Recent Tuneage 7

Time for some music!

All songs were released this year unless stated.

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1. Welcome To Your Life by Grouplove

“You’re such a big mess / and I love you,” says this track from Grouplove. And sure enough, I love this despite being rough: the smooth and soft intro and verses coupled with near-scream/loud singing at 2:25 and 3:20 sure makes it not boring to listen to. Nice to headbang in those parts too, by the way.

2. Buckle by We Are Scientists

Haven’t heard anything from them since 2014, when they released their last album. And they sure didn’t disappoint when they came out with a new album earlier this year. This would be my favorite, reminiscent of their older sound. Plus the music video reminds me of the one for After Hours, in which one of them is in the “losing end”. Works out well in the end though.

3. Hole In My Soul by Kaiser Chiefs

If you listened to Kaiser Chief’s older tracks, then you’ll be in for a shock in this track from their latest album. Unlike Ruby and Never Miss A Beat, this one sounds like a love song that a typical male pop group would make–something that I normally wouldn’t like. I would’ve disliked it, if it weren’t for good lyrics and the rhythm that tries to say, “hey, rock music here”, even if it isn’t rock at all.

4. Hell No by Ingrid Michaelson

A quick search on Google revealed that Ingrid Michaelson isn’t really new to the music scene, but this song would be the first one I’ve heard from her. Not the first pop song that’s about being strong after a breakup (“Am I gonna miss you? / Hell no!”), but it does make cheer you up. Or channel that anger out. Either way, this track gave me a good first impression for the artist.

5. Starboy by The Weeknd feat. Daft Punk

Not really a fan of The Weeknd, but gave this one a listen after a friend recommended this one, not expecting to love this track. But no, I was proven wrong. This song sounds smooth and chill, perfect for some evenings in which you want to relax.

Must-Heards: If You Wanna Stay (The Griswolds, 2014)

Note: I initially thought that this was a new song, but apparently this was released last year. It’s just the band released the official music video a week ago, so I was confused by that.

So, I was looking for music on the Internet when I found this one. I’ve known of them since last year from their song ‘Right On Track‘ which, to be honest, didn’t impress me that much. I like it, but not enough for me to find it all the time in Youtube or put it in my music player.

But back to this track. First impression was good. It was upbeat, and made me happy just by listening to it. But when I looked up the lyrics of this one, I found this:

There’s this light upon my face
To tell me something’s about to change
Just another cold embrace
I’m talking like I did yesterday

And this:

If you wanna stay
I will never miss you while I’m away

I didn’t expect that something like this would be in this track. It reminds me of The Hardest Part by Coldplay, which some consider as the happiest breakup song, with sad verse infused in happy, celebratory music.

So, curious now? Listen to this track here:

Must-Heards: Glass Animals

In this first Must-Heards of 2015, I’m going to present a band from Oxford, England. They call themselves Glass Animals, consisting of Dave Bayley, Drew MacFarlane, Edmund Irwin-Singer and Joe Seaward. Last year, they released their debut album ZABA.

Their music sounds R&B mixed with electronic. They remind me of other slow pop tracks such as Darling by Wild At Heart, but not quite like it. There are times that their music sounds trippy, but most of the time, it will make you dance (or tap your foot or sway your head from side to side).

To know what I’m talking about, why not give these a listen?

Gooey

Black Mambo

Hazey

Pools

Must-Heards: The Black Keys Sampler

It’s been a long time since I last posted a Must-Heards for a band. In this edition, let me introduce to you The Black Keys. It’s a musical duo composed by Dan Auerbach (guitar, vocals) and Patrick Carney (drums). Their music is mostly blues rock (think Jack White and others) and for me, can sometimes be fun, intense, soft and in other times, all of the three.

Some of their music videos can be weird and awesome. One of which is for their 2010 song Next Girl which features girls in swimsuits fighting and a dinosaur puppet. All the while a ticker is dismissing the video as “not the official video” for the song (actually I find the ticker more interesting than the video itself).

So, if you’re unsure if you want to give them a listen, why not try these first?

Your Touch (2006)

Strange Times (2008)

Howlin’ for You (2011)

Lonely Boy (2011)

Fever (2014)

P.S. If you click on the phone number at the music video of Fever, it will lead you to a recording of the band making a prank call to their record label posing as Quartzazium, “A New Age artist from Rhode Island” with lots of giggling on the background.

 

Must-Heards: Hunger Of The Pine (Alt-J, 2014)

Here’s some new music for you guys. It’s from Alt-J, the one who brought you Breezeblocks, and they have a new album out this September called This Is All Yours. This song I’m featuring is from that album, and somewhat…haunting. It gives you the sense of being alone, longing for somebody.

And that what’s exactly this song is about. To quote from the NPR’s article about the song:

The song, which features a sample of Miley Cyrus singing “I’m a female rebel” from her song “4×4,” is, according to Gus Unger-Hamilton, “composed entirely of new and spontaneous ideas that arose during writing sessions for the second album. It was written very quickly using some guitar chords and sounds being layered on Ableton, and seemed to signal a bit of a new sound for us. The lyrics mainly suggest the idea that missing someone — pining — can be a physical pain much like hunger.”

And the song makes you feel that physical pain. Maybe I’m exaggerating here though.

So here it is. Let me know what you think of this song.

 

Must-Heards: Arctic Monkeys Sampler

In this edition, I’m going to feature Arctic Monkeys, another British band. I first heard them when they released their single When The Sun Goes Down off their first album, Whatever People Say I Am, That’s What I’m Not (quite a mouthful, I say).

Members of the band include Alex Turner (lead vocals), Jamie Cook (guitars), Matt Helders (drums) and Nick O’Malley (guitars and backing vocals). Their songs range from soothing (Cornerstone) to really loud yet awesome (Crying Lightning).

So, if you want to check out their music, make sure to give these a listen:

1. When The Sun Goes Down
2. I Bet You Look Good on the Dancefloor
3. Fluorescent Adolescent
4. Brick by Brick
5. Crying Lightning
6. Cornerstone
7. R U Mine?
8. Do I Wanna Know?

Must-Heards: A Keane Sampler

In this first edition of Must-Heards, I present to you Keane, a band from the UK. I’ve been listening to them since they released one of their well-known hits, Everybody’s Changing back in 2003.

Keane is composed of Tom Chaplin (vocals), Tim Rice-Oxley (keyboard), Richard Hughes (drums) and Jesse Quin (bass). Until the recent addition of Jesse, Keane was known as the “band without a guitar”. Their music is usually piano-driven though they’re experimenting with other instruments.

If you’re interested with trying out their music, make sure to listen to the following:

1. Everybody’s Changing
2. Bedshaped
3. Atlantic
4. Crystal Ball
5. The Lovers Are Losing
6. Again and Again
7. My Shadow
8. Looking Back
9. Stop For A Minute
10. Sea Fog
11. On The Road
12. Won’t Be Broken