. . . to doing something I wouldn’t normally do: To listening to and following the music of that surprise-hit band, Owl City.
Owl City is an American synthpop musical project. It consists of Adam Young who started out making music in his parents’ basement, which he claims is a result of his insomnia. Pretty good claim to fame for a teenager carting his Macbook and mini-Korg around to shows
Most famous for their songs Fireflies and Hot Air Balloon, Owl City are now raking in views by the millions on Youtube.
What even impresses me about this band? It isn’t the reminiscent 80s synthpop styled leads or the repetitious house beats that snatch a few leaves out of the Trance genre’s book; and it certainly isn’t the severely catchy melodies that spin around and around your head days after listening to the songs (although I appreciate that a good melody is indeed very hard to write) . . .
But what does impress me about them is that one random (and somewhat awkward) guy called Adam Young, who fiddles around with knobs on his Korg, somehow propels himself from a place called complete obscurity to VH1′s top 20 and the number one album on iTunes.
All the logistics out of the way, I’m not a particularly huge fan of the continuous overuse of the melodyne auto-tuning he uses to get that strange, almost vocoded sound to his vocals; but I am a fan of the name this guy has made for himself after literally appearing from left field.
I suppose he does, after all, write very clever songs.
Related Articles
- Skysailing September 8, 2010
- CD Review: Church Music September 28, 2009
- New site, new songs, new caledonia October 6, 2008
- Good Music Tuesday: Will Reagan January 10, 2012
- An Unlikely Cure September 15, 2010
- Good Music Tuesday: Cory Asbury January 17, 2012
Tags: Music News, Random Oddities
Edgar Andrews
Coldplay
Adele
very catchy songs… and I actually like his music too. even if it is super repetitive!
Just doesn’t look right.
Where’s the real drums… and real bass… and real guitars? and real keyboard playing?
Is turing knobs and hitting keys (on a notebook) the future of live shows?
Hmmmmmmm.
I agree. His game could be picked up ten-fold with some decent stage presence, namely the laptop/knob-turner not being in the spotlight for the live shows (or, as you say, a decent band). As the performances stand it’s a pretty dull experience to watch.
Couldn’t he easily do the same thing by hitting ‘play tracks #’ on his laptop and sing along? Why all the knob turning?
… or does this comment make me sound old and out of touch with culture??
hahaha
knob turnings a skill. girls like guys with skills
Just to let you all know that Symon is playing his music right now (loudly) on the tv and thinking of buying his CD… *snigger*… I think all his “realy band” talk is a cover for his “techno loving innerman”.
[...] may remember a while ago I confessed to listening to the velvet-chill sounds of the musical mastermind, Owl City. And it wasn’t [...]