25/6/15 - One Of The Greats: Michael Jackson

So a few days ago I was listening to some one of the greats, Michael Jackson. I was listening to some of his best hits including Smooth Criminal, Bad and Human Nature. It made me think, what would've happened if he hadn't have died? Imagine the incredible music that would've been made... Love Never Felt So Good was only a small image of what music would've been like.



MJ was one of the greatest musicians of all time. My favourite songs of his are Black or White, Billie Jean, Scream, P.Y.T and Wanna Be Startin' Something.

Today is, sadly, the 6 year anniversary of when he died which is why I'm posting about him and his incredible music.

Michael Joseph Jackson was born August 29 1958 in Gary, Indiana. Michael grew up with three sisters (Rebbie, La Toya, and Janet) and five brothers (Jackie, Tito, Jermaine, Marlon, and Randy). A sixth brother, Marlon's elder twin Brandon, died shortly after birth. In 1965, Michael and Marlon joined the Jackson Brothers—a band formed by their father and which included brothers Jackie, Tito, and Jermaine—as backup musicians playing congas and tambourine. In 1966, Jackson began sharing lead vocals with his older brother Jermaine, and the group's name was changed to the Jackson 5. He later ended up having a solo career and being named The King Of Pop.

So today we commemorate The King Of Pop, Mr Michael Joe Jackson.

-J

20/6/15 - My Chemical Romance, Digital Daggers and Daughter

Three of my favourite artists at the moment are My Chemical Romance, an American rock band formed in 2001 in New Jersey made up of  Gerard Way, Matt Pelissier, Ray Toro, Mikey Way, Frank Iero, Bob Bryar and James Dewees; Digital Daggers, an American-Canadian contemporary duo made up of former Memento guitarist Jason Smith and Andrea Wasse and Daughter, an English indie-rock group made up of Elena Tonra, Igor Haefeli and Remi Aguilella.

A little bit of info about each group.

My Chemical Romance

The American rock band were formed in New Jersey, USA in 2001. They first signed with Eyeball records and released their debut album I Brought You My Bullets, You Brought Me Your Love in 2002. Later in 2004, after signing to Reprise Records the previous year, they released their second album, Three Cheers for Sweet Revenge. In 2006 the band eclipsed their previous success with their 2006 concept album, Black Parade. Their fourth studio album, Danger Days: The True Lives of the Fabulous Killjoys, was released on November 22, 2010, to positive reviews. The band's final release was a series of singles, released over the course of five months, collected on the compilation Conventional Weapons. The band announced its break-up on March 22, 2013, one month after the final release in the Conventional Weapons series. A greatest hits collection entitled May Death Never Stop You was released on March 25, 2014.


Digital Daggers

After the split of the band Memento in 2007, guitarist Jason 'Space' Smith and Canadian singer Andrea Wasse joined together in 2009 and formed the contemporary duo, Digital Daggers. Their songs have been featured in The Vampire Diaries, Pretty Little Liars, Teen Wolf and CSI: NY. In late 2010 Digital Daggers had the single of the week, No Easy Way, which gained over 150,000 downloads to promote the release of the debut digital EP Human Emotion. 11 June 2013 saw the release of their debut full length album Close Your Eyes released by Los Angeles based indie label El Camino Media.

Daughter

Daughter is a European indie folk band from England. Fronted by North London native Elena Tonra they were formed in 2010 after the addition of Swiss-born guitarist Igor Haefeli and drummer Remi Aguilella from France. They have released two EPs and one album. The band released their debut album, If You Leave, in March 2013. It was received favourably in the press; "An album as beautifully conceived as If You Leave is one you follow from start to finish, riveted by the story it weaves and the emotion it bleeds. And in these digital days that feels like a remarkable achievement" Drowned in Sound said in their review of the album. Daughter also won Independent Album of the Year for If You Leave at the 2013 AIM Independent Music Awards in London. Their songs have been used in Teen Wolf, Arrow and Forever.

My Top 3 songs from these 3 bands are:

• The Devil Within - Digital Daggers
• Welcome To The Black Parade- MCR
• Love - Daughter

-J

6/6/15 - Artists That Don't Get As Much Recognition As They Should

So in this post, I'm gonna talk about artists that don't get as much recognition as they should, hence the title. So I guess I think these artists don't get much recognition because I do find some very obscure musicians.

Mario Jefferson 'Cadillac'

Some of them include King The Kid, a rock/pop band that sadly, recently split up; Mario Jefferson who I have mentioned in previous posts, he recently brought out a new single, Cadillac, which is incredible; Anthony Starble who wrote one of my favourite songs, We Need To Be Loved. I bet you don't know any of the three artists right? Well all of these musicians are extraordinarily talented and have some marvellous music but don't get recognised for it. Another example of that is Lea Michele... She is only known for acting and hardly known for her amazing music. Battlefield, You're Mine, Thousand Needles, all amazing song and hardly anyone knows them. Then there are the Youtubers turned singers: Trevor Moran, Ricky Dillon, Troye Sivan and as of a few weeks ago, Joey Graceffa. They all have amazing music that not many people know. Just because a musician/singer/band doesn't have loads of subscribers and aren't at the top of the charts, doesn't mean their music isn't good. In my opinion, it is usually better than the music in the charts.

King The Kid (Early 2014)

You should really check out some of the music I talked about. It is all amazing.

-J

4/6/15 - Top 5 New Songs Of The Week, MTV Crashes and Musicals

So let's start with MTV Crashes Plymouth. So far only 2 acts have been announced, Tinie Tempah and Jess Glynne. Personally, I don't think it's going to be very good with Jess Glynne. She's not terrible but I just can't like her music.

Anyway, in the introduction it stated that this blog would have music for everyone so lets go with some musicals? Well, there are so many to choose from to talk about so let's start with some classics that everyone will know. Grease? Wicked? Mamma Mia? Some of my favourite songs from Grease are Beauty School Drop Out and There Are Worse Things I Could Do. From Wicked, For Good and Popular. Then there are the ones that people have heard of but don't really know.. West Side Story, Rent, Funny Girl. All incredible. America from West Side Story, Seasons Of Love from Rent, Don't Rain On My Parade and My Man from Funny Girl are all some amazing songs.
Then there are some new ones that most people will not have heard of: Hedwig and The Angry Inch, GiGi and Finding Neverland. Some previous Hedwig and The Angry Inch actors are Neil Patrick Harris and John Cameron Mitchell with the current Hedwig being played by Darren Criss. GiGi first opened in 1973 on Broadway and sadly 103 shows later closed but it did win a Tony Award. It later re-opened for a West End run in 1985 and did a lot better. It has now had a second revival, on Broadway with Vanessa Hudgens playing GiGi. Finding Neverland was first shown in Leicster in 2013 with music by Gary Barlow, next was Cambridge in 2014 and now its open on Boradway being led by Matthew Morrison and Laura Michelle Kelly.
You really should check out the soundtracks for all of them productions because they are all incredible.

Okay so my top 5 new songs of the week are:

• Where Are Ü Now by Jack Ü ft Justin Bieber
• Want To Want Me - Jason Derulo
• Flashlight by Jessie J
• Hey Mama by David Guetta ft Nicki Minaj and Afrojack
• All Cried Out by Blonde ft Alex Newell

3/6/15 - Demi Lovato, Anthony Starble, Pitch Perfect 2 and Rihanna Vs. Beyonce

So one of my current favourite female artists is Demi Lovato. I bet when I say that name you think Disney right? Well, no. Demi is really not Disney. After struggling with bipolar and eating disorders, Demi's music is pure emotion. Some songs like Skyscraper and Warrior actually made me cry. I seriously recommend you listen to Heart By Heart.

The acoustic version of Anthony Starble's We Need To Be Loved is another song that made me cry. It's so true. The lyrics are

And why isn't the love that we have for ourselves, enough?
And why is it that we need to be held when our lives, get rough?

And it really made me think. Why isn't the love that we have for ourselves enough? Why do we need someone else's love? Why can't we just love ourselves and that be enough?

Away from the previous depressing-ness of We Need To Be Loved, who was seen Pitch Perfect 2? I swear Anna Kendrick, Brittany Snow and Rebel Wilson get better with everything they are in. The music was so good. Flashlight by Jessie J, the campfire version of Cups, the Timber/Wrecking Ball mash-up. It was all so amazing. And Hailee Steinfeld was in it! The only thing missing was a Rihanna song.

Speaking of Rihanna, I currently have an addiction to her music. Umbrella, Stay, Unfaithful, Diamonds, Only Girl... All of them are so amazing. So is her new stuff, FourFiveSeconds and Bitch Better Have My Money.

Also in Pitch Perfect 2, was some of  Beyoncé's Run The World (Girls). There seems to be this Rihanna Vs. Beyoncé thing and I don't get how people can choose between. I mean come on, its Queen B or RiRi. Like, Beyoncé has Halo and If I Were A Boy and Single Ladies and Rihanna has the songs I mentioned previously. You really cannot choose between two amazing singers. It'd be like Britney Spears or Madonna. Drake or Jay-Z. Slipknot or Metallica. You just can't choose. It's not an option. Both of them are so incredibly talented and beautiful and phenomenal.

Anyway, congrats to Kimye on their second baby and can I just give a shoutout to Caitlyn Jenner? I am so impressed and proud to have followed her from being long haired Bruce, to telling Kendall, Kylie, Khloe, Kris, Kourtney, Scott and Kim, to where she is now so yeah! Go Caitlyn Jenner. Also, who watched the Pretty Little Liars season 6 premier? I'm so ready for the #summerofanswers

-J