Just click play and pretend you are listening to Bruno Mars or Gavin Degraw or Michael Jackson or something awesome.
Just pretend this isn’t Hanson. And this would be a hit. Awesome new album from the Mmmbop trio is out right now. It’s called ‘Anthem’ and i’m not afraid to say I like it.
The new Avicii track is so cool.
This guy brought us ‘Levels’, one of the biggest EDM hits of the last couple of years and now comes back with a song that is practically not EDM at all. Sure, there is an incredible beat in the middle that I’m certain will get remixed into something dangerously cool, but ultimately, this is just an Aloe Blacc song. Folk meets Electronic. So cool.
This guy is great.
ALAN WILKIS “Old-Fashioned Girl (feat. Joywave)” [OFFICIAL MUSIC VIDEO] from Michael Lawrence on Vimeo.
Just found this band. I can only find a couple of songs, but I’m really loving it. Super groovy. Shame their show with Bastille at the Troubadour is sold out. That’s going to be an amazing concert between the two of these bands.
This dude from Germany sounds like he gargles with gravel. Honestly, might be a bit too much. But the few studio records that he has are a bit less so and bit more electronic. Very cool stuff. The studio recordings remind me of Kid Cudi and Citizen Cope quite a bit.
and from the album:
I’ve posted about Will Hoge a couple of times, albeit a few years ago. He’s been a favorite underground troubadour of mine for a long long time. I don’t really recall the first time I heard of the guy, but it was certainly back in college because a coworker and I even attempted to bring him to light and sign him to the label that I interned at back in 2003.
Now, in 2013, 10 years later, he has at least one of his songs covered and turned into a hit single by Eli Young Band and another that has now been released on the latest Lady Antebellum album. And both versions are FAR BETTER when sung by Hoge.
The Lady A cover just sort of sucks. I don’t have much else to say about it. It just doesn’t work and i’m surprised that their A&R manager accepted that track onto the record. So listen below and decide for yourself.
The Eli Young song just doesn’t have the grit. The song is titled “Even If it Breaks Your Heart” and it’s about trying and trying and trying and getting shut down over and over and over again – even if it breaks your heart. And those lyrics bleed true for Will. For Eli Young, when their record label, who was paying them money, told them to record the track, they simply couldn’t find the emotion. It’s good, but it just doesn’t have the blood behind the vocals.
Will Hoge – Even If it Breaks Your Heart (Live)
Eli Young Band – Even If It Breaks Your Heart
Will Hoge – Better Off Now That You’re Gone (live)
Lady Antebellum – Better Off Now That Your Gone
Not to be confused with Walk The Moon. Totally different band. Also, different celestial body.
You probably remember these guys. They sort of helped Gotye become famous in America by doing that ‘whole band on a single guitar’ cover of his “Somebody that I used to Know” jam. This one:
It’s awesome, right? Note the 150,000,000 views.
Well, then, more recently, they brought us this ridiculously cool acapella cover of Taylor Swift’s “I Knew You Were Trouble”.
And last month, they put out an album. I believe it is their 3rd album, to be fair, but this is the first one that’s gotten any attention – all because of the Gotye cover, which is sort of unbelievably cool and really great to listen to at the same time. Apparently so enjoyable that a studio version is included on the album.
But what’s cool, is that the album is actually awesome. Their original songs are splendiforous. And they range from Youngbloode Hawke to Lumineers to Mariachi El Bronx to… Asher Roth? Seriously, this thing is all over the place, but it’s so fun. Might become the album of the summer.
Check out their album R.E.V.O. on Rdio or Spotify or iTunes or whatever floats your boat.
A couple of months back I made a post about Maroon 5 changing from a pretty incredible rock band into a rather unnotable pop group. Well, now I’ve realized the rock and roll has 100% completely been sucked right out of Adam Levine. I learned this from the show The Voice.
Adam picked up this dude Patrick Dodd for his team. And the very fact that all 4 of these coaches didn’t turn around on the first note amazes me. And Adam didn’t even buzz in until after Shakira? But I digress. He did get picked.
And then kicked off on the second episode as Adam picked a humorous, but moderately talented at singing duo instead of this guy, who has the best Marc Cohen voice since Marc Cohen himself. So in Adam’s mind, The Barenaked Ladies are who need a comeback, not Marc Cohen / Springstein / Bryan Adams. Fuck you Adam Levine.
Check out Patrick’s rendition of Cohen’s “Walking in Memphis” for his audition. His voice is unteachable and an absolutely beautiful thing to listen to. Again, fuck you Adam Levine. Grow a pair and stop singing shitty pop music. Tell Jimmy and the gang at A&M/Octone that you still remember how to play a guitar.
I feel like a million things have changed in my life since I discovered Beth Hart. She’s been around for years. Wikipedia claims that her one and only single became famous from a placement on Beverly Hills 90210. But I recently heard her during the closing scenes of two different episodes of Californication. One closing with the epic LA Song as they focussed on Hank and his love affair with a younger woman who spent her life inspiring rockers, as they visited her parents’ house. It started with them leaving LA and ended with the return. On a further episode, her newer tune, California, was used when overdubbing Hank’s daughter’s departure for an endless road trip to see the world as he tries again to reconcile with his baby mama whom he loves dearly.
Who is Beth Hart though? A struggling addict who screams her passion and life story into her songs. The three below are amazing. Two are recorded from a live album that can be streamed on Rdio or Spotify. The other is a track from her second to last album which is a bit more ethereal and less bluesy, but equally heartfelt.
To me, Beth Hart is something lost in music today. She lived a life and struggles with it. she puts it on paper and sheds it out through her songs. Amazing work.
I’ve been a fan of the CWK for quite some time now. For some reason, they’ve never really popped up on my “what bands do you like?” list and they definitely aren’t on my constant rotation, but I have really enjoyed all of their records. I guess I put them in that category with some other indie rockers like The Walkmen where I forget that I love them until I remember to listen to one of their albums when I can’t think of something else to listen to and then I forget why I ever forgot about them and want to remember to listen to them all of the time. But I don’t. Get it?
So the Cold War Kids have a new album out and it’s pretty darn good. Took me a listen before I loved it, but it’s growing on me quite a bit. There is one slow track on the album called Tuxedo and this one really stuns me. Instantly brings The Beatles to mind when I hear just the first line and it’s a great middle of the album, slow things down for a second, think about what we’re writing here and then get on with some more rock, sort of song.
Here is a live version. Enjoy.