Bamboozle!

It’s that time of year again kids!  Bamboozle is back in town and it’s time to start getting your tickets.  Bamboozle is an annual two day concert event in New Jersey featuring over 40 bands.  This is the chance for new bands to get their name out along with other bigger name bands. 

 

This event first started in 2005 and has made its mark as one of the greatest college alternative, punk, and rock concerts.  There are six different stages throughout the venue so pray that your favorite bands aren’t playing at the same time!  This year, the creators of Bamboozle  have decided to start a new tradition with The Bamboozle Roadshow.  The bands will be touring across America from March 28th to May 10th.  The official list of Bamboozle features large names like Jimmy Eat World, Paramore, Snoop Dogg, Panic At The Disco, Gym Class Heroes, and Coheed & Cambria.  Bamboozle will be May 3-4th at The Meadowlands Sports Complex.  Get your tickets now at www.ticketmaster.com.

MGMT

Surf, Jungle and Country are the genre that they profile themselves under.  Straight from Brooklyn, New York comes MGMT to bring us a British sound back to the Metro area.  Recently, you have probably noticed that all the artists on my top playlists are from The U.K.   These artists are bringing a refreshing new mix of beats and unique vocals to the table.  Brooklyn is no stranger to great new innovative music.  Some of the greatest music has arose from this music scene.  We can’t forget about the infamous Beastie Boys and The Strokes.

 MGMT can be compared to the well-known White Stripes who categorize themselves under Garage Rock and Punk Blues.  MGMT’s newest singles are “Weekend Wars” and “Time to Pretend.”  Both songs offer very different sounds but still overall greatness.  If you are a White Stripes fan, there is no doubt that you will love this incredible male duo.

PAPERTONGUES

When you hear the words paper tongues, you first think of an origami design.  I’m sure there is a design of a tongue that may be able to be made out of paper but I’m talking about a different paper tongue.  PAPERTONGUES are a group of seven southern gentlemen with a whole new sound.  Aswan North, Joey Signa, Devin Forbes, Jordan Hardee, Daniel Santell, Cody Blackler, and Clayton Simon represent the PAPERTONGUES.  When listening to their songs, you would find it hard to believe that seven guys are able to put together such music.  With multiple singers, guitarist, and pianists, they mix perfectly.  The lead vocals have a raspy resonance that resembles the sounds of The Smashing Pumpkins meets The Beastie Boys meets The Roots.  This unique sound could spread throughout the progressive rock/club scene.

American Boy

 

Hip Hop, Soul, and R&B are the name of her game.  London based, Estelle is listed on VH1’s “You Oughta Know.”  Let me tell you, after hearing her newest single “American Boy” featuring Kanye West…you oughta know her.   Atlantic Records is lucky to have this soft toned song bird.  John Legend signed her to the joint venture Homeschool along with Atlantic Records.  Estelle is an award winning artist in the U.K. but has yet to establish her name in the states.  Her album Shine has officially been released in the United Kingdom and will be released in the U.S. on April 29th.  There is no doubt that this song will spread like wildfire across the states with Kanye’s voice featured on it.  Check it out on her MySpace and join the countdown to her album release!

The “Who”siers?

 

British Pop is currently taking over my I-pod.  There is a new band that has not made it over to America yet but I think that once they do, they will take over the air waves.  The Hoosiers, originally from London, are topping the charts across the seas in the iTunes Music Store.  Their indie/pop rock has introduced a new type of circus beats with strong vocals that are a breath of fresh air.  There is no doubt that they are from London, they have the typical “British Sound” but are still able to set themselves apart.  They debut album, The Trick to Life was released this past year in October.  Their number one song is “Goodbye Mr. A.”  I promise that when you hear it you won’t be able to sit still.  Some of their other singles that are spreading all over England are “Worried about Ray,” “Cops and Robbers,” and “Worst Case Scenario.”  You can check out these songs and stay posted for new releases under RCA’s label along with their MySpace and official websites!  You are guarenteed a good time!

Bob Sinclar Rocks This Party

Bob Sinclar, born with the birth name Christopher Le Friant, originally from France knows how to throw down filthy dance beats with a soulful tone that creates a carefree party anthem.  He has done it over and over again.  His songs have a general theme of peace, love, freedom and partying.  Sinclar, currently 40 years old, has not lost his touch in the eyes of the young clubbers.  The second one of his songs come on you can’t help but dance all around.  He creates feel good music that is spread all over the world. 

 

His big hit that was played multiple times in Acapulco was “World, Hold On.”  This song tells listeners to hold on to the world and to not destroy our future with war.  His other songs are “Rock This Party (Dance Everybody),” “Love Generation,” and “Sound Of Freedom.” 

After watching these videos you will notice that a lot of them feature the same children.  I believe this is done because it gives a feel good childhood feeling of carelessness and allows listeners to focus on the music and not the sex issues in today’s music videos.

Bingo Bango Here We Go GO Acapulco

Acapulco not only has great hip hop music bumping through 5 foot speakers throughout their clubs but also some of the greatest techno in the world.  Palladium, El Abrije, and Mandara are top clubs in this spring break hotspot.  The theme of the week was “Sex, Drugs, and House,” which are the lyrics to the infamous song The 6th Gate 2007.  This song is a Juno Short remix by the D-Devils.  The 6th Gate 2007 is featured in the devil performance. 

 

So many of you are probably confused right now but at the large club Palladium, there is a man from Mexico that gets dressed in a head dress and is covered with silver and black paint.  He comes out with fire sticks and performs to The 6th Gate 2007.  The demonic vocals accompany the devil theme.  This club filled with thousands of people all stop the “dance with the devil.”  The ones that are lucky enough to touch him are left with silver paint all over them. 

Check out this sick video of the devil’s performance and upcoming posts on hard filthy techno beats that make you want to dance.

One Tree Hill Appearances

One Tree Hill is known for it’s young good looking actors, featuring upcoming music, and starting new trends.  There are many big name artists that have been featured on OTH in the past.  Fall Out Boy and Jack’s Mannequin are a few that come to mind.  The bands primarily use this television show that is targeted at teens to promote their new albums or just make their presence known to those target segments.  Kate Voegele, 20-year-old singer/songwriter, scored a huge deal with One Tree Hill’s producers by getting about four spots on the show.  She has been playing an aspiring singer that is trying to make it in the music business.  Every episode she has a cameo involving acting and then features of her new album.  I saw Voegele perform in NYC and she had a strong performance but nothing interested me. 

 

I met up with her after the concert and she told me about her scenes coming up on OTH.  Her overall demeanor turned me off to her as an artist.  Her happiness and excitement about music seemed forced.  I don’t want to turn anyone off to her because she is currently in the Top Ten Album’s on iTunes’ Music Store.  Her songs that I prefer are “Only Fooling Myself,” and “It’s Only Life” which are both Brian Malouf mixes.  Check out her new album Don’t Look Away and more of her appearances on Wednesday nights on the CW11’s One Tree Hill.

Panic at the Disco? Really?

Recently in the news it has been announced that Panic at the Disco will be releasing a new album next month.  Supposedly, the lead singer Brendon Urie has been telling XFm that their new album is being compared to The Beatles.  After checking out some of their new singles and watching an interview on MTV, I am appalled.  I cannot believe that someone would ever compare this band to the legendary Beatles.  The instrumentals of their new single “Nine in the Afternoon” has a reminiscence of Beatle-esque beats but the vocals will never match up to that of John Lennon.  After being on tour in the UK, it is very possible that their music was affected by the heavy influence of British Pop, but they are no where near being The Beatles.  Check out for yourself and let me know what you think…

Throwback of the Week!

And now we will begin a new segment of the blog that I will refer to as the Throwback of the Week!  No worries, I will still be posting new music from artists, however I would like to show some appreciation for past artists that I feel have changed the facets of music today.  I feel it is necessary to speak about this person not only because he is a legendary rapper, but also because he passed away on my birthday.  Biggie Smalls, Notorious B.I.G., Big Poppa, Chris Wallace, whatever you would like to refer to him as was killed in a drive-by shooting on March 9th 1997 at the age of 24.  This was a sad day for not only the family and friends of Biggie but the music world as a whole. 

His murder remains unsolved to this day but many fingers pointed to Tupac Shakur’s crew.  They had a “notorious” feud that was battled through lyrics and further escalated on the streets.  This battle ended tragically with Tupac’s death in 1996 but continued with Biggie’s death a year later.  Many people still wonder if Tupac is dead because ironically his label is still releasing albums years upon his death.  The truth is that we will never know but these rapper’s music and lives must live in our hearts.  Their legendary vocals, lyrics, beats and collaborations changed the world of rap and would not have been the same without them.  Interested about the skepticism on the deaths..check out these links on Biggie and Tupac’s passing.  After reading this you may feel differently about Tupac’s death…

Tupac’s poetry, biography, death and more…

Notorious B.I.G.’s beefs?