After two days of grunge pop and indie punk, it’s time to slow things down with this mellower track from Kristian Montogomery and the Winterkill Band. Razor Wire Heart showcases Kristian’s husky and pleasant voice, delivering emotional and personal lyrics inspired by his tumultuous life journey, from heavy rock bands to world travels, marriage, divorce, and six months in jail. His heartfelt experiences shine through the chords of his guitar and the depth of his vocals.
This song is part of “Gravel Church,” an album that Kristian wrote upon his release from prison, marking his debut as Kristian Montgomery and the Winterkill Band. It’s a diverse album, blending alternative rock, country, and other genres. Reminiscent of Sister Hazel‘s style, if you enjoy that vibe, this band is a must-listen. Start with “Razor Wire Heart” here.
Music is universal and it can come from the most unexpected places. Maybe Indonesia is not the first country that comes to mind when you think about indie punk bands but that’s exactly where Grow Rich comes from. The project from multi-instrumentalist Abdur Rahim Latada is influenced by bands like Veruca Salt, Joy Division, and My Bloody Valentine. Abdur has released two self-financed EPs already as Grow Rich, and he also markets them himself. Frantic Semantic is the latest EP, which includes Bounce Back, a really good track.
Lyrically, to be honest, Bounce Back is nothing to write home about, but musically, it is a completely different story. It got great hooks and guitar riffs and nice soundscapes that make it really hard to believe it was all done by one person (except for drums, as he got help for that). Even the vocals are really good as well. This really sounds as good as any song produced by heavyweights. If you are into this type of music, I beg you to give this song a chance. You won’t regret it.
I found it hilarious that Sam Bielanski, the lead singer and mastermind behind Toronto-based band Pony, tweeted –when the band released their latest single– that she had written a song about her favorite website, WebMD. She obviously can make fun of herself and that’s a good quality to have. The song is a great alternative rock jam with an infectious melody and, despite its title, a good message about being independent and not wanting to rely on anyone else to feel complete.
According to Pony’s website, the band’s style is grunge pop, which in a way makes perfect sense. Whatever it is, we need more bands like Pony. Luckily, they recently announced the signing of a deal with an indie label and will release a debut full-length album soon. That being said, the band has been publishing songs and EPs regularly since 2015, so they have plenty of material out already.
Sam even starred in, directed, choreographed, shot, and edited the music video for ‘WebMD’ (the link is below, but you might have to go to YouTube to watch it due to restrictions from the music label). Or you can also enjoy this tune on the mixtapes below. Whatever you choose, have fun!
wrote a song about my fave website and you can listen to it now y’all! https://t.co/tJ1E74zDnA
According to Wikipedia, Max Richter“works within postminimalism and in the meeting of contemporary classical and alternative popular musical styles”, and I totally agree with that description. This German-born British musician is one of my favorite composers out there today. He’s not an unknown artist, with over one billion (yes, with a b) streams and after having worked on the soundtrack of popular movies such as Ad Astra, but just in case this is the first time you hear about him, let me tell you that you have probably heard Spring 1 from his album Recomposed by Max Richter: Vivaldi – The Four Seasons (2012), as it’s been used in plenty of TV ads, like this one from LinkedIn.
This month, Richter returned with a conceptual album, Voices, which is based on the Universal Declaration of Human Rights. This peculiar records consists of 2 discs: the first one features recordings of people in over 70 countries reading articles from that document, perfectly intertwined with Richter’s mesmerizing compositions played by his orchestra (which has an unusually high number of cellists). The second disc got the voiceless versions of the same compositions. Both versions are beautiful and interesting. The piece I liked the most is the one called All Humans Beings, and in the video below you can listen to the original version with the “voices” in it. However, the version I added to the mixtapes listed after the video was the “voiceless mix“. I highly recommend you try both versions. Enjoy!
There’s no much background info I can give you on Toys in the Attic. All I know is that this project consists of one person, based in Rhode Island and that he is pretty active on Twitter. According to his songs’ writing credits on Spotify, his name seems to be Alexander, but the fact that really matters here is that this artist is really passionate about making music of all genres, but mostly alternative and synth-based tunes. His catalogue is small but varied, with some songs flirting closely with dance music while others, like Where Giants Sleep, are mellower.
Where Giants Sleep is a catchy track that takes you on an auditive journey. It’s easy to imagine that you are driving through a scenic route when listening to this tune, and the destination is your happy place. By all means, check Toys in the Attic out and you can start right here, right now with this addictive track.
Update: Due to legal reasons, Alexander has had to change his stage name. While old songs will remain under the Toys in the Attic moniker on streaming platforms, new music will be released as Dreddbeat.
Out of the blue and without any indication of a new album coming out soon, London Grammar simply dropped a new single yesterday, Baby It’s You, after posting a tease on Instagram on Monday. The young band from Nottingham, UK, had last released an album, their sophomore record, in 2017. Both of the band’s studio albums were massive successes in the UK and if this new track is an indication of what’s coming next, their third full-length will hit the jackpot too, and deservedly so.
As it was the case with all of London Grammar‘s previous songs, Baby It’s You is driven by the stunning and powerful vocals of Hannah Reid. In a way, it’s fitting that this entry comes right after the one about Mazzy Star, because not unlike Hope Sandoval, Hannah is an introvert who suffers from stage fright. And just like Hope. she got an angelic voice capable of leaving any audience absolutely mesmerised.
On this new track, the ethereal vocals are surrounded by the band’s trademark atmospheric sounds. What is new this time around is a certain balearic vibe: just the right amount to make things interesting without overpowering the tune. All in all, Baby It’s You is a nice new song from London Grammar and you can enjoy it in the mixtapes below.
Earlier this week, I mentioned that Teen Idle was going to get compared to Mazzy Star. Now, depending on your age, you might not be aware of who they were (I love ’90s music and I wasn’t aware of them until the late ’00s!), which is why I thought it fitting to feature Fade Into You as this week’s Throwback Thursday entry. A song that is widely considered one of the best tracks of that decade.
This song was a huge hit for the band in 1994, reaching number 3 on Billboard‘s Modern Rock chart (back when that chart meant something) and peaking at #44 on the Hot 100 chart. No other song from the band appeared on that Hot 100 chart and only two other tracks charted on the Modern Rock Top 40 (Halah and Blue Flower), which in part explains why people who were not active music listeners at the time might not know about this band. That and the fact that the band broke up in 1997 and didn’t regroup until 2012.
Mazzy Star consisted of Hope Sandoval, as lead singer and lyricist; and David Roback, as composer and main producer, who also played most of the instruments. Hope has a reputation for being shy, which made her focus on her singing while on stage instead of interacting with the audience. When you have a voice as angelic and beautiful as hers, I don’t see the problem in that. Sure, having a charismatic singer is nice, but we don’t need every single lead singer to be like that. Anyway, I guess that was another reason preventing the band from achieving super stardom.
Unfortunately, David Roback died earlier this year but he and Hope (who’s still active) left behind a legacy of great music that won’t be forgotten. Isn’t that the ultimate goal for any artist?
Watch a live performance of this iconic song here, or find it in the mixtapes below.
Sometimes you got dreams to chase and other times, the dreams are the ones chasing you. You could say this is what happened to Heather Monroe when, one Christmas, her husband bought a full set of instruments for their children, hoping to get them into music. Instead, it was her who got that itch to start creating music. Before long, she was writing songs and becoming the lead singer for a 4-piece band out of Michigan that they decided to call Monroe Moon.
Last month, the band dropped a new EP, Joy, that features New American Housewife as its lead single. Within the alternative umbrella, this song got elements of rock, indie and synth-based pop, without falling entirely into any of those brackets. The track starts slowly with an eclectic but intriguing soundscape that explodes into a fantastic kind of chorus (the song structure is not the traditional one) at 1:43. The fact that it’s not repeated over and over in the way that conventional choruses are, leaves you wanting for more.
Don’t sleep on this great track. It is worthy of your attention. Check it out in the mixtapes below.
Given these options only, would you rather have several successful singles with millions of streams and TV placements while remaining relatively unknown, or international stardom without any successful single? I think most people would rightfully choose the former option and that’s precisely what Bronze Radio Return got going, to the point where they have been dubbed: “the band you’ve probably heard, but haven’t heard of.” Well, I hope that changes soon because this indie/roots rock band from Connecticut is actually pretty good.
With over 80 million streams on Spotify, quite a few high-profile placements like in the 2014 film St. Vincent , a few tv shows and commercials as well as playing the festivals circuit; this band can’t really complain about the level of success they’ve had since they started in 2007. Last month, Bronze Radio Return released this stunning single called Still Wandering (and they’re about to release a new one next week). The track reels you in from the very start and doesn’t let you go until its last chord. It is a song about being constantly searching for a dream, especially when you have none.
And if what you’re searching for is your next musical crush, stop looking. It’s right here.
Sara Abdelbarry is a 23 year-old music artist of Egyptian heritage who greg up in the suburbs of New Jersey. The boredom of suburban life and everything she went through growing up led her to start writing songs in 2018 as a mean to emotional catharsis, giving birth eventually to Teen Idle, her musical project.
Back in June, Teen Idle released her first EP, Insomniac Dreams, which consists of 6 tracks of what could be categorised as indie/dream-pop, with my favourite one being In The Morning. What I like about this song is that Sara’s ethereal vocals and pop flavour get infused with hints of alternative rock from the 90’s. I think Sara will inevitably get compared to Hope Sandoval/Mazzy Star and I can certainly see why, but I also think that she injects enough of her own identity to Teen Idle’s music to be able to stand on her own.
Listen to this rising star below and let me know if you disagree.
