I will hold you like a chopstick, save you from a mosh pit, guess you understand it, love is my language – love is in the air

Posted in Artist to Watch, Commercial, Dance, Music, Pop, South African, To Look Out For with tags , , on January 22, 2012 by Conrad Schwellnus

South African singer Toya Delazy has shot to fame in the last couple of months thanks to the nationwide success of her debut single “Pump It On”. Produced by Jax Panik, the track raced to the top of the Top 40 chart on my local radio station and is receiving a lot of attention around the country. The Sony Music signed artist is currently working actively on her debut album and what we have here is a taste of what is to come; her official second single “Love Is In The Air” premiered this week to rave reviews from both critics and fans and it seems that Delazy and Panik have some great chemistry when it comes to the studio.

While lyrically the song isn’t much more than a pop radio hit you can’t deny that it is well produced and rounded off and is the perfect follow-up to “Pump It On”. There are a couple of lines in the track that are very typically ‘Panik’ and I couldn’t help but wonder on first listen what he would have sounded like on the demo version. Regardless I’m excited to see Toya leave the dreaded “one-hit-wonder” status with the release of this song and am looking forward to getting my hands on her debut album when it is released this year. Support good local music by picking up your copy when it get’s released!

What do you think of “Love Is In The Air”?

Let me know by leaving a comment or tweeting @conradwashere.

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Waiting in a car, waiting for a ride in the dark – the night city grows, look and see her eyes, they glow

Posted in Artist to Watch, Commercial, Dance, Electro, Music, Music Videos, To Look Out For, United Kingdom with tags , , on January 14, 2012 by Conrad Schwellnus

M83 is a French band that has been making music for over ten years! In all this time I’ve never come across any of their songs but am happy to have stumbled upon “Midnight City”, the first single from their sixth studio album, which is titled Hurry Up We’re Dreaming. The Naive Records released track is a perfect mix of electro-synth and dance and the music video (which I loved from the first time I saw it) compliments the quality of the song fully. The opening riffs of the song were apparently created through heavy distortion of singer Anthony Gonzalez’ voice, and the sound can best be described like a viewer of the video on YouTube did; he likened the sound to “an elephant on helium” (a very fitting description, if you ask me).

The song is currently picking up on iTunes in the United Kingdom and I hope to see it climb steadily as we head into the second month of the year. Critical reviews of Hurry Up, We’re Dreaming have been positive all-round so I’m looking forward to getting my hands on the 11-track disc to get a better impression of what these guys are about.

Be sure to get your copy of “Midnight City” if you like the song, and follow in my footsteps by getting your hands on Hurry Up, We’re Dreaming from here too.

What do you think of “Midnight City”?

Let me know by leaving a comment or tweeting @conradwashere.

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I know you’re scared it’s wrong, like you might make a mistake – there’s just one life to live, and there’s no time to waste – so let me give your heart a break

Posted in Artist to Watch, Commercial, Music, Pop, United States with tags , , , , on January 12, 2012 by Conrad Schwellnus

Pop singer Demi Lovato released her Hollywood Records released third studio album Unbroken on September 20th of last year. Preceded by top 10 lead single “Skyskraper”, the album sold just under 100 000 copies in its first week, entering the Billboard 200 at #4. While “Skyskraper” has been receiving spins globally, I’ve been curious to see what her team would bring to the table for her follow-up single. Enter “Give Your Heart a Break”, the Josh Alexander and Billy Steinberg (known for their work with The Veronicas) produced mid-tempo track that is officially being added to Mainstream/Top 40 radio on January 24th. The music video for the track hasn’t been released but I assume it will be out sometime in February.

The song is catchy and everything you would expect from Lovato given her target market and while critical reviews have been positive I would have hoped for her to release something a little less generic, especially given the year she had last year and given the back story to her first single. As a whole reviewers of her album have been critical of the fact that her music hasn’t matured too much since her first album so I would really like to see her try a different direction when she starts work on her new album. The reality however is that I don’t see her being able to try a new musical direction under Hollywood Records especially given their focus on Disney/teen stars and the younger market, but only time will tell. In the meantime it’s important not to take away the fact that this is a well produced and well rounded off pop radio track so I do hope it will receive airplay around America and the rest of the world too.

If you’re a fan of “Give Your Heart a Break”, you can download your copy of it via this link. Be sure to also grab her full album Unbroken over here too.

What do you think of “Give Your Heart a Break”?

Let me know in the comments section or tweet @conradwashere.

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Oh I swear to ya, I’ll be there for ya – this is not a drive by, just a shy guy

Posted in Music with tags , , on January 10, 2012 by Conrad Schwellnus

San Francisco based Train is back and preparing for the release of their sixth studio album this year! Currently there are only a few details available about the album and it seems the release is tentatively aimed at March or April but what we do know is that this song – “Drive By” – is the official first single from the Columbia Records project. A catchy acoustic radio single, I can tell this song is going to be a big hit from them, given that it’s been stuck in my head from first listen. The first thirty seconds or so could be mistaken for Flo Rida‘s “Good Feeling” (the entire guitar part sounds a little like Flo’s hit, in my opinion) but I’m not complaining, because it is a well executed acoustic pop track that is going to do well around the globe.

The bands 2009 album Save Me, San Francisco did very well critically and commercially and I am really excited to hear what they are going to bring to the table in 2012. I’ll be sure to keep you up-to-date on future released singles from the project, but make sure you keep an eye out for these guys as we get into the new year.

Do yourself a favour and download your copy of this single via this link. If you’re not familiar with these guys make sure you check out Hey, Soul Sister too.

What do you think of “Drive By”?

Let me know in the comments section or tweet me @conradwashere.

3 Comments »

Hey hey hey, pop another bottle, fill another cup – hey hey hey

Posted in Artist to Watch, Commercial, Dance with tags , , , on January 9, 2012 by Conrad Schwellnus

Laurent Wery is a Belgian DJ & producer who released his debut album Ready For The Night back in July of 2010. While none of the singles from that album made their mark commercially the first single from his upcoming second album – a track called “Hey Hey Hey (Pop Another Bottle)” featuring Swift K.I.D & Dev - is starting to make its rounds and has almost two million hits on Youtube already. This club and radio friendly track is perfect for summer or your workout playlist and while critics have mentioned the Kid Cudi similarities I choose to look past the obvious comparison and just enjoy the song for what it is; a great party track.

37-year-old Wery is testament to the fact that you should always continue doing what you’re passionate about. After seven moderately charting singles in his native Belgium it is about time that he gets his time to shine and I’m hoping this song will keep picking up in territories around the world. “Hey Hey Hey” was just added to the local radio station where I work and I’m hoping to see it make its way all the way to the Top 40 as we get into the first quarter of the new year.

If you like what you year, be sure to download the song by clicking here.

What do you think about “Hey Hey Hey (Pop Another Bottle)”?

Let me know by leaving a comment or tweeting @conradwashere.

2 Comments »

You’re a pretty little flower, I’m a busy little bee – honey that’s all you need to see, I can take you for an hour but then I’m gonna leave

Posted in Artist to Watch, Commercial, Pop, Rock, To Look Out For, United States with tags , on January 8, 2012 by Conrad Schwellnus

The All-American Rejects shot to fame in 2003 thanks to their self-titled debut and 2005′s Move Along which spawned the hit singles “Swing, Swing”, “Dirty Little Secret” & “Move Along”. I also enjoyed their more recent album – 2008′s When The World Comes Down - and I am excited to announce to you today that they are making a comeback in 2012 through the release of their new album, Kids In The Street. While no date has been set yet for the release of the album the first single has premiered online – “Beekeeper’s Daughter” is the track Interscope has picked, which will be released digitally on January 24th and will be sent to Top 40 radio a week later on the 31st.

While I’m happy to have these guys back I have to admit that I am a little bit disappointed by the track because I had hoped for something a little stronger (given how good previous lead singles “Swing, Swing”, “Dirty Little Secret” & “Gives You Hell” were) but I’m wondering whether “Daughter” is possibly just a promotional single, to get word back out there that AAR is back in the game. The album doesn’t have a released date yet so I’m assuming that Interscope would like to test the waters a little, considering it has been a couple of years since these guys were actively on radio. Regardless, I am excited to hear more from these guys, and look forward to getting my hands on a copy of their album when it hits stores later this year.

*Single not available for digital download yet, link will be made available here once it is released later this month.

What do you think of “Beekeeper’s Daughter”?

Let me know by leaving a comment or tweeting @conradwashere.

3 Comments »

I won’t give up on us, even if the skies get rough – I’m giving you all my love, I’m still looking up

Posted in Acoustic, Artist to Watch, Ballad, Music, News, To Look Out For, United States with tags , on January 7, 2012 by Conrad Schwellnus

Jason Mraz shot to fame in 2008 thanks to the international smash hit single “I’m Yours”, which was Top 10 in pretty much every country around the world. Since then his We Sing. We Dance. We Steal Things. album has gone platinum in the US and while the other singles from the album didn’t perform as strongly he continued promoting the album well throughout 2009. I’m surprised that so much time has gone by since then and only now, three years later, is he pursuing a new album and a new single. His Atlantic released upcoming album will be fronted by the track I want to share with you today – a song called “I Won’t Give Up”.

An acoustic ballad with some great lyrics, “I Won’t Give Up” is the perfect comeback single for Mraz. I can definitely see this track getting some TV and movie deals and while I don’t think it is as strong as “I’m Yours”, I think his label is doing the right thing by picking a song like this as his first single. Everybody knows and gets the vibe Jason Mraz goes for so it is no surprise for me to see that it has shot right to the top of US iTunes as of this morning; I’m looking forward to seeing how it is going to fare on the charts and am also quite excited to hear what else he can bring to the table with the release of his fourth studio album.

If you’re a fan of the track, make sure you add it to your collection by downloading it here. If you need a refresher course on Jason Mraz and can’t quite remember “I’m Yours”, download the song at this link.

What do you think about “I Won’t Give Up”?

Let me know by commenting below or tweeting me @conradwashere.

2 Comments »

How can I find you, when you’re always hiding from yourself – It’s never too late to turn it back around, The only way is up, up, up

Posted in Artist to Watch, Ballad, Music, Music Videos, Pop, To Look Out For, United Kingdom with tags , , , , on January 6, 2012 by Conrad Schwellnus

James Morrison is well known for his soulful, emotional radio hits and I have been a fan of his music since he did a collaboration with Nelly Furtado (2009′s “Broken Strings” was a perfectly engineered and executed radio single). His third studio album, The Awakening, was released late in September of last year and has been selling pretty well in the UK thanks to singles “I Won’t Let You Go” and “Slave To The Music”. What we have here is the latest single from the project – a collaboration with Jessie J, who only burst onto the scene recently thanks to “Do It Like A Dude” and “Price Tag”. The track follows along the same lines of “Broken Strings” (it was, after all also produced by Mark Taylor) and creatively these two have some great chemistry, evident not only by the strong vocal performances in the song, but also by the music video.

Although initially Morrison hoped for this song to be a collaboration with Adele, it was ultimately his A&R rep who advised that it would sound better with Jessie on the vocal. Lyrically the track is about Morrison’s strained relationship with his recently deceased father, who suffered heart failure after a lifelong battle with alcoholism (“It was basically me saying to him: ‘I’m not going to put up with your s–t, but I want you to know you have got the strength to turn it around for yourself“). Powerful stuff, that makes me appreciate the song even more than I already do.

Be sure to download the single if you like what you hear, and support James Morrison even further by picking up your copy of The Awakening via this link.

What do you think about “Up”?

Let me know by leaving a comment or tweeting @conradwashere.

3 Comments »

I’m sick and tired of the wait, so live your lives – I tell my people roll the dice and bet your lives on me

Posted in Artist to Watch, Hip-Hop, Music, Rap, United Kingdom with tags , on January 5, 2012 by Conrad Schwellnus

L Marshall is an up-and-coming artist that I stumbled across a couple of weeks back and have been meaning to share with you since the first day I heard his rap skills on this particular track. While little details about the man himself are available online I’ll let his music speak for itself for now – take a listen to “The Wait” – the first single released from his mixtape of the same name, which was put online on the 27th of November of last year. This hip-hop/rap track is instantly catchy and is but a taste of what you can expect to hear from Marshall on the thirteen track compilation he has put online on his website for free stream and download (click).

I’ve yet to take a listen to the whole thing but am going to be spending some time on it in the next week or so. The only other track of his I have heard (and for the record, I also happen to really enjoy) is the acoustic cover he did of Wretch 32‘s “Traktor” (track 13 on the mixtape) and by the looks of things I don’t think I am going to be disappointed by the effort as a whole. Make sure you download your copy of it via his website (and at the same time spread the word to your friends) and be sure to keep an eye and an ear out for this guy as we get into the early stages of a new year in music.

What do you think of “The Wait”?

Let me know by leaving a comment or tweeting @conradwashere.

2 Comments »

A silent heart ticking under the ground, taking the weight of which has yet to be found – if you can hear me now, why don’t you recall, I was the one who cared after all

Posted in Artist to Watch, Commercial, Dubstep, Electro, Music, To Look Out For, United States with tags , on January 4, 2012 by Conrad Schwellnus

Skrillex is an L.A based producer who is making big waves in the commercial industry so early in the year thanks to his five Grammy nomnations for the ceremony to be held in February and also as a result of his 4th place finish in the BBC Sound of 2012 poll, which ranks and predicts breakthrough artists based on the opinions of 180 industry execs and renowned critics. On December 23rd Skrillex released an EP called Bangarang including seven tracks containing his signature sound and I am most impressed with the last cut on the EP: a song called “Summit” featuring Brit pop singer Ellie Goulding (who ironically won the BBC Sound of 2010 poll).

“Summit” is definitely not as hard as the rest of the tracks on the EP and for some reason it can best be described as a sexy song, not dissimilar to David Guetta’s “If We Ever” and peaking at around 4:15. There is something about this song that I can’t quite put into words but I like that Skrillex has experimented a little with a slower song to show a bit more range than we have been used to seeing in his work in the past. This is only the beginning though; rumours are already aswirl that his full studio debut Voltage will be released in the first quarter of the year and given the hype around him at the moment I have to admit that I am pretty excited to hear what he’ll bring to the table with a full project.

If you like the song you can download it here. Also worth checking out: the full Bangarang EP.

What do you think about “Summit”?

Leave your opinion in the comments section or send me a tweet @conradwashere.

2 Comments »

Come on skinny love, just last the year – pour a little salt, we were never here

Posted in Artist to Watch, Ballad, Indie, Pop, To Look Out For with tags , on January 4, 2012 by Conrad Schwellnus

Birdy is a sixteen year old musician best known for winning a music competition called ‘Open Mic’ back in 2008 when she was just twelve years old. Signed to Atlantic Records, she released her self-titled debut album on November 4th of last year preceded by singles “Shelter” & “People Help The People” but I am most intrigued about her rendition of the Bon Iver classic “Skinny Love”, which was fairly well received among critics and radio stations, peaking in the Top 20 in the United Kingdom. A stripped down power ballad, “Skinny Love” sounds even more beautiful when sung by a female vocal and while she may be a very young singer her voice is certainly mature enough and perfectly capable of handling such a big song.

Her label is currently planning to start promoting a new single called “I’ll Never Forget You” and from what I’ve gathered it will be released towards the end of this month. I have yet to listen to her debut album as a whole but look forward to getting my hands on it very soon and I’ll be keeping a close eye on her in the coming months to see if she is able to wow again with any future releases.

Download Birdy’s rendition of “Skinny Love” here and if you’re intrigued enough by the song you should check out her full studio album too.

What do you think about Birdy’s rendition of “Skinny Love”?

Give your opinion in the comments section or tweet me @conradwashere.

1 Comment »

People always say that my music’s loud – sorry for party rocking – Leave those complaints, and turn it down – sorry for party rocking

Posted in Commercial, Dance, Music, News, Pop, To Look Out For, United States with tags , on January 4, 2012 by Conrad Schwellnus

LMFAO has had a whirlwind last twelve months thanks to the massive success of singles “Party Rock Anthem” and “Sexy & I Know It”. The latter is currently sitting on top of the US charts having dethroned “We Found Love” and Interscope has wasted no time in announcing the new single from the project – “Sorry For Party Rocking” – the title track from their June released latest album. When I first listened to the album it had two clear standouts apart from the singles and “Sorry” is definitely one of the tracks I had in mind so it is a good choice for release as a radio single. The song follows on from the other singles and will definitely have the world wiggling and shuffling like they’ve been ever since the group exploded onto the scene last year.

Redfoo calls this track a “crowd favourite” and confirmed in an Australian radio interview that the music video is currently being planned so expect to see it in all it’s craziness very soon. Apart from this track I would really like to see “One Day” get released as a future single because while it is still a club anthem it doesn’t border so closely on the singles that have already been released and these guys definitely need to be careful of their sound becoming a little overexposed in coming months.

Be sure to download “Sorry For Party Rocking” if you like what you hear and pick up your copy of LMFAO’s latest album by visiting Amazon.com today.

What do you think of “Sorry For Party Rocking”?

Let me know by leaving a comment or tweet me @conradwashere.

3 Comments »

One and two and three and four, come on let me know if you want some more – you know what I like now get it right, talk that talk to me all night – yeah that talk to me yeah

Posted in Chart Update, Commercial, Music, News, Pop, Rap, United Kingdom, United States, Urban with tags , , , on January 4, 2012 by Conrad Schwellnus

Rihanna is coming off’ the success of what has become the biggest single of her career – “We Found Love” was her twentieth top ten single in the United States and it held the top spot for 8 weeks in a row, edging out 2007′s Jay-Z collaboration “Umbrella” as her longest peaking single on the chart to date. “You Da One” is doing moderately well on radio around the world though it seems to be cooling off a bit on iTunes so Def Jam has put word out that “Talk That Talk” – the title track of her latest album (and her second collaboration with Jay-Z) will be released on January 14th. Definitely a standout track on the album, “Talk That Talk” is the perfect fit for third single choice and without release it has already peaked in the Top 40 on Billboard so I expect it to be one of the first big smash hits of 2012 once a music video is released.

I have to admit that I am impressed with how Def Jam is handling Rihanna’s promotion for this album and can only hope that the second Calvin Harris produced track “Where Have You Been” will be the fourth single from the project. As a whole Talk That Talk is an impressive album and I would urge you to pick up your copy not only for the singles, but also for “Roc Me Out” and “Drunk on Love”; both great tracks in their own right. I’m sure this won’t be the last post about Rihanna in 2012 and I look forward to seeing what she brings to the table for the remainder of her promotion of her sixth studio album.

Like what you hear? Download “Talk That Talk” here and add it to your collection today. You can also pick up your copy of Rihanna’s full new studio album at this link.

What do you think about “Talk That Talk” Ft Jay-Z?

Let me know in the comments section or tweet your opinion to me directly @conradwashere.

2 Comments »

Your words are the sweetest poetry – killing me slowly, my pleasure and pain – my electronic symphony

Posted in Artist to Watch, Commercial, Dance, Europe, Music, News, To Look Out For with tags , , on January 3, 2012 by Conrad Schwellnus

LuKone is a Romanian producer that I introduced to you a little while back thanks to his amazing debut single “Allemasse”, which is on hot rotation at my local radio station. Signed to Cat Music and just getting started but growing in popularity on a daily basis, LuKone personally sent me a link to his follow-up single last week, which is titled “Electronic Symphony” and features deMoga (once again) as well as Liviu Teodorescu. This club banger follows along the same lines as his debut single and builds up to a catchy chorus which will have you either breaking a sweat in the gym or will have you partying up a storm on your Saturday night. I think it’s the perfect fit as the follow-up single and I am happy to see that the video has had almost 300 000 views in the space of just one week. This is a great accomplishment and hopefully it will only grow and grow as we get into the first couple of weeks of the new year.

For more details on LuKone and his music check out his official website, like him on Facebook or be sure to follow him on Twitter. If he continues on this trend he’ll be taking Europe by storm in no time. No word just yet on when an official album can be expected but I’ll be sure to keep an eye out and let you know once more concrete information is made available online.

What do you think about “Electronic Symphony”?

Let me know by leaving a comment or tweeting @conradwashere.

3 Comments »

I know you’re coming back to me, I will be waiting here for you till the end – I only miss you when I’m breathing

Posted in Chart Update, Dance, Music, Music Videos, Pop, United States with tags , , on January 3, 2012 by Conrad Schwellnus

Jason Derulo released his second studio album Future History in September of last year and while the world picked up pretty well on singles “Don’t Wanna Go Home” and “It Girl” I have to admit that I haven’t been as impressed with him as I was when I heard a few of the singles from his debut album in 2009. As a result of this his October released radio single “Breathing” went fairly unnoticed and ignored by me back then but after hearing a snippet of the song online I was intrigued and decided to check it out in full. The track does, as with any Jason Derulo track, contain a sample (the Bulgarian State Television Female Vocal Choir in this case, if you would believe it) but it is not as noticeable as some of the previous samples he has used on his big hit singles so I’m choosing to give the guy a break on this one. I’m impressed with the track as a decent club anthem and it is a pity that it was released as an Australian promo single only, with “Fight For You” being pushed in other territories.

I do feel concerned at the use of samples in a majority of his released music and wonder if he would be left standing in the industry if he were to create an album of sample-less music. While “Breathing” re-inspired me to give his music a chance I feel that “Fight For You” takes him back two steps because it features the most widely known sample in my territory at least (“Africa” by Toto) and not even production work by incredible RedOne could get me to look past the blatant relying and resting on the beat of a regurgitated track.

I won’t be holding my breath for a purely original third studio album but if the day comes I will certainly write about it as a historic moment in his career. Purchase “Breathing” online if you like what you hear and if you disagree with my views and you would like details on how to get your hands on Future History check out his official website for information.

What do you think about Jason Derulo using so many samples in his hits?

Let me know by leaving a comment or tweeting @conradwashere.

2 Comments »

PDE’s Top 3 Commercial Tracks of 2011

Posted in Commercial, Music, Music Videos, Pop, United Kingdom, United States with tags , , , on December 31, 2011 by Conrad Schwellnus

#3

Evanescence – “Lost In Paradise”

Arkansas rockers Evanescence released their self-titled third studio album back in October and expectations were high for it to top 2006′s The Open Door. While it didn’t debut as strongly commercially as anticipated in terms of sales (even though it did hold the #1 spot on the Billboard 200 in its first week) critical reviews for the album have been solid and acclaim for track seven – “Lost In Paradise” – has been universal. The only song on the album written solely by lead singer Amy Lee, “Paradise” is a hauntingly beautiful ballad that resonates along the lines of the bands 2003′s epic ballad “My Immortal”. Lee has confirmed that the song will be a single in 2012 so make sure you look out for it in the first six months of the new year.

#2

Lana Del Rey – “Born To Die”

New York based singer Elizabeth Grant certainly wouldn’t have been able to predict that she would be exploding onto the music scene towards the end of 2011 thanks to her video for the simplistic yet amazing song “Video Games”. While I’m a big fan of the song I find myself even more drawn to her sound and her lyrics in the second single and title track from her forthcoming album Born To Die. This mid-tempo stripped down pop-soul song taunts well (“Come and take a walk on the wild side..”) and is a perfect lyrical reflection of what it means to go through the emotions of being in love with somebody else. While I’m not so sure how well this one is going to do commercially, I have to commend it for its music video and general feel and look forward to getting my hands on Lana’s debut when it gets released next month.

#1

Rihanna – “We Found Love”

Earlier this week I was chatting to friends of mine and I agreed with them and their idea that most (if not all) songs are written either from a place of love, hate, or they just want to make you party. It’s a hard sell trying to find a song that doesn’t fit into one of those three but it’s an even harder sell to find one that fits all three simultaneously. This is my reasoning behind the international smash success of “We Found Love”, the first single from Barbadian hitmaker Rihanna’s sixth studio album Talk That Talk. With close to 100 000 000 views on Youtube, the track is an instant party starter which speaks of finding love “in a hopeless place” (something we can all relate to on some level). Coupled with a music video that is a true reflection of what it is like to fall in love with someone (and a reflection of the recklessness we undertake when it comes to loving someone) I have to name this song as my top commercial track for 2011, and the best single that Rihanna has put out to date. My hat goes off to you, Calvin Harris.

What do you think of my top 3 Commercial tracks of 2011?

Let me know by leaving a comment or tweeting @conradwashere.

3 Comments »

PDE’s Top 3 Indie/Alternative Tracks of 2011

Posted in Artist to Watch, Indie, Music, Music Videos, United Kingdom, United States with tags , , , on December 31, 2011 by Conrad Schwellnus

#3

Ben Howard – “Keep Your Head Up”

English singer-songwriter Ben Howard caught my attention in a big way about a month ago when I stumbled across his music video for “Keep Your Head Up”, the third single from his August released debut Every Kingdom. Signed to Island records a little while back as a result of selling out a month of shows in the UK, it seems this guy is someone to keep an eye out for in the new year. What I love about this song is that the message is very simple and clear and it seems to sit on the fence of being as cheerful as its lyrics suggest yet simultaneously it has a really sad undertone that I can’t myself quite explain. The best line of this song for me has to be “cause I’ll always remember you the same” and I feel a real connection to the song lyrically more so than most of the other indie-folk tracks I’ve heard this year.

#2

Bon Iver – “Holocene”

I have to be honest and admit that I’ve never been the biggest fan of Bon Iver – I’ve always found their music to be rather tedious and monotonous, but all that changed when I heard this amazing track – “Holocene” – taken from their self-titled album. Nominated for Song of the Year and Record of the Year at the upcoming Grammy Awards, this track is beautiful not only for its lyrical content, but for the imagery in the music video as well (which was filmed in the breathtaking Vik region in Iceland). It’s hard for me to put how I feel about this song into words and it is definitely one that I will be listening to for many, many years to come. Here’s to hoping that it picks up at least one of the Grammy’s it has been nominated for when the ceremony is held this coming February.

#1

Gotye – “Somebody That I Used To Know” Ft Kimbra

Born in Belgium but raised in Australia, Gotye released his third studio album Making Mirrors back in August. Track three on the album – the clear standout in the whole project – is called “Somebody That I Used To Know” and features singer Kimbra. I was lucky enough to have this song referred to me by someone a little while before it blew up and I to this day still can’t get over how I feel about it. The song speaks of the end of a relationship and the video, especially in how it plays out metaphorically, portrays this fantastically. There is no doubt in my mind that this is the best alternative song I’ve heard all year and it is proof once again that you don’t have to add too many elements to a song for it to be a masterpiece; sometimes the most simplistic ideas are the best ones.

What do you think of my top 3 Indie/Alternative tracks of 2011?

Let me know by leaving a comment or tweeting @conradwashere.

2 Comments »

Remember the time when we stole the whole day, and nobody knows it, we took it away – and it will be forever mine, and it will be forever yours

Posted in Acoustic, Artist to Watch, Music, Music Videos, Pop, To Look Out For, United Kingdom with tags , on December 18, 2011 by Conrad Schwellnus

Alex Day is a 22-year-old musician from Essex in the UK. Originally a member of a band called Chameleon Circuit, he is now more prominently focused on appearing regularly on his own Youtube channel called nerimon. With two full-length albums and two EP’s under his belt, his big break as a solo artist is finally here thanks to the growing popularity of his latest independently released single “Forever Yours”; the track I want to introduce to you today. With 2.2 million hits on Youtube, and with the song currently sitting at #17 on UK iTunes (and still rising daily), bookkeepers have it tapped as the potential #1 Christmas single in the United Kingdom – a feat that would be rather comical considering the low-budget nature of the video and the song, but then again, a hit is a hit and if people like it they’re going to like it all the way to the top, regardless of the fact that it falls on Christmas week.

No word on whether “Forever Yours” will be appearing on any full length album anytime soon but you have to wonder whether one of the big labels won’t be approaching him for a deal in 2012 given the success of this independently released song. Take the video for what it is and give the song a couple of spins if you’re not convinced initially – I’ll vouch for the fact that it will be stuck in your head for the next couple of days.

If you like what you hear, pick up your copy of the single digitally via iTunes here.

What do you think about “Forever Yours”?

Let me know by leaving a comment or tweeting @conradwashere.

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Hey I heard you were a wild one, if I took you home I’d be a home run – show me how you’ll do

Posted in Commercial, Dance, Music, Pop, Rap, United States with tags , on December 17, 2011 by Conrad Schwellnus

Rapper Flo Rida is planning on releasing his fourth studio album Only One Rida (Part 2) in early 2012. Preceded by undoubtedly one of the biggest songs of 2011 (“Good Feeling”), it seems his label isn’t banking on the fact that it will be enough to secure a solid debut for the project, which has faced heavy delays and complications in recent months. So as a result we have here the second single from the new project – a song called “Wild Ones” featuring Australian singer Sia. Never in my life did I imagine that we would be hearing these two together on a track but if modern life teaches us anything it is that we should always be open to surprises and be willing to consider the fact that things and times change. There should be no more hangups regarding who “should” or “could” collaborate with who; I’d like to see as many people from different genre’s cross over and experiment because music has become so much more interlinked and the boundaries held up by fixed genre’s are slowly but surely being broken down as time goes on.

As far as the track goes, it is everything you would expect from a Flo Rida radio single and I believe that just like “Club Can’t Handle Me” and “Good Feeling” this one will do well internationally. Make sure you pick up your copy of Only One Rida (Part 2) when it gets released in January and be sure to support both of his singles by purchasing them on iTunes if they are available in your territory.

What do you think about “Wild Ones”?

Let me know by leaving a comment or tweeting @conradwashere.

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Oh yeah I’m going in, and now I’m with my friends – let the party begin, turn all the lights on

Posted in Commercial, Dance, Music, Pop, To Look Out For, United States with tags , , , , , , on December 17, 2011 by Conrad Schwellnus

Rapper T-Pain has been dropping hits since 2005′s “I’m In Luv” and more recently he has released his fourth studio album Revolver. Preceded by the hit single “5 O’ Clock” featuring Lily Allen as well as an earlier track that I enjoyed called “Best Love Song”, I had high hopes for the project when I first got the opportunity to hear a couple of tracks from it. The song I want to share with you today is not an official single (yet), but I have high hopes for its potential to be released as a single, and I consider it one of the first contenders to be a big hit in the early phases of the new year.

“Turn All The Lights On” is the last track on the album, and features “Give Me Everything” hit maker Ne-Yo. This club stomping track was produced by Dr. Luke and Cirkut and very much runs parallel to some of Luke’s earlier hit productions from this year like “Blow” (Ke$ha) and “Till The World Ends” (Britney Spears). The comparisons are there and will be made, but I’m hearing this track as one to look out for because it’ll pick up in a big way in clubs if released, so I hope RCA will do the right thing and push it to be the follow-up to “5 O’ Clock”. Do your part and download your copy of his current single via iTunes and check out your local CD store for his 14-track new album Revolver if you like what you hear.

Do you think “Turn All The Lights On” has hit potential?

Let me know by leaving a comment or tweeting @conradwashere.

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What doesn’t kill you makes you stronger, stand a little taller – doesn’t mean I’m lonely when I’m alone

Posted in Commercial, Music, Music Videos, Pop, To Look Out For, United States with tags , on December 17, 2011 by Conrad Schwellnus

Kelly Clarkson released her fifth studio album Stronger back on October 21st at #2 with sales of 163 000; a good feat considering lead single “Mr Know It All” was only a moderate hit. While I was a fan of 2004′s Breakaway and the hits that stemmed from that project, I haven’t been following her career as much in recent years and I was particularly frustrated by her release of possibly the most generic song of 2009: “My Life Would Suck Without You”.

I am however of the opinion that one should always keep an open mind when it comes to music in general and as we’ve seen time and time again: you can never write anyone off completely. Enter RCA’s choice for the second single from the album – the title track “What Doesn’t Kill You (Stronger)”. This pop-rock track has Clarkson in her element and while semi-generic, I do get the impression that the track doesn’t try so hard to have hit potential like “Suck” did, and I also get the impression that she seems to be believing in her sound once again just in the way she acts in the music video. I’ll let you be the judge of that statement once you’ve seen the video above.

The chorus is very catchy, and I hope to see this once crack into the Top 10 on Billboard in the early months of 2012. Make sure you help it to do so by purchasing it on iTunes when it gets officially released and keep an ear out for more Kelly Clarkson as we head into the new year.

What do you think about “What Doesn’t Kill You (Stronger)”?

Let me know by leaving a comment or tweeting @conradwashere.

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