Psh, Twilight? How About Vampire Weekend!

                The artist I hope you all will learn to love this week is called Vampire Weekend.  Now, I know what you all are thinking and the answer is no, this band is not just some teenage dream “Edward and Bella romance hookup”.  Vampire Weekend started off signing to XL Recordings in 2006 in New York City.  The band consists of Ezra Koenig, Rostam Batmanglij, Chris Tomson, and Chris Baio.  The name Vampire Weekend comes from a movie that Ezra Koenig made in the summer of his freshman year at college.  This band released their debut album “Vampire Weekend” in January of 2008 which ended up being a startling success, and peaked at #17 on the Billboard 200.  If any of you viewers out there have ever played the game “Just Dance 2”, you have probably even heard or danced to one of their hit songs off of this album called “A-Punk”.  Many of their songs have pumping beats to dance around to, so it is very fitting that the band would be featured in such a game.  Vampire Weekend’s second album “Contra” was released in January of 2010.  A friend showed me a pretty rocking mix off this album called “Cousins” which I will be showing you today.  A lot of their tracks give you a sort of “tropical” feel, even though the band originated from New York City.  However one may look at it, Vampire Weekend is extremely talented showing off with their many happy-go-lucky sounding guitar riffs and their odd sounding rhythms playing behind their sweet sounding vocals.  This music is hopefully nothing like you have heard before.  Vampire Weekend takes pride in its’ unique sound and is still rising to musical fame.  I hope you enjoy and maybe you will find room in your music collection for Vampire Weekend!

The first song I will be showing you is called “Cousins” off of the 2010 album “Contra”.

The next song is called “A-Punk” and is featured on the current “Just Dance 2” game.  I put the video from “Just Dance 2” on here so you can dance along to the song if you would like!

A City.... Filled With Owls??

            Would you believe your eyes, if ten million fireflies lit up the world as you fell asleep?  Adam Young the maker of the band Owl City thinks that you would not be able to believe your eyes.  And now humorously, many of you probably have Adam’s hit single “Fireflies” by Owl City floating around in your heads.  J  Adam Young started his musical stylings a few years ago when he lived with his parents at their home in Owantanna, Minnesota.  Young suffered from severe insomnia.  Not being able to sleep, he started to spend his nights in the basement at the computer putting different electronica and other techno-flavorful sounds together.  He eventually started recording his music merely by using his computer and a few keyboards. Once completed, Young uploaded the finished tracks to a Myspace profile.  His debut single of “Hello Seattle” which was released in 2007 received more than six million plays on the web.  Adam’s music was a hit.  He kept his fans happy by releasing a mini album of seven total tracks titled “Of June” after the success of his debut single.  Fans wanted more.  Even though Young was unsigned, that did not stop him from making more music.  In 2008 his album “Maybe I’m Dreaming” came out onto the Myspace scene.  Having two albums topping the Top 20 of the U.S. electronic albums chart brought Adam Young’s creation of Owl City to the attention of musical experts.  Early in 2009, Adam Young was signed to Universal Republic.  He then released his album of “Ocean Eyes” in July of that same year.

            On his new album “Ocean Eyes”, Young sings a duet with Matt Thiessen from the band of Relient K.  This track called “Fireflies” skyrocketed to the top of the charts.  It is also funny if listeners take a closer look at the lyrics to Young’s tracks because a lot of the songs mention him being an “insomniac” and how he “cannot sleep”.  Adam Young takes listeners into a place of their imaginations that they have never gone before.  His lyrics are extremely poetic and are almost as sweet as dreaming.  Owl City became such an overnight sensation that Adam Young has had the privilege of touring around the world.  So, what happened to the quiet kid from Minnesota who cannot sleep?  He is a now a worldwide hit!

This first song that I am going to have you listen to is one of my personal favorites, “Hot Air Balloon”.  This song almost feels like listeners are being placed right alongside Adam Young in one of his imaginative dreams.



            The next song I will introduce you to is called “Tidal Wave”. This song takes listeners along on a journey starting off with a sense of sadness and depression, but then towards the end, things start turning up.  One can also hear Young’s religious feeling in the very end of this song as he sings “…then I was given grace and love, I was blind but now I can see.  ‘Cuz I found a new hope from above, and courage swept over me”.  I hope you enjoy Owl City!



London's (Not So Little) Lion Men...

                This week I have a very special band to introduce to you all.  Mumford and Sons started playing music together in December of 2007.  Starting out in London, England, Marcus Mumford, Country Winston, Ben Lovett, and Ted Dwane are on the journey of living their dreams.  With each new song released, Mumford and Son’s music gets stronger and more meaningful.  Each song tells a personal story and listeners can hear the powerful passion through the band’s voices with each new lyric.  “What we write about is real, and we sing and play our instruments more passionately ‘cause we feel like we need to. We love honest music,” says Winston.  The harmonies being sung and the various types of instruments these musicians play make for some really entertaining music.  These guys are extremely talented!  Their next show will be in London, but Americans can catch them in Indio, California on April 16^th and New Orleans, Louisiana on April 29^th.  Other concert dates after these can be found on the Mumford and Sons website, http://www.mumfordandsons.com/.  Check them out, and then go buy their album Sigh No More.  Q Magazine once said about this album, “A record that swings from arresting fragility to hearty dynamics.”  You will not be disappointed!

     The first single on Sigh No More, “Little Lion Man,” is already being boasted as “The Hottest Record In The World” by Radio 1′s Zane Lowe, and the band has been longlisted for the BBC Sounds Of 2008 Poll, which features the most promising new music talent.  This single does drop the “F-bomb” a few times in the chorus, but if listeners can get past this use of foul language, I am sure their ears will be pleased.

     Some of my other favorites include "The Cave" and "Winter Winds".  Here is "After the Storm".