Much of the music available in the form of isolated studio multitracks is from classic artists such as The Beatles, Queen and Led Zeppelin. Listening to this material is absolutely fascinating, and provides a peek behind the studio walls for some of pop music’s best known classic material.
However, fans searching for studio multitrack master recordings of more current hits have a much harder time finding them. Sure, the Internet is full of amateur musicians “covering” current hits or professional “backing track” companies who put up their versions of songs, but none of these are tracks from the original artist.
We have done some searching though and have found some current gems. Here’s a multi-genre sampling of tracks from 2010 or later:
Gotye | Somebody I Used To Know (vocal only) This isolated vocal only track of the ubiquitous pop radio chart topper makes more clear the reasons it became such as colossal hit. Distinct vocals, particularly from male vocalist/mastermind Wally de Backer, (who was born in Belgium but spent most of his life in Australia) and female lead Kimbra, amplify the melodic tune.
Flo Rida | Whistle (vocal and guitar only) Blending sung lyrics loaded with sexual innuendo, clever raps and a “whistle-able” gimmick line, Flo Rida adds to his impressive number of recent hits with this release. Produced out of his own production facility in, surprisingly, Florida, the artist seems to be able to craft hit after hit, albeit by cleverly using samples such as Etta James’ “Good Feeling” in another hit sharing the same name.
Adele | Rollin’ In The Deep (vocal only) Another fantastic example of why Adele’s 21 album sold over 9 million copies and became the biggest selling album of the last couple of years by far. This album also won her six Grammy Awards in 2012. You can hear the terrific background vocal tracks on this example as well.
Avenged Sevenfold | Nightmare (vocal only and guitar only) Displaying impressive longevity into now a second decade, A7x has carved a high profile in metalcore circles with their musicianship and aggressive tunes. Tragedy struck the group in 2009 as drummer Jimmy “The Rev” Sullivan passed away at the age of 28. “Nightmare” is a 2010 track recorded with replacement drummer Mike Portnoy of Dream Theater.
Coldplay | Paradise (vocal only) Melody, melody, melody. That combined with Chris Martin’s great vocal delivery and arresting falsetto sums up the success of this track. You can also hear the powerful sing along section fully illuminated sans instruments. This and the previous album featured contributions from former Talking Heads member and latter day producer Brian Eno.
Katy Perry | E.T. (vocal only) A powerful vocalist. A melodic power pop tune. Put them together and that spells hit. Perry plugged into the time tested Swede pop songwriting machine that is Max Martin (*NSYNC, Britney Spears, Ace of Base, etc.) along with others such as Dr. Luke on this track.
Enjoy, and we’ll keep searching for more new hits…
Image credit: PPandM/flickr.com
