New single hit the Internet today, new album soon. This song went viral today. I wonder how much the label spent on marketing this single. It’s awesome to see a song take off on the Internet.. can’t wait to hear more stuff.
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**Explicit Language**
This song leaked online and went viral. There is a good chance it’ll get pulled from YouTube so listen while you can and duuuude Kanye has come a long way since his early stuff. The last minute of the song is garbage but the first part is good. I dunno, I know lyrically it sucks but I am a fan of hip hop of Kanye. He does stuff with music that is different and his rhymes are sick.
Read MoreThis song recently got performed at a show and not much more has been said about the single. If it’s something new off an upcoming album. It’s alright pretty much the same formula as Sigh No More. I will say that honest music sells people latch on to that and that is the one of the main reasons why Mumford has been successful.
Read MoreThe new album comes out December 6th and has already leaked online. This is one album I have been looking forward too. I really got into the Black Keys with Brothers and was a casual fan before then, but I have always really dug the blues/rock vibe.
Read MoreFive Iron Frenzy is BACK!
Yesterday they made this announcement:
We can’t believe it has actually been 8 years ago today that we rocked out with you at the Fillmore in Denver, on a snowy evening as we celebrated our last show. Now, all these years (and marriages and kids) later we feel the desire to write new material and make a record!
The band made their goal within the first hour, and currently as of right now they have raised over 80k. If you would like to contribute to their KickStarter account visit their KickStarter Page.
They also released a new song which can be heard above and downloaded here. Expect the new album in 2013!
Read MoreOne of the first recordings to surface since the lost of the Farro Brothers. The lyrics to the song.
“I feel happy, I feel sad, I feel like running through the walls / I’m overjoyed, I’m undecided, I don’t know who I am / Maybe I’m not perfect / At least I’m working on it / 22 is like the worst idea that I have ever had / It’s too much pain, it’s too much freedom, what should I do with this? / It’s not the way you plan it / It’s how you make it happen.”
Read MorePaper Route released a new single called Better Life off their upcoming album The Peace Of Wild Things. You can also stream the new single on Spotify.
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Read MoreUrban Outfitters and M83 teamed up to offer an exclusive album stream of the new record “Hurry Up. We’re Dreaming” out in stores on October 18th. They also have an interview with Anthony Gonzalez of M83 posted online too. Here is an excerpt from the interview found on Urban Outfitter’s website.
Read MoreThe album artwork for your “Midnight City” single is pretty freaky! Can you tell me what inspired the album artwork for the “Midnight City” and Hurry Up We’re Dreaming?
So the cover of “Midnight City” is kind of a crazy looking alien, a sort of mix of owls and E.T. and science fiction and fantasy movies like The Neverending Story. You know when you’re a kid it’s just so fascinating to be traveling through this imaginary world in a movie. I always liked that and I wanted to have that feeling with this album. So, we just asked a prop stylist to make it “crazy alien looking” and I think it works really well. I’m really happy with the cover.
The new record Vice Verses is now officially out! I have been waiting on the release of this record, because I feel that this is some of the best work Switchfoot has done yet. I always felt that Hello Hurricane put Switchfoot back on the map and paved the way for the future of Switchfoot. I also think Vice Verses is a great follow up to the Hello Hurricane. If you have heard the new record or have read anything about it you know one thing that is pretty prevalent with Vice Verses is the sound of the record. This is one of the things that most people have talked about. Tim even mentions it in the interview. This record is more bass and drum driven. Some songs it might be hard to pick up, while others it is pretty obvious. The record still sounds like a Switchfoot record but there are distinct differences that make this record unique. The album deals with the polarity of life, the highs and lows, the beauty in the pain, and ultimately hope. What amazes me is that 15 years later as a band Switchfoot is still making music that is lyrically challenging and sonically amazing. Vice Verses is no exception and if this record is the new sound that Switchfoot is heading in, I think a lot of people will say how their music has stood the test of time.
Below are some of my thoughts about the songs off the new album Vice Verses, if you want to hear my interview with Tim Foreman feel free to click on his name to bring up the audio. In the interview Tim and I talked a lot about his parts on the new record, when they came up with the idea for Vice Verses and his thoughts on some of the songs.
The video is the second part of the interview to understand the full conversation listen to the 1st part and then watch the second.
Afterlife I really like how this song starts off the record. I think Afterlife is characteristic of Switchfoot’s style lyrically. The song talks about action and why wait to make change when you can do something about it now. Why wait for the “afterlife to come alive” when you can do come alive now? I love how this song encourages action.
The Original reminds me of a infectious 60′s funk song that tinkers on the verge of something Jimmy Hendrix would of wrote and smiled about. Lyrically it pushes and challenges people to step outside of their comfort zone to be free. On a side not I could easily see this song in a Gap Commercial, wait I bet this happens.
The War Inside has a play on words that Jon works so well into songs. For example the lyric “every fight comes from the fight within” leaves the person thinking about the context of that statement longer after the song is over. I feel like this is one of the stronger tracks off the album and definitely displays the new sound of Switchfoot. Not only does Jon wrestle with the idea of the war inside but also answers the question ultimately pointing the finger at himself saying “I am the war inside” suggesting that we need to hold ourselves more accountable for our actions.
Restless this is the first balled esq song off Vice Verses and lyrically Restless fits within the context of what Switchfoot is comfortable with. Questioning the unseen, while looking and searching for the answer. The easiest and most honest display of the theme Vice Verses in the record. The idea of longing for something you know your capable of, but yet something you haven’t fully grasped. The idea of hope but for there to be hope there has to be friction. That is restless.
Blinding Light I feel like this is another song that is geared more towards the homeless kids, and our a younger generation. Jon spends the majority of the song talking/singing towards a younger generation.
Selling The News I was really excited to hear this song and I think that it is one of if not my favorite off the cd. A spoken word song from Switchfoot? When I first heard about this I wasn’t sure it was going to work and then I heard it and it does. Selling The News is a song that is about what the title suggests. How the media interprets the facts and spins the story to create something that will sell, and then how we digest it as Truth. Love it.
Thrive is a song that I really identified with on the record, and I have a love hate relationship with it. I love it because the lyrics speak truth to me, which is hard to grasp. This is also a new indication of the sound. More bass driven and rhythm. I love the lyrics “A warm body doesn’t mean I’m alive” and “I want to Thrive not just simply survive.” I get chills listening to that and also get encouraged.
Dark Horses is the first radio single off the new record and is a song about the homeless kids that the Bro-Am helps through Stand Up For Kids. A really great song and Jon talks alot about it in depth in our previous interview we had.
Souvenirs is going to be a sleeper song for me. It doesn’t mean its bad because I like Souvenirs and I think it fits within the theme of Vice Verse ie polarity.
Rise Above It This is another song that relies heavily on the bass and drums and is pretty groovy. Lyrically, it speaks to overcoming adversity. Pretty infectious.
Vice Verses is the title track and the most obvious song dealing with the idea of polarity. This song is the backbone of the record. It was written very early on in the process and almost made Hello Hurricane but the band decided it needed to be on its own record. Thus Vice Verses was born and the theme of polarity and finding beauty in destruction was the central theme for the new record.
Where I Belong Tim Foreman talks alot about this song in our interview and while my perspective has changed on the song since hearing it, I have to agree the song has new meaning. I think I let Tim explain his thoughts on this.
So there we have it, my thoughts on the new Vice Verses record with some commentary from Tim. I already know this will be on my list of top albums for 2011. No questions. I have been lucky enough to chat with both Tim and Jon and can tell they are both genuine people. This is one reason why Switchfoot is different from so many other bands out there, and why they have put out their 8th album which is arguably their best work yet.
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Read MoreLana Del Ray: You Can Be The Boss
Some background info on who Lana Del Ray is and why people love to hate her and her music.
Singles Video Games and Blue Jeans out October 16th
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I am beyond ready for some new Switchfoot. I really feel like this last record Hello Hurricane put Switchfoot back on the map. I think when they went independent, they had some time to regroup, reconfigure, and really get a fresh start. I’ve read some interviews that said the new VV record will be a lot different from anything else Switchfoot has done. Jon mentioned that the album will be a lot more bass and rhythm driven than guitar and will contain some spoken word. The label released a press statement shedding some light into the new record.
“Vice Verses is a record of tension and release. It’s an attempt to describe the polarity of the human experience. The sunlight and shadow. The highs and lows, laughter and pain, hope and fear, doubts and belief,” says lead singer/guitarist Jon Foreman. In title track he writes; ‘Every blessing comes with a set of curses. I got my vices. I got my vice verses.’ So we live in the tension – pulled and stretched thin. Vice Verses is soul music – attempting to get to the heart of the human experience: Living in the tension and turning it into song.”
Vice Verses is the work of a band that is so restless, they devote an entire song (“Restless”) to the condition. It’s that very uneasiness – an unwillingness to choose the treadmill over the triathlon – that fuels the band’s forays into new musical territory and Jon Foreman’s unflinchingly honest lyrics. You can hear the tension build along with the first chords of album opener “Afterlife,” leading into a bold statement of intent: “I’ve tasted fire I’m ready to come alive/I can’t just shut it up and fake that I’m alright/I’m ready now/I’m not waiting for the afterlife….I believe we start forever now.”
Songs like “Afterlife” and “The War Inside” take the harder-edged approach of Hello Hurricane a step further, creating what Billboard has called “powerful, anthemic rockers…like an amalgamation of U2′s ‘Achtung Baby,’ Linkin Park.” Overall, Vice Verses is a more eclectic collection than its predecessor with quiet gems like “Souvenirs” and the title track butting up against the infectious “The Original,” reminiscent of Foo Fighters, and the biting, largely spoken-word “Selling the News.” The latter is a poetry slam Beck-meets-Beastie Boys style examination of a media-mad nation: “America listens the story is told/the hard sell, all caps, all bold…begging the question mongering fears/stroking the eye and tickling ears/the truth ain’t just what it appears/we’re selling the news.”
I am working on a review of Vice Verses and that will be released next Tuesday along with my interview with Tim Foreman, but below is the track listening from VV.
1. Afterlife
2. The Original
3. The War Inside
4. Restless
5. Blinding Light
6. Selling the News
7. Thrive
8. Dark Horses
9. Souvenirs
10. Rise Above It
11. Vice Verses
12. Where I Belong
What do you think?
What are you looking forward to most with this new record?
Do you think it will be as good as Hello Hurricane?
Were you surprised by the fact that they took a new route with their sound?
What questions do you want answered from my interview with Tim?
*Update* ESPN is streaming the entire new album from Switchfoot on their site.
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