Sources of Inspiration: Design

Although my blog is predominately a music review blog, I take great interest in blogs that directly play music. I have seen many efficient designs for webplayers and music blogs, but none better than Spotify's. This easily navigated webplayer opens up several options for listeners. The sleek layout of the page really adds to the overall design. Every color, navigational toolbar, and preview option compliments the basic components of the webpage.

The best thing about Spotify's design is its condensed format. You can view many songs, while listening to and updating any playlist. Rather than putting all of its content on display, players and viewing panels collapse automatically. It is musical multitasking made easy! Listeners can even choose to see a full playlist, or simply listen to a few songs at a time.

The overall layout of the page is also phenomenal. There is a lot going on all at once, but it's not overwhelming. In fact, there is enough white space (on most pages,) that listeners can appreciate everything each page has to offer without getting confused.

Alex Boye

Alex Boye is a British-born singer, but his genre is purely Africanized. His gorgeous vocals and talented composition skills were showcased brilliantly in his most recent album. On this album, you will hear what I think to be the greatest cover of Frozen's "Let it Go" ever created.

This unique cover utilizes a children's choir and common African themes. The music video is a glorious interpretation of the song and Frozen's playful storyline. Although many people have developed a strong distaste for this song and its film, I believe that Alex Boye created a masterpiece. This international artist blew me away with his creative take on this Disney hit.

The children's choir harmonizes for acapella style background vocals, while Alex Boye's chanting compliments the lead girl's voice perfectly. The acoustics for this recording are absolutely astounding. Listen carefully for the instrumentals and the way that they work with the vocals to add chilling effects- pardon the pun, to an already thrilling vocal piece. This song is challenging enough in its original form, I do not see how anyone could surpass this cover. Internationally, this video has received much recognition. This may differ from my usual theme, but I think that this is a worthy exception. Winter is fast approaching, and this song could quite possibly be your next seasonal favorite! The timbre, rhythm, and dynamics will give you chills.

(I apologize for the puns...)