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:

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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/

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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.