Review: Zella Day - Zella Day EP

I stumbled upon this artist from Sputnik Music which got lot of good albums recommendation. So I decided to give it a go and, bam, I was hooked.

Sweet Ophelia,
When young blood escapes
Vows that break
Go up, up away
Zella Day - Sweet Ophelia

This album (or mini album) from Zella Day consisted just of 4 songs, totaling in 12 minutes and 25seconds. But, boy, those four songs just soooo good. I keep hitting replay button again. And again. And again. And again...

So, how should I describe Zella Day? I would say like Lana del Rey met Florence Welch met Elly Ghoulding: the sheer epic result is simply mind blowing.

Many EP is just an epic song with lots of filler. But in Zella Day, there are no filler, all her four songs are strong: good lyrics combined with big hook and blasting melody. Oh, and the melancholy, we must not forget the big dose melancholy.

You did to me so well
Hypnotic taking over me
Make me feel like someone else
You got me talking in my sleep
Zella Day - Hypnotic

The lyrics is good, I love how poetic all her songs are. The theme is mostly about blinded in love.

Take me to the garden of your ecstasy
Make myself a heaven from your falling leaves
Woven in the fabric of your tapestry
Cover me in honeysuckle memories
Zella Day - Compass

From Hypnotic, Sweet Ophelia to Compass and East of Eden, we will meet pounding bass,  strings and layer upon layers of sounds. Her musics is really rich. The only sparsely instrumented is Compass, which only capitalized her vocal.

And she sing really good. Her high register is really good. She soar effortlessly to falsetto, without sounding breathless. However, I would like to hear more of her lower register, because she had this dark voice which I liked.

Call me wild, drinking up the sunshine
Be my man and show me what it feels like
Denim sky unbuttoned down the middle
Spilling out little by little
Zella Day - East of Eden

I would like to see how her full album sounded, I hope it would be even better than this epic EP. If you liked Lana Del Rey, Florence Welch or Elly Ghoulding, I would recommend you to try Zella Day. She is good.

Zella Day + Deadbeef + Aune T1 with Phillips PCC188 + Sennheiser HD600  = eargasm.

Lana Del Rey - Ultraviolence

You must already noticed now, that I rather like Lana Del Rey. I really dig her melancholy and old style. Yes her persona is rather made up and not natural. Yes those lips almost certain face job. I don't care. As long as she keep produce music I like, she can put one meter long nose, or third arm or fly or whatever.

This album is very different than her previous two albums. Dark is what it felt at first. But different dark than Born to Die dark. In Born to Die, the darkness is glittering with flashes of neon and orb-lamp. Of recklessness and willfulness. In Ultraviolence, the darkness is lightened only by a splash of fireflies, of fond memories and little bit of sands in moonlight.

Gone is the hip - hop and heavy strings, replaced by echoing electric guitars and -what-is-it-called?-reverb? And simple drum. Simpler band arrangements, with a splash of strings here and there. The result is a fresher sounded album, although still heavy with melancholy and drama.

The lyrics, to be honest, still not 100% good. I mean, //You dance in circles around me // You're fucking crazy // You're crazy for me // is definitely bad. Or // He used to call me DN // That stood for deadly nightshade //. Really? Nightshade as in Potato and Eggplants? And why on earth "hydroponic weed"? At least, nightshade did sounded cool, I'll give you that
But there are gems here and there. The same song which gave us vegetables also give us this gems: // I can hear sirens, sirens // He hit me and it felt like a kiss // I can hear violins, violins //. Domestic abuse or BDSM? You choose.
Oh, and did she just take a jab at USA? //I’m talking about my generation // Talking about that newer nation // And if you don't like it // You can beat it //. What do you think?

I won't go detailed review of each songs here. But if you ask me, personally I like the Bond - movie-esque "Shades of Cool", the twanged "Brooklyn Baby" (really love the guitar), "West Coast" (nice tempo switching there!) and the operatic induced "Money Power Glory".
All in all, this album gave nostalgic vibe, with big doze of melancholy thrown. If Born to Die felt like good girl had her first taste of bad (and loving each second of it), then Born to Die: Paradise Edition felt like grown woman comfortable in her sexy, womanhood, and Ultraviolence felt like a woman who reminiscing how her life gone. Jaded, tired, sad but still starving for love, even a violent one. That how Lana on this album felt.

Lana's voice sounded much stable and matured here. Her voice soaring high and smooth. I really loved how she sounded on "Brooklyn Baby". And those soprano on "Shades of Cool" is really good. I kind of missing her low voice though. There aren't many singer with good rich, dark low voice. And song like "Born to Die" is shining because of those low voice.

This is quite good album. I like how fresh, yet how Lana Del Rey is this album. Dark, nostalgic, and melancholy. In short: a Lana Del Rey album.

Review: OneRepublic - Feel Again (single)

Ugh, what a busy month!!! So many things to get done on my workplace I didn't even had time for writing on this blog. Sorry guys, but I really busy this last 3 weeks. So busy I even go to office on Saturday (Saturday!!!) to finish things :(

Now those hectic weeks passed, I want to share this new single by OneRepublic. Well, not exactly new, since it been out for like, 3 months ago, but still, from a band which didn't get much coverage last year (especially since their last album is definitely a flop), this single is like their gambling to the world of fame (their debut album is definitely good).

So, what of their newest single, which titled "Feel Again"? When I listened to it the first time, I though it was one of Coldplay songs. The drum track, the clapping, the melody, the vocals; the hypnotic atmosphere created really reminds me to Coldplay. Watch the videclip, and the similarity is even stronger: the light, the party, the shooting angle.

From lyrical point of view, the lyrics is very simple, "I'm feeling better since you know me / I was a lonely soul but that's the old me" just cant compete with "I loved you with a fire red, / Now it's turnin' blue..." from Apologize, or even "We'll have the days we break /  And we'll have the scars to prove it / We'll have the bombs that we saved / And we'll have the heart / Not to lose it" from Marching On. And just don't even try to compare it to Coldplay lyrics. Just don't.

I like the videoclip, the light play is amazing. The sweet scene where a man give a women flower-with-lighbulb-on-it is nice, giving sweet touch to the hypnotic-party atmosphere. Again, reminiscence of Coldplay. But that's ok, since this single is divers to OneRepublic previous songs (which quite heavy and tiring).


Overall, nice single. The different atmosphere invoked is differs nicely with their last albums. Nice videoclip too, really love the lightbulb play. I just wish it less felt like Coldplay and more OneRepublic.

Rant #3: Jaben Jakarta

Last Saturday I'm turned 25 years old, so I though I will go and treat myself a nice new full-sized headphone. Jaben got this birthday special offer, so I'm going to use that. Jaben Jakarta is located at Senayan Trade Center, very easy for me to reach just about 30 minutes by public bus (not counting traffic jam). I got to Jaben Jakarta store at 6.30 PM, give or take.

Jaben Jakarta store is rather small, but very cozy. They welcomed me warmly, and after I told them that I was looking for open full-sized headphone, they offer me to listen to some of their demo headphones. I tried an Alessandro MS1i. I rather excited because this is my first time listening to Alessandro, my one-time experience with Grado SR60i didn't impress me much, I found SR60i too bright for me. So gingerly, I put the MS1i, dial the volume pot on my FiiO E10 to zero, play a song and carefully set the volume up. Boy, how I supprised.

MS1i didn't sounded like what I remember SR60i back then. The treble is crystal clear, the vocal is forward and the bass is punchy. Both male and female vocals are so airy and so free that listening to my Audio-Technica SJ33 I felt boxed. Guitar sounded so crisp, and the vocal is forward, just how I liked it.
The sound-stage (or head-stage if you like) is way bigger than the SR60i on my memory. I don't know the pad they used, but it's different to the one SR60i has. Comfortable enough, the headphone just sit on my head. But I don't like how the pad touched my ears. It got rather itchy after several songs lol.

Next I asked for another open headphone to listen to and they gave me Goldring DR150. So, this is the headphone called poor-man's Sennheiser HD650, I thought. I put it on my head, put some song to play, and Holy Sh*t!!! I never knew Fatoumata Diawara's Kanou has those nice bass! And her vocals...so nice!!! Not as airy as MS1i, but with enough breath to it. Compared to MS1i, DR150 is less airy, but also less sibilant. DR150 bass also way bigger than MS1i bass. DR150 made MS1i sounded thin. Not that MS1i is bad, but generally I prefer darker sound-signature myself. I like my male vocals a touch of dark and heavy, and my female vocal to be as clean as possible. Looking from other side, MS1i vocals is sounded much more effortless, while DR150 is rather heavy.

It's a mantra to audiophile and music lovers crowd that before you buy an equipment, try as much as possible to listen other equipments, so I asked for another headphone. Jaben folk told me that the other headphone on my price range that they have are closed back, but I told them I don't mind, so they gave me Shure 440 to listen. OMG! Such high-class customer service!!! Really love Jaben....

How Shure 440 sounded? As a closed back, it doesn't has nice air or breath than Goldring and Alessandro has, but Shure has this nice clear vocal. Vocal is forwarder than MS1i (really, what pad they put on those MS1i?) and very, very clear. I can hear Adele breath when she sang Someone Like You, Live at The Royal Albert Hall. But the sound-stage isn't as nice as neither MS1i nor DR150. Both MS1i and DR150 got better layering, and better 3 dimensional space. The bass is rather weak, tad weaker than MS1i, but much clearer. I think that because of less mid-bass. And also very clean, making DR150 sounded like it had a veil on it.

So, after trading and comparing one to another, I put my choice on Goldring DR150. I want a headphone with good sound-stage and layering, and smoother sound, both are things that my Audio-Technica SJ33 lack. Not that my Audio-Technica bad, actually it's very good and very fun to listen to. I just want more refined sound, and more comfortable for home listening.

Because it's my birthday, Jaben give me some discount. Actually they as me to choose: price discount or gift (it's an Sony Jienna IEM and Jaben headphone stand), but I choose price discount. Why? because those money could go to Brainwavz HM5 when they came here fufufufufufu......

 For you who want to buy or try a nice set of headphone, go to Jaben. They are very friendly, and very warm, and they let you try almost all headphones and amplifiers that they had. They got some very nice offering (like birthday specials, bundle specials), even starting bundle special (they let you pay 60% first, then the 40% twice on two month schedule), and sometime a lucky draw (where they give out a headphone or IEM to a lucky guest).
They even offering me to try the Shure 1440, the newest Shure open headphone (which very expensive), and I had to swallow my saliva and politely reject the offer. After paying my headphone, I rather hurriedly haul my ass out before they offers me another scary headphone to try on. No, my wallet can't suffer those price.

All my rant above actually just an impression, because I only listen them for some time, and don't treat them as a review. I only write my review if I can get my paw on those headphone long enough, maybe several weeks. Right now I'm burning my new Goldring DR150, and I plan to write a review on them after they got enough time to settle to their sound. Thanks for reading this rant of me, lets meet again on the next post!

Review: Florence + The Machine

Jujur saja, saya baru pertama ini kenal dengan artis yang bernama Florence dan grup pendampingnya yang menggunakan nama The Machine. Saya awalnya membaca review album ini dari situs majalah Rollingstone, lalu saya iseng mendengarkan demo lagunya, dan jatuh cinta dengan suara dan musiknya.

Terdiri dari 12 track lagu, dimulai dari:

1. "Only If for a Night"
2. "Shake It Out"
3. "What the Water Gave Me"
4. "Never Let Me Go"
5. "Breaking Down"
6. "Lover to Lover"
7. "No Light, No Light"
8. "Seven Devils"
9. "Heartlines"
10. "Spectrum"
11. "All This and Heaven Too"
12. "Leave My Body"

saya melalap satu album tanpa sadar, karena terhanyut dengan suasana album yang berbeda.

Album ini sangat kaya akan suara dan instrumen, dengan backing vocal, menciptakan musik yang berlapis-lapis. Efek gaung yang digunakan membuat kesan megah, namun juga menambah keruwetan dari album ini. Dengan FiiO E10 DAC dan headphone Audio-Technica SJ33, saya dapat membedakan berbagai detil instrumen, vokal dan backing vokal, dan gaung dengan jelas. Dengan soundcard onboard dan SJ33, detil banyak yang hilang, instrumen lebih bercampur, membuat suasana ruwet. Saya kurang menyarankan anda mendengarkan dengan perangkat yang separasinya kurang bagus, karena album ini benar-benar kaya akan detil dan layering.

Vokal Florence Welch bersinar di album ini, tarikan nafas, getaran suaranya, intonasi, teknik vokal, benar-benar menyatu dengan musik. Di saat artis-artis sekarang berlomba mengeluarkan album dengan musik yang heavy bass, synthesizers, auto-tunes, dan berbagai bling-bling lainnya, album Ceremonials ini berkesan tradisional, liar, klasik, gelap, namun tetap megah dan bersinar. Mendengarkan album ini setelah rentetan Britney Spears, Rihanna, Katy Perry dan berbagai artis mainstream senada lainnya, rasanya seperti keluar menikmati angin malam yang dingin dan segar setelah berjam-jam berada di ruangan diskotik yang panas, sumpek dan penuh aroma seksual.

Kalau anda ingin merasakan album yang berbeda dari album kebanyakan, silakan mencoba album ini. Saya sarankan anda mendengarkan album ini dengan perangkat yang mempunyai separasi dan sound-stage yang bagus, karena anda pasti akan terpana dengan kekayaan musik album ini.
RECOMMENDED!!!

Review: The Weeknd - Echoes of Silence

Aliran Dub-step sebenarnya kurang saya sukai karena saya kurang ngeh dengan musik tersebut, sama seperti pure Jazz, sehingga saya tidak bisa menikmati musik aliran tersebut. Namun saya sangat menikmati album pertama The Weeknd (House of Baloon), dan sekarang saya kembali terhanyut dengan album ketiga dari The Weeknd yang berjudul Echoes of Silence (saya belum sempat mendengarkan album keduanya).

Dari track pertama sampai track terakhir, album ini sangat berbeda dengan album pertama (House of Baloon). Drum lebih tegas, mantab, dengan beat yang relatif lebih cepat dibandingkan dengan album pertama yang yang slow, easy going, dan menghanyutkan.

Ada 9 track lagu di mix-tape ini, dan semuanya menghanyutkan...

1. "D.D."
2. "Montreal"
3. "Outside"
4. "XO"/"The Host"
5. "Initiation"
6. "Same Old Song"
7. "The Fall"
8. "Next"
9. "Echoes of Silence"

Secara pribadi saya sangat menyukai "D.D." dan "Montreal".
Album ini paling nikmat jika didengarkan berkelanjutan, karena seluruh lagu di mix-tape ini merupakan satu rangkai yang berkelanjutan. Vokal falsetto Abel Tesfaye lembut mengalir, meliuk diantara hentakan drum dan melodi, membuat satu kesatuan musik yang menghanyutkan.

Kalau anda ingin mencoba aliran dub-step, album The Weeknd ini bisa anda coba. Saya sendiri sangat menikmatinya.
RECOMMENDED!!!
-------------------------------------------------------------
berikutnya: review album Lana Del Rey, Born To Die