Year 8, Day 153

Hey guys. Today's song is Satisfaction by Benny Benassi. 

Photo from: Gozamos

I have had this song saved with really no way of finding a spot to put it in because it's so weird, but today feels right. Also I find the video for this absolutely hilarious in its ridiculousness. Is it about showing off sexy ladies? Is it an ad for power tools? Both? Are the shots of these women using the tools to break, maim, and destroy things meant to incite lust, wariness, or fear? It's quite the juxtaposition, although maybe I'm overthinking it. Anyway, Benny Benassi is an Italian DJ active since 1985. He started out as a duo called the Benassi Bros with his cousin Alessandro Benassi before donning the moniker KMC and getting some big traction through songs from that. He switched from house to electro and released this song in 2002 which became a huge hit. He released his debut album in 2003 then released two albums as the Benassi Bros featuring his frequent singing collaborators Paul French and Violeta Claudia in 2004 and 2005. He founded his own label also in 2005, then remixed the song Bring the Noise by Public Enemy in 2007 which earned him a Grammy in 2008. Since then he's released three more albums in 2008, 2011, and 2016, and in between that has worked with some big names in the business including Madonna, Anjulie, and John Legend. So while he's most known for this song, he is in no way a one hit wonder. Go check out the other stuff if you're curious.

Peace.

Year 8, Day 152

Hey guys. Today's song is I Like To Move It by Reel 2 Real featuring The Mad Stuntman.

Alright we had a new dance song yesterday, so I thought why not put up an older dance song. Not that this one is really that old, but you can see and feel the generational gap a little bit. So Reel 2 Real was a hip hop music project from Erick Morillo that was active from 1992 until 1997. In that time he released two albums, from 1994 and 1996. He was a DJ and worked with lots of people before abandoning the pseudonym in 1997. This song specifically was done in 1993 with The Mad Stuntman, the moniker for Mark Quashie. The name was inspired by the 80's TV show The Fall Guy. Quashie was born in Trinidad, but lived in New York where he met Morillo and they worked on this song which became a huge hit. He released three albums, in 1994, 1995, and 1996 before he just kind of faded into obscurity. Obviously this song made a comeback mostly thanks to Madagascar so most people are familiar with it again, which makes it interesting that no one knows anyone about wither of the artists. But at least now you know a little bit.

Peace.

Year 8, Day 151

Hey guys. Today's song is Tip Toe by Jason Derulo. 

Photo from: MTV International

This is another song that is on the list because I watched a choreography video and found it good a long time ago, and it's been on my list since then. Obviously there are always lots of different choreo ones, but I linked the specific one I was talking about. So Jason Derulo has been around since 2006 and has released four albums with the first in 2010 and the most recent in 2015. This song was released in 2017, and was on deck with others to be on his next album, but rather than that because it took him so long working on the album when he got around to it he didn't include any of those first songs because they had their time and the EP was now about a certain vibe rather than being big. So his next two parter EP came out with the first part in 2019 and with the second part on deck for 2020, but he left his label before that came to fruition. He also has acting credits, starring in the movie adaption of Cats (which we all wish didn't exist) and is cast as one of the Isley Brothers in an upcoming biopic. He's been releasing music since leaving the label so check that out if you're curious. And yeah we're not gonna talk about the other guy because his list of sexual assault allegations are numerous and he doesn't deserve recognition for anything other than his misconduct and the pain he's brought to the lives of women. I wouldn't even put this song up, but I wanted the chance to showcase that choreography video. So do with it what you will.

Peace.

Year 8, Day 150

Hey guys. Today's song is Think I'm Crazy by Two Feet.

This is the stage name for Zachary Dess, a triple threat singer/songwriter/producer active since 2016. He originally played in jazz and blues ensembles, but adopted this stage name and started making his own music. He got signed after a viral hit on SoundCloud ended up on the US Hot Rock Songs chart. His first album was released in 2018, and since then he has released three more with one coming out every year starting in 2020. Which means he is another artist that released a new album this year for you to check out, so give it a go.

Peace.

Year 8, Day 149

Hey guys. Today's song is El Dorado by Stellar.

Alright, so Stellar doesn't have an official bio to work off of, but his YouTube has been around since 2014, and it has a little mini bio on it, so I'm going to post that for you guys so you have a bit of information from the man himself. "His career launched on August 6th, 2019 with the release of his debut mixtape Bipolar. Almost a year later Stellar established himself as an upcoming artist with the release of his breakout Dark Pop single Ashes." He's got a lot of music on his page and everything I've heard so far is really good so hopefully you'll check him out. 

Peace.

Year 8, Day 148

Hey guys. Today's song is In The Mirror by The Interrupters.

The Interruptors are a ska punk band active since 2011 and made up of Aimee Interrupter, Kevin Bivona, Justin Bivona, and Jesse Bivona. So Aimee Interruptor is a moniker for Aimee Allen who was originally a solo artist, who met the guys when they were in a band called Telacasters in 2009. Kevin and Aimee started writing, and the other brothers were brought in to play until the band was born. They started off touring with a bunch of groups and playing at some festivals before getting involved in the Tim Timebomb and Friends projects and joining his touring group. Their debut album was released in 2014, followed by a tour and another album in 2016. They released their third album in 2018, which is where this song is from. Fun Fact: All of their albums were produced by Tim Armstong from the Tim Timebomb project earlier in their career. In 2019 they were the cover of Keiiang! magazine, and they were joined on tour by Billy Kottage from Reel Big Fish as a featured musician. Plus they have a new album out this year so go check that one out, because they are a really good band.

Peace.

Year 8, Day 147

Hey guys. Today's song is Informer by Snow.

Snow is Darrin O'Brien, a Canadian reggae singer active since 1989. Growing up he was fascinated by the "gangster lifestyle" and got in with an Irish-Canadian group, getting into a lot of trouble. He dropped out of school in the 9th grade, then encountered an influx of Jamaican immigrants in his neighbourhood, which let to his interest in reggae music, After a brief stint in jail he befriended a Jamaican DJ named Marvin Prince, who helped him refine his sound and actually gave him the Snow moniker, which apparently stands for Super Notorious Outrageous Whiteboy. He gave tapes of his stuff out to a lot of people, but as a white male toting a Jamaican sound, he didn't get much interest. In 1988 he was arrested wrongfully for attempted murder, and while he served time until he got acquitted he did schooling and wrote music, including this song. Meanwhile Prince show his music to a rap star named M.C. Shan, who then introduced Snow to music producers, leading to him being signed in 1991. They quickly recorded his album and it was released in 1993, with this song becoming a huge hit. There was a lot of disputes over the money and credit for that album though between all those involved. He's released five more albums since then, with the most recent from 2002. He has been doing singles since then, working with the likes of Daddy Yankee and actually in 2020 he pretty much sweeped the Latin Billboard Music Awards categories he was nominated in. So even though I only know this song from him, he is apparently still relevant and making music so go look that up if you're interested.

Peace.

Year 8, Day 146

Hey guys. Today's song is Flower by Moby.

Photo by: Justin Higuchi

Moby is the stage name for Richard Hall, an American musician active since 1983. The name Moby comes from him being related to the writer of Moby Dick, and from his dad's nickname for him since he was a large baby. He started with guitar and piano at nine, and was in his first band called the Vatican Commandos, releasing an EP with them, then singing vocals and playing bass on and off for a bit with Flipper and found a post punk band called AWHOL. He moved to New York in 1989 and start DJing around town while also playing in Ultra Vivid Scene. He got signed as a solo artist in 1990 to a new label who released his music under many different monikers such as Voodoo Child, Barracuda, Brainstorm, and UHF to make it seem like they had more artists than they did. He did earn some success as Moby with one of his songs which led to him being more recognized and able to swap mixes with other artists and helping them produce their stuff. With his success he wanted to leave the label and withheld new music when the label said no, but the label continued to put out his old stuff without consent leading to the release of his 1992 and 1993 albums. He was finally able to leave the label and signed with someone else, releasing an EP in 1993, then an album under the name Voodoo Child in 1994, and his third album as Moby in 1995. He also did a remix of that third album, which brought him critical acclaim leading to Billboard dubbing him the King of Techno. He continued to release music under different monikers so he could make the music he wanted without pressure. Over his career he's released 19 albums as Moby, along with 4 EPs, 11 remix albums and 12 compilation albums, not to mention all the other stuff he did under different names. His career is so long as is this post and I'm not even through the 90's so I'll cut it off here. If you want to go in depth, and I suggest you do, go look him up.

Peace.

Year 8, Day 145

Hey guys. Today's song is Why Me? Big Bad Voodoo Daddy.

Photo by: Steven Miller

So this is an American swing revival band active since 1989. Current members include Scotty Morris and Kurt Sodergren who founded the group, and also Dirk Shumaker, Andy Rowley, Glen Marhevka, Karl Hunter, and Joshua Levy with two past members beings Jeff Harris and Ralph Votrian. The band released two CD's under their own label, and were featured as the house band on Let's Make A Deal before signing with Interscope Records and releasing three albums in 1998, 1999, and 2003. They also appeared in the halftime show in 1999 and were also featured as ESPN's house band for their award show. Since then they've done songs and performance for a bunch of different shows, and have released four more albums with the most recent from 2017. For them making the rounds I had never actually heard of them until I found this song on YouTube, but they seem great, so I'm sure I'll be checking out more of their stuff. Hope you will too.

Peace.

Year 8, Day 144

Hey guys. Today's song is Dancing With Myself by Nouvelle Vague.

Photo by: Martin Stabenfeldt

This is another one that I've had saved to feature for a really long time, but never quite found the right place to put it. This might still not be quite right, but it serves as a good way to kind of ease us back into the more modern stuff. So Nouvelle Vague is french for new wave, and this group is a French cover band led by Olivier Libaux and Marc Collin, and features a multitude of singers of which there are just too many to name. They've been active since 2003, releasing music since 2004 with the release of their first album, with another in 2006, 2009, and 2010. They did an EP and an album in 2016, followed by another EP in 2017 with some compilation albums since then. The group mostly covers 70's and 80's French new wave music, and uses bossa nova a.k.a. a Portugese new wave musical style. Now let's talk about this song specifically. Originally it was a punk rock song from the band Gen X released in 1980, then was re-released by Gen X's singer as part of his solo career after the band broke up. That singer being Billy Idol, which probably sounds familiar. This song was then covered by Nouvelle Vague for their 2006 album, featuring Phoebe Killdeer as the vocalist on the track. She also has other music to check out if you're interested in her voice, just look up her name and you'll find it. And if you're curious, listen to the other versions of this song to see their differences. In any case, I hope you enjoy.

Peace.

Year 8, Day 143

Hey guys. Today's song is Why Do Fools Fall In Love by Frankie Lymon & the Teenagers.

So this group now is called the Teenagers, but at the time of this song was being billed as Frankie Lymon and the Teenagers, hence why the name is like that at the top, but I will be treating the group as The Teenagers, because of the lineup now. So The Teenagers is an American group active since 1954, and was actually considered to be rock's first teen act. Currently the group is made up of Herman Santiago, Bobby Jay, Terrence Farward, Jimmy Merchant, and Terry King and has a long list of past members. The original group was Merchant and Santiago, along with Frankie Lymon, Joe Negroni, and Sherman Garnes. It started as Earth Angels, a group founded by Merchant and Garnes, then they added Santiago and Negroni and became The Coupe De Villes. In 1954 Lymon joined the lineup, becoming the Ermines, the the Premiers, then settled on the Teenagers. This song was made by Santiago and Merchant, with some rewriting done with Lymon, but the day they had an audition for a label Lymon ended up singing lead instead of Santiago who was sick at the time. The song, along with others beame big hits, but they were getting billed as Frankie Lymon and the Teenagers which caused infighting (rightly so) and Lymon went solo. He wasn't successful, and ending up addicted to drugs by 15, got clean, relapsed, and overdosed by 25. A sad ending for a talented individual. The Teenagers had continued on with a new lead in Billy Lobrano, but they didn't have any success so he left. Garnes passed away in 1977, followed a year later by Negroni, both from natural causes. The group brought in Bobby Jay and Frankie's brother Lewis Lymon as replacements. By the 80's they had a new lineup of Merchant, Santiago, and Eric Ward, and Pearl McKinnon, using a woman's voice to try to bring back Frankie's sound. Ward left in 1983, replaced by Derek Ventura, then Ventura left in 1984, replaced by Phil Garrito, Meanwhile McKinnon was replaced by Roz Morhead, and they added in Marilyn Byers, then eventually settled on Jimmy Castor as their lead. He was the lead from the late 80's into the 90's, but then was replaced with Timothy Wilson, with that lineup staying for awhile. As I said at the beginning, they are now made up of Santiago, Jay, King, and Farward, and usually are billed as the Legendary Teenagers or as Frankie Lymon's Legendary Teenagers, although using that name feels a little grubby at this point. They only had one album from 1956, during the Frankie era, but had some singles after, with the newest original from 1963 and a re-release of this song from 1989, otherwise they mostly just perform. While the group sounds like it has faced its share of issues, I'll always still appreciate this song, and I hope you will too.

Peace.

Year 8, Day 142

Hey guys. Today's song is One Fine Day by The Chiffons. 

The Chiffons are an American girl group active since 1960 with members including Judy Craig, Patricia Bennett, Connie Harvey, Barbara Lee, and Sylvia Peterson. It started off with schoolmates Craig, Bennett, and Lee then adding Peterson in 1962. They got the name while recording their first hit He's So Fine which went gold (platinum by today's standards) following by the album of the same name, then the release of their second album named after this song. They released two singles in 1963 under the name the Four Pennies, but abandoned that when the Chiffon's success started coming. Through the 60's Peterson took on a lead role for many songs and the group, through some business issues, kept touring before their popularity kind of waned, only earning minor hits up to 1968. With the lack of success and constant touring, Craig left the group by 1970, getting a normal 9 to 5 - a move that was soon followed by the other three who got regular jobs, but still did shows on the weekend. After a while Peterson also left, being replaced by a round robin of friends of the group. Peterson rejoined the group in the 80's, then in the 90's Lee passed away leading to Craig returning to the group. Shortly after that Peterson left again, officially retiring, and was replaced with Connie Harvey. As of now Harvey has decided to go solo and Bennett has retired, leaving the only active member as Judy Craig, although I don't forsee anything happening in the future. In any event you can listen to this song and enjoy it, as I often do.

Peace.

Year 8, Day 141

Hey guys. Today's song is Downtown by Petula Clark. 

Photo by: Lindeboom, Henk/Anefo

Petula Clark is a British singer/actress/composer active since 1940. Petula is actually a stage name, with her real name being Sally Clark. She did a bit of stuff before, but her career actually started when she was a kid during WW2. The BBC was running a radio thing for kids to send messages over the air to family service members, but an air raid happened and the kids were starting to freak out, so the producer asked for a volunteer to perform to calm everyone down, and Petula volunteered to sing. They like her voice so much that they recorded it, and it led to 500 shows of her performing for the troops, and other radio spots, and soon became known as Britain's Shirley Temple and became a mascot for the Army. She was cast in her first movie in 1944 which was a war drama followed by a bunch of other movies for her. In 1949 Polygon Records formed and she recorded her first songs there, including her first big hit, before the label was sold and became a new label at which she stayed into the 70's. She did lots of touring in the 60's and focused her career more in France, leading to he British career to kind on wane. Composer Tony Hatch tried showing her a bunch of songs she could do, and she didn't care for them at all, but on a whim he played a melody he was writing, which would later become this song and became a hit all over the world. Over her whole career she has 46 albums listed which is crazy, even keeping in mind that most "albums" early in her career were minuscule compared to today's standards. She also has live albums, compilations, EPs, and German, Italian, French, Spanish singles along with her other ones. Plus she has about 30 acting credits. Her career is so full and long (80 years) which I why I'm skipping most of it so I'm not here for hours writing about her, but seriously look it up if you're curious. There's just so much.

Peace.

Year 8, Day 140

Hey guys. Today's song is Chapel Of Love by The Dixie Cups.

Photo by: Albert Herring

The Dixie Cups are an American girl group active since the 60's. It started as a family trio: sisters Barbara Ann and Rosa Lee Hawkins and their cousin Joan Marie Johnson. They had a couple of names besides The Dixie Cups, first supposed to be known as Little Miss and the Muffets and were called The Meltones starting in 1963. Another singer signed on as their manager and got them signed, then in 1964, prior to releasing this song, they changed the name to The Dixie Cups. Fun Fact: this song was actually supposed to be for another group named The Ronettes. They had a couple other hits, then moved to a new label in 1965, but went on a hiatus in 1966. The sisters went on to have modeling careers and also work as makeup artists, but Joan left the group and music all together. The sister toured with a new third member in Beverly Brown, who had done some solo stuff before. Brown was with the group until she got sick in the 80's, then was replaced with Athelgra Neville, who has family also in the music business. The group was inducted into the Louisiana Hall of Fame in 2007 for their previous works, and has actually released a newer album from 2011 to go along with the ones from 1964 and 1965. While the group is still technically around unfortunately one of the sisters Rosa Lee Hawkins passed away early this year so currently the members include Barbara Ann Hawkins and Athelgra Neville Gabriel. So my condolences to the group and thank you for the music you've given us.

Peace.

Year 8, Day 139

Hey guys. Today's song is Until I Found You by Stephen Sanchez.

Photo by: Gus Philippas of WFUV Public Radio

Stephen Sanchez is an American musician active since 2020. He started by posting a cover of a Cage the Elephant song on TikTok which earned him a following. Then he posted a piece of one of his songs, leading to another artist named Jeremy Zucker offering to produce it, which he did, and then led to Sanchez getting a record deal. He released his debut EP in 2021, and has since released a second one this year which is where this song is from. Now the female voice on this isn't listed so I don't actually know who it is accompanying him. The girl in the video is actress and model Jeri Mae James, but I don't think it's actually her singing. There is also a version of this song that features Em Beihold, but it also isn't her on the chorus here. So I guess for now we'll just appreciate Sanchez and the nameless woman who sang with him.

Peace.

Year 8, Day 138

Hey guys. Today's song is When The Night Is Over by Lord Huron.

Photo by: Gus Philippas of WFUV Public Radio

Lord Huron is an American band active since 2010. Currently it's made up of Ben Schneider, Mark Barry, Miguel Briseño, and Tom Renaud with past members including Brett Farkas, Peter Mowry, Karl Kerfoot, and Anne Williamson. It started as a solo project from Schneider, with him releasing a couple EPs on his own. The other members slowly joined as he needed people for playing shows. The first album was released in 2012, followed by another in 2015, than another in 2018. In 2020 they did a couple of live-stream shows for their fans before releasing their fourth album in 2021. Fun Fact: The band name is inspired by Lake Huron, which Schneider used to visit as a kid. I'm pretty sure I've featured them before so this shouldn't be new to most of you, but if it is I hope you enjoy it.

Peace.

Year 8, Day 137

Hey guys. Today's song is Act One: The Queen Of Fiji by Crywolf.

So Crywolf (not to be confused with the 80's hair metal band Cry Wolf) is American singer/producer/instrumentalist Justin Taylor Phillips. His YouTube has been active since 2011 and he started posting actively to SoundCloud in 2013. Based on the listings on Apple, he has an EP from 2013, two EPs released in 2014 and one in 2015. He also has a bunch of albums listed and a new EP out this year so there's quite a bit to check out. Specifically this song I've had saved for a really long time to show you guys, I just never got around to it, so finally it's up for you to listen to. Enjoy.

Peace.

Year 8, Day 136

Hey guys. Today's song is No Going Back by Yuno.

Yuno is Carlton Moodie, an American singer active since 2010 when he started releasing music on Bandcamp, though he officially started using Yuno as his moniker in 2012. He was approached by a label and was signed, releasing his debut EP in 2018 which is where this song is from. He does have at least one more song credit since then from 2021 so he's still around. Check him out if you're curious.

Peace.

Year 8, Day 135

Hey guys. Today's song is Are You Bored Yet? by Wallows featuring Clairo. 

Photo by: Jimmy Fontaine

Wallows is an American band active since 2017 and made up of Dylan Minnette, Braeden Lemasters, and Cole Preston. They've been a band together since they were teens, but they've gone through a few different names before settling on Wallows and releasing music in 2017. Originally they were known as Join the Band, with a fourth member named Zack Mendenhall, then the three of them changed the name to Feaver and played at Warped tour in 2011. After that they went by The Narwhals, releasing an EP in 2014, then officially became Wallows in 2017, releasing an EP in 2018. They then had an album released in 2019, another EP in 2020, and another album out this year and have been touring since. Clairo is an American singer active since 2012, putting music on bandcamp and YouTube. She also made a song for an MTV show, but it was never used. She started getting noticed after posting a song to YouTube that went viral in 2017, leading to her getting signed. She released an EP in 2018, and has since released two albums: one in 2019 and another in 2021 so you can look into those if you want.

Peace.

Year 8, Day 134

Hey guys. Today's song is Can I Call You Tonight? by Dayglow.

Photo from: POPDUST

So Dayglow is a solo indie pop project from Sloan Struble, though he describes it as a band with him as the only member. Fun Fact: the name Dayglow comes from a song by the artist Brazos. Dayglow has been active since 2017, releasing three singles in that song and getting pretty popular through their use on TikTok and plays on Spotify. The first album was released in 2018, then in 2019 he performed at a music festival, and released an extended version of the album. This song was the first song he released in 2021, followed by his second album. He's been teasing and releasing music for the third upcoming album through 2022 so that should be released soon, keep an eye out.

Peace.

Year 8, Day 133

Hey guys. Today's song is Short Court Style by Natalie Prass.

Photo from: Tabercil

Natalie Prass is an American singer. She's been writing songs since the first grade, and actually founded her first band in the eighth grade. She went to an arts high school, then went to the Berklee College of Music then to Middle Tennessee State University, enrolling in a songwriting program in 2006. She released an EP in 2009, then another in 2011, then joined Jenny Lewis’ touring band as a keyboardist after auditioning by phone. She was signed, then released her debut album in 2015. She released an EP of live performances in 2015 as well. In 2018 she released this song as a single, and also released her second album that year. There isn't much listed since then, but she's due for more soon so keep an eye out for that.

Peace.

Year 8, Day 132

Hey guys. Today's song is Hold On by Roosevelt.

Roosevelt is Marius Lauber, a German musician. He started in music in his teens, in a band called Beat!Beat!Beat! which he stayed in for a few years before going solo, releasing a debut EP in 2013. He released a doube-A side record in 2015, then his debut album in 2016. He's done remixes of songs from other artists, then released his second album in 2018. He did a cover of a Fleetwood Mac song in 2019, then released some singles through 2020 leading up to his next album out in 2021. So there's a fair amount for you to look for if you're interested.

Peace.

Year 8, Day 131

Hey guys. Today's song is Bii Biyelgee by The HU.

Photo by: Stefan Brending

I had no idea where this would fit to go in the blog, but I figured the banjo from yesterday had a vibe that kind of fit with the breakdown of this one, and I knew I wanted to feature it somehow. So the Hu is a Mongolian folk metal band active since 2016 and made up of Gala, Jaya, Enkush, and Temka. And I think this is the first Mongolian group I've featured to give it up for Mongolia today! They've released a bunch of singles and two albums: one from 2019 and another from 2022 which is where this song is from. So a Bii Biyelgee is a traditional Mongolian folk dance, and is a big thing for get togethers such as feasts, celebrations, weddings, etc and expresses family unity and promotes understanding withing different ethnic groups in Mongolia, and according to the band is a dance that is very hard to do since it requires a different skillset from other dances, but that's what makes it great. It's clear from the video that they were all having a great time and you can really get a sense of what it's about. So I hope you enjoy it.

Peace.

Year 8, Day 130

Hey guys. Today's song is Take It All Back 2.0 by Judah & the Lion.

Photo from: Clairerex

Judah & the Lion is an American bans active since 2011 and currently made up of Judah Akers and Brian Macdonald with past members including Spencer Cross and Nate Zuercher. They released an EP is 2012 and another in 2013 which earned them a place on a couple different charts before opening for a band called Drew Halcomb and the Neighbors. In 2014 they released their debut album then did a lot of touring before releasing their next album in 2016. Later that year they released an EP which is where this song is from and it actually topped the Billboard Alternative Songs chart for weeks. They did some TV appearances and some touring through 2017, then released their next album in 2019. A bunch of those songs were used for different sports stuff including a football anthem, soccer anthem, NHL game, and FIFA soundtrack. The band also has a new album out this year for you to check out as well if you're interested.

Peace.

Year 8, Day 129

Hey guys. Today's song is I'm Not Okay by Citizen Soldier.

Citizen Soldier is a American band active since 2016 and made up of Jake Segura, Matt Duffney, Kooper Hanosky, Wonitta, and Kyle Persell. According to their website "the band presents an accessible message that combats stigmatization and provides a group therapy dynamic." Not surprising since Segura is a clinical therapist, so most of their songs tackle things relating to mental health. As shown in this song. They released an album in 2019 and have continued releasing music since then including what looks like a new album out this year, so give that a try.

Peace.

Year 8, Day 128

Hey guys. Today's song is City Of Angels by Arrows To Athens.

Arrows to Athens is a joint music project between guitarist Steven Miller and David Hodges. There seem to be other members based on the photos, but I can't find out who they are. After parting with his label, Hodges started to work on all kinds of music projects. His name might not sound too familiar too, but I'm sure his former discography does, as he used to be a member of Evanescence, Trading Yesterday, and The Age of Information before starting this project. Arrows to Athens officially has been around since 2011 with the release of their debut album. They released another album in 2016, and although I haven't heard of anything since then, their early stuff is worth checking out. Originally the link I had up was done with clips from a movie called All The Bright Places and looks incredibly sad, but that was taken down so now it's just a lyric video.  

Peace.

Year 8, Day 127

Hey guys. Today's song is Kiss Me by Dermot Kennedy.

Photo from: 3voor12

Dermot Kennedy is an Irish singer/songwriter active since 2009. He started out with busking which helped develop his sound and actually opened for another Irish musician named Glen Hansard who saw him busking and kept in touch. He spent three years studying classical music at Maynooth University whilse also being part of a four piece band called Shadows and Dust before they split up in 2015. He toured though Europe, Australia, and the States through 2018 and 2019, playing at all kinds of music festivals. He was featured on NPR and voted NPR Slingshot's Best New Artist of The Year in 2018. He released his debut album in 2019 and was nominated for a BRIT Award for International Male Solo Artist in 2020. In 2021 he won Irish Song of the Year from the RTE Choice Music Prize for a song called Better Days. He's released some EPs previously, but his debut album features lots of work dating back to the beginning of his career so it's a good overview to listen to. He also has a new album out this year for you to check out so look for that one.

Peace.

Year 8, Day 126

Hey guys. Today's song is I'm Not Pretty by JESSIA.

This is probably the newest artist on my list so far this year. So Jessia is Jessika Harling, a Canadian artist from BC whose only been active since 2021. She went to school for music, graduating from MacEwan University before releasing this song through TikTok which became a huge hit and earned her a record deal. She released her debut EP the same year, and won a Juno for Breakthrough Artist of the Year in 2022. So she may not have a lot for you to check out yet, but she is definitely one to watch for, and this song is instantly hitting my playlist. I hope you enjoy it like I did.

Peace.

Year 8, Day 125

Hey guys. Today's song is Follow Me by Sam Feldt and Rita Ora.

Sam Fedlt is a Dutch DJ active since 2014. He's released 3 albums and 3 EPs since then, with the most recent being an EP from 2020. Some of his songs have topped the charts and he's worked with a lot of prominent artists. Also in 2020, he started his own label and also his own charity that focuses on global warming awareness. So Rita Ora is an English singer active since 2008 that I've featured before. She started out with performing around London and qualified for Eurovision in 2009 but dropped out since she didn't feel ready at the time. She signed with a label and recorded what she wanted to be her first album but the label recommended she do some other stuff. While working on her album she would post covers and other videos on YouTube which caught the attention of DJ Fresh, leading to her being a featured vocalist on his song which hit the top spot on the charts. She also toured as a supporting act for Drake and Coldplay before releasing her album in 2012. She did her own tour in 2013 and talked more about her next album, but ultimately the next thing we saw in 2015 was a lawsuit about getting out of her contract since she had written multiple records but had only been allowed to release one. They settled in 2016 and she signed with a new label, releasing a single in 2017 followed by her second album in 2018. She did some touring in 2019, released an EP in 2021 and has been working on her next album. So keep an eye out for that.

Peace.

Year 8, Day 124

Hey guys. Today's song is Take It Home by Mabel.

Photo by: Harald Krichel

So Mabel is Mabel Alabama-Pearl McVey, a singer active since 2015. There are many singers in her family, including her mother whose a Swedish singer, and a lot of her siblings. She was born in Spain, but is based in England. She was a gifted child, which led to an anxiety issue that her parents encouraged her to manage through music, so she started writing songs starting at age 4. When she was 15 she went to a Stockholm music school for three years before coming back to England. She released her debut single in 2015 then got signed, releasing a couple more singles through 2015 and 2016. She released her first EP in 2017, collaborated with Mot3s for some songs, then opened for Harry Styles on his tour. She got nominated for Breakthrough British Act in 2019, releasing a mixtape and her debut album the same year.She released a single in 2020, then did some collaborations the released some more singles in 2021, along with this one which was done for Pokemon's 25th anniversary album (which explains the jigglypuff creeping around because that really confused me at first lol). As of this year she has released her second album, so go check that out if you're interested.

Peace.