San Francisco's The Wilde has always been magnetized to creating experimental music with a strong emphasis on Hip Hop. He made his first appearance in way back in 2012 with "MellowHop / Electrofolk". Since that time, the California native had issued at least one new project each year after that up until "The Space Invader Mixtape Album" in 2014. Then, just like that, he pulled a Keyser Söze and vanished into this air.
Fast forward to 2016. This would be the year that The Wilde would resurface with new music which would spark his sixth project, "Coverups". Featuring nine tracks in total, Wilde covers well known Alternative Rock and Hip Hop tracks while creating songs all their own. Hence the album title, "Coverups". We sat down with the album recently and gave it a track by track review. Check out our feelings of the songs below.
Good Day (Intro) - To start things off, Wilde looks towards Kentucky group Nappy Roots and their 2010 song "Good Day" with Greg Nice. He mimics the piano melody and chorus of the original. However, he offers up a male/female duet instead of the group of children. He also adds more of a Sublime sound over the piano, giving it a more coastal vibe. This is one of the album standout cuts.
You Like First Dates? Whatever. - This song begins with an audio clip of the Will Ferrell movie, "Ron Burgundy". This is another clever mash up that flips T.I.'s "Whatever You Like" and Blink 182's "First Date". This is a great match up seeing as though Wilde sounds similar to Blink frontman, Matt Skiba. He throws on a backing vocal that is slowed down and placed at a lower octave. The San Fran artist adds in alot of spacey keys and synths, he even sneaks in a vocal clip of T.I.
Ride Wit My VCR Ft Gracie Laboy - Here. we find the mash up monster combing the classic Nelly song "Ride Wit Me" with "VCR" from The xx. Gracie gives an alternative sound to the Country Grammer star's hook and takes total control of the track with The Wilde adding in sparse backing vocals.
No Secrets (Little Duh) - This track mixes the vocals of K Flay's "No Duh" and Passion Pit's Electropop hit, "Little Secrets". Wilde transforms the instrumental basis of "Little Secrets"" with the verses behind "No Duh". As you can see with the title, he takes one word from each cover and flips them around for this very carefree tune.
Grown Up Semi - Charmed - How would have every thought that Danny Brown and Third Eye Blind went hand in hand? Well those forces collide as Wilde incorporates segments of Brown's "Grown Up" and TEB's "Semi-Charmed". The "Coverups" mastermind incorporates dreamlike bells, a crunchy kick drum and an 8-bit synth to bring this one to our earlobes.
Girlie Magazines - Combine "A Lack of Color" by Death Cab for Cutie and "Against the Bottom" by Grieves and listeners are instantly transported back in time. More so to a teenager's life in early 200o full of love, long nights, first heartbreaks and MTV video blocks. This was the single that really got "Coverups" media attention and has been the most successful song of the album thus far.
Your Ex-Lover Holds Me Down - Canadian Indie Pop group Stars "Your Ex-Lover Is Dead" and "Hold Me Down" from Minneapolis Rock band Motion City Soundtrack are next up on Wilde's cover list. He mixes these two particular songs together into a mysterious sounding song that finds Wilde in a crazt situation. This song was the most experimental to me compared to the rest of the album but worked out well.
I Can Sleep Alone Tonight - This one was the toughest to decipher overall. The Wilde digs deeply into the musical archives and combines the subtle approach of Manchester Orchestra's "I Can Feel a Hot One" and reworks the female vocals of this record with The Postal Service's "The District Sleeps Alone Tonight". This on has a fast paced swing to it while still maintaining the long, lush pads. The song is good but the new video was what caught my attention. His artistic approach to mash-ups and videos is quite intriguing.
Chemical Aquarium - Once again, The Wilde sparks my interest with the visual presentation of this song. Refer to the album's cover art before watching the video. Then, forward to somewhere around the two minute mark. Here we witness the Cali breakthrough artist inhale a whippit and enter a Nintendo pixel filled realm where he finally gets his girl. The video alone will whisk you away to another world. This is yet another clever mixture of Inspired Flight's "It's The Chemicals" and Mac Miller's "Aquarium".