Required listening: Ultra Nate’s ‘Hero Worship’

ultra-nate

The dance genre is a particularly fickle one; careers aren’t made often, and even when they are, many people are more familiar with the songs than the artists behind them. To a certain degree it’s always been a bit of a faceless medium, with producers driving multiple “groups” under different names, fronted by different singers.  Sometimes singers record with different groups.  It’s a somewhat incestuous beast, making it all the more remarkable when a career develops. As such, Ultra Nate’s story is pretty amazing. Continue reading

Music in commercials: Selling out or amazing promotion?

cash-in-hand

While culling through YouTube, prepping some of the final Christmas Present entries, a Sony VAIO ad queued up ahead of a video.  As the music kicked up, I became intrigued, curious to know who the artist behind the track could be. Continue reading

Jesse McCartney returns ‘In Technicolor’

jesse-mccartney

Jesse McCartney is one of those artists that routinely is a pleasant surprise to trip across. Having his genesis as part of team pop group Dream Street, he was never really on my radar, yet every so often he’d pop out with an infectious pop single that’s impossible to ignore. Continue reading

Mission Zero tackles Lorde’s ‘Royals’

Mission Zero is back, this time with a cover of Lorde’s “Royals,” which takes a Joe Cocker piano riff and melds it on the recent hit to great effect.  The music video maintains the fun of their other recent videos.  This time, the song is available through Bandcamp, and you can either download it for free or make a donation for the purchase, allowing you to support the band if you choose. Continue reading

Music other people like: Lily Allen’s ‘Hard Out Here’

My friend Nick over at The Littlest Winslow is many times on top of things before it’s even on my radar, and the latest Lily Allen release, “Hard Out Here” is no exception. (Warning: Video’s NSFW.) Continue reading

Required listening: Aqua’s ‘Halloween’

At some point I need to get around to writing about Aqua.  Moreso than many dance-centric artists of the late ’90s and early 2000s, they managed to spin a novelty hit into something consistently entertaining, surprising and high-quality for a pair of albums. They recently attempted a comeback, but a good chunk of the public isn’t familiar with some of their strongest work. Continue reading

Required listening: Kate Earl

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=VIHon-HS0uI

Back when I saw Andrew McMahon in April, his opening act was Kate Earl.  She was touring with a set of music from her 2012 release, “Stronger,” which I at the time thought, given it was the only disc on sale, that she was a relatively new act on the scene. I enjoyed the live performance, and I picked up the album, which has been pulled out quite a bit since then. Continue reading