Tag: altpop

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Sister Hazel – Come Around

When it comes to the Throwback Thursday entries, I’m playing it by ear. It’s not easy to pick one relatively old good song amongst hundreds or thousands of them. For that reason, I’m letting random coincidences to choose one for me. For instance, in yesterday’s post I mentioned Sister Hazel and that was all it took for me to write today about that act from Gainesville, Florida. The band, named after a local missionary who took care of homeless people, formed in 1993 and besides being extremely productive with over 10 studio albums (plus EPs, live albums and compilations) over that span, they have also been shockingly stable, maintaining the same line-up throughout all these years. That’s pretty unusual to say the least.

Sister Hazel has had several minor hits and some loyal followers, but if there’s only one song you know from them, then it’s probably All For You. This track was part of the band’s debut album from 1994 but it was re-recorded for the follow-up from 1997and it was then when the song became a hit, peaking at #11 on the Billboard Hot 100 chart. It remains Sister Hazel’s most successful single to date.

However, the song that I want to highlight today is one of those minor hits Sister Hazel had, Come Around, from their excellent 2003 album: Chasing Daylight. This great tune is just as good as All For You but far less popular. It’s also a good example of the band’s trademark blend of alternative touch with southern rhythms.

Let’s remember this classic song today. Enjoy Come Around.

Featured on the following mixtapes:

  • Everything
  • Alternative

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Kristian Montgomery and the Winterkill Band – Razor Wire Heart

Kristian Montgomery and the Winterkill Band - Razor Wire Heart

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.

Featured on the following mixtapes:

  • Everything
  • Alternative

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London Grammar – Baby It’s You

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.

Featured on the following mixtapes:

  • Everything
  • Folk/Indie
  • Pop

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Mazzy Star – Fade Into You

Mazzy Star - Fade Into You

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.

Featured on the following mixtapes:

  • Everything
  • Alternative

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Monroe Moon – New American Housewife

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.

Featured on the following mixtapes:

  • Everything
  • Folk/Indie

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Teen Idle – In The Morning

Teen Idle

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.

Featured on the following mixtapes:

  • Everything
  • Alternative
  • Folk/Indie

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Eagle-Eye Cherry – Falling In Love Again

Eagle-Eye Cherry

As mentioned on last Saturday’s entry, Eagle-Eye Cherry deserves his own Throwback Thursday post and here it is. He had two successful hits in the late 90’s: Save Tonight and Falling In Love Again, both really good but with the former being the bigger one. However, I always liked the latter a bit more. I can’t really explain why. I just did.

Unless you are constantly listening to alternative music from the 90’s, chances are that you forgot about these songs or never heard of them, but even if you still remember them, you might not know that Eagle-Eye was actually a Swedish artist, not American, despite being of Choctaw descent. His actual full name is Eagle-Eye Lanoo Cherry and another interesting tidbit is that he went to acting school with Jennifer Aniston. However, he ended up focusing on music only. He was pretty productive as a musician until 2003, and then he had a long-hiatus until 2012, when he became active again. His last full album, Streets of You, was released in 2018.

Let’s reminisce here about this interesting artist by listening to one of his best songs, an old musical crush. Enjoy!

P.S: The music video is so 90’s!

Featured on the following mixtapes:

  • Everything
  • Alternative

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Shy Martin – Are You Happy?

Sara Hjellström, aka Shy Martin, is a young artist who looks even younger. That could mislead you into thinking she’s new to the music industry when, in fact, she’s an established songwriter. She’s written or co-written successful tracks for the likes of Kygo (featuring Ellie Goulding), Bebe Rexha and Jess Glynne. And if all that wasn’t enough, she can sing too. This Swedish singer/songwriter even signed a record deal with EMI when she was 17 but ultimately decided to go the independent route, which eventually brought her here, to the release of her sophomore EP, Sad Songs, which consists of five very nice indie pop tracks, including today’s entry to The Alternative Mixtapes.

Are You Happy? is a delicate but catchy song with a melancholic theme: appreciating failed past relationships. The gorgeous melody goes hand in hand with Shy’s vocals, resulting in this nice tune that got all the elements to get a lot of airplay and streams. Pairing it with a lovely music video, which you can watch below, helps too. Could this song become your next musical crush?

Featured on the following mixtapes:

  • Everything
  • Pop

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Evaride – What’s It All For?

I feel like I should have known about American band Evaride for a while now. Formed by the former guitar player on Glee and one of the stars in Billy Joe Armstrong’s Broadway musical “American Idiot”, their debut single got over 4 million streams on Spotify and then the band got songs featured in video games and some tv shows. Their debut EP Vol. 1 got several heavyweight producers and sound-mixers involved such as Chris Lord-Alge. I mean, there was certainly some buzz about them. That being said, I only know about Evaride because they liked one of my posts on Instagram and it caught my attention because they had the verified badge.

What’s It All For? was the first song from Evaride that I played and it blew me away how well it sounded. The top-notch production made sense once I saw who had been involved, but besides that, it was a high-energy, catchy and fun pop-rock song like those from yesteryear that are not common anymore. Even better, the lyrics had a deeper meaning than what you would expect from such a fun song (and music video, see below), basically talking about all those little stupid things we tend to do or give importance to that are essentially meaningless, like people doing whatever it takes to get more likes on social media. What could be better than songs with great melodies and good lyrics?

It will be interesting to see how far Evaride will go in the next few years.

Featured on the following mixtapes:

  • Everything
  • Alternative
  • Pop

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The Mynabirds – Shake Your Head Yes

I’m almost cheating with this week’s Throwback Thursday. Yes, this song is certainly not new (2015), but I just discovered it (well, my lovely wife did) this year. What matters, anyway, is that it is a really good song and deserves to be on the mixtapes.

The Mynabirds, is the moniker under which American singer-songwriter Laura Burhenn has been working since 2010, who had also been part of different indie bands in the past. Her music as The Mynabirds can be catalogued as indie pop or altpop and Shake Your Head Yes is no exception to that. This earworm is a simple song consisting basically of a drums machine, a synth and Laura’s hypnotic vocals, but that’s enough to make you listen it on repeat for a good while, as the musical crush this tune is. You can find it in the Pop Mixtape below.

Featured on the following mixtapes:

  • Everything
  • Pop