TooSmooth

I just want to go ahead and give a shout out to a guy I wen to high school with. I mentioned him earlier in the blog but he has a new music video on his Vevo out called "Future Dreams" so check it out: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=NuDJdu-NljQ&feature=youtube_gdata_player

You can follow him on Twitter: https://twitter.com/lightsoutentloe
You can also like his Facebook: http://www.facebook.com/L.O.ENTERTAINMENT?fref=ts

Cheers,

Daniel

Music Monday: Easy Star's Thrillah by Easy Star All-Stars

Hi readers,

I have missed a couple Music Mondays and today is not Monday but I decided I would do one today. Today's star album was this reggae rendition of Michael Jackson's hit 1982 album Thriller. Covers of renowned artists are always tricky, especially when you change the genre but upon listening to this you can tell that these people know their genre and know Michael Jackson's music. I would not put a star track on this because it is a complete album. Definitely worth a listen.

Honorable Mentions:
A Thing Called Divine Fits by Divine Fits


This is the first album from super group Divine Fits, formed of Dan Boeckner (Wolf Parade), Britt Daniel (Spoon), Sam Brown (New Born Turks). You can hear very direct influences from the two frontmen as the styles of Wolf Parade and Spoon are blended into a very comfortable and hip mix. Tracks to give a shot are "Would That Not Be Nice," "For Your Heart," "Shivers."

Circle Around The Sun by Dispatch


Not a lot to say about this one. The great jam band Dispatch is back with an album. They have been out for a while and a lot of people will be familiar with their style. The album opens with the title track "Circles Around The Sun"  which is a lot more produced than usual for a normal Dispatch album but then slowly shifts back into the kind of music that was really meant to played live, "Josaphine" is definitely one of those tracks. By the time you reach "Feels So Good," you know you've just listened to another Dispatch album. Overall, it is not quite a standard Dispatch album but has many of the traits. When a band can reunite like this it shows they have truly mastered their trade and genre.

On A Ride by Wax Poetic


To add to the unusually calm list this week is Wax Poetic's On A Ride. This album is smooth and seductive from the New York based trip-hop outfit. I especially like all the Sissy Clemens and Natalie Walker tracks. My faves have to be the opening track "No Escape," "Tonight," "Warm Night," and "East Side." I suggest just listening to all of it.

That is all for now. All these tracks are available on Spotify as are all the tracks and albums I recommend. Catch you all later,
Daniel

Bitch Bad

I for one am a huge fan of Lupe Fiasco's Food & Liquor. It was a well paced, and thought out album and some of it is pretty easy to relate to. Since then, Lupe has gotten more famous and radical with his views. I personally tuned out to him for a bit. Yesterday, Lupe released the music video to "Bitch Bad" from his upcoming album Food & Liquor II: The Great American Rap Album Pt I which drops September 25th. I just wanted to mention the single because it is in my opinion a bit of a return for Lupe back to the social commentary that worked so well for him in the first album. Anyone interest should check it out on the link.

Daniel

The Chelsea Academy Dance-Off

In case any of you have missed it circulating Twitter and Tumblr, here is the video of the Chelsea Acadmy players entertaining the senior players:

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=x7h6QKBmLxQ&feature=player_embedded

Enjoy,
Daniel

Music Monday: Family by The Cast Of Cheers

Hello readers,

It is Monday and thus time for my new music suggestions for the week. After a few listens of several albums I decided that Family by The Cast Of Cheers would be my recommendations by being the newest. I will not even review Good Morning To The Night by Elton John vs Pnau because that is something that unless you clearly have a problem with Sir Elton you should give a listen. The whole album too. But back to TCOC, this album starts very nicely. I would describe them as up tempo Indie. Many aspects of their style remind me of Foals with the interweaving guitar, direct bass and drums and the sometimes shrieking vocals. The tracks to look for are "Family," "Animals," "Goose," and "Marco Sava." Check it out as an album though.

Honorable Mentions:
Good Morning To The Night by Elton John vs Pnau

 Just listen to it. It's good. It's well played. It's smooth. It's funky.

Gossamer by Passion Pit
I generally do not listen to Passion Pit but I did like this album. They've been out for a while. "Take A Walk" is a great opener with a great message. It is a great listen alone. Most of the songs are up beat but some are slower such as "Constant Conversations" and "Cry Like A Ghost." It really feels like a narrative and that you are getting to know the singer. The beats are very good too but you expect no less from Passion Pit.

MTMTMK by The Very Best

TVB is an electro-Afro-pop consisting of Malawian singer Esau Mwamwaya (who sings vocals in Chichewa, Swahili, Portuguese and English) and british DJ/production duo Radioclit (Johan Karlberg and Etienne Tron). They formed in 2008 but this album is the first I heard of them. The music from MKMKMT is a good for anyone that likes bounce in their music or is just a fan of Afro or Carribean influences in electronic music. The opening track "Adani" gives you a clear indicator of the direction of the album with loads of sound effects over a catchy beat. There are even a few guests such as K'Naan. The tracks "Adani," "Moto," "Come Alive," and "We OK"are good tracks to look at but the whole album is pretty even.

Weight & Glory by KB

Now I'm not a practicing Christian so lyrically it isn't really as relevant to me but this rapper KB is really impressive. If you are Christian or into strong Christian lyrics I highly recommended this album. His story is he basically moved around a lot, was involved in drugs and depressed until he was saved and introduced to Christian Rap. Some of the messages hit pretty hard such as in "Anomaly," "Mr. Pretender," and "Open Letter (Battlefield)." Not my cup of tea like I said but very respectable and why I still mention it.

Enjoy the rest of your Monday,
Daniel

Music Monday: + by Ed Sheeran

Hi readers,

I know I've been getting a crazy amount of traffic from my recent introduction to the larger realm of Chelsea blogs but I still want to figure out how best to appeal to the other readers. So I'm not sure yet how I will schedule it but I want to add more music to this blog. Right now, I may make it music Mondays. Since starting Spotify, I now am a lot more up to date on recent music so I think I will just throw suggestions of albums that I have found worth looking into and why. Hopeful this will be a feature that people come to like.

Today I would like to suggest + by Ed Sheeran. I really enjoyed this album. For one thing, the guy is obviously very talented but what I found more important is how he avoids cliche so well. After a couple listens, you feel like you know him personally. It is a well paced album with good lyrics. The tracks to watch for in my opinion are "Small Bump," "Wake Me Up," "A Team," and if you listen to the deluxe edition "Sunburn." Obviously, no album is for everyone but it is definitely worth a try.

Daniel

P.S. For anyone that is into anything with even a hint of R&B and good lyrics, "channel ORANGE" by Frank Ocean is a must listen.

Shout out

I would like to give a shout out to to guys I went to high school with who are on the way to big things right now.

First is Kenrick McFarlane. He's an up and coming Chicago artist who makes some amazing work. Got the chance to go to a show of his last year and ran into Common (yes the rapper). This guys career will only get better with time. You can check him out at: http://www.kenrickmcfarlane.com/

The second is William McClam (known as TooSmooth). He is a singer/rapper who currently resides in Florida. He started Lights Out Entertainment and has two albums on iTunes under "TooSmooth". You can catch him at:

http://www.facebook.com/L.O.ENTERTAINMENT

@lightsoutentloe


Just thought I'd put them out there.

Daniel