Midnight City by M83

What I wanted to title this: "Creepy kids with superpowers? Yeah, I'm down." But I'm trying to be professional so, you know, I stuck with what's up there.

I guess iTunes has really caught on to the M83 bandwagon as just a couple of weeks back, this was the Single of the Week. Now you can own both the music video and the single for absolutely nothing. Hooray! As you can probably imagine, as soon as I saw this on iTunes I hit the download button. M83 has really shined with their new album "Hurry Up We're Dreaming" and I cannot wait for their next single to come out (though I have already heard the whole album).  I'm keeping this one short, get this video, it's perfectly weird and since you are all in my music blogs class, you've already seen it. 

Enjoy my fellow music snobs!

The Only One by Joel Piper

This guy is pretty hard to track down on the internet. That's not to say he doesn't have his fair share of social networking sites, what I mean by this is that I looked far and wide for some bio information and couldn't find any. iTunes didn't even have anything (they usually have a biography link in the sidebar). 

This can mean 1 of 3 things:

1. He's still too "new" to have a wikipedia page. (Talk about underground)

2. He sucks so much that people haven't bothered writing about him.

3. FBI Agent (leaning towards this one).

"The Only One" is not only (pun intended) the title of Piper's 1st EP but also his first single on the album. I feel that my middle school self would have truly enjoyed this song. And by that I mean all the Justin Beiber fans are going to swoon over this guy excessively to the point of everyone else hating him. As you can imagine this guy is totally crazy about some chick and says so lyrically in the cheesiest way possible. The pop beats in the background can further establish his ethos as a Teen Heartthrob and emotionally unstable man-to-be. To conclude: this song is free for a reason. OOOHH, burn. Obviously not my cup of tea, but perhaps I'm only hating on him because his hair looks better than mine. 

Listen if you please.

Settle Down by Kimbra

Kimbra, I love you. This video is fantastic: I laughed, I cried in horror, I got super excited by their cute little dance moves but was secretly terrified the entire time I watched this video. Needless to say this video is already in my music library. 

Biggest reactions: 

2:24-- "WHAT THE FUCK?!" I literally yelled this one, my roommates were concerned. Mainly because I thought of this:

3:37--Oh, that's adorable they're doing the mashed potato...wait, those dolls are burning in the background. BRB, hyperventilating. 

The whole video is a giant statement on being the picture perfect housewife hinting the song title "Settle Down". The creepy part about it is that this housewife (who is actually a little girl) looks a lot like a porcelain doll and whenever Kimbra is lip syncing there are a shit ton of porcelain dolls behind her, and you kind of cringe every time you think about it. (Can you tell I don't like them?). The video later moves on to find out this girl's husband is cheating on her with another little girl who looks like a porcelain doll. It's very freaky and instead of fighting it out, they start dancing (50s style) with Kimbra in her little porcelain doll station. The video obviously has a 50s feel to it with the pearls, florals, and set design to further establish this need for housewife-ness. All in all, congratulations Kimbra, you have an excellent music video and the film student stamp of approval. 

Get this video, get it NOW.

P.S. If you like her on Facebook, you get a free track. I know this because of reasons. 

O Come O Come Emmanuel by the Civil Wars

Aww Yeahhh, Christmas season! It's only the most wonderful time of the year (I hope you just sung that last part). Anyway, in start of the season, iTunes' Single of the Week is a Christmas Song. The Civil Wars duo, most known for their songs "Poison & Wine" and "Barton Hollow" have adventured to the land that every other artist before them (including Beibs) has done their fair share of traveling to: a Christmas album. I'm going to say right now that very few successfully pull this off. It's not to say that they aren't good artists but most singers just cannot do Christmas music in my opinion. It usually just sounds bad, cheesy, and looks like an extremely obvious marketing technique. "O Come O Come Emmanuel" is one of the more difficult Christmas songs to pull off with it's slower pace and the fact that it's an actual hymn. Now, I am not opposed to the Civil Wars attempting to sing this, but I have heard better covers. Don't get me wrong, I love me some Civil Wars, I'm just not sure this song is really their forte. The best way I could describe my feelings involve hitting the snooze button. The song was too slow and didn't have much going for it. They needed to find something to make it their own and I'm not entirely sure they accomplished that.

Still in a Christmas Spirit? Still a die hard supporter of the Civil Wars? Have a Listen.

Heartbeat by The Fray

Woah, woah. Is this some Top 40 song/artist available for a free download on iTunes? Weird. Not  going to lie, this music video didn't catch my attention at all. The band is on some beach performing next to a cliche bonfire with a bunch of wanna be hipster girls who are holding sparklers. So yes, it very much lacks story development and plot. Hooray. But hey, if you love The Fray (which i kind of love the How to Save a Life album..but anyways) and aren't going to get tired of this song being overplayed in about 2 months, by all means go for it. Free is free.

Oh and yes, they do eventually run dramatically into the ocean. Ground breaking...truly. 

In Your Arms by Kina Grannis

2 words to describe this music video: How Cute! It totally reminded me of the intro to Juno (below) having the same color scheme, art direction, animation, and stop motion esthetic to it. 

The art direction was equally matched my the lyrics which were very much the girl version of "Here in Your Arms" by Hellogoodbye (yeah, remember that song?). I know I'm not the only one in love with this new music video as it has over 3 million views on youtube already. Kina Grannis has a very soothing voice and I will definitely be listening to more of her songs. Possibly my favorite part of this whole video is the fact that the animation is so unique (can you tell I strive to find individuality in music?). Who would have thought to make animation out of jelly beans? 228,000 of them to be exact. So fucking creative.

Anyway, go download this music video and love it...forever.

P.S. "All I Want is You" from the Juno Soundtrack could possibly be one of my favorite love songs of all time. Cheesy but totally heartwarming. 

This is totally not related to anything free on iTunes, but Sarai don't care.

Admit it...you laughed.
Ah the internet.

Woo by Anthony Hamilton

R&B singer Anthony Hamilton has been apart of the music scene for quite some time now. His 1st album dropped in 1996 and is generally most known for his singles "The Point of it All" and "Do You Feel Me". It is no surprise Hamilton is now releasing his 7th album Back To Love. The Single of the Week of course featured one of his songs from this album simply titled "Woo".

There was nothing that really stuck me as unique or worth listening to about this song. It was a bit lackluster and was definitely missing a little something. The lyrics didn't have anything too special about them: been there, heard that. There wasn't any moment in the lyrics where I was like "oh, that was clever, good job". Sorry, it was just a little too boring for my liking and I would know, I'm the queen of boring. Same goes with the instrumentals: subpar. Possibly the only good thing about this song is that it seemed to finish rather quickly. 

And with that super rude/uneventful review, i bid you adieu. 

Listen if you please!

For the One by Waters

Hands down, weirdest fucking music video i've seen for any of the Singles of the Week on iTunes. This doesn't mean I didn't like it, quite on the contrary-I thought the plot ("what happens when you place your dream catcher on the wrong way") was unique and I somewhat enjoyed it in a "Keep Austin Weird" sort of way. Also, this informs all the hipsters what NOT to do with their dreamcatchers.

Waters is a one man band run by Van Pierszalowski from Norway. He was previously in a completely different genre with the band Port O'Brien who did more of an acoustic/folk sounding indie. In this album (which was recorded in Dallas...sweet!) Pierzalowski looks to have a completely new beginning thus creating an interesting genre which I can only describe as grunge meets lead singer of Vampire Weekend.

As for the actual song...it's growing on me. It's not terrible, I'll probably end up jamming to it later this week. Who knows? 

I'll definitely be watching that music video again though. I appreciate creativity and unique story lines in music videos (I know I've already said this numerous times in previous posts...but really. I love me a good story plot). 

In the end, this song is pretty cool. Fuck, I'm allowed to like what I like...so there.

Ze muzic video!

Why Can't I Be Your Backdoor Man Instead by Eddie Kirkland

This is already downloaded on my iTunes. It's fantastic. I saw it, I listened, I claimed it as my own, I regret nothing.

I should really begin by clarifying my love for old-school music. The distorted sound recording, the absence of autotune, the cultural references of that time, I just love it all. The late Eddie Kirkland was a bluesman who's life was dedicated to music. His career began in 1949. He wrote/composed/sang until his death this past February. This album, Pick Up the Pieces, is a collection of songs that were never released until now. "Why Can't I Be Your Backdoor Man Instead" is a song of a man with commitment issues (surprise, surprise) who tells his girlfriend that instead of getting married he should just become the "other man". In his opinion, the idea of cheating would keep them together. It's not something you hear everyday, it was clever, the blues were perfectly in tact, and as I said before I totally enjoyed it. 

I wish i had a link for this, but its nowhere on youtube...you'll just have to download it on itunes instead ;)

P.S. iTunes has this section called "Discovery Download" where they feature a band or artist that's worth our attention every week...I had no idea this existed until I found this song. Maybe I should start looking at that instead of the Single of the Week? Or maybe look at both? We'll see. 

Surrender by Angels & Airwaves

So we have a more popular band than usual this week with Angels & Airwaves. The band is known for their members coming from a bunch of other successful bands. Lead vocalist Tom DeLounge is from Blink-182 (commence reel of nostalgia), bass player Matt Watcher from 30 Seconds to Mars, drummer Iian Ruben from Nine Inch Nails, and finally guitarist David Kennedy from Box Car Racer. The four have grouped together and founded the alternative band, have produced 4 albums (each with their own music tour) and are now featured on Single of the Week with their song "Surrender."  My initial reaction to this song was "blah". Nothing really stood out and was like "Hey Sarai, download me, it's totally worth the hardrive space". The song was a bit pop-ish, the lyrics weren't there, DeLounge got a little monotone. The part that especially annoyed me of the lyrics was the chorus, which literally read:

I, I will not surrender

No I, I will not surrender
No I, I will not surrender

No I, I will not surrender

Could I have a little more creativity please? Can you put some more effort into your writing? That's all i'm really asking for. 

Oh! Also, the song is almost 5 minutes long...seriously? Too unnecessarily long.

Here's how I would summarize my final thoughts: If I were at a supermarket and this song were playing would I cringe at it's terribleness? No. But would I really take the extra time in my day to listen to the rest of this album? Absolutely not. 

Any Angels & Airwaves fans? Listen to the song here.

I Like it Like That by Hot Chelle Rae

Is Sarai about to blog about a free music video? OH get ready blogosphere.

Maybe i'm just being an over-analytical hater/bitch but i could see right through every single one of their marketing schemes in this video. Here are my thoughts:

1. You can't do the homage to your previous concerts idea..you've had ONE single

2. The fact that you had to name all of your band members in the video proves you are too "new" to be doing number 1.

3. So the recession. I see it's effected your pre-production staff.

4. Let's get some "cool" rap duo to come and make this song a hit bc otherwise we wouldn't make any money off of this.

5. The crowd in your "concert" is not that big...it's called a wide-angle lens. cinematography fail. 

6.  Let's try to appeal to the college market by holding red Solo cups. yeah!

7. Ha. The Miley joke was funny...good job New Boyz (and none for Hot Chelle Ray, bye).

8. Product Placement. 

9. Those fan's t-shirts were ugly. Just sayin.

10. woah, woah, woah. Did you just put credits at the end of your music video? 

That pretty much sums it up. Harsh but I don't like the band, sorry. 

Promises by Nero

It's almost as if Karen O from the Yeah Yeah Yeahs decided to go electronic...super electronic. The dubstep feel to Promises definitely adds a modern twist to the band's song. Interestingly enough, the female vocalist is not a band member. Nero consists of a UK duo Joe Ray and Daniel Stephens. The 7 year bromance occasionally asks Alana Watson to come sing on some of their singles and viola, here is the single of the week. Promises, as with most of the songs on Single of the Week, is the 1st single off of Nero's newest album, "Welcome Reality". 

Though not usually my type of music genre, the song is growing on me...mainly because of the well executed music video. Promises already has 8 million views and counting on their Vevo channel and I (want to) believe it is because of the reference to Ayn Rand's Anthem. Excellent book, well made music video. 

Check it out for yourself!

Midnight City by M83

Dearest music blogs class,
This is NOT the Single of the Week but it's still free on itunes so I had to let all of you know. I went crazy when I found it (downloading this second!). Since we listened to it in class I figured I'd let a fellow starving college student know.
Enjoy!
S

It's Real by the Real Estate

Wow. I just need to start off by saying they could have come up with a better name for the song...put next to their band name it sounds ultra cheesy. But seeing as I have to judge this by the music and not it's   ridiculous plots at incorporating the band name in their 1st single from their album Days I am much obliged to say I actually enjoyed the song. 

The Real Estate is an indie lo-fi psychedelic band from New Jersey who are most known for their performance at the Pitchfork Music Festival this past July. Their single "It's Real" incorporates their psychedelic feel through their vocals while maintaining a bit of an upbeat through their instrumentals. Lyrically, there is not much to the song but isn't that kind of what their going for with their genre? 

If you remember at all from one of my previous posts how I've said I like really slow, relaxing, almost puts you to sleep music you'd understand why I enjoyed listening to this over and over again. Psychedelia definitely has that vibe to it so I'm down to listen whenever I can. Anyway, this song rocks...download it for free before everyone else does.

Check it.

Into the Sun by Parlor Mob

It's clear that Parlor Mob stays to the easy upbeat rock that many before them have accomplished. "Into the Sun" is their 1st single off of their second album Dogs. It's very easy to explain: the lyrics are that of rising up against the man reminding me of Muse's "Uprising" except Parlor Mob is coming "out of the darkness and into the light"...same thing (though I would way rather listen to the Muse version). I'm not sure why I don't really have anything to say about them, I'm not even sure if I liked the song or not. 

Judge it for yourself.

No Strings by Mayer Hawthorne

This guy definitely has an interesting sound. I was expecting his voice to be higher pitched, idk...I was surprised. It wasn't necessarily a good or bad surprise just...interesting. 

Mayer Hawthorne originally started recording as a side project, not intending for his singles to actually be made into an album. Stone Cold Records however, saw the potential and decided it be best to actually try to make a star/profit out of this guy. His music is very old school R&B, it was definitely nice to hear this over some auto-tuned wanna be singer. The lyrics of the song are debatable, talking about just wanting a one night stand with some random girl he makes eye contact with. To be completely honest, his whole image reminds me of Justin Timberlake...but with a deeper voice. 

p.s. He's never had vocal lessons...curse you MH!

Have a Listen!

Let's Go by Madi Diaz

iTunes has done well this week in it's music selection. At least, they've fit more of my personal music taste. This music video has a very indie vibe to it: the use of (what looks like) a 16mm film camera, a sense of ambiguity, and a very simple story plot. Diaz' video is based on a summer day (yet another reminder that my summer freedom is long gone) and spending it with her significant other. Images of pools, beaches, ice cream cones, lakes, etc all surface on the "homevideo" portion of this video. She makes these moments look very nostalgic, almost as if she is remembering that summer day while singing the song. The actual lyrics talk about going to that special place they both know about, which makes sense/ties in to the video. All in all it was cute; I approve.

Dreamer by Elizaveta

First thing's first: Can I haz name?

But seriously, that name is pretty fantastic...and Russian.

Alright, Elizaveta probably has one of the more interesting voices I've heard while doing this blog. She's very whimsical and I like it. Her voice is very opera like hitting very high notes in her music, but she manages to keep a very pop feel about her.  The music in the background is a classical orchestra accompanied by a techie sounding keyboard, possibly a little bit of organ in there. The lyrics are simple, but they get the point across. It's different, it's fun, I will state it once again...I like it. 

Listen/Watch the Music Video!

Alright, I'm Over It.

It was a moment of weakness but the past is in the past.
I hope all you hipsters can forgive me.
And you too Cody, you too.
Ha.

Shit.

I've heard that Cody Simpson song too many times now. I think I'm secretly in love with it. DAMMMITTTTT.

The hipsters are gonna be so mad.

Whatever.

Not Just You by Cody Simpson

Listen up Beliebers, this ones for you. Nobody under the age of 12? Thought so. Anyway, Youtube star Cody Simpson is known for his high pitched, havent-hit-puberty-yet-I'm-serenading-this-hot-chick style often associated with Aaron Carter, Jesse McCartney and of course, the Beibs himself. There's not much more to explain, your younger sister is probably already obsessing over his dashing good looks and mediocre hair style. 

Ok, I'm being harsh. Plus side to this song? Nostalgia. This song totes reminds me of 90s boy bands that I cherished so dear to my heart as an elementary school girl. Can Cody Simpson bring this genre back though? No se. 

Have a Listen!

You Could Be My Girl by Shwayze & Cisco

Let me start off by saying this is definitely more of my forte. If you thought I was a bit of a music snob (doubt it!), prepare yourself because film snobs don't play. By watching this I was automatically reminded of summer and the days of relaxation that have unfortunately long passed. Though the story was weak and overdone, I was very happy with the fact that the duo actually had a story in the video instead of just lip-syncing to the camera. The video starts off at the beach where Shwayze & Cisco hand out flyers to their show. Note: they only hand them out to the plethora of attractive half-naked women. The story then ends with the show they put on that night. Simple story, not really a complete 3 act structure, but it's a story nonetheless. The duo, as well as the song reminded me of the bromance Travy McCoy and Bruno Mars had in "Billionaire". Same setting, similar looking people, both supported by vevo on youtube. If that doesn't explain the song enough for you, I'm not sure what will. This is definitely not Ok Go material, but hey, it's free so the ball is in your court.

Colours by Grouplove

The alternative indie rock band Grouplove got a head start in their marketing campaign by touring with Florence and the Machine this past summer. This, however is not to say they are similar in anyway. Grouplove is definitely more guitar concentrated while Florence and the Machine uses Welch's incredible voice as its center. As most artists on the single of the week, Grouplove's first album (with Atlantic Records), "Never Trust a Happy Song" was released this past Tuesday. The vocals of the song are okay, lead singer Christian Zucconi's vocal range is not much but he can, as most artists these days, carry out a tune at the very least. I found the song catchy enough to download. I think the band definitely has potential and will give the rest of the album the time of day before completely judging them. With that, download away my fellow music snobs.

p.s. totes want the armchair.

Listen up bitches!

Go Tell Everybody by The Horrible Crowes

The Horrible Crowes is a relatively new band whose  release of "Elsie" earlier this week may have jumpstarted with the help of iTunes Single of the Week. The band was formed by Brian Fallon from the band The Gaslight Anthem with friend/guitar technician Ian Perkins. The feel for the song is alternative meets Kurt Cobain. The raspy voice by lead singer Brian Fallon is often associated with grunge music while the more subtle instrumentals by Perkins scream alternative. It is an interesting combination to say the least though being the picky music snob that I am, it does not hold my attention (I'm working on it ok?!). The lyrics are that of another brokenhearted lover which have been of course, overdone but still are not too shabby. I feel that under a different combination of sounds this song could definitely work. Cover anybody?

Listen? Listen!

Don't Blame The World, It's the DJ's Fault by Cobra Starship

Cobra Starship, most known for their Top 40 songs "You Make Me Feel So..." and "Good Girls Go Bad" have released their newest single "Don't Blame the World, It's the DJ's Fault". Luckily for all of you, the song is available for free this week on iTunes. The Techno Pop group released this as their 2nd single of their new album "Night Shades". The song is catchy and as I would suspect, Top 40 material. I don't know if this would be a personal favorite (my music collection can often be associated with acoustic guitars and soothing sleep music) but for all the Warped Tour lovers, this song may be right up your alley. With that said, the song has "party" potential and likely to be overplayed by Kiss FM in 2 months time. If that kind of genre fits your music description then download away!

Listen to it HERE!

Sup Bitches.

As a typical Austinite, one of my new year's resolutions was to listen to more music. Well, it's September and I can honestly say that resolution (along with the rest of them) has not yet been accomplished. This blog seemed like an easy way to attain my goal without financial worries. The overall theme of this blog: FREE. I get it, we're all college students, we run at the opportunity of free meals, t-shirts or booze. So what is better than free legally downloaded music? Nothing. Absolutely nothing.
With the convenience of iTunes' Single of the Week, along with the dire need to pass this class, I welcome you to "Free on iTunes," the most self-explanitory blog title of all time (of all time!)