MGMT — “Alien Days”
MGMT unleashes their new single entitled “Alien Days.” The psychedelic track takes on a unique sound with a child’s voice opening up the ballad. The lead singer then comes in over an acoustic guitar, a drum beat, and some synth play later in “Alien Days.” The mellow offering from MGMT may be a new direction for the band, but the track still keeps me interested in MGMT’s forthcoming album. I’m about to go back and listen to Congratulations after hearing “Alien Days.” Stream MGMT’s new single below.
MGMT - Alien Days
Music Video: Cris Cab – “Heaven”
Cris Cab let go the official visual to his latest single, “Heaven.” “Heaven” will be featured on Cris Cab’s upcoming mixtape Red Road due out April 1st. Heaven has a laid back vibe as do most of Cris Cab’s tracks and features an acoustic guitar, some trippy synths, and great vocals by the up & comer. Cris Cab definitely knows how to make feel good music. His reggae influence vocals work well over the chill instrumental. Watch the music video and download “Heaven” below.
Frank Ocean – “Eyes Like Sky”
A previously unreleased track from Frank Ocean sprung a leak today. “Eyes Like Sky” was supposedly recorded back during the Channel Orange sessions. The instrumental is backed by a guitar and some drums. The laid back track highlights Frank Ocean’s vocal range and it does not disappoint. Stream “Eyes Like Sky” below. Spotted on Rap-Up.
Frank Ocean - Eyes Like Sky
Amelia – Don’t You Worry Child (SHM Cover)
Singer, actress, and high school student, Amelia Scaramucci covered the ever so popular radio hit “Don’t You Worry Child.” Amelia sings the chorus and short verse over a laid back piano and guitar instrumental thus highlighting her vocal range. Her remake of the the platinum single is refreshing and most definitely a good effort. Overall, her vocals are very impressive. Amelia used her canon camera to capture the visual and recorded the song with a Yeti mic in garageband. She then put together the video simply through iMovie proving that you don’t need a professional application to showcase your talent. It was the first time she had done something like this so it is not perfect. Hopefully this is the first of many song releases from the talented young artist.
Up & Coming: Old Best Friend
I first heard Old Best Friend a couple of days ago when I saw Mike Comite open up for Company of Thieves and Von Grey at Highline Ballroom. Comite is originally from Boston, and is now living in Brooklyn just writing and performing music. Old Best Friend performed an amazing and memorable set, to the point that he was the artist I was most excited to meet after the show. His music was so interesting to me because even at an acoustic show, I couldn’t figure out exactly what rock sub-genre it fits in. Comite opens his Keep In Touch EP with the words “I could’ve swore I killed a man last night…”; the song (“Things That Happen”) soon builds into an catchy organ-heavy rock track. “Fire” starts off very folksy, but then the electric guitar breaks in and ends the song with a punk-rock feel. “Most Of Me” is a beautiful lyrical ballad, and the 4th track honestly feels like indie-rock meets 1970′s classic rock. The last song “Lines I Lift” is catchy as all hell and might be my favorite track, but its too hard on 5 track EP with no weak songs. I highly urge everyone to check out this EP and if you like it, buy it to help support good music. Also help support Old Best Friend by liking their Facebook page.
Tayyib Ali & Cisco Adler — “California In The Winter” (Remix)
Cisco Adler and Tayyib Ali are dropping a new EP titled One Way soon. The collaborators released a remix to Cisco’s laid back track “California In The Winter.” Tayyib lends a hand by spitting a solid verse. Listen to the track above and look out for the EP in the near future.
Zedd, Foxes & Alvin Risk — “Clarity” (Live On Letterman)
Zedd performed his hit single “Clarity” on national tv last night alongside Foxes, Alvin Risk and a six piece string section. We just heard the acoustic version a few weeks ago, so it was a treat to see Zedd perform “Clarity” live on David Letterman. Zedd took on the piano while Foxes lead the main vocals and Risk provided some backing vocals. Zedd truly showed how gifted of a musician he is with this performance. Big moment for EDM. Check out Zedd’s debut album Clarity here if you haven’t done so already.
Mike Posner ft. King Chip – “Back Home”
Mike Posner released this new acoustic piano gem featuring King Chip (formerly known as Chip Tha Ripper). “Back Home” is a very fitting track for the current holiday season. Check it out below.
Zedd ft. Foxes – ‘Clarity’ (Acoustic Version)
Foxes delivers the vocals while Zedd takes on the piano in the acoustic version of “Clarity.” The electro-house tune is turned into a relaxing, uplifting track through the inclusion of the piano and Foxes beautiful vocals. Never thought I’d see the day when Zedd would be promoting Beats by Dre headphones. Gotta make that money. Check out Aylen’s killer remix to the original here and read YGM’s review on Zedd’s classic album Clarity here. Enjoy!
Indie Bands You Should Know: Kevin Devine
Technically, Kevin Devine is not an indie band so much as a singer-songwriter. You’re all gonna have to forgive me though, seeing as the segment is called “Indie Bands You Should Know.” I first heard of Kevin Devine as a member of Bad Books, an indie supergroup that he is a member of along with Andy Hull of Manchester Orchestra. So one day, I decided to search his name on YouTube and see what popped up. I listened to the song “Cotton Crush” (where Jesse Lacey sings backing vocals) and was astounded at how brilliantly Kevin was able to combine acoustic songwriting with the noise of punk-rock. I listened to more of his music and discovered that I had actually stumbled across one of my favorite artists in a long time. Check out some of his best songs below.
Cotton Crush
Just Stay
Ballgame
