And another artist from the UK is taking over the charts quickly. Currently, singer/songwriter Duffy is spreading like wild fire. Her unique sound and instrumentals take us back to the days of Motown. It is no surprise that many bands from this era are listed under her influences on her Myspace page. Not only can she make a great single but she can deliver it in live performance. She recently was featured on MTV’s FNMTV which is featured on Friday nights at 8pm. Her live performance definitely solidified her in my eyes and I hope to hear more from her soon!
Well I’ll tell you after watching many Old Navy commercials, this is not the last thing on your mind. O.N. has introduced Lights to us with their new advertising strategy to make O.N. appear hip and sheek. “The Last Thing on Your Mind,” and “Drive My Soul” are some singles that Lights has out for us to hear. She is categorized as Indie and New wave which after hearing these singles, I think you will agree. I feel as though all of the great music has recently been coming from Canada or Europe. They have mastered the new wave and indie sound to a tee and offer something that a lot of U.S. bands are unable to do. Her light and airy sound matches the calming instrumentals. Check her out and see for yourself.
A Tribe Called Quest, straight out of New York City will always be remembered in the hearts of hip hop fans. They were a highly influential group that was popular in the late 80’s, early 90’s. Even if you have not heard of this group, you have at least heard of Q-tip. The four member group consists of Q-tip, Phife Dawg, Ali Shaheed Muhammed, and Jarobi White. Jarobi White was featured on their first album but left soon after. However, we have heard him in their later tours dates in 2006. The group split after a while and did the solo gig. Q-tip had two large singles “Breathe & Stop” along with “The Vivrant Thing.” This group was extremely influential on the hip hop game and will be remembered with the greats like Run-DMC. Their music attracted all kinds of hip hops artists and will be forever known as a popular throwback!
Wiz Khalifa straight out of Pittsburg, PA is bringing a new sound of old techno beats and harder rhymes. His roots do not originate from Pennsylvania or as he would like to refer to it as PISTOLVANIA. This Warner Brothers artist released his single “Say Yeah” on iTunes recently but has been out since January 7th of this year. His clothing style could be mistaken easily for Kanye West with the sweater, collared shirt, large sunglasses and gold chain. There is no comparison otherwise. This 23 year old rapper was originally from North Dakota. His single “Say Yeah” samples Alice Deejay’s “Better off Alone.” This sampling allows for immediate bopping and catches the ears of new listeners. Some of his other singles include “Oh No,”“Damn Thing,” and “Talk to Me.”
I am here to introduce the one and only, Gym Class Heroes. This band represents a hip hop/indie feel. GCH come straight from Geneva, New York where lead singer Travis McCoy met drummer Matt McGinley in physical education class. Soon after meeting they decided to use their meeting place as their band name. They began in 1997 and originally played smaller venues but over time got bigger and they eventually played The Warped Tour in 2003-2004. This well-known concert event gave GCH to show what they were really made of. Their first album …For the Kids was released in 2001. GCH took a break until 2005 to make their following album, The Papercut Chronicles and the more famous album As Cruel As School Children in 2006. They have become mainstream in the past couple of years with their single “7 weeks” featuring The Academy Is’ William Beckett. GCH is currently on the Vans Warped Tour once again and are working on their fourth album.
This band is INCREDIBLE live. Travis is animated and has great energy throughout the concert. I am also biased because when I saw them I was in love with all of their songs. Check out their stuff yourselves and let me know what you think!
One of KC101’s top hits recently has been Flyleaf’s newest single, “All Around Me.” This combination of guy intrumentals and girl vocals is starting to become a trend in the music scene. Flyleaf’s Lacey Mosley’s newest single creepily resembles Paramore’sHayley Williams’ older songs from their past album All We Know is Falling. The instrumentals mirror the band and make it appear that Flyleaf is Paramore’s twin for this single. However, the rest of Flyleaf’s self-titled album is harder than Paramore and cannot be compared. I am a little ashamed to admit it but I thought for a long time that this new single was Paramore on the radio and not Flyleaf. This may just be my own mistake. If you like chicks with great vocals and harder rock instrumentals you need to checked out Paramore’s new and old album along with Flyleaf’s new album.
Patent Pending straight from Long Island, New York is not only a great band to see live but they are also great guys. Two years ago, I had the honor of working the Patent Pending at WQAQ’s Spring Concert. The band consists of five guys that come with energy like you wouldn’t believe. Not only are they amazing artists but they are some of the funniest people I have met in my life.
Whether in a large venue or a small garage, they can deliver the same type of energy and get everyone in the crowd bopping. Patent Pending is currently making a new mix tape and released a Christmas song earlier in the year called “She’s a HO HO HO, Merry Christmas.” They haven’t made it mainstream yet but I think in a couple of years, we can expect big things from these boys.
WQAQ, The Soundtrack of Quinnipiac, here in the heart of Hamden, CT has done it once again. Yesterday, April 4th, WQAQ threw their annual Spring Concert. This year featured four bands from across the states. Minus the Bear, Kevin Devine, Paulson and Great Caeser and the Gogetters brought their A game as they delivered new and old hits on Friday night. Over 600 students from Quinnipiac University and the New Englad area came to support WQAQ and the bands. Wednesday was a good day for the QAQers when they were informed that they sold out the concert with 750 tickets sold. This has been done three times in history. The first time was in 1986 when The Ramones came. The second time was April 1, 2006. Say Anything, A Wilhelm Scream and Patent Pending came and took over Alumni Hall. To this day, I have to say that the best concert held at Quinnipiac in my past four years was when Say Anything came. Now I may feel this way because Say Anything is my favorite band with Patent Pending soon after, but they came with such great energy. There was not ONE person standing still in that crowd that night. Stay tuned to hear more news about upcoming bands, concerts, and other music related news!
It’s about that time for another THROWBACK OF THE WEEK! So as a twenty two year old, a throwback group that we will never forget is the one and only Beastie Boys. Yes, I did mention my age but how ever old you are, you will remember this crazy treo of three white misfits that introduced a new sound. They soon gained respect in the rap and hip hop scene with their punk rock vocals and hip hop beats. They offered New York City something they have never seen before. I believe they are best categorized as Rapcore. The B.B. have been around since 1979 and broke out onto the scene in 1984 with their “Rock Hard” off the Licensed to Illalbum. Def Jam released this single on 12″ with sampling from AC/DC’s “Back in Black.” Unfortunately, the B.B. sampled their song illegally and have had multiple legal issues with using music without permission. Even though the members are now in their early fourties, they still have full capibilities of delivering their rapcore jams. And will never forget that we have to fight for our right to party!
Check out one of their first video featured on MTV, back when MTV still played music videos! (This is the “Rock Hard” video even though it is labeled improperly on youtube)
Straight from Indiana Murder By Death are currently on tour rockin the New England Area and making their way down the North Carolina in the next couple of weeks. MBD will be playing this Saturday night at The Webster Theater in Hartford, Connecticut. In the beginning of March, Vagrant Records released MBD’s fifth album ”Red of Tooth and Claw.” This new album is unlike anything we have heard from them before. Their past albums have had a southern rock undertone with the lead singer’s voice resembling that of Johnny Cash. The violinist was utilized a lot more on this new album and has changed their overall sound. Fans has stated that this new album is a completely different band. The lead singer, Adam Turla has lowered his range to accomodate the intrumental changes that have been made. Overall, these adjustments have shown a great improvement in MBD’s performance.
