They'll come to the Rescue

If I were to tell you that I just found a great band with two guys and two girls in it I know what you'd say..."ABBA's old news."  Aha!  But alas, that's not the band I'm talking about you silly goose.  I think I may have found a band that is better than the European pop band...The Rescues. 

I love when you're watching a show and things are really going well.  You like the story line, you like the characters and all of a sudden a song comes on in the back round that most people would just breeze through, but for some reason it grabs you and heightens the moment into something beyond what you thought possible.  That's what happened to me this week.  I was watching a show and a song by The Rescues came on in the background and completely distracted me from the actual show itself because the song was so good.  I've continued to listen to that song about 30 times in the last 3 days so I'd say it's safe to say that it wasn't just a fluke. 

The Rescues are a Los Angeles based group who combine so many things so well.  They each come from different perspectives and different feelings but they are able to combine that into one sound better than most bands that I've heard.  The thing that really makes them stand out more than anything is their harmonies.  You can be watching them on stage all singing...all four mouths moving...and they blend so well that you only hear one incredible voice.  I believe that harmonies are sort of a lost art in music.  Everyone uses them, but few do it to a point that they accept and challenge the art of writing harmonies.  It's so easy to sing a chorus, pop it up a third and sing that harmony and enjoy the way that it fills the sound a bit.  However, with bands willing to challenge the art of harmonies you not only get a fuller sound, but you get a complete sound.  The Rescues sing a song called "My Heart with You" in which there is no instrument used.  They use their voices and their harmonies as the only instruments.  There are few times that I will listen to a song and actually make it all the way through, (I have a severe case of music A.D.D. so it's rare that I actually listen to more than half of a song.) and when the song ends I have such a case of chills that I have to sit in the silence to just allow it to take hold.  I know that sounds super dramatic but "My Hear with You" did that and has done that every time I've listened to the song.



The best part is that they carry those harmonies into all of their songs.  So you get to keep the sound that makes them so unique and combine it with the incredible song writing and musicianship that they also take ownership of.  Please listen to them and go see them if they come to a city close to you.  They are supposedly AMAZING live and I can't wait to see them when they come back to LA in December. 

I have to give some thanks to Eden Malyn for introducing me to them...even if I didn't realize it, went and found them on my own and then came back to brag about this new band I'd found only for you to tell me how you already told me about them.  haha.  woops.  Thanks.

I'll leave you with a couple videos and some links to their pages so you can hear more and find out their tour dates:
The Rescues Website
The Rescues Myspace

-Kev

Lip Synching at it's best

So, you may have already seen this kid, but for some reason I can't stop watching these videos.  They absolutely crack me up.  Maybe it's because a small person is lip synching famous songs(and you all know how much I love little people), or maybe it's because that little person doesn't even really take the time to learn the words to the songs he's lip-synching, or maybe it's because these videos are just blowing the top off the awesome scale.  I hate that I get sucked into watching this crap, but man it sure kills time at work.

SO FUNNY!

Here's his youtube channel if you want to crack up some more:
Youtube Channel


-Kev

Ok, Go watch these videos!

I'm sure everyone has heard of the band OK GO at this point, but I don't want to focus on their music as much as their videos.  These guys have used the use of music videos better than anyone in the last 5 years.  In an age when all the rap videos are chicks, cars, dogs, etc. few people even really care to watch music videos anymore.(especially since Music Television "MTV" doesn't even play them anymore)  Now that the age of youtube has really taken hold these guys have used music videos as an amazing way to spread their music to a broad base of people. 
Their videos range from colorful to conceptual to just down right awesome.  Whether they're dancing in their backyard or using treadmills, or pulling Rube Goldberg that seems like it's a mile long, you're basically in for an amazing ride from start to finish.  The really amazing thing about all their videos are shot in ONE TAKE!  That element alone adds to the final product because you know endless amounts of preparation went into it.
Without further ado, I'm just gonna post them so you guys can watch them.  I won't even try to do them justice with words.

And please check out their website and such to support them.
OK GO website
Myspace
-Kev

Britney Spears actually makes good music!

So, I feel like I need to start this blog off with some clarification.  Britney Spears isn't good.  She used to be really hot, she used to be a pretty darn good dancer, she used to sing well enough to get by, but these days lets all admit that she's fallen off the wagon.  It cracks me up when people are so excited because "She's Back."  I look at it like when your mom cooks your favorite meal after a really long hiatus.  It's not quite as good as it used to be, but it's been so long that you forgot how good it was to begin with.  Yes, she's back and selling lots of CD's but lets not get ahead of ourselves.  She'll never be at the level she was before, but since she made so many HORRIBLE choices for so long, people think she's some Harvard Grad now that she's not doing stupid stuff.  But, I digress...
Back to what I originally wanted to say.  As I sit in the horribly plastic life of sunless tanning that I spend a majority of my life in, I listen to a lot of radio hits.  As I was basking in the smell of burnt skin the other day the Britney Spears song "123" came on.  I did my usual hand gesture like I was shooting myself in the head and I continued this for roughly 2 minutes and 33 seconds until the song took a turn.  I suddenly lost my barrings.  I took a step back and grabbed my chest cause I thought I was having a heart attack.  I quickly realized that my heart was beating at a semi normal pace and that the reason for my twilight zone moment was because I was actually enjoying a little bit of a Britney Spears song.  The 30 seconds of this song from 2:33 to 3:01 are the best 30 seconds that I've ever heard come from the general vicinity of Ms. Spears in the last...well, ever.  There is something with the gentle quality and tone of this section that blends her vocals amazingly with the background notes.  They bring in a very soft bass beat that slowly builds and really adds to this surreal like feeling.  Granted, her lyrics aren't gonna change your life, but the blend of the tones works wonderfully.  It's an incredible juxtaposition to the rest of this train wreck of a song.
So, I'm lost in this crazy moment that I never thought I would have in my life and then 3:03 hits in the song and she dives right back in to the same crap that has made her so much money for the past several years.  I guess, props to her, cause she's proving that there's not a lot of talent needed to be amazingly successful in this industry.  So watch the video...If you're feeling risky try the whole thing...I would only recommend from 2:33 to 3:01.  If you watch more, you're risking your own well being!

I would give Britney Spears a big thank you right here, but I don't really think she had a lot to do with the writing of this section.  So, thank you to whoever produced this 30 seconds of this song...you've made my...30 seconds.

- Kev

Brendan James isn't Green to the music scene

I'm a sucker for the Piano.  Let me just throw that out there right away.  If there is any girl reading this that can play the piano please email me your phone number and I will marry you tomorrow!  Unfortunately for me this is a dude that plays the piano, but he plays it extremely well.
I first heard of Brendan James a couple of years ago, and I don't even remember how.  He, however has been one of those names that seems to come up randomly every couple of months for me.  Whether it be talking with musician friends, or listening to Pandora, or now having the pleasure to know his bass player(Ya Charlie!) his name comes up quite often...and for great reason. 
This guy is so talented I don't even know where to begin.  He is the purest form of a songwriter to me.  He has the ability to take a story and mix it beautifully(but not over the top) with metaphors and feeling.  Some songwriters are strictly storytellers(which isn't a bad thing) and some try so hard to be abstract with metaphors and similes that you have no idea what the hell the song is about, but Brendan molds those two worlds together beautifully.  His song Green is an amazing example of this, and so happens to be the first song I ever heard of his.  So, not only is he fantastic at the piano, writes amazing lyrics to his songs, but he also has the incredible ability or foresight(however you want to reference it) to sing within his abilities.  Now I know that doesn't sound like anything to brag about as a singer, but I think it's an incredible asset to his music.  His voice is very smooth and has sort of a velvety quality to it.  So many singers are out there recording albums trying to prove that they're the best singer in the world.  I think Brendan has a great voice, knows he has a great voice, and doesn't feel the need to try and prove it to anyone.  He writes songs that use his voice perfectly and then when he's recording/singing them, he lets the written notes do their work.  It sounds like such a simple thing but man I think it's important, and he nails it.

Brendan James is pretty well known at the point of releasing his newest album within the last week.  His album is currently #14 on the iTunes best selling albums list.  That proves that he has a good following and that I'm not the only one that follows him.  I bought his CD and was definitely not disappointed.  He continues to play to his strengths as well as playing some fun up beat songs and using some very creative writing, like in the song Stupid for Your Love.  With his new album he did a whole live set that they recorded and have on youtube.  Follow the link above to Stupid for Your Love and watch all the other ones so you can see that he is super talented without all the post production stuff that many artists need to succeed.( And look out for the super sexy Charlie Hajek playing the bass behind him!)

Here's a video for you so you can check him out a little more acoustically.  It's beautiful.  So go grab a glass of wine, put on some comfy clothes, buy Brendans' new self title album on iTunes, and sit back and enjoy.  I promise you won't regret it!

-Kev

Mix-n-Match

So I just found these guys on Youtube and I think they do a really cool job of mixing songs together. The guys name is Douglas James and I think he's super talented. He's got some good original stuff too that I might to a review on later. The girls name is Paulina and she does a ton of covers but has a song or two that are hers. Check out their myspaces and youtubes cause they're pretty talented!

Paulina
Youtube Channel
Myspace

Douglas James
Youtube channel
Myspace


Cool shout out to World Cup


Another Great mix.  Douglas gets more singing in this one.


-Kev

Don't lose HOPE

Click play on this video and then continue reading.  There's no better way to understand Hope as an artist  than to simply listen.


Hope is the audio form of the relaxation massage chairs at Sharper Image.  Her silky smooth vocals mix with the incredibly relaxing background music to allow you to just sit into the sound and forget about the outside world. 

Hope was born and raised mostly in New York(hence her song titled "Leave Me In New York by HOPE") but moved out to LA to pursue music more.  She slowly made a name for herself by spending hours and hours on the 3rd Street Promenade in Santa Monica or at the Venice Pier.  It might not be a glamorous way to start a career, but through that she's been able to get a ton of her first self produced albums in to the hands of southern Californians.  While she was out grinding the streets to get her music into peoples hands, she was also doing that online.  She has a HUGE Myspace and Youtube following.  Through all of the grassroots work she did eventually she ended up in the hands of Atlantic Records and is about to release her first titled album in the fall of this year.
 

I've known about Hope for several years now, and feel like she's an artist that fits in every situation.  Whether your taking a girl out on a picnic, or sitting by the fire on a rainy night, or just sitting outside on a beautiful summer day it seems to always fit.  Not that I really do any of those things, but I imagine that if I did I would always listen to her.  From her song "The Rain Dont Last Forever by HOPE" that is soft and slow to her newest single "LOVE LOVE LOVE by HOPE" which is more upbeat, she never ceases to have her music absolutely filled to the brim with sweetness.  I wish I could just wrap my arms around her music and give it a huge hug.

When it all comes down to it I think Hope may be one of my favorite artists and would not be surprised if she was with the likes of Colbie Caillat, and Angel Taylor within the next year.  With her already formed following, complete devotion and understanding of her own sound, and now a label to back her...She's gonna be unstoppable.

And just remember...You heard it here first!!!

Please check out her websites and support her bacause she is amazing.
Hope's Myspace
Twitter

-Kev