All posts in: Music Spotlight

18 Oct 2011

Music Spotlight: States

I am so excited to announce to all of you that States’ debut album, “Room to Run,” has finally been released today! I’ve been following the band from the very beginning and was thrilled to hear when this band would be starting up. Mindy White is known for her vocals in Lydia back in the day while Stephen and Bryan Laurenson are former band members of Copeland. The trio have been hard at work on this project first releasing their “Line ‘Em Up” EP about a year ago. Yesterday, AOL unveiled the new album for a special preview of all the songs and I must’ve run through the entire thing at least five times. It is incredible to see the final product of this album and I urge all of you to give it a listen here. It is also available on both iTunes and Spotify. I don’t even need to bother listing off all of the tracks that I love because they are all my favorites. Trust. The band is in New York this week performing at the CMJ Music Festival and Marathon

03 Oct 2011

Music Spotlight: Taylor Bolibol

I rarely talk about the things that I am directly involved in on this blog, but I thought that I would make an exception for a project that has become pretty important to me. For the last four months, I have been working with a local and talented musician named Taylor Bolibol. I am used to working more closely with venues, but this time, I wanted to take the opportunity to work with an artist. Not only has it been an eye-opening experience for me as I learn how difficult it is from a different perspective, but it has been the most rewarding project I have ever done. It is extremely cool to see Taylor grow and develop as an artist and with every gig and opportunity, we become more and more excited for her future. I was planning on holding off this actual intro post until her album came out, but I thought I would give you a little bit of a sample beforehand and make another announcement when the album is released, which we hope will be soon!

Last night Taylor played a show over in West Seattle and we recorded several of our performances, but we thought her cover of “Moves Like Jagger” was fun so here it is!

To listen to Taylor’s original songs, visit her Facebook page here. If you like what you hear, go ahead and “like it!” Thank you in advance for all of your support!

[youtube=http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=NszliOhpIiY]

[photo cred: Andrew Uvari]

20 Sep 2011

Music Spotlight // Song of the Day: Demi Lovato

I was introduced to Demi Lovato as both an actress and a singer at the same time when I came across the Disney short series, As the Bell Rings, a few years back. One of her first albums “Here We Go Again” was the soundtrack to my summer just two years ago and even though I was older than the Disney stars then, I was still a fan of hers. If you think about it, it’s no different than girls I know who are Beliebers.

[youtube=http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=HvFR9LaQ3Us&feature=related]

18 Aug 2011

Music Spotlight: Clara C

[youtube=http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=yKLm95iZ11Q]

Good morning readers! It looks like today is going to be somewhat of a music-themed day – not that I have any problem with that at all. My brother’s gonna be upsest with me once he sees this post because apparently he’s been telling me about Clara C for months now (so he claims) and now I’m jumping on the bandwagon a little too late. Whatever bro – these things take time alright? I can’t explain why I have to discover new music on my own, but I just do.

First off, can we talk about how sweet this stop-motion video is?! How cute! Secondly, I heard about Clara C earlier in the week when I was hunting down new music at thesixtyone, which is a type of music streaming site similar to my favorite We Are Hunted. I heard one song – Groovesharked the rest of the album and now it is all I listen to. Hopefully you’ll all love it as much as I do. If you have the time, you should also check out her AMAZING covers on her YouTube channel here!

28 Jun 2011

Music Spotlight: Oh Land

I caved in. I watched Teen Wolf last night on MTV and while I was watching, they just happened to feature one of my new favorite bands, Oh Land. While we’re on the honesty trail though, I guess I should admit that I’ve actually been watching Teen Wolf for a few weeks now…yeah. Anyways, Oh Land’s Nanna Øland Fabricius has a voice that grabs ahold of your attention and lures you in until you’ve gone through the whole album. We’ve all listened to CD’s in the past that we have decided in the end are made up of similar songs, but Oh Land’s self-titled album is nowhere near that. The first song that I listened to off the album initially after getting it was “Lean” and that song is entirely opposite of my favorite “White Nights,” and electronic tune “Voodoo.” Fabricius has the ability to produce songs that are eerie, sassy, and whimsical. That doesn’t mean that she is inconsistent, it simply means that the girl has range. I made Oh Land’s “Son of a Gun” the Song of the Day back in late Dec of 2010 and nearly seven months later, Fabricius is still dominating. She’s not going anywhere anytime soon so you might as well jump on the bandwagon now.

Favorite songs:

Lean
Son of a Gun
White Nights
Human
Voodoo
Break the Chain
Perfection
Rainbow
We Turn It Up
Wolf And I

Oh yeah the whole album is great.

22 Jun 2011

I have talented friends

[youtube=http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=WHF_6NPF6dA&feature=related]

Yow Yow! has been such a wonderful outlet for me throughout my college career. It has allowed me to share bits of the world with the friends in my life and it has connected me to some amazing people that are doing pretty incredible stuff in their own lives. For a little over two and a half years, I have shared with you my own experiences attending college and living in the city, but these days, I want to spend less time talking about me and more time telling you about all of the wonderful people in my life.

Back in January, I discovered that my friend Philina had been recording some of her original songs in her YouTube videos. When I first met her four years ago, she was a fashionista, a comedian, and an artist who would later on become one of the sources of my inspiration. I mean, what couldn’t this girl do, right? Little did I know, she was bursting with a voice that could melt hearts (and faces? no not faces.) Philina just recorded a new video today and I cannot stop replaying the video. Play the video – show your friends and give her some love everyone!!

13 Jun 2011

Music Spotlight: Lemolo

This music spotlight is actually a little overdue because I have been listening to Lemolo on repeat for the past month or so! If you’ve got a great memory, then you might remember that I featured these lovely ladies back in February as the Song of the Day. Since then, Lemolo has been making headlines left and right and earning spots on this year’s Bumbershoot and Doe Bay Fest lineup! While I won’t be able to see them perform at Doe Bay, I am very much looking forward to their set at Bumbershoot near the end of the summer! I was also surprised to learn that Miss Melodie Knight of Campfire OK is their booking agent as well. That band can do no wrong…therefore…neither can Lemolo! I can’t wait to get their full length. For now, you can listen to their two songs on repeat like I do here.

06 Jun 2011

Andy Grammer

[Last post, I promise!]

Two years ago, I found myself on the 3rd Street Promenade in Santa Monica hoping to catch a performance from a Mr. John West. Instead, I was blown away by street performer Andy Grammer. It was the first time I’d ever heard his music, but he seemed to catch my attention for a whole set so I knew that was pretty special. I’m not sure if it’s the location of the promenade or what, but John and Andy have both done so well having performed there. I am so excited to announce the debut of Andy’s self-titled album today though! His album has been compared to Daniel Powter and is packed with inspiring and uplifting singles. I am thrilled to hear of this news and would like to wish Andy the best of luck (not that he needs it!) and a successful music career.

To stream the whole album for free, click here!

29 May 2011

Memorial Day Weekend Soundtrack

1. The Rocket Summer – Bryce Avary, His Instruments and Your Voices

Get it for free here

2. Cults (self-titled)

Stream it for free here

3. Death Cab For Cutie – Codes and Keys

Stream it for free here

4. Campfire OK – Strange Like We Are

5. The Head and the Heart (self-titled)

6. Foster the People – Torches

Stream it for free here

7. Minus the Bear – Hold Me Down EP

Get it for free here

Happy Sunday studying!

27 May 2011

A Look Back on Seattle U Shows

This past school year, I have had the wonderful privilege of working with some incredible musicians and bands at Seattle University. Within just one school year, they are already making headlines, putting out new albums, headlining tours, and have found themselves on the lineups of music festivals.

I feel so lucky to have had the opportunity to work with these eight very talented musicians and bands:

If there are any musicians and bands that you should be following from Seattle, it is them.

– My dearest friend Liz has relocated to the state of Colorado, but has been keeping busy with a string of shows. Please go out and support her because she is a wonderful and talented little lady. [Source]

– Kay Kay and His Weathered Underground will be releasing their album “Introducing” on July 26, 2011 from Suburban Home Records. The band will host CD release shows in both Portland and Seattle, June 11th and 12th respectively. [Source]

[youtube=http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=MBPTz4Z5XTI&feature=player_embedded]

– Almost immediately after my show with He Is We ended, the band hit the road to head East to begin their tour with The Rocket Summer. The band will be headlining their first tour beginning mid-June. Did I also mention that they will be performing at Bonnaroo 6/9 – 6/10? [Source]

– Two of my performers Robbie Christmas and Matt Bekker will actually be performing a show together tomorrow at the Crocodile Cafe! The show is 21+. My friend Matt Bekker also recently became a part of the Rocket Music Entertainment Group family, which is home to Elton John, James Blunt, Lily Allen, and Oh Land.

– Champagne Champagne will be releasing a new album this summer and will be performing at the 2011 Capitol Hill Block Party, Bumbershoot Music Festival, and Doe Bay Fest!

[vimeo http://vimeo.com/21446029]

– I am so excited to be working with Campfire OK for my last show of the year. This year, the band was voted by City Arts Magazine as one of the best new bands of 2011 and this summer, you will be able to catch the rustic-sounding band at both Capitol Hill Block Party, Bumbershoot and Doe Bay Fest! I would say that this band is going to be in a completely different place in the next year, but I know that things for them are moving fast and that the change will most likely occur within the next few months. Their CD “Strange Like We Are” is definitely one of my favorites from the year. Expect to see them on the bill for various music festivals next year because that’s probably where they will be.