Today’s song of the day is “We Are Young” from another new album I shared yesterday, “Some Nights” by Fun. I’d like to dedicate the song to all the Leap Day babies out there on this Leap Day who really ARE young, (sort of) no matter how old they actually are. Actually one of my coworkers turned 9 (36) today!!! Happy Birthday, Leap Day babies!!! Anyway, the song features one of my favorite female singers, Janelle Monae, even if it is just for a moment, she’s what drew me to the group in the first place, but I stayed for the “Fun.”. This song is so great and anthemic, oh, and so darn catchy. I’ve had it stuck in my head for about a week now!!! Now it’s your turn. Have “fun.” getting it out of your head.
Month: February 2012
Song Of The Day: 2/28/12 (Somebody That I Used To Know)
Today’s song of the day is Gotye’s “Somebody That I Used To Know” from his awesome album “Making Mirrors”. Do you like it?
New Music Tuesday: 2/28/12
I haven’t shared much new music since starting my blog about a month and a half ago, because, well, honestly there hasn’t been much to speak of, but in the last week or so, I’ve discover a few new albums that have ranged from really friggin’ great to intriguing.
My favorite of the three albums I will be sharing is Gotye’s “Making Mirrors”. This album actually came out back in August, but I was just put on to it by a couple co-workers and boy am I glad they did. He is an experimental indie Rock musician from Australia. I am totally obsessed with this album right now. I like it so much because it’s just so different and experimental, all while being so damn catchy (all my favorite aspects of good music). As the album progresses it get’s more and more bizarre, but never so much so that it just gets weird. It always stays grounded and stays sounding amazing the whole way through. Needless to say, this album comes HIGHLY recommended and will not disappoint.
The second album I would like to share is Fun.’s “Some Nights”. Fun. is a New York City based band that’s been around for a few years now. I was told about this album early last week and how their single “We Are Young” featured one of my favorite female singers, Janelle Monae. So I gave the album a spin and I must say it’s not a bad little album. It’s young and hip and has huge, catchy choruses. The album even gets a little operatic at times (very Queen). A couple days after getting into them, I started hearing “We Are Young” on the radio, so I guess these guys are coming up and I think they deserve it. They don’t sound like anyone else, really and make some pretty catchy, “fun” tunes. This album is definitely worth checking out too. It looks like they might be big in the not too distant future.
And the third and final album I’d like to share on this New Music Tuesday is Frankie Rose’s “Interstellar”. This is Frankie Rose’s 2nd album. She is pretty underground, but you may know her from a group called the Dum Dum Girls. The album is well concieved and executed. It ranges from quite, soft tracks to upbeat 80’sish songs. I haven’t had the oppurtunity to listen to this album too many times yet, but I did like it quite a bit from the few times that I did get to listen to it.
Over the next few days, I’ll be sharing some songs from these and other new albums for songs of the day. Have you heard any of these albums? If so, what do you think of them? If not definitely take a listen and let me know what you think.
Song Of The Day: 2/27/12 (Hey Girl)
Today’s song of the day comes to you via my T.V. wife, Zooey Deschanel. Shhhh, don’t tell my fiance. The song is “Hey Girl”, the theme song to the new hit sitcom “New Girl”, which I have to say is really one of the best new shows to come out this season. Certainly the best new comedy show. The theme song is very catchy, just like any of here She & Him songs. Enjoy and check out the show on Tuesday night’s at 9pm Eastern time on Fox.
Song Of The Day: 2/26/12 (#10. Kanye West) (Touch The Sky)
I had a bit of trouble selecting my #10 favorite artist/group. There are so many great artists and groups out there that I love so much, such as Prince, John Mayer, Coldplay, The Grateful Dead, etc. I considered all of those and a few others for the #10 position. They certainly all deserve very high recognition and honorable mention, but ultimately I went with Kanye West, because other than being one of the most talented artists/rappers of his generation, he was also one of the few artists from my generation that I considered putting on the list, to begin with. I tend to like a lot of older artists. He has such a great and consistent catalogue of music, with 6 classic albums albums in just 7 years. Not to mention all the great music he has produced over those years and prior to those 7 years. He started out as a producer, producing Jay-Z, most notably. He may be a very controversial figure and may have made some questionable decisions with his behavior in the past, but his talent is undeniable. He is defiantly one of the best rappers to ever do it and also has such artistic vision and great pop sensibilities. The song of his that I decided to go with for today’s song of the day is “Touch The Sky”. I love this song and the video is so creative and funny.
Maybe in a year or so, once I dig deeper into new music catalogues and mull over my current decisions even further, my top 10 will look a little different, but as of now, this is what I was able to put together, considering a combination of the number of times I’ve listened to each artist in the past three and a half years (I found this out through my last.fm account), my overall respect for the artists or groups, the musical and cultural impact they’ve had on the society at large and the inspiration and personal impact they have had on me. There is SO much great music out there. The 10 artists/groups I’ve shared over the past month is just the very tip of the iceberg.
Song Of The Day: 2/25/12 (#9. Pink Floyd) (Money)
Number 9 on my top 10 favorite artists/groups is the one and only Pink Floyd and today’s song of the day is their funky hit “Money”. I’ve been listening to Floyd since I was about 17 years old and with each passing year I grow fonder and fonder of them. I would have put them even higher up on my top 10, but to be honest other than “Dark Side Of The Moon”, “Wish You Were Here”, “The Wall” and a bunch of random songs from various other albums, I’ve never heard the majority of their discography, although I desperately want their new complete box set of all their albums. I can be a big sucker for box sets (being that I’m very much a completist) and I’m sure a box set doesn’t get much better and/or more epic than Pink Floyd’s. They made some of the most stunning, beautiful, rocking, mind blowing music ever recorded. I’m certain that once I get the chance to process their complete works, they will rise up 2 or 3 or maybe even 4 notches on my top 10. They are certainly my #2 favorite Classic Rock band after the Beatles. They always say every kid needs to discover the Beatles and Pink Floyd (among others). I’m so grateful that my ears are in tune to be able to fully appreciate all that Pink Floyd had and still has to offer the world. In July I will be seeing Rodger Waters (the mastermind behind much of Floyd’s most successful material) at Yankee Stadium, on his “Wall” tour. He will be playing the album “The Wall” in it’s entirety with grand theatrics to boot. Needless to say I can’t wait and I’m chomping at the bit to see him rip it up!!!
last.fm’s Best Of 2011
About a month back I found this on last.fm. For those of you who don’t know, last.fm is a website that tracks all the websites subscriber’s music listens across all different music listening services and programs, such as iTunes, Spotify and Rdio. At the end of 2011 they tallied up all the listeners and put together a year end list of the most listened to artists and a year in music chart to display the music listening trends of it’s listeners. The data held within the last.fm universe gives us a great look into what people are actually listening to. In the Artist’s tab you can even play around with the settings and see the music listening habits by location and/or by music genre. Try it out at the links below and see what you think of the list. Anyone you would have thought would have or wouldn’t have been on here or anyone you think deserved to be on here and isn’t or didn’t deserve to be on here? Let us know.
Song Of The Day: 2/24/12 (#8. Jamiroquai) (Virtual Insanity)
A few weeks back I shared a song from each of my top 7 favorite artists/groups as songs of the day. The artists were as follows #1 The Beatles, #1 Michael Jackson, #1 OutKast, #4 Kate Bush, #5 *NSYNC/Justin Timberlake, #6 Matchbox Twenty & #7 Billy Joel. I decided that sharing my top 7 just wasn’t enough and that my #8 to #10 artists/groups more than deserve to be shared too. So coming in at #8 is the amazing, Jamiroquai!!! I absolutely love these guys and the pure, delicious funk they deliver time and time again. Most of you probably only know them for today’s song of the day “Virtual Insanity”, but they are very big around the world. Not so much in the U.S.A. which I’ll never understand. You may also know their song “Canned Heat” from the dancing scene in “Napoleon Dynamite”. Jamiroquai is what music is all about. Making you feel good!!! This song is only the tip of the iceberg for Jamiroquai. They have so many gems. I got their CD “Traveling Without Moving” back when it came out in 1996 and “Virtual Insanity” from it was a big hit. For many years (about 7) I never really listened to the album. I was going through my CD collection in high school and disposing of bad and emarrasing CDs, when I came across this CD and decided to give it one more listen before I tossed it. I fell in love with it instantly and needless to say kept it and have been a huge Jamiroquai fan ever since. Their smooth, fun, funky grooves also have helped me through some hard times. They always do the trick on really cheering me up and making me want to get down with my bad self.
Song Of The Day: 2/23/12 (King Without A Crown)
For some reason this song, “King Without A Crown” by Matisyahu randomly popped into my head today, after having not heard it for years. This used to be my JAM!!! He’s so different and does Reggae so well. Don’t EVER judge a book by its cover.
A Gorilla Of A Song
Gorillaz, Andre 3000 and James Murphy released a new song today “DoYaThing” as part of a Converse campaign called “3 Artists, 1 Song”. Below is the link to the song. Check it out!!! And if you like it, you can download it there for free (legally)!!! It’s really good, but what would you expect from these guys. Very trippy.
http://play.converse.com/blog/2012/02/23/doyathing/
Volume 11 