It was a long winter break for me which required me to do some exploring and expanding on my musical horizons. This week features a St. Louis artist, a sneaky music industry legend, and a rabbit hole song. Let’s get right into it.
Campus Track #1 “Body Shop” Paco ft. Tommy Richman (Explicit)
I discovered the duo of Paco and Tommy Richman on Richman’s latest project “Coyote” which came out in September. I liked the song and from there I learned that Paco is actually from St. Louis which is what drew me to this song when it came out in late December. The song brings a club like vibe with little chimes from the beat which give it a mysterious sound. Paco takes vocals on most of the song and does a great job on hook and chorus. This is out of character for me but I’d say my favorite part of his doesn’t come from the hook, but from the ending bridge of his verse. One of the coolest things I think an artist can do in a song is hint their arrival through some sort of noise like a humming, or an ad lib. In the middle of the second chorus verse Tommy Richman comes in with a hum in the background hinting at his verse. When an artist perfects this I truly believe it can take them from a good artist to an elite artist. Richman builds off the same kind of flow and sound as Paco which makes for a smooth transition. Both artists understood their assignments and made this one heavy in my rotation to start my break.
Campus Track # 2 “New Person, Same Old Mistakes” Tame Impala
Tame Impala is an artist I had been meaning to listening to for a really long time so when I was driving home I decided to throw his album “Currents” from 2015. It’s weird how much of Tame Impala’s music I knew, without knowing I knew it if that makes sense. This guy is also just a music genius that has worked with many artists that I listen to regularly which is why I describe him as a sneaky legend in the industry. But to others he may not be sneaky that way at all. I fear I had been under a rock from his music for a while. During the listen this is the song I immediately pulled as my favorite, and it stayed that way. The production, as it is on most of his songs, is amazing and is what brought me back to this song. It opens with a deep synth and then the little chimes come in, masterpiece. This is one of those songs that probably couldn’t even be ruined for me by a DJ Khaled ad lib. I found out this song has also been covered by Rihanna which is also amazing.
Campus Track #3 “Afterlife” Juliana Madrid
I went down what I think was an indie rabbit hole around the end of my break which brought me to what might be my song of the break. I don’t know who Juliana Madrid is, or who’s on guitar on this song. But all of them need the biggest raises ever. Madrid’s vocals are beautiful and there isn’t a down point in this song. My favorite part though has to be when the instrumental takes over and there’s just a powerful surge kicking things off from the guitar. After every time it ends I can’t wait until they break the guitar out again, which thankfully they do three times. If there’s one song you go out of your way to listen to from Campus Tracks this week make it this one.
Find Campus Tracks from previous weeks here!
