1/21 /  by E

       There were plenty of things that were supposed to be done today with the blog, both upfront and behind the scenes, but I am fantastic at fucking things up in many aspects of my life so my only promise to you guys right now is that there will still be music on here tomorrow and I'll get an interview from an artist up for you to check out before Saturday.
       In regards to this playlist, I think we can all agree that, after a greatly craptastic weekend, everything is made a lot better with great friends and good old (two to three years ago, geneally) music (especially if there's a lot of Sean Kingston [because "Eenie Meenie" is actually really addictive if you thought Bieber was a random female singer the first few times you heard it.. just from personal experience] and Akon).
- E

Cardiac Arrest /  by E

       You can almost be sure that any of the free songs for the week from Amazon or iTunes (especially) is going to get big (it happened/is happening with "Love Song", "Party Rock Anthem", "Let Her Go", "Blackout", "Moneygrabber" [seriously fucking perfect live], "Little Games", "Cool Kids", "Start A Riot", and "Reflections"), so you should always get free music when it's available (if you're on a budget/prefer indie music, start using NoiseTrade; their featured band, Runaway Dorothy, is one that I'll be interviewing soon so check out their free tracks in advance of that).
       Bad Suns' "Cardiac Arrest" is iTunes' free single of the week and you need to download it (from the US iTunes store). The vocals are strong and just dreamy enough to give the song a lasting quality, that circling guitar riff is about perfect for sucking you in and making you want to dance, and the rhythm is fantastically heavy. If you like what you hear, make sure to get the band's new Transpose EP, released today; it's well worth its $4 and all of the tracks are just as catchy and worthy of listening to on repeat as this track. 
"Cardiac Arrest" Bad Suns
- E

Music Related News /  by E

       Another Music Related News list for you guys. There's so much that happened last week and is happening this week that I cannot cover all of it, but there's plenty of music shoved in here for you to love. 

  • Young the Giant's Mind Over Matter will be released tomorrow and it is sure to be fantastic (because this band only puts out fantastic work), so listen to "Crystallized" and pre-order your copy now. 
  • After Christina Aguilera worked with A Great Big World on their single "Say Something", the band became popular overnight and it is well deserved, so check out their album Is Anybody Out There? when it is released tomorrow and check out tracks "I Really Want It", "Say Something", "You'll Be Okay", and "Everyone Is Gay" for a taste of some of their music.
  • Rascal Flatts released their latest single "Rewind" and their vocals kind of feel like going home.
  • Listen to Elements, the new EP from Rubberbear, and pay attention to their track "My Addiction" (because it's completely addictive).
  • Sleeper Agent's forthcoming About Last Night will be released March 25 and, while the lyric video for "Waves" seems oddly reminiscent of The Silent Comedy's "Light of Day", the track is still fantastic and well worth a few listens. 
  • Lanterns on the Lake released Until the Colours Run and you should listen to "The Buffalo Days" or "Green and Gold" at least once.
  • The Gods of Macho came out with their first track since the departure of guitarist Egg McMacho and, with their return to stripped gritty rock, the band reminded me of why I fell for their music in the first place. Listen to "Go Crazy" and love the song for its honesty and abrasive greatness.
  • The Fray came out with a new track I cannot stop listening to (I'm a little obsessed with it but it's totally cool because this always happens with The Fray's new singles) and, since I don't want to be in this obsession alone, you really should play "Hurricane" on repeat.
  • City Rain came out with "What's In Store" and reminded me of why they should be added to every road trip playlist. Their music winds together so many tracks and sounds that it should sound over-processed, but instead it just feels right and you have to dance with it because it's just so good.
  • "When the Rain Fell Down" was put on YouTube and it made me so happy (because it's simplicity leaves it starkly beautiful). Listen to the EP from Talk Radio on bandcamp now and buy the album to support an amazing indie artist.
  • You should feel free to get on the MisterWives and Echosmith fan bandwagons now, because both of those bands are ready to explode. London Grammar is in that group too, with their first ever single, "Hey Now", being re-released in time for them to reappear on the US music scene. Start listening to tracks from all three bands now because everyone will be talking about them and loving on them more than they already are and you want to know at least two of their tracks, when everyone else only knows one. 
  • Dave Grohl announced that the Foo Fighters are currently working on their follow-up to Wasting Light.
  • Beck released his first single from Morning Phase entitled "Blue Moon"; get the single now when you pre-order the album from iTunes. If anyone embodies the sentiment of hard-working artist, it's Beck (when he was trying to kick off his career, he recorded his songs on tapes [actual rewind-it-with-a-pen old school cassette tapes] and lived out of a shed; in comparison to the work he has put in to get to this point, he is still so disgustingly underrated).
  • Billboard wants you to vote for who has the best new single in 2014: Shakira (feat. Rihanna) with "Can't Remember to Forget You", Miley Cyrus with "Adore You", or Beyonce (feat. Jay Z) with "Drunk In Love" (spoiler alert: none of these are that fucking fantastic [though the lesser of all evils is Beyonce's; when in doubt, always choose Beyonce]).
  • John Newman is going to be taking over and ruling everything soon because his soulful melodies can no longer be contained and you know you've been listening to "Losing Sleep" at three each morning and your answer to the question presented throughout "Love Me Again" is always "with a rhythm like that, how could I not love you?". In all seriousness, the only thing with more soul than these satisfying melodies are those pure sweet vocals that suck you in and get you hooked from that first high note.
  • Mackelmore and Ryan Lewis performed "Can't Hold Us" on a city bus and it was adorable and almost made me wish I lived in NYC (then I remembered how much I hate visiting the city, no matter the season).
  • Watsky has announced that he has begun work on his next album and my only response is "fuck. Yes. Finally". Listen to everything he has ever done to hear why I'm so excited (or listen to "Sloppy Seconds" [if you've already heard the song, watch it with the captions on for something fun], "Strong As An Oak", "100 Words You Could Say Instead of Swag", and "Hey, Asshole" if you just want a taste of some of his music).
  • Lakefield has announced that their last ever EP, Swan Songs, will be released February 14 and debuted the first single, "Good Guy", which is almost annoyingly perfect (seeing as how the band is giving us this gorgeous work, only to disappear and never do it again).

       Hopefully that will hold you over for a bit and you can check out a video from the Remix Artist Collective featuring Kele and MNDR below, because the melody is upbeat, the lyrics are dark yet still maintain a sweet melancholy feeling, and the dark video with the smiling protagonist mirrors that sound with ease. Also, the protagonist eats a person and it's awesome (awesome in an insane music video kind of way, not in a realistic way; I am not promoting cannibalism [it is, in fact, frowned upon in most societies]).
"Let Go" RAC featuring Kele and MNDR
- E

Waiting For /  by E

       Charlie Oxford's "Waiting For" is the lead track from his forthcoming self-titled album, due for release March 11, and the only thing catchier than that chorus is the melody that flows throughout.
       The melody is sweet, infused with plenty of piano, brass, and guitar to round it out, and a prominent rhythm urges the song forward while rich vocals croon over the music with the repetition of a chorus which states "what are you waiting for? When it's time to lose it or win it, you might not get a minute, what are you waiting for?".
       The rest of the album is filled with tracks that are just as fantastic as this one and, in advance of the album's release, you can head to NoiseTrade and get a free sampler of some of Oxford's tracks (all of the tracks do appear on Charlie Oxford, so grab the sampler for your own advanced preview of the forthcoming album) and check out the sites below to find out more about the artist.
"Waiting For" Charlie Oxford

http://charlieoxford.com/
https://www.facebook.com/charlieoxfordmusic
https://twitter.com/charlieoxford
- E