The Right Stage Outfits for Musicians

It is fair to say that the music industry continues to be highly competitive. New artists are constantly emerging and trying to capture the imaginations of audiences. Naturally, the sound of a musician is important. However, this does not mean that their look should be neglected. The outfit a person wears on stage needs to be unique and exciting. The website NA-KD offers plenty of options. There are several factors to consider when choosing items from their catalogue.

The Brand of the Artist

The most prominent musicians will have cultivated their very own brand. The British heavy metal band Iron Maiden created a mascot that they have utilised for decades. Alice Cooper uses eye makeup to distinguish himself from other rockers. Emerging artists can create their own brand via the clothes that they choose to wear. The aim is to be as unique as possible.

Feeling Comfortable On Stage

It is essential to look great while performing. However, if the person feels too uncomfortable, it can affect the success of a show. It is therefore vital to pick clothing items that are both stylish and comfortable. A good example is the satin skirts available from NA-KD. The texture of these items has remained fashionable for many years.

Not Spending Too Much Money

When putting on a show, the budget will be a significant factor. Well established musicians will have enough money to spend on extravagant and expensive costumes. Unfortunately, this is not usually the case for new artists. The good news is that NA-KD clothing is very affordable. They supply satin skirts, denim jeans and a plethora of other products that will appeal to people within the music industry.

Reinventing Oneself

It is rare for successful artists to wear the same clothes on stage for decades. Instead, they use different outfit styles to reinvent themselves. Perhaps the most famous example of this is Madonna. It is wise to keep an eye on emerging fashion trends. Doing so will help the musician to buy the right clothes. The great thing about modern clothing is that there are so many options out there.

The Best Rock Songs of 2020/2021

2020 saw a good number of young rock artists coming to the limelight, upstaging some big names in the process. They brought a fresh breath of innovation to the popular genre. They have given veteran rock musicians competition which has led to the production of even better quality music. Here are the best rock songs of 2020 both from the young talents and the veterans.

Bloody Valentine – Machine Gun Kelly

Machine Gun Kelly showed that he still is one of the best in the industry with this widely acclaimed track. He’s got pitch-perfect vocals that are difficult to ignore. This love song has also been delivered brilliantly and easy for rock lovers to sing along to. The song also has sound effects of sirens, galloping bass, hyperkinetic drums and chugging guitars that make it even more interesting.

Care -Beabadoobee

Care has the pleasant taste of music that the 90s rock songs offered. The song has been carefully constructed and delivered in a joyful mood. The 20-year-old singer has sweet, captivating vocals that are easy to fall in love with.

Mood – 24kGoldn Feat Iann Dior

This song induces a positive ‘mood’ as soon as the opening guitar sounds. It is one of the most amazing rock songs produced by young artists in 2020. The song climbed to the peak of four major charts- the Billboard Hot 100, Hot Raps Songs, Hot Alternative Songs and Hot Rock & Alternative Songs- in the same week.

Kyoto- Phoebe Bridgers

Kyoto was released on 9th April 2020. The song revolves around the relationship between Bridgers and her father. The fast tempo of the song creates a bright and more interesting tone. Some of the instruments used to make this song great include string guitars, mellotron, autoharp, synthesizers and horns.

Ode to The Mets- The Strokes

This song was released on 10th April 2020. It was recorded at Rubin’s studio. It was released as the last track in The New Normal album released by The Strokes.

Grime

Grime has its origin in London in the early 2000s and is a genre of electronic music that draws influence from hip hop. Most people today in fact refer to grime as UK rap. The aggressive and jagged electronic sound is typified by fast 2-step breakbeats around 140 beats per minute. Before gaining mainstream recognition in the mid- 2010s, grime was mostly played in underground scenes and UK pirate radio stations such as Rinse FM, Freeze 92.7, Mission, and Déjà Vu FM. Characteristically, grime lyrics often contain disses about other musicians and as opposed to just simple performances, grime concerts feature rap battles between different performers.

Initially, artists in the grime scene did not brand it grime as the genre had diverse stylistic influences. As a result, different labels were attached to the genre including Eski beat, sub low, and 8bar. The artists honed their skills and attained underground success before advancing to the mainstream. In 2003, members of Roll Deep, a British grime crew, were among the first to bring attention to the genre to mainstream media . Wiley, the artist that founded the band, is the father of among the first tracks to be recognized as grime. These tracks include “Eskimo”, “Ice Rink” and “Igloo”.

Today, Grime has gained worldwide popularity and a lot of exposure from international television and radio stations. With more artists going into and dominating the genre over the years, grime has gained a wider reach. Some of the notable artists to look out for if you’re looking to get into listening to grime today are Skepta, Stormzy, Dave, Ghetts, Wretched 32, NSG, AJ Tracey, Lady Leshurr, and Little Simz.

The evolution of grime has been a remarkable journey from its beginnings in East London to surviving extinction in the late 2000s to currently topping UK charts and other charts worldwide. From the clarity and punch of the beats that give it a good groove down to the relatable lyricism, there is absolutely no reason to not give this genre a chance.

Classical Music

The oldest established genre of music in the modern world, classical music spans numerous genres across multiple centuries. Classical music is deeply rooted within European and Western culture and has played an important role in cultural development. Although classical music can be said to cover almost every form of music written prior to the 20th century, most modern musicians refer to classical music as music written between the Renaissance era and the start of the 20th century. Modern classical music typically refers to music that is written in a classical style, using classical instruments, although like many musical terminologies, they are not set in stone and are often used informally.

The renaissance was an era that was of particular importance to music and it is unlikely that we would have any of the forms of modern music that we do had this period not happened. Many instruments that are still in use today were invented during the Renaissance era, although almost all of them vary greatly for their original iterations. Classical instruments are typically classified into one of four different categories: brass, string, percussion, or woodwind. Brass instruments were traditionally only played by musicians who were members of Guilds, although there are not many historical reference to street performers and whether or not they were guild members. String instruments were considered to be a more universal instrument, particularly as they were typically the least expensive of all types of instruments.

Vocal music also went through a number of changes during the Renaissance period, with vocals becoming increasingly polyphonic, something that until that time was uncommon around the world. Classical music continued to evolve during the Baroque era, and it is during this time that some of the most well-known classical composers, whose works are still frequently played today, began to emerge.

AC/DC – Back in Black

AC/DC’s seventh studio album, Back in Black, was released on the 25th of July in 1980 by Albert Productions and Atlantic Records. The album marked an important time for the bad as it was the first album to feature the bands new vocalist, Brian Johnson, following the death Bon Scott, the band’s previous vocalist.

Back in Black capitalised on the commercial success of their previous album, Highway to Hell, becoming one of the band’s most successful albums, with many fans being very impressed with Johnson’s vocal style. The band recorded the album over a seven week period that they spent in the Bahamas, between April to May 1980. The band took their producer who they had worked with on their previous album, Robert John ‘Mutt’ Lange. The album was mixed at the Electric Lady Studios in New York City, and the album cover was designed to be black as a sign of mourning for Scott.

Back in Black is currently one of the best-selling albums in history, having sold an estimated 50 million copies across the world. Part of the success of the album was the band performing a yearlong world tour, which also helped to cement them as one of the most popular live musical acts in the early 1980s. The album remains popular today, regularly being included on numerous lists of ‘greatest’ albums. Since its initial release, it has been remastered a number of times for each reissue, most recently in preparation for digital release.

The album had an influence on many individuals who would go on to become artists themselves, with the album being hailed by many critics as a crucial album in metal’s history. The journalist Joe S. Harrington said that at the time of Back in Black’s release, metal and hard rock stood on a precipice and was in serious danger of becoming unpopular in commercial markets, with many bands turning toward slower tempos and longer guitar solos. The album was instrumental in proving that there was still a large market for metal, having an additional effect that many other bands were able to achieve greater levels of success in musical markets that they may not have been able to achieve if Back in Black had not been the success that it was.

Pink Floyd

One of the defining bands of the psychedelic movement, Pink Floyd was an English rock band that formed in London in 1965. The band’s main musical style focused on progressive and psychedelic music, and were particularly known for their musical experimentation, as well as their heavy drug use.

The founding members of the band: Syd Barrett, Nick Mason, Roger Waters, and Richard Wright, were students when they decided to form a band. They played at a number of clubs that were popular in the underground music scene and managed to secure themselves a following. Barrett led the band to release two charting singles and their debut album, The Piper at the Gates of Dawn, which was released in 1967. The band recruited a fifth member in December 1967, bringing David Gilmour on board as a guitarist and backing vocalist. Soon after, in April 1986, the band lost Barrett who decided to leave due to his deteriorating mental health issues, which are rumoured to have stemmed from his heavy drug use, although some of his family dispute this. The band went on to release a number of critically acclaimed albums, including The Dark Side of the Moon.

Electronic Music

The modern genre of electronic music spans numerous individual styles and techniques. Generally for a song to be considered electronic music, it is composed using only electronic instruments, typically making heavy use of digital synthesisers and drum machines.

The genre began to grow traction during the 1990s, particularly in the United Kingdom, when clubs playing only electronic music began to pop up around the country. Although electronic music had been around for some decades by that time, it was mostly seen as either purely experimental and was not necessarily produced for commercial consumption. Electronic music has continued to evolve and now spans dozens of individually identifiable genres, such as house or dubstep.

Sampling has become an important feature of electronic music with many artists now decided not to use digitally synthesised instruments in favour of hiring musicians to play real instruments and working those into their productions instead. This has been particularly evident since 2010 when new recording techniques made producing music much cheaper and easier, as well as the invention of social media, which has helped fellow musicians to communicate with one other and collaborate without having to ever meet in person.

Heavy Metal

One of the sub-genres of rock and roll, heavy metal is a much heavier style of rock that has become its own genre. Although the exact roots are continually debated amongst fans, the roots of heavy metal date back to the early 1970s musical scene in the United Kingdom when many bands started to experiment with heavier sounding guitar. Heavy metal today is typically characterised with guitars that are heavily distorted.

Three bands that help pioneer heavier sounding guitars were: Led Zeppelin, Black Sabbath, and Deep Purple. Although the bands are not themselves considered to be heavy metal, they did introduce to the public how heavier guitars could be used melodically, with a lot of heavier sounding bands starting to emerge in the mid-1970s. A lot of heavy metal bands began to discard the typically blues rhythms that rock bands were using at that time, instead opting to switch for simpler melodies that would often only feature two or three chords throughout an entire track.

Heavy metal has itself evolved a number of times since hitting commercial markets, making crossovers into the electronic musical genre as bands became more experimental.

Michael Jackon – Thriller

One of the most popular pop album of all time, Michael Jackson’s Thriller was his sixth studio album and was released on the 30th of November in 1982 in the United States. Thriller was released in the US under Epic Records and CBS Records internationally. The album is a continuation of Jackson’s style, following on from his previous album, ‘Off the Wall’. Thriller is a mixture of pop, disco, rock, and funk, with songs often blending two genres at once in order to appeal to multiple audiences at once, something that critics generally agree was achieved. Recording for the album took place over a longer time than is common, with the recording period being between April and November in 1982 at the Westlake Recording Studios in Los Angeles. Part of the extended recording time was due to the album’s large budget of $750,000, which allowed for the recruitment of many guest musicians on the album, but due to large numbers of recording conflicts had the effect of extending the recording period.

In a little over a year, Thriller became the best-selling album in the world, selling an estimated 66 million copies, although exact numbers were a lot harder to obtain back then rather than today. The album recently dropped to the second highest-selling album in the world, losing out to the Eagles’ album Their Greatest Hits (1971 – 1975), although Thriller was the first album in the world to reach 30x platinum.

The album holds the record for being awarded the highest number of Grammy Awards, winning eight awards, including Album of the Year. There were seven singles that were released from the album, all of which were well received amongst fans and commercially. The singles released were: ‘The Girl Is Mine’, ‘Billie Jean’, ‘Beat It’, ‘Wanna Be Startin’ Somethin”, ‘Human Nature’, ‘Pretty Young Thing’, and ‘Thriler’, all of which managed to secure top 10 spots on the US Billboard 100. Part of the success of the album was Jackson’s ability to break through racial barriers in pop music that helped to enable Jackson’s appearances on MTV, as well as his meeting of President Ronald Reagan at the White House. Thriller was also one of the first albums to make extensive use of music videos as a promotional tool, a trend that has remained firmly in place today. The music videos were known for their high-budgets compared to other music videos.

Pink Floyd – The Dark Side of the Moon

Pink Floyd’s critically acclaimed album, The Dark Side of the Moon, was the eight studio album recorded and released by British psychedelic rock band Pink Floyd. The album was released on the 1st of March in 1973 under the record label Harvest Records. The album was unique in that it was largely developed during live performances, with the band tweaking sounds and concepts that they were using while live on-stage. The album was prototyped a number of times before Pink Floyd even found themselves in a recording studio, with the band premiering a very early version of the record several months before recording began. Two separate recording sessions took place in 1972 and 1973 at the Abbey Road Studios in London, with a large amount of the work going into the album being added after live recording was finished.

The album was a slight change from their previous albums, as the band had started to move away from the extended instrumental segments that they had used for their previous albums, with some critics speculating that they wished to make some of the tracks more friendly to radio, as radio stations generally favoured shorter tracks to longer tracks, a trend that continues through to today. Although the album is designed to be listened to in one go, rather than picking and choosing which tracks to listen to, a number of the songs work very well on their own, although some critics have stated that the tracks do sound better when listened to as a part of the whole album.

The Dark Side of the Moon has often been described as a concept album, with songs that explore various themes, including life, death, money, fame, and the downsides of them all. The group also experimented with advanced recording techniques that had only recently been invented, such as multitrack recording techniques, tape loops, and analogue synthesizers. The album was also one of the first to use audio samples from conversations that had been had with both the crew, as well as philosophical quotations that are played through the album, particularly in the intermission segments. Alan Parsons, an audio engineer, was responsible for many of the special audio effects that appear throughout the album as he was already known for his experimental style which complemented the album well.

The album was immediately successful upon its release, with a number of critics calling it one of the greatest albums of all time, at least within the psychedelic rock sphere. The album managed to reach number one of the US Billboard 200 and remained charted for over 900 weeks in total, a feat that very few albums have managed since.