The Kooks

Originally from Brighton, U.K. The Kooks comprised of Luke Pritchard, Hugh Harris, Pete Garrid & Peter Denton have toured in countries such as South America, Europe, the U.K., as well as the U.S, playing indie pop/pop music. Their name has become more known by way of their first album titled, "Inside In/Inside Out" (2006); moreover, they are signed with Virgin Records currently.  They started their band in 2004. 

They are inspired by the "1960's British Invasion Movement and post punk revival of the new millenium." and have experimented with reggae, rock, pop, and ska type music.  They have won "the award for the Best UK & Ireland Act at the MTV Music Awards 2006". Furthermore, on the topic of their music they have a "self definable sounds"; in addition I think it has a sort of beachy, surfer vibe sound to it.  If that makes sense. This following video is what captured my attention on them for years now, maybe it will do the same for you:

According to the Kooks there are three components that help musicians to survive in this business:
1) Friendship
2) Music
3) Doing what needs to get done,in order to create a great pop song.

As Luke has mentioned on The Kooks website, "If it doesn't make you feel good, then what's the point?  There's too much drab shoe-gazing shit around.  I hate all that cack.  You've got to push through it.  That's where you get great songs."  I agree with his statement because there are many songs out there that remain unpopular and I think that this could be partly due to the "...too much drab shoe gazing..." and also to create a good song you need "to push through it" or work on those songs to make them sound better and more appealing to your general audience. 

Their song "Ooh La" (although this is not of big proportions) has been featured in Beach Tennis USA's 2010 Sizzle Reel. On a side note, Beach Tennis is a new sport, combining tennis and volleyball together, interesting huh? You can check out more by going to BeachTennisUSA.net.  Back on topic, you can check out the Kook's "Ooh La" video below which was featured in Beach Tennis USA video:

Source

Maino

A Hip-Hop Brooklyn native from Bed-Stuy area.  His debut album is titled, "If Tomorrow Comes".  His music has got a different sound than that of the artists such as Jay-Z,  and Diddy.  It has more of a hip hoppy vibe to it, with a hint of light techno. 

His life has not been easy.  With his music career he's had to work his way from the ground up to get to where he is now.  Because when he was younger both his parents were addicted to drugs.  As a result of this, as a teen with no legal means to survive he was forced to commit petty crimes in order to support him and his brother.  These petty crimes eventually led to a bigger crime involving a "drug-related kidnapping."  which gave him a 5-15 year prison sentence.  A song which touches base on his past is "Remember My Name".  You may check out the audio below.

In prison is where he would begin to realize his love and talent for hip-hop thanks to pure boredom of waiting in a cell 23 hours a day.  When he was released in 2003 he launched up his own business, Hustle Hard Entertainment.  He would eventually obtain a record deal with Universal which would reach its untimely demise in 2007.  With his determination to succeed and to make something of himself he soon signed with Atlantic Records.

In his music, he is not afraid to portray who he really is.  On his official website, he is quoted to have said, "I don't want to scare the money away.", "But I'm not about to shy away from who I'am." 

Furthermore, Maino is not all about what he hears on the radio today.  In other words, he isn't about how the radio waves are dominated with songs by mostly Jay-Z, 50 Cent, & Kanye.  Rather, he wants "...what we hear on the radio..." to not "...be more of the same.  It'll be something new."  A song of his which describes just that is "Be Me" I've embedded it below if you would like to give it a look or listen or hey why not even both? Enjoy! 

Another favorite song of mine which opened me up to the world of Maino is titled, "All The Above" it is very inspirational in my opinion and is a great mood booster. 

You can find more on Maino at youdontknowit.yolasite.com/

Source

Radio Apps

With technologymsoaring more than ever, there are millions upon millions of apps to chose from.  Some of these apps pertain to the music genre.  Some of the best apps in my opinion which I've come across are iHeart Radio, TuneIn Radio, Radio Disney, Pandora, Sirius XM, Public Radio,  Espn, and the Radio.com app.  There are also separate radio stations for different areas around the world such as a Persian station as well as a station for citizens who reside in the Minnesota area.  Basically any type of music or possibly type of sound you can think of there is an app for that.  For example, on TuneIn Radio I came across a UK radio station dedicated to just the sounds of birds chirping.  I definitely recommend this station if you wish for there to be warmer weather or you are having an extremely difficult time getting out to a park...or tropical rainforest. Also on this app, you can not only search for radio stations nation wide, but rather worldwide.  You can listen to basically any countries' radio station such as Africa, Italy, Egypt, Nigeria, Sudan.  Really you can search for a specific continent and search different areas of that land for whatever stations they may have...heck there is even a station for Antartica.  Their music sounds like mellow folk music, quite interesting I must say.  My top favorite apps out of the ones I have listed previously are: iHeart Radio, Radio Disney, and TuneIn Radio.

Furthermore with apps such as this, you can easily get a taste of cultures from around the world.  They are simply amazing and they take listeners one step further.  It brings the sounds of other worlds to the palm of your hand. 

Why Myspace Isn't As Cracked Up As It Used To Be...

Okay, I know I'm just reiterating what was already said in my video which is posted below, but what was up with the whole My________ at the upper left hand corner when you sign in. And the homepage is everything tv/music related.  My friends are mostly musicians. Those who I've known personally have not signed in for ages.  Musicians and other people use the site for marketing their businesses/music.

There are quite a few advertisements, on my actual page it mentions Zoodu which is a way to "Pimp Your Profile" which is very time consuming for someone like me.  Also my comment board is a little askew due to a long message someone left me, so now my page looks wack. Also myspace I feel has lost some of it's originality, due to advertising and spanning across different topics of interest, also it kind of copies twitter with the idea of what's trending, and that of facebook with what is your current status area. So yeah, that is why I think Myspace isn't as cracked up as it used to be when it first came about.

While on the subject there quite a few details with typing on here that I would change lol but I won't get into that now.  =)


Here is my video:

Myspace Isn't As Cracked Up As It Used To Be...

V.V Brown

A UK native who has a very very unique sound to her music.  In an interview of hers, she labels her music as alternative pop music with a bit of retro style mixed into it, and on her facebook page her music is described as soul, indie, R&B, and pop type music.

I first heard about Brown from her song Shark in the Water which was background music for a commercial for the show Degrassi.  In the summer of 2010, I went to a Maroon 5 concert, and I was not sure who his opening act was but then I recognized the last song she played and it was Shark in the Water. It is really a catchy song that it cannot be forgotten in my opinion.  Click the link below to view the video for Shark in the Water.

Shark in the Water


She wanted to be a musician when she was 5.  She started her music life on her mom's piano.  And from there she has created songs about life experiences in her debut album "Traveling Like The Light". 

Originally V.V was very popular in the UK but she wanted to come to America to spread out her music.  Since she came here she has been having a tough time getting her music and name known. But I don't see how that is possible what with her different music style.  Her music definitely portrays the retro aspect because some parts can sound like they are part of 70's type music, or some sound of that nature.  In that same interview mentioned earlier, when asked what type of music she's experimented with V.V said she's ventured into 50's, punk, reggae, really a bit of everything.  To give you the reader a feel for what I mean by her having a retro side take a look/listen at this next song of hers:

Not only does her song have a sense of 50's to it, but also her style is that of that same era, clothing and a little bit hairwise in my opinion. This last song also has a monster mash sound to it as well.

Rooney

An American Rock band from Los Angeles, California who have toured with The Strokes, Weezer, The Sounds, Keane, The Donnas, Travis as well as many others.

The band members consist of Robert Schwartzman (lead Singer), Taylor Locke, Ned Brower, Louie Stephens and another band member whose name, for some odd reason was not listed & which I also had trouble finding.



Robert Schwartzman's name may or may not sound familiar to you; however, he is the brother of Jason Schwartzman.  Jason has acted in films such as Scott Pilgrim vs. The World, Rushmore, I <3 Huckabees and Funny People just to name a few. 

 Jason Schwartzman

Robert may also look familiar.  That is, if you have seen The Princess Diaries being he played Princess Mia's love interest, Michael in the movie.

The Carter Twins

According to the show Manswers: the music that is the most likely to cause suicide is..Country music.  So in light of that..how about the Carter Twins?  To be honest their music is not depressing at all, it is rather very upbeat, and sweet in my opinion I have not heard anything similar to their sound in the Country Music Industry..as far as I know.


To give you a taste of their music please click the song titles below to check out

 
"Heart Like Memphis" & "So What"


The Carter Twins who are originally from Akron, Ohio, moved to Nashville, Tennessee, & became more known sometime in 2008.

When they were younger they always had a musical influence from their mother who worked in country radio.  They eventually became involved with CMT & Meteor 17.  Their first single was "Hearts Like Memphis".  Unfortunately, they had to part with CMT in September of 2009.  As a result they have never released their self-titled debut album; however, you can find downloads of a few of their songs on Amazon.  For the time being they have been doing cover songs of artists such as Train ("Marry Me"), Taylor Swift ("Mine"), Justin Bieber ("Pray" & "Somebody to Love"), The Script ("Break Even"), & Tom Petty ("Free Fallin'"):

Here are some of their cover videos you may be interested in viewing.  Have fun! & don't let the country music bring ya down =P

Carter Twins' Cover of "Break Even" by The Script:

                                                                           

Carter Twins' Cover of "Free Fallin'" by Tom Petty:

Sarah Solovay

A young and inspiring artist from New York, NY, who has been on the scene for a few years now.  "Hearts Collide" one of her singles, has been featured on the soundtrack of 90210 released in 2009. "You'll Never Know" (posted below) was featured on the MTV show I Used to Be Fat". Sarah Solovay as a music artist has also been a contestant in Radio Disney's Next Big Thing (N.B.T) contest; although she did not win, this was still a great way for her to be heard by many.

  

Sarah Solovay: "You'll Never Know"

                     

Background: Sarah began to play guitar when she was six years old, and at age nine she began to write lyrics to those songs. She currently attends high school in New York City. & she is involved in many types of art related extra curricular activity such as drawing, ceremics, painting, and taking black & white photos.

Her influences (as stated on Radio Disney's bio site for Sarah ) are Nirvana, Alannis Morrisette, The Beatles, Bob Dylan, and Madonna.  According to her facebook she is also influecnced by The Who & Led Zepplin just to name a few more. (Source)

As far as concerts go, she has put on small shows at places around New York City. Back in January she was performed  at Joe's Pub (that was I believe her second time performing there), before that she had opened for both John Mayer and Train, on Mayer's Battle Studies tour.

For her song "Gone" she has won The 2008 Young New York Songwriter Circle Award.  (Source)

Personality wise (although I have never met her personally, just basing this off of Her Facebook Page, and her songs) she seems like a really down to earth, witty, kind & funny person.  

So ok guys, I hope that I've given you all a great idea about this artist. I truly believe she is a musician to definitely check out...I dare you if you haven't already.

Lights

A few of you may have heard about the band, Lights.  This band is originally from Canada; the first album to be released was The Listening. The band consists of one lead female singer, Valerie Anne Poxleitner.  However according to wikipedia, she changed her legal name to Lights Poxleitner.  (Although as we all have come to find, validity is still unknown when it comes to wiki).

Lights brings about a type of sound that is uncommon (to me at least) in the music world today; electric pop, or as it is also called on Lights' official website (http://www.iamlights.com/about) " Intergalactic-Electro music".  Also, on a random note Lights' voice has a Cyndi Lauper-esque type sound or pitch to it. 

In her music, she tries to incorporate sounds which sound as if they might come from outer space, such as from "Saturn's rings or a meteor belt."  This last quote is what sparked my interest to check out her music further.

Her music alone is not only art, but her music videos are also artsy; what with her videos portraying cartoon/live fantasy type themes in some. To give you guys a sample of Lights' music, here is the music video of her first single "Saviour".

A few of her other songs "Lions" and "Face Up" I find are uplifting, and to me this is one of the important qualities to music. Here is a video from Youtube for the audio of:

"Lions"

And here is "Face Up":