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.