failure and war. So their raw and hard style is accompanied with meaningful lyrics which makes it even better because they also have some meaning. They don’t consider themselves very progressive, but they also want to make music no one has ever heard before, therefore creating their own metal sound.

So far SOAD has released five studio albums of which three debuted at number one in the Billboard 200. They have been nominated for four Grammys and won one in 2006 for their controversial song BYOB: Bring Your Own Bombs.

-The Biologist

Fritz Kalkbrenner: adding soul to the house

It is no secret that a lot of DJs and producers that make any form of electronic music, grew up listening to music styles like soul, funk, jazz and hip hop. Though some of them leave these influences from their early life behind them, others decide to use them in their further career, creating a style that’s similar to that of their peers, but groovier in many ways. Among the latter category is German producer Fritz Kalkbrenner. His music blends techno, house and soul sounds together in songs that are danceable, yet great to listen to at home.

Kalkbrenner was born in Berlin, in 1981. He grew up listening to the classic rappers of his time: Wu-Tang Clan, KRS-One, A Tribe Called Quest and many others. But hip hop’s stylistic roots were never far away, since the likes of Curtis Mayfield, Nina Simone and Al Green were on Kalkbrenner’s menu as well. In 1997, his brother Paul and friend Sascha Funke, who would soon become famous DJs, dragged him along to the many clubs in Berlin, where he learned about techno. And not too long after, Fritz decided to use his brother’s old equipment to start making songs of his own.

Several years later, in 2002, he was coaxed to put his voice to use as well. This led to a feature on Funke’s debut album Bravo. After this, it took a while before the main audience would hear from Fritz Kalkbrenner again. It was in 2008 that he produced the soundtrack for the movie Berlin Calling, together with his brother. The song, called Sky and Sand, became an international hit that reached the charts in Germany and surrounding companies. Several years later, in 2010, Fritz released his solo debut called Here Today Gone Tomorrow. It was followed two years later by the magnificent mix CD called Suol Mates: Fritz Kalkbrenner, on which his varied musical taste is displayed. Kalkbrenner’s second solo release came during the same year and is called: Sick Travellin’.

In interviews, Kalkbrenner describes his music as club music that have to be danced to. His debut album clearly follows this philosophy, with most tracks featuring classic house beats that you’d expect at your typical party. However, Kalkbrenner skillfully avoided producing a dime a dozen house album, by blending in groovy instrumental contributions and occasionally his own singing. This leads to a decent debut album, with occasional masterpieces like Facing the Sun, which features a catchy guitar sample and balances between cheerfulness and melancholy due to the vocals. The various interludes hint even more towards his musical influences, by being soulful breaks between his more house-like tracks.

Sick Travellin’ shows a Fritz Kalkbrenner that’s much more mature, musically speaking. He seems to have taken a step away from the techno side and moved closer to deep house, leaning more towards using live instrumentals and using his characteristic voice more often. The tracks are still danceable, but on the same to are much more suitable to simply groove to in your living room. Tracks like Willing present us with the funky guitar riffs that we like so much, while songs like Hummin Hills give the house and techno fans something to love.

Over the years, Fritz Kalkbrenner has shown interesting development as an artist. Starting with a modest vocal contribution that turned into an international hit and currently being active as a versatile producer that manages to build danceable yet intimate shows, he’s certainly earned his place in the producer scene. He’s on our watch list for sure and we hope that his eclectic style has got you convinced as well!

-The Chemist

Evil Brain Angel Heart

We at Digging For Gems care about what our followers have to say. And today we are answering a request for an article, by discussing one of the most distinguishable rappers out there: Tech N9ne. Being musical Diggers, we already know this hiphop phenomenon, but some of you readers out there might not, so we’re going to break it down for you.

To really understand where Tech N9ne gets his inspiration from and to understand the motives for what he does, we have to look back at the beginning. Aaron Dontez Yatez was born on November 7th 1971 in Kansas City. He was raised by his mother, a single mom suffering from epilepsy and the auto immune disease Lupus. He began rapping at a young age just to spell out his name, which later on evolved to some more serious rapping, inspired by what he and his loved ones had been through.

His real rap career begun when he was 20 years old, when he was a member of the rap group Black Mafia. After having a little taste of success he moved from label to label, but nothing really got done the way he wanted to. That’s when he founded the label Strange Music together with Travis O’guin. Nowadays Strange Music is one of those independent hiphop labels with great artists like Tech N9ne, Murs and Rittz.

The stage name Tech N9ne derived from the handheld machine gun, the TEC-9. This name was given to him by a fellow rapper due to the fact that his delivery was rapid and fast like a machine gun. Also the Tech part stands for Technique and the 9 is based on the biblical reference to the number of completion.

Yatez’s music is mostly based on personal experiences, emotions and criticism on society. Often you find biblical and religious references in his music due to his experiences with the search for a higher power and his struggle of good versus evil. Growing up without a father and his mother being ill left him in a search for God and thus expanding his knowledge of various religious elements. Together with his good friend Dennis he used to search abandoned buildings to look for ghosts and trying to capture them on tape. In 2003 Dennis was killed by the ex-husband of his girlfriend; for Yatez, the only way to deal with this was to vent his emotions though his music, and to further his search for higher powers.

Now that you know where this phenomenon came from, we can look at what he is currently doing. The first things you notice about Tech N9ne are his appearance, his beard, face paint, hairdo and explosive performance. Tech N9ne is the only rapper in the Forbes list for best paid rappers that wears face paint. When asked why he didn’t try to score a hit and take off his scary paint he replied that he wanted to stay true to himself and would never change his image or face paint for any amount of money. This way, he has managed to build himself an empire around him. Although he stays true to himself, he never wants to repeat the same subject matter for too long, so it doesn’t water down. Because of this versatile state of mind, his songs vary from party songs to brag and boast to emotional songs with social economic criticism on society. Being influenced and inspired by many genres varying from old school hiphop to metal he has worked together with Kendrik Lamar, Wes Borland (Limp Bizkit), Ross Robinson (Slipknot), T-Pain and Serj Tankian (System Of A Down) and many more artists are to follow.

So far Tech N9ne has released 14 studio albums and additional EPs, appeared in several movies and tv shows and has done collaborations with a long list of different artists. Right now he is working on an album called Special Effects which is due for 2015.
We at DFG will keep you posted on his new work, so make sure you follow us on Facebook and keep requesting and sending us music!

-The Biologist