Year 5, Day 232

Hey Today's song is Torches by X Ambassadors.

I'm running behind today so I'm going to try and make this short and sweet. These guys are a New York rock band and are currently made up of Sam Harris, Casey Harris, and Adam Levin. They've been active since 2009 and started out simple as the Ambassadors (I don't know why the X) and while they had been around and done touring with Lights it wasn't until Imagine Dragons found one of their songs and got a label to bring them in. The band officially debuted under the new name in 2013 followed by a spot touring with Imagine Dragons. The next year they released an EP, then once again toured with the other group, but also toured with Panic! At The Disco as well. They've been releasing music pretty steadily since and have been featured recently by some rappers which is odd, but good for their career. No news on this year yet, but I imagine these guys will be sticking around.

Peace.

Year 5, Day 231

Hello everyone. So today's song is Broken Bones by CRX.

This is an American rock band from LA who has been active since 2013.  Members include Ralph Alexander, Richie Follin, Jon Safley, Nick Valensi and Darian Zahedi. This band is actually considered a side project of Valensi who is also in the Strokes. That group has five albums, but since this is relatively new, they only have one which came out in 2016 that you can check out if you like the song, but that's about it for now. Keep an eye on them for new stuff because I'm sure it'll be on the way.

Peace.

Year 5, Day 230

Hi. Today I give you Blood On My Name by The Brothers Bright.

This is another band I can't find a lot of information on. I honestly can't even find out where they're from so if you guys can find out anything let me know. For now though how about a little update on my life. My sister has slipped into wedding mode. In the last week she's gone from someone who doesn't want to talk about her wedding to wanting it all planned and done by the end of next year. She even booked stuff. 0 to 60 in 0.4 seconds. Any advice on dealing with bridezilla's send it my way because I think I may need it soon.

Peace.

Year 5, Day 229

Morning! So today's song is Smoke Rings by Royal Tusk.

These guys are a Canadian band from Edmonton. The group is made up of Daniel Carriere, Sandy MacKinnon, Quinn Cyrankiewicz, and Calen Stuckel. There isn't any official history for the band so I'm going to use some deductive reasoning skills to give you a little something. So their YouTube channel was started in 2014 meaning they've been a band at least that long, but the debut album popped up in 2016. They have an EP called Mountain and an album called Dealbreaker. They've been playing shows around Canada recently and hopefully they'll get big enough in the industry that you guys will all get to see them. For now, this will have to do.

Peace.

Year 5, Day 228

Hi. Today I give you Bury Me Face Down by Grandson.

I already did a career overview of this guy in April so I'm not going to do it again. I can't believe I'm putting two songs by the same artist in the same two month span, but this song is just really good and I wanted to show it to you guys. Plus it's kind of been my obsession today with my brain having it's opening verse on repeat in my brain so it's fate at this point.I hope you like it, I know I do.

Peace.

Year 5, Day 227

Hey. So today's song is Periscope by Papa Roach featuring Skylar Grey.

Papa Roach is an American band formed in 1993. Their name comes from the nickname of one of the member's grandfather who had committed suicide after being diagnosed with a terminal illness. By 1999 they had released six EP's before gaining the attention of record labels. They produced a demo for one label who hated it, but then a different label picked it up and they've been making music and touring ever since. Fun Fact: one of the music videos was born out of the ideas of a member's son who was clearly on a zombie kick. Bonus points to you guys if you figure out which song I'm talking about. Skylar Grey is the stage name for Holly Brook Hafermann who has been active since 2004, but only known under that pseudonym since 2010. She's one of those musicians who's kind of all over the place. She has her own albums, but she's also been featured a lot in other people's music, stepped into bands for touring , and has written some pretty notable songs for other artists. I honestly don't know where to even start with her career because there is just so much. I guess we start with when her name changed. The first thing she did under this moniker was co-write Love The Way You Lie which ended up being sung by Eminem and Rihanna. After that she was signed to a label and co-wrote music for a couple other rappers before being featured on a song by Dr. Dre. She released a single in 2011 and then got featured on a bunch of other people's songs and did performances of those. Her career so far is kind of like a game of wack a mole where you wait to see where she's going to pop up next. It's really cool that's she's getting around, but also confusing to write about. Look into it more if you're curious, but I think I'm going to leave it at that for now.

Peace.

Year 5, Day 226

Morning. So today's song is Creep by Radiohead.

This one is an ode to my entire family who when I asked for suggestions of which artists to showcase all suggested Radiohead. I don't know what that says about them, and I've never been super big on this band, but hey why not right? So they are an English rock band around since the 80's. Originally the called themselves On A Friday as a nod to their usual rehearsal time while they were in school, but they changed it when their label asked them to. They were signed in 1991 and released this song, which became viral around the world and increased their popularity by a huge margin also worldwide by the third album in 1997. This song is one of the ones I know best thanks to rock band and my truly sad attempts to sing to it. These guys had a pretty solid lock on the sound of the 90's, but once the millennium hit they changed their sound, with each album since exploring something different than before. And they are still going strong doing a tour this year, so good on them. I don't know why I never got into them, everyone else is. I mean if memory serves I think one of my teachers used a Radiohead stamp in my yearbook... I might have to check and see if I'm right. Anyway this song is good, and I hope if you like it you'll check out more.

Peace.

Year 5, Day 225

Hiya. So today's song is Spirits by The Strumbellas.

These guys are a Canadian band from Ontario and have been active since 2008. The members include Simon Ward, David Ritter, Jon Hembrey, Isabel Ritchie, Darryl James, and Jeremy Drury. Their EP came out in 2009 and got them some pretty positive press, leading to a regular gig and the Cameron House in Toronto. In 2010 they got invited to do performances at other venues and festivals so they spent most of that time on a kind of mini tour. 2011 was (I assume) for writing and their album was released in 2012. They released it independently and got nominated for a Juno. That traction got them a record deal and they ended up releasing another album by 2013. While they were nominated for the Junos the year before, with the second album they won the same category the following year. This song is from their third album which was released in 2016 followed by an international tour and another Juno for this song specifically. I heard this on my drive home the other day and it reminded me of how much I love the song so I really wanted to get it on here. Hope you like it.

Peace.

Year 5, Day 224

Hi everyone. So today's song is Wiser by Old Man Canyon.

This is an alternative band that's been around since 2012. It's the brainchild of Jett Pace who is a Vancouver native and I guess is still based there so Canadian band for the win! The music has gotten a lot of screen time being featured in TV shows across the channels which has garnered him success. He apparently makes the music videos with his friends, and has an album set to come out some time this year. This song is from the first EP from 2014, so if you like it you can follow the progression from there. Good luck!

Peace.

Year 5, Day 223

Hello. So today I give you Home by Tall Ships.

These guys were an English indie rock band active from 2008 to 2017 and made up of Ric Phethean, Matt Parker, Jamie Bush, and James Elliot Field. They formed the band in college, and got signed and was releasing music by 2010. BBC gave them a lot of exposure with radio play and went on the headline a lot of festivals in 2012. They've been labeled a lot as a math rock band (despite identifying themselves as indie) because of their label and bands they associated with. I didn't know math rock was a thing, but apparently it's progressive rock with the term coined in the 80's. After their festival stint in 2012 the band disappeared for a couple years, going to pay their dues since the music scene wasn't really sustaining what they needed. They popped back up in 2015, signed with a new label in 2016 and switched their sound to be more indie than before, and released a new album. They had been writing another album in 2017 according to one of the members, but rather than getting that out the band decided to disband permanently. I mean who knows, they may come back again... it hasn't been that long, but I guess we'll see down the line.

Peace.

Year 5, Day 222

Evening people. Today's song is Dear Daughter by Halestorm.

So these guys are an American rock band active since 1997 and made up of Lzzy Hale, Arejay Hale, Joe Hottinger, and Josh Smith. In 1997 the siblings started writing and performing music when they were kids, then released an EP in 1999. It wasn't until 2003 that it formed into a band with Joe joining and then Josh the next year. They were signed in 2005, released an EP in 2006 (which is apparently unfindable now) and a debut album in 2009.They continued to solidly release music, releasing a live CD in 2010, an EP in 2011, and both and EP and an album in 2012. After that they joined Bullet For My Valentine, which is another band I've shown you a long way back, on their tour. In 2013 they became the first female fronted band to win in the Best Hard Rock/Metal Performance category. They've continued to make music since then, with this song being one of their most recent additions so if you like it you can look up their other stuff.

Peace.

Year 5, Day 221

Hi guys. So today's song is Get It Right by Lea Michele.

Considering I was talking about Lea on yesterday's post I figured I could feature her today since I've had this song saved. It's not a very upbeat song and would probably be wrong for competition in the context the the show puts it in, but it was one of the first original songs in the series and really made an impact at the time. It gets all the more heartbreaking every time I remember that Lea and Corey were a couple in real life until his death. She's at least found happiness again so I'm happy for her. I know there are a lot of people that get tired of her "Barbra-ing around" but honestly she's a Broadway star so the belt is a way of life. Anyway I thought this one was fitting for today.

Peace.

Year 5, Day 220

Hiya. Today's song is Paradise By The Dashboard Light by Meatloaf.

Meatloaf is a singer that I was actually first introduced to by my mom. I didn't like it, and I forgot about it. Then I discovered Rocky Horror Picture Show and I fell in love with it, only to realize Meatloaf was in it, so I started to look him up. His real name is Marvin Lee Aday who has been active since the 60's. His first band was called Meat Loaf Soul, and when recording he hit a high note that broke the recording equipment, which earned him three different recording contracts, all of which he turned down. The band did many gigs and went through different names and guitarists during that time before Meatloaf decided to join the production of Hair a few times. After that he appeared in Rocky Horror, then focused on his Bat Out of Hell album for the next couple of years. He has a huge career and I can't cover it all, but you can get a pretty good discography from the Bat out of Hell saga that continues through his career. Recently he's been on the cast of a new show I like and I was very proud that I'm the only one in my family who realized it was him. Oh, and the name Meatloaf came from his high school football coach who called him that because of his weight. Rude, but he took ownership of that name and made a career out of it, so good for him. I like this song, but I actually like remakes of it more. One in particular that made an impact was the one from Glee (I know, choir nerd popping up again) I think it's mostly just the way Lea gets introduced in the number. They make it very powerful. You can see what I mean here if you're interested.

Peace.

Year 5, Day 219

Hi guys. Today's song is Sweet City Woman by The Stampeders.

This is another Canadian rock band, but this one apparently started in my hometown. Currently they are a trio made up of Rich Dodson, Ronnie King, and Kim Berly. When they started in the sixties though there were five of them, and went by the name The Rebounds. They switched to this name in 1965 and became a trio by 1968. This song came out in 1971 and got them some Juno awards and sold really well. They had another huge hit five years later, but then broke up in 1977. They apparently reunited though before I was born for the 1992 Stampede and have been touring since. I love learning that well known bands are from my home, it makes me proud. And considering where they're from the band name makes a lot more sense. So now I can add this one to the list, and hopefully the song will bring you guys a little joy.

Peace.

Year 5, Day 218

Evening everybody. So today's song is I Still Haven't Found What I'm Looking For by U2.

U2 is a pretty famous band so we'll do just a brief overview. They're from Ireland and have been around since the 70's. The band is currently made up of Bono (Paul Hewson), The Edge (David Evans), Adam Clayton, and Larry Mullen Jr. The band with its original members formed in their teens and started with the name Feedback because it was one of the only technical terms they knew (they were novice players at this point which they decided didn't matter). After the first gig they changed their name to The Hype which stuck for a year before Steve Averill gave them some new name suggestions and they decided on U2. They didn't gain international success until the 80's and had a successful first album. By the 90's they were messing with their sound, having faced a blow from critics and the band had mixed feelings about the change. The decade of experiment had it's ups and downs and by the time the 2000's rolled around they decided to simplify their sound to go back to basics. By now the band has become legend, and there is so much music from them to listen to. They also have done a lot of activism so if you're curious you can look that up too.

Peace.

Year 5, Day 217

Hey. Today's song is Hey, Soul Sister by Train.

I shown you this band multiple times so no overview for you. Which leaves me at quite a loss as to what to talk about because my life really isn't that interesting and nothing much has changed. I gave the url to this bog to my mom recently which as you guys probably know I was freaking out about. I decided to just do it and let the chips fall where they may because if I can say it on the internet, I should be prepared to say it to everyone else. It would be easier though if I knew everything I've said over the years because I've grown up a hell of a lot. Regardless what's done is done, so maybe one day we'll do a guest post from her to make her a little more welcome. We'll see.

Peace.

Year 5, Day 216

Hello everybody. Today's song is She's So High by Tal Bachman.

 Talmage Charles Robert Bachman has been active since 1992 and this is his most notable song. It's a 90's hit and has been used in about a million pop culture creations so even is you don't know the artist, you probably know the song. He's a Canadian, which I didn't know, from Winnipeg. He released his first album in 1999 which featured this song and won two Juno awards, then released his second album in 2004. He's been pretty inactive on the music front since then, but has been active in other ways. He's a political commentator sometime using his political science degree, and has been featured in a lot of religious documentaries because of his relationship with faith. He's also a legacy musician, his dad being in not one but two very well known Canadian bands that I frankly was shocked to find he has a connection to. I might feature them at a later date, but if you're curious now you can look up The Guess Who and Bachman–Turner Overdrive. Tal hasn't had new music in more than a decade, but he did pop up at a Taylor Swift concert in 2011 to remind us he's still here. So who knows what'll happen.

Peace.

Year 5, Day 215

Afternoon. So today's song is One Foot by Walk The Moon.

I had a different song picked out for today only to realize I'd done it a previous year so instead I dug into my ongoing list of music (which is so large, I don't know how I'm going to get through it all) and grabbed this one. It's a lot more upbeat than the other one I had and it's already having an effect on my mood. I love that music has that power. Three solid minutes of tunes and your whole demeanor can change. I'm going to do another song by this band eventually so I'm going to leave of on their life story for now in favor of my typical work vomit. The only thing about the band that I'm going to share that I know without looking up is that they started a tradition of sharing face paint with fans at their show which is pretty cool and gives a kind of ravey vibe to their shows that might be cool to witness in person someday. So keep that in mind for your next concert or festival.

Peace.

Year 5, Day 214

What's Up. Today I give you Gibberish by MAX featuring Hoodie Allen.

So Max is Maxwell George Schneider and I think I've shown him in something before when I talked about Kurt Hugo Schneider (no relation) because before Max really got big in his music career he would do stuff on Kurt's YouTube Channel. Of course I knew him first from his acting career because I grew up with Disney and Nick. Hoodie Allen is a rapper named Steven Markowitz.He started his career as a duo with his childhood friend Samuel Obey, and chose to be called Hoodie because that was his nickname growing up. They stopped making music together in 2010 and started doing his own stuff which got a lot of attention. Since then he's made lots a mixtapes, an EP, a couple of albums and has even done a few acting stints on things like CollegeHumor. This song is the last song (right now) that is from the Just Dance repertoire, so rather than showing you the game footage, I'm going to show you some people actually doing the dance. Enjoy!

Peace.

Year 5, Day 213

Hi guys, so today's song is Imya 505 by Vremya I Steklo.

This group is from the Ukraine and depending on the way the name is written in Russian it either means Time and Glass or Time Has Expired. I don't know the language so I'm going to put them both up there (I think it's the first one though), but either name sounds cool to me. They've been active since 2010 and is made up of Aleksey Zavgorodniy and Nadya Dorofeeva. While these two are the voices, the group was actually made by Irina Gorovoj and Potap as a project for their entertainment company. Potap is a singer, composer and producer named Oleksii Andriiovych Potapenko, and he's the one who's created all the songs for this group. It's an interesting set up that I don't really know what to feel about, but I find it fascinating how other countries approach music creation. I hope you do too. And also once again, this is a dance for it.

Peace.

Year 5, Day 212

Hey, so today's song is Cheap Thrills by Sia featuring Sean Paul.

This is a more well known song, and I do know it from other things, but I love the dance for this one so it gets to be classified along with the other Just Dance tunes. So Sia is Sia Kate Isobelle Furler who is an Australian singer. She started singing in the 90's in Crisp, but when they disbanded in 1997 she moved to London and singing for Zero 7's albums. She was singed in 2000 and started her solo career. She has a successful career since then releasing mega hits and winning awards. Now, I gotta talk about the wig thing. Originally she started wearing wigs because it was a privacy issue after a fan interrupted a really important conversation in her personal life. Then it switched to wigs that fully conceal her face because she wants to have a divide between her image and her, and she hates how scrutinized people are about their looks in the media when being in the public eye. I fully support this and think it's genius and probably great for her mental health. Props to her. Sean Paul Francis Henriques is Jamaican and has been active since 1994. He's been consistently making music, but kind of faded into obscurity after his 90's/00's success and has only recently popped back up mainstream. I'm glad he's back, but I will admit I can't here his voice without thinking about Temperature. I am part of the problem haha. I'm working on it though. And of course, here's the dance.

Peace.

Year 5, Day 211

Hey guys. So today's song is Run The Night by Gigi Rowe.

Gigi is a singer from Miami that is pretty new, her first videos popping up about a year ago. Her official website has everything written in comic book style, which means I can't get her real story considering it says she is a time traveler with a flying car. I'll give her one thing, she's definitely got the aesthetic down. Like promised, here is the dance. See you tomorrow.

Peace.

Year 5, Day 210

Hello everybody. Today's song is Leila by Cheb Salama.

So I can't find a bio about Cheb Salama that I can pull from for you guys, but I did find some information attached to Just Dance that I can share. There also wasn't any music video I could find because it might have been written specifically for the game, so the dance link is the one above. This song is Turkish, so let's give it up for Turkey today! It's the second song by Cheb that the game has featured. The first one was Fatima, which was the first Arabic song they had. From what I can tell Cheb Salama is two people: Sylvain Lux & Ilan Abou, but I can't find any confirmation for that so I may be wrong. Either way I like the song and I thought you would too.

Peace.

Year 5, Day 209

Hi. So today's song is Bang by Anitta.

Anitta is the stage name for Larissa de Macedo Machado and she's a Brazilian singer. I may be wrong, but I think she's the first Brazilian I've featured so let's give it up for Brazil! She's been active since 2010, but has been singing her entire life starting in choirs at a young age. She was discovered through YouTube and got signed, finding success and an even better contract with a couple years. By 2013 she was huge in Brazil and named the artist of the year. She's continued to top charts in her country, but I only just heard about her a year ago so I'm excited for her to branch out into other places. This song is from her 2015 album of the same name, but has done other things since so if you like it check out her other stuff and share it with your friends. And like I promised, here is the dance where I found the song from.

Peace.

Year 5, Day 208

Morning! Today I give you Bailar by Deorro featuring Elvis Crespo.

This song begins a section of songs that I know because of Just Dance. I love the game series and I know everyone else gets it because of the popular songs they know being featured, but honestly it's the less American mainstream songs that are the best on it. Deorro is an American DJ named Erick Orrosquieta (he also used to go by TON!C). He started doing gigs at 14, making his own tracks by 17, and by 2013 he was releasing music on a label. He's been going strong and actually released an album last year. The feature on this song is Elvis Crespo Díaz who has been active since the 80's. He was born in the states, but grew up in Puerto Rico and that's where he joined Grupo Mania, a meringue group. Meringue is a type of music and dance which is very cool. This song is actually a pretty good example of the style mixing with standard club fare. Elvis went solo in 1998 and his debut album was received so well he won album of the year. He's released ten albums since then consistently throughout the years so check him out. And because these songs all came to me from the game I feel it only right to send a link to the dance so you can have a little extra challenge.

Peace.

Year 5, Day 207

What's Up. Today's song is Feel It Still by Portugal The Man.

I almost forgot about this song, but luckily it popped up on my YouTube recommended.  These guys have been active since 2004 and despite the name, are actually from Alaska. Apparently there are two meanings for the band name. First because they didn't want to name the group after any one member they decided to go with a country which is a group of people and that was just the first one that came to mind. The period separates it, and the man part refers to any member of the band, essentially the individual. But apparently the name was also going to be the title of a book one member was planning to write about his father. So currently the members are John Gourley, Zachary Carothers, Kyle O'Quin, Eric Howk, Jason Sechrist, and Zoe Manville. There are lots of previous members so I'm not going to list them, but you can look them up. They ended up moving to Portland to record their music, and have since released eight albums, this song coming from one of their more recent works. So if you like it there's lots more to check out.

Peace.

Year 5, Day 206

What's Up. So today's song is 1 Night by Mura Masa and Charlie XCX.

Mura Masa is a 22 year old DJ named Alexander Crossan who has been active since 2014. This is the only song that I know him from, but he has done other stuff and is pretty multi-talented considering how many instruments he can play. This song is one of the more recent works he's done, saying he sent the beat to a lot of people and then Charlie did her thing. Charlie of course is Charlotte Emma Aitchison who has been active since 2008. She started out on Myspace which got her a couple of rave gigs. That's when she started going by Charlie XCX which was her msn name. Anybody remember msn? No, just me? I used that shit until it died. She was signed in 2010, and then immediately took a break from the industry. She did come back though and has since been involved in some pretty popular songs. So that's it for today, hope you like it.

Peace.

Year 5, Day 205

Hey. Today I give you Work From Home by Fifth Harmony featuring Ty Dolla $ign.

I chose this song today because I just heard it used as an alarm tone on my sister's phone. Odd choice, but it gave me some inspiration. I will admit that when Camilla broke off from the rest of the group, I assume the four would do better than the one, but I have been proven wrong. Obviously Havana took the world by storm while the other four didn't do as well. The group is split up now, all of them choosing to go in alone as of this year. It started on X-Factor in 2012 when all the girls auditioned solo and were cut, then they got put together. It's the same way One Direction and Little Mix were formed. This song is from their second studio album and features Tyrone William Griffin, Jr... known by his rapper name Ty$. He's a rapper that's been active since 2006, and is technically a legacy because his father (who shares his name) was actually a musician too. He was in the band Lakeside, so growing up Ty$ got to rub elbows with the likes of Prince and Earth, Wind, and Fire. I don't like rap or his stuff, but I like this song and if rap is your thing, then maybe he will be too.

Peace.

Year 5, Day 204

Hello. Today's song is Sexy And I Know It by LMFAO.

You guys should all already know LMFAO because Party Rock Anthem blew up worldwide, but in case you don't it's two guys RedFoo and SkyBlu who are related to each other. They started in 2006 and actually stopped making music together in 2012 because they felt like they'd been doing it for too long. There was no major falling out or anything they essentially just got bored. In 2015 though, they popped back out of anonymity to sue a brewery for a beer labeled LMFAO. They claimed copyright infringement and it was settled out of court, but I find the entire thing ridiculous. Sure these guys used it as a name, but it was a saying first. They didn't come up with it, they can't fault the world for using it. Anyway that's my two cents on the matter. What are yours?

Peace.

Year 5, Day 203

Hi guys. So today's song is Tik Tok by Kesha.

Sorry I'm almost late. I forgot that I didn't have one set up and scheduled for today and by the time I remembered I was already driving and on my way to my grandparents which I just got home from. It accidentally turned into an impromptu family get together with all me immediate family except one of my uncles showing up at the same time. On the plus side with all the help we managed to finish the ridiculously hard puzzle we'd been working on this last week. So sorry for the word vomit that has absolutely nothing to do with the song but I only have about ten minutes before I'm late so this is what you get.

Peace.