Goapele's new album, Break of Dawn, will be released in October. Her label is making the album's first single, "Play" available as a SoundCloud stream, which you can hear below. If you wonder where you've heard Goapele before, her song "Closer" was featured on So You Think You Can Dance in 2006. Her music often [...]
The Veda Rays will release their debut, Gamma Rays Galaxy Rays Veda Rays, on September 20th. The songs on this unusual album were inspired by a series of odd and often tragic events in the lives of the band and their loved ones, including breakups, addictions, homelessness, deaths, legal issues and bizarre roommates. Led by [...]
It's always a nice bonus when a good album also benefits a good cause. Ready for the Sunshine is a charity compilation CD featuring fifteen indie bands from various countries - including Sambassadeur, Au Revoir Simone, Matt Pond PA, Taken by Trees, Jens Lekman, Camera Obscura and The Submarines. All of the album's proceeds will [...]
Muruch's Mid-West reviewer/photographer Jen "Coble" Hopper's love of My Chemical Romance knows no bounds. After her four-part series on MCR's Mid-West Tour last April, Coble still asked to cover the band's set in Milwaukee Tuesday night. My Chemical Romance performed at Marcus Amphitheater as co-headliners of the Honda Civic Tour with Blink182. You can read [...]
Singer-songwriter Rachael Yamagata will release her third studio album, Chesapeake, on October 11th via her own Frakenfish Records. You can download the free, legal mp3 of the new single "Starlight" and watch the video for the song below... Rachael Yamagata - Starlight (mp3)* *mp3 provided by & posted w/ permission of artist's PR rep for [...]
The 2007 independent film Arranged explores the unexpected friendship between two young, female teachers - Rochel (Zoe Lister-Jones) is an Orthodox Jew and Nasira (Francis Benhamou) is Muslim. The DVD's summary implied they bond over their common experience of having marriages arranged for them by their respective families. But in truth the two women are [...]
My excitement for Tori Amos' upcoming album, Night of the Hunters, (which I first posted about in May) has increased immensely after hearing and seeing the new video for "Carry." The pretty ballad - which reminds me of To Venus & Back's "1,000 Oceans" - is the album's finale and finds Tori finally, thankfully returning [...]
This is your last chance to enter to win a copy of Amy LaVere's new cd, Stranger Me. See the giveaway post to enter and read the rules, album review, and download mp3s. The deadline is 9:00 a.m. EST tomorrow, August 19th.
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Oops, I think I missed last week. Oh well. Our previous selection, the Footloose Soundtrack, remains one of my favorite albums of all time. Yes, it is pure 1980s pop - mostly of the over-the-top, cheesy variety. But it is the best of that genre with non-stop, back-to-back catchy pop hits. Kenny Loggin's title track [...]
Ark is former Dead Can Dance frontman Brendan Perry's second solo album and his first studio release in eleven years. Brendan wrote all of the lyrics, played (or programmed) every instrument himself and recorded the album in his own studio in Ireland. Lyrically, the theme of conflict - particularly within politics and war - runs [...]
In case you missed it, I'm giving away a copy of Amy LaVere's new cd, Stranger Me. See the giveaway post to enter and read the rules, album review, and download mp3s. The deadline is this Friday, August 19th.
Mariachi El Bronx are set to transform Mariachi music in the same way as Celtic Punk bands like Flogging Molly and Dropkick Murphys have done traditional Irish music. Formerly known as hardcore punk band The Bronx - despite calling Los Angeles their home - the band changed their name and their signature sound in 2008. [...]
Set for release August 30th, Sonya Cotton's third album, It is so, came to me unexpectedly in a handwritten, pastel green envelope and I don't recall ever having been so profoundly moved by an album. The lyrics read like classic poetry, full of beautiful, nature-evoking imagery and immense sorrow. The album's dedication punctured my heart [...]
The Jayhawks just may be the most likable band of all time. That's not to say that any of their albums are really my all-time favorites, but the irresistable joy and warmth of their music always makes me feel better for having listened to it. The same is true of their new album, Mockingbird Time. [...]
Driftwood Fire will release their debut album, How To Untangle A Heartache on August 23rd. Though Driftwood Fire are billed as an Americana duo comprised of former scientists - singer-guitarist Lynn Scharf and multi-instrumentalist Charlotte Formichella - the two women were joined by several other talented musicians for the recording of How To Untangle A [...]
The Clock is a lesser known Judy Garland film about a couple of strangers caught up in a whirlwind romance in World War II-era New York. Strangers on a Train's Robert Walker stars as a WWII soldier named Joe on leave in NYC, who literally runs into secretary Alice (Garland) in Grand Central Station. Lonely [...]
Correatown's new album, Pleiades, will be released on September 20th. Led by Angela Correa, the L.A. quartet plays a splendid mix of dreamy folk, lo-fi indie rock and electro-pop. This genre-hopping results in a very appealing and extremely diverse range of songs - some tunes could easily fit on an album by The Bird & [...]
Let Alone Sea is the third full-length by Arrica Rose & The ...'s (which is apparently pronounced "The Dot Dot Dots," not The Ellipsis). Set for release on August 22 and described as "part folk, part dream-pop and vintage rock," the album has a sensual and haunting sound that lies somewhere between Elysian Fields and [...]
Muruch and Archer Records are giving away one copy of Amy LaVere's new CD, Stranger Me. You can read my review of the album by clicking here and the contest details are below... The Prize: One winner will receive: 1 Amy LaVere: Stranger Me CD The Rules: Comment to this entry with "Stranger" and your [...]
Muruch
Childish Gambino
The Shins: “September” (b-side of “Simple Song” 7”)
St. Vincent - 'Cheerleader'
OK Go - Needing/Getting - Official Video
Jay-Z & Kanye West - Ni**as In Paris (Explicit)![Niki & The Dove - The Fox [OFFICIAL VIDEO]](http://cdn.elbo.ws/youtube/l2f6UbMnlq4_130.jpg)
Niki & The Dove - The Fox [OFFICIAL VIDEO]
Karmin – “Broken Hearted” and “I Told You So” 2/11 SNL
The Best Whitney Houston Covers: A Tribute
The Weeknd – D.D. (Chi Duly Remix)
