Are Three-Minute Songs Bad For Music? 🎶
Are Three-Minute Songs Bad For Music? 🎶
Shuffle Sundays #39 • Black Midi, Scalene, Ted Gioia, Fugees, Tom Morello, Bring Me The Horizon, Arinze Stanley
Hello and welcome to Shuffle Sundays, a weekly newsletter with music recommendations to help you find your next obsession.
This week we’re listening to one of the most interesting bands in the contemporary rock scene, learning about the origins of the three-minute song duration, feeling inspired by ultra-realistic drawings, checking out some new music released this past week, and more. Enjoy the read!
🎧 Soundtrack: Spiritbox - Eternal Blue
💽 » Black Midi - Cavalcade
experimental rock, jazz fusion, math-rock • 8 songs • 42 minutes
With only 2 albums in their (still short) discography, Black Midi quickly became one of the most interesting and exciting names in the rock scene, all thanks to lots of experimentation and genre-bending you can find in their music. Cavalcade (2021) was released back in May, amidst great anticipation after a powerful debut two years before. The best way to experience this record is to put on a nice pair of headphones and hit play without knowing much about it. But if you need some kind of warning before doing that, just know that this definitely won’t be an easy ride, as they constantly switch in between different genres in an impressive way. It’s a schizophrenic, urgent, and necessary album for a year like 2021.
Listen on Spotify | Apple Music | YouTube
📺 » Scalene - Febril
Febril is the new single of Brazilian rock band Scalene, which not only marks a new phase for the band after the departure of their drummer but also brings their sound back to a heavier territory, after all the acoustic exploration they recently went through with the great pair of albums Respiro (2019) and Fôlego (2020). It’s been great to see their evolution and experimentation over the years, and I can’t wait to see what the next album will bring us.
watch the video on YouTube
📺 » Are Three-Minute Songs Bad For Music?
A great video essay by music critic (and fellow newsletter writer) Ted Gioia on the story behind the duration of songs over the years, how did we get to the common 3-minutes mark, and the harm it could be causing to music’s full potential.
watch the video on YouTube. Check out his newsletter here.
🔀 » Shuffle News
• To celebrate the 25th anniversary of the release of the masterpiece album The Score, the legendary hip-hop supergroup Fugees announced a reunion tour that will happen across the United States, London, Paris, Nigeria, and Ghana this November and December. A surprise show already happened in NYC this past week to kick off the tour.
• Celebrated guitarist Tom Morello collaborated with Bring Me The Horizon on a new single called Let’s Get The Party Started, and the track sounds just like an incredible mash-up of Rage Against The Machine with Bring Me The Horizon. It’s just a single, but I wouldn’t complain at all if there was a full collab album on the way! Listen here.
⚡️ » Visual Inspiration
Arinze Stanley is a Nigerian artist, activist, photographer, engineer, and entrepreneur, best known for creating hyperrealistic pencil drawings. Yes, you read it correctly: PENCIL DRAWINGS! Check out his website or Instagram for more. Here are some favorites:
🎶 » New Music
This week’s new albums I'm particularly interested in checking out:
Also, new singles from Half•Alive, Disclosure, Criolo, The Lumineers, King Princess, Alt-J, and many more. If you’re curious to hear some of these songs and more, make sure to follow my 2021 playlist on Spotify, updated weekly with new releases:
👋🏼 See you next Sunday!
My name is Leo Mascaro and you are receiving this email because you signed up for Shuffle Sundays, a weekly publication that aims to bring music recommendations for people who feel overwhelmed with so much content out there, helping you find your next favorite artist, album, genre, and more. If this email was forwarded to you, subscribe using the box below:
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