Sam's Top 10 of 2017 #6

6.Everybody Knows-Kimbra

OK before I talk about the mind blowing quality of this track I need to get it out of my system that my biggest musical crush is fucking back with new music and to say I'm a giddy little fuck is an understatement because she's still as relentlessly talented as she is maybe as the late great Prince said, “the most beautiful girl in the world,” and the video to this song left me literally wide eyed, breathless, and I just couldn't look away at the majesty of beauty being presented before me.

Alright now that I got that out of my system Everybody Knows it's a fucking excellent little danceable indie pop number that's yet another showcasing of an artist that just loves to blur the line between electronica and funk by mixing insainly catchy beats that's just captivate you as a listener and send you on a trip that'll leave you convulsing in such a way that you don't know why but you can't help but want to move and groove about relentlessly and that's before her just utterly beautiful vocals just come in and prove why she's the most captivating artist of her time for me she's an otherworldly creature of talent that just leaves me speechless, gitty, and blown away every time she continues to make music that's truly showcasing that she's an artist only looking to do what she wants and not what you think you want her to do.

This song almost didn't make the list in all honesty but one day after having it just in my head here and there I sat down and listened to it and that entire long winded paragraph happened and I knew that it'd be utter sacrilege to not include this utterly breathtaking track and if you haven't given this artist a chance you need to change your tune because she's something special people and this world needs to recognize that already she's maybe grown more than anyone could have ever thought 5 years ago and it's only a matter of time before you realize that people.

Sam's Top 20 of 2016: #15

15.BROTHER-Mobbin

I remember the first time I heard this track it was when I saw that they were opening for X-Ambassadors on St. Patrick's day and I wanted to get an idea of what to expect and this was the only song they had available for listening and whenever I got to see them I was a little too drunk to properly remember it which in all honesty is kind of funny when I think about it in retrospect but I guess that's kind of irrelevant here.

Fast forward to all of a few weeks later and quite a bit more sober I saw these guy's open this years Homegrown Buzz Showcase and I was impressed that this group that's a bit like Kansas City's 1975 put on one bad ass show so of course I made sure to follow them on the social medias and give a few more shows a viewing an over time they've really managed to grow and make some damn good songs that could help take them away from that local band that sounds like the 1975 title.

Now while I was really tempted to put their incredibly bad ass jam, “Rolling Thunder,” this songs success on the buzz has been pretty impressive and even now months later while yes it's a bit too much like the 1975 it's still a solidly catchy tune that still is really quite good and a great introduction to a band that can potentially go on to do some great stuff and I fully expect them to do so.

Sam's Top 20 of 2015 #19

#19 Jealousy-Robert DeLong

Holy shit this song is just pure energetic awesomeness from one of the more surprising and awesomely danceable shows I've been to this year and yet another solid cut from a guy that's been really shaping himself up as a formitable musical act over the past few years.

This song is just a very dance heavy number that'll leave bodies moving and grooving in every good way you could possibly want and one of those instantaneously great tunes that I heard once and just couldn't forget.

Song of the Day 9/1/15

So I was going through my local radio stations back catalogue of songs played trying to find a pretty awesome song and I’m reminded of the excess of newer music that’s come out that’s been pretty good and I figure I may as well tell you guy’s about a few of these cuts since I don’t often post much these days and they seem pretty worthwhile.

Ghost-Halsey

So I was reading a Buzzfeed article a while back that was saying things that teens think are cool these days and amongst the many disappointments of chokers and high wasted shorts one of the things mentioned was this electro-pop artist Halsey who in all honesty upon giving a few of her tunes a listen is kind of what would happen if Ellie Gouldine and Lorde did the fusion dance and that is hella showcased in this very catchy but kind of, “Tennis Court,” sounding number from her newest album.

This song is really solid and I do actually have some enjoyment listening to it but I’m pretty sure that has to do with it’s fairly rapid fire pace and short run time which doesn’t stretch on more the it needs to also I noticed that it along with a few other songs that I’ve given a listen seem to have some fairly lush and well mixed production that gives the songs a very quality sound even if I’m kind of not to honestly impressed by her as a whole but hey she’s the next big thing apparently and I can see her having a good few years ahead of her.

Sam Reiews an album: Cry Baby-Melanie Martinez

You know going on a hiatus is a terrible idea and I'd highly advise never doing it because even though I've been to a shit load of shows over the past 2 months I've been very much dead in terms of actual creative writing and it's been extra difficult to REALLY be motivated to tell you guy's just how awesome it is to see so many different bands and what not but today seems kind of interesting because not only is Straight Out of Compton out but one Melanie Martinez has released her full length studio debut album Cry Baby and to my excitement I've been giving it a proper listen and well i have a few things to say in a fairly compact matter so let's quit fucking around and do yet another Sam Reviews an album....

So Cry Baby it's a 13 song story of a little girl who's parents are alcoholics who cheat on each other and fuck up her life by distorting her moral compass and making her proceed to both murder and act in a mischievous manor and beyond that story there's not much else in this album besides a shit load of clever word play and some interestingly twisted things over what's very childish instrumentals that add to Martinez's twisted nature and give the album a kind of disturbingly wholesome feel.

In all honesty this album has about 6 killer tracks and the rest just kind of feel more in place to sound catchy and carry along a certain feel to it's aesthetic and story which isn't bad at all especially when some of them are performed live and kind of take a life of their own like the opening track Cry Baby which on here is a kind of tame number with one of the best uses of the word fuck in the whole album which completely changes around and becomes a viciously awesome number in a live environment which was my biggest disappointment when it came to this album but that disappointment is quickly set aside when you reach tracks like Dollhouse and Pity Party which just kind of have a really manic vibe that leads you to just kind of want to freak out along with her and really help hype the story being told.

There's also instances of slower songs really working like Soap which is a kind of dreamy number that musically does a good job of being kind of calming but with a really moveable beat and a chorus that kind of sticks along even if the rest of it is fairly typical stuff, and beyond that the rest of the album tracks don't have any super stand out tracks that are that good or bad for that matter so what I'm stuck with is more a solidly good album that leaves me wanting to listen to it more and seeing just how it develops over time.

Score: 6.5/10

Hits: Pity Party, Soap, Dollhouse

Misses: Cry Baby, Alphabet Boy

Song of the Day 4/1/15

Lifted Up(1985)-Passion Pit

So I’ll be the first to admit that Passion Pit is spotty at best for me because while they’re responsible for some delightfully catchy electro pop numbers the vocals can severely drag and only a couple of songs really seemed to have managed to just kind of stick with me as something I can still stand to listen to and this song and it’s oddly well represented year is one of those tunes that for some reason or another is just to fucking good for what it is.

So this in all honesty is the most synth poppy 80’s new wave sounding track I’ve possibly heard from this band and in all honesty it kind of makes me wonder why they just didn’t take to making pop records any sooner because this songs sugary sweet beats along with a chorus that just demands everyone jump along to just screams the best movie trailer, summertime radio anthem, or hell just a great tune to play in between sets or at bars because it’s just damn fun music in every way.

Although i have to ask in regards to the video who in the hell would ever mosh at a passion pit show?

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.

Song of the Day 3/13/15

Talking body-Tove Lo

You know I recall being really into Habits but never actually bothering to check out this chicks other material and last night as I was song hopping all over Spotify I managed to come across this tune and it's surprisingly poppy as fuck which took me back for just a second really because even though it's very much tailored for top 40 it's still a damn catchy tune really.

Lyrically it's about as subtle as Habits which is absolutely not at all and it's themes of seeing a very attractive individual that you kind of extra want to fornicate with are close to Habit's and even this card manages to have the uh-uh line along with a part near the end where the instruments drop and she does some weird semi-talking section.

Yeah this tunes catchy if not kind of nothing super spectacular but I have had it stuck in my head since last night so yeah...

Song of the Day 2/17/15

So before I get into anything I’d like to make note that my Sam’s Song of the Day Facebook Page has just recently blown up thanks to some help from a pretty cool dude that I met at that VD show and would like to take 30 seconds to point out to his page here on this blog as a sign of appreciation…

Andy Riley Fan Page

Now all thanks aside it’s time for today’s selection which is something that came to mind because this past weekend the much anticipated 50 Shades of Grey movie came out and while I express absolutely no interest in ever seeing it, reading the books, or S&M it’s soundtracks pretty damn baller and while I’ve already covered the Weekends smooth ass contribution I also recently have been giving the Ellie Goulding contribution, “Love Me Like You Do,” a pretty decent listen and I have to admit it’s a pretty solidly good tune that’s grown on me more then I’d ever anticipate really.

It’s a very poppy synth heavy number with an infectiously catchy chorus that kind of draws you close to some semi softly sang verses that aren’t so explicitly dirty that the song doesn’t have appeal beyond the audience it’s book intends on appealing to which is a really good quality.

Sam's Top 5 Love Songs: #4 Digital but very lovely...

 #4: Digital Love-Daft Punk

Robots apparently have emotion to people and if you needed proof of that little oddity let me direct you to this Discovery single.

It’s a light song that’s very spacey and maintains that kind of childlike innocence with a very playful approach and like a lot of Daft Punk tracks it’s rather disco tinged track that’s very repetitive lyrically but that doesn’t mask the exclamation in lines like, “You make this dream come true,” and how, “Last night I had this dream about you, in this dream I’m dancing right besides you, and it looked like everyone was having fun the kind of feeling I’ve waited so long,” it’s simplicity at the most romantically child like and innocent  is a good way to help its’ very dreamy vibes. 

It’s continues along at a fairly steady pace before blasting this very late 70’s kind of early 80’s pop guitar solo that’s just this bad ass fret tapping bit of awesome before leading  into the line, “why Don’t You play the game?”which  not only does that serve as kind of a pusher of sorts to motivate the listener to get those little nervous feelings we all have out of the way and go ask that crush out damnit but kind of leads to a resolve to the tune that while it’s over your chances aren’t and in turn you just need to get out and play this crazy little game called love.

When you really think about it that’s a lot to really say for a couple of soulless robots now isn’t it?