Denise Renee Caplock – Soundcloud Mix

Denise Renee Caplock – Soundcloud Mix – Singles Review

Ok! So! Today I officially feel like I’m not sure I have any idea of what I’m about to review here today on the page…Denise Renee Caplock (said in stern motherly tone) you need to clean up your room! LOL…I’m just giving her a hard time of course – there’s a LOT going on at her Soundcloud page and it’s a little tricky to figure out what’s what…or at least for an old dude like myself! So rather than pick and choose through these diverse beats, I just felt like I should probably sit down, chill and groove to the entire playlist…and so I did…

This list starts in an extremely amped-up, fun & lively way with “Denise Renee Caplock” taking us to church right from the drop with a self-titled anthem. You can assume this is an artist/producer with some confidence – I’ve seen many bands have a self-titled anthem in their catalogue, but not too many solo-artists! She puts her skills out there in performance and composition, production and song-writing right away through “Denise Renee Caplock” and gets the enthusiasm pumping quickly.

You can cop yourself a quick sample of the track “Crane And The Green Dragon” in all its funked-out glory early on in the list…it certainly won’t hurt ya! In fact…if you can deny that groove you are a far stronger person that I am…but we’ll talk about that track later in the full version down the line and head into “909’s & Clock Towers.” Using a smart vocal sample in the rhythm, the electro pulses to life around this beat, inducing a hypnotic rhythm that has a great combination of jazz and R&B subtly layered into the sound. Solid dance-groove here…maybe a little tough to not see or hear that this one’s a little lengthy/repetitive at nearly six-minutes long; but that being said I never found myself skipping over what was a completely pleasant and chilled-out groove in “909’s & Clock Towers.”

Perhaps I was just more in the mood for a track with the enthusiasm and reckless-energy of “What Yo Momma Say” – another track you get a small dose of. I’m assuming these promos are to post up somewhere out there to get us excited about the music, probably in other places other than the Soundcloud page right here…but since they’re here…what can I tell you other than they serve their purpose extremely well; just knowing their on the list later on in full versions is enough to spark a fantastic feeling of strong anticipation.

As far as “Walk Around Heaven” goes…I think I appreciate the idea and the execution perhaps more than I do the song itself…can’t lie to ya, this one wasn’t for me personally. That being said, it’s a really intense mix of vocals into this track…it relies largely on three or four lines in the vocal-flow being used repetitively like an instrument. It’s a well-executed idea and has quite a complex mix that my ears actually quite enjoyed, but with the constant repetitive nature of “Walk Around Heaven” I definitely felt personally like this one wandered a little long and could have possibly had much more impact as a short, two-and-a-half interlude.

And what are you supposed to do anyhow when a track like “Bootlegging” comes along right after to steal the show? I loved this song…the vocals in this tune are pretty much everything I love to hear in music in my own free time…I love spoken word like this and the ideas continue to evolve in innovative ways once they bring out some INTENSE effects that really bring out the audio-joy in a set of headphones. Love the sound, placement, delivery…this is a smart tune that doesn’t rely on any one hook to make its dent in your memory; I know I’ve said Denise has gone on a little long in a couple spots so far…but something about this song and the awesomeness of this idea makes me feel like the 5.5 minutes it plays for is too SHORT! Loved “Bootlegging” – this track works 100%, all the way through.

I probably wasn’t supposed to go all the way through songs like “Denise Caplock’s Mini Mix” or “In The Mix “EXUDE!”” – but how are you supposed to NOT after Denise has done nothing to steer us wrong so far along the way of this list. The “Mini Mix” is a tight set of evolving D&B rhythms with a sharp set of samples and electro-grooves that work into its ever-changing twenty-two-plus minutes – but it also shows the finesse and subtle-transitions …speaks a lot to her tight production skills and ability to create dynamic sets of music people would want to hear. She goes on to REALLY display her talent for assembly with “In The Mix “EXUDE”” which at nearly AN HOUR AND FORTY-FIVE MINUTES will definitely keep you entertained and your volume UP! Again…I have no idea if this was a part of what I was supposed to be reviewing today…just telling you what I know – and what I know is that some of Denise’s BEST work is all over this massive mix. For a lengthy set, there’s melody, there’s beats, there’s all the glitches, switches and mixes you could possibly ask for ranging from dark rhythms to bright, hook-laden electro-pulses all firing away like they were made to burrow deep into your ears. It’s a LARGE commitment – but a journey completely worth taking…I actually listened to it about three times – that’s over FIVE HOURS of my life – spent on one track alone!

“Illusive Warrior” returns back to the original groove you get from the opening of the list with “Denise Renee Caplock” through it’s ‘Original Mix.’ I don’t spend a lot of time in church myself…but if it was Denise up there leading the way you just might find a sharp spike in my attendance – she makes this groove a ton of fun and it goes down extremely smooth. Setting up another extraordinary build in the list, it leads into the wicked electro-energy of the full version of “What Yo Momma Say (Original).” Though this song might rely a little too much on the main vocal hook from its title, it DOES have more than enough changes to argue otherwise…it’s like, right on the edge; that being said – it’s only of the biggest grooves on the list here at Soundcloud and is contagiously catchy…insanely so.

The bass-led of “Crane And The Green Dragon (Original Mix)” was certainly something I was looking forward to hearing again after the brief sample earlier on in the list. With excellent synth-sounds, trumpets, flutes even I think…this is definitely one of the most bouncy & diverse tunes. Similar to something you might find on Space Invaders by Linus Loves – “Crane And The Green Dragon (Original Mix)” is a massive-dose of pure-entertainment. Great infusion of funk, rhythm, melody-lines and atmospheres all blended together perfectly by Denise Renee – she’s done a tremendous job here.

As far as I know…”Brightest Blessings” would be the most recent single & mix from Denise Renee Caplock, showing that this is an electro-artist in a constant state of evolution. I LOVE how this final song came out – the way she speaks is absolutely something that she MUST continue doing – she’s spot-on every time with the emotion in her performance and matches it masterfully to the music. The message itself lyrically is a beautiful one that promotes peace, unity, love…and who thought you could get a message like that across in an electro-beat that is lead along by a BANJO sample half the time?

NICE WORK DENISE – NO ONE SAW THAT ONE COMING!

Absolutely perfect way to end the experience & adventure of listening to Caplock’s music – she lights up “Brightest Blessings” with a truly inspired performance that will leave you with zero doubt about whether or not this lady loves what she does. She clearly loves making music and entertaining more than anything else in the world and puts 100% of her passion into what she puts out there for us to hear – and it’s that intensely dedicated approach and deep love for music that gets that enthusiasm, rhythm and groove across crystal-clearly. Extremely entertaining.

Find out more about Denise Renee Caplock at her official pages:

https://soundcloud.com/denise-ocoileain-collins

http://soundcloud.com/denise-ocoileain-collins/sets/collins-crest-entertainment

Join the thousands of bands & artists reviewed at sleepingbagstudios by clicking here!