Benny Sings's 10 Greatest Songs and Greatest Discs (Representative Songs and Hidden Masterpieces)
In this issue, we have created a ranking of Benny Sings.
Benny Sings is known as the "Pop Maestro" as if he were a pillow.
He is certainly one of the best of our time when it comes to creating high quality pop music.
If you like the following artists, I highly recommend them.
・Nick DeCaro
・Chris Montez
・Michael Franks
・Gilbert O'Sullivan
・Kirinji
Benny Sings is the heir to this lineage.
Please enjoy the charm of the sound creation that is instantly recognizable as Benny Sings at first listen.
1 No.1「Little Donna」(Album:I Love You〈Live At The Bimhuis〉)
2 No.2「Let Me In」(Album:Benny… at Home)
3 No.3「Softly (Tokyo)」(Album:City Pop)
4 No.4「Honey Bee」(Album:ART)
5 No.5「Passionfruit」
6 No.6「All We Do For Love」(Album:ART)
7 No.7「I Can't Help Myself」(Album:Benny… at Home)
8 No.8「Below the Waterfall」(Album:I Love You〈Live At The Bimhuis〉)
9 No.9「We Ain't Going Nowhere」(Album:Champagne People)
10 No.10「Nakameguro feat. Faberyayo」(Album:City Pop)
No.1「Little Donna」(Album:I Love You〈Live At The Bimhuis〉)
■Song Title:Little Donna
■Album Name:I Love You〈Live At The Bimhuis〉
■Video link:「Little Donna」
It was this album that introduced me to Benny Sings.
As soon as I heard the intro of the first song, I knew I had bought it.
The album includes cheers as if it were a live performance, but in the official video, the cheers are cut off.
However, as you can hear, it doesn't feel like a live performance.
It's more like AOR or indoor pop music.
I thought it might be a pseudo-live concert, so I checked if there was a real live venue called "Bimhuis".
Bimhuis" is a live music venue in the Netherlands with a maximum capacity of 200 people.
At this point, he was still not that successful.
This song was the start of his rapid ascent.
No.2「Let Me In」(Album:Benny… at Home)
■Song Title:Let Me In
■Album Name:Benny… at Home
■Video link:「Let Me In」
First of all, the pop development from the first piano at about 42 seconds is wonderful.
This guy has great songwriting skills.
I remember at the time, he was compared to Paul McCartney and Gilbert O'Sullivan.
His music is influenced by pop, hip-hop and soul music.
However, I don't feel any rock-like elements in his music at all.
It is completely pure pop.
I've been listening to rock music for many years.
I've been listening to rock music for many years, and that's probably why I tend to look for a kind of luster in music, but I don't find that in this person's music.
However, even if the music is free of any lumpiness, I think it is brilliant when it is so high quality and pure pop music.
No.3「Softly (Tokyo)」(Album:City Pop)
■Song Title:Softly (Tokyo)
■Album Name:City Pop
■Video link:「Softly (Tokyo)」
He has other Japan-themed songs besides this one.
There was a time just before this when he was becoming more experimental.
He seemed to be experimenting with a slightly different musical style from the safe pop music of his second and third albums.
There were some great songs in that period, but I felt that they didn't suit him.
There is a song with Mayer Hawthorne on the "Studio" album released during that period.
I think it's a great song, but it wasn't good enough to be ranked.
After such trial and error, the band went back to the conservative pop style with this album.
No.4「Honey Bee」(Album:ART)
■Song Title:Honey Bee
■Album Name:ART
■Video link:「Honey Bee」
When you listen to this song, you will notice that there are no useless sounds in it.
Each sound is given a minimal role, and there is no clutter.
The music makes me feel like I am in a stylish and organized space.
Also, this drum shows a lot of the characteristics of this person.
It is a very simple drum.
You may think it is a drum without any play, but it has a lean and simple charm.
To put it in a way that only people who understand it can understand, it is a little like the drums of the band New Musik.
No.5「Passionfruit」
■Song Title:Passionfruit
■Video link:「Passionfruit」
This song is a cover of Drake.
This song is a bold change from the original, with more Benny colors.
In particular, the rhythm is made more reggae like, which is a great interpretation.
I think it surpasses Drake's version.
I'll quote the original so you can compare.
Drake「Passionfruit」
But unfortunately, this song is not on the Album.
I just happened to know about it.
I looked it up again, but it's not on any album.
I think it's a hidden masterpiece, but I wish such a wonderful song would be included in the album.
No.6「All We Do For Love」(Album:ART)
■Song Title:All We Do For Love
■Video link:「All We Do For Love」
Passionfruit" reminded me that when I first heard this guy's song, I thought he sounded like Michael Franks.
Michael Franks had also released an album called "Passionfruit".
In fact, Benny seems to be a fan of Michael Franks.
The title of this song is "All We Do For Love".
It's just a song about the feelings of a sincere man.
In the first place, there may not be anything connotative in his music.
If I may say so without fear of being misunderstood, it's all about the superficial pleasantness of the sound and the charm of the melody.
I think it's rather graceful.
The lyrics do not sound philosophical.
In other words, the music alone satisfies the listener, not the words.
No.7「I Can't Help Myself」(Album:Benny… at Home)
■Song Title:I Can't Help Myself
■Video link:「I Can't Help Myself」
This song is a duet between Benny and a female chorus.
It uses modulation to great effect.
It may be a song for different tastes, but I think it is a wonderful song.
I think it's a great song. He has gained international recognition since this album.
He was invited to play on the famous French radio station "Radio Nova", was offered to play the theme song for an anime, and became more and more famous.
This was the time when I began to spread my wings as an international artist.
To reiterate, Benny is from the Netherlands, and his real name is "Tim van Berkestijn".
Until this album, he was on the Sonar Kollektiv label, but from the next album, he moved to Dox Records and became more active worldwide.
No.8「Below the Waterfall」(Album:I Love You〈Live At The Bimhuis〉)
■Song Title:Below the Waterfall
■Video link:「Below the Waterfall」
I had never heard of him before this album, but I was convinced of his talent, especially when I heard this song.
It's hard to find such a medium tempo song with such a high level of quality.
This is one song that proves his solid ability.
It was enough to convince me that he is a talented person.
The piano that he plays in this song creates a very pleasant atmosphere.
I think it's an extremely high quality pop song, although like Chris Montez, it's a bit on the wimpy side.
The use of vibraphone and muted trumpet is also very stylish.
It's like a modern A&M song.
No.9「We Ain't Going Nowhere」(Album:Champagne People)
■Song Title:We Ain't Going Nowhere
■Album Name:Champagne People
■Video link:「We Ain't Going Nowhere」
This is a selection of songs from my debut album.
You can read the HIPHOP background in this Album.
In fact, Benny plays bass in the HIOHOP group Abstract Dialect, and is also a member of the hiphop group De Toffen.
This song is perfect for chilling out.
This is the only slow song in this ranking, but there are several other mellow songs of this kind in this album.
There are also many other great songs such as "Unconditional Love," and this is a work that no fan should miss.
No.10「Nakameguro feat. Faberyayo」(Album:City Pop)
■Song Title:Nakameguro feat. Faberyayo
■Video link:「Nakameguro feat. Faberyayo」
Finally, I would like to introduce a slightly different song.
In this song, the word "Nakameguro" is sung repeatedly, and it is almost instrumental.
He has the advantage of being able to make you listen to the arrangement alone, as in this song.
He has also produced for Giovanca and Wouter Hamel, all of which are masterpieces.
He has also produced Giovanca and Wouter Hamel, all of which are masterpieces.
On this song, the bass is unusually active for a song of his.
He used to play bass in a hip-hop band.
He used to play bass in a hip-hop band, but he felt that in many of his albums, the drums were prominent while the bass was not.
Perhaps this guy is not a player, but a producer who thinks about the balance of the whole sound.
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