News

Music Related News - 10/29 /  by E

  • Ingrid Michaelson's "Afterlife" video perfectly captures lines "living like you're dying isn't living at all, give me your cold hands, put them on my heart, raise a glass to everyone who thinks they'll never make it through this life, to live a brand new start" with a sweetly honest video made to make you smile. Check it out and know that everyone fucks up, everyone's fucked up, and everything is going to be just fine.
  • Taylor Swift's 1989 came out and people lost their shit over "Blank Space". Get past the fact that the entire album is straight-up pop and you'll hear lyrics more mature than anything Swift's written before; it's refreshing, sweet, and all so self-aware that it's impossible to not fall for. Turn it up and dance around your place, because that's really what "Style" and "Shake It Off" are best for.
  • After the weekend's cringe-worthy performance on SNL, Mø released the whole cliched "no one is perfect; I don't want to be perfect anyways - lol ¯\_(ツ)_/¯ " mini speech because, y'know, nobody's perfect, you live and you learn it.. That being mocked, she's got enough catchy tracks to blur out that performance so it's all cool.
  • Fairchild's "Arcadia" takes a cooler approach than its predecessors in a refreshing change of pace. The whole beach pop scene was fun, but "Arcadia" is a breath of fresh air with an irrepressible melody.
  • Dorothy gives us the first "fuck yes" response to good rock in too long with wonderfully hardened vocals, rich soul, heavy beats, and distorted riffs that beg you to turn down the lights and dance with your crush. Wait till the chorus of "Wicked Ones" kicks in and you'll be hooked. 
  • Paul McDonald's "Bright Lights" offers up an impossibly addictive melody with sweet lyrics and a stripped to its core feel that gives it a stark purity and honest feel, so sweet to hear in a track's instrumentation. Look for an interview plus a guest post from Paul coming in November. 
  • "Howlin' Marilyn" deserves a spot on your Halloween playlist. My Old Dutch created a perfectly gritty song that'll sound perfect turned way up on Friday night. 
  • The Rebel Light's "Strangers" stands in stark contrast to the upcoming, cool Winter months with a sweet West coast sound that reeks of hot sand and open shirts. Check it out for a melt in your mouth melody and smooth vocals that'll have you hooked in seconds.
  • Smashing Satellites' greatly addictive "Hounds" should be all over your radio; check out the new EP, SonicAluzion (A-Side), to hear tracks "Waterfall" and "Calm Me Down" then look for an interview with the band coming in November.
  • Nolan Kennedy's The Honesty Theory offers up crisp tracks wrapped in articulate lyrics and sweet guitar hooks sure to drag you in. With a familiar quality to the sound which feels like all the good '90's alt-rock that first made you beg for your own instrument, it's so easy to sink into tracks like "Cover You" and "Apologize".
  • Tin Sparrow's mellow chords and full vocals fill up each track with an undeniable soul and a pleasant air of stripped down approachability with tracks "Echoes In The Dark" and "Grass Stained Volleys" from Shoelace Ring EP being so easy to play again and again.
  • Marshall Stone gives this indie fueled list a sweet country feel with the summer chords and fun-loving lyrics of single "How You See It All" from album Good Times Never Fade.
  • Mat Kearney will be releasing his next single, "Heartbeat", November 4th.
  • East of Ely's self-titled EP is impossible to ignore with great riffs and striking chords that'll have you asking how many replays are too many. Listen to "Waterfalls", "Easy Friend", and "Came Without". 
  • Sam Burchfield released the music video for single "Here Tonight" with a feel as laid-back and relaxed as the track and artist himself; check out an interview and get his debut EP, Where To Run, on iTunes now.
  • Smile Swamp Princess will be releasing the music video for single "XXXO" on November 4th, but you can listen to the single on SoundCloud now. 
  • Kid Radio's "Young Heart" is impossible to sit still to and gives you something you're sure to fall for, as the driven beats of this band's production style are going to wrap around and drag you in within seconds; it just gets better with each listen.

"Bright Lights" Paul McDonald

Music Related News - 10/24 /  by E

  • Milky Chance's Sadnecessary  came out and the guys performed on Jimmy Kimmel Live!. Check out singles "Flashed Junk Mind" and "Stolen Dance" to hear how these guys effortlessly turn what's lost in translation into something gorgeous and alluringly unpretentious.
  • Sir Sly's obnoxiously good You Haunt Me was released and every track is worth the listen. Check out every track for music and lyrics so heartfelt you'll be sucked in within seconds. Hit up tracks "Leave You", "Where I'm Going", and "Helpless / Bloodlines, Pt. II".. there is no 'bad choice'.
  • Belarbi released a remix of Stal's "Gone" and there's nothing else you need on your Friday than to play this at full volume while getting ready. Downbeats weave their way through a secondary line of enticing upbeats and turn it into something truly hypnotic as Belarbi strips the original track of its too heavy bass and restrained rhythm to stuff it full of a dub inspired sound you'll never stop dancing to. 
  • Nolan Kennedy released debut album The Honesty Theory and it's got an impressive purity to it that feels so bold in contrast to lyrics that ring out with a solid, wouldn't you know, honesty. Check out lyric videos for "Apologize", "Cover You", and "Devil Creep" so you can sing along when the tracks inevitably get stuck in your head.
  • Taylor Swift's "Out of the Woods" was catchy but the heavy presence of Jack Antonoff's irrepressibly driven production style made the track. Ten seconds of static shot to the number one slot in Canadian iTunes charts when 'Track 3' from her album was mistakenly 'released'; in the future, we should all learn from Canada's mistake and preview the tracks before buying them, lest we end up with something as uninspired as "Welcome to New York" sitting in our library. Look for new lyrics from each of her album's tracks to be released on her Tumblr page every day leading up to the release of 1989 (10/27) and check out leaked track "Blank Space" now.
  • Dotan released the 'official' music video for single "Home" now that he's signed to Republic.
  • Hook N Sling are offering a free download of their latest track "Tokyo By Night".
  • The Lone Bellow released their music video for "Then Came The Morning" in anticipation of their sophomore album, Then Came The Morning, due out January 27th, 2015. See them live; they're on tour this fall (check dates here) and they're one you don't want to miss. 
  • The video for James Bay's "Hold Back the River" is as subdued as the song itself.. James Bay's vocals are gold, his guitar work is enviable, but his productions are lackluster and always manage to make the wrong choice, taking an indie/folk song you should be able to listen to on repeat and pumping it out in a narrow pop format that you'll grow tired of after a few listens. His Hold Back The River EP will be released November 24th.
  • The music video for Jack Carty's "What Am I Gonna Do With All Of My Love Now" from his debut album Esk, out now, is as laid-back as the track. The album's stellar, but it's got to be listened to in segments or the sweetness and the touch too smooth production will make you hate it. One or two songs at a time and it'll be the perfectly sweet lift to your crisp Fall playlist.
  • Saving Abel is streaming portions of new tracks off their next album, Blood Stained Revolution, on their PledgeMusic page. Head here to support the new album, set to be released this Veteran's Day.
  • "Fruition" is so great it's annoying. Thom Lion and the Tamers present something that can be played on repeat, earnestly, with a refreshing mix of alt folk and beach vibes which should not work, but come together so smoothly it's hypnotic. 
  • The Rooks released new single "Secrets" and its subdued jazz/alt sound is all you need to listen to on a lazy afternoon. 
  • The Never Ever's video for single "Nightlife" is thoroughly unobtrusive in light of how catchy the track is; check out their YouTube channel now to hear so many addictive tracks in one place it's nearly obscene.
  • Go Fiasco released their single "Heaven" and it is one of few tracks that live up to the praise appointed to it in their email. It's offhandedly pointed with a mellow bass and leading drums that pull it all in while the guitar pushes out; an alluringly different sound that all feels so solid. 
  • The Well Reds will be releasing new album, Volume, November 10th and, with it, have proven that it is possible to make a great album with eighty percent of the tracks being hittingly energetic. Check out singles "Carousels" and "Do You Still Love Me" for a taste of the sound that will make your November nights warmer once it's released.  
  • Lucian remixed Alanis Morisette's "Forgive Me Love", stripping it of its too slow rhythm and the melancholia that rang through each bar of the original and infusing it with a Miami club feel featuring warm beats and an easy to catch refrain.
  • Zella Day's latest single, "Hypnotic", is iTunes single of the week; check it out and get the self-titled EP now. 
  • Stargroves received the Young Turks Award for their outstanding website; head there now to hear hypnotic tracks like "Hats In The Air" and "Within Me A Lunatic Sings" featuring vocals from Abigail Breslin.
  • The DC world gets a facelift on the 31st with the release of LiVKi's "Dark Blonde Rises". It's perfectly dark and hardened with just a shot of chaos in the gritty production and a chorus that will have you hooked in one listen. 
  • Paul McDonald's debut album is on its way and you can hear new single "Bright Lights" now. The piano's gorgeously understated, production's light enough to keep the focus on McDonald's soft vocals, and the track's 'idea of love' makes it sweeter than a straight up love song. Look for an interview and guest post to come soon. 
  • Fairchild's "Arcadia" offers up a refreshing take on Australian music; for so long Australia's releases have been associated with beach pop that it was getting hard to stomach, but Fairchild took their track and gave it a cool feel with a sped up rhythm and lilting melody that hits just right. 
  • October is National anything you want it to be Month: Breast Cancer Awareness, Adopt A Shelter Dog, Depression Education and Awareness, Bullying Prevention Month, National Pizza Month.. Artists Lizzie Sider and Us the Duo focus on Bully Prevention with their school tours and "Shake It Off" covers, respectively. Others focus on depression awareness with Fierce Bad Rabbit's superb "Let Me Go", QVALIA's running anthem of "I Won't Let Go", We Are Station's sweet "Keep Your Head Up", and Sir Sly's all too amazing "Too Far Gone". Some alternate songs for you: put in your headphones and listen to "I Don't Care" at full volume while walking down those halls, "Calm My Soul" and "Tears To Diamonds" will get you, go ahead and blare "Timeless" and, if all else fails, check out anything Watsky or The Wombats. I promise you, one day you are going to wake up and it won't all feel so gray. Give it time. 

"Carousels" The Well Reds

Music Related News - 9/13 /  by E

  • The Griswolds debut album, Be Impressive, continues to live up to its name by climbing the charts since it's August 25th release, because it doesn't get much better than scream singing "you're fucking crazy" and the moment that chorus hits in "16 years". Put aside the fact that this is a debut album, stop holding them to that lower standard which expects and accepts the mistakes of a newbie, and this album still stands tall. Check the band out on tour because nothing is more satisfying after the summer festival season than realizing that Whitehall actually can hit all of those high notes.
  • If you haven't heard Smashing Satellites' "Hounds" check it out because the track's catchy as hell and sure to be all over your radio. Extra points for a cool set, nice hair, awesome pants, and simple piano chords that just sound so fucking good with that heavy beat. Get the single from iTunes now and look for A-Side (SonicAluzion) to be released September 30th.
  • The Honeyrunners' Ep 2 has got to be one of the best rounded EPs released this year; their rich lines fall in with the honest lyrics so well that it keeps the dark feeling light and the brutal feeling pure. It's far too addictive to be this overlooked so listen now for something that's perfect for Autumn nights. 
  • Dawin's Just Girly Things EP is available now, featuring its smash hit title track. With such inspirational lyrics as "live it up, don't let nobody bring you down, cause one day, somebody will bring you a crown" and "just do your girly thing" set to a rave-esque beat it's a wonder it's not the power anthem for strong women everywhere. Available on iTunes now. 
  • The first listen of Projekt Rehab's Weekend Warrior EP leaves you with the overall feeling of "that was nice", but by the time you've reached your third listen you realize that this is the direction they were headed for from the beginning and the sound is just so natural for the duo's honest lyrics and synthesized beats that it's one of the most satisfying EPs released this month; listen to lead single "Cheap Seats" and get the EP September 16th.
  • Ariana Grande's new album is everything you would expect. Catch Grande as SNL's musical guest on the 40th season premiere, airing September 27th, with host Chris Pratt, as she performs tracks from her chart-topping sophomore album, My Everything, out now. 
  • Watsky's All You Can Do continues to be on fucking point with flawless lines, sweet choruses, and emotionally charged productions you sink into. "Grass Is Greener" is sweetly understated; "Cannonball" is honest to a fault; "Tears To Diamonds" has the unbelievably perfect "there's something inside her...but the sadness it tends to latch on and it won't let go like a pitbull" and "maybe it's a problem when you got a problem and you get addicted to the cure"; "Sarajevo" points out the clear overlaps between religion, war, and politics while Dia Frampton's gorgeous vocals beg for love over all and for us to learn from history's tragedies; "Right Now" is a catchy as fuck cry to live in the moment; "Whoa Whoa Whoa" raucously insists on being taken seriously; and "The One" is the humor every one of us has had to adopt whilst trying to see past the sea of neon tanks and frat visors on a Friday night.
  • The Janoskians' "That's What She Said" is not as awful as I had expected it to be; get it from iTunes now.
  • Girlpool's "Jane" drips with a sweet "I don't give a fuck" attitude that feels like everything that first made you love garage rock and offers up a simple story with a sultry rhythm for the feminist in you. Check it out now for a track you won't realize you're addicted to until you start craving that bass.
  • Lucian's remix of "Wall to Wall" manages to make a Chris Brown track listenable by spicing it up with full beats and pulsing lines that make it so hard to listen to just once. 
  • The rough lines and deep beats of Transience's "Endless Change" hit heavy enough to make you smile with a sound that has to be played at full volume. 
  • Stuart Newman's "One Big F" is ridiculously addictive with a sweet mix of genres and a heavy dose of '90's alt-rock in its prime. That guitar will make you fall for this track in the first ten seconds so listen now and head to Newman's site to download the single for free in exchange for your email address (otherwise, you'll be stuck buying it from iTunes on the 16th).
  • Michael Schulte's The Arising, due out October 3rd, feels like a mix of Ed Sheeran and The Script with the clean lines of Germany's sweet take on indie; gorgeous piano riffs and full chords lend a pure sound to the album that makes it an alluringly perfect soundtrack for a Fall night so check out tracks on Schulte's SoundCloud and pre-order the album from iTunes now.
  • YLHCSD continues to premiere previews of forthcoming new singles and, if you need a reason to get excited for new tracks, just set "Let Me Break" as the first track in your workout playlist and listen to "Be Brave" at 3 AM on your next road-trip (or really any time at all because there's just nothing better in its genre). Fall in love with their previous tracks and look for "Crystal Death" (and B-side "Goddess", both featuring Mia Mort) to be released soon or pre-order a vinyl now. 
  • There's a new video out for Echosmith's "Cool Kids" and it perfectly captures the laid-back and unpretentious attitude they have that makes them one of the top ten new bands you need to see live this year. The band is legitimately nice, they never fail to sound amazing on stage, and their debut album switches between bittersweet tracks and sun-soaked anthems with such ease that it's entirely transfixing. Haven't heard Talking Dreams yet? Get the album from iTunes now and listen to "Up To You", "Come Together", "Tell Her You Love Her" and, of course, the unfailingly addictive "Cool Kids".
  • WALK THE MOON released new single "Shut Up and Dance" and, if "Anna Sun" has been everything sun-filled and carefree that screams Summer, "Shut Up and Dance" is its cool and refreshing counterpart for Fall; get it from iTunes, turn your volume all the way up, and see these guys on tour this Fall.  
  • Fall Out Boy released "Centuries" and you should just be playing that on repeat. For a while. Get it from iTunes now. 

"Cool Kids" Echosmith

Music Related News - 8/24 /  by E

  • Fences released the video for single "Arrows" featuring Macklemore and Ryan Lewis and the video is just as heartbreaking, entrancing, and completely wonderful as the song itself. Ranging from random fun short stories that are purely fitted under "life" to direct allusions to Macklemore's Rolling Stone interview, the video is everything you've ever loved about the evolution of pop music and features irresponsibly addictive lyrics like "I swear to God I've seen those eyes, the back of my lids when closing mine" from Fences. 
  • The Griswolds' Be Impressive will be released tomorrow and it is devastatingly fantastic, debut album or not, so pre-order it from iTunes now and get ready to play it non-stop. 
  • Fierce Bad Rabbit will be releasing Living Asleep September 23rd; the entire album is so perfectly imperfect it's transfixing so check out tracks "Living Asleep" and "Crystal Ball" now to see why you should start loving this band's subdued indie rock sound. 
  • Semi Precious Weapons released their latest single "Brando" only months after releasing their last album Aviation. With plans to release a second album this year, inspired by the Golden Age of Rock and Roll, lead singer says of this new track "the song ‘Brando’ is not only inspired by the man himself, but also uses him and some of his movies as metaphors for a very over the top intense relationship I had with my last boyfriend”. 
  • The music video for Sheppard's "Geronimo" was released and it's perfectly Australian; crazy as fuck with a story line that only matches the song in some abstract way but completely impossible to look away from. It's like an off kilter Romeo & Juliet meets Frankenstein minus all the murder and rampage. 
  • Cult Called Man's "The Walkyr" sounds like it's personally working to keep the alternative genre alive and well. Sweetly lilting vocals and soaring rhythms combine with pure lyrics and a melody you can drift away on to create something that's so easy to set on repeat. 
  • Taylor Swift's "Shake It Off" mocks everything people love to make fun of about her and stems from the roots of critics favorite source of mockery: her dancing. Too many 'fans' are afraid of change and have made allusions to Swift's 'imminent' downfall to Cyrus levels, but it's important to remember that female vocals CAN be accompanied by fun pop rhythms without developing into a real hot mess. Just chill and have fun with a tooth achingly fun melody, mellow brass, and a rhythm that's simply impossible to not move to. It's a summer infused single that tells the haters to fuck off and encourages you to just do you; love it.
  • Francisco The Man's debut music video for single "Progress" is fun and simple and acts as a great representation of the band's incredibly catchy beats, fun melodies, and impossible to not get caught up in lyrics. Check out the video and get the single now.
  • EVVY released her debut EP and singles like "You Said" and "Collide" should already be playing on repeat from your speakers. 
  • John Mellencamp will be releasing his 22nd full length album, Plain Spoken, on Republic Records September 23.
  • Colbie Caillat will be releasing Gypsy Heart September 30th, pre-order begins September 2nd. Check out lead single off the album "Try".
  • Meghan Trainor's "All About That Bass" is the body love anthem you should have been bumping all summer. Lyrics never stray towards hate, even with lines "I'm bringing booty back, go ahead and tell them skinny bitches that" being tied up with "nah, I'm just playing I know you think you're fat, but I'm here to tell ya every inch of you is perfect from the bottom to the top". It is so impossible to listen to this while sitting still. If you somehow have not heard the single yet, listen to see how 2010's IAMA's winner made it to the top of the charts at only twenty years old. 
  • Jessie J's Sweet Talker will be released October 14; look for the music video for "Bang Bang" to be released on MTV.com after tonight's VMA performance (also, get the track on the deluxe version of Ariana Grande's My Everything, dropping tomorrow; catch the video for her single with Zedd, "Break Free", here). 

"Arrows" Fences feat. Macklemore & Ryan Lewis