Sam's Top 20 of 2015 #1

#1 Entropy-Grimes Fet. Bleachers

So I'm just going to be really honest here I actually started composing this list at the end of March as more an unorganized Spotify play-list of tracks to kind of keep in mind whenever it came to be time to start writing up this list and in all honesty this was the very first song I saved to that list and since that day it hasn't left Number 1 and in all honesty the first time I heard this song I legitimately knew it was probably going to be the number 1 song of the year and here we are my number 1 pick of 2015 Enthropy by Grimes featuring Bleachers.

At it's core this song is nothing more than a 3 minute pop song lead by a very kind of tribal but steady percussion heavy beat that serves to kind of support Grimes light and airy vocals that are very VERY much the absolute blend of borderline diabetes sweet but also gruffy enough to give it's lyrics a bit of girth if not enhancing their kind of depressing tone of the lyrics and the midly heartbreaking expressions of, “Leave me Lonely,” which is kind of Grimes charm in a lot of ways.

What get's me is that this is actually the second time these acts have collaborated the first being one of Strange Desires more underrated cuts in the form of Take Me Away which Grimes kind of acted as the background note to Jack Antonoff and this song is almost like him deciding to take a back seat to her and instead he just acts as the producer.

There's something about this song for me that's difficult to really put into words because it has the most understated quality to it that you just feel like you're listening to the most special thing ever and ever since that first listen I just can't shake that feeling and no matter how many great songs I've heard this year and how many amazing shows I've seen this song just kind of can't be topped and even now looking back I legitimately can't think of another song I wanted to put at this spot and as such here we are my number 1 pick of 2015.

I hope you enjoyed reading this list as much as I enjoyed throwing it together if there was any songs you think I missed make sure to let me know either at my official Facebook page or even my own Twitter account but stay tuned because I may have an announcement come new years for the future of Sam's Song of the day but until then Happy Holiday's and enjoy the best song of 2015....

Charli? I guess her and Jack really do feel like Doing a tour....

You come across a variety of tunes when you jump around as many songs as I have and some times you wonder why in the hell any artist makes the decisions they do and recently I came across the fact that one Charli XCX and Bleachers are actually touring together which in all honesty doesn't surprise me at all considering Charli XCX's audience is a lot larger then Bleachers and the fact that Jack Antonoff has written music for the likes of Taylor Swift, Carley Rey Jepsen, and Christina Perri should make this fact even less of a surprise but even so you're a bit taken back.

With that in mind I'm oddly reminded of this tune she did that got a remix with Rita Ora providing some additional verses called Doing it that in all honesty is a dirty little pop song that takes one to many vocal cues and instruments that sound like a middle of the road Maria Carey tune from the 90's but there's a stupid kind of charm that like any song this chicks done leave you with something to giggle to when you're drunk as a skunk in winter.

Not sure if I'd even bother to see said show because of whatever odd choices of touring partners are made but even so there's still catchy tunes to be done and while none of this really has anything to do with one another that's kind of exactly how I felt when i saw that line up although i will say their opening act has a really catchy song to his credit that i may cover eventually.

Song of the Day 5/6/15

So have you ever heard a song so deliciously sweet that you just can't help but get some oddly satisfying warm fuzzies when you listen to it? Well that's what I've seemed to of come across with this newest cut from Bleachers and Grimes in the form of one Enthrapy.

Aside from a very interesting name this song is kind of pure bubblegum poppy glory in about every way from Grimes high pitched sweetly sang vocals to the kind of tribal march of a beat to it's very light lyrics this song just kind of makes things very floaty and adorable and after giving it a few weeks to kind of do it's thing I still find it to be a delightfully dreamy track.

Song of the Day 3/31/15

Enthropy-Grimes Fet. Bleachers

So if you listened to Strange Desires you’ll know that Grimes and Bleachers actually did a track on that album and it’s really quite a good track to but now they’ve decided to get together and have Grimes do the majority of the singing and what we seem to have here is a really sweet little pop tune that’s kind of tribal at parts but with some of the most dreamy verses I’ve heard from any female singer in a while.

This song’s really kind of adorable in a way and if there was any gripe against it I’d have to say that you really can’t hear any backing vocals from Bleachers so it’s like their credit isn’t even necessary but hey that’s irrelevant when the song is this delightfully dreamy.

Sam's Top 5 Love Songs: #3 somebody needs to wake me...

#3: Wake Me-Bleachers

A fairly new tune that I recall writing this list shortly after I gave their album a listen just before I got to see them for the first time this song in due time has managed to kind of stick around and maintain a sense of feeling kind of special really and when I think about it it’s kind of been there while I’ve been establishing a new venture which is kind of adorable but personal shenanigans aside there’s a lot to really say about this deeper cut.

What we have here is a case of a tune that’s a lot like your typical teenage romantic coming of age movie, tv show, or book in that it’s a very cute and kind of subtle sounding tune that showcases quite an exclamation of feelings that are carried by a very 80’s sounding light as air guitar line and kind of steady drum beat that’s very dreamy as it is steady and carried by lyrics that are fairly straightforward and give me the vibe that I’m listening to something that should be playing in the make-out scene of a John Hughes movie.

It’s repetition of the phrase, “I can’t believe I captured your heart,” for me perfectly sums up just how it feels to get what you wanted in terms of being with that one that you care for and it’s followed by plenty of lines that are showcasing just how the singer knows that the feeling is truly genuine and the fact that its’ a tune that equally expresses the joys of feeling love and being in love along with having a slight nervousness in its singing that is kind of how it feels being with the one  before just erupting in a screaming exclamation before just kind of suddenly stopping.

Sam's Top 20 of 2014: #3

3. Bleachers-I Wanna get Better

SO I truly don’t like talking about my personal life on here for a variety of reasons mostly being that there are things that need not be discussed because they’re greatly personal but I have to say 2014 was a fairly shitty and heavy year for me people.

I went through a series of terrible events that lead to me having to make decisions in putting myself in places that I never thought I’d be in and I almost did things to myself that are quite crazy to think about and amongst it all I kind of lost interest in the things I love and have had to re-examine my whole path and one of the moments were something small hit me was actually the first time I heard this song.

Earlier this year I kind of had a mental breakdown of the worst kind and had to seek serious help and I remember being in a hospital for a small period of time and I recall on the day I left I’d woken up really early that day and was wandering around the hall and noticed another patient watching AMTV video block and the video for this song came on and I honestly ignored it completely as a random forgettable song.

The funny thing about that is as soon as I kind of got back to normal life and things just went to shit all over again I found this song would just randomly come up and I paid attention more to its title and the lyrics being sang and just one day something hit me that was the truest expression of it all…

“Woke Up this morning Early before my family, from this dream were she was trying to show me, how a life could move from the darkness she said to get better, So I put a bullet where I should of put a helmet, and I crashed my car ‘cause I wanna get carried away, that’s why I’m standing on the overpass screaming to myself, HEY I WANNA GET BETTER!”

That line was more true than anything ever should be and I honestly did almost that one grandly fucked up expression of calling for help because I know I need to get better and seeing them sing that live was a bit of an eye opener that didn’t hit me oddly enough but every time I hear that line I really do think to myself that it’s a little to true for its own good.

I almost did a bad thing people and I have to live one day at a time and while I really hate were things are at times and feel a victim of my own vices and semi dead on the inside there are little rays of hope amongst all the fucking bull shit that leave me to say I wanna get better and  this blog, my story I’ve been writing, and the support of my family are what I honestly have because after two fucking shitty ass roommates fucking me over, kind of learning the hard way that friendship isn’t shit, and having the worst and lowest points of my life I guess that’s all I can really say….

Happy Friday Folks

So apparently VH1 did some Live showcasing of promising young talent they advertise during the morning hours and they decided to have Bleachers and the beautiful and talented Lauren Mayberry of CHVRCHES perform Fleetwood Macs Go Your Own Way and in all honesty the performance is very solid and they both could do some great things together just I'm not entirely sure if this was the proper venue because the sound volume is all off and muted and Mayberry's vocals are even more affected by the muted nature.

All complaints aside it's pretty freaking sweet to see these two artist together and maybe they can make an original piece that better suits them both vocally...

Here's a link to the website since they don't want to let me embed that stuff.

Song of the Day 9/30/14

Damn that anniversary post was a trip to type up people with all my cursing, bitching, and calling people out it's kind of crazy to think about but I digress because I might as well try to get some of these posted while I'm not so depressingly bitchy.

I've been on a steady diet of getting my life in order and listening to a boat load of either funky kind of electronic heavy tunes with female leads or all the punk rock my little black hole of a heart can take but last night I had the oddest desire to blast a kind of semi obscure tune courtesy of one Bleachers called "Wake Me," which in all honesty is one of the loveliest tunes I've heard in quite some time.

This song is kind of like an 80's teenage romance flick with it's heavy synthesizers and very dreamy vocals that kind of fade off in a chorus that's light and to the point it's a special sounding number that seems like the moment of spark and interest between two lovers looking to prove just how special they are to one another. Really this song kind of brings in the feels for me and it's kind of odd because I don't really much care for anyone at this very moment, but hey that's irrelevant when a songs that good...

Friday's Finest

So I didn't post yesterday for a variety of reasons mostly pertaining to the fact that I wasn't really in too much of a mood to write about a thorwback to a day that's one of the more important events to ever occur in my lifetime and out of the fact that it's difficult at times to come up with the right words to say so I instead decided to not say anything and for today it's still rather gloomy and cold outside so I kind of couldn't come up with too much for today.

Now it's Friday and that of course means it's time for Friday's Finest, but rather then writing about the normal 5 tunes I do instead I decided to only cover 4 because that's all I could come up with and also today I figured I'd write about a batch of songs that my local alternative station decided to post about being put into their rotation and give my two cents so let's quit bullshitting and get to the tunes...

1. Up We Go-Lights

So here we have a very electro-pop cut that in all honesty isn't anything original compared to the fact that a decent amount of these female fronted electronic tunes with large chorus' and sugary beats have been quite a thing recently on all radio mediums and while this Lights chick is pretty fucking hot I don't honestly see too many reasons to give this band much a look  beyond this one decently catchy number that's not a bad song per say it's just kind of generic in comparison to everything else..

2. Rollercoaster-Bleachers

Probably one of the reasons I feel so fondly of this group an excellent kind of swirling indie rock number that has a larger then life Sam's Town-era killers feel to it and I love it and can't wait to hopefully hear this quite a bit.

3. The Righteous One-The Orwells

This song sounds like some seriously old school grungy rocker people with the lowest production, the dirtiest guitars, and of course vocals that are very reminiscent of the early 90's with a slightly groovy kind of psychedelic movement to it that's also reminiscent of the doors at times so overall I can dig it and probably will grow fonder.

4. High-Young Rising Sons

So to round this out we have a very poppy kind of indie number by Young Rising Sons who like the first act covered aren't anything super original compared to what else I'm hearing on alternative radio atm but judging by the amount of comments that were positive I have a feeling this song will do it's thing and be something if not a one hit wonder.

So there's some new music for you guy's to go and listen to and here's the playlist so you can actually listen to them...

Song of the Day 8/26/14

So like I said in Friday's Finest I got to go see Bleachers this past weekend and it was a very fun little show that had a load of energy and gave me a sense of that this band might be something after they find more of a groove to their tunes, and amongst the gems of their set I kind of recall one in particular called, "Wake Me."

It's a very kind of dreamy little cut that sounds primed to be in a teenage coming of age kind of romantic comedy with a refrain of, "I can't believe I captured your heart," it's like finally getting to be with your crush and trying to come up with the right words to tell them what you think, a very kind of dreamy joy filled tune that's really just as sweet as it is catchy and one of the more standout tracks on a solid debut album...