www.businessinsider.com/finnish-guys-annex-russia-diplomats-parking-spot-with-ukraine-flag-2022-10
Category: #Music4Ukraine
“Hydronaut” by Shiva the Destructor – another #HastyMusicReview to #SupportUkraine
Some of you may be trying to support Ukrainian musicians with the #Music4Ukraine Challenge, but maybe you don’t know where to start. I’m here to help. I will be publishing a series of mini blog posts about some of the great Ukrainian music I’ve found, and I’ll give tips about the types of listeners I think might enjoy it. If that description matches you, then I hope you’ll dig further into the artist to learn more and share what you find with your music-loving friends!
“Hydronaut”
By Shiva the Destructor
The first thing I notices was the stunning psychedelic temple artwork. It gave me a sense being drawn into an epic story, and the music delivered!
The song starts with a swirling with delay effect accentuated by modulation creating an underwater feeling. Eventually a gnarly and present bass lick sludges through the bottom end foreshadowing the journey that is to come.
Guitar riff slides up the neck then abruptly gets choked off gives just a moment of respite, allowing the tune to gasp for breath before it digs back in.
Eventually the tune dies off again, but instead of starting back up as it was, it restarts with series of bright arpeggios. This creates a slightly more optimistic vibe for just a moment until the heavy guitars assault the low end again- this time they crush with increasing pressure.
You might be lulled into thinking that this is a purely instrumental tune, but so you may be surprised when the lyrics start 3:26 into the song. Be patient. The voice is haunting and at times trippy- spinning in the swirling into and out of the guitar lines.
The lyrics are poignant and dark- it’s one of the few songs I’ve listen to that has a full set of discernable lyrics, sung in English.
After the vocals tell their story, the guitars pick up the intensity again and wander through a harmonized solo, ultimately arriving in the land of ambience, where they joined by an organ that opens a gap for the lyrics to rejoin the mix one final time.
Hydronaut is a beautiful soundscape that envelops a heavy griding rock tune. I think it’s likely to be enjoyed by the subset of Tool fans that don’t need everything to be super heavy (sorry, I know some of you need it to be ultraheavy and this isn’t for you), grunge fans, psychedelic rock, fans of dark complex grooves, stoners
If you’re looking for other great Ukrainian music, I encourage you check out the playlist below. As I find more tunes, I’ll add them there. I plan on publishing more “Hasty Music Reviews” like this to help you find the artist that bests suits your style. Also, if you’re interested in learning more about #Music4Ukraine be sure to check out my Listen for A Cause post.
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More than 40 gifted young musicians from Ukraine are continuing their education through the Phoenix Music Academy in Dortmund, Germany. By Alexander …
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#Music4Ukraine – A Playlist
I’ve been featuring this playlist in many of my Hasty Music Reviews lately. However, the playlist is but a small feature of those posts so I wanted to put it out here in the open to make it easy for you to find.
This playlist is all Ukrainian artists from many different genres. There is a lot of incredible talent here. I hope you’ll give it a listen as a show of support for the artists of Ukraine.
Hopefully you’ll hear something that you love and it will inspire you to listen deeper into that artist. When you do, please share what you found with others. Here are some tips about how you can leverage you musical consumption to support those under attack.
Do you have any recommendations of Ukrainian music for me? Have you used playlists to support other social causes? If so, let me know in the comments.
Ukrainian music group Kalush Orchestra wins Eurovision amid war with Russia
Ukrainian band Kalush Orchestra won the Eurovision Song Contest, a clear show of popular support for the group’s war-ravaged nation that went beyond …
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Hobby #6: A Call to Action
Four Steps to Give Ukrainian Musicians a #LilBoost #Music4Ukraine
I recently made a post called “Listen for a Cause” where I encouraged readers to do a little research into the Ukrainian music scene which has been interrupted by the Russian invasion. Prior to that, it was disrupted by Covid like the rest of the world.
As the war drags on, those of us who want to support our brothers and sisters in the Ukraine may be looking for new and creative ways to do so. I’ve been encouraging people to go YouTube, Spotify, Bandcamp, and other streaming services to give Ukrainian artists a boost. Perhaps this will help provide them with steady income while it is difficult to book gigs.
If you want to help here are some simple and fun steps, you can take right now to help.
Listen to music from Ukraine -Seek out Ukrainian artists on Spotify, YouTube, or the streaming service of your choice. If you are unfamiliar with Ukrainian music, you might not know where to start. Below is a playlist of artists I’ve been listening to start there and when you hear something you like please listen to more songs by that artist. I’ve also been publishing a series called Hasty Music Reviews. Each post gives a brief description of a Ukrainian song and I compare it to Western artists. If you like the artist I mention, then there’s a good chance you may enjoy the artist featured in the post.
Reflect on the music – You can listen passively if you want, but ultimately, you’re going to want to convince others to check out the great tunes you found. That will be easier if you know exactly why you liked it. How did the song make you feel? How is it like music you enjoy? Do you have any friends or family that you think would enjoy it too?
Spread the Word – Streaming services pay fractions of a penny per stream, so to have any significant effect we need to get lots of people listening. Be a social media influencer and spread the word about the great music you find. Reach out the influencers you follow and ask them to post about their favorite Ukrainian artists too.
There are many great ways you can do this.
1. Write posts on social media about the great bands you find.
2. Share playlists of your favorite songs.
3. Create your own original content like blogs, music reviews, reaction videos, lyric videos, or cover versions.
4. Create a hashtag and follow hashtags created by others like #Music4Ukraine.
5. Reach out to friends and encourage them to do the same in real life and online.
6. Ask social media influencers to join the cause.
Purchase Merch – I know times are tough for many folks around the world. Many people trimming back their discretionary spending around the globe, but you can always consider spending money on albums, shirts, posters, or other merchandise if you are able and willing to do so.
Concluding Thoughts
I sincerely hope you’ll join me supporting the people of Ukraine. I hope you’ll reach back to me and recommend your favorite songs to me so I can check them out, and I’ll continue to do the same for you.
We don’t have to limit ourselves to just supporting Ukrainian musicians. In this particular case we’re using music to support musicians, so it’s easy and natural. However, I’m sure with a little creativity you can adapt this model to support any social cause. I hope you’ll take the idea and run with it and let music inspire you to make the world a better place.
“Pisces” by Jinjer – A Hasty Music Review to Support the People of Ukraine #Music4Ukraine
I’ve been doing this series for several days now and I’m really loving learning more about the music and people of Ukraine. I hope those of you who read this blog are listening to the tunes and recommending them to your friends. Hopefully we can send these tremendously talented musicians a little support through our viewership.
Typically in these posts I give a brief description of what you’re about to hear and try to encourage readers to listen to songs based on similar Western artists. I’m not going to do that this time. I could draw parallels to some important and beloved artists, but this time I’d rather just encourage all of you to listen to the track below. (If you’re the type of creator that is inclined to do a Reaction Video, please record yourself as you listen for the first time. I promise, you will thank me for giving you the heads up.)
“Pisces” is an absolutely hauntingly beautiful and brutally powerful song that needs to be experienced. I will warn you that it gets pretty heavy, and some of you may not normally be inclined to listen to music like this but please listen through to the end. It is a musical rollercoaster and it is absolutely worth the ride.
If you like this song, please check out more tracks from Jinjer. I’ve been listening all week and I keep finding more and more to love about them. “Judgement (& Punishment)” is one that I highly recommend. The reggae influence is unique in metal and in my opinion it is something other artists should consider experimenting with.
Also, I found a few clips of them talking about the war that you may want to check out.
Some of you may be trying to support Ukrainian musicians with the #Music4Ukraine Challenge, but maybe you don’t know where to start. I’m here to help. The playlist below has tons of great songs you should check out from a variety of musical styles. When you find something you love, please share it with others!
“Up In the Sky” by Somali Yacht Club – A Hasty Music Review to Support Ukrainian Musicians #Music4Ukraine
Some of you may be trying to support Ukrainian musicians with the #Music4Ukraine Challenge, but maybe you don’t know where to start. I will be publishing a series of mini blog posts about some of the great Ukrainian music I’ve been listening to and I’ll give tips about the types of listeners I think might enjoy it. If that description matches you, then I hope you’ll dig further into the artist to learn more and share what you find with your music-loving friends!
“Up In The Sky”
By Somali Yacht Club
- The intro starts with a slow and heavy fuzzed out guitar riff which reminds me of some of the down tempo Black Sabbath tunes if covered by a 1990s grunge band.
- The singer at times sounds a bit like Scott Weiland of Stone Temple Pilots fame, although his voice is mixed very low relative to the guitars, so the lyrics are hard to hear.
- The lyrics are in slow motion, simple yet moody. The same line is repeated many times, so even though it’s difficult to hear the words, you’ll still be able to get the gist.
- A little more than halfway through there is a sudden double time variation of the original riff which again reminds me of Sabbath.
- Like many of the other songs I’m reviewing, this is a long tune, roughly 8 minutes. This may be unfamiliar for fans of American rock and pop where songs rarely reach 3 minutes, but it’s nice because it allows you enough time to get lost in the groove.
- This song is recommended for fans of proto metal, grunge, and shoe gaze.
If you’re looking for other great Ukrainian music I encourage you check out the playlist below. As I find more tunes I’ll add them there and I plan on publishing more “Hasty Music Reviews” like this to help you find the artist that bests suits your style. Also, if you’re interested in learning more about #Music4Ukraine be sure to check out my Listen for A Cause post.
“I’m the Mountain” By Stoned Jesus – A Hasty Music Review to Support Ukrainian Musicians #Music4Ukraine
Some of you may be trying to support Ukrainian musicians with the #Music4Ukraine Challenge, but maybe you don’t know where to start. I will be publishing a series of mini blog posts about some of the great Ukrainian music I found and I’ll give tips about the types of listeners I think might enjoy it. Be sure to listen to the song below and if you like it share it with your loved ones.
“I’m the Mountain”
By Stoned Jesus
- The A section begins with minor acoustic guitar arpeggios, with a looming bass drone.
- This is one of the few songs I’ve come across sung in English, the lyrics are dark – bemoaning a love gone wrong and accentuated with tight moaning harmonies.
- After the second verse the song stops abruptly and is restarted with a new acoustic lick, which is eventually joined by an acoustic drum set and bass. It slowly evolves until the acoustic guitars are overtaken by spitting fuzzed out guitar.
- Until that point, it’s clear that the song is dark but the connection to 1990s grunge music becomes undeniable.
- At times the song has hints of a low-fi Soundgarden/Tool demo track, but it’s much rougher around the edges.
- That is, with the exception that the vocalist doesn’t resemble Chris Cornell’s voice (no one does). He’s got a deeper tone, more like Eddie Vedder in range but without the gravely tone. In all fairness though, that is still a weak comparison, the singer of Stone Jesus has a sound that is all his own.
- This song is great for fans of grunge music or anyone looking for a soundtrack to accompany their feelings of isolation.
If you’re looking for other great Ukrainian music I encourage you check out the playlist below. As I find more tunes I’ll add them there and I plan on publishing more “Hasty Reviews” like this to help you find the artist that bests suits your style. Also, if you’re interested in learning more about #Music4Ukraine be sure to check out my Listen for A Cause post.
Plan M: Finding Joy in Music Blog 