Taste Of Music

It seems like the indie and alternative music trend has really taken off this year and previously unknown bands have been striking gold Stateside as well as in Europe. It really shouldn’t be much of a surprise; the talent that has emerged from the likes of Phoenix, Florence and the Machine, and Passion Pit is enough to make anyone swoon. I mean, Arcade Fire and Bon Iver were the last two winners of the Album of the Year Grammy! This genre of music is definitely here to stay. Maybe they’re not household names yet, but I think that’s what they want. These artists are striving to deliver good music, plain and simple.

I suppose this music has always been around, with older bands like MGMT and Kings of Leon causing loads of buzz on the music scene several years back. It just goes to show that avid indie fans will always find emerging talent somewhere, even if their favorite tracks will more than likely never grace a mainstream radio station.

If you’re a fan of MGMT, maybe you’ll enjoy this track by The Naked and the Famous:

Article By:
Krystal Lau

Nicki Minaj has just released a new single with Chris Brown off of her album Pink Friday: Roman Reloaded but that doesn’t mean she’s wasting any time picking out the one that follows! And like anyone who is unsure of their next move, Nicki has decided to turn to fans for their opinions! She asked fans to share their preferences via Twitter to help her decide on her next single. And looking at the polls, it seems like Va Va Voom is on top of the dance tracks, while Marilyn Monroe is dominating the other more mellow tracks. It definitely looks like a clever way to deliver exactly what fans want.
Here, decide for yourself:

Article by:
Krystal Lau

If you love the hit Gotye track, “Somebody That I Used to Know”, you might remember the other artist featured in his quirky music video, Kimbra. Her Australian based roots bring a different dynamic of music to our neck of the woods.

Even though she debuted in 2010 with her first album, “Vows” (which was first released mainly in New Zealand and Australia) she has only just started cropping up on our radios. Her take on pop is difficult to define, but it creates an interesting sound, different from anyone else around us. As her single, “Settle Down” starts off with some acapella vocals and hand clapping to set the tone for her rhythmically charged verses. “Settle Down” combines a jazzy bass, melodic harmonies and rhythmic layers accompanied with an incredible vocalist which creates a very nice track to listen to.

Article by:
Bryan Vallejo

Wiz Khalifa seems to be making all the headlines these days with new tracks coming out left and right. He will make a debut performance of his new single, “Work Hard, Play Harder” during the 2012 MTV Movie Awards on June 3rd. But that’s not the only track he’s working on; it has recently been confirmed that he will collaborate with rapper 50 Cent on an upcoming track. There’s no doubt that he’s talented, and it shows with his win at this past Sunday’s Billboard Music Awards for “Top New Artist.” The vote was only questioned because of the fact that Wiz isn’t quite the new kid on the block but who’s really checking the calendar anyway?

Article by:
Krystal Lau

If you haven’t heard this song yet, DO IT NOW! We Run The Night was Havana Brown’s debut song that became a hit in Australia last year which made it to the number 5 spot and was certified triple platinum by the Australian Recording Industry Association (ARIA). Born Angelique Meunier, Havana signed with Island Records in 2008, leading to an album of remixes and tours with huge industry names such as Britney Spears, Rihanna, the Pussycat Dolls, Chris Brown and Enrique Iglesias. Following the success of We Run The Night, Havana Brown signed with US Universal Republic under RedOne (Lady GaGa’s recording label) and mixed with rapper (a pretty unoriginal one, at that) Pitbull and has reached the number one spot in the US Hot Dance Song list. Find out why!

Article By:
Katie Campo

Not often we can listen to indie music that can shine brighter than most songs we listen to. But this song may not be as popular as the rest but hopefully that will change because of its sweet melody, great use of the score soundtrack from the video-game Franchise, “Mass Effect”. Indie artist Malukah has made many videos and performed at a few shows, but most of her music is a tribute to what she loves, video games. That is great, especially because she have a great fan base to appreciate her music. In this song alone, she tells the struggle of a fictional character to overcome an impossible task, to never fail. The lyrics may be short, but they’re strong and her great selection of the game’s score used for the game makes this song so sweet to listen to.

Mass Effect 3 is out now on PS3, Xbox 360 and PC.

Article by:
Bryan Vallejo

Finally we see the music video release of Rihanna’s song, “Where have you been”. This is a good start for her this year. Her music has hit its low, but for things are looking up for her. I can’t wait to see what she plans to do for the rest of this year, but I hope to see more music videos like this for the rest of 2012.

Article by:
Bryan Vallejo