Good morning and Happy Friday! Here's a Flashback Friday tune that I absolutely love! It's classic Luther Vandross, so soulful, so inspiring, so ooh yeah! Enjoy!
Here's a perfect song for you Hump Day, a funky, sexy jam by Robin Thicke from his highly successful 2013 album, Blurred Lines. The song features guest rap interludes by current superstar Kendrik Lamar and 2 Chainz, and to me is just as good as the other hugely successful title track. Enjoy...
Here's a song I somehow missed, but thanks to my pal Sonny, a fellow Nelly Furtado fan, I've now discovered an eight year-old gem. The song is by British musician James Morrison, from his 2008 sophomore album, Songs for You, Truths for Me, and it's a truly inspiring performance by both artists. It just proves again how much good stuff is out there that never gets heard. Well, after you click play, you will have...
Actress turned singer Hailee Steinfeld has got one sweet voice! I was having a hard time choosing a song for today when I came across this one, a tender and catchy love tune that is currently bubbling right under the Top Ten Songs on iTunes. I clicked play because I saw that Zedd collaborated on this one, but then I heard it and loved it. Check out Starving...
Of all the new music coming out lately, there is one potential album that excites me the most, and that is the looonnnggg overdue follow-up to P!nk's The Truth About Love. Back in 2012, when that album came out, I played it so much that if it had been an old fashioned record, I would have had to buy another because I would have worn it down. Well, after a long hiatus from listening to my P!nk playlist on my iPod, I finally turned it up yesterday and re-learned why I love her and her music so much. Here's a beautiful, melancholic tune from her 2008 classic, Funhouse. Enjoy...
It's Flashback Friday and we're going back to the 80's, via the year 2009, with La Roux and the awesomely danceable Bulletproof. Enjoy and Happy Friday!
Let me preface this Song of the Day post by saying that I am usually a little over-critical of those artists whom I love the most. That being said, we have finally become privy to the newest incarnation of one Lady Gaga, a multi-talented superstar who once seemed destined to claim the seat that Madonna created for women in pop. I say 'once seemed' because both Gaga's music and its performance on the charts (and on my iPod), has never quite reached the height again that it enjoyed during the days of Fame/Fame Monster. Born This Way, her last great record, was a departure from that early stuff, a successful 'reinvention' that would rival that of the early days of the Queen.
So in the year 2016, we are finally being treated to the follow-up to the lackluster ArtPop, though it must be noted that Gaga has flexed her talented muscles in other ways since with acting stints in American Horror Story, genuinely great recordings of classics with legendary crooner Tony Bennett, and impressive live performances. There is no doubt that Lady Gaga is a gifted performer.
What I've heard, and now seen, from this newest lead in to her first pop album in three years, is good, not great. This lead single from the new album Joanne, called Perfect Illusion seems an attempt to return to the glory days of her first two sets. and surely it will grow on me and others, The song's got a nice, percussive beat throughout and is as big sounding as anything she's ever done. But is it fresh? I guess time will tell as I listen to it the rest of Joanne (due out October 21st) more. Although right now I am liking the song, I'm not loving it, nor am I loving the sort of bland, desert/concert-themed video which was released just Tuesday night.
Applause turned out to be the most successful song on ArtPop, and I hope that this won't be the case with Perfect Illusion and Joanne. We shall see. You see, I told you I was a little extra-critical of those I love. Check out Perfect Illusion...
Oh, the new music scene is finally abuzz with exciting activity and I only wish I had more time o write about it. Soon, hopefully, but in the meantime keep checking into John's Music World for Song of the Day posts featuring some of that new hot stuff, like this one. Calvin Harris is back on vocals with a brand new single that came out on Friday, and it is pretty hot. Can you guess who this one might be about?
Here's a feel-good song for your Tuesday. It's Virgin Islander Iyas, featuring Hot Chelle Rae's Nash Overstreet in an island-tinged nugget that hearkens summer back. Check it out...
I admit that although I've heard of Tinashe, I've never actually come across any of her stuff. I received a Google Alert earlier this weekend that touted a new song of hers, so I decided to check her out. I found this song, from her upcoming second studio album, Joyride, and it brough me back to the R&B heydays of the 80's. Pretty cool! Check out Superlove...
We go back to the year 2007 today with one of my favorite singers and one of my favorite tunes by her. I discovered Robyn's With Every Heartbeat during a really rough time in my life and I remember playing it over and over again to help soothe my soul, and it helped. I heard it at a club last night and knew I had to post it today. Enjoy!
Every once in awhile, I've got to get me a Lily Allen fix, and this was the week. I absolutely love Lily and though she hasn't been huge here in the U.S., her music is decidedly unique and decidedly fun. Case in point, this, the debut single off of her last album, 2014's Sheezus. Hard Out Here is somewhat more up tempo than the usual Lily Allen fare, but lyrically it's all her: brash and deliciously fun. Enjoy...
Cause you know that I can't trust myself with my 3AM shadow
I'd rather fuel a fantasy than deal with this alone
Over the past several weeks, I have become a bona fide Troye Sivan fan. I'd been hearing his name here and there for awhile and after seeing him perform Youth on the Billboard Music Awards a couple of months back, my curiosity finally got the best of me and I downloaded his first full length album, Blue Neighborhood...and I'm loving it! The young Aussie has such a rich voice and the songs on the record, mostly on the softer side of things, showcase that richness.
The song Talk Me Down is the third of a trilogy of singles/videos off of the album, and its cleverly crafted themes of homophobia and suicide are compellingly told in the visual depiction of the tune. The song itself is beautiful and melancholic, almost hauntingly sad, as Sivan's tender vocals meld perfectly with the somber orchestral background. It's one of my favorites off the record and I hope you'll like it, too...
Here's another Grammy nominated dance song, this time from 2015 and dance music veterans The Chemical Brothers. I saw this bizarre, yet mesmerizing video in a bar down in Ft. Lauderdale and I couldn't take my eyes off it as I tap tap tapped along in my head to the equally hypnotic beats accompanied by the smooth rap vocals of one Q-Tip. Cool jam!
I don't know how I missed this funky one way back in 2008, but I did. I just discovered it during that Florida mall Shazam blitz and I've had it on my playlist ever since, all the time thinking it was something new. Turns out this tune was actually nominated for Best Dance Recording at the 2009 Grammys. Well, no matter when it came out, it is good! So check out Black & Gold...
Here's a hot dance jam to start your week off. It's a track by Brit DJ KDA and it's a remix of his own tune Rumble and it is featured on Katy B's newest album, Honey, and it's just got a great, late night club feel (Great for a Monday mornng, huh? Lol.). Ooh, and love Tinie Tempah's contribution on the tune, as well. Hot song!
I finally found a song via Shazam that is somewhat current. This feel-good, funky, chill tune is actually a remix by French D.J. Kungs on an original song by an Australian funk trio called Cookin' on 3. With a cool guitar groove, percussion, horns and a smooth vocal, this is one cool jam...
The dust hasn't even nearly settled on Sia's phenomenal This Is Acting album, and already we are being treated to something new and exciting from her new upcoming set, We Are Your Children. I don't know about any of you other Sia followers out there, but this was a complete surprise to me..a welcome one, but definitely curious. This Is Acting is surely her best overall effort to date, its biggest single, Cheap Thrills, is still riding high on the charts, and there are yet other potential singles on the record for people to discover.
Alas, now we have The Greatest. I've only listened to it twice so far, and I'm already liking it. It's really just pure Sia, all that comes with one of her songs....lyrically beautiful, melodic, beautifully performed and produced, and catchy, and the addition of R&B/rap superstar Kendrick Lamar, it is sure to reach an even wider audience. So check it out and stay tuned...
A couple of weeks ago, while at a club in Florida, I heard a few tracks off of Justin Timberlake's FutureSexyLoveSound and was jamming all along. Now that was a classic album full of great tunes by a great production team of Timbaland and Timberlake. Here's one of my favorites. Enjoy and Happy Friday!
It never ceases to amaze me how much good music comes and goes without notice. Corporations and radio stations...ugh! Instead of getting to know some of the great stuff out there that undeservedly fades into obscurity without getting a chance to shine, we are consistently treated to the same songs over and over and over until we trulu get sick of them (see Justin Timberlake's Can't Stop the Feeling, Mark Ronson's Uptown Funk, etc., etc., etc.).
Well there is a lot of great stuff out there that no one ever gets to hear and that is one of the reasons I run this blog. Most people who know me know that I have good taste in music, and if I find something good enough to post here, then it is worth a listen. Case in point, this wonderful duet between Ellie Goulding and a singer by the name of Tarrus Riley, from Major Lazer's third album Peace Is the Mission. This is one of those tunes that I Shazamed in a mall last week and I became disappointed just now when I discovered it was released more than a year ago, in June of 2015.
This is one of those songs that I liked the first time I heard it, and hopefully you will too. Ellie Goulding's raspy voice blends well with Riley's big pipes, especially on the ear-pleasing and memorable chorus. Check out Powerful...
I have been wanting to post a tune from Beyoncé's Lemonade for a long, long time now. I really love the record, and there have been a couple of times I tried to post a song, but was unable to for technical reasons. Well, Ms/ Bey just released a cut from the film to the soft, yet funky Hold Up. It's one of my favorites off the album and you do have to get through a little over a minute of talkover intro before you get to the tune, but it is worth it!
Every year on the first day of school I like to post something inspirational, just to get the year started on an uplifting note. Almost always the song I choose to post is Natasha Bedingfield's Unwritten, but this year I thought I'd try something new. Des'ree's 1994 smash surely qualifies as inspirational, and I hope that any of you who are starting a new year today with a fresh slate take a listen and make it a great school year! Enjoy!
Here's an older tune that I just discovered whilst shopping in the mall. I immediately recognized the lead voice on the track...Jessie J's heavenly voice is unmistakable. I turned on my Shazam and found that it was the gifted Brit songstress, along with R&B singer Jhené Aiko and British pop band Rixton. The song was the 2015 installment of Kellogg's Pop Tarts ongoing Crazy Good Summer Backstage Pass program, which promotes music and the arts to teens everywhere. I'm sorry to say that it went by unnoticed by me for all this time because it's a really nice tune. Check it out for yourself...
I was in a mall in Ft. Lauderdale the other day and the music they were playing on the speakers in many of the stores was absolutely awesome! I don't know exactly how many songs I looked up on Shazam, but it was more than a few. Here's one of the most surprising of my discoveries because I had no idea who was singing it and when I found out it was Alicia Keys I was pretty much astounded. The percussive rhythms, soft voice and the remix be DJ Kaskade is absolutely mesmerizing! Check out In Common...
Good morning and Happy Labor Day Weekend! I heard this tune in a club last weekend and I thought it would be a perfect song for this time of year, as many of us are beginning to lament these waning days of summer. Great song!
Now that September is here, it's time to get back to the present and one of my favorite current acts. I love just about everything The Chainsmokers have done so far, and this one is simply the bomb! Check out Closer...
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