This Week's Playlist #115 - Guest feature: Mathieu Madani
5 classic picks from a record store manager at day, musician at night.
Hello everyone!
This Week's Playlist - Season 3, Episode 11.
Another weekly guest this week.
I have known Mathieu (virtually) since the early 2000s. We were both posting messages on one of the main online heavy metal forums, and Mathieu was sharing some of his early demos and getting some initial feedback from the geeks there.
I've been following his work since then and admire his perseverance with his band for the last twenty years.
I hope you enjoy his picks. See you next week.
TL;DR: I'm running a musical newsletter with a new guest sharing 5 songs each week.
There is a YouTube link for each of the songs on the cover, and here are the playlists for each streaming platform:
Guest of the week: Mathieu Madani
Hello, thank you for having me. My name is Mathieu Madani, and I am 47 years old. My day job has been selling records and movies in a second-hand shop in Grenoble, France, since 2000. And my night hobby is being a musician (guitar, bass, keyboards, drums and voices) with my band anasazi (Post Progressive Rock/Metal). I have a home studio with all the gear to record music. Anasazi has released 6 albums and 4 EPs since 2004.
[Note from Thomas: here is my review of their latest album]
I've been a Music fan since I was 11/12 years old. I'm a Metal fan, but I like many musical styles except for Electro and Reggae, which are not my cup of tea. I own around 2000 CDs and 1800 Vinyls. I'm not a streaming person, even if I had a Qobuz subscription to listen to Music in Hi-Res in bed while sleeping or when I go to work. Here are my 5 choices.
Links:
1. Lana Del Rey - A&W (2023)
When Lana Del Rey's « Born To Die » was released in 2012, I listened to the first two singles, «Video Games» and «Born to Die,» and liked them, but I found them a bit commercial. I moved on to something else while listening from afar to certain tracks taken from his different albums.
In 2021, she released 2 records in a year. I really liked the first one «Chemtrails Over The Country Club», and in March 2023, I have been really blown away by her last record «Did You Know That There's A Tunnel Under Ocean Blvd» and this song «A&W».
I like the two parts: the first, dramatic and ambient/progressive part and the Trap beat at the end of the song.
It is my song of the year and album of the year for 2023. Since I have bought all her CDs and Vinyls,
I like artists who don't repeat themselves, and Lana Del Rey is a one-of-a-kind artist, poet, and singer who absorbs darkness and melancholic vibes to turn them into light and never repeats herself.
2. Pantera - The Great Southern Trendkill (1996)
It's not my favourite album, but one of my favourite songs.
I like the anger in Phil Anselmo's voice, the groove and the riffs, the breakdown of the guitar riff before the solo. And this intro—what violence!!! Phil has tracked the voices without the band, stayed in Texas, and in New Orleans at Nothing Studios of Trent Reznor.
He was so much into heroin and pills for his back, and you can appreciate the result of this kind of medicine.
Tool - The Grudge (2001)
Tool's music has changed my way of thinking music and changed my life when I bought « Lateralus » CD in 2001.
This is not Metal, Progressive, or Alternative Rock; it's a mix of the 3 and more. Maynard's voice is flawless, and I really like the 4 tools of the machine that fit so well. The bass brings the riffs, the drum's grooves are perfect and an answer to the voice phrases, the guitar plays like a keyboard with some great riffs, and the Voice melodies are truly magic for me.
« Lateralus » is a desert island, for sure.
4. The Beatles - Happiness Is A Warm Gun (1968)
The Beatles have been my favourite non-metal band since I discovered them at 12. A friend of mine gave me a mixtape with some great songs from The Beatles, and I was truly amazed.
I chose this song because I like the progression of the song with all the different time signatures during the whole song; it begins in 4/4, with an extra 2/4, then it goes in 3/4, and then again it changes in 9/4 and 10/4 to finally ends with an alternate 4/4 and 3/4. I really like this kind of odd-time signature.
This is a John Lennon song from «The White Album». It's one of the best and underestimated songs from their beautiful catalogue of great tunes.
5. Dream Theater - A Change Of Seasons (1995)
One of my favourite bands of all time. If I have to present this band to someone who doesn't know them, this song resumes the best genius of this band within the 23 minutes of this concept album.
I have listened to Dream Theater since I was 15 in 1992 when « Images And Words » came out. It has changed my life as a musician forever at all levels. I was into Guns n' Roses, Mötley Crüe, Iron Maiden, Metallica, Megadeth, Anthrax, etc… » and this band blew my mind. John Petrucci and Mike Portnoy have been my heroes since then.
Speaking of odd time signatures, DreamTheater knows a lot about this area.
Until the next time, Godspeed!
Thomas
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