Soul | Snapshots and Needle Drops

Top Drops 2014

January 13, 2015 by snapshotsandneedledrops

It’s been a scarce couple of musical months, guys and dolls. Life has taken on a new kind of intensity after starting my new job– which I love– but unfortunately leaves me with little time for musical exploration or blogging. However, missing out on listing Snapshots and Needle Drops’ top ten drops and shots for 2014 was never an option… even if it is late. Once again, I plan on posting last year’s photography on the Snapshots and Needle Drops […]

Categories: Alternative, Australian, British, Canadian, Dance, Electronic, Experimental, Folk, Indie, Irish, Jazz, Lists, Playlists, Pop, Remix, Rock, singer-songwriter, Soul • Tags: 2014 music, best of, Canadian, indie, jazz, music, photography, pop, Rock, top ten

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My Favourite Faded Fantasy

November 10, 2014 by snapshotsandneedledrops

He’s back guys! He’s back! He’s back! Irish, “self-lacerating troubador” Damien Rice has, after an eight-year absence, released his newest album My Favourite Faded Fantasy today in North America. I’m still on my first run-though, but this album is so classic Damien it’s hard to believe he’s been radio silent for this long. In expected form, the majority of the songs are slow, quiet and introspective– but with 30 seconds to spare he usually builds up to a screeching, voice-cracking […]

Categories: Acoustic, Album Review, Folk, Folk Rock, Irish, singer-songwriter, Soul • Tags: 2014 music, album review, Damien Rice, folk rock, indie folk, Irish, music, My Favourite Faded Fantasy, new music, photography

The Great Wide Somewhere

October 27, 2014 by ebembo

Two weeks ago I was invited on an after-hours tour of Canada’s Library of Parliament in Ottawa, Ontario. Built between 1859 and 1876, the Library is the only original remaining part of the Centre Block of Parliament – the rest burned down in a fire in 1916. The Library was saved thanks to a fast-thinking clerk and a pair of steel doors. I only visited the Library of Parliament once before, on a Girl Guide field trip to Ottawa […]

Categories: Americana, Folk, singer-songwriter, Soul, Uncategorized • Tags: Americana, Canada, folk, Frazey Ford, Library of Parliament, singer-songwriter, soul, The Be Good Tanyas

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Osheaga Wish List

August 4, 2014 by snapshotsandneedledrops

Festival-goers waiting for the headliner acts on the main stages I’ve been sick for over a week now. Runny nose, headache, sore throat, hacking cough: sick. My voice swings from sounding like a suffocating chipmunk to Beast (à la ‘Beauty and the’), if Beast smoked 4 packs a day. I’m doing everything right: resting, drinking hot lemon water and honey, eating well, taking vitamins, going for short walks…. nada. The Beast is here to stay. However, after a weekend of […]

Categories: Alternative, Concert Pics, Indie, Rock, Soul • Tags: Bon Iver, festival, Justin Vernon, Montreal, music, Osheaga, Osheaga 2014, photography, playlist, travel, Volcano Choir

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Beats on Repeat

June 30, 2014 by snapshotsandneedledrops

We’re branching into something a little different at Snapshots and Needle Drops today. Beats on Repeat will be the periodic (re: whenever I feel like it) publication of my weekly musical obsessions. These are songs that I just can’t stop hitting replay on; the tracks I can’t get out of my head and, for whatever reason, will not get a Doodledrop of their own. Beats on Repeat will be featured pretty much solely on Snapshots and Needle Drops’ facebook page. So get […]

Categories: Alternative, British, Electronic, Indie, Playlists, Pop, Soul • Tags: British Music, electronic, indie, music, playlist, pop, remix, Rudi Zygadlo, sam smith, soul

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Ria Sia

June 16, 2014 by snapshotsandneedledrops

Toronto Pearson International Airport, dawn, New Years Day 2013 Sia’s smash-hit “Chandelier” and its incredible music video have infected the internet with a healthy dose of power vocals, phenomenal dancing and mainstream-busting unconventionality. If you happen to be one of the 12 people who have not seen the video yet, I’ll link it through after today’s track(s). All this talk of Sia, however, reminds me of a remixed version of her 2004 “Breathe Me” that I became obsessed with in […]

Categories: Alternative, Australian, Ballad, DJ, Dreamwave, Electronic, Experimental, Indie, indietronica, Pop, Remix, singer-songwriter, Soul • Tags: Australian, Chandelier, dreamwave, indie, music, photography, pop, remix, Sia, travel, travel photography

The Gloaming

June 5, 2014 by ebembo

I’m a big fan of Sofia Coppola. Her films are so atmospheric. Her first feature-length film, The Virgin Suicides, has such a hazy aura; you can almost feel the humidity. What adds to the film’s uneasy ambience is the soundtrack by Air. When I see stills from the film, I can already hear the opening lonely piano notes of “Playground Love” in my mind. Virgin Suicides was one of the first films that made me realize that certain lasting images […]

Categories: Alternative, Electropop, Indie, Pop, singer-songwriter, Soul, Swedish, Uncategorized • Tags: Air, atmosphere, Dream pop, film, Lykke Li, movies, music, photo editing, photography, piano, pine trees, Sofia Coppola, Sweden, trees, twilight, Virgin Suicides

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Man stands alone on beach, Kangaroo Island, South Australia

Sam Smith, so hot right now

May 26, 2014 by snapshotsandneedledrops

Secret beach at Stokes Bay, Kangaroo Island, South Australia Ah! I’ve been meaning to write about Sam Smith for the past couple of months, but I’ve been humming and hawing about his high level of notoriety– yes… I am a music blogging snob, and?… But then, I had the same internal debate last August with sharing Lorde– and it turns out she was still pretty under the radar. Once again, like I mentioned in the RAC post from last month, […]

Categories: Ballad, British, Indie, Jazz, Pop, singer-songwriter, Soul, Unreleased • Tags: Australia, beach, British, music, new music, new release, photography, sam smith, travel

“To drain the whole sea…”

March 24, 2014 by snapshotsandneedledrops

There is something about this song. Singer Andrew Hozier-Byrne’s voice starts out like red wine, rich and full bodied, luring us in with sounds that echo the sentiment of a Mississippi funeral procession. The smooth yet solemn funeral tone rips open to one like open grieving. Hozier’s climatic passion breaks his smooth velvet voice into hoarse sandpaper. Hozier could be someone to watch in 2014. So far, this single has reached number 2 in his native Ireland, and reached 19 […]

Categories: Blues, Choral, Indie, Irish, Soul, Unreleased, Unsigned • Tags: Andrew Hozier-Byrne, Blues, Hozier, indie, Irish, music, photography, soul

Snapshots and Needle Drops

Music meets international photography.

Category Archives: Soul

Top Drops 2014

My Favourite Faded Fantasy

The Great Wide Somewhere

Osheaga Wish List

Beats on Repeat

Ria Sia

The Gloaming

Sam Smith, so hot right now

“To drain the whole sea…”